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Cambyses Falls / Cambyses Rises
Author Message
Cambyses Offline
The Eagle



XWF FanBase:
Some of everyone

(cheered; very rarely plays dirty but isn't lame either; many likable qualities)


#1
08-29-2019, 08:08 AM

PROLOGUE - CAMBYSES FALLS
LOCATION: Banks of the Jaxartes, Massagetae Territory, Modern day Kazakhstan
DATE/TIME: 6:22 PM, December 4, 530 BC


This was the final day of Cambyses of Anshan's life.

He knew that now. He had accompanied his king on a military expedition eastwards from Persia to punish the Massagetae tribes, who had been raiding and attacking Persian lands. Cyrus himself finally decided to put a stop to the whole thing, and he took his armies and went east. As his loyal bodyguard and companion, where Cyrus went, so did Cambyses.

The battle had taken a turn for the worse, and the entire might of the army - even the Immortals - lay dead or dying across the banks of the Jaxartes, the river itself almost seeming to be red with their blood thanks to the sunset above. Those who hadn't died had fled- and even some of the most loyal soldiers had been ordered to flee west to spread news back to Persepolis about what had happened here today. Only Cyrus and Cambyses were left, their backs to a large hill before the river itself as they ran towards it.

"Can we get across?" Cyrus asked as Cambyses tested the depths of the river. After only a couple of steps in, a deep incline almost tugged his leg away.

"No such luck." He shook his head, "I might be able to get across with my leathers, but you..." He eyed the ageing king in his heavy bronze breastplate, "Too deep. You'll sink like a stone."

"You could still run," Cyrus suggested, looking back up the hill, "It's me they want, Cambyses. Go and live the rest of your life."

"Not a chance." Cambyses refused, drawing his sword grimly, "You know what my purpose in life is, Cyrus. For the last twenty years, I've stood by you, defended you as my oath demands it, just as my father had. Just like my son will defend yours, and his son will defend your son's son. Either we both leave here, or neither of us do."

"I could order you, you know." Cyrus pointed out.

"And it'd grieve me to have to disobey a direct order, Cyrus, but this is one time I'd have to. I'm afraid my mind's set on this."

"I suppose that's your choice." the king sighed, "Don't judge yourself too harshly, Cambyses. Seventy years is far more than I thought I'd ever see." He reached out to seize Cambyses' arm, his other hand clapping him on the shoulder, "Thank you for getting me that far."

"It was an honour to serve you, sire." Cambyses replied, banging on his chest in salute, "At least we're going to take a lot of the howling barbarians with us, eh?'

Cyrus smirked at that.

The hill ahead of them suddenly seemed alive against the blood-red light of the sunset- the swarm of dozens, hundreds of swarming Massagetae warriors in hides, skins and leather armour, swords and spears and axes at the ready. Howls of war came down from them on the hill above, and their ranks swept down across Cambyses and Cyrus' flanks, pinning them back against the river.

This was it. The final fight of Cambyses of Anshan. Forty-four years of life had led up to this moment. Whatever legacy Cambyses would leave to history, it had now been written and completed; and odds are the stories of today would never make it into the history books. He'd just be remembered as a loyal retainer who died with his king. But in the end, that was all he ever really wanted to be in the first place. He could die now, and be at peace, committing the future legacy of his line to the future people of his blood.

He wondered how long the legacy would last. His son at home would surely protect Cambyses II - Cyrus' son, named for his old friend. But how long would his family legacy last? If in 2000 years, Ahura forbid, the great Empire was gone, what would his descendants be like? Would they hold to the same values he held dear? Or would they be so changed by time that he wouldn't even recognize them? Would they even *remain* in Persia, or be scattered to some far corner of the world yet to be found?

There wasn't much he could do about it now. All he could do was put faith that his example would last throughout the years, decades, centuries, maybe millennia.

Cambyses and Cyrus took one glance between each other, then up at the horde of warriors. Cyrus' sword snaked out of its scabbard and the two aging warriors bellowed their defiance as they charged up the hill straight into the face of oblivion.


