《Paladin》Previously on Paladin
Advertisement
Humanity has lost the war against an Alien race known as the Assimilators.
The Assimilators crash-landed in Siberia in 2021, and within a few years had come to dominate the planet through sheer numbers and ruthless force. Now, the last remnants of humanity live in scattered communities across the United States.
Samuel Lewis is an engineer working in a top-secret facility in the plains of eastern Colorado. It was responsible for manufacturing state-of-the-art mechs known as Paladin Mobile Infantry Suits, and Sam was stationed there just months before the war ended. The bunker kept him safe from the Assimilators, but he lost his family, his friends, and everyone he’d ever known to the Assimilators. With him was a hyperintelligent pseudo-AI named Adelaide. He named his home Camelot.
For months, Sam kept himself isolated in the bunker, refusing to accept the reality of the outside world. Several groups of Assimilators passed by him, but none found his location. However, a group of survivers chased by Assimilators passed by Camelot, and though he had the ability to help them, he let them die instead, fearing that he would be discovered.
After that, he threw himself into training to pilot a Paladin, swearing he’d never let people he could help die again. He became the first person that was qualified to pilot the Paladin Mobile Infantry Suit. Shortly after his graduation, another group of people appeared on Camelot’s sensors, also being attacked by Worms (Mary, Mike, and Wade). This time, Sam didn’t hesitate to save them, wiping out the Assimilators. The group turned out to be from Sterling, a town in North-Eastern Colorado. It was his first-time above ground since entering Camelot.
Adelaide turned out to be an alien that lives in information and is essentially immortal, discovered in the wreck of the first spaceship that fell to Earth.
Advertisement
While he was fixing the satellite dish that connected Camelot to the outside world, Sam encountered a group of slavers. They attacked him, and after he killed their leader, the chips in their brains self-destructed, wiping out the rest of the slaver group.
Sam met scouts from the Red Eagle mercenaries (Aaron, Rebecca, Allie, Jackson, and Tom), who were operating near Camelot. The scouts were looking for an Advance Team, which turned out to be the group of people that Sam let die. The Advance Team had been chased by the Assimilators, and buried an encrypted ‘black-box’ that most likely detailed why they were being hunted. The box has yet to be decrypted.
Shortly after that, Sam picked up a distress signal from a town known as Fort Morgan, that was being attacked by another group of slavers. Sam destroyed the group, and saved Fort Morgan. He transported the remaining prisoners to Sterling.
Sam became close to the scouts from the Red Eagles, and ended up being hired by them for a mission to investigate an odd location. The location turned out to be an unfinished Assimilator hive, which erupted while the Red Eagles were studying it. Sam fought a Hive Lord, delaying it and preventing it from hunting down the Red Eagles. He was hurt during the engagement, requiring saving from Adelaide who piloted the gunship known as the Merlin. The Hive Lord was relatively unscathed.
Badly injured, Sam was returning to Camelot when he happened upon Camille, the love of his life who he thought had died on the day humanity had lost the war. She had escaped from the Assimilators and had been living in a small town, looking for Sam.
Sam, Camille, and Adelaide realized that the software sensors they had been using were outdated, and would not be able to discover hidden Assimilators. Therefore, they organized a mission with the Red Eagle scouts and Mary to go to Denver in order to retrieve the advanced Paladin software. During the mission, Rebecca was injured. Having no other choice, Sam brought the team to Camelot in order to treat Rebecca, revealing the fact that the base existed.
Advertisement
After Adelaide upgraded Camelot’s sensors with the software that had been retrieved from Denver, Camille discovered that a large group of Assimilators was approaching Sterling. Sam has gone to help them out, and asked the Red Eagles to help as well. Commander Berston, the leader of the Red Eagles, refused to help. The Red Eagles scouting team, in violation of their orders, had planned to go to Sterling, but they never arrived.
Now in Sterling, Sam (in his newly made Assault Paladin) has to face down the massive Assimilator horde with the help of Adelaide, Camille, and roughly 2,000 militia from the town.
Advertisement
Dungeon Devotee
Through all of Linaria, no dungeon holds such a grip on the dreams of men as the Eternal Depths. Hundreds throw themselves against its trials each day. Dozens survive, walking away with power and wealth beyond their wildest dreams… until they go back for more. One way or another, they all eventually feed the Depths. Edmund Montgomery Ahab has sworn to destroy it. Underleveled, undertrained, and underprepared, Edmund steps into the maw of the world’s greatest predator, a sword in his hand and vengeance on his mind. At first his task seems impossible, but with every level he earns, every piece of loot that drops, every secret he uncovers, and especially every bit of power he can squeeze from his mysterious connection to the Aspect of Madness, Edmund crawls closer to accomplishing that insurmountable feat. With nothing else to lose, Edmund has already given the Depths his life. All that remains to be seen is whether he takes the dungeon’s right back. Dungeon Devotee is an episodic serial. It will never be taken down for KU. Each chapter details a single floor of Edmund’s journey through the vast Eternal Depths, with all the levels and loot and lack of cliffhangers that entails. New chapters come out on the first of each month.
