Star Wars The Force Unleashed

This is one game that I had always wanted to try, but never got around to until I had a roommate with the game. I am a big Star Wars fan as I said before, so anything that adds exciting new characters and abilities to the canon is always exciting to me. What I learned is that all of the hype about the game was true. The physics were bone-crushingly real, the cinematics were amazing, the storyline kept me going and the gameplay was the second worst that I have ever played next to Shak Fu or the original ET game that they took several thousand copies of and buried in the desert it was so bad.

Storyline: B-

The storyline for this game is absolutely amazing. The game opens with Darth Vader landing on Kashyyk, the Wookie homeworld, searching for a lone Jedi and helping the local Imperial Forces put down a Wookie uprising. As the robotic Sith Lord, you plow your way through wookies with an array of incredible Dark Side powers as big hairy aliens fly in all directions. finally after you shatter the last of the Wookie resistance, you find your nameless Jedi hiding in a wooden house. After you literally crush him into oblivion, a young boy uses the force to take Vader’s lightsaber and try to challenge him.

Fast forward a good 13 years or so, and that young boy has become Vader’s secret apprentice, codenamed Starkiller. With the Dark Side as your ally, you destroy all rebel AND Imperial forces at a TIE Fighter shipyard above Nar Shadaa and send Jedi General Kota spiralling towards the ground. You eliminate one of the last Jedi Masters on the Junk planet. You even confront a fan favorite of Shak Ti on the planet Felucia and send her to her death in the depths of a Sarlaac’s belly (the tentacle thing from the Return of the Jedi).

You return Triumphantly to Lord Vader, bearing trophies of your victories and ready to confront the Emperor along with Vader. What you get for your trouble is a lightsaber through the chest and a permanent nap in space. But that is not the end of th game. Vader revives you, and sends you out to join the growing rebellion in order to bring the enemies of the Empire to justice. So you meet up with Leia and Bail Organa, Garm Bel Iblis, Mon Mothma and General Kota in order to hit the Empire where it hurts.

Just as the Rebellion is about to be coined, surprise! Vader shows up with an army and fleet at his command, captured the rebel leaders and throws you off a cliff. However, your faithful pilot (and lover) rescues you and takes you to the Death Star (the first one) where you crawl down the firing laser tube as they are testing it in order to reach the Emperor’s hidden sanctum.

There you wreak havoc on Vader, making him look like he does at the end of Return of the Jedi. You are then presented with a choice. You can either confront the Emperor to save your friend General Kota, or kill Darth Vader. Each choice leads to a different ending, but in the interest of spoiling the fun you will have to find out somewhere else.

The problems that I have with the story are that it interferes with the canon of the Star Wars universe. Such as that Leia had never been on the Death Star until A New Hope, why wasn’t General Kota there to instruct Luke and in the bonus ending, you kill Vader. Really minute things that just turned me off as a big Star Wars fan. However, the return to places like Felucia, Kashyyk and Nar Shadaa tickled me something fierce. You also get to see the transformation of world under Imperial rule, like the fires and strip mining happening on Felucia and Kashyyk, and the slavery of the Wookies, which tends to make you want to get behind the Rebellion anyway. It is a little disappointing that Starkiller is redeemed as a Jedi in the end, but the Star Wars Saga is about redemption, so it fits.

Gameplay: F

The actual gameplay and physics of the game were incredible. Combinations of Force powers and leaps could get you stylish kills and even for those non-technical players button mashing could still get you some really cool abilities to destroy your enemies. It was moving through the game that was hard. There was a limited Journal (a necessity in any game where you can get lost and have to solve puzzles) that only had basic instructions like “Blast Through The Hyperdrive Core” and no real idea on how to do the damn thing. I spent a good hour trying to figure out how to blow stuff up on the second planet of the game and just getting incredibly frustrated that there weren’t more directions like earlier in the game.