CHAPTER 1: CAMBYSES RISES
LOCATION: Cam's Apartment, Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, California
DATE/TIME: 11:30AM, August 28, 2019 AD

2500 years later, half a world away, another Cambyses opens his eyes to the sound of a piercing bell noise.

The scene opens in the bedroom of one Cam Jordan, San Franciscan bartender and occasional bouncer. The bedroom is more of a sealed off part of a decent sized studio apartment, where the young man struggles half-sitting to a sleeping position, his olive-skinned upper torso bare, and shorts over his lower frame. His dark brown hair lies unkempt on the top of his head- that of if that isn't buzzed short on the back and sides. After blindly grabbing at thin air a couple of times, he finally manages to seize a smartphone at the edge of his bed, swiping it and muttering something barely comprehensible into it.

[Image: dduacj6.png]
CAMBYSES - THE EAGLE

"..grmr... 'lo?"

"Finally!" A woman's voice comes from the other end of the phone, the tone more than a little exasperated, "I was starting to worry you were dead."

"Just asleep, Lucy," Cam replies, coiling backwards and springing out of his bed to his feet, catlike, "Some of us work the night shift ya know."

"That's not going to be an excuse for much longer. Anyway, get down here. I need to talk to you, there's been a new development."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be out in a sec..." Cam groans, staggering out of the door of his bedroom across the main living area of the studio apartment. It is not a high-end condo by any stretch of the imagination, but it is decently sized and quite modern, with broad windows at the far end with a stunning downhill view of the city of San Francisco. He narrowly misses crashing into a coffee table as he slides over the carpet, disappearing into the bathroom.

Shower, coffee, a hastily-scarfed sandwich and a run down a flight of stairs later, Cam bursts out into the open air of Telegraph Hill, having thrown on a gray t-shirt with the California Republic flag on it, a black snap-back cap and dark blue jeans. Sitting next to a royal blue sportsbike - his own - is an expensive looking black sports convertible. Sitting in the driver's seat, drumming her fingers impatiently, is a slim woman in her late twenties, possibly early thirties. She wears a professional-looking gray jacket and skirt over a white blouse, a pair of butterfly sunglasses over her eyes and her blond hair pulled back into a pony tail.

[Image: q6vZcDk.png]
LUCY - THE HANDLER

"Jesus," Lucy Richards murmurs, shaking her head, "I figured you'd gone back to sleep."

"Oh, it was tempting, trust me." Cam casually scoots over to the passenger door and hops the top of it, crashing down into the upholstery.

"I wish you wouldn't do that."

"Sorry. Force of habit." Cam grins sheepishly, "Where're we headed? Silicon Valley?"

"No, I figured we'd go somewhere a bit less formal than the Cayman offices..." Lucy guns the sportscar into motion, peeling out of the driveway and down the slopes of the street. Looking up, Cam sees the street ahead, nearly a full 330 degree dive down through the streets of San Francisco before swinging back upwards at almost an opposite angle. The wind blasts him full in the face, squinting as the car rolls ahead.

"Kinda wish I brought my skateboard. Would have been a hell of a ride."

"Will you be serious for one second?" Lucy rolls her eyes, "This is important."

"You still haven't told me where we're going."

Slamdunk Coffee, Pacific Heights, San Francisco
15 Minutes Later


"Should have known."

Another jump of the scene later, and Cam and Lucy are now sitting at a table at Slamdunk Coffee, an upmarket coffee chain in the heart of Pacific Heights. The sun is shining brightly down on the square tiled courtyard out the front of the coffee shop. The patrons around them are mainly of the hipster/indie crowd and more than a few tech geeks on their lunch break in polos of various IT companies.

"Oh, come on," Lucy rolls her now un-shaded pale blue eyes, "Like you don't know in your heart this is the best coffee place in all of SF."

"I wouldn't know, I'm not a coffee connoisseur."

"Aren't you half-Turkish?"

"That and Persian, Greek and God knows what else, as you know. But that doesn't mean anything. Besides, it's all about black tea over there, or so I'm told."

"You never went over there?"

Cam laughs, shaking his head, "Do you know how much an actual flight like that costs? We don't all have big sisters who have their own damned company jets, you know."

"Oh please, I'm not some stereotypical spoiled valley girl...." Lucy begins. They're interrupted as suddenly a spectacled barista passes by their table, two drinks set upon a tray.

