Top Secret: The Warriors

Top Secret: The Warriors

The Paragon Times has collected statements and testimonials from a number of heroes – and even a few citizens of the Rogue Isles – for their up-coming special, Top Down Paragon: The Warriors: Living By the Sword.

Interview with Operative Ghost (Freedom)

Recently I did a recon mission for Longbow in Talos to track down the source of the flood of illicit magic artifacts. It's no surprise that word on the street indicated the Warriors. Aside from being tough-as-nails bruisers, the Warriors are able to hold their turf against gangs like the Tsoo and Freakshow partly due to their ready access to the flow of mystical relics.

I used my connections to arrange a meeting with a high ranking gang member under the pretense of making a big buy. Some meeting! About a dozen of those axe wielding maniacs jumped me and slapped a bag over my head. Before I knew it I was trussed up and dragged to a hidden base deep underground.

When they finally took my hood off, I came face to face with one of the head honchos. Big guy with a sword. Called himself Heracles, of all things. The base was an ancient temple dripping with treasures enough to make any archeologist's mouth water!

For a bunch of simple street thugs the Warriors were awfully well organized. This leads me to believe that there is much more to them than meets the eye. In discussion with this "Heracles" I was able to tease out several hints that they have a powerful backer, perhaps of extradimensional origin. I can’t say more than that publicly.

Interview with Kung 'Fro (Protector)

Yeah, I seen these suckas all over Talos. Lemme tell ya 'bout this one time…

I ran into a bunch of them over in the New Sparta district. They were all gathered near someone's wheels. Now, I'm from Kings Row, and when I see a buncha foo's gathered around a car they don't look like they own, they gotta be up to no good, right?

So I slide on up to these jokers and they immediately start breakin' out the knives an' maces an' stuff.

I say to 'em, "So, it's just you jive punks against Kung 'Fro? Master of Disco Kung-Fu, Karate, Kenpo, and all kinds of other stuff you ain't never heard of? HA!"

An' that's when the biggest dude in their ranks breaks out a battleaxe the size of my afro! My mojo had to work overtime to keep that foo' offa me. I mean, a 'fro will grow back, but my head's another story, dig? One swing missed me, but not my 'fro. Just so you know, The 'Fro don't like losin' any part of his afro. I remember starin' at that little piece of my 'do for just a moment before I looked back at that jive turkey.

"Sucka, you'll never…touch…this 'fro…AGAIN!"

I feel my mojo start to focus, and, after the Hewer's next swing, I busted him with so many kicks you'd think Carl Douglas wrote that song about Yours Truly! Once the Warrior lieutenant was down, his boys took off runnin'.

It's funny, now that I think back to those days. After fighting the Malta Group and those Carnival chicks, I'm startin' to kinda miss those guys. They ain't got a lot of tricks up their sleeves…well, unless you count a mace the size of a stop sign.

Off the record interview with Melissia Blackheart (Justice)

Sometimes, Siren's Call can seem empty of so-called heroes. Lulls happen in all major battles, and to ensure that I was in top form, I decided to practice on a few of the less noble residents -- members of a unique gang called the Warriors.

Unlike many of the heroes I had defeated just hours earlier, these warriors fought with fervor and courage. After I assassinated an axe-wielding boss, they immediately turned their attention to me, blades swinging about not with wild abandon, but with precision and skill unbefitting a street gang.

I did not escape the encounter without a few impressive gashes upon my arms and legs after a Hewer Elite charged at me, skillfully wielding his axe as well as, or better than, most heroes would theirs. It was nothing that I could not focus on my Sha to recover from, but very few things actually injure me anymore…

It is a pity such this gang doesn't thrive in the Rogue Isles, but I have heard rumors of minor Warrior presence in the various caves and warehouses of the Isles. I will investigate further, as a recording of their training sessions would be of great value in improving the training of the Wolf Spiders' use of their maces, and such a gift to the organization would likely not go ignored.

Interview with Light Errant (Virtue)

The Ancient Greeks? They've given the world lots of things. Big things. And I don't mean just magical stuff like whatever makes Statesman tick. I mean stuff like democracy, philosophy, science, culture. You know, the really big things. So it's a crying shame that all THESE guys get from the Greeks is the screaming desire to bash people with honking great weapons. Aren't they missing the point?

But…well, no. No, I take that back. Maybe that's not fair. There was one time…Alexander, you've heard of him? He’s a Warrior boss. He saved my life once. You have to understand, they really had me. No way out, no escape. There was a blade to my throat -- yeah, like that. Cutting my skin. Trust me, I felt the blood. They had me down on the warehouse floor, and I just couldn't find the strength to move, let alone stand. My vision was blurred, but I could make out the shapes, the gang colors. There were more of ‘em than I could count. And I thought…that was it. I was dead.

But all of a sudden, one guy pushed his way to the front. Alexander. He grabbed the other Warrior by the sword arm, pulling him away. Then Alexander helped me up. Said I'd fought well, fought bravely. He said I didn't deserve to die like that. I was beaten, but he let me go.

