Re: Chapter Eleven - Hangtime Duel

Spoilers Ahead! If you haven’t read to this point in Ascension at Aechyr and don’t want any of the twists revealed, turn back now!

Chapter Eleven is the big action chapter. Two major action sequences take up the majority of the page count: the titular fight in Crown Royal hospital’s foyer, and the subsequent car chase out of the capitol. One thing that was important to me as I wrote all of this action was to make sure a lot of different, unique, and impactful elements were used. I’ve touched on some of this before, but as a reminder, I consider the battlefield to be a very important element in defining a fight. Here, the balcony, broken glass, and windowed reception area all play important parts in shaping the battle. Equally as important is the objective of a fight and the weapons and skills employed by the fighters.

Let’s talk objectives. I think very often when we picture a fight scene, we assume that the objective is just to beat up or kill the opponent. This certainly happens, and there’s nothing wrong with having such a scene, but I find that to consistently create compelling conflicts, one should have a different type of objective as often as reasonable. Here, this chapter is in reality one extended chase sequence. That fact is obscured by the use of the arena and hang time, but ultimately, Kennedy and the others want to retrieve Sophia. Meanwhile, the Anarakians want to escape with her. While for a long while Kennedy and Randy lose sight of their true objective, it should be noted that they ultimately succeed (at least for the moment) by remembering their mission and sticking to it.

But let’s talk a minute about that fight. Throughout this chapter, I wanted to show both that Kennedy has developed many skills, but still is inexperienced and makes mistakes. Pairing him with Randy not only makes for an interesting combination, but also helps to flesh out Kennedy’s “power level.” One thing I’ve noticed in fiction is that you can insist all you want that Character A is the strongest, toughest, deadliest force in the universe but if he loses a fight, he becomes weaker in the eyes of the audience. You can say all you want that it was an off day or that the heroes got lucky, but in the end, the audience is just going to remember that he took the “L.”

Nergüi suffers from this effect a little in this chapter. Though he is wounded and without a firearm, I fear many will underestimate his skill in the future. I tried to compensate for this by having him kill Kennedy a few times, but ultimately, the damage isn’t permanent. Oh well. That’s something for the future. To my earlier point, however, I think Randy and Pierce more firmly establish Kennedy’s growing skill. We see that Pierce is able to narrowly beat Randy, and Kennedy can stay in the fight with him. Kennedy barely stays in that fight, but he does. I think it’s clear that Pierce would eventually defeat Kennedy, and the fact that the latter has to flee the battlefield in order to win cements that impression. In short, we see that Kennedy has grown to a point that is closer to Randy’s considerable skill. Not on Randy’s level, certainly, but the fact that he’s in the ballpark should say a lot.

A couple of other notes on the different elements which I think spice up this battle. I mentioned the fact that Nergüi doesn’t have a gun, and the choice of weapons for our combatants certainly gives the fight a unique flavor. Kennedy’s gun only has two bullets, a fact which can then be reincorporated into the resets. I think in a normal fight if Kennedy just had two bullets, readers would find that to be cheap- a ploy to force him into hand-to-hand combat. But since resetting the arena is a core mechanic of this universe, the fact that he learns he only has two shots per iteration is a difficulty that can be overcome. It’s another challenge to overcome. And that’s ultimately what a fight is. This character has greater skill in this regard, so his opponent will have to use creative thinking and the tools at his disposal to overcome that skill. Throw in some gambles and mind games for additional risks and obstacles, and let it play out.

Randy and Pierce are also treated at points as additional tools or obstacles where appropriate. Is Kennedy’s bout with Nergüi resolving too easily? Add in Pierce. But Kennedy can call in Randy where appropriate, too. Other tools in the fight of course include the fire extinguisher and the broken glass. But most importantly is the ability to reset the arena. Each iteration adds something to the characters’ strategies as each tries to outguess the other. It also escalates the fight, and leads towards the conclusion – the solution of how Kennedy and Randy can “win” this fight.

It also allowed me to plant some seeds here. I had mentioned in a previous post about the introduction of the gauntlet gun that I wanted a way to keep my characters from killing when necessary. I perhaps have a cynical view here, but I find it all too plausible that a young man will not think terribly hard about whether or not to take a life. However, a reader might not take too kindly to that lack of scruples. Frankly, it might turn a supposed hero into a darker figure. And while Kennedy is certainly very flawed, I didn’t want him to be seen as a wanton killer. So how might I prevent that from happening? Well, aside from giving him an alternative like the gauntlet gun, I would have to give him motivation not to readily resort to lethal force.

And so, Kennedy kills Nergüi. He comes face to face with death, albeit not permanent. Though its effects on Kennedy’s psyche certainly are permanent. Seeing the dead face of this young man is quite a shock to him, and drives home the finality of this violence. A good reason to think twice. And to have it echoed with Sainne’s manipulation at the end of the chapter only solidifies this hesitancy.

Speaking of, let’s talk Sainne’s first “real” face-to-face meeting with Kennedy. I really wanted to drive home Sainne’s villainy, so this appearance had to leave a major mark. Sainne couldn’t just be a “bad guy” who was hiding in the background. He had to leave a palpable impression, a deep hatred, within Kennedy. He also needed to demonstrate his key attribute – his manipulation. And a manipulative mastermind couldn’t just do some random evil for evil’s sake. So that’s how this scene coalesced, achieving multiple goals at once. Sainne forces Kennedy to kill, martyrs Becker (which ups the stakes across Aechyr), and shows his cruelty both to him and his supposed ally, Avery. It’s a power play. He’s reminding Avery who’s in charge while motivating PF9 and setting himself up to inherit their movement.

Oh yeah, Avery. Well, I could go into that and much more, but I’ve written quite a bit for today, don’t you think? We’ll just have to chat about Avery more next time, when we look at Chapter Twelve: the Traitorous Trinity.

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