But by far the most frustratingly cool part of the game came on the return to the Junk Planet. A Star Destroyer and a fleet of fighters stand between you and escaping offworld.  The game is limited to 2D at this point, which is amazingly frustrating in and of itself. Then you have to destroy a dozen TIE Fighters without Force Lightning or your lightsaber. You have to pluck floating junk with your Force Powers and smash them into the fighters or try and grab the TIEs themselves.

After you have almost died defeating a wave of enemy fighters, you literally have to grab the Star Destroyer with the Force and rip it from the sky. Sounds cool right? WRONG! You have to move your joysticks in precise movements with the on screen directions, which I couldn’t figure out until my third time through this level. Oh and after about 30 seconds, the TIE fighters come back, so you have to abandon the Star Destroyer and kill all the TIEs again. Then you get back to bringing down the Destroyer. Oh, wait, more TIE’s! It took me a good 2 and a half hours to beat this one stupid part of the game, where I was literally screaming like a person possessed at the TV and scaring my roommates that I might be homicidal and left me actually physically exhausted. Oh, and I was playing the game on Easy at this point, intending to play through again on Hard, but after that I never wanted to pick up the controller again.

That level was the most ridiculous thing I have EVER played on ANY video game. My reward however was pretty sweet in what the game revealed as far as story and some cool puzzles after that level.

Now that I have finished ripping a hole in the game’s credibility, the gameplay was actually very cool. Different buttons controlled different base powers such as Force Lightning (my favorite), lightsaber hack and using the Force to crash objects into each other. Force Push can also be used to blast through doors in your way, bending the metal or shattering the wood. Nearly everything in the game is, well fair game for Force powers. You can shatter windows, sucking your enemies into space or even pick them up and fling them into their own comrades.

Combinations of the basic buttons allows you to use combo moves after you have purchased them. Such moves include using Force Lightning on your lightsaber and having an electrified killing weapon for a while. Or to where you can almost fly through the air to reach places to jump. I found that the base moves were good enough to get through the game, but bonus experience is granted for style points on kills, making your character even more powerful.

Bosses such as rancors or ATST walkers are dealt with by hitting certain buttons at certain times in order to execute powerful moves after you have whittled down their health with normal moves. One such move includes you literally crushing a walker into a ball with the Force, or slicing it in half with your lightsaber. You also fight Vader and the Emperor in much the same way, which allows pretty much anyone to execute amazing moves within the game as it is fairly easy to hit the right buttons in a row.

If it weren’t for the amazingly frustrating ways of accomplishing tasks, this game would probably have gotten an A score. Hopefully the sequel improves upon the errors of the first.

Visuals/Music: B+

The visuals in this game were stunning. They abused the full extent of the X Box 360′s power to create whole new worlds that we literally had not seen before. The landscaping was fantastic and on par with an amazing game like Mass Effect. The moves were fluid and dynamic, allowing for cool finishes within the game. There were times that I forgot that I was playing a video game during the cut scenes and not just watching a spinoff Star Wars movie.

The music is taken from the movies, so the music is of course amazing. There is one point where Starkiller is falling through the Death Star to music, avoiding girders and obstacles by twisting out of the way. That was my favorite part of the game and it sent shivers down my spine. I’m sure the video is on Youtube if you want to check it out, and be sure, it is worth it.

There is not much to say about the visuals in this game. They were fantastic, with lots of explosions lightsaber fights and really cool looking force moves to back up the incredible cut scenes that made me forget I was playing a game where I hated the gameplay.

Originality: B

The game really is original, allowing you access to parts of the Star Wars universe that were otherwise unavailable to you before. Whoever thought of using the Force to blast through doors like they did in the game was a genius. It is also one of the first games where nearly everything is destructible or able to be manipulated in some way or another. It allowed me to have guilty pleasure about electrifying Jawas and listening to their panicked cries as they died and I laughed about it. The game is meant to have you travel in a Sith’s shoes and to do things that would otherwise make someone feel a little guilty about if their character were a Jedi.

