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A staredown soon ensued.
One that neither of us seemed to be willing to let up on.
But as far as staredowns went, this one was pretty evenly matched as neither of us really had the ability to ‘blink’, or at least as far as an outside observer could see.
My whole schtick was pretty obvious, the tinted lenses were more or less just doing the job for me, taking blinking out of the equation entirely and adding a solid plus ten to my intimidation base stats.
The shadowy cloaked figure’s approach was just downright bizarre though, as instead of eyes, there were just these two trapezoidal ‘lights’ that I assumed were supposed to be a placeholder for his actual eyes hidden somewhere underneath the shadowy void casted by his hood.
A void which was downright pitchblack, and completely impenetrable to the naked eye.
The figure gave off a surreal vibe as his rogue-like attire, coupled with the hood and the impenetrable shadow it casted, looked like it’d been ripped straight out of a Castles and Wyverns art book or a high-fantasy comic. The pitch-black void that obscured his face, and those two trapezoidal eyes that hovered and shifted with increasing scrutiny, just didn’t look real.
While most would leave it at that, I wasn’t one to leave a mystery hanging, I was a human with an entire visual sensor suite to work with for crying out loud. So before I even knew it, I reflexively went to activate my night-vision cameras. Only to see that the shadowy effect covering up his face was still there.
This led me to only one solid conclusion.
ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 140% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS
A quick localized environmental scan made it clear to me that this was yet another one of the Nexus’ weird mana-fueled acts of tomfoolery.
“What say you, first years? Are you here for healing, or are you here for a visit? For as I have stated, the healing wing is not accepting visits at this point in time.” The hooded figure answered with this strange mix between a sing-song voice and an attempt at sounding gruff and gravely.
“We have an unfulfilled point of personal privilege that requires addressment.” Thacea stepped up to the plate, promptly placing herself by my side, then taking several steps forward. “Along with an unresolved conflict which requires immediate resolution by the party with which the aforementioned point of personal privilege was evoked but was halted due to unforeseen circumstances.” The princess began flexing her courtly-talk with the hooded figure, which clearly seemed to have some effect as he reached up a single gloved hand up to where his chin should be, only to have his fingers disappear as soon as they entered the dark shadowy effect currently covering up his face.
“And with whom is this unresolved matter incurred?” The figure inquired plainly, though the way he spoke shifted to something a bit more accommodating, perhaps even a little bit more hospitable than the gruffer tone he’d initially directed towards me.
“An apprentice, good sir. Apprentice Larial to be precise.” Thacea clarified politely, using what I could only describe as this flighty, chirpy, almost haughty tone of voice that was an exaggerated version of the cadence she used during our first interactions together.
“Hmm…” The hooded figure replied with a concerned grumble. “I was going to waive this particular matter, allowing the fair lady-” He paused, before making a point to stare at both me and Thalmin. “-and her two knights to pass on through, under the points of exceptional circumstances.” He continued in a less restrained, more flighty cadence. “However, you must excuse my inability to do so, my lady. My hands are currently tied via the powers that be, and I simply cannot grant your request.” The man began weaving a string of apologetics, giving Thacea a genuine and polite bow in response. “I must apologize for this discrepancy in expectant decorum.”
This didn’t make things any better for our circumstances though.
And it was clear Thacea understood this as she continued pressing forward.
“May I have your name and title, my good sir?” Thacea chirped lightly.
“Appointed-Deputy Magistrate Sir Arlan Ostoy, Senior Apprentice of the Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts. May I have the honor and the privilege of requesting your name, my fair lady?”
“Princess Thacea Dilani, of the Aetheronrealm, First Year and Scholastic Peer of the Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts.” Thacea replied with a full bow, and a half-curtsy of her own.
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The shadowy figure bowed yet again.
“The pleasure is all mine, Sir-Magistrate.” Followed by yet another bow by Thacea.
There was some serious song and dance going on here, and one that I was observing with bated breath.
“Might I inquire further as to the particular reasoning behind this unfortunate and unseemly inability to respect the rights of expectant decorum?” Thacea quickly shot back.
“As I have alluded to, your highness, the powers that be prevent me from furthering the natural solution to your particular grievances. If this were any other instance in time, at any other location or place, I am sure this matter would have been resolved in an expedient and timely fashion. This situation, as you have alluded to yourself, results from a very particular set of unforeseen circumstances. Circumstances which currently dictate my actions in a manner which just so happens to be in conflict with your points of personal privilege, your highness.” The man’s posture, the way he stood, even the way he talked seemed very particular when addressing Thacea.
It was at that point that something changed. I didn’t know what, and I wasn’t sure why, but Thacea seemed to be shifting towards a tactical retreat, as she clacked her beak several times before addressing the both of us. “This is absolutely preposterous, I will need a moment to clear my mind but when I do return…” Thacea turned towards the magistrate/guard/apprentice person yet again. “There will be words exchanged.”
At Thacea’s prompting, we all left the room, but not before slamming the door behind us shut in a similar manner to Ilunor’s drama-filled exits.
We continued walking away from the medical wing at a steady pace, until another privacy screen was suddenly brought up.
ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 275% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS
“I have a plan.” Thacea began. “And this is entirely relying on you two having the physical prowess to back up your military backgrounds.” She continued ominously.
“Oh princess, you sully the Havenbrock name if you believe my mercenary heritage is in any way, shape, or form a mere decorative mantlepiece.” Thalmin responded with a sarcastic, yet excitable tone.
“I assure you, Thacea, I think my training has almost every eventuality accounted for.” I added with an affirmative nod.
“So what’s the plan?” Thalmin barked out excitedly as we stopped right in the middle of this long, wide hallway connecting the main castle with the medical wing. Thacea was quick to answer this question by wordlessly gesturing to a lone door on the right side of the hallway.
Windows lining either side of the hallway made it clear that this entire structure was just an elevated bridge connecting the main castle to an entirely separate compound.
This made the presence of a door smack-dab in the middle of its length sort of bizarre.
Upon entering it though, we were treated to an open-air rooftop terrace with a few seats and benches. The whole outcropping gave us an unparalleled view of the roaring waterfall beneath the Academy, and a direct line of sight to the medical wing and its five distinct towers.
The princess continued walking silently as we reached the edge of the terrace’s balcony, overlooking the sheer cliff face at a height that more or less put me in mind of your typical open-air rooftops on your typical Acela Corridor skyscraper.
“I’ve observed that the medical wing seems to consist of a large tower-atrium, with several more towers connected to it via additional corridors. Similar to spokes on a wheel. As you can see from this vantage point, it seems as if most rooms have private balconies. If we cannot make our way to the apprentice via conventional channels, then I plan to reach her via more unconventional means.” Thacea turned towards me with a hardened look in her gaze. “Emma, is your… insect artifice ready for use?”
My eyes widened at that, as I nodded affirmatively. “Just for the record, we call it a drone.” I quickly corrected Thacea. “But, yes, I can designate individuals and targets for it to track down or follow. However, I can’t just have it poking around in every room since there’s no guarantee that the drone will be able to get a lock on them. There’s too many variables involved that would get in the way of the drone actually being able to zero in on a person’s face. From the beds facing the right way, to bandages possibly covering up her face, to-”
“I don’t want your artifice to observe every balcony and window, Emma. That will most certainly take too much time, and as you’ve stated, there’s no guarantee of actually identifying a face considering the multitudes of factors involved.” Thacea interjected. “What I plan to do is to return to the Deputy-Magistrate, and to attempt to reach a compromise that he will abide by. I plan for him to take us, or rather, your drone straight to the apprentice.”
“And how will you accomplish this?” Thalmin whined,his head tilted in curiosity.
“I will draft a letter, addressed directly to the apprentice, and request that it be taken straight to her room. This way, the Deputy-Magistrate will in a sense be able to accomplish his obligations to the Expectant Decorum, and in doing so he will lead your insec-, drone, straight to the apprentice’s room.”
I stared at Thacea with wide eyes, as her back and forths with the deputy-magistrate began taking on a completely different meaning in this new light.
“That way, we can find out exactly which room the apprentice is in.” I replied bluntly.
“Correct. However, from there, I cannot say my plans are in any way foolproof.” Thacea replied with a sullen coo.
“Well go on, princess, it sounds pretty good so far!” Thalmin urged.
“Ascertaining the apprentice’s room is only half of the stated objective. Actually getting there is another matter entirely. Because depending on where the apprentice is located… my idea for the latter half of this quest involves you two scaling your way towards her room.” The princess spoke with an immense level of trepidation. “On the exterior aspect of the castle, if that needed to be said.”
My heart skipped a beat as the princess laid out her plans. I looked across the absurdly spindly hallway-bridge that this little terrace was somehow attached to, and towards the five towers that made up the medical wing.
Thalmin did the same, although his face seemed to indicate that he was at the very least, considering the plan at least somewhat seriously.
“Alright.” I muttered out loud, instinctively trying to place a palm on my forehead, only for the glove to bonk straight off. “I have several ideas. First, we might be able to do this remotely. I’m thinking once we find out which room she’s in, we fly in a larger drone, one carrying with it a deployable holographic projector or some other two-way communications device so that we can talk to her remotely.” As soon as I spoke that idea out loud however, things started to fall apart. “But because of how thick the walls are, and considering the distance between the tower and our dorm, I might have to deploy repeaters in order to daisy-chain the connection all the way back to the dorms. I mean, we can’t just set up shop out here in the open after all. At which point we’d have a continuous chain of signal-repeater drones flying all across the Academy… which wouldn’t be ideal. No, scratch that, that won’t work.”
The pair stared at me with varying degrees of confusion, but seemed to have collectively decided to ignore the idea after I’d scrapped it.
“I say we just climb it!” Thalmin yelped out, but not before another idea hit me. One that could work, but that required me consulting Thacea first.
“I mean, we could, but…” I turned to face Thacea. “What’s the Academy’s policy on noise? Or rather, do you think we could get away with something really really loud, buzzing outside of the towers?”
Thacea once more stared at me with a look of just utter confusion, but shrugged it off and went with it anyways. “I would highly recommend against generating too much noise for this particular quest, Emma. It would most certainly garner a lot of unwanted attention.” Thacea spoke plain and simple.
I couldn’t help but to groan internally in frustration at that.
That makes flying over there a no-go… it would’ve made things so much easier though…
“Alright, well, that more or less places us in a very awkward situation with not a lot of options available to us, huh?” I thought to myself outloud again, as I craned my head over to an excitable Thalmin.
“I guess I have to climb on over.” I stated in no uncertain terms.
“Wait, I?!” Thalmin responded with a shocked and incredulous bark. “There’s no way I’m allowing you to climb over there yourself without assistance or-”
“Thalmin, there’s no need for you to climb on over with me.” I interjected. “This whole mission is hedged on me talking to the apprentice one-on-one. Remember the gardens? The apprentice wouldn’t allow you anywhere near us when we started talking. It’d be a waste of time, energy, and more importantly… a huge risk to your safety. I don’t want to risk your life needlessly, Thalmin. Not especially for a fight that isn’t your own.”
“Well you’re part of our peer group, so it’s my fight as well.” Thalmin replied with a dejected growl, but eventually relented. “But you’re right, Emma. I hate to admit it, but you’re right.”
I nodded at Thalmin’s slowly. “Besides, there’s an important job I need you to do.” I began scrounging through one of my pouches, and began palming for my spare in-ear earpieces. “I need you on lookout, to keep me aware of anything fishy developing in case I need to pull out.”
Thalmin looked over the side of the terrace, towards the raging waters beneath this side of the Academy as he let out a sigh. “That shouldn’t be too hard. Hardly anyone will be passing by this terrace, and beyond that there’s no way anyone can spot you from below, given there’s nothing but the cascading rapids below us. There’s no one that can spot you from here, save for perhaps the foxes in the library. We’re most certainly on the right side of the Academy for this quest, that’s for certain.” Thalmin pointed at the library in the far distance.
“Oh, I’m not too worried about anyone seeing me. I’m more concerned about someone compromising my extraction point, i.e. this little terrace here.” I acknowledged.
“But, surely you must be worried about someone seeing you scaling the walls…” Thalmin scanned me up and down, as if wanting to comment about my size but- “You’re massive.”
“Okay, first off, rude.” I spoke sarcastically, and raised both hands up for added effect. “But in all seriousness, I have another device that can mask my visual presence.” I pulled out a plastic-like poncho from one of my pouches, activating it, and revealing its active-camo properties as it projected whatever was behind it, albeit with some imperfections. “It isn’t perfect, but from afar it should actually work pretty well.”
Both Thalmin and Thacea stared at each other in utter shock as they saw this.
“A mana-less-”
“I think… this is a matter worth discussing another time, Princess.” Thalmin interjected with a polite exasperated breath. “But I expect a good explanation for this one, Emma.” Thalmin pointed a finger right at me.
“In any case, I will be diverting the Deputy-Magistrate’s attention by preoccupying him with needless and vapid chatter. This should take attention away from the apprentice and your intrusion, Emma.” Thacea quickly added, and promptly tied this whole impromptu operation up nicely.
“Alright, let’s get this show on the road then. We’ll head back to the dorms and get that letter drafted so-”
“Already done.” Thacea interjected, bringing up a parchment that she promptly began sealing into an envelope.
“Wait, when did you-”
“Whilst we were talking, I used a dictation spell. The letter is written and signed.” Thacea spoke nonchalantly, as she held a neatly sealed envelope in one of her talons.
“Wait, what, when did you, how did you-?”
“I carry a quill and extra parchment in my bag of holding. This is to account for any eventuality where a statement in writing, a legal affidavit, or a notarized letter may be required.” Thacea responded a-matter-of-factly.
“Alright then.” I tapped the pouch with the INFIL-DRONE, the small little thing peeking its head out much to the visible disgust of the pair. “So we’re ready for phase one of the operation. Misdirection and information gathering. We’ll go in, drop the letter, and have the drone do its thing. After that, we wait for the drone to return, and we’ll take it from there on whether or not we can continue with Phase Two: penetrating the enemy lines.”
“What would be stopping us from continuing with phase two?” Thalmin quickly asked.
“Well, simple. If the apprentice is still conked out from her injuries, there wouldn’t be any point in attempting to meet her. So hopefully, she’s going to be in a good enough state to talk to. We’ll know when we get the drone footage back.”
“Fair point.” Thalmin nodded.
“So, is everyone ready to begin?” Thacea asked.
A series of affirmative nods later, we began our quick walk back over to the atrium.

