~- History & Quests -~
ProloguePower HungerGiacomo was the second born of a family of five children. And not for lack of love and care, but more of time, the baby of the family was not as babied as one might think. Young, and naïve, he was perhaps left alone more often than not. Rising through grade school oblivious to many of the jokes his peers would use in an attempt to look older, or “cool.”
He quickly became an outcast at school, and even within his neighborhood. Due to his disinterest in the affairs of adults, and even more those of children pretending to be adults, he grew into a bit of nerd, or dork entering into junior high. But what did he care, he was loving life for simply what it was; life.
All of this would change however, as he found his natural talents for sports. Shortly into his first year as a sixth grader, he was asked to join the wrestling team. His prowess came through with flying colors. Combined with his scholastic ability, he was a shoe-in for scholarships. However, as his strengths grew, so too did his arrogance.
Moving onward into high school, he became the typical teen annoyance, just through a separate means from the rest of the lot. Were others might have placed stink bombs, and defaced school property, Giacomo went about joining faculty lead peer groups, and rising to heights of influence within his three sports teams. From these positions, he quickly began rearranging the pecking order of the school, and for no other reason than for fun.
Not everyone joined in on the merriment, even less condoned his actions with any form approval, but no one came anywhere near Giacomo’s “turf,” or “resources.” By his senior year, he had subsequently eliminated himself from the nightmarish peer-pressure of school. Solitary, singular, and “powerful,” he held sway over those that let him, and immune to those that did not.
Name and Number SoldierPresented with a chance to continue his “leadership” role, Giacomo entered into the military at the age of eighteen. But what he came face to face with was not the life he had envisioned to live. No recruiter could have articulated well enough the world outside the confines of school and family well enough for him. This harsh realization came quickly and forcefully.
Entered in as an infantryman, he chose the “coolest” position he could: Machine gunner. As such he was issued both his rifle and a light machine gun nigh instantly after BT. His AIT training fair his spirit less as the grueling life of a soldier continued onward. This is when he would first be court marshaled for “misconduct on the field.”
Taken to acts of rash severity, Giacomo was in the backwoods with the rest of the platoon, but rather than watch his flank as he should, he slunk off into the brush. Mere feet away, he lit his cigarette, and began his own little crusade against his drill sergeant. In the end, these lead the injury of a fellow, innocent soldier.
This would be his history well into his deployment into the enemy territory. Here, once more life took him by the ears, and knocked him down another peg. His eventuality would be a far more subtle and humbled person than he came in as, but it would come at a price; a price that even now, he regrets (his only regret).
While in route between the forward command and headquarters, Giacomo would decide it best to have a bit of fun, as he and the rest of the “guys” would on such an “easy” mission. He drove his humvee up next to the convoy leader, a good friend, and proceeded to challenge him to a race. As went well and good, the rest of the convoy commenting covertly over the radio at the foolishness and humor of their actions. This is until the bomb went off!
Coming into a blown out village, Giacomo’s vehicle was thrown wide to the right, slamming hard into an already derelict building. The collapse of the wall saved his life, as well as that of his passenger. Looking about, he found that both he and his passengers were fine; however, he could not see his friends’ humvee. Bursting from the driver door, he sprinted around the vehicle, LMG at the ready.
There it was, sitting against a building far to the left of the road. It had flipped onto its roof, the under carriage ablaze. In fear of what might happen, he rushed the vehicle before the supports had time to give way and crush any one inside. That’s when the shot rang out. On loud crack, and his backside screamed in pain. Slack-jawed, and confused, he fell to the earth in a heap. Squirming about, he aimed in the direction of the shot. Designed for close-quarters, the weapon would not accurately reach his target, but then again he wasn’t aiming. He just let loose, his hand gripping the trigger frame with a fierce determination to remove the shooter.
Before he could even hear the end of his clip, other guns barked, and screamed across the scene from behind him, and the world went black. Still able to hear, Giacomo slipped into unconscious darkness with the roar of battle as the last things he heard. Fear paralyzed his mind in those last moments, increasing the sick feeling in his stomach to an acute pain, until nothing could be felt any more.
He awoke screaming, his voice finally returned to him from the darkness. He was in a hospital! Quickly, nurses, and even his lieutenant appear in his room to understand his distress. Calming him down, and bringing him back to reality, the lieutenant explained the aftermath of the explosion and how his friend died just shortly before he awoke.
The full implications of his actions that day set in as he was back on home soil, and standing with his cane. Dress blues on, and at the best form of attention he could give, Giacomo stood before his friend’s grave. Long had all the other mourners departed, and the casket lowered. He still clutched the rose he was to place on the minor tomb; thorns slowly begun biting through his gloves.
This was not the end that he sought for his military career. This was not the future he had seen as a “great man.” In his mind, he was a murderer. His actions that day caused the death of a friend, and wounded several friends. All of whom stood beside him and supported that the convoy had been moving in formation the entire time. Even in the wake of his failure, he was defended.
The WorldWithin the last three years of being out of the four years of being out of the military, Giacomo has discovered a liking for MMORPGs, and at one point in time enjoyed several of the pay-to-play games out there. However, his wallet soon did not, and even more, the grinding and unrealistic systems ran him out of them. These games had originally appealed to him due to their ability of motion. Unconsciously, he gravitated to things that he could no longer do, or rather longed there for.
But as his knowledge of gaming began to grow, he came about
the World . An MMO that actually allows for a reasonable amount of realism? One that brings a bit of virtual reality game play home? He had been waiting for something like this. The World was not perfect in his eyes, but nigh close to work for him.
Months later, he assembled a computer “able to hack the pentagon,” and acquired
the World and its equipment; which was not much, just a head piece. He was prepared, his heart racing every day as he contemplated the option that would be open to him. His mouth salivated with the power he would have returned to him, if only in a video game.
“Welcome to the World. Please create an Account Name and Password.”
Name: Solar
Password: ******
Simple enough, he plugged the usual in and off he went. With the log in screen, Giacomo’s heart fluttered, and he felt as if he might just rise from his seat! This was it, the game worth waiting for!
Book One: Coming StormShadows of the Past.. [Link]((Solar finds himself in a bind as a would-be friend is endangered in a "safe zone!"))