It was also cool how they almost fit the story into the official Star Wars canon. There is nothing better than a cohesive universe that fits together really well and draws you deeper and deeper into the story until you can’t tell which way is up and are slightly surprised when you can’t Force Lightning a guy that just cut you off on the freeway.

Most of the Force powers ar ereally inventive as well, such as throwing a lightsaber into a rancor to charge up a massive dose of Force Lightning and fry the thing to death. I also crowed in triumph whenever I faced an ATST walker as it was easy to kill, and got me to the cool cinematics where I could crumple it into a junk ball or slice it into half like a knife through butter.

The endings are also very original, taking the Dark Side and Lifght Side paths respectively. But still no spoilers here, play through the game to find out!

Overall: C+

Overall this is one of the better games I have ever played. Just my extreme frustration with those certain points in the game kept it form getting a B+. But to be honest, it is worth it to play through the game. The cut scenes are amazing, truly great stuff. The universe is your oyster to figure out new and demented ways to vanquish your enemies. The music gets you fired up and ready for more.

I am super excited to play the sequel, the aptly named Star Wars The Force Unleashed II. Hopefully all of the fan response allows the developer to make a far superior game. From the commercials and promotional stuff that has been coming out for it I am even more excited for this game than I was for Halo Reach, and that is really saying something coming from a bona fied Halo fan.

Starship Trading Card Game

Types of Cards
Ships
-Space Stations-4 Segments-No Attack-No Maneuverability
-Super Carriers-3 Segments-High Attack-Low Maneuverability-Launches Fighters
-Carriers———3 Segments-Medium Attack-Low Maneuverability-Launches Fighters
-Battleships—–3 Segments-High Attack-Low Maneuverability
-Cruisers——–2 Segments-Medium Attack-Medium Maneuverability
-Destroyers—–2 Segments-Medium Attack-Medium Maneuverability
-Frigates——–2 Segments-Low Attack-Medium Maneuverability
-Corvettes——1 Segment-Low Attack-High Maneuverability
-Gunboat——-1 Segment-Medium Attack-High Maneuverability
-Fighters——–1 Segment-Low Attack-Very High Maneuverability

Upgrades

-Fire Upgrades
-Engine Upgrades
-Hull Upgrades

Commander

-Captain-Adds and subtracts bonuses to ships stats.
-Admiral-Adds and subtracts bonuses to all ships.
-Engineer-Gives a ship technical special abilities.
-Pilots-Adds and subtracts stats to fighters.

Tactics

-Maneuverability
-Fire Control
-Mines

Phases

Draw Phase
-Draw a card.

Recon Phase
-A pause to activate cards, card effects and to pay costs.
-Refill your Energy

Deployment Phase
-Play Tactics, Upgrades, Ships.
-Respond to opponent’s playing Tactics cards with your own.
-Non Scout Ships cannot attack the turn they are built.
-Play abilities of Commanders and Ships.

Attack Phase
-Designation Step
Declare which of your ships will target others for attack. Opponents may play Tactics cards     during this step.

-Fire Step
Ships Fire at one another. Players roll a number of 6 sided die equal to the Fire stat of the         ship. The total of the roll is the Attack Value of the attack. Additions and subtractions due         to Commanders are applied at this time. Maneuverability value of the defender is removed         from the Attack Value. Tactics cards may not be played at this time.

-Impact Step
The Fire impacts and the Attack Value is subtracted from the Shield Value. The remaining         Attack Value is subtracted from the Hull Value of the segment of the attacked ship. The         player chooses which segment of the opponents ship takes damage first. Damage is dealt         at the same time to both ships. Ships are destroyed when they have no hull left on a         segment. Destroyed ships are placed in the Graveyard at the end of the Impact Step.

Re-Deployment Phase
-The same as the Deployment Phase, just takes place after the Attack Phase.

End of Turn Phase
-End of turn effects happen here. At the end of the End of Turn Phase the turn player discards down to 7 cards.