The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts, Extraction Point Alpha (Open Air Terrace Overlooking the Medical Wing). Local Time: 1420 Hours.
That took way more time than I’d initially thought.
In fact, it took so long that I was beginning to wonder how two people could have an unending conversation where nothing of value was spoken and nothing of value was gained.
It was basically elevator small talk, but written by the same writers who wrote Bridgerwesson Lane, and adapted to a theatrical release with a trilogy that ended with a movie arbitrarily cut up into a two-parter.
I honestly zoned out for a few moments during those hours, as I decided to use the spare time to review the grappling hook and mountaineering gear I’d be using on this little quest.
Eventually however, the Deputy-Magistrate relented, at which point I let loose the INFIL-DRONE to do its thing.
It’d been twenty minutes since we left and made our way back to this open-air terrace, and all of us were waiting with bated breath for the results the drone had in store.
“So, how fast can that drone of yours fly anyways Emma-”
Thalmin was immediately cut off as the drone in question buzzed right by his ears, causing them to flick this way and that, before flattening out entirely.
“Speak of him and he will come.” I chuckled, as I outstretched a gloved hand over for the little drone to perch atop of.
Once again, the pair stared at it with a look of mild disgust, and then panic as it crawled all the way back into its docking port, and began uploading the data we needed.
“Alright, let’s see what we have here.” I spoke to no one in particular before shifting my attention to the EVI. “EVI, isolate and replay relevant footage, and calculate the target’s location.”
“Acknowledged, parsing…”
“Location Parsing. Footage isolated. Play Footage?”
“Affirmative.”
I immediately pulled out my data-tab for the gang to be able to watch as well, as the footage began just as the Deputy-Magistrate, and by extension the drone, arrived at the apprentice’s room.
The door, and all details posted in the front were all captured, and so too was the state of the apprentice revealed to us in short order as I braced myself for a mangled and bandaged-up mass of broken bones.
What I instead saw, was… still a heavily bandaged up figure. However, the most important thing was that they were awake.
And what was remarkable, was the fact that they were able to move without assistance. As the apprentice reached over to receive the letter wordlessly, shifting a bit in bed as she did so.
“This is a letter addressed from a Princess Thacea Dilani of the Aetheronrealm. I have fulfilled my duties and obligations as per the Expectant Decorum. I will now take my leave, Apprentice Larial.” The deputy-magistrate spoke with the same air of overbearing properness, seriously making me consider whether or not this was how he was all the time.
Whatever the case may be, the apprentice seemed to be healed enough to move her arms at the very least, as she grabbed the letter and spoke hoarsely back in response. “Thank you Senior Apprentice.”
There wasn’t much to the footage beyond those interactions, but it was good enough for the purposes of this mission.
“Alright.” I spoke, as I pocketed the tablet. “We have our answer. The apprentice seems healed up enough to speak to, so phase two of this operation is a-go.”
The pair nodded in response, just in time for the EVI to be done with whatever calculations were needed to determine the apprentice’s precise location.
I turned to the tower, as the room and its balcony was highlighted.
It was just about five stories above from where we were.
Meaning it’d be a hell of a climb.
“The room’s about five floors up.” I announced with a sigh.
“Are you sure you can make that journey, Emma?” Thacea responded worryingly. “I… I will be honest, Emma, I am having some second doubts about this whole idea. The concept just came to me as flying between tall structures and towers is just second nature to us Aetheronrealmers. Considering the heights involved, and your inability to fly, I’m wondering if this whole quest was a folly of my own shortsighted-”
“It’s fine, Thacea.” I cut the avinor off. “I can do this, trust me.” I placed a single hand on the princess’ shoulder, and squeezed it once for effect.
Meanwhile, the EVI began doing what it did best: attempting to minimize the risk associated with my hairbrained schemes, as it deployed the suit’s primary lookout drone in order to start mapping out the best possible route forward.
This spooked the pair yet again, as they both jolted backwards.
Thankfully, the drone was deathly silent, so it shouldn’t bring too much attention to it.
It was at this point that I brought out a pair of earpieces I was scrounging my pouches for earlier, one for Thacea, and another for Thalmin.
“These will help you stay in contact with me throughout the climb.” I stated plainly, as I attempted to latch it onto my own ear for demonstrative purposes, only to realize that I could not, given the suit was in the way.
I sighed, as I turned towards Thalmin. “Do you mind if I put it on for you?” I asked sheepishly.
“Erm, what is it, Emma?”
“It’s…” I paused, as I attempted to find the best way to describe this without taking up too much time. “It’s a communication artifice, Thalmin. It’ll allow us to talk to each other remotely, relying on that drone there-” I pointed at the lookout drone still flying away from us. “-to relay our voices to each other.”
Thalmin, as expected, looked at me with an expression of partial dumbfoundedness whilst Thacea seemed completely transfixed by the earpieces I held in my hands.
“So it’s like a hearing-sense?” Thalmin responded with a questioning bark.
“Look, I’ll just demonstrate.” I managed out with a sigh as Thalmin reluctantly nodded and allowed me to begin hooking in the earpiece, looping it around his fluffy triangular ears.
This inevitably resulted in my hand brushing over the lupinor’s fluffy head a few times, which seemed to elicit some large tail-wags and a dulcet rumble.
I tried to ignore that, as I pulled back and began demonstrating. “I’ve turned off my speakers, can you still hear me, Thalmin?”
“Yes, I can.” The lupinor spoke after clearing his throat.
I turned my speakers back on immediately after. “Alright, I’ll get into the specifics of how it works later, but as for now, just know that I can hear whatever you say.”
“I’m afraid I don’t think that artifice will be compatible with my… anatomy, Emma.” Thacea spoke calmly, as she pointed at several aspects of the earpiece that required an actual ear canal to fit into, and an earlobe to loop around.
“This complicates things a bit, but it shouldn’t be too difficult. How long do you think you can keep up the distracting conversation with the deputy-magistrate for, Thacea?”
“We just went through several hours discussing nothing in particular, I can most certainly continue that trend from dusk till dawn.” The avinor spoke confidently, and frankly, rather proudly. “The issue lies not in how long I can manage to maintain the conversation, but in how long it will take you to accomplish this quest, Emma.” Thacea shot back.
“An hour.” I nodded confidently. “Twenty minutes to scoot my way over there, twenty to talk to the apprentice, and twenty to get back.”
“I’ll make that two hours then.” Thacea responded without a second thought. “We need to account for potential complications, and an extra hour of senseless dialogue will most certainly not be an issue for me.”
With an affirmative nod from me, and an approving glance from Thalmin, I now turned towards the exterior of the two hundred foot corridor leading to the concourse, and the extra five hundred feet it would take to get from the atrium to the tower in question.
It was at that last minute that the EVI brought out another suggestion, one that was formulated with the aid of the new datasets provided by the FEBNPMS lookout drone that had been busy mapping out the best route forward.
It was… an inherently riskier approach, one that my aunt would definitely not approve of, but it definitely beat scaling a wall and wedging spikes into it.
“Actually… I have a better idea than simply scaling the walls.”

The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts, En Route to Medical Wing Tower C, Room 705. Local Time: 1430 Hours.
“Grapple secure.”
I will never forget the feeling of falling.
The very wrong feeling that came with leaping off of solid ground into empty sky, of suddenly seeing and feeling the world whizzing by me.
It was a visceral feeling, a gut-churning sensation, dominated by an overbearing sense of impending doom that takes over your terrestrial brain that wasn’t designed to feel the ‘freeing’ sensation of being unbound to the ground beneath you.
Leaping over from the edge of the terrace was the worst part of it. But after that tentative jump, things started to become just a little bit easier.
The Academy’s proclivity for over-aggrandized architectural design would finally serve a purpose beyond just decorative aesthetics.
Because it was clear that the walls weren’t really designed to ward off anyone daring to scale them. As there existed several, if not hundreds of these little greebles and outcroppings that served no purpose but to act as decorative pieces on the side of the castle. Some held stone flowers, whilst others had lamps or other light pieces of varying designs.
No matter what they were, or what meaning they held, all were equal and valid targets in the eyes of my grappling hook.
As I dangled there from the first outcropping, held in place by a single high-tensile cable, I looked up to see Thalmin looming over the edge “EMMA?!” I heard him shout in a panic. It was clear that he was unable to see anything, as my light-refraction cloak was currently doing its job well.
“I’m still here, Thalmin. You can’t see me but I’m dangling from this weird outcropping that looks like an overinflated vase.”
“NEXT TIME, BE SURE TO INFORM ME AS TO THE NATURE OF YOUR IMPOSSIBLE ARTIFICES BEFORE USE, UNDERSTOOD?!”
“Of course. You’ll know if I’ve fallen if you hear a long scream followed by a large splat.”
“That’s not funny!”
I chuckled nervously in response, before turning to face the grueling, gut-churning journey ahead of me. “Humor’s my way of dealing with stress, and trust me, I have a lot of stress to work through right about now.”
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(Author’s Note: Hey guys! Time for some unconventional solutions courtesy of Emma and the gang! We're going to meet the apprentice one way or another! I hope you guys enjoy! :D The next Chapter is already up on Patreon if you guys are interested in getting early access to future chapters!)
[If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 34 of this story is already out on there!)]

I have been quite surprised with these recent year’s development on the AI scene, and not only that, nearly anyone can make their own AI or machine learning text processor algorithm, they just need to use ChatGPT Api or make their own with the open-source version of ChatGPT with OpenChatKit, and if not those, there are many open source alternative options.
But just as everybody is having fun building their own AI, I have seen that some AI projects, including the very same ChatGPT, have had really worrying Privacy Issues. Some developers seemingly focus on what their algorithm can do, but not in making sure user’s interactions and data is safe and secured.
This is why I was researching to know what are the real available solutions and if there were cryptography, blockchain or smart contract technology solutions, as the gist of privacy mostly is encryption. Without all the senseless fomo there has been with AI and believing that just adding AI to something makes it AI related.
So, I found that there are several interesting cryptographic solutions for AI:
ZKPs (Zero Knowledge Proofs) capabilities to deliver proof of something without needing the actual information can help anonymize data providers or data silos at the moment of providing info to train Ais, alongside other utilities, besides their current popularity.
FHE (Fully Homomorphic Encryption), one of the most powerful methods of encryption and just as costly, but enables the process and analysis of encrypted data without the need to decrypt it. Which would be very useful so Machine Learning models can process confidential data without compromising it.
SMPC (Secure Multi-party Computation), another powerful solution but even more costly, which provides the possibility of a joint party enabling computation over data while ensuring that each party’s data remains private, they remain oblivious of each other’s inputs, they only know the output of the computation, very useful for keeping User’s and Enterprise’s data confidential.
And for last but not least.
TEEs (Trusted Secure Environments), this one is a flexible and scalable solution, more on the cheap side as it mainly uses Intel SGX which is integrated in some modern Intel processors. This method allows to process encrypted data inside a secure isolated environment, and sends back an encrypted output, this allows the creation of very customizable kind of confidential smart contracts to hide aspects of state, or, metadata aka user’s private data.
As long as I know of, the only AI projects actively applying one of these encryption methods are Personal AI through its partnership with Oasis Network, which uses TEEs through their confidential EVM Sapphire and confidential smart contracts.
And META which partnered with Oasis Labs to build a platform using Secure Multi-Party Computation to safeguard user’s data while assessing fairness in AI models.
Each of these solutions has their pros and cons regarding aspects like cost, the experience needed to built them and even time. But each as a niche that the other's can't handle with much efficiency, and each one is capable of supporting the construction of smart contracts, the confidential type. So it is my guess that they might come alongside the solution to AIs privacy, bringing closer AI to the blockchain, smart contracts, and decentralization more than it is. From all this I just hope AI technology develops in a responsible way for the betterment of humanity, with us possibly being part of the solution from an early stage.
In the end, my questions are: do you think there is need for AI models to be privacy preserving? And how do you think AI models could benefit from blockchain and Smart Contract integration? Thank you for reading my long post essay, I hope to learn from your comments too.

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Server Restart Intervals Are At 5:40AM PST - 11:40AM PST - 5:40PM PST 11:40PM PST
BASE BUILDING: AT THE MOMENT TRADERS DO NOT SELL NAILS/FOOD/ARMOR, for a more survival feel we made base building a little more grindy than other servers for a better experience (MOD: BASE BUILDING PLUS), THERE IS NO BUIDLING NEAR PVP ZONES, HIDEOUTS, OR TRADERS (500m from Hideouts/Traders, 300m from PVP zones). Get your grind on and have fun with more of an immersive pvp building system. We have BasicTerritories/PVEZE Flag Zones. You need a flagpole to make a base & you need a flag fully raised on your pole to enable PvP. Since we use PVEZ the flags help in case you need to defend against a raid. The flag also helps keep all your items secure from poofing away. Sadly bases can be raided even with your flag pole lowered. So it’s recommended that you keep your flag pole raised.
ALL BASES HAVE A LIMITED AMOUNT OF VEHICLES THEY CAN POSSESS! Each base can have a max of 3 Land Vehicles & 2 Helicopters (This Is To Help Prevent Lag)
PVP ZONES/PVE: All PVP Zones contain either a military spot on the map, or Custom Keycard areas, Custom Key Cards spawn randomly around the map or in airdrops/military bases/bunkers.THERE IS ABSOULETLY NO KILLING OUTSIDE PVP ZONES, what ever damage you afflict on another Survior, that damage will come back to you, this a noob/pve setting of a server so show some respect.
KEYCARDS: There many different keycards you can get but they all are different. Some have different loot, some have mixed loot. Rare keycard rooms give 10x better loot than normal military/bm loot. There Is 2 Red/Black/Violet/Green Rooms. 1 Yellow/Blue/Med Lab/White Rooms.
Right Now The Keycards Ranging From Best To Worst Are Red, Black, Yellow, White, Violet, Green, Blue, Med Laboratory. There will probably be more in the future. Red Keycard Loaded but is suuuper rare.
(NOTE: Right now please don't fly into keycard areas. We recently added helis again and some areas are possible to fly into (AI will probably shoot them down but still we want keycards to be used to access keycard areas. ALSO When you open a keycard room it will stay open until server restart because the loot crates wont reset until after restart)
THE BUNKER: Right now there is currently 1 bunker on the server. You need a White Keycard to enter it & when you enter it turns to total darkness. You'll need a light or nvgs too see anything after entering. This place is worth checking out but be careful of possible chances of Zombies/AI. The bunker is really nice for finding blackmarket items and chances decent/guns/armoammo.
TRAVEL TRADER: We recently added a trader that can change locations and also change what they Buy/Sell! The Travel Trader Can Spawn At Any Keycard Locations (Based On When I Move Them) & Trades Rare Items Other Traders Might Not Sell Or Might Buy/Sell At A Discount!
TRADERS: Traders are all around the map and they only sell certain items there. Very high powered weapons cannot be bought a civ traders, they will most likely be purchasable at Blackmarket or not purchasable at all, you will need to scavenge your way around the map if you want to be the best, there are no handouts. Normal Civ Traders will have the essentials there to survive.
AI/BOSSES: AI spawn at all keycards/hideouts except Blue/Green Keycards. They have a chance to spawn anywhere else. There are 3 Bosses on the server. Killa, Zryachiy, the Goons. Killa spawns at Red/Black/Yellow Keycards. Zryachiy spawns at Prison Island. The Goons can spawn at Red/Black/White/Med Lab. The Goons are the rarest Bosses to run into right now while Killa and Zryachiy are about the same. Killa and Zryachiy can have guards.

Basic breakdown of the current situation: We have an ethernet run consisting of a single 100ft cat6 cable, routed from the router in pretty much the middle of the house to upstairs; it's kind of an inelegant run, but it works. Things is, though, we have two devices up here that can accept ethernet, and I want to hook up both instead of just one. For simplicity's sake, I'd like to avoid altering the run on its way up (not necessarily over), but also don't necessarily want to run an entirely separate cable*, either, and crucially there's no power available near the ideal split point. (The nearest convenient source is about 10 feet away, and is an extension cable; daisy-chaining extension cables = bad.)
My preliminary idea was to put in a small switch roughly equidistant to the two aforementioned devices, with the initial idea being to inject PoE near the router, and power the switch via PoE. I have found some 1 port-to-2 port devices, but there's a lot of ambiguity on whether they're actually capable of supplying two devices at once, and poking through 4-port switches for ones that can accept PoE power has had very limited success.
Most of the options I've found from brands I'm actually inclined to trust (so ones that aren't random Amazon junk) have been TP-LINK, whose 4-port switches seem to pretty much exclusively use external power- not ideal, as that'd mean either an entirely separate run would be required with the switch near the router*, or I'd need to run an extension cord just for the switch, which is not a very good idea, partly because the aforementioned power source is also an extension cord, partly because not routing an extra cable is the entire point. Not that I'd expect a small unmanaged switch to draw much power, but for fire hazard reasons I'd really rather avoid running unnecessary extension cords if possible.
Any advice on this front? Whether it be knowledge of PoE-powered small switches I've managed to miss (entirely possible), or otherwise.
^\All ports on the main router are already taken up.)

