Snakeeyes : "This is where I belong"
- Details
- Created on Tuesday, 22 February 2011 21:33
- Written by Talvieno
In my Yalmaha, I flew over the busy streets of Old Athen as the starlight cast dim shadows across the city. I had a purpose in mind - I was searching for someone. As I piloted my craft around the buildings, I scanned the rooftops as I passed, looking for a solitary figure who was sure to be standing at the ready on some nearby platform, awaiting my arrival so the interview could begin. I was deliberately avoiding the shops - he had told me the roofs there weren’t fit for standing, and there was rarely trouble over there. “I’ll be waiting for you where I always am,” the Opifex had said. But where was he always? Unseen by all but the keenest eyes - a mysterious figure in the dark and brooding shadows,somewhere he stood - waiting atop some hidden roof. I finally asked around near the grid terminal, and although most who were there had heard of but never seen his post, one claimed they had.
With this lead, I set forth for the drainhouse. It wasn’t long before I spotted him - Snakeeyes, General of The Red Brotherhood.
- No Omni should walk freely in Old Athen
Landing and exiting my vehicle, I walked over to him, as he looked downwards over the great city. His bow was in hand, loaded and ready to fire. Apparently he heard me despite my stealthy approach. “I see you found me,” he said, without turning his head. “Good. We can start when you’re ready.” Here he turned, a certain energy and liveliness clear in his eyes. He did not appear to be the solitary, antisocial vigilante one might take him for at first glance.
I answered him quickly, wanting to keep things flowing smoothly. This was after all my first interview. It was imperative to me that it go well. “All right, let’s begin, then.” Glancing down briefly at my notes, I asked my first question. It wasn’t in my notes, but I felt it had to be asked. “The other people The Daily Red has interviewed chose places such as Reet Retreat, Tir, and the Versailles Tower. Why here?”
Snakeeyes looked back out over the old city. A certain warmth was in his voice for that of which he spoke. “I feel this is where I belong. It’s my home and I watch over it to protect it from Omnis and other hostiles. My motto is that ‘no Omni should walk freely around in Old Athen unchallenged’. No matter how bad the odds are, I will attack on sight.”
I answered him quickly, wanting to keep things flowing smoothly. This was after all my first interview. It was imperative to me that it go well. “All right, let’s begin, then.” Glancing down briefly at my notes, I asked my first question. It wasn’t in my notes, but I felt it had to be asked. “The other people The Daily Red has interviewed chose places such as Reet Retreat, Tir, and the Versailles Tower. Why here?”
Snakeeyes looked back out over the old city. A certain warmth was in his voice for that of which he spoke. “I feel this is where I belong. It’s my home and I watch over it to protect it from Omnis and other hostiles. My motto is that ‘no Omni should walk freely around in Old Athen unchallenged’. No matter how bad the odds are, I will attack on sight.”
- I still had no clue
As he fell back into silence, scanning the terrain below, I checked my notes again and asked my first official question. “How was your time before you were in TRB, and how did you find out about us?” I was searching for something nostalgic - some old memories of his that would hopefully prove to be a good read. He became livelier at once, appearing to reminisce and relive past happenings in his mind, though it was clear he was just as alert as before.
“Seven years ago, I decided to travel to Rubi-Ka, the planet that my brother had always talked about. I was able to find a ticket for the trip, and I soon arrived on the planet’s surface. After wandering a bit, I entered a huge area with tons of creatures and lots of other people running around attacking them. I became pretty uber after a while, learned how to loot stuff, and I even killed the biggest creature in this huge area after failing several times, trying to run away with him on my tail. It was a big lizard with a special glow. It was around this time that I told Strombanni that I had come to Rubi-Ka.” He paused here and laughed. “The huge area I had been in was the backyard startup area, and I guess the lizard was probably less dangerous than a young rollerrat. Stromb helped me get started, taught me about the planet, how to fight, gave me tips on different things and suggested I start as a Martial Artist. After a while, I started to realise how big Rubi-Ka really was.”
