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Friday Night Fights 2, Round 2: Little John
Little John
Background Story
Robin Hood gave the name “Little John” to a Domestic Sentry Mark IX (DS-9) in memory of his academy bunkmate John Little. At first, neither cared for the other. During a training exercise, John threw a rock that hit Robin in the head, causing him to bleed.The Instructor broke the two apart. He decided that they should settle their differences right then with quarterstaffs. John was far taller than Robin. He used his height to great advantage. He frustrated Robin – who vainly attempted to guard, turn, parry, dodge, spin, and thrust.
John knocked Robin into the river. The giant went to help Robin, but Robin pulled him into the water. The cadets cheered. Even John laughed. Robin’s “never give up” attitude not only won over his classmates, it served him for a time as he rose through the ranks of the Royal Expeditionary Forces.
There is a fine line between tenacity and foolishness. Robin was the commander of the ill-fated Defence of Loxlie. L’Armée des étoiles had landed on the planet. Robin ordered his units to hold the line. Despite pleas from his Second-in-Command and first friend, Leftenant John Little, Robin refused to budge.
Facing overwhelming odds, Robin’s men abandoned their post. During the retreat, Robin’s ship was shot from the sky. He lost his right arm and right eye. John paid a heavier price.
Robin awoke in a cell. The French had taken him to the prison colony of Papillon. King Louis XXXIV wanted to exchange Robin for the Dauphin, who was in his enemy’s hands. His Majesty would have nothing of it. Though it pained him, His Majesty was convinced by the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John that Robin was a traitor unworthy of rescue. Robin was able to escape execution with the help of Mech Marian and the Domestic Sentry Mark IX.
Notes on the Domestic Sentry Mark IX (DS-9)
The DS-9 is a semi-autonomous security robot. The one that Robin calls “Little John” is a maximum security model. It has heavy weapons and armor. Robin has modified this DS-9 with proto-sentience. Standard programming requires identification to separate authorized personnel from intruders. Proto-sentience allows Little John to exercise independent judgment and “learn”. He is able to differentiate between allies, hostiles, and non-combatants. He is also inquisitive.My Friar Tuck is an anonymous computer hacker. For his design, I tried to create a first person view of the Sheriff of Nottingham trying to access the Royal Treasury – only to be thwarted by Friar Tuck.
Frère Tuk
Backstory
Of all the Merry Men, Frère Tuk is the most enigmatic. Robin Hood “met” Tuk while attempting to hack into the Fontane Dale Financial Systems’ network. Robin intended to use the bank as a backdoor to the Sheriff of Nottingham’s tax records. FDF and Nottingham have a rather cozy relationship. Tuk was well aware of Nottingham’s financial tricks. Still, he had a job to do.Robin and Tuk fought a pitched battle in cyberspace. First, was a battle of wits, spamming floods, Spacebook flaming, and chat room insults. Robin grew impatient and launched an all out attack: denials of service, worms, even writing virus code on the fly. In all, their exchanges were fifty for fifty.
Suddenly, Tuk relented. Robin took advantage and “blew the horn”: hacker jargon for a rapid code break. Tuk also blew the horn. Robin found himself on the defensive. Tuk had responded with his “packet dogs.” Code of his own design, the packet dogs had infiltrated Robin’s own network.
Just as Robin thought he would lose his entire system in a flash, Tuk broke the attack. He sent a message to Robin: “Well played, good sir. I am most impressed.” Tuk then opened the Sheriff’s system to Robin for a brief glimpse.
Robin and Tuk soon were chatting regularly in cyberspace. The two have never met, at least Robin does not believe that they ever have. No one knows whether Tuk is a real person. Some rumors say that Tuk is an artificial intelligence. Others, that he is a brain tape that made its way into cyberspace. Still others say Tuk might be a double agent working for Fontane Dale. To add to the riddle, Tuk now refers to himself as FrereTuk. He claims that Tuk stands for “Truth, Unity, and Knowledge.”
Tuk is the merriest of the Merry Men. He is Robin’s Chief Intelligence Officer, despite never being physically present. Though he can be flaky and sometimes mischevious, he has never broken Robin’s trust. If he is human, he must imbibe quite frequently. Some of his chats tend to be rambling and incoherent.