I've been thinking about an option for Sansa's arc that I think has some merit.
We all know about the Arryn inheritance issue. No one really believes Robert Arryn will live to adulthood and his only heir is Harry Hardyng. George kind of makes a big deal of this, implying that if Harry is dead there is no clear next person in line. Obviously, there must be even more distant Arryn relatives who could potentially inherit, but they may be so distantly related that they're barely any closer than anyone else, or they may be inconsequential people from minor houses or belong to other houses/realms of Westeros and have other loyalties or priorities. It reminds me of when Robb was discussing his choice of heir and Catelyn brings up a couple of distant cousins from the Vale who Robb turns down because they have no real connection to the Starks, Winterfell or the North.
So if Harry does die in Winds, like many of us predict, who will be Robert's heir? Certainly the question will be of utmost importance at that point, even for those who hope Robert will live long enough to have a child of his own as they need at least an 'interim' heir just in case.
I put forward that this heir will be Sansa/Alayne. And before anyone comes screaming, "but she's not related to the Arryns!", let me explain why that might not matter in this scenario.
Part 1: Alayne as Heir
First of all, let me just go over the laws of Westerosi succession as I best understand them. The traditional rules for succession state that a Ruler's eldest sons inherit, then his daughters, then his younger brothers and nephews/nieces, then younger sisters, and so on. However, these rules are hardly carved in stone. Firstly because a Lord/King also has the authority to overrule tradition to name their own heir of choice. Secondly because, despite the rules and the Ruler's authority to ignore them, the opinion of other important people, e.g. liege lords, Kings, religious leaders, can also influence a decision one way or another. If the King's choice of heir is unpopular enough, the Lords might back another preferred candidate, and so on. This means that the solution to an inheritance crisis could vary wildly depending on motivations of the Ruler and of other important people.
So what does this mean for the inheritance crisis at the Vale?
Firstly, Lord Robert adores "Alayne". He clearly seems to have transferred his love for his mother onto her, and even though he doesn't yet know she's really his cousin Sansa, he seems to at least see the similarities between her and Lysa. Robyn is also incredibly paranoid about people thinking he'll die soon and wanting to replace him, hence why he hates Harry. So if there is a need to name a new heir, I think Robyn's first choice will be Alayne. As a small child, Robyn won't care as much about the technicalities and legitimacy of it and just want what his little heart wants -- and he's very stubborn! As Lord, he knows that at least in theory his word is law, so he'll decide on Alayne and expect everyone to accept it. But will they?
Secondly, Robert's regent and person who can actually make these sorts of decisions is Littlefinger. And I can't imagine anyone who'd be more interested in making his "daughter" heir to the Vale than him. I don't think I even need to go into much more detail here, it's pretty obvious that LF would see enormous benefits in making Alayne OR Sansa Robyn's heir, and I'll go over some of them soon.
Thirdly, Aegon is already in Westeros and this news will be spreading quickly. He'll probably take King's Landing sooner rather than later, so he'll seem like the clear best bet for King to most mainstream Lords who don't have a particular horse in this race. I believe Littlefinger will immediately want to marry Sansa to him, especially since Harry is dead, though he won't necessarily make this plan known to anyone but Sansa herself. And if Sansa is heir to the Vale as well as to the North, that sweetens the deal tremendously for Aegon's camp. Likewise, if Aegon and co. have plans to marry Sansa, then they have every reason to back her legitimacy as heir to the Vale, even if it's under the name Alayne Stone as that is easy enough for a King to fix later.
Fourthly, and perhaps most importantly, the Lords Declarant. This is a group of Great Lords of the Vale who don't trust Littlefinger and want to keep Robyn and the Vale safe from him -- however, so far they don't seem to have very much power to oppose Littlefinger as they have allowed him to rule for a year to see how it goes. They will definitely care about who's the heir, and some of them might even have their own ideas as to who it should be, either a very distant Arryn relation that is also part of their House, or if there is no such relation then they might push for their own House to replace the Arryns altogether. The problem with this is twofold: 1- if, say, the Royces put themselves forward as new Lords Paramount of the Vale, then the Waynwoods might have their own issues with that and put themselves forward instead, leading to rival factions within the Vale competing with one another and weakening each potential claim; 2- if these lords indeed care about Robert and don't want to become traitors by forcibly pushing another claim (like the Boltons did to the Starks and the Freys partly did to the Tullys), then they'd be more willing to at least consider Robert's choice of heir. This is even more true if they know that the new King Aegon approves and/or if they fear retaliation from Littlefinger.
Fifthly, there are the terms of the inheritance, which I think will make the Lords Declarant more cooperative. Basically, Robert loves Alayne enough that he wants to marry her himself, and when Harry dies this will be even more true. So the terms of the arrangement could be: Alayne is made interim heir to Robert but is also betrothed to him, with the idea that once he's old enough they'll marry and have a proper heir. So Alayne would only become Lady Arryn in her own right IF Robert dies before producing an heir, and if he lives then both claims are consolidated and their child will be Lord Arryn just as intended. Given the lack of valid alternatives to this, both in terms of the lack of other blood relations and in terms of the potential political blowback for going against it, the Lords Declarant may be more easily persuaded to agree.
Sixthly, Alayne's own inheritance. Obviously we know Alayne is really Sansa Stark, who still has a claim to the North and is closely related to the Tullys in the Riverlands. But Alayne herself has an inheritance. As Littlefinger's only known child, even if she's a female bastard, she still has the best claim to LF's own titles and lands if/when he dies - a claim that Littlefinger can easily make official to sweeten the deal. And Littlefinger is officially Lord of Harrenhal and Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, in addition to being exceptionally wealthy. So a marriage between Alayne and Robert might not be as poor a choice as one would initially think, especially when you add the fact that Littlefinger is de-facto Lord of the Vale now too and the Lords Declarant may prefer to keep him happy and/or have his much friendlier and more naive daughter influencing Robert instead of LF himself. I'm not sure at which point Alayne's real identity will be revealed or even how many of the Lords Declarant at least suspect who she is, but if they do then they certainly know that marrying Robert to "Alayne" could result in amazing political returns with the North and the Riverlands.
So these are the main considerations for whether Alayne could conceivably become Robert's heir, even if just until they have a child. Overall, I believe it's very much possible.
Part 2: Robert's Death
Lots of people, myself included until recently, believe that Robert Arryn will surprise everyone and end up surviving. However, everything we've seen so far seems to point to the opposite.
Firstly, there's the fact that everyone talks about how Robert is frail and won't last long. Certainly this could be a red herring with a twist when Robert actually survives. But the twist could work just as well if it Robert does die and it is the person who succeeds him that is the surprise.
Secondly, there's the milk of the poppy. It is said multiple times throughout the series, at least a couple of which happen in regards to Robert himself, that one can only take very small and infrequent doses of milk of the poppy before it kills them. And that is NOT what's happening with Robert. In fact, it's a shock that he's survived this long as it is, because Robyn keeps asking for more milk of the poppy, and Alayne keeps going against the Maester's recommendations and giving him more of it. It's unclear so far whether Alayne realises that she might be slowly killing Robert. On one hand it seems obvious that she should know, since the Maester keeps warning her and she's already seen a poisoning first-hand (Joffrey's) and should know better than to dismiss the risks. On the other, she never thinks anything to give that away, although logic dictates that, as she knows Littlefinger's plans to replace Robyn with Harry and she's meant to marry Harry, she could be poisoning Robyn on purpose to help the plan along. Either way, the chances that Robert could die from milk of the poppy poisoning are not small, and it could happen even if they stop giving him so much of it after Harry's death since it builds up in the body and Robyn could be past the safety threshold already.
Thirdly, there's the Alayne vs Sansa, Robert vs Aegon issue. You may have noticed that I discussed a marriage match between Alayne and Robert AND one between Sansa and Aegon happening nearly simultaneously, but I don't think they contradict each other, especially where Littlefinger is involved. King Aegon is obviously a better match than Lord Robert, so of course LF and Sansa herself would prefer it and Sansa/Alayne cannot actually marry them both. But if Alayne is made Robert's heir with the condition that she'll marry him eventually but then Robert dies before the marriage can happen, "Alayne" will already be heir to the Vale and be free to marry Aegon as Sansa. And Aegon himself as King can ratify the validity of the Alayne claim as belonging to Sansa since they're the same person. And that's a further reason why Robert still dying will be a matter of interest to Littlefinger and Sansa.
TLDR / Part 3: The Full Theory
So my theory is that Harry will die, Alayne will be made heir interim and be betrothed or even married to Robert, but then Robert will also die from milk of the poppy and Alayne will become Lady Arryn in her own right.
This will happen while Littlefinger is also arranging a marriage between Sansa and Aegon, with the expectation that Alayne/Sansa will be recognised as the same person and will become Lady Arryn, Lady Stark and Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.
However, Aegon will likely end up marrying someone else who's actually present near King's Landing, either because it'll provide a more immediate political benefit or because Aegon will be taken with another girl and decide to marry her regardless of his advisors' political considerations or promises to Littlefinger. So Sansa will not become Queen, but by the time this happens she will already be Lady Arryn of the Vale.
The Vale might stay loyal to Aegon anyway, but it's far more likely in my opinion that they'll end up siding with Daenerys when she arrives. The main reason for this is that it draws a nice parallel between the first Dance of the Dragons and the second. In the first Dance, Rhaenyra's camp included the Velaryons, the Vale and the North. And the ruler of the Vale was a Lady Arryn, who sided with Rhaenyra due to a familial connection but also because, as a female ruler, Lady Arryn had a personal motivation in supporting Rhaenyra's claim. For context, Aegon II's camp included the Stormlands and the Westerlands, while the Reach and Riverlands were split. And now Aegon VI already has the Stormlands and will likely have the Westerlands too once they take the throne from the Lannisters and push them into submission. Dany may have the Velaryons through a deal with Aurane Waters, and will certainly have the North whenever she and Jon ally with each other. She's only missing the Vale to complete the parallel.
I don't know what this will mean for the very end of the series. Will Sansa stay on as Lady of the Vale AND also be Lady of the North, or just one or the other? And if she does indeed become Lady of the North, then who will replace her in the Vale? Perhaps they will appoint a new ruling family in the Vale, except that at this point it will have the full agreement of the current Lady (and of the King/Queen of the 7K) and happen more peacefully.
What do you think? Could Sansa become Lady Arryn? Will she join with Aegon or Dany?

Hi i really enjoy driving and i love cars for my While life. I think im ready for something bit sporty but i dont want anything too fast because i dont need it and i dont want to pay a lot for fuel and insurance. I currently own skoda fabia 1.4 mpi (about 70 hp) and I want atleast same size car but I would rather buy something bigger (maximum length is 4 300 mm). Power should be atleast 100 hp and 200 hp if it’s heavy car. Price limit is 5000 euros. I am thinking about fabia rays its nearly same size and I am not sure about having diesel because I don’t travel long distances. Honda jazz is another alternative but I’m not sure about it being sports car. I love fiesta st150 but I need 5/4 door car… Thanks in advance

A special thank you to the amazing u/SpacePaladin15 for this fun world.
A thank you u/ImaginationSea3679 y u/Acceptable_Egg5560 for helping me with plot stuff.
Sunday Time!
I had to rewrite this chapter because the other version was stupid.
[Prologue][Previous][Next]
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Memory Transcription Subject: Exchange Program Member, Arwen Conway
Date [standardized human time]: August 30th, 2136.
Earth, Earth hadn’t changed much in the last eight days I’ve been gone. I was glad for that simple fact. A part of me missed the lighter gravity, and I was hoping to happily see my family in a similar state. We had exchanged a few messages, but it was mostly to make sure I was safe. I felt safe-ish for the most part. Trivi ensured exterminators stayed off my back for the most part. There was one minor altercation in which I was accused of having hypnotic powers by getting three venlil to want to go to Earth, but Trivi and Tova shot that down quickly.
Now, how do I explain the fact that I am bringing home three guests other than ‘venlil curious about Earth,’ or is that enough? Maybe I should tell the truth regarding Quilix and Tova…
With how well I knew my father, I’d assume him to be pissed off, and my mother wouldn’t be happy as well; Quilix viewed me as a sexual object before a friend, Tova shouted at, clawed, and kicked me, yet Trivi was pretty decent. Well, he did point a flamethrower at me when we first met on the 22nd, but my father and mother didn’t need to hear that final part.
Quilix, Tova, and Trivi sat nearby on the train looking around with a mixture of nervousness, awkwardness, fear, and plenty of other emotions. Each one possesses the respective emotions; Quilix seemed really anxious or nervous about going to the ranch, Tova appeared awkward from all the stares, and Trivi was trying to hide in my jacket. I mean, he couldn’t fit in my jacket, but he was giving a damn good go at it.
“Your eyes are nice Arwen, but this.” He quietly gestured to the rest of the train cart, waving a paw toward the other humans. “Just… too many eyes. I feel scared.”
My lips curled up into a smile. A smile that no longer made the exterminator flinch. I reached down and stroked the speep’s head, pressing his chin deeper into my cleavage. A small move that wasn’t on purpose and made both of us blush, but neither of us pulled away. “Aww, is my big, strong exterminator afraid of a few humans?~” It was impossible not to tease him. Especially when his tail gave an annoyed flick!
“Gah, I can see why Tova referred to you lot as troublemakers. A bit much, but hmph!” He huffed, wrapping his paws around me, and try to pull himself closer to me. My hand resumed its petting, stroking down the venlil’s ears. A rumble eventually revved from his throat and he quietly buried himself into my bosom.
Aww.
My uncovered face took a glance upwards, eyeing up the venlil couple that sat in the seat in front of us. I was honestly impressed with how they took my hair. Tova accepted it with ease, but Quilix fainted much to my surprise. Though, it may have been my fault for accidentally splashing my hair into his face when he got closer to take a closer look. The long, wavy strands covering much of his face for the briefest moment before he hit the ground. It was amusing a little bit later though. It gave us something to talk about on the shuttle to Earth.
The venlil couple sat close together physically but emotionally looked far apart. They may have been thigh to thigh, with Quilix hopefully looking up at his mate with the occasional glance between sketching, but Tova was doing her best to look anywhere but her mate. Every small attempt Quilix had made that I knew to be a venlil courting attempt was shot down; leaning into, snuggling, intertwining tails, and so forth were met with apathetic responses.
Honestly, I couldn’t blame Tova, for if my partner had pulled what Quilix had done, I would have acted very similarly: Disdain for the aforementioned imaginary individual would probably be the biggest emotion!
They went to speak with their parents, and well… As racist as Quilix’s parents were to Tova. They’d rather Quilix and Tova both die than break up or well, that’s how the pair made it sound. Tova’s mother was the same way, but not racist.
I do not understand that logic in the fucking slightest, but honestly, I’m just glad I didn’t see that talk. Imagine being a fly on that wall. “You weren’t supposed to mate him, but now you’re mates, so you better be mates and make us some pups,” or something along those lines. ‘Tis what Quilix’s parents said and Tova’s mother was more along the lines of just no breaking up.
Again, thank God I wasn’t there.
“So, how are you two holding up?”
Unlike the first time when they saw my red hair, they did not freak out when their eyes turned to me.
“A little nervous,” Quilix admitted, rubbing his two paws up and down his thighs. Again, he cast a glance up at Tova, who ignored the look. This went on for a couple of seconds before his gaze lethargicly returned to his sketchbook. Again, I couldn’t really blame her.
“Agreed, but if I must admit. I expected humans to be… bigger.” A little funny thing I haven’t told Tova yet was that she was around the average height for a male in England. A little bit shy of it, but still very close to it. Meanwhile, females were around 5’3”, so, of course, she’d be taller than a lot of the women! “Oh, and the gravity is lower! Did you see my jumper earlier?”
Tova was referring to her jump the second they touched down, and to put it bluntly, she launched herself two-point-five meters into the air.
TWO-POINT-FIVE METERS!
My eyes were unable to control themselves and I spared a quick glance down at Tova’s legs. To be more specific, those meaty thighs that she possessed. If they were hollowed out and given just a smidge of stretch, I could probably fit one of them around my waist. I was lucky I was rolling away from Tova when she went for that kick, she probably could have cracked a rib if it was perfectly landed.
Jesus, she could break a person in half with those thighs.
To think Quilix’s scene required me to ‘beat’ the exterminator that had eight inches of height on me, actual ‘military’ training, knew how to wield a fucking sword, and probably had more weight in her legs than I had altogether. Yeah, that would have looked really goofy.
Heh, not that I am complaining.~
My eyes would quickly lower themselves down farther, giving a small glance down to the top of Trivi’s head. The blonde venlil firmly snuggled up into me, revving with content.
I wonder if Trivi would like to join that…
My eyes didn’t linger too long, rising back up and turning somewhat to the left, staring out the window as the train ventured across the border to Wales. The landscape having turned to light green hills a long time ago. “I saw it. Quite impressive, though, you did scare quite a few people when you did that?”
“I did?”
Tova may have not really been self-aware, so mentally absorbed in the fact that Earth had less gravity than Venlil Prime. This was something she was talking about for ten minutes straight after we landed in London’s spaceport.
“Yeah, and you almost clunked your head on the roof too.” The venlil’s face managed to turn a shade of orange despite her void-colored flesh. Her ears folding down in embarrassment when giggles escaped from the rest of us. It was honestly kind of impressive to see the muscular venlil go from giddy with excitement to tepidly shaking with chagrin.
“So…” I glanced down at Trivi, who whispered up to me quietly. “Are we going to tell Tova and Quilix the change of plans now, a little bit later, are you going to put them through a day, or are we going through the full thing?” His tone was quiet, barely even a whisper when those last few words got out. I had to tilt my head down into his ear so I could hear what he was saying.
“Option three,” I say, pulling Trivi up onto my lap, wrapping my forearms around his waist to pull him closer. My chin resting atop his wooly head. “Gaaah, I can’t get over how cute you are.” Trivi wasn’t complaining, resuming the quiet, but now louder rumble that came from his chest and throat.
“You two seem to have gotten close,” Quilix observed, taking his eyes off his little drawing book. A half-finished sketch of a pigeon in flight was on the current page. The line art was a little bit rough, but since it was the first pigeon he ever saw, it was to be expected.
“Humans like touching and holding things. Trivi is adorable, nice to me, and tries to be understanding of me. I like that. Meanwhile, he likes me, so all is well.” One of my hands manages to snake its way between me and the male, finding the underside of his chin before administering some scritches!
It was a personal weak spot of his that I managed to find that other day. He went completely slack within my arms the second my nails scraped the underside of his jaw. The rumbling growing in intensity to the point that it was more than audible.
“Well, I mean… mate-like close.”
Oh… Oh!
It was hard not to feel Trivi and my body tense up at the accusation. “We’re not mates,” Trivi clarified. “Just really good friends,” he continued, resuming his slackening posture as the scritches started up again.
I couldn’t help but notice the other two venlil stopped doing what they were doing to watch me scratch Trivi’s chin.
You can pet them when they make it up to you. Just. Resist. For. Now.
But I must pet them!
Resist Arwen! Resist the urge!
“Anywaaays,” I drag on with a growing smile, trying to switch to a new conversation. “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch isn’t-” I wasn’t able to complete my statement because Trivi immediately sat firmly up on my lap, shooting me with a very befuddled look. Tova was equally baffled and Quilix looked like I just made up the name on the spot. It was hard to suppress my smile.
“The speh?” Trivi tilted his head to the side. “I thought you said it was Llanfair… Llanfair… Speh, however, you say that place’s name, but that??? What the speh is Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave. They should have their town name fixed! That’s absurd and long! How the speh did you say that!?”
Ooo? That translated? I don’t recall the shortened variant translated
I roll my eyes playfully and pull Trivi back down to my chest. “Relax you three. If you will just give me a chance to explain. Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, as I will refer to it for the most part since it is much easier to say. It had its name elongated to attract tourists about a hundred-fifty years ago or something along those lines. It was dedicated to a church of St. Mary, but that’s the extent of my knowledge. It’s really just a silly name for attracting tourists.”
The three were still giving me a mixture of befuddlement and bafflement, but I couldn’t blame them. Llanfairgwllgwyngyll was just an extremely long and absurd name. I frankly had to agree.
My hand traveled behind the back of Trivi’s ears, digging my nails in once again before moving them up and down, making the male melt once again. “We should be there soon enough. Once there, I will take you to meet my parents and meet the Wellingtons a few kilometers out of town. Obviously, drop off my stuff back home before we meet the Wellingtons.” I made a quick gesture to the large, heavy box between the four of us. “Sound good?”
Quilix and Tova both nodded, and Trivi just snuggled deeper into me.
“That sounds fair,” Tova was the one to speak up.
I lean back into my chair and close my eyes. My arms pull Trivi in for another hug. Hopefully, they remember to wake me up when we reach Llanfairgwllgwyngyll. It should be a few more hours.
I honestly can’t wait to be home.
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[Prologue][Previous][Next]
Heavily inspired by the likes of…
Pack Bonding
Foundations of Humanity
Mixed Signals (NSFW)
And I snuck in some lingo from Nature of Humanity
Don't Look A Human In The Eye
I highly suggest you check them out!!
A bit of a shorter chapter, but that's because I didn't start writing this until Friday.