He stopped briefly, a knowing smile spreading across his face at the memory, setting some of the controls on his bow before continuing. “Of course, I still had no clue. I went to the subway, got lost a lot down there, got a team and learned some more about fighting. Some of the team members told me about how they were going to head for ToTW after they had enough experience. If I remember correctly, I followed some of them there. Inside ToTW, which was a incredibly scary and huge place I met a very nice group of players. They were the best! They killed everything in sight with ease and left me to loot whatever I wanted. Eventually I learned they were part of something, together - a group called The Red Brotherhood. I asked them what it took to be a part of their group and one of them told me to come to Old Athen after I left the temple. She was a friend of Synelle, I was told. As soon as I was done in the temple, I came to Old Athen, and there I was invited to join the only organization I have ever been a part of on Rubi-Ka, The Red Brotherhood,” he said, finishing with a smile.
- I've been eager with the camera
“How did you become a journalist for TRB?” I asked him the next question on the list - relevant, one I’d rehearsed beforehand and one with an answer I was sure our readers would enjoy knowing.
He held his bow at arm’s length, inspecting it as he answered. “Good question, Talvi. The Daily Red started five and a half years ago by an engineer named Nistomax, who made a few articles before he decided to take a break. I have been eager with the camera ever since I first came to Rubi-Ka, and those articles made by Nistomax inspired me to take over the job as editor of TDR. My first article was published only two months after The Daily Red was founded, of a Merc raid. Since then I’ve made countless reports, competitions, guides and misc articles, and both our paper and my journalism skills have improved a lot since then.”
Suddenly he leapt into action, bringing his bow upwards and letting loose a bolt, the air buzzing as the projectile whizzed away towards some unseen destination. Snakeeyes leapt into his Phasefront, and I followed as quickly as I could in my Yalm. He hovered above the roof of the Agency, where I landed and saw the culprit that had rudely interrupted our interview - a fifteen foot Omni Atrox wielding a fantastically large blade. The enforcer clearly didn’t look happy about being knocked out of his ship, and that was a bit of an understatement, as he swung his weapon in the direction of the closest Clanner - myself. I ducked, fully believing I was doomed, but Snakeeyes leapt from his vehicle in mid-flight, throwing himself against the giant and knocking him backwards towards the edge. The enraged brute brought his blade down - hard - in the direction of Snakeeyes, though he nimbly dodged it. Bringing out his shen sticks, he let loose a flurry of attacks that brought the intruder to his knees, stumbling backwards off the edge and hitting the ground far below with an audible thud. “Sorry about that,” Snake said. “That is why I watch.” I could only nod in agreement as I collected that which had been scattered - my notes, as well as my wits.
- It's always nice to go the extra mile
I could tell that the sun was beginning to rise - it wouldn’t be long before Rubi-Ka’s double suns broke over the wall of the city, their sparkling light dousing the ever-busy streets. I had to hurry with the rest of the questions. Unfortunately, the atrox’s foot had smashed my holopad, rendering it unusable, but I couldn’t just stop because I didn't have my notes. “The Twink Factory has become a pretty important part of TRB, and you’re solely in charge of it, from what I understand, yes? How did that come about?”
The general spoke, while cleaning and putting away his weaponry. “The Twink Factory was started by Yeldarb, three years ago. He had been chatting a bit with Strombanni about ways to improve our chance to defend our bases (we had no high bases then) and to create more interest around twinking and tower wars in general. There have been a few different people in charge of TTF and it’s not very long since I took charge in there. I felt I finally was capable of not only twinking on my own, but give advice and help others do so as well. And we had no one in charge at the time that was active. Besides, I know my fellow fighters and twinkers will always step in to help if there is something I’m not capable to give good advice about.” He took his bow back out, reaching inside his Phasefront to put it in park, and continued, giving me his full attention. “I do find twinking extremely fun and have many successful projects behind me, it’s always nice to go the extra mile and make that last adjustment to perfect it, then step back and enjoy the result!”