Game Rules

-50 cards in a deck, including, Ships, Tactics, Commanders and Upgrades.
-Unique Ships can only include one per deck.
-At the beginning of the game players decide which player goes first (die roll, rock-paper-scissors).
-Each player draws 7 cards at the beginning of the game.
-If a player controls no ships, the attacker can attack a player’s planet directly.
-A player (planet) has a hull of 200
-Factions are Terran Defense Fleet (TDF), Novan Ascendancy (NVA), Martian Rebellion (MAR), Sirian Star Empire (SSE). TDF focuses on Battleships, Cruisers and Destroyers. NVA focuses on Carriers and Fighters. MAR focuses on Frigates, Corvettes and Gunboats. SSE focuses ships classified as scouts.

Card Abilitites

Faction Abilities
-TDF has special ability Broadside. Player has the choice to halve the number of dice he or she rolls but doubles the amount on each die rolled.
-NVA has special ability Swarm. Carirers may not attack but place an extra fighter into play each turn.
-MAR has special ability Combine. When a ship is destroyed it can attach to another ship that player controls with the ability Combine and add 1 Die roll to it’s attack.
-SSE has special ability Evasive Maneuvers. Player rolls one ten sided die instead of one six sided die for all maneuverability rolls.

Commander Abilities
-Strategy-A Commander increases the amount on a maneuverability roll by 1 if the roll is a natural 6.
-Invigorate-A Commander increases the amount on an attack roll by 1 if the roll is a natural 1.
-Full Throttle- A Commander increases the amount on a maneuverability roll by a total of 3, but the ship loses 1 Attack die.
-Focus Firepower-A Commander increases the amount on an attack roll by a total of 3, but the ship loses 1 maneuverability die.
-Repair- A Commander can restore 1 hull to any segment, but that ship cannot fire that turn.
-Last Minute- A player can play an upgrade on a ship during the designation step.
-Second Pass-A Pilot allows his fighter to attack once more, but at ½ of the attack dice.

Ship Abilities
-Shields-A ship has a second maneuverability roll equal to the shield value. Only large ships and space stations can have shields.
-Cloak-A ship has a second maneuverability roll equal to the cloak value. Only medium sized ships can have cloaks.
-EMP-A ship can negate Shields and Cloak abilities of one ship once per turn by rolling a six sided die and rolling a 1,2 or 3. Only fighters can have EMP.

The End

The world as I knew it started to come crashing down on me on February 2nd 2023 at 5:21 with the words “It’s not you it’s me.”

A word of advice to all of you would be dumpers out there, there is nothing you can say that would be worse than “It’s not you it’s me.” First off it is a total lie, which is an insult to the dumpee’s intelligence and second of all it is just the worst kind of terrible daytime television drama prattle.

Adrienne Chalmers was the love of my life up until that point. She was a perfect ten in my book. She was blonde, blue eyed and legs for days. Not only was she beautiful, she was smart. Not in that way that annoys the hell out of people, but in the way that she always knew the answer to odd questions and trivia. But most important of all she was madly in love with me, or at least I had thought up to that point.

So there I was, sitting open mouthed across from her in the coffee shop where we met as she spewed reasons and drama and feelings out of her mouth and all I could think was What the hell happened.

“So what the hell happened and when did you decide all that crap that just crawled out of your face?” I said quietly.

“Haven’t you been listening to anything I have said in the last five minutes you idiot?” She all but screamed in my face.

“Honestly? No Adrienne, I haven’t. I just couldn’t get beyond the fact that you wanted to break up with me after 4 years! I mean you have not only been my girlfriend for all that time but my best friend too!”

“You couldn’t get beyond anything! That was the problem Jeremy! You never wanted to do anything with your life! You are still working that dead end job at that book store and you haven’t even moved out of the town where you grew up! I want to actually do something with my time on this planet. Whenever I wanted to leave town, you always managed to convince me to stay, and I just won’t drown with you in this dead end life that you seem to be so obsessed with!”

“You never mentioned this before babe! Where did all of thi-”

“Oh I told you so many times! And don’t you dare try and call me babe! You have destroyed everything I have hoped to achieve and you have no right to be anywhere near me ever again.”