(Hey everyone! Finally out of the shadow realm! Im reposting chapter five here as it got wiped last time, 6 is still percolating away in my head, but in the mean time, enjoy! Comments are appreciated!)
(Previous)
https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/13o95ds/eodat_ch4_whats_old_is_new_again/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
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4-LOM rolled up to the holotable, the aging shipbuilder looking over the various fleet and division commanders.
4-LOM was an old Mk1 astro robot, his main body was a sphere, with four mechanical arms extending from his body, two large and bulky, and the other two smaller, more nimble and accurate, more dexterous, with a cylindrical lower body leading down to his treads, which were angular, tank like in shape, designed for heavy lifting. His head was flat, with a duo of square optics, a set of welding shields flipped up, ready to flip down when and where needed. His backpack was open, with tools sticking out, ready to be grabbed and used.
Looking around, he noted that the Saurians had their Admiral, a middle age Rox, their massive, tyrannasauric form still managing to tower over most of the others, even in holo, while Serano stood next to him. Nearby, Hota sat, nursing a coffee, rubbing his head, while one of the chief science officers hologram glanced at him nervously.
Another door entered, and a Mk12 frame entered, standing at the table. At first glance, the frame looked pristine, but 4-LOM wasn't fooled. He wasn't a shipwright for nothing, and he could see the pitting under the paint where plasma weaponry had uselessly splashed off, taking with it little layers of metal with it. Despite how new the frame looked, it was clear it had seen some action, recently as well, judging by the fresh coat of paint.
More holograms of fleet officials, and the bridges, or representations of their ships, flickered in above their shoulders. Serano looked like he had an old sailing ship floated there idly, a representation of the Enterprise. Some had wasps, while one captain had a cartoonish Barbus fish, with an old style white sailors cap and a belt of dynamite.
And then a small black hole flickered into view in front of his faceplate, making him roll back with a start. Getting a good look at the now pulsing black hole, he seemed to frown, one of his welding shields rising higher to simulate a eyebrow raise….. "Horizon? Is that you, little lass?" He said, with a thick, Scottish accent as his other shield rose up to join the other in shock.
The holographic black hole bobbed up and down in the air, two arms extending out from its corona and spun, as if to represent it, no, her, spinning in happiness. For a moment, 4-LOM was silent, before he began laughing, reaching up, even as his servo passed through the holo. "Ach, what I wouldn't give ta be in the Link with ye, lassie! I'm glad ye survived." He said, as the little ever hungry representation of the ship spun around him, before it shot off, floating near the Mk12, who looked at it.
The 12s head tilted more, as it listening to what the ship was saying, while 4-LOM felt a bit of possessiveness flair. Horizon was one of HIS creations, his and his wife's. Their ships were like children for them. Rolling over, he mentally began preparing a bit of what his wife would call the shovel talk, something they used to do with Captains that took on their vessels……
"Did you need something, Grandfather?" The machine said, domed head snapping to his, taking the wind out of his sails, and stare blankly at the taller, thinner machine.
Behind him, he heard Serano chuckle behind him, even as the Rox raised an eyeridge, while the Saline sat his mug down and placed his head in his hands.
"Grandfather- oh. I see…." He said, gaze turning flat as he gave a glare at Horizon. "I see the little gremlin is still able to make me short a fuse or two. Void knows Maria's hair turned white before she had to move bodies due to someone's antics." The little black hole pulsed sharply, as if squawking. "Would have appreciated a warning she made herself a captain…. Lassie, ye best be teaching him self preservation instincts." Catching the snort from the Rox and the sigh from Serano.
Slowly, his head turned around to face the two, one shield twitching, and finally saw Hota looking up with a flat look. "Too late on that one. I'll pass you the after action report later, AFTER the meeting." Serano said, hiding a smile. "If you want a first hand account, ask Hota. From what I understand, he had a front row seat for the Chaos the two caused."
She wasn't a little ship anymore, she wasnt- ah kriff it all. She was still his little lass. He'll talk with her later…preferably with Maria there…..after he grabbed his wrench and had a….. talk….. with whoever was their crew.
/------------------/
All the admirals and fleet commanders were soon in place, Asimov standing to the side, near the Admiral Serano, Horizons representation floating next to his head as his own panned about, looking at the assembled species. Several robotic ones, not Astro Robot series, called Glinch, looked at him curiously, while he picked out several different….Saurians, a few Roxes, several Trikes.
Several were pale, white skinned humans, bald, be they male or female. Clones, like himself, but with organic bodies, accompanied by nat-born humans, and several more advanced Astro Robot series units, these ones looking everything from near human, to large and bulky, armed with cannons, inbuilt missile launchers on their upper arms, and massive treads, or slimmer, almost skeletal ones with modules that could be swapped out at a moments notice.
"I appreciate ye all for coming on such short notice" 4-LOMs voice said, cutting over the gentle hubbub of the side conversations. "I had hoped that we wouldn't be facing them again, but here we are." The robot said as one of his smaller limbs tapes a command into the console, pulling up images of Everwatch stations current…condition. "Those of yeh from Federation space are more familar of the old stories, battle videos and the like. The Demons, as the Human Federation calls them, have been returned. It's only thanks to the work of Representative Hota that we have this information….. and had stumbled across an old Ace that had woken back up in time for this chaos." 4-LOM said, nodding to the Saline, getting the attention of his compatriots, who he shook his head to.
"Our opponents are equipped with biotech vessels, and are known for appropriating technology to forcibly integrate it with their own. Which means keep an eye out for a worse hodgepodge of weapons than a pirate vessel after its crew hits a pound of Spice and then gets drunk at a star port." 4-LOM said dryly, as various, old, images of the vessels and a few of the newer ones. "That being said, expect the sheer firepower jammed onto each of these ships to be on the higherside. However, they need long recharge periods, likely due to whatever power source used overloading, or the capacitor banks running dry and needing to recharge. Don't be fooled, they do have some form of biological armament, acid spitters, spike launchers, the works." He said, as images flicked up organic turrets, tentacles, and what looked like maws.
"As of right now, several of our larger vessels are being inspected and repaired, resupplied, and upgraded as needed. Several older vessels are being pulled out of mothball for the same reason. All civilian vessels are being drafted for emergency roles, receiving refit with hardware that will allow them to fight in a pinch, though their primary objective will be escorting transport ships and acting as emergency evacuation ships. We won't be expecting them to fight, but we need every ship we can get."
An image flickered into view of what amounted to the humans old museum of warships and deep space vessels, revealing it to be a hive of activity. Many other races had laughed at humanity for keeping their old vessels, rather than scrapping them, but now, now there was a reason why humanity had.
"Patrol fleets are to be at least one Saline Sensor ship, two to three Buckler class Trike Shield Bearers, one Rox Artillery ship, one Vohle capable human vessel, Two human PT ships, and three Raptor Swift claws." 4-LOM said, "these things aren't to be taken lightly. Sensors pick them up, call it in and engage. Stall for time if needed for reinforcements to arrive. Intercept fleets are to consist of five Trike Aegis class Shield Bearers, six Swift claws, one Rox supercarrier, three Rox artillery ships, two Saline Auxiliary ships, one Saline Medical cruiser, one Human Vohle Super-carrier, eight human PT ships, two Human Iowa class destroyers." The elderly bot belted out, making several Captains and admirals wince. Those weren't lightweight ships. The 'patrol' fleet could have been considered a planetary invasion force.
Before anyone could make any arguments or questions as to why the fleets were set to the Human classic of 'Maximum Overkill', and before any more ridiculous fleet deployments could be called out, a slightly panicking human sprinted into the room. "Sir! Confirmed hostile assault on Tisan-4" the human said, breathing heavily. "The Demons made planet fall, looks like a small invasion force that had left before the incursion field went up."
4-LOM stared….and then sighed. "Well, Caliburn had been itching for a fight." He sighed and placed a servo over his optics.
/-----------------------------------/
WARNING: Hostiles detected. Match confirmed; species D-65.
Threat level:Apollyon. Combat systems:unlocked.
That was what appeared on the Colony Managers terminal as alarms screamed across the Colony, alerts screaming on PADDs, sirens spinning as bunkers opened up.
An aging Wargen bared his teeth as he rapidly tapped at his terminal, as the younger human clone stood grimly at her manager's terminal.
"Civilians are filling out the bunkers, tunneling charges are set and ready to clear escape routes." The elderly, wolf like Wargen said, his muzzle splitting into four as he spoke, one part vertical, the other horizontally. "Colonial militia are manning hard points and connecting to systems now."
"Understood." The Colony manager said and let out a long breath, before opening the PA system. "All hands, brace for Activation procedure. I repeat, all hands, brace for activation procedure." She said, before securing herself in on one of the chairs, even as the commander buckled himself in across from her, even as terminals all around them flickered and the building shuddered and shook, new lights came online all over.
"And the other races call our alliance insane for building the bunkers" The Wargen muttered under his breath as the command room became a flurry of activity, sensor teams working together in an attempt to get data on their opponents. "Our people are safe. That's what matters, commander." The clone said softly, looking at her long time friend, even as the hidden defense system of the Colony woke up.
/------------/
Outside, the demonic army approached, on a slow, steady March, disgruntled at the lack of organics they had found to use. They needed biomass to fuel their war machine, to create their bases, their armies, their ships. And while they didn't care much about the sheer number of ships they lost during planet fall thanks to the orbital defenses, they needed to deal with the local defense computers. There had to be a way to broadcast an all clear signal and allow their other ships past.
Before them sat a large, fortified structure, looked like a massive cathedral, really. The irony was not lost on them as ports on the castle-like structure opened up, and began spitting metallic shells at them, exploding after punching through their infantry, leaving craters behind, destroying more of their forces.
The ground shook as their massive siege beast began forming from the splattered biomass, like some strange, oozing horror, slowly forming into a quadropodic creature.
The beast was mostly just a giant mouth in legs, with a long, worm like body lined with eyes, teeth, spikes, and tendrils, flinging said teeth at the structure.
Warlord Gistle ground his teeth as he stared at the cathedral as it held its own, his forces decimated by the attempted rain of metal. Said rain changed to one of scalding plasma as the castle changed tactics to try and burn the bodies to prevent them from forming additional, stronger units.
"Battle lord." Hissed one of the smaller battle chiefs said, as they stepped up next to Gistle. "The Seekers have not located where the miserable Frails have hidden themselves. Our efforts would be best put to entering the fortress ahead." The chief said, pointing at the massive fortress as the siege beast brushed off the weapons fire.
"No need, we will be inside soon en-" Came the guttural voice of the Warlord, before it was interrupted by a computerized voice, echoing out.
"THREAT ASSESSED. ASSUMING COMBAT MODE."
There was a rumble, everyone grabbing onto the stablest thing around them as the ground tore apart, the siege beast stumbling back, as the building tore up its own foundations as steam hissed out, and part of the building lifted up, and then slammed into the ground, and then the other side, slowly pulling itself up….and up…and up……
The structure wasn't a structure. Not any more. Towering over them, looking like a massive hunchback stood the cathedral, it's towers opening, revealing to be cowling around massive artillery cannons. It's arms, once covered with flat pillars, opened up to reveal a set rotating barrels, slowly spinning up, and a bulky duo of MAC batteries on the other arm. Sticking off the side of its upper arms were smaller hardpoints, each turret armed with four barrels, small and accurate, sniping ground units with horrifying accuracy, the soft metal shells ripping away to reveal their incendiary cargo held within steel mesh, allowing the coilguns to spit them out rapidly.
The head section looked like a sphere with three optics in a triangular formation, around a cannon that locked onto the siegebeast and whined, arcing brightly, before it fired, a bright flash seen as the cannon went off, it's round leaving behind a trail of fire as it raced through the air, punching through the beast, making it howl, and began trying to heal the injury that pierced it, ripping open a hole below it.
It's bipedal legs were thick, armored, and just as equally armed, it's lower legs armed with rotary cannons that spun, the lower pair foring a heavy stream of plasma, one barrel firing and then cooling as it spun, the others keeping the pace up, while above them, physical artillery was spat out, helping pierce armor for the plasma to scorch and burn to uselessness. More cannons sat on the sides and back of its legs in, taking aim at the surrounding armies, making sure to add on their screeches of rage.
Hanging off the underside of the platform that held the Cathederal sat more turrets, each swiveling around and adding to the chaos, their mini MAC armament chattering as they fired, picked a new target and fired again. On the top of the platform were AA cannons, taking aim and firing into the air, altering the timing of their rounds so that they acted as impromptu artillery, while more cannons, on four turrets, covered the monstrosities back, preventing them from sneaking up behind it, as if the cannons on the back of its legs weren't enough to cover it.
"TARGET ACQUIRED."
Warlord Gistle hissed in shock. The Frails had been LIVING in a Siege beast of their own!? Hidden partially underground, deceiving them to make it seem as if it was nothing more than a fortification!?
"Have all expendable units merge with our Siege beast, NOW! if the frails continue to pick our forces off one by one, they will never be able to reinforce our beast after they fall!" Gistle roared, even as around him the battle chiefs barked out the orders……..
/-------------/
The massive machine stared down at the hostile forces as they turned into a thick, biological slurry, short of the Demons themselves, and oozed towards the horror before it.
The monster seemed to absorb the substance on contact, growing larger and larger with each passing moment, howling and hissing.
He could feel his crew cursing in their heads, humans and otherwise, lighting the slurry up with plasmafire, burning some of it, but not enough. Caliburn agreed with them, as his Plasma getting cannon spun up, the five barrels glowing brightly, the heatsinks by the ends of the barrel glowing as the machine poured plasmafire from the barrels, searing into the beasts body, burning it up as it grew, stunting its growth heavily, and forcing it to consume more biomass to make heavy, chitenous armor, layers burning away under the assault.
Caliburn could feel the dust coming off as his gears spun, and he stepped forward, swinging the glowing arm as it cooled down, making the horror screech as he spun his upper body to add to the force of the blow, digging the glowing heating into the beast's face and knocking it back, buying time for his crew to deal with the horrific slurry around them, which still tried to fuse with the horror, chasing after it with a single minded determination.
As his upper body slowed down and he was facing forward again, he saw the beast setting up, snarling. His other arm came up, and he could feel his capacitors burning as he began firing his MAC arm at it, the massive, vehicle sized slugs punching into the beast, knocking it back farther, punching holes in the chitin it tried to grow as armor, making it hiss and move rapidly, trying to put distance between itself and the machine.
Unfortunately, the beast had the advantage in land speed, as it had four legs, while Caliburn only had two and lumbered slowly forward, his aging systems relishing the taste of combat after so long. And now he had far better weapons then a simple crane arm, like he had last time he fought a creature like this.
Because the beast had put distance between itself and him, it managed to absorb the last of the biomass, and began bounding forward, it's maw open, teeth spinning like some sort of Cuisinart….
A target he couldn't miss. His head cannon barked again, not as powerful as last time, but this time, he wasn't trying to rip it apart from the inside. The shell detonated on contact with the teeth, shredding them, tearing into the soft flesh within, making the beast howl and close its maw, it's chitin armor weathering the plasma splashing off, hardened to withstand the smaller weapons fire his crew spat at the creature.
His arms pulled their shrouding back around them, as he drew back and swung, hard, again using his body spinning to his advantage, striking the beast, the heavy weight of the heatsink and the weapon itself burying the shroud covered arm inside, the end opening up. Unfortunately, thanks to the partial shrouding, he wouldn't be able to spin his cannon, but all he needed was one shot inside it, and let it fly, ripping his arm out as it howled, smoke billowing from its new hole it tried rapidly to heal.
The tendrils it had tried to dig into his arm burned away as he kicked it up from below and began unloading both arms, fully unshrouded, the heat coming off both of them making steam hiss up into the air, as the beast took a heavy slug and then a plasma bolt, one after the other, deep into its stomach, sending it onto its back.
Loud popping sounds were heard as its limbs reoriented, allowing its former belly to become its back, the holes sealing slowly as it circled the walking cathedral, even as Caliburn scanned it, his upper body following its every movement. His command crew were breaking down every schematic and scan he gave them, working hard to figure out a way to kill the horror.
In the mean time, Caliburn and his crews would do their damndest to stall the beast and continue on their current plan. Burn it down, slowly.
He could feel his crews tracking the retreating demon forces, listening to the mental chatter within him as the artillery crews happily worked together to figure out their path, searching for the enemy command position, even as sensor crews watched as the rapidly approaching flood of biomass and machinery charged for them, some of the artillery crews already letting loose N-4 shells, the 'super-napalm', as the crews nicknamed them, impacting and exploding, burning into the biomass, unquenchable, even as the biomass attempted and failed to smother the burning substance, only serving to make it worse, melting the weaponry it carried with it.
The only reason why the crews could get away with it was because the biomass wasn't near the Bunkers exits or near infrastructure. Or Burnable items.
Command soon had a viable target, a sort of brain mass it had, separated throughout its body in a vain attempt to make sure it could still operate when a few of them were destroyed.
Several had been burned away by the plasma bolt going off inside of it, but many more remained, and it was attempting to make more/replace the burned away ones. They needed to eliminate the command signal….
Jubilation and grim satisfaction bloomed in his sensor and artillery crews, as he felt the mad scramble for bunker busting shells, before they were let loose into the air. Even as he blocked a tail strike from the beast and managed to crush its head under one foot, letting his landing engines ignite for the first time in decades to burn the creature more, his crews targeted the command bunker, shelling it with deadly accuracy, smoke rising from the hill they were tucked away behind in the distance, making Caliburn burn with satisfaction and praise for his crew.
/---------------------/
Gistle ran as fast as his hooves could move him, teeth barred as he snarled.
Around him, their command temple shook and shuddered, veins bursting, cables arcing wildly as the biomass contracted involuntarily or simply sagged, turning to biomass.
"Warlord, they are heavily shelling our position, we won't be able to retreat at this rate!" Hissed one of the Battle Chiefs at his side, hissing in fear, even as he snarled at the Pitiful, compared to him, creature. "We won't be taking everyone, only the essentials. The Everlasting King must be notified of this development. King be damned, the frails took the time to prepare for our arrival again." He growled as he came out to a hanger area, and ran into a small, fast ship, even as the others ran into larger, bulkier, slower ships.
Soon, the chitin that served as the door opened, and they shot out, erratically flying, trying to avoid the artillery shells, and now AA fire joining the fray.
He kept close to his compatriots, using them as a living shield as he twisted the small vessel around, smirking as he dodged the fire while they took it..
They were almost to space, soon, they could tear a Gate and get the fleet-
Reality tore open above him as a massive ring shaped vessel pushed itself into real space, disgorging hundreds of smaller vessels, bearing down on their positions, others engaging the floating fleet around them with aggressive assault runs, the sudden appearance in the system allowing them to have the element of surprise.
Weapons fire began filling the space around f them, tearing at their vessels faster then they could repair them as little, frail vessels zipped in and out of line of fire faster then they could shoot, track, or react, unloading slugs, plasma, torpedoes in a flurry of activity before diving away, allowing their munitions to wreak havoc amongst them.
Already, the larger vessels were disabled before Gistle managed to sacrifice one, smirking as it warped, it's biomass fueling the Gate, as he flew through, hoping he was in friendlier territories, unaware of a sensor torpedo flying in behind him.
/------------------------/
Down below, on the surface, Caliburn flung back his opponent again, arms blazing as he shelled it.
It was bigger then it had been, managing to absorb the biomass from the surviving landing ships and the remains of the command center they shelled out. It's armor was thicker, and was flinging out dozens, hundreds of calcium spikes, spitting its unknown energy weapons, only to splash off his shields, for the energy weapons, and his ar.or foe the calcium spikes, even as his weapons screeched.
The beast had holes all over its chitenous armor, from his shells punching in, or his artillery crews shelling the beast, his plasma following close behind as he sought to burn the creature out from the inside, going so far as to ram his plasma cannon inside and unload it, the rotating barrels helping tear it up from the inside as the heat sinks burned it.
Ships began dropping down from above, doing strafing runs, dropping smaller caliber explosives, distracting the beast as he tore another hole in it by spinning his upper body, one shrouded cannon arm striking the beast and ripping in, just as a gunship fired a Cleaner into it, just before it healed.
A burning flash of light, a horrific scream from the beast as it howled, body jerking as the explosive did its job…. Before it swung down, still alive, though just barely, it's armor shattering rather then buckling on the next strike from Caliburn, a facsimile of a uppercut, before the barrels let loose again, even as the plasma cannon dumped bolt after bolt into its lower body, searching for, burning the neural clusters as he found them.
The beast wrenched itself away from his grasp, snarling as it looked at him, the beast snarling as it tried to heal from the most recent injuries.
Caliburn felt his crew snarling back, his cannons swiveling around as they gave their response in munitions as he lumbered forward, the ground shaking from his steps and the escape ships erupting out of the ground around them, his rotary cannon screaming as it fired, the MAC on the other arm barking as he hit it again and again as it charged forward.
The beast no longer cared for its injuries, all it cared was to take the metal monster before it down, spitting acid out of it as it tried, and failed, to blind the machine, even as said machine swung its smoldering plasma cannon up and brought down the burning barrels down on its head, smashing it into the ground, pinning it there as it's crew continued shelling it out ruthlessly.
Caliburn refused to let the beast survive, he refused to let the thing get to the civilians. His crew snarled their agreement as the beast tore the pinned head off its body, even as it burned away to nothing, and tried to charge again, blindly, only to smash against the MAC arm and receive a pair of heavy slugs to the neck stump for its troubles, sending it somersaulting back, trying to reform its head.
It was much, much smaller now, now matching Caliburns size, due to all the biomass loss, it's head reforming as it snarled.
Caliburn seemed to roll his pauldrons and twitched his MAC, as if saying 'come at me'. The beast howled and charged forward, razor sharp tentacles erupting from its sides, whipping about wildly, only for turret crews to blast the tentacles off at the base, and for his artillery crews to shell it down from above, flattening it into the ground again with explosive shells.
Again, the beast began pulling itself out of the ground, only for another strafing run from aircraft , this time dropping standard napalm canisters onto the beast, making it howl as it healed around the canisters, and began burning from within.
It thrashed and writhed, tail and body whipping about, even as Caliburn kept firing, not letting up, shells puncturing the chitin bubble it was trying to form around the napalm to contain it, keeping it burning into the beasts body.
At last, the beast tried to fling itself at Caliburn, thinking that it could at least burn out the mechanical monster with it, only for Caliburn to swing and strike it, flinging it away again, the beasts body unable to get back up, and laid there, slowly burning away at last……………