"One pumpkin-spice latte with cinnamon spice..." The barista sets a large takeaway-style cup in front of Lucy. Cam simply raises an eyebrow.

"You were saying?"

"Shut up."

"And one... ergh... Coca Cola." With a shudder, the bartender sets down a glass bottle in front of Cam, who wastes little time cracking open the bottle and taking a long swig.

"Good god I needed that..."

"Anyway..." Lucy says after a shorter, more dignified sip of her own latte, "We should probably get down to business. I finally got a call from Talia at Cayman's main office. You remember that we were putting the feelers out for the XWF?"

"I do."

"Well, I've got good news for you," she beams and hands over a thick folder that she had brought over to the table with them. Cam looks over it briefly- his name is there, along with the logo of the XWF and what seems to be miles and miles of legalese - something about liability and about own risk.

"What'm I looking at here, Lucy?" he asks impatiently.

"God I spent hours sitting down with Talia going over the fine details and that's what you ask?" She rolls her eyes, "It's your XWF contract, duh. You applied for it, remember? It's official now, anyway. They have accepted you onto the XWF roster. You'll be starting on Saturday Night Savage. We figured it would be the best place for you to start. If this pans out, then we can look at other options. If not..."

She shrugs.

"I guess we send you back to the drawing board. Are you ready for this?"

"About as ready as I think I'll ever be." Cam replies, "Although the XWF? The big leagues, right off the bat? Are you sure that's the right path? Shouldn't I middle it in the indies for a while? That's what most people seem to do."

"No time for that. We've already burned up two years getting you up to snuff with your fighting skills. This is the next logical step for you, and it's the next stage of your training and Project Aquila."

Cam does not elaborate on 'Project Aquila'. And he won't be doing so for some time. Relax, dear readers, it'll all spin itself out in time.

"The XWF might seem like a simple wrestling federation but it's one of the most dangerous places you can fight in. Far stranger people than the descendant of an ancient Persian have set foot in it. Between the mercenaries, assassins from the future, supposed undead and the like, you'll fit right in. You've spent the last two years learning the theory behind fighting, but you're never going to fully understand it until you have to do it for a living - day in, day out." Lucy's lips suddenly prick up into a smirk, "Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing how you go. I have big shoes to fill after what Talia managed to what many say is greatest XWF wrestler of all time."

"Oh, great. So I'm not just some guy with a valuable bloodline but I'm also a pawn in some sibling rivalry game?" Cam rolls his eyes. Lucy, in turn, rolls her own eyes.

"Oh please. You know there's more to it than that. I'd like to think in the last couple of years I've become at least something of a friend to you."

"I'm just teasing."

"You never stop teasing, Cambyses Jordan."

"What can I say, it's part of my unique charm."

They are suddenly interrupted by a ringing from her phone on the table in front of Lucy. She holds up a finger and speaks quietly into it, murmuring a few things Cam doesn't seem to hear. While he waits he drains the glass of Coke, letting a low 'ahh' escape him. Finally, Lucy sets the phone down and snaps her sunglasses back on.

"Look, I've got to run. I've got something to take care of at the office. But do me a favor and get that contract signed and back to Cayman by the end of the day. We'll get it to the XWF. Oh, and I wouldn't book yourself any plans for the next few days, Cam. You'll probably have to go to Home Office itself, which means you'll be leaving San Francisco for at least a week or so. They're going to want the works from you - photoshoots, promotional details, maybe an interview or two, physicals, maybe a fitting with a seamstress for your ring gear. I'll book a car and give you a call when it's time."

Lucy rises up from the table and turns away, stepping away from the table. Cam blinks a couple of times in the wake of her departure, looking down at the folder in front of him. Etched on the front of the folder is the X-Treme Wrestling Federation logo, and carved underneath are the words 'CAMBYSES JORDAN, CC CAYMAN GLOBAL'. He lets out a low whistle as the magnitude of exactly what is in front of him sinks in. As he does so, Lucy looks back over her shoulder at him and speaks one final line before disappearing.

"Welcome to the big leagues, Cambyses."

[FADE OUT]
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