8 109The Daily Diary of a VRMMO-playing Dragon (Complete)
This is the story of a dragon playing video games to save the love of his life. By the author of The Blue Mage Raised by Dragons, The Godking's Legacy, and Demon's Journey.
8 143Next Life: Awakening
Welcome to Novus! Where the only limit, is that of your imagination! Upon the decimation of the earths surface due to nuclear war. What was left of humanity was forced deep within the Earths crust, far from the deadly radiation. The human life has been reduced to a virtual reality paradise, that is, SO vivid and realistic that it feel as though you are REALLY living! Explore a vast landscape populated with countless species and structures designed by our very own pilots! In Novus, you can find adventure, danger, or even love. So make the best out of your new life in that stasis chamber and try your luck in the world of Novus! Where the only limit is your imagination! Good luck!
8 158Shadowrun: Blake Island School of Magic
It's a high tech, low life. It's the Seattle Metroplex in 2074. It rises like a steel and concrete cancer out of the earth. Poverty is rampant, corruption is everywhere, crime is out of control, corporations basically control everything, the old United States is fractured, magic has come back and now it turns out that humanity has been joined by elves, dwarves, orks and trolls. The old world ended but the rent is still due. Life goes on. You'd be surprised what people can adapt to, especially if they don't have a choice. One of the places where life goes on is just west of Seattle. Surrounded by the waters of the Puget Sound is an island. On that island is the Blake Island School of Magic. A decade ago it was known for producing some of the most talented awakened in the world. That reputation was hijacked by the wealthy corporate elite who now park their teenage children there. And since it's a boarding school, their parents mostly forget about them. Three young people, who are certainly not wealthy or elite, are chosen this year to attend this school of magic in hopes of revitalizing their reputation for talent. One from the ash drifts of the Puyallup Barrens, one from the most densely populated slum hive in the world and one from prison. This is their story. -- This story is set in the Shadowrun universe. If you're not familiar with Shadowrun, it mostly tells the stories of deniable mercenaries called shadowrunners in a cyberpunk dystopia. Instead of telling another story solely about shadowrunners, this story will tell the tale of young people navigating a world that is indifferent to them at best and actively hostile at worst. Shadowrunners will be in the story and we'll see them operate, but they won't be its main focus. This story originally began in 2017 as a passion project and continues to this day on the Somethingawful.com forums. The unedited version is over a million words strong. There are currently seven books in this series and I am currently in the process of editing them. If you read this story then you won't lack for content. -- The Topps Company, Inc. has sole ownership of the names, logo, artwork, marks, photographs, sounds, audio, video and/or any proprietary material used in connection with the game Shadowrun. The Topps Company, Inc. has granted permission to the Blake Island on Royal Road to use such names, logos, artwork, marks and/or any proprietary materials for promotional and informational purposes on its website but does not endorse, and is not affiliated with Blake Island on Royal Road in any official capacity whatsoever.
8 164Candlemaiden: The Stranger Shore
Evil spirits. A cursed prince. Death itself in disarray. Iris just wants to go home, but fate has other plans for this young priestess and her odd companions. /// The land of Erinlin is dying, its ancient traditions choked out by the Kaerent church and its true priestesses, the Candlemaidens, increasingly regarded with fear and suspicion. All Iris wants is to tend her candles, win her shade battles, and chat with the spirits of her realm. But when she is torn away from her home by the Kaerent king, she learns that her country needs her to be far more than a typical Candlemaiden-- she must be as the legendary priestesses of old and walk through Death itself. ***Cover help from the awesome @ArdenBrooks. Special thanks to @rainersalt, @giveitameaning, and @piperjones033 !
8 121Mackie Jade and the Dragon Duchess
Mackenzie Buckley, the renowned warrior-witch known for her legendary skill with a moonlit blade… with a fondness for flicking yogurt spoons and the color orange. Of course, it didn’t start that way. Mackenzie, or Mackie Jade, was merely a teenager heading to a boarding school after a long summer of doing nothing. Unfortunately, she multidimensional-traveled on her train ride. How unlucky! Now, she’s attending Glowing Dragon Academy and has to deal with a flurry of combat sessions, ominous prophecies, fire/frost-breathing dragons, evil organizations, magic classes, and a partridge in the pear tree! With her newfound friends, Amber, and Max, they discover plot after plot of nefarious plans. Betrayal, protection, corruption, peace, revenge, family… Everyone fought for their own reason. The war they fought had no line between good and evil, only between living and dead. Sometimes, it wasn’t worth it. Oh well, who knows where this will go? Adventure is waiting.
8 225