Arsenal 22/23 A Season Review Part 1 Of 3: August-World Cup: A Stunning Start.
The 2022/23 season is Mikel Arteta’s 3rd full campaign in charge of Arsenal and as well the 3rd of his managerial career. His 1st game in the hot seat came on Boxing Day of 2019, a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth which saw Arsenal drop down a place to 12th in the table. Just a few months into his reign and Arteta was the first high-profile figure in English Football to be diagnosed with Covid-19, the virus which drew the Premier League to a standstill for 3 months and the wider world for a much longer time. It was to empty stadiums which Arsenal played out the remainder of their season which eventually concluded on the 1st of August. An 8th-placed finish was the club’s lowest since 1995. However, there was joy to be found as there so often has been for Arsenal, in the FA Cup. In the one and only Covid FA Cup Final played in front of no spectators Arsenal came from behind to defeat London rivals Chelsea for their record-extending 14th FA Cup, after reaching the final with an unlikely triumph over Manchester City in the semis. Arteta’s first half-season had ended brilliantly and his first full-season started in the same vein with more silverware following as Arsenal defeated Premier League Champions Liverpool to win the Community Shield. Tough times quickly followed and Arteta may have been somewhat grateful for the empty stadiums, as it’s questionable whether the board would have held their nerve and kept faith with such a young manager through this dreadful period had the fans been inside the ground and able to voice their frustrations. On Boxing Day of 2020, not only did Mikel celebrate the 1 year anniversary of his first match in charge, he celebrated a 3-1 victory over Chelsea, his side's first league win for nearly 2 months. It was the first time Saka, Martinelli & Smith Rowe all started a league game together for Arsenal. It was to prove a seminal moment, but it wasn’t enough to move his team up from 15th in the table. It was never so bad again for Arteta and his Arsenal team, with the side eventually settling for a repeat of the previous season’s finish, again coming in 8th. Failure to win the Europa League (exiting the competition to Villarreal in the Semi-Finals, who were incidentally managed by Unai Emery, the manager sacked prior to Arteta taking the job) meant that Arsenal would be without European football for the first time since the 95-96 campaign. And the 21-22 season would begin horribly with Arsenal bottom after 3 matches in which they failed to score and conceded 9 goals. However as the season progressed Arsenal began to find some resilience, quality and self-belief. The sides upheaval came not coincidentally around the time club captain Aubameyang was stripped of that duty before being allowed to depart for Barcelona in the January window. Aubameyang had been the team’s standout performer when winning the FA Cup, but since those performances had seen him rewarded with a new bumper contract which made him by far the club’s best-paid player, his attitude and performance level had become a problem that needed to be dealt with.
More so than any win, it was actually a home defeat to Champions City which perhaps best demonstrated this new Arsenal which was beginning to emerge. They took City on and pushed them all the way only to eventually lose in the 93rd minute, whilst being a man down for the final half-hour with centre-back Gabriel being harshly dismissed. The fight was on with local rivals Tottenham for the final Champions League spot and it was firmly in Arsenal’s hands until a run of 4 defeats in 5 allowed Spurs back into contention. The Gunners appeared to retake control with a run of 4 straight wins before losing tamely away at Spurs and then Newcastle, in the end missing out by 2 points. Throughout the season Arsenal had spells of real high-quality football, and the fans had taken to the project with more passion and belief than they had in the final years of Wenger’s reign or during Unai Emery’s short-lived stint. In the end, though they missed out on the prize of Champions League football due to a combination of injuries to important players and the inexperience of a young group.
Despite the significant setback of missing out on a Champions League spot having held it in their hands for many of the season’s final months, Arsenal still entered the summer of 2022 with plenty of reasons for optimism. Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe had emerged as the real breakout stars of the prior season and Gabriel Martinelli wasn’t too far behind. There had been some clearly smart signings made by the club, in particular, those of Martin Ødegaard and Ben White, signed from Real Madrid and Brighton & Hove Albion respectively. The July purchases of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko for a combined 75M from Manchester City seemed yet more smart business, in them, they had picked up two quality players with four Premier League winners medals each, and both arriving aged 25 they seemed in the perfect age bracket to become big players for Arsenal not just for the immediate but as well the foreseeable future.
Jesus’ Arsenal debut came in a 5-3 friendly win over FC Nurnberg in which he scored twice. He followed this up with another in a 2-0 win over Everton as Arsenal continued their pre-season with a tour of the USA. Arsenal played 3 matches in America and won all 3, by far the most impressive being a 4-0 trouncing of Chelsea. The Gunners made it 5 pre-season wins from 5 when they returned home the following weekend to beat Sevilla 6-0 at the Emirates, a hattrick from Jesus meaning he had netted 7 goals in his first 5 appearances in Arsenal colours. Arsenal would get the Premier League season underway away at Crystal Palace, under the Friday night lights of Selhurst Park. No Premier League side would have envied them this difficult fixture, Arsenal had experienced just how tough it was 4 months prior when a 3-0 loss away at the ground began a torrid run of results for the Gunners. Arsenal had also begun the previous season away on a Friday night and come unstuck against newly promoted Brentford. Again Arsenal was straight back under the Premier League spotlight to see whether they had grown and matured from such damaging defeats last season. The Arsenal quickly proved they were up to the test, starting right on the front foot and keeping Palace penned back in their own third. Jesus immediately highlighted the new dimension he was going to bring to Arsenal’s attack, when his strength and then neat dribbling fashioned a great chance out of nothing, a chance Martinelli should have done much better with, his side-foot finish going the wrong side of the post with the goal gaping. The Brazilian would make up for it in the 20th minute when a corner was headed into the six-yard box by Zinchenko, who was picked out by Saka to deliver a free header. His head found Martinelli’s and from close range, he was able to notch Arsenal’s first of the league campaign. That was to be the only goal in the game for the next hour, but despite Arsenal’s slender lead they rarely looked in danger of being pegged back. On the instances that keeper Aaron Ramsdale was called into action, he was ready and dealt with Palace’s occasional threats soundly. The game was put beyond Crystal Palace in the 85th minute when Bukayo Saka’s dangerous ball across the six-yard box was headed into his own net by Guehi. This made certain of 3 richly deserved points for the Gunners.
Jamie Carragher for one was particularly impressed with the start Arsenal made to the game saying afterwards: “Arsenal played like a big team. When I say a big team, I’m talking about a Man City or Liverpool, a team who wherever they go, dominate the opposition. I felt like we were watching City or Liverpool in that first 20 minutes, half an hour.” Fellow Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was more impressed with Arsenal in the second half saying: “The question mark about Arsenal will be whether they’ve got that robustness and resilience, physicality to get through that difficult 15 or 20 minute periods in away matches, and they got through that (tonight) and that impressed me.” Saliba was also singled out for praise with Carragher adding: “He looked the real deal. He adds something, we’ve always felt they were weak, at Brentford last season they got bullied and here last season, his physical stature will certainly help them in tough away games.”
Arsenal’s first home league game of the season was against Leicester City. The opening goal began with Jesus tormenting Johnny Evans tight to the touchline, after beating him he fed Martinelli who was able to get into the penalty area and find Xhaka, the Swiss international touched it first time back into Jesus who took a touch to steady himself then teased it over the head of Ward in the Leicester goal and into the net. It was an angle he had no right to try from, let alone score from but such was the Brazilian forwards confidence in front of the goal he fancied his chances from anywhere. The goal was nominated for Premier League goal of the month. Jesus got his second to double Arsenal’s advantage in the 35th minute, this time in a much simpler fashion. A corner across the six-yard box was not dealt with, a Leicester head on it only sped up its path to Jesus who was waiting to nod home from practically on the goal line.
Later in the first half, Leicester thought they had a way back into the game when referee Darren England pointed to the spot having judged Ramsdale to have brought down Jamie Vardy. However VAR advised him to check the monitor, and after re-watching the incident it was clear there was no contact made and the penalty decision was reversed. Leicester did still manage to half their deficit early in the second half though, a long ball was flicked on leaving Saliba in a difficult situation to deal with. Ramsdale was advancing but wouldn’t get there first and Vardy was waiting on the French defender’s shoulder, leaving him no alternative but to try and head the ball clear whilst facing his own goal. He only succeeded in diverting it into the net. This could have been a moment when the Arsenal crowd got nervous and frustrated. They had allowed a soft goal and their youngest defender was at fault. However the crowd immediately rallied behind Saliba and his teammates, he and the team needed help putting that mistake behind them and the crowd’s noise in the aftermath of conceding will have been reassuring to the players.
Demonstrating this, Arsenal went straight up the other end and scored, Ward made a meal of a cross, dropping it at the feet of Jesus who squared for Xhaka. The Swiss midfielder was being deployed in a new, more adventurous role where he was spending more time in the opposition box, he got his reward for this new tactic with a simple tap-in from right in front of the goal. Leicester would again reduce the home team’s lead to one however when Iheanacho found Maddison, who was able to shoot straight through Ramsdale. The young English keeper will have been disappointed at being so easily beaten from such an angle, his wide-open legs presenting the opportunity to the Leicester midfielder. Again Arsenal immediately responded to the setback by going up the other end and scoring again. This move began with Martinelli winning the ball back and feeding Ødegaard who moved the ball on to Jesus, who carried it forward before finding Martinelli who shot low from outside the box, he beat the outstretched Ward and hit the bottom corner, with the ball hitting the inside of the post on its way in. It had been a good day at the office for Arsenal and a great day for Gabriel Jesus, though despite scoring 2 and assisting the other 2 of Arsenal’s 4 goals, according to his manager Jesus left the field disappointed because: “he thinks he should have scored 4, that’s the sort of mentality you need. I wouldn’t like to play against him. He’s so mobile, intuitive, sharp and proactive in any moment or phase of the game.”
Arsenal next travelled to newly promoted Bournemouth. It took The Gunners just 5 minutes to take the lead and again it came from the phenomenal centre-forward play of Gabriel Jesus. A loose touch from White saw the ball launch high into the air, the Brazilian reacted first, beautifully controlling the ball whilst at the same time using his considerable body strength to hold off the Bournemouth midfielder, with exceptional balance he then dribbled around two other Bournemouth shirts until he was on the edge of the box facing their defence, with a lovely disguised pass he then fed Martinelli who was free to his left, his shot was saved but it fell straight at the feet of new captain Martin Ødegaard who was on hand to notch his first of the season. Rightfully though the praise went to Jesus with commentator Alan Smith saying: “You won’t see a better example of centre forward play than this.”
Ødegaard had to wait just 6 more minutes for his second of the season, a cross along the floor from White found Jesus who was free, his first touch wasn’t the best but it allowed it to set up nicely for the Norwegian to strike first time, which he duly did and the ball flashed into the net. Early in the second half and Arsenal had a third goal, with Xhaka setting it back to Saliba just inside the penalty area. Saliba struck it beautifully the first time, keeping his shot down under the bar and too perfectly placed for the keeper to do anything about. It was just Saliba’s second goal in senior football but he had finished it with the class and composure of a player who had scored 200. The strike drew Zinchenko to his knees, clutching his head in disbelief at the quality of the finish and unsurprisingly it was voted as Arsenal’s goal of the month. Jesus thought he’d netted Arsenal’s 4th but a VAR check ruled the goal out for offside, so the North Londoners had to settle for a 3-0 win in what had been an excellent away performance.
The Arsenal faced more newly promoted opposition the following week, this time back at home against Fulham for Arteta’s 100th Premier League game in charge. They would be without Zinchenko and Partey who had picked up injuries and were replaced by Tierney and Elneny respectively. The best chance of the first half went to Saka who got beyond his marker to face Leno one-against one, but he was unable to beat the keeper. It would be Fulham who took the lead however with Arsenal falling behind for the first time in the season. From the full-back position, Saka flighted a ball into Gabriel, who unnecessarily played himself into trouble. He never seemed to have the ball truly under his spell, and his second touch invited Mitrovic to try and take it off him, the defender then got his body positioning wrong, and failed to protect the ball allowing the forward to nick it from behind him and then the Serb was able to keep his composure and finish past Ramsdale.
Fulham’s lead lasted just 8 minutes, Martin Ødegaard lodging Arsenal’s response. There was a degree of good fortune about the goal, with a big deflection on the strike. But there was no doubt the Norwegian had deserved it, he was having an outstanding game with all of Arsenal’s danger coming through him. He was constantly creating, with inventive passes and dribbling runs. In this instance, a clever stepover had bought him the space for the shot. Ødegaard continued to lead Arsenal’s push for a winner with he, in particular, deserving to be on the winning side, and the winner did come though not until the 86th minute. Leno failed to deal with a corner, missing his attempted punch clearance and the ball fell at the feet of Gabriel who was able to gain the perfect redemption for his earlier error by securing all 3 points for his side. The goal kept Arsenal at the top of the Premier League as they remained the only team with a 100% record.
Arsenal finished August with another home game, facing Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa. This presented Arsenal with a chance to win their opening 5 league games for the first time since 2004. Saka passed up a golden opportunity to give Arsenal the ideal start when Martinelli’s cross found him completely free at the back post, it was set up perfectly for Saka to hit on the volley, which he did but he got too under the ball and lifted it horribly high and wide from inside the six-yard box. An Arsenal opening goal felt inevitable however and it came on the half-hour mark when Emi Martinez could only push out an Xhaka shot as far as Gabriel Jesus, who was on hand to punish him. Martinez did go someway to redeeming himself later in the half with an excellent stop to deny a brilliant half-volley from Martinelli from 25 yards out.
Arsenal dominated the first half and continued their domination in the second but could not increase their advantage, it was instead Aston Villa who got the second goal of the game, in a somewhat controversial fashion. A corner from Douglas Luiz went straight into the net with Ramsdale unable to reach the ball due to his path being completely blocked by Kamara, who also limited the keepers’ movement by having both arms wrapped around his back. The goal stood but Arsenal cancelled it out in their own way, by going straight up the Villa end and retaking the lead. Saka coolly picked out Martinelli who struck it the first time on the half volley, Martinez clawed desperately at the ball but could not prevent it from going over his goal line and The Gunners were able to see the victory out. Arsenal’s player of the month was unsurprisingly Gabriel Jesus with 3 goals and 3 assists in 5 games. Arsenal’s maximum points after 5 games saw Mikel Arteta pick up Premier League manager of the month.
Arsenal started September with a chance to go 4 points clear of City in 2nd, after just six games. Standing in their way was Manchester United who would be hosting the Gunners at Old Trafford, a ground Arsenal had only won at once in the league since 2006, that one as well being without fans during the Covid season. Arsenal was boosted by the return of Zinchenko but had to start with their 3rd choice midfielder Sambi Lokonga for the Partey role after Elneny had followed the Ghanaian onto the treatment table. Regardless of the blow, Arsenal appeared to have made the ideal start when Saka threaded the needle and put Martinelli clean through on goal. The Brazilian finished brilliantly to give Arsenal the lead, but VAR advised the referee to have a look at a potential foul in the build-up. On review, the referee judged Ødegaard to have won the ball from Eriksen unfairly and chalked the goal off. The intervention made by Lee Mason on VAR was later judged by a Premier League review to be an incorrect one, the minimal contact not penalised in real-time by the ref was judged not to be a clear or obvious error. The review came too little and too late as far as Arsenal were concerned as they’d lost their lead and instead found themselves trailing at half-time after a good move from United culminated in a debut goal for Antony who finished past Ramsdale.
VAR’s intervention in the Arsenal goal was always likely to prove a vital one as remarkably United had not lost at Old Trafford when leading at half-time since 1984. This showed the size of Arsenal’s task going into the second half, but they continued to probe and ask questions of United and they got their equaliser on the hour mark when the ball broke to Saka in the penalty area after Ødegaard had looked to thread one through to Jesus. United dealt with that immediate threat but could only clear as far as Saka who slotted through the legs of Martinez for his first of the season. Arsenal looked to be in the ascendancy, but they were only level for 6 minutes. Overcommitting bodies forward left them without a midfield and after winning it back United was able to counter-attack with Bruno Fernandes who looked and found Rashford in behind the defence and he put United back in front. Arteta reacted immediately by looking to chase the game, giving a debut to summer recruit Fabio Vieira. The changes appeared to backfire however as Arsenal were left with even fewer defensive bodies on the field and in the 75th minute they were cut through once more, with Eriksen and Rashford both left in acres of space as United hit Arsenal once more on the counter-attack. It was a horrible goal for Arsenal to concede, it reminded of the worst years of Wenger with everyone so committed to attacking they had no thought for defending. Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season going down 3-1.
There were some positives to take in how confidently and capably they had passed the ball around, however, United had defended their penalty area very well and counter-attacked effectively. The frustration for Arsenal was how they had helped them in that regard, by leaving key areas of the midfield devoid of players. Partey had been very badly missed, and to a lesser extent so had Elneny whose defensive intelligence would not have seen him vacate his position as often as Lokonga did. The third goal conceded was perhaps the responsibility of Arteta who had gone all out attack mode too early, given the counter-attacking success United were already enjoying.
Arsenal got the chance to put the defeat behind them 4 days later when they began their Europa League campaign. They were placed in Group A alongside PSV Eindhoven, Bodo/Glimt and FC Zurich, and would kick off against the latter away in Switzerland. Summer signings Matt Turner and Marquinhos made their competitive debuts, and Vieira would make his full debut. Arsenal did some counterattacking of their own in the 16th minute when Vieira found Nketiah who travelled down the wing before playing a great ball across the box which found Marquinhos who expertly finished the first time into the top corner. The hosts equalised on the verge of half-time however when Nketiah was judged to have committed an offence in his own penalty box. The death of the Queen being announced during the first half led to the unusual circumstance of a minute’s silence taking place before the second half. When it did kick off, Arsenal regained the lead in the 62nd minute through Nketiah who was found with a delightful ball by Marquinhos who had made a fine debut. That’s how the score remained. Arsenal would not be in Premier League action that weekend, with their home game against Everton being postponed due to the Queen’s passing. Also delayed was their home game against PSV the following week, so the team were not back in action until 10 days after the Zurich game when they travelled to Brentford.
Arsenal dominated the games opening and took a deserved lead in the 17th minute when Saliba’s header from a corner struck the inside of the post on its way over the line. Just shy of the half-hour mark and Arsenal had their second, again with a header, this time it was Gabriel Jesus who rose to meet Xhaka’s perfectly placed ball. The Gunners then got the ideal start to the second half, when Vieira, making his first start in the Premier League in place of the unavailable Ødegaard, struck a beauty out of nowhere from well outside the box for Arsenal’s September goal of the month. Arsenal was in cruise control, always looking like the more likely team to score whilst barely giving Brentford sight of their goal. In the final minutes, Ethan Nwaneri came on for his Arsenal debut, aged 15 years and 181 days he became the youngest player to ever appear in the Premier League. After the match, Brentford Manager Thomas Frank was one of the first to tip Arsenal for a title challenge saying: “I think they will do brilliantly. I think they compete for the title now.” Xhaka was the resounding winner of Arsenal player of the month picking up 83% of the votes. A once deeply unpopular player, his turnaround best exemplified the strides in the right direction Arsenal were taking.
After the international break, Arsenal returned to action in the North London Derby against hated rivals Tottenham. Arsenal went into the fixture just one point above their opponents. Spurs were content to let Arsenal have possession whilst aiming to contain them and spring counterattacks. They kept Arsenal at bay until the 20th minute when Thomas Partey shot from over 20 yards out and hit it so perfectly that Lloris couldn’t get so much as a fingertip to it, the ball flew past him into the net for Arsenal’s goal of the month. Spurs responded in the 31st minute however after a good counterattack between the front three of Kane, Son and Richarlison saw the latter presented with a chance to cross from inside the penalty area and Arsenal did not effectively deal with the situation, a loose touch from Xhaka put his side back in trouble and Gabriel was panicked into conceding a penalty. Kane stepped up and of course, scored for the 7th time from the spot against Arsenal. This sent the sides in at the break-level pegging.
Arsenal regained the upper hand early in the second half after a shot by Saka was spilt by Lloris to his centre-half Romero who, under pressure from Jesus, looked to return it to the French keeper. Lloris missed the ball, it travelled under his body and then Jesus reacted first to poach it home. Spurs hopes of drawing level for a second time were damaged when Emerson Royal was shown a straight red card in the 62nd minute for a stupid and unnecessarily bad tackle on Martinelli. Arsenal quickly punished this ill discipline getting their third 5 minutes afterwards, with Granit Xhaka rifling past Lloris. At this stage Conte retreated to avoid a hammering, he accepted defeat and took off his offensive players, bringing on defenders to ensure the score line didn’t get embarrassing and Arsenal saw out a comfortable 3-1 derby win. Arsenal next returned to Europa League action putting Bodo/Glimt to the sword with a 3-0 win, goals coming from Nketiah, Holding and Vieira, the latter after brilliant footwork in the box from substitute Jesus.
Next up for Arsenal was another tough test at home against Liverpool. With a win, Arsenal would return to the top of the Premier League. Arsenal had faced Liverpool 4 times the previous season, failing to win any, losing 3 times including twice at home. They had also failed to even score against Liverpool in their last 6 meetings with them, but they needed just 58 seconds on this day, with Saka finding Ødegaard, whose ball between Van Dijk and Alexander Arnold put in Martinelli who finished beyond Alisson. Liverpool recovered well from the nightmare start however and was the better team from that point until they got their deserved equaliser in the 34th minute through Darwin Nunez. It was Arsenal however who went into half-time with the lead when Martinelli led a brilliant counter-attack from a Liverpool set piece, finally taking out both Arnold and Henderson by cutting inside and finding an unmarked Saka who slid in to put his team back in the ascendancy.
Again Liverpool responded well, equalising for a second time early in the second half through Roberto Firmino. From that point on though Arsenal found another level, they searched feverishly for a winning goal, looking to pass Liverpool to death and calving many openings. The noise inside the Emirates had reached deafening decibels as the fans urged their team on. The golden chance came with just under 15 minutes to go when Thiago was judged to have caught the back of Jesus’s foot inside the penalty area, having been beaten to the ball by the striker. Saka stepped up and held his nerve, confidently dispatching an excellent spot kick. Arsenal held out for what was in the end a deserved win after an excellent second-half display. In a decision that had raised a few eyebrows, Tomiyasu had been drafted in for a first league start of the season to go into an unfamiliar left-back position, the move paid dividends as the Japanese international had a fine game up against Mo Salah. The result put Arsenal 14 clear of Liverpool who had endured a dreadful start to the season.
“These are broad shoulders, this is courage. A sporting moment in time. Bukayo Saka.. Such poise! such noise!” – Peter Drury as Saka beats Alisson Becker from the penalty spot.
Four days later Arsenal made it 3 wins from 3 in the Europa, with an away win in Norway on the artificial pitch of Bodo/Glimt. A sole goal from Bukayo Saka was enough after he got on the end of a one-two with Lokonga. His initial shot was blocked by a defender but the ball then deflected in after coming back off the Arsenal winger. Bodo calved out many good chances for themselves but was let down by woeful finishing, squandering chance after chance by blazing high and wide of the target. Arsenal then returned to Premier League action at Elland Road against Leeds, though 40 minutes behind schedule after a power outage just after the game had initially kicked off caused the game to need restarting once power had returned.
Again Saka was the only man to get himself on the scoresheet, his goal coming after Jesus had passed up a golden chance to open the scoring failing to hit the net from close range after Ødegaard had found him with a backheeled flick. Jesus attempted to lift the ball over the keeper, but he lifted it too high and it ended up over the crossbar. Arsenal did not let Leeds off a second time however and punished them after a sloppy cross-field pass from Leeds midfielder Rodrigo only found Saka who headed it into Ødegaard’s path. Ødegaard’s return pass then asked a lot of the winger, but his speed allowed him to reach the ball first. Saka was faced with a tight angle, but it didn’t phase him one bit and he picked out the top corner hitting it high into the roof of the Leeds net.
The second half was full of drama, first when Bamford thought he’d equalised but was instead penalised for a foul on Gabriel. The Leeds striker received a second chance though when Saliba was found guilty of a handball in the box after the referee had checked the monitor. Ramsdale guessed correctly in his dive, but in the end, he wasn’t required as Bamford’s penalty went wide of the post. Arsenal continued to suffer in the second half, struggling to cope with the Leeds onslaught and maintain their slender advantage. Through fatigue and pressure from the home side, Arsenal had lost all ability to pass the ball and could do little else but stay in their own half and try to defend. Ramsdale proved his worth to this Arsenal side with his best performance of the season to date, right when his team needed him most. It appeared as though Arsenal had got the job done when crazily they conceded a second penalty of the half in additional time. Patrick Bamford was nowhere near the ball which was safely back with Ramsdale when Gabriel was penalised for a kick out in the box on the Leeds forward. As well as a penalty, the Brazilian centre-back was also dismissed. However on a VAR review, it was clear that Bamford had fouled Gabriel first, barging him to the floor, so rightfully the decision was reversed and Gabriel’s red card was rescinded. Arsenal held on to a win they’d scarcely deserved and it proved an even bigger win later that day when City lost at Anfield meaning The Gunners stayed 4 points clear after 10 games.
The following Thursday Arsenal were back in action in the Europa League. They were originally scheduled to host Manchester City in the league that mid-week, but the Queens’ death led to the postponement of Arsenal’s fixture with PSV, and it was re-arranged to this game week. Arsenal battered their Dutch visitors, in the end mustering 25 shots to Eindhoven’s 4. As was often the case Saka and Jesus were the standout performers. The young English winger was unstoppable in his direct dribbling runs, unstoppable that is without resorting to fouling, which PSV defenders did time and time again after being skinned by Saka’s great ball control when running at speed. Jesus was similarly dangerous, doing his usual thing of fashioning chances out of nowhere with his quick thinking and somehow even quicker feet. In the end, though the deadlock was broken by Xhaka in the 70th minute when Tomiyasu found him in space 15 yards from the goal. He hit the shot down into the ground and it bobbled just at the right time to go under the keeper and past him.
Next Arsenal travelled to struggling Southampton looking to make it 9 straight wins across the Premier League and Europa. They started fast, and when Xhaka finished off White’s cross with a brilliant volley into the back of the net in the 11th minute, it looked like it would be a case of how many, as it wasn’t the first good chance Arsenal had created. For the first 20 minutes, Southampton couldn’t get out of their own half, Ødegaard cleverly found Jesus with a lifted return pass but his volley was straight at Bazunu in the Saints goal. Jesus was in again after a long ball flighted over the head of Caleta-Car putting the Brazilian clean through until the defender dragged him back using both arms. There seemed to be enough contact for 3 separate penalties in there, but unbelievably the referee Robert Jones didn’t point to the spot and nor did VAR intervene. One of the most inexplicable decisions of the season, and that’s saying something, meant that Arsenal went in at the break only a single goal to the good.
The Southampton defence must have felt encouraged from not being penalised inside the box, as the fouling continued on Jesus outside the box for much of the second half, Lyanco getting away with man-handling Arsenal’s striker time and time again, wrapping both arms around his body whenever the ball was anywhere near the Brazilian. Jones did not however ignore perceived ‘diving’ from Saka showing him a yellow card for simulation, even though there did appear to be some contact. A one-sided refereeing performance and poor finishing from Arsenal allowed the home team back into the game and they got the equalising goal with 25 minutes to go through Armstrong after a swift move cut through Arsenal’s defence. In the 78th minute, Ødegaard thought he’d put Arsenal back in front but Tierney had just carried the ball beyond the line before he was able to cut it back into his captain’s path.
The Gunners had to settle for a point and an end to their winning run, paying the price for not scoring more in the first half. As they began to tire in the second half Southampton calved out some good chances of their own, but there’s no doubt the visitors were also harmed by a dire refereeing performance. The dropped points cut Arsenal’s lead at the top down to two. Another away game followed for The North London side as next they travelled to Eindhoven. With 2 group games remaining, they needed just 1 more win to secure the top spot which would mean they progressed straight through to the final 16, without the need for a playoff game. However Arsenal’s performance was poor, PSV were the better team for 90 minutes and good value for their 2-0 win.