The general spoke, while cleaning and putting away his weaponry. “The Twink Factory was started by Yeldarb, three years ago. He had been chatting a bit with Strombanni about ways to improve our chance to defend our bases (we had no high bases then) and to create more interest around twinking and tower wars in general. There have been a few different people in charge of TTF and it’s not very long since I took charge in there. I felt I finally was capable of not only twinking on my own, but give advice and help others do so as well. And we had no one in charge at the time that was active. Besides, I know my fellow fighters and twinkers will always step in to help if there is something I’m not capable to give good advice about.” He took his bow back out, reaching inside his Phasefront to put it in park, and continued, giving me his full attention. “I do find twinking extremely fun and have many successful projects behind me, it’s always nice to go the extra mile and make that last adjustment to perfect it, then step back and enjoy the result!”
- It gave me a better understanding of Rubi-Ka
I smiled at his enthusiasm, it enlivening me too somewhat. “All right, awesome! Just a couple more questions and we’ll be done here, for now.” After checking my nanorecorder to make sure it was still running, I faced him and continued. “You used to be the president of The Red Brotherhood, although you stepped down. What did you enjoy most about it?”
I smiled at his enthusiasm, it enlivening me too somewhat. “All right, awesome! Just a couple more questions and we’ll be done here, for now.” After checking my nanorecorder to make sure it was still running, I faced him and continued. “You used to be the president of The Red Brotherhood, although you stepped down. What did you enjoy most about it?”
He walked slowly back and forth across the roof - half of his attention to me, the other half on the streets below and skies around us, still keeping a vigilant eye open for the enemy. “I enjoyed just about every aspect of being president, it was a very nice experience that gave me an even better understanding of Rubi-Ka and TRB. I felt I was capable of the job, since I already had been in all the different duty sections of the org. Setting goals for the org and reaching them was very rewarding, and just in general seeing the org actually working the way I intended. Not that I made the biggest of changes, I just followed the footsteps of great people that had the position before me.”
A follow-up question seemed to be in order. “What did you dislike the most about it?”
His response was quick. “The drama. Ask any previous presidents or our current one and they will all answer that. When so many people with so many different backgrounds come together they can and will create great things, but one also has to expect disagreements and sometimes verbal fights between members. Being the one trying to hold it all together in such times is never fun, but it’s a challenge that comes with the job. The reason why I stepped down was not a negative one though, it was because something wonderful happened, and I became a father for the second time!”
A follow-up question seemed to be in order. “What did you dislike the most about it?”
His response was quick. “The drama. Ask any previous presidents or our current one and they will all answer that. When so many people with so many different backgrounds come together they can and will create great things, but one also has to expect disagreements and sometimes verbal fights between members. Being the one trying to hold it all together in such times is never fun, but it’s a challenge that comes with the job. The reason why I stepped down was not a negative one though, it was because something wonderful happened, and I became a father for the second time!”
- I will never lose faith
The dimmer, red sun was reaching its bright rays over the walls of Old Athen, and my silence as I pondered his words led him to believe the interview was over, and he headed towards his vehicle. “One last question,” I said, and he turned to face me. “Do you have any last comments?” I may have been a new member of The Daily Red, but I wasn’t going to change old traditions, not when they worked so well.“Yes,” he said, reaching into the cockpit and starting the engine, looking at me all the while. He seemed to almost draw energy from the daylight itself, from how much he had as he spoke. “I’m here to see this story through to the end! I will never lose faith in our org and I’ll be right here for as long this adventure lasts! I’ll always be Snakeeyes of The Red Brotherhood. I’d like to thank all of The Red Brotherhood for improving my experience; it's a real honor fighting beside you all.” And with that, he hopped into his Phasefront and flew off into the sunrise, and I saw him turn towards the grid entrance before Rubi-Ka’s greater star came fully over the edge of the wall, half-blinding me and forcing me to shield my eyes. When I looked back, he was gone, but I walked away from the interview feeling patriotic - feeling a strong love for the clans, and especially The Red Brotherhood.
- Talvieno
Date : 02.22.2011