Gotchya. Never did buy GURPS: Horror. We always used Chaosium’s Call of the Cthulhu. Speaking of… how about a detective who solves mysteries in Arkham, Massachusetts?
Going to switch gears from the Character Contests to Friday Night Fights! Our host, Jeff Hebert, keeps teasing us with a new FNF challenge. That, and I’m in a writing mood as of late. The theme for this FNF was “Robin Hood in Space.” I have a story that I’ve been kicking around for some time. It is the foundation of my mecha-verse. I simply adapted some of the characters to Robin Hood and His Band of Merry Men and the Sheriff of Nottingham. This was a lot of fun.
Welcome to Sherwood Fortress!
Setting
Some time in the future…Humanity has been established among the stars for centuries. Distances between the Known Systems are great. Wormholes are the most common form of interstellar travel. Various “gates” are posted throughout the galaxy. The gates enable passage through the wormholes. They also control interstellar commerce and politics.
The Known Systems are an amalgam of competing governments. The situation is such that contemporary historians compare their days to those of earth during the Common Era of the mid-16th and 17th Centuries in society and attitude. The Kingdom and the French Empire are two rival superpowers.
The stargates are known as “locks” in The Kingdom. The Kingdom controlled a solar system with a sizeable number of locks. So many, they named the host world “Loxlie.” It was a major hub of interstellar traffic. Now the French Empire’s L’Armée des étoiles occupies Loxlie.
So are the times. His Majesty and his heir Prince John controlling The Kingdom and the Environs. The Sheriff controlling the Nottingham system, the Outlands, and the tributaries beyond the Pale, along with their untold wealth. The French Empire cutting access to Loxlie and its stargates to all of the Known Systems. Rumour has that L’Armée des étoiles is amassing its forces on Loxlie in preparation for open war against The Kingdom. Other powers are appealling for peace, if not only so the French will re-open the trade lanes.
It is during these times, there lives a band of idealists and rogues who seek to overthrow the whole system. Robin Hood and his Merry Men are based in an underground complex somewhere within the Known Systems, possibly beyond the Pale. With interstellar war on the horizon, they fight on all fronts. Whether hacking computer systems, leading a protest in Trafalgar, duelling in aerospace, or slogging through the mud, they will fight.
One weapon that the Merry Men have acquired is the mecha. The anthropomorphic tanks that were once reserved for the warrior nobles known as Knights. Their appearance has become more common with the invention of Lancer Rooms. There is no longer need for on-board pilots with this virtual simulator. It allows a single pilot to control every aspect of a mecha through cybernetic interface from a secure location.
Bummer about the GURPS campaign. Some people just don’t appreciate (space) opera. Sounds like you’ve got a lot of ideas going. I have some characters if you want me to post them here for consideration.
How about a villain for your Gypsy? Madame Macabre, the Mystic Murderess.
Only thing Zodiac about this entry is the character’s name. I wanted to try my hand at a steampunk or Jules Vernesque character. Didn’t quite get the vibe. However, I enjoyed imaging her and writing her story.
The King’s Mad Girl
Close-up
Backstory
“Good morning, Your Majesty. Chief Engineer Leona Skeffington at your service. We had been expecting your review. If it pleases you, let me guide you through the workshop.“I’m not what you expected? No offense taken. Most don’t expect a woman to lead this project. This is no gasworks. This is a factory! Sure, we turn cannons, clanks, land-walkers… but your patronage makes it all possible.
“Ah, here we are, Your Majesty. Now, what London sees on the outside is the Westminster clocktower. Down here, in the subterranean, is proof of our special project’s success. Your Royal Highness, please to meet Big Ben.
“Oh, don’t worry. He’s an herbivore. He’s a little cock-eyed and none too bright. Give him a cart of watermelons, and he even wags his tail like a puppy.
“We were able to bring him through the Time Door. Unfortunately, he was none too happy about the journey. He wound up smashing the machine.
“Nor do we have the materiel to repair it, your Lordship. When the Prussians learnt of our experiment, they stopped supplying us with Äther. The Committee of Public Safety also declared an embargo on fer de nain.
“Of course, your Majesty. We will begin re-tooling the factory immediately. What shall it be? Clanks to retrieve the Äther… or land-walkers to crush the French?”
A Sumerian “liontaur” and protector of temples. One of my favorites.
Urmahlullû
Close-up
