confused and it was the new kid who broke the awkward silence.
“It’s nothing to get worked up about Freddy. I hear those elves have a wonderful sense of humor,” Hunter smiled.
After a few breaths the color started to return to Freddy’s face. He looked at Hunter through a forced smile and nodded thanks.
“I hope so, Mr. Richardson. I hope so,” Freddy sighed.
“How did the GHOSTs get the armor,” Danny asked.
It was then that I noticed Freddy actually had everyone’s attention. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know the history of our tags, although I was still the only one who didn’t quite understand how they functioned. I assumed Freddy was getting to that part of the story. Luckily, someone else asking the question helped him forget his anger towards me and get back on topic.
“The armor, yes. Well, Payens’ Plate was lost in the fourteenth century, not to surface again until the Great War. Taken into custody by the French government, the armor was given as a gift to the GHOST organization. France believed that its projectile protecting capabilities could best be utilized by our organization. Since that day, a dog tag has been created for each member of a GHOST Team,” Freddy said.
“Wait. This is ancient armor. So when you say projectile, are we talking about arrows?”
“You are correct Mr. Chang,” Freddy said, almost without an undertone, “While the armor was in fact created to protect against arrows and other similar range weapons of the time, a funny thing was discovered. The spell upon the armor was weaved in such a way as to offer increased-protection in direct relation to the speed of the projectile. The magic uses the velocity and kinetic force of the object to repel the attack. Thus, the greater the speed of the attack, the more protection you should be afforded. The result is a method of protection that actually works better against bullets than it ever did against arrows.”
“So it doesn’t stop arrows anymore?”
“It will still slow an arrow, but due to the nature of our tags, mainly their smaller stature and size as compared to the original armor, we are offered lesser protection. An arrow will still pierce your skin, but this will hopefully prevent it from reaching any vital organs. You should expect little to no protection from knives, swords, or other similar melee attacks,” Freddy said.
“At least it stops bullets. How does that feel?”
“Have you ever been hit while wearing a Kevlar vest?” Hunter asked.
“I’m familiar with the sensation.”
I got a few looks from my team. I wasn’t happy to admit it. After all, Kevlar is very un-ninja.
“Well, this won’t hurt quite that bad, but it’s close,” he said.
“So, expect the wind to be knocked out of you, but you’ll live?”
“Basically,” Hunter nodded.
“Sounds good. What’s the catch?”
“If by catch you are referring to things that you should know about the tags,” Freddy started, “They must be charged frequently. While they should last for at least forty-eight hours, that time can be greatly shortened through use. At each occurrence when the tags are called upon to repel an attack, a bit of their manna is drained. It is here, at the armory, that they can be recharged.”
“Why here? I thought manna was tougher to find in cities, let alone in the middle of an office building.”
“Well, we sort of have a cheat here,” Kara added, “You see, our HQ is located on top of a manna hotspot, a small portal into the Veil that has been sealed and capped in order to utilize it for manna fueling purposes. That’s how our magical alarm system is powered.”
“That sounds safe.”
“It’s guarded by an old hound dog like me baby, so it’s uh, plenty safe,” Elvis said, as he reappeared from the darkness of the racks.
Dangling from his hand were our tags. Aptly named, they looked exactly like military dog tags, except there was only one tag per chain. Each tag had a
“It’s nothing to get worked up about Freddy. I hear those elves have a wonderful sense of humor,” Hunter smiled.
After a few breaths the color started to return to Freddy’s face. He looked at Hunter through a forced smile and nodded thanks.
“I hope so, Mr. Richardson. I hope so,” Freddy sighed.
“How did the GHOSTs get the armor,” Danny asked.
It was then that I noticed Freddy actually had everyone’s attention. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know the history of our tags, although I was still the only one who didn’t quite understand how they functioned. I assumed Freddy was getting to that part of the story. Luckily, someone else asking the question helped him forget his anger towards me and get back on topic.
“The armor, yes. Well, Payens’ Plate was lost in the fourteenth century, not to surface again until the Great War. Taken into custody by the French government, the armor was given as a gift to the GHOST organization. France believed that its projectile protecting capabilities could best be utilized by our organization. Since that day, a dog tag has been created for each member of a GHOST Team,” Freddy said.
“Wait. This is ancient armor. So when you say projectile, are we talking about arrows?”
“You are correct Mr. Chang,” Freddy said, almost without an undertone, “While the armor was in fact created to protect against arrows and other similar range weapons of the time, a funny thing was discovered. The spell upon the armor was weaved in such a way as to offer increased-protection in direct relation to the speed of the projectile. The magic uses the velocity and kinetic force of the object to repel the attack. Thus, the greater the speed of the attack, the more protection you should be afforded. The result is a method of protection that actually works better against bullets than it ever did against arrows.”
“So it doesn’t stop arrows anymore?”
“It will still slow an arrow, but due to the nature of our tags, mainly their smaller stature and size as compared to the original armor, we are offered lesser protection. An arrow will still pierce your skin, but this will hopefully prevent it from reaching any vital organs. You should expect little to no protection from knives, swords, or other similar melee attacks,” Freddy said.
“At least it stops bullets. How does that feel?”
“Have you ever been hit while wearing a Kevlar vest?” Hunter asked.
“I’m familiar with the sensation.”
I got a few looks from my team. I wasn’t happy to admit it. After all, Kevlar is very un-ninja.
“Well, this won’t hurt quite that bad, but it’s close,” he said.
“So, expect the wind to be knocked out of you, but you’ll live?”
“Basically,” Hunter nodded.
“Sounds good. What’s the catch?”
“If by catch you are referring to things that you should know about the tags,” Freddy started, “They must be charged frequently. While they should last for at least forty-eight hours, that time can be greatly shortened through use. At each occurrence when the tags are called upon to repel an attack, a bit of their manna is drained. It is here, at the armory, that they can be recharged.”
“Why here? I thought manna was tougher to find in cities, let alone in the middle of an office building.”
“Well, we sort of have a cheat here,” Kara added, “You see, our HQ is located on top of a manna hotspot, a small portal into the Veil that has been sealed and capped in order to utilize it for manna fueling purposes. That’s how our magical alarm system is powered.”
“That sounds safe.”
“It’s guarded by an old hound dog like me baby, so it’s uh, plenty safe,” Elvis said, as he reappeared from the darkness of the racks.
Dangling from his hand were our tags. Aptly named, they looked exactly like military dog tags, except there was only one tag per chain. Each tag had a
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