The year is 2225 A.D. A Meteor strike a hundred years earlier devastated the planet, destroying most technologies and Turning most of the continents into wastelands. On what had been the North American continent, in what had once been known as the United States, there was a town, if you could call it that. This Town was called Crossroads. It was one of the most important settlements on the planet.
Towns near the mountains were prime real estate. The mountains of Appalachia, one of the few green spots left on the globe, also boasted one of the few remaining pure fresh water sources in the world. The Appalachians were of particular interest because since the irradiation of the great lakes, the largest reserves of fresh water could be found there.
As a result bitter fighting had broken out between the Clans of surviving humans over control of the water supplies. Guns and other fire arms were exceedingly rare. Most warriors of repute carried some form of bladed weapon. Finally after years of bitter fighting, a town once called Gatlinburg, which was once part of the state of Tennessee was rebuilt and transformed into Crossroads a depot where the surrounding tribes could come and get their water supplies.
The establishment of Crossroads and an organized water trade had brought and uneasy peace to the region. This peace lasted until a powerful warlord named Tylos and his army the dragon claws had moved into Crossroads and taken over.
Tylos or Ty for short had, with the help of his army, set himself up as the absolute ruler of Crossroads. It didn't take long for him to start using the water trade to make himself rich. If you couldn't pay you couldn't get water.
Before long Ty had gained most of the wealth of the surrounding clans and had more than tripled the size of his private army. Word soon reached him of a secret band of rebels that were raiding his water storage facility and distributing the water by the gallon to the people who couldn't afford to pay.
He had doubled, even tripled the guard but still the raids persisted. In spite of the trouble with the extra guards the rebels still managed to get away with stores of water, albeit, less than they had been getting.
"These raids are getting more and more risky," said the Rebel leader Rudy Gillespie as he and the rebels gathered in their secret base, "We lose men every time we pull one."
"But the people need the water, Father," said Kim, the Captain of one of the rebel units. Rudy turned and looked at his adopted daughter.
"That's true my dear," he said, "but Ty's not stupid. Every time we get away with water he's learning from his mistakes. We can see that by the way our casualties increase with every raid."
A tall gaunt young man spoke up.
"Why don't we dig our own spring there's all kinds of water in these hills?" he asked.
"Don't you think we've tried that, Milton," said Kim, "the rebels have tried that twice before and both times Ty somehow found out about it?"
"Besides," said Rudy, "he's increased the foot patrols in the area. It's all we can do to keep this base under wraps much less guard a spring from Ty's men."
The others murmured their agreement.
"Well," said Kim, "until we come up with a better idea we go on with the raids."
"Right," said Rudy, "there's one on for tonight."
"And it's my turn to lead," said Kim, turning to pick up her sword. Rudy walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Be careful, Daughter," he said
"I will, Father," she replied placing her hands on his. Rudy watched her as she went off to choose her team for the raid. She was the sole survivor of a raid by Ty's men and a mere infant when he found her, he was barely an adult himself but something about her had captivated him, he and taken her with him and raised her as his own. Over time he had come to realize what it was that had drawn him to her. She was the kind of person that never lost hope no matter how bad things looked. That was what he loved most about her, she was a fighter.
###
Later that same evening, Ty, or Overlord, as he called himself was seated in the biggest room in his "palace" which was really the auditorium in a hotel left over from the pre-strike days. This room now served as Overlord's throne room.
Suddenly Frank, his lieutenant, came bursting into the room so fast that he nearly knocked the doors off their hinges.
"Overlord," he panted, "There was another raid on your water supply, but this time we captured one of them. Just then two more men appeared dragging Kim with them."
Ty grinned triumphantly.
"Well, well," he said, "Not just a rebel but an important one. It won't be long before we have the location of the rebel base."
Kim defiantly spit in Ty's face.
"I would rather die!" she snapped. Ty wiped the spittle off of his face and then ferociously backhanded Kim across the face.
"That can be arranged!" he snapped then he turned to his men
"Take her a way," he barked, "She needs a few days in solitary."
Rudy's heart sank when he saw what was left of the raiding party stumble back in without Kim. He grabbed one of the men.
"Raphael," he said, "What happened?"
"It was an ambush," said Raphael nursing his own bruises, "Somehow they knew we were coming! They got Kim."
"She's dead!" said Rudy
"No," Replied Raphael, as they walked back inside the base to the main hall "but she's better off dead."
"We've got to rescue her!" said Rudy after Raphael had gone to the see the Medic
"But how," said Milton, "That "Castle" of his is like a fortress."