And then she was gone in a flash of golden hair and flowery perfume and I was left waiting at the table with questions in my head and an upset stomach from the absolutely terrible vanilla latte I had drank way too fast. This was the last normal moment that I had before everything changed forever.

A few seconds after Adrienne left the shop, the outside world erupted into fire and shrapnel. Sharpened glass shot at me from the now broken window and a rush of wind upended my chair and threw me to the ground. My head hit the hard ground with a hard smack and the last thing I knew before blackness overwhelmed me was the screams of terrified people and the smell of burning.

I awoke to find the world in complete disarray. Tables were upset with scattered coffee cups and their contents spilled all over the shop, with burnt and blackened bodies carpeting the burning floor. An upended table blocked my view of the rest of the room, and likely prtected my body from the blast.

I painfully rose to my feet, knocking the table back to it’s original position, where it promptly broke into charred pieces. I wiped the soot and ash from my face and hair, my brain a cornucopia of scattered thoughts.

A dog lit on fire ran past the remains of the coffee shop, yelping in pain and terror. I stumbled out of the shop after it, but it disappeared into the maze of upturned cars and collapsing buildings that lined the street.

“What happened here?” I managed to croak out . The only answer from the burning skyline were blazing meteors raining down from the rooftops.

I heard screaming from around the corner. Even completely terrified, I scrabbled over burnt cars and bits of rubble to reach the voice. As I finally rounded the corner I saw something that threw me into a full blown panic.

The Legacy of Ra Lah

“Ra Lah!” Screamed my sire “They are coming! You must finish now!”
“I need more time!” I yelled back from the terminal. “Hold them off for as long as you can!”
I heard the sound of a plasma repeater echo down the hallway and the horrified screams of the primitives as their flesh boiled and burned. But their war cries drew ever closer, angry and determined to drive us from their land.
I heard the hiss and crash of the stone door closing behind me and my sire came up in front of me, his face cut and bleeding.
“We have about 4 minutes before they break through the door!” My dam shouted form the door.
“I know, I know!” I yelled back. “All of this data has to be compiled, or we would lose everything we have gained from all this.”
The terminal beeped, letting me know that all of the data on the primitives and their culture, finally extruding the data core. I ripped it from the socket and tossed it to my sire, who was waiting at the gate.
“Time to go Ra Lah.” He said with a grim smile.
Just then we heard the whine of a plasma miner from the other side of the door. And the molten rock spew outward, cooling almost instantly. At that point the primitives ran into the room, my sire firing the plasma repeater into their midst, driving them back.
I was at the other side of the room, with a few hundred primitives between me and the the space gate. I could see my dam screaming at me to run through them, to do anything to get across, but unable to hear. The primitives charged at me, my sire’s plasma repeater doing nothing to the fury of the group. I climbed quickly into the cockpit of the hopper, protected for the moment from the onslaught of the primitives.
I could see the flash from the activation of the space gate and I knew that my sire and dam were gone, transported instantly to the opposite space gate on Hermathea. I started the engines of the hopper, and the swarm of primitives drew back, knowing the flames would burn them to a crisp.
As the hopper drew up through the open ceiling of our domicile, tears dripped form my eyes, knowing that nothing would ever be the same again.