I (23M) just graduated from college with a degree in Engineering.
I live in a very high cost of living area and have two job offers on the table. I'm wondering how they differ in financial trajectory. Any math, thoughts, opinions, or prior experiences would be very helpful in my choosing process.
Job 1: Internal Consultant for the City - Salary: 70k, will likely increase ~3.5k a year - Health Insurance: ~$150/mo, covers helath, vision, dental. If I stay on my parents' insurance and don't use the city's, the city will give me about $1500 - PTO: 4 Weeks/year - Union dues: <$80 every paycheck (every 2 weeks) - Retirement: Pension, takes ~10% of my income, 10 years vesting period.. If it doesn't vest fully, I can take it as a lump sum + interest, roll it + interest into a qualifying retirement plan, or roll it into another public pension system, if I stay in the public sector. Optional 403(b) and 457 plans, no match - Pay for Master's?: Potentially, there's a scholarship program for city employees that'll pay for it entirely, but it's relatively competitive and part of deciding who gets it is length of employment. Otherwise there's a $1000/year coverage for any higher education
Job 2: Operations Analyst for a startup - Salary: 80k + equity. The equity I would gain from 4 years of work will be worth ~65k if the company is sold for ~a billion dollars, although I know this is unlikely. Company is nearing a series B. - Health insurance: Covers 90% of premiums - PTO: Unlimited, and I think they have a good culture of using. - Retirement: offers a 401k, no match - Pay for Master's?: No
Some notes: - My general plan is to move back to my home region, which I believe is a medium cost of living area, in about 5-7 years or so to start a family (my then-retired parents said they'd be excited to take care of any children I may have, and I like the area). I would like to buy a house when/if I move back. - I have about 12k in my bank account right now, and very few student loans. No CC debt, no car debt, etc. - I expect rent for a single bedroom apartment to be about 1.6k - 2k a month, and rent with roommates(s) to be about 1.4k - 1.8k a month - My girlfriend, who is living at home currently and making ~50k a year, may or may not join me, which would defray rent and other costs considerably - I'm unsure if I would need a car, but would try to not need one. I have one available to me if necessary. If my girlfriend lives with me, we'll almost definitely need a car - One of my goals was to get a Master's and have a company pay for it, but I don't particularly want it for any reason other than it'll qualify me for more jobs and higher pay down the road - It makes logical sense to, in my mind, take the startup (job 2) while I'm young, don't have other obligations like kids, and can maximize the value of a 401k. If I still want to, I can take a public sector job when I have kids/am older, want the flexibility and stability, and want to pay continuously into a pension. Unfortunately, the city is just starting it's internal consultancy division and I doubt most municipalities or the state will have their own.
At the end of the day, I think I would enjoy doing either job. Obviously Job 2 is immediately a better financial situation, but I'm probably more passionate about doing the work for Job 1. I also know that market based retirement plans are more powerful the earlier you start due to compounding, and, if I follow my general plan, I'll be leaving before the pension fully vests.
How much better off would I be with Job 2 than Job 1? Would I be able to to buy a house in 5-7 years with either while still saving for retirement? Does anyone know if the ~$7000 a year I'd be socking away to the pension system would invest well compared to if I put it in a 401k? Like, is the interest I'd get on it if I rolled it over post employment worth it? Is this a shitty economic time to join a startup? Any advice or thoughts are appreciated!