And that's the thing, I guess. That’s the thing. The Warriors are violent crazies, yeah, but they're not outright murderers. They’ve got, I dunno, call it honor. That’s something, at least. Not like some folks in this town.

Interview with Rove (Guardian)

The Warriors? Yeah, I used to run with those guys before I realized I was a being a teenage moron -- the mace kinda gives it away, eh?

What, you're so surprised to find out there are female Warriors too? Of course there are. You gotta understand -- Warriors, they respect strength and guts. Nothing else matters as long as you can live through the first sparring session. And don't be thinkin' they don't work for it -- oh, sure, they pinch the occasional magic toy, but when it comes down to it, they are what they are 'cus of hard work and training and bloody-mindedness.

I'm pretty sure a lot of capes are out there talkin' about how awesome it was that one time they kicked that wimpy gang of Warriors around. An old friend of mine used to call 'em the SCA. But think about it for a sec -- how many of you got your powers just by working at it? Say what you want about those punks, but -- and maybe it's just because I'm a "natural" too -- but I've got a lot more respect for them than for all these bozos running around with mecha suits and magic and junk.

Yeah, they chose to be the bad guys, so go ahead and beat them up. But there's something to be said for living under your own power these days, and I reckon we should all remember that.

Interview with Master Servo (Liberty)

Log excerpt 2505, delivered to Paragon Times.

In accordance with the Directives of routine module 2505, Self has observed Warriors on Talos Island. Conclusion: the technical data that could be recorded from observation of Warriors in the streets of Talos Island proper is insufficient. Compare video data module 2505-WSC with 2505-WTI.

Solution: Attempt to locate more skilled Warriors or secure Warrior training material.

Result: Against expectations, agitated discussion between Warriors soon reveals traces to Warrior designate “boss,” Aeneas. Route-tracing this information, Self comes across an anomalous ship wherein Warriors are hurrying to load crates.

Self stealthily gains access. Cross-referencing files match the large sailing ship to ancient Hellenic design. Self notes the ship is in good order besides bullets embedded in the wood. Further investigation reveals parts that betray great age. Conclusion: it is likely a restoration from the remains of an authentic ancient vessel. Self remains hidden as the ship departs with surprising speed.

After 3 hours and 14 minutes the ship docks and the Warrior crew disembarks and unloads the crates. Self disembarks secretly and follows them to higher ground on what initial reports suggest is a small island. There is a bunker and a warehouse here. Self notes this are of modern design. From where the crates have been placed, outside, Self can barely detect impassioned talk from inside. Self identifies speakers one as Aeneas. Aenas argues in favor of a process related to the "blood of the ancestor Heroes" and "metaphysical extraction." Speaker two mentions Odysseus and "high costs" in anger several times. See audio data module 2505-BMI-A.

Self opens one crate and reveals a series of large, non-human teeth, or the representation of teeth, and an ancient scroll case. Self is forced to flee at top speed into the sea with the case as Aenas, alerted to Self's presence, is alerted to Self. Self then manages to reach Striga Island's shore and escape the Warriors.

Interview with The Fighting Varietal (Freedom)

Once when I was out patrolling Talos on the wrong side of 3 AM, I picked up a police band alert that dozens of Warriors were massing on one of the outer islands. When I got there, they were clustered around a bonfire, listening to one of their leaders reciting Greek poetry! Now the only Greek words I know are "ouzo" and "nausea" (and believe me, the two go together), but as I trained my paramike on him from my hovering point eighty feet up, I didn't have to ken a singe syllable to know the beginning of his tale was celebration; the middle, discovery; the end, tragedy. As the Warriors and I moved closer to the fire, I felt I was transported to the Bronze Age, the Age of Heroes, thirty centuries back. When the sun rose and the gathering broke up, I almost couldn't bear to leave.

Two weeks later I busted the very same guy after he tossed his hetaera (that's what he called her -- it must mean "girlfriend") out a third story window because she served his spiced wine at the wrong temperature. And again, I was transported thirty centuries back...but the Bronze had tarnished, and so had the Heroes.

Postscript: I eventually took the recording to Doc Delilah to see if she could translate it. Normally she only turns on that protective glow of hers when she's voiding the warranty on some Sky Raider's jet pack, but after listening she laughed and lit up like Atlas Park in mid-December. It turns out that guy was reciting something called the Telegony -- sort of a sequel to Homer's Odyssey -- in the original Doric. As the good Doctor helpfully explained, only two lines of the actual work were known to scholars -- and I'd just handed her another three hundred. So maybe those "dummies with axes" know more than they let on, nu?

PHOTOS courtesy of the Paragon Times freelance corps: Firelord Kossuth (Triumph Server) by Scott X.; Aztec Dragon (Pinnacle Server) by Frank S., Medford, NY; Carmesi (Justice Server) by Keith D., Kent, WA; Powerthrust (Triumph Server) by Andrew E., Denver, CO; Elizabeth Black (Justice Server) by April J., Oklahoma City, OK; Naberus (Pinnacle Server) by Jonathan P., Warrington, PA; Zimm (Justice Server) by Paul Z., Redmond, WA; Platinum Thunder (Virtue Server) by Robert K., Myrtle Beach, SC