I awoke with a start. The dream left me sweaty and my heart pumping. The day of my exile from Babylon was not one of my finer moments. I was young and panicked. I put my head into my hands and my heart calmed.
I rose from my bed, made of fine silk, one of the finer things that we had found on this primitive and backward planet. The window to my room was open and a warm and fragrant breeze blew in, lifting my spirits and calming my mind. Not knowing my destiny and being cut off from my people was part of the Progenitors plans for me. There was no use fighting what simply could not be fought.
With a polite knock, I heard my acolyte Solomon enter the room. I smiled at the humble man whose mind was more open to possibility than any other primitive that I had ever met. He strode into the room, head held high and his beard neatly combed.
“Are you ready for the day’s challenges Preserver?” He asked with a grin on his face.
“Now, Solomon, you know I am not a morning person.” I answered with an equal grin on my face. “But what is on my schedule for today?”
“To business then Preserver.” Was his answer. “You have a meeting with the Chancellor in an hour, and then you must travel to Delhi to meet with the Buddha.”
I groaned at this, for meeting with the man who now called himself the Buddha was one of my least favorite things to do. He was insistent on learning the path to enlightenment, which he was convinced that I as a Preserver knew. The man was getting to be a supreme annoyance, but was integral to gaining myself influence in the region of India.
“Anything else for me Solomon?” I asked as I rose to my full height, stretching out my muscles and snapping tendons as my body extended to it’s full height of 8 feet.
Still almost in awe of my physical size, the small man answered “Captain Centaur would like a chance to talk to you when you have a moment after your morning rituals Preserver.”
“Fine, send him in in about twenty minutes so I can have some time to think as well.” I answered.
“As you wish Preserver,” The man answered and hurriedly left the room as I began to undress from my sleeping robes.
I moved slowly to the cleaning room attached to my sleeping room. I turned on the shower, glad for the warm running water. It had been torture being unclean during the months in which I fled Babylon. Now everyone in my city had running water, sewers and even hot water if they so desired to pay for it.
After the refreshing scrub, I clothed myself in my simple travelers robe, a simple but comfortable garment that did not make me feel like I was strutting for my people. I walked to the balcony outside of my sleeping room and breathed in the perfume of flowers, fruit and baking that scented the air.
The vista was truly magnificent. The entire city that I had built in only a decade spread before me, the white buildings catching the rising sun in a glory of bright orange. People were already busily going about their daily lives, setting up the open air markets or hurrying off to work in one of the production factories.
I smiled to myself. Discontent had all but been eradicated from my city, as everyone had everything they could want. Food was not a concern, as my hydroponics plants grew more than enough food for everyone. A detailed selection program that was continuously upgraded by the servailance drones I deployed throughout the city made sure that every person had a job that they were suited for. The same program also chose mates. Those that did well at their tasks were rewarded with greater responsibility, as is fitting for a great society.
I was a benevolent dictator, with my people’s best interests at heart.

The Creeper

The officer who arrested me asked me when I knew I went bad. I couldn’t answer him. There were no warning signs, nothing that would signal a complete collapse of the moral fiber of my being. I simply turned into the creature I am from my life experiences.
They sent in scientists while I was in prison. Psychologists and Behaviourologists, all trying to know what is “wrong” with me. Well I say that it is all of these so called “normal” people that are the weird ones, cogs in a machine that cares for nothing but the people who make up the hands of the clock. They go about their daily business without a glance at the future and are surprised when they are on their deathbed having accomplished nothing of significance.
I told them the truth, because I am always honest. I was a normal child. I didn’t destroy my toys or even rough house too much, mostly because I hated violence, even though I always saw it around me. Not at home of course, my family was always loving and supportive. It was the news and the media. All of the cool people killed other people. Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker and even Jason Bourne all rose to be popular through violence, killing and dismembering. I just would have rather read books, mostly because it wasn’t what looked like real people getting hurt. It was only words.
I am writing this down not just for other people to understand me, but for myself as well. I am in need of discovering myself before I die. It is going to be 4 weeks before I go before the chopping block and I get to see the families of all of the people I killed. I want them to see in letter what I could never explain to them in words. I would just get tongue tied.
This is my diary that I kept for all of this time. I just wanted you all to know that since I am going to die and I won’t need the money, I am donating all proceeds from the sales of this book to the WWF. I love animals and think that the environment should be protected, you should too because we all live on the same planet. So that’s my spiel on that.

Saturday January 15th 2011

Something snapped in me tonight. Monica came by for dinner and I made  smoked duck, which is probably the hardest thing that I know how to make. She was picking at her food the entire night. I could tell something was wrong. So I asked her.