I know the title doesn't make a lot of sense. What I am trying to ask is; let's say that I have a spectrum analyzer, a tinysa ultra, with 800MHz bandwidth, which claims to be calibrated to 5.3GHz in ultra mode. It uses some kind of harmonic mixing and spur removal algorithms but I am not quite sure how it works yet.
I am going to buy some transistors and schottky diodes to build radio frequency receivers and some testing equipment like a return loss bridge and signal sources.
What kind of fmax should I aim for? Should I limit myself to transistors with fmax<800MHz? Maybe 5.3GHz? I know there is no hard rule about this kind of thing and also that it is pretty much impossible to actually get any gain at fmax from a transistor. Most of them seem to be specified for about a third of their transition frequency.
What kind of scares me is that I will buy these transistors, build some circuits and then they will oscillate at some very high frequency that I can't detect, though I suppose it is not very likely that a transistor can be made to oscillate at frequencies near fmax especially considering that the rest of the circuit will have some loss even if I were to try and make it oscillate.
I am thinking of getting some BFP183 for amplification/oscillators and some cheap medium barrier schottkies for mixers. I've already got lots of lower frequency transistors and I've been building RF circuits as a hobby for about 10 years or so. It's just that seeing "GHz" in a datasheet kinda scares me :)
BFP183 seems to have an fmax of about 10.3GHz based on its fT, Rbb and Ccb. I figure I can just run it at a lower than ideal current to lower its fT, although I will need to run it at a higher current to drive those schottky diodes for mixers. Maybe I can buy a more powerful but slower transistor to do that. The reason I am considering it is because it seems to be quite cheap.
I am open to transistor-diode suggestions and thanks in advance for your answers.

This is my headcanon for the events following Suzerain as the game played out in my (communist) playthrough:
Disclaimer 1: This obviously includes many spoilers from the game.
Disclaimer 2: This story is written with storytelling and lore at the forefront, not necessarily gameplay accuracy.
Disclaimer 3: This is only the first chapter (and backstory) of this headcanon story/fanfic/whatever you want to call it. I want to write more, but would like to see what people in the Suzerain community think about the writing so far and if they’d like to see more of it. :)
(Part 1 is on my page if you cannot find it elsewhere)

Chapter 1: Inauguration Day (Continuation)

