A Prologue Part Two ~ Growing Up(sample)

Chapter Nine ~ the Games Round One:

Reine's crew all showed up in their gear for the Games. She had been told to do the same, and they all ate breakfast together. Breakfast was silent, and the anticipation of the Games left a lot of the kid's food on their plates.

Except for her, she devoured everything on her plate and what her girlfriend left behind. After she finished, Reine looked up to see everyone including her father, as they watched in awe. She went completely flush - embarrassed she ate so much.

Zaül stood and spoke in jest, as everyone followed suit, "They are going to think I don't feed you, git."

He led them quickly out the door and to the elevator. The match was in one of the arenas they had practiced in, which calmed her nerves. She noticed the arena was not as-busy-as the first match they had observed.

Which actually left her feeling relieved, as she did not want all the pirates in the galaxy watching her team's first match. 'That would be too much pressure,' she thought, as it crossed her mind. Her father led them to one of the arena's elevators and turned on his heels, as he stopped the children in their tracks and started to speak with gusto.

"Okay, gits - listen up! This is where I leave you. Listen to Reine and she will lead you to victory - of that I am sure.

These games are vital - they show teamwork, and display your ferocity as a team to the rest of the pirates. Do well in these games and you will draw mercenary pirates to your crew, which is important - you want anyone who joins you on a job to have faith in your abilities, as a crew. First in your Captain to lead you to victory, and second in your own abilities backing her up. You will be the most loyal part of the crew, and any potential mutineers will think twice if you do well in these games."

Reine started to realize the seriousness of the Games and why so many watched them; which quickly put the pressure back on her, as she started to sweat and looked at her crew. She quickly felt a little better, as she noticed the beaming smiles from her crew - they all believed in her, which helped her courage greatly. She nodded and looked back at her father, before she replied with confidence.

"We won't let you down, I have a great team and I swear I won't put their abilities to waste..." Her father stepped out of her way and pressed the button for the elevator, as she continued to speak and looked back at her teammates, "We got this! I've seen all of our opponent's matches - they have inferior abilities, but don't let that make you soft. I want you all at your best today, we need to make a good first impression. I'm sure there will be important pirates out there watching us, looking for signs of weakness or strength - let's show them strength!"

Deytria followed her every word and smiled, as she finished. Her team nodded in response and all followed her into the elevator, as the door opened. On the ride down she talked strategy.

"Okay, this team isn't that great like I said - the leader is not that great, and their sniper is shoddy, but they have a solid computer specialist. We need to exploit these weaknesses and prevent them from having a chance to use their strength on us.

The match type is 'capture the intelligence', so if they get to the computer and manage to keep us off the specialist for a few minutes - it could lose us the match. I want their sniper out of the match as soon as possible. I will take care of the leader, with Acovis at my back I'm sure we can handle the other three.

Deytria and Alex will need to work together and keep the sniper out of the game. Even with a shotty sniper, if we don't handle it correctly, it could cost us the match. More to come once we find out what the field looks like."

She turned to see the door, as it opened to reveal a vast field and their starting area. They looked across to see their opponents, as the enemy already waited in their respective starting zone. Reine checked all her gear harnesses and made sure they were snugly strapped to her thighs and chest, as they walked out onto the field; she noticed her teammates doing the same.