(retrieved from the tape recording of the evening)
“Monica, is there something wrong”
“Huh? Oh not really.”
Several moments of silence.
“You know I can tell when something is bothering you. You know you can tell me whatever is bothering you right?”
“I don’t know I guess it’s a combination of things.”
“Your job?”
“Yeah and other things.”
“What other things?”
“Just drop it okay? I don’t want to talk about it.”
Sounds of forks on plates.
“Come on baby, what’s wrong? We have been dating for 3 months, I would hope that you would trust me by now.”
“Goddamn it Jeremy I said I didn’t want to talk about it so just drop it!”
“Okay…”
“Fine, you want to know what’s bothering me? It’s you! You have gone nowhere since I met you. You said you were on your way to a successful writing career, but has that novel been written yet? NO! You stay at home and live off of your inheritance and do nothing all day!”
“I do plenty of things. I go to the gym, I ride my bike and visit downtown…”
“Bullshit! You know that’s not what I mean! You are doing nothing with your life you lazy son of a bitch!”
“Well why do you feel that way? We can work through this…”
“We won’t work through this Jeremy! You told me you were on your way up. That’s why I started dating you! We are so through, you lazy creep!”
Sound of chair scraping and high heels stomping away. A door slams in the background.

I thought we were in love. I guess she was faking it. She was always faking it. She had to be. No person can do what she did to me and be so casual about it. I am not sure that she has a soul. Maybe she was born without one, or she lost it along the way. I just don’t know. I still love her. I haven’t stopped loving her. I need to do something with my life.

Monday January 17th 2011

I sent in my submitted piece to the New Yorker today. I am really excited because this could be my big break. I have been pretty much writing nonstop on this. I am really excited about this. I think that if I can become successful again Monica would come back to me. I want her to come back to me. Maybe I don’t but I think I do. I won’t sleep until I hear back from The New Yorker, I think that everything is riding on this.

Tuesday January 18th 2011

The Fall of Kelorius

With the quilted landscape laid before him, the angel sighed in contentment. A favourable breeze and clear skies meant for a good day. His name was Kelorius and his long brown hair flowed unfettered around his body as he flew through the blue skies. His face was passive and at peace, with a small smile on his voice at the joy of flying. He slowly turned his attention to the ground with a slight frown on his face, for he felt something out of place in the forest below him.

His eyes of light brown quickly scanned the ground below him for what he could feel was down there. As he passed over the village of Heloraz, he could feel what was down in the forest below, an emptiness that was poised to swallow the town in it’s maw. With a great flap of his wings and fire in his heart he swooped down to where the village met the forest.

Alighting on his sandal clad feet, the angel drew to his full height and bellowed in his most righteous voice. “I Kelorius of the Divine Vanguard demand that you reveal your name, Foul Beast, so that I may send you back from whence you came!”

A low mirthless laugh emanated from the forest and drifted over the town, chilling everything it touched with the coldness of death. Th trees stopped swaying and the birds stopped singing. All was silent.

“I am Ghindoriaz, Pit Spawn of Dark Lord Terazzus and no mere bird man with a stick and conviction shall stop me from claiming the souls of this village for my Lord!” came a voice from the forest.

Kelorius gripped his staff in a defensive position, his feet planted as firmly in the ground as an immovable oak tree. “Ghindoriaz, I shall not yield until one of us is vanquished from this world! I am a protector of the Divine Spirit and not easily defeated! Turn back now and there need be no bloodshed!” Shouted Kelorius.

Answering his cry, the sound of thundering feet and crashing branches came forth from the trees and soon after the dark form of a deviled werewolf ran from the greenery. He launched himself at the stoic angel, his eyes a ferocious red and his enormous claws unsheathed like scythes.

Kelorius waited until the last possible second before the enraged demon could touch him. With a deft side step he cracked his staff on the back of the demon, cracking the weapon into useless halves.

The werewolf demon howled in pain and crashed to the ground in a tumble of limbs. The creature slowly raised itself up, it’s nine foot frame looking impossibly huge next to the human sized Kelorius. The demon looked wary, as if Kelorius might have another weapon.