"There is one man who could get past those defenses," said Rudy
"Oh come on Rudy," said Milton, catching on to what Rudy was thinking, "don't tell me you actually believe those tales about a wandering superhuman swordsman. The one that carries a white handled sword and is undefeatable in battle?"
"Yes I do," said Rudy, he went into his room and pulled a small chest out from under his bed, "And I'm going to find him. He's my only hope."
###
The next day found Rudy sitting in a small bar on the edge of the wastelands. He had been watching the different men old and young coming and going for hours but none of them carried a white handled sword.
It was about mid-afternoon and Rudy's spirits were about as low as they could go. Suddenly the doors were opened almost immediately a gust of wind caught them and slammed them back against the wall. In the doorway silhouetted against the sunlight was the form of a young man. The young man's hair and poncho flipped about in the wind. Without saying a word the young man entered the room and crossed to the bar.
The young man turned his back to the bar and scanned the room. It appeared that he was sizing up every man in the room. Rudy discreetly studied this young man. The young man was about Kim's age with brown hair and intense brown eyes. When he turned back to the bar Rudy stopped short. He rubbed his eyes and looked again to make sure he was seeing what he thought he saw.
A white sword handle was protruding from the top of the poncho by the back of the boy's neck.
"This couldn't be the legendary wandering swordsman," he thought, "He's only a boy no older than my daughter."
The young man got himself a drink was well as the house special, a plate of bread and cheese. Rudy noticed that there were three especially dirty looking men over on the other side of the room. These were most likely Wastelanders, Men who spent their time wandering the wastelands looking for precious metals and other treasures. Of course when they found something good they usually spent their profits in a place like this. Just like these three men.
Right now they were looking mighty interested in the money belt full of gold that the young man had pulled out to pay for his meal.
The three ner -do- wells slowly rose to their feet and started toward the young man. one was armed with a pair of two foot long knives the other, the second on was armed with a short sword and the third was armed with a fighting axe. The one with the knives came up behind the young man and stuck one of the knives in the small of the young man's back.
"Don't move," he growled into the boy's ear. The young man stood their calmly as one of them took the sword from the scabbard on his back. Then they ordered the young man to turn around which he did also very calmly.
Rudy was in the middle thinking that there was no way the real wandering swordsman would just stand there at let his sword be taken. This guy had to be a fake. Rudy's spirts began to deflate, But when the boy turned around Rudy paused again. There was no fear at all in the boy's eyes.
Of the three skuzzy men who were now facing him, the wastelander with the axe was now holding the boy's sword as well. The man saw the white handle and scoffed. Pointing the sword and the boy he said jeeringly,
"Who do you think you are, the wandering swordsman?!"
The young man gave a little smile and replied,
"As a matter of fact, yes," before the men could even register what he had said, the boy's hands, moving like lightening, shot up and struck both sides of the swords blade causing it to flip up and out of the man's hand. The young man caught the handle of his sword, made a blindingly fast slash with it, and stuck it back in his scabbard in the blink of an eye.
The three Wastelanders were suddenly silent. The boy calmly removed his money belt from the hand of man who had been holding it. As soon as he did that, the three men slumped to the ground. Rudy looked down at the one that fell closest to where he was sitting and he realized that the man's throat had been sliced.
The whole room was in a state of stunned silence. The young man took another small gold bar out of his belt and laid it on the counter.
"Sorry about the mess," he said quietly picking up his food. Stepping over the bodies he walked to a table and sat down to eat. While the bodies were being carried out. Rudy, chest in hand, approached the young man.
"May I speak with you?" he said. The boy looked up from his food, nodded and motioned for Rudy to sit down.
"I need your help," said Rudy, "My Daughter Kim has been captured by the Overlord! You're the only one I know that can get past his soldiers. Please we have to get her out before he kills her."
"This may sound like a strange and somewhat shallow question," said the boy, "But is your daughter pretty?"
Rudy was a little taken aback but he answered anyway.
"Yes," he said, "As a matter of fact she's downright beautiful."
"That's makes things worse," said the boy, "From what I know of the Overlord and his men, pretty girls suffer a fate worse than death."
"Will you help me or not?!" said Rudy impatiently. He opened the chest to reveal that it was full of gold and silver coins and bars.
"All this is yours if you'll help me," he said
"I'll help," said the boy.
"Thank you so much," said Rudy, "By the way I don't even know what to call you!?"
The boy looked amused. And then he replied.
"Call me, Jack."