

                      Nine Dragons
                       A Short Story By
                         Paul Hill AKA Lestat
                     Dedicated to Ben Schuler


  Credits to.. Ruth Thompson, And Sean Murray of Tarnished Images, without
  whom this story would not have been written, nor the accompanying level
  which features her Fantasy Dragon paintings designed.Also to the fabulous
  artists and programmers who made this game (Unreal, Unreal Tournament)
  and released these amazing tools to the world, they have inspired a
  new generation of artists in the form of level designers, of which I 
  am a proud member. While I consider Ruth Thompson's art
  very modern, paintings and fantasy images of dragons have been in our
  world for many generations, and I am very honored to use her timeless
  artwork in this humble endeavor, and enjoyed using such art for this new
  type of creation. This is my third project with her art, and
  Hopefully not the last :)   
  That being said, On with the story.. another one of
  my loves is writing, and that too is an old form of creative expression.
  so I blend here the very old with the very new, and now enough of my
  babble .. on with the story    :)


   Nine Dragons....


   After winning the tournament the whole galaxy knows of you. You cant
   Order a meal without having a server ask you for your autograph, but on
   the good side, you havent paid for a meal since winning the trophy either.
   As a matter of fact, you cant remember having paid for anything for quite 
   some time, the phrase "Your money's no good here" seems to be a permenant
   part of your lifestyle, defeating xan has given humanity a new faith in
   itself, everywhere you see children wearing shirts with your image 
   emblazoned across the front of it, decimating the robot xan with a 
   cluster rocket shot.Yet there were so many more
   reasons why you joined the tournament than simply to get the trophy and
   blast a robot into space. You have always been a warrior, enlisting in the
   marines at an early age, you proved yourself in combat against the skaarj
   menace, but you needed more glory, so you thought. Now the glory seems to
   leave an empty hole in your gut, it hasnt filled the void as you thought it
   would. You decide to go to a remote desert planet, and rent a room
   anonymously, dye your hair, and wear shabby clothes.You go downstairs
   to get some food. As you pay the
   bill for your poorly cooked meal, you feel a great relaxation overtake you
   as the waitress scowls at the meager tip. You actually wanted someone
   to look on you as a human again, and not a superstar, or icon.
   Maybe that is why you left the small tip, to feel normal again, and her
   scowl was quite refreshing actually.leaving the resturaunt, your senses alert
   you to danger, you have learned to trust your combat instincts, since
   at times, they were all you had, you can't count the number of times in
   the tournament, a small voice told you.. "Turn around" only to turn around and
   eviscerate your opponent microseconds before getting a face full of 
   shrapnel from a flak cannon. And here it was again..."The alley" it
   seemed to speak. Quickly turning toward your right, You notice 2 figures
   dressed in black, moments before there stun guns flash out at you. Quickly,
   drawing both your enforcers, you blaze away. The orange flashes from your
   double guns light up the dark alley like a strobe light in a discotech.
   The two figures fall back, you notice two gold dragons on there ninja
   outfits, a blazing yellow gold barely visible on there back,  as bright
   as the sun, but thin as a wire. as you approach the blood is already starting
   to dull the fine stitchwork, and than something that has never happened before
   occurs, your voice fails you.  A strong thin arm is around your neck, it
   is another ninja, this one a woman,  she is solidly dressed in black like the others, 
    her grip is firm and unyielding, she knocks both guns from your hands with her other arm.
   "Goodnight sweet prince" She softly whispers in your ear, and than as she 
   places the stun rod into your lower spine, all becomes darkness...

   Awakeneing in a strange room that seems to be made of black webs and smoke
   A voice booms out from the intercom... Welcome.. I am The Dragon.. I know you
   Very well, although you do not know me. Forgive my method of acquiring your
   presence to this meeting, but you may be one of the most formidable forces
   in the galaxy, the Tournament aside.. You are a great warrior, and you have been
   chosen to find the Nine Dragons. Only one such as you can complete this task.
   The Skaarj are fated to wipe out humanity, this has been foretold.Many years
   ago, I armed several key planets with a "Doomsday Device" so to speak,
   The Skaarj have now taken over these planets and have enslaved the nali
   and brought them to the point of extinction.In order to save these star systems
   there are the Nine Dragons. The Nine Dragons are in the guise of Paintings
   made by an ancient artist from the home of humanity, earth. While her existence
   was many thousands of years ago, her paintings live on forever, and the skaarj
   in there arrogance would not dare tamper with them ,they liken themselves to
   dragons and regard them as trophies. and that my friend, will be there undoing. 
   I am giving you a special microchip, surgically inserted into your wrist, 
   when you touch the dragon paintings,
   they will reveal a control panet, hold your wrist to the panel
   and the bombs will arm themselves, than a final code will destroy all the planets
   at once, and humanity will be able to save the nali from extinction and force
   the skaarj back to there own homeworlds. Your first mission is on a planet 
   recently overun by skaarj and viscious mercenaries, the first Dragon is
   at the top of a cafe called Dragons Cafe, I knew that the skaarj woud leave
   such a place alone, they have actually taken to it quite well, as i knew
   they would.. As i said, their arrogance will be their undoing. There is also a hidden
   teleporter that will open up with the activation of each of the dragons, this
   will return you to my base, where you will proceed with the next mission, until
   all the dragons are armed, and we strike back! Again, i apologize for the way
   you were captured, but it was neccesarry. You are still hurt, make your way
   to the plasma chamber in front of you, the soothing fog wil heal you, and
   make you prepared for your first mission. You will encounter resistance in the
   cafe once you reach the technorave levels, they enjoy fighting each other with
   weapons for sport, for them killing each other is akin to dancing for humans.
   Do not answer whether you accept this charge or not, as i said, I know you
   quite well, and this is your fate. Farewell, I shall speak to you again.

   The Dragon's ominous voice sent chills through your spine, and although you can
   barely walk, you know immediately he was right, this is your fate, somehow
   the lights ahead and the mission in front of you seem familiar, this is
   what you have needed since the tournament, you are at heart, a warrior
   but not a blind one who fights merely for personal glory, what the tournament gave
   you was a sense of self importance and worth, you had to prove you were the best,
   but now its time to use your abilities to make a change, boldly stepping
   forward, you clamor your way into the thick blue and green fog, letting the plasma
   revitalize you, and than with a new spark in your eye.. you whole - heartedly
   undertake your first mission.....





 End of Intro... I suggest you dont read 9Dragons Epliogue until youve beat the
  game ....  :)
    Paul Hill ~Lestat

    


  