“Give it up bird man!” Ghindoriaz growled. “You have no more weapons! Fly away to your master and tell him of your failure this day. What is one village in the grand scheme of things? What are a few hundred lives in the chorus of history?”

“Every life is precious demon spawn! I will give my last breath to stop you in your task. Would you lose your life in the service of your slaver?” Retorted Kelorius.

“Then we are truly at an impasse bird man. I refuse to die and you seem eager to.” A smile crept over Ghindoriaz’ canine features. “ I will enjoy tearing the limbs from your body.”

With that the demon dropped onto all four limbs and charged at Kelorius, his great paws kicking up the ground behind him. Kelorius waited until Ghindoriaz was within reach and embraced him with the force of a mountain, his arms wrapped around the werewolf. Using the demon’s own momentum against him, the angel swung the beast around and pinned him to the ground with all of his might, trapping his massive left fore paw with his left hand, the other pressing down on the furred back of the werewolf.

Howling in pain, the great beast thrashed against the vice grip of the divine servant. His massive clawed fist broke free of his body and slashed back at Kelorius, leaving deep red wounds in his side. Kelorius grunted in pain, barely registering the injury.

The angel used one knee to pin the creatures back, and used his mighty right arm to grip the snout of the snarling beast, fingers gripping the massive jaws closed. Pulling backward with all of his might, inch by inch the beasts head tilted ever backwards. With one last mighty exertion, the angel wrenched the head back, snapping it’s neck with a sickening crack.

Ghindoriaz stopped struggling as the red rage faded from his eyes and he grew still, at peace for the first time in his corrupted life. Kelorius stood over the body, breathing hard. The exertion of destroying the foul creature had sapped his strength, and his body now shook from fatigue. His magnificent wings were broken and bloodied and red and white feathers littered the ground around the angel.

He threw his head back, with his eyes closed, breathing hard from his exertions. He slowly calmed his body, and slowly the finely muscled body stopped trembling. He felt the deep dread of death prick along his shoulder blades, sensing the evil of the Shadow behind him.

Slowly, he twisted his injured body to look behind him. Standing at the edge of the forest were 3 more demons, all in the form of werewolves. They snarled and laughed at the exhausted angel.

Kelorius looked to the village, where many of the townsfolk had come out after hearing the titanic struggle between angel and demon. His eyes filled with infinite sadness Kelorius spoke to them one word. “Run.” he said. And then he charged the werewolf demons.

Snarling, the huge creatures ran at the angel, one grabbed each arm and then the last stood before him, a massive brute with the twisted and clawed markings of a minor Warchief tattooed into his chest.

“Little bird man cannot fly away now can he?” said the Warchief with a smirk. “You may have killed the pup Ghindoriaz, but we are stronger than that weakling, aren’t we lads?”

The other werewolves roared with laughter, driving their sharp claws even deeper into Kelorius’ arms as the hoisted him up so that his feet could no longer touch the ground and his broken wings hung limp and tattered form his shoulders.

This is toonaphish!

Hello and welcome to toonaphish!

First things first. Go ahead and register. Yeah I’ll wait. Come on already and register. Okay, everybody registered? Good.

Now, this is a blog for sharing whatever you think. Well, not really whatever you think, but mostly stuff about my media company, toonaphish Media. I do reviews of the best/newest movies and games, post short stories and kernels for short stories.

Basically feedback is a priority, and that is where you all come in. I want all of you to look at what I have done and give me suggestions for how I can make it better. Except you in the back giving me the finger. You may go.

Eventually I intend to start recording podcasts, posting short videos and even short films. Anyways, until I get the first post up, just sit back and wait for the good stuff to come out.

This first story is a story that I wrote for a friend’s website, but he never published it and he decided to drop the whole idea and get married. His loss.

Anyways, thank you so much for checking us out here at toonaphish and have a wonderful day. Except for the guy who gave me the finger. He can burn in hell.