Serge had always been one for praise as long as Anton had known him, but it seemed to be out of sheer admiration and trust, unlike the usual political suck-up. It was definitely appreciated praise, but somewhat uncomfortable in a way, as Anton wasn’t used to such high praise from politicians, and was a little afraid all the compliments would bloat his ego. Though he rarely vocally disagreed with Serge’s remarks, as a president shouldn’t appear doubtful of their abilities. That was one of the many rules Anton had learned to follow as a president. He didn’t like it, yet it had still become almost second nature to him by now, something that also concerned him quite a bit.
“Thank you for your trust in me Serge. It truly means a lot.” Serge smiled through the rear-view mirror once more before replying “Thank you Mr. President for setting such a great example for the people of this nation.” Anton knew it would be impossible to beat Serge in a humility contest, so he conceded with his usual reply “You are too kind, Serge.” Before long they were off, and it didn’t take them as long as they’d thought to get back to the hill of pride, as the traffic had wound down along with the day. As the car headed up the long and winding road that led to the maroon palace through capitol park Anton noticed the palace gates were open and the driveway was filled with journalists, as opposed to the politicians and oligarchs usually present at the previous inauguration events. As Serge entered the car into the driveway, the journalists made way for the car to park next to the small row of black sedans and limos that had brought the rest of the night’s dinner guests to the palace.
Serge quickly stopped the engine and exited the car to open Anton’s door. As he did so, Anton was met with the now familiar camera flashes and the sounds of journalists speaking over each other to the point of near incomprehension. “Mr. President” started a young woman in a sharp azure pantsuit, holding a microphone up to the President’s lips. “There have been a lot of concerns voiced by the opposition after you used the phrase ‘Sordish Revolution’ at your rally. Is the opposition correct that this is an indication of political violence being endorsed by the presidency?” Anton noticed the ‘Lachaven Times’ label on the woman’s microphone before replying to her question. “No. Revolution does not mean violence. Revolution means that this country has problems, and we need radical and rapid change to address those issues.”
“Mr. President, one more question. This revolution outburst, as well as your administration’s close association with communism and United Contana, has brought fear to the hearts of many business owners in Sordland. Do you plan to completely nationalise our nation’s economy, and will business owners be compensated for the loss of the fruits of their labour? Anton briefly chuckled before opening his mouth to reply. Before he could do so however, he saw a hand cover the woman’s microphone. “The President will not be answering any more questions as of now.” Ranye looked left and saw his newly appointed Vice President, Lucian, looking as stern as ever. He took his other hand on Anton’s back, leading him away from the flock of journalists, into the maroon palace.
As they moved inside, there were still a large amount of journalists, although not as many as there were outside. These journalists however, knew better than to try and approach the President, as Lucian’s glare was warning enough. “It’s good to have you here Mr. President. We’ve already set up everything in the dining room upstairs, both for the dinner itself and the televising of the event. Your wife insisted on waiting on you in your office. It would be good for the press to be able to get pictures of you two together, so I would advise you to go get her so you can welcome the dinner guests together.” Anton now noticed his Vice President was wearing a tuxedo, as were many of the male journalists and camera crew. “Knowing you, there is already a tuxedo in my office as well.” Lucian nodded. “Thank you. I’ll go get ready.”
As the President and Vice President separated, it did not take long before Anton found himself in conversation again, while on his way to his office. This time with the director of the Sordish Radio and Television Supreme Council that Anton had founded during his first administration. In fact this was Anton’s first time meeting the director of the council, as Lucian was the one who appointed him. “Mr. President, it’s an honour to meet you. Damien Ves, at your service.” The stocky and wide man grabbed Anton’s hand and shook it. “It’s a pleasure to finally be able to meet with you Mr. Ves. Lucian told me you’d be in charge of today’s broadcast.” Anton began to increase his pace, which Damien attempted to duplicate. “Yes, it's all very exciting. It will be like you’re having dinner with the entire country! This new technology is amazing!”
“Yes, truly amazing. If you’ll excuse me I have to go get ready. It was nice meeting you.” Anton entered his office and closed the door with a sigh. Before being able to look around the room, he was ambushed by a hug from his daughter Deana. “Papa! You’re finally here!” Anton looked down at his daughter, who looked tired from the eventful day. “How did you like the rally sweetheart?” asked Anton as he got down on one knee to be eye-level with Deana. “There were so many people! Mama talked to so many of them. She talked a lot about exploitation. What is exploitation Papa?”
Before Anton could think of how he was going to explain that to his daughter, Monica came up behind her and picked her up. “Alright, let your papa at least get inside properly before you start asking him harder questions than the journalists outside.” Anton followed his wife into the room as she plopped down Deana on the couch. Only then was he able to see how beautiful his wife looked in her elegant scarlet dress. The only thing he could fathom doing was kissing her, and as he did, she pulled away. “Later. Now you have to get ready. It’s nearly seven.” Before going to the bathroom in his office to change, Anton took a last look at his wife as she started doing Deana’s hair. “You look absolutely gorgeous, honey.” Monica gave her husband a warm smile and a wink back as a reply.
Anton entered the office bathroom, where a tuxedo hung from the door on a hanger. It looked old, yet well-maintained. Its white bowtie and waistcoat, coupled with a long tailcoat reminded Anton of the similar suits worn by the wealthiest students during his time at university in the 1920s. As he put on the tuxedo and started adjusting it, he found a note in the left-hand pocket on the tailcoat.
It read “Anton, as you read this, getting ready for the start of your next term, know that the people of Sordland have reaffirmed their trust in you, and it is your duty to not let them down. This suit belonged to my father, and he used it for events just like the one you’re about to go to all the time when he was president. When he fell, Sordland became cursed with two despots, who ignored the cries of the weak. I believe that you have the power to break that curse, as evident by your first term. I believe that you are the only one who might be able to stop this curse now. But only if you keep true to yourself and your ideals, don’t let the world of politics suck you in too much. Don’t forget that you are where you are to serve the people. Not the powerful, but the weak. Good luck my old student and good friend. -Deivid Wisci.”
Anton had very fond memories of his mentor Deivid Wisci, both as his professor, and as his minister of foreign affairs. The day he retired was a sad day for Sordland. Although he definitely deserved a retirement, after all the good he had done, Anton thought to himself. He put the note back in his pocket and adjusted his bowtie for the final time. Before leaving the bathroom however, he remembered to take the pocket watch he was gifted by Serge from the breast-pocket of his usual attire. He placed it in the breast-pocket of his new tailcoat, slicked back his jet black hair, and headed out of the bathroom. “Ready?” Monica and Deana were sitting on the couch patiently waiting. “Yes, let’s go.” Anton reached out his hand to escort Monica out. As she put her hand into his, he kissed her hand before the pair proceeded out of the office along with Deana.
The Rayne family made their way into the maroon palace’s dining room, where the camera crew had already started filming. Anton and his family took their place in the lounge area that decorated the backdrop for the dining table, where the Rayne cabinet slowly started to assemble to be welcomed by Anton and Monica. First was Lucian who, to nobody’s surprise, came alone. He came up to Anton and shook his hand, followed by that of Monica’s, while Deana tried to hide slightly behind her mother. Lucian took his seat in the lounge, making sure to sit as close to Anton as he could.
He was soon followed by the equally lonesome minister of defence, Iosef Lancea. Unlike nearly every man present in the maroon palace however, Iosef came in his regular military attire, as opposed to a tuxedo, or even a regular suit. Although Anton was unsure, he might’ve added a few medals to his uniform for the occasion. He saluted the President and First Lady, to which Anton replied with an adequate, but not nearly as impressive salute. He took his seat next to Lucian, and they started the obligatory small-talk that was expected of them as dinner guests.
At last came the minister of agriculture, Gus Manger, who was accompanied by his wife and son. They walked up to the President’s family, where Gus proceeded to shake Monica’s hand, while his wife greeted Anton. They then switched places, and Anton welcomed Gus and his family to the palace, and to the dinner. Gus then took his seat beside Iosef, promptly followed by his wife and son. Anton didn’t know much about Gus’ family, however his son somewhat reminded him of Franc, albeit a few years younger. The boy didn’t seem that excited to be here, understandably enough. It seemed as though Monica had noticed the same thing, as she faintly pulled on her husband’s arm, gesturing to him to lead everyone to their seats at the table.
As he was about to do just that, the doors to the eastern wing of the room swung open one more time. It was Ciara. She was wearing an off-white dress, surprisingly similar in shade to the bathrobe she’d worn earlier today, though obviously much more classy. Monica gave Anton’s hand a slight squeeze as she noticed her friend. Anton looked towards a smiling Monica, and gave her a grin back. “You managed to get her to rejoin your cabinet?” Anton smiled even wider “It was a hard task, but I think you had a lot to do with it.” Ciara walked up to Monica and shook her hand, bowing slightly as she did it. She turned to Anton and shook his hand, though not with as much vigour as with Monica. “Mr. President.” “Ms. Walda. Welcome.”
When the rest of the guests noticed Ciara, Iosef flung up out of his seat, looking positively resentful. “What is she doing here? Didn’t you resign you-” Lucian quickly got out of his seat and put his hand on Iosef’s shoulder, or at least as far as he could get to the shoulder of the colossal man. Iosef turned his head sharply and scowled at Lucian, prompting him to remove his hand and gesture to Damien, who was behind the camera, making sure our conversation was out of range for the camera to pick up on. Iosef turned to Anton “Mr. President, with all due respect, did you really invite this woman back to your cabinet after her treacherous resignation?!” Anton had noticed the tension between Iosef and Ciara the few times they’d been in the same room together, and it was clear they were good at pressing each other’s buttons, intentionally or not. Iosef must’ve been glad when she resigned. For her to come back unannounced must’ve been seen as a big middle finger to not just Iosef, but Lucian as well, as Anton hadn’t discussed it with him either. But Lucian, unlike Iosef, knew how to act like a politician, and wouldn’t risk his career for a televised outburst.
“Iosef, with all due respect, I am your superior. We need people in our cabinet, and may I remind you that this event is currently being televised.” Anton stared at Iosef in a way he’d never done before. It was actually quite satisfying for Anton to be able to speak to Iosef like that, as he had real experience on how Iosef treated his subordinates from his time in the army. Iosef mumbled something before speaking up “Of course Mr. President. I am sorry.” Anton could actually see Iosef’s eye visibly twitch as he mouthed that last part. “Good, then we’ll be seated. Follow me everyone, right this way.” President Rayne led the dinner guests towards the table, where Deana and Gus’ son were seated first, followed by Ciara, Monica and Gus’ wife, the two latter of whom were seated by their husbands respectively. After which the rest of the cabinet, along with Anton took their seats.
The camera panned to look directly at Anton, who would deliver his post-inauguration speech to the nation. “Brothers and sisters, today has been a great day, not just for myself, not just for the USP, but for our nation. You have reaffirmed your support for me as your President, as a conduit for the will of the people. In doing so you have reaffirmed your trust in our nation, our collective passion to make the lives of others better. Because that is what a nation is. A nation is a band of people who share a home, and who are passionate enough to help each other and push each other forward to greater things. It is a sentiment to collectivism and what we can accomplish when we band together and fight for each other, with compassion and solidarity. That is what we are, we are brothers and sisters. No matter if you are a sord or blud, man or woman, eight or eighty. If you live in Sordland, your neighbours are your brothers and sisters, together you hold this nation on your backs through your trust and your belief that together we can make the world a better place. United we stand, divided we fall. A Morgna wes core, vectern sis da!”
The camera panned away from Anton’s face but continued filming the dining table. Everyone seated applauded Anton’s speech. He raised his wine glass, which had already been filled prior to everyone being seated. “I’d also like to raise a toast. To Bernard Circas. We sit here, on the four year anniversary of the tragic end of his great life. His words moved millions, and continue to move millions more after his death. He inspired love, compassion and hope. He dreamed of a better Sordland, one where we were free of exploitation and united in proletarian solidarity.” There were mixed reactions across the table, but mainly looks of disagreement. Anton continued nonetheless. “Bernard was killed for his beliefs. After a long investigation the main culprits are finally behind bars, but this does not solve the deeper issue. Fascism. The scourge that kept Bernard’s dream from being realised is what killed him, and he will have died in vain if we do not take that threat seriously, and do what we can to rid this country of the fascism that wants to tear it apart. It was only Bernard who would have the words to give us the hope we need, but while he is gone, his spirit remains, and it remains to give us the willpower we need to do what we can to make sure nothing like what happened four years ago ever happens again. To Bernard, our only strength is the will to survive.”
After Anton finished he took a sip of his bitter wine and sat the glass back down, followed by everyone else. Iosef mumbled something again, but as Anton briefly looked towards Damien, it looked like the speech, and following toast, had been a hit with him and the rest of the camera crew. “Well said Mr. President '' said Lucian, before taking another sip of his wine. A moment later, the chef, a tall and lanky young man, came out followed by servers bearing plates of food. “For the first course we have prepared…” The next few hours flew by as Anton was bored senseless by the conversations, or lack thereof, between the “strictly-work-talk” Vice President, traditionalist minister of defence, radical minister of education, and anrican capitalist minister of agriculture. After hours of dull conversation and several courses, all representing a different region of Sordland, the dinner was finally over and the broadcast finished off with a speech from the first lady. Anton felt bad, being too tired to properly listen to Monica’s speech, although it seemed to have a similar effect on the guests as Anton’s speech did. As the applause following her speech died down, the broadcast was shut off, and nearly everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief, including Anton and Monica.
Anton stood up, and was followed by the rest of the table. The presidential couple bid farewell to their guests as nearly everyone left. As Anton, Monica and Deana were getting ready to go change and head home, Anton was approached by Damien who wanted to have a few words before leaving.
“It was a wonderful broadcast Mr. President!” he said with a fake enthusiasm. Damien knew the basics of political intrigue, but had yet to grasp the subtle art of lying convincingly. Anton simply replied “Thank you, Mr. Ves, you did very well yourself managing the production.'' Unlike Damien, Anton bore no attempt to show his lack of interest in the conversation, as he slowly started making his way out of the dining room area of the palace. “Thank you Mr. President, you honour me!.” he nervously paused for few seconds before continuing “Mr. President, would you please consider having a meeting with me later this week.” “Whenever you have the time!” blurted out the nervous, and now slightly sweaty, man. “I’d be glad to have a meeting with you Damien. In fact I was planning on having one with you anyway, to discuss the goals and strategies of the commission going forward.” Anton again started walking a bit faster, trying to get out of the conversations with the hippo-like man. “How does tuesday 9:30 sound?” Damien struggled to keep up with the President, making him sweat even more profusely as he panted out a reply “Wonderful! Great! Thank you Mr.Presdi..Ray..” He stopped for a second to catch his breath “Thank you Mr. President!” he shouted down the hallway as the President hurried back into his office.
“Why do such social events seem to drain me more than dull meetings about infrastructure development?” joked Anton as he walked into his office to greet his wife. “It wasn’t that bad, I had quite the interesting conversation with Ciara and Erica.” Anton looked confused for a moment before Monica elaborated. “Gus’ wife. Erica Manger.” She sat down on the couch next to a half asleep Deana. “Ah! And what did she have to say?” inquired Anton, loosening his bowtie as he said it. “She was surprisingly supportive of our participation in politics, considering she’s from Anrica, like Gus.” Anton sat next to his wife, wrapping his arm around her before answering. “Well not everyone in Anrica is exactly Curtan Leste. You know he’s been losing a lot of support in the city ever since his stunt in Benfi, interrupting your speech like that.” Monica looked out the window to the view of capitol park. “Still, even with the waning influence of the old guard, both him and Gloria Tory have become increasingly popular with the conservatives now that Soll, Graff, Hawker and the like are all in prison. They are still a real threat, now with even more concentrated support.” Anton stood up and walked over to the window, now looking at dusk settling over the park as well. “I know.” he paused for a second. “We still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
The couple stood there for a few minutes in silence, enjoying a peaceful moment together while contemplating the future. After a while, however, they decided they best head home for the day. They went into the office bathroom to get changed again. After doing so, Anton took his sleeping daughter in his arms and the three of them exited the maroon palace. They had stayed there so long that all the journalists had gotten tired of waiting for them and gone home. The courtyard of the palace was all but empty, aside from a few guards, and of course, the Rayne family’s loyal driver. Serge opened the backseat door for the family to get in the car, where they were able to relax for the long drive home in the quiet of the night.
The new Valgslandian presidential car was slowly making its way towards the presidential residence built during the Alphonso presidency. It was a modern home, inspired by the works of some Arcasian architects. While Anton certainly disagreed with Alphonso about a lot, and despised Arcasia, he had to admit it was a pretty nice home. As he sat in the car he dreamt about getting home and being able to jump into bed after such a long day, and from the looks of it, Monica was thinking about the same thing.
They were driving past a newly built secondary school, Circas Secondary, that was built as part of Anton and Ciara’s education program during the first term. Anton’s mind drifted from the architecture of his own home to the architecture of this school, and was suddenly filled with pride, being able to see the material results of his work as president. He was admiring the building’s large gymnasium when suddenly the white walls of the pristine building turned a fiery orange hue, followed by a loud “BANG!”. Before they could comprehend what had happened the car had been flipped on its head and the glass from the windows shattered. Deana immediately woke up in panic and started crying. Anton was able to get to her quickly, and shield her and Monica. They sat there together in the wreck of the car for what felt like minutes, not being able to move out of pure shock, before they heard a series of coughs followed by the voice of their driver “Anton, Monica, Deana. Are you okay?!” Anton managed to muster a response despite his distress. “I think so Serge. How about you?”
As he felt a hand grab him by the collar of his coat, Serge replied “Don’t worry about me, we need to get out of here!” Before Anton could respond he felt his collar tighten around his neck as he was slowly dragged out of the car wreck along with his wife and daughter. When they were all out of the car Anton opened his eyes to find he was lying on the pavement, looking up at Serge who was examining the family for any serious injuries. He then heard the sound of sirens in the distance, and noticed the night looked very bright. He looked to his right and saw the cause of this brightness, the school was on fire. At least what was left of the school. There was rubble everywhere, it had been blown to pieces. He looked back up at Serge, with the starry night sky behind him. Hints of flashing red and blue lights began to appear as Anton’s eyes began to shut and the night became darker. The previously clear voice of his driver became muffled, as he heard cars approaching and the sound of doors being shut. Before passing out, he felt someone lift him up and put his body onto something soft, followed by the sound of doors being shut again.
To be continued.

Author's note
Thank you for waiting everyone! This one's a bit short but I'll ramp up my writing slowly in the coming next weeks. Need to warm up again hahaha. Cheers!
Previous Chapter:https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/yuffr8/they_never_lost_chapter_4_battle_of_achilles/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Earth
1132 Hours, Earth Time, EST
A large and spacious room with an oval table. Around it, in leather chairs, sat men with grim expressions on their faces.
These are the leaders of human civilization. And at the helm of the table sat a man who stared at the table while massaging his temples. He was well-dressed and well groomed. Yet, his eyes told another story. This man was tired, the bags under his eyes indicated that he had many sleepless nights.
"Secretary-General..." Someone from the other side of the table uttered.
"Our partial mobilization efforts have bore fruit. We have several new regiments on the front. We ramped up weapons production and secured a front line on the fringes of Sector 7 and Sector 6."
The Secretary-General slowly nodded and then raised his head, placing his hands on the table.
"What about Sector 5..." He asked.
"We are... We're working on it. As of now Sector 5 as a whole is a contested area."
The Secretary-General nodded once more.
"Alright... Minister Dawson, how is the public reacting to this series of events?"
A man at the side of the table stood up.
"We are trying to keep morale high. We are currently holding casualty reports out of the public eye. But it is a matter of time before they will demand us to release the reports." Minister Dawson said.
The Secretary-General looked around the table before gesturing the Minister to sit back down.
"We can't lie to the people... What they will demand is action... Minister Ibrahimovich, what are the casualty reports?"
"According to our best estimates 20,000. Though those figures might be higher."
"Minister Ibrahimovich those figures ARE higher. We were caught by surprise. Despite having information on a possible declaration of war... I expected at least some kind of incident, a casus belli. Not an abrupt invasion without a single reason given."
The Secretary-General looked around the table once more before continuing.
"We are not dealing with a border skirmish ladies and gentlemen. We are in a state of war. And the very existence of the Terran Federation and all of its constituent territories is at risk. We have the support of the intergalactic community, yes. But it is up to us to hold and resist until the Galactic House votes on how to react... And that might take a month, maybe more."
Silence befell the room as the reality of the situation slowly started to be apparent to everyone present.
"Sir, what is it you want us to do?"
One voice asked somewhere from the table. A slight tremble with a hint of uncertainty.
"Total mobilization of all of our military assets from every corner of the Terran Federation. Secure all the trade lanes and supply routes. Put all intelligence operatives within and outside our territory on high alert and utilize every resource available to gauge the military organization and capability of the Phryndians."
The Secretary-General said. Murmurs and whispers erupted in the room, this was unprecedented.
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General slid his hand through his graying hair and cleared his throat.
"I am announcing an emergency broadcast. Connect me to all available stations."
Within moments all voices and mutters fell silent. A large holographic screen appeared before the Secretary-General.
He was silent for a few seconds as he stared at a mirror image of himself... This was not the way he wanted to present himself to the public. But he had no other choice.
"This is Christopher Allen, Secretary-General of the Terran Federation broadcasting from Earth... As you are well aware there had been a string of incidents on the border with the Phryndian Empire... Those incidents were not mistakes, they were not accidents. They were a delibrate act of aggression against the Terran Federation from the Phryndian Empire. These acts are unlawful, they are illegal... All attempts at diplomacy have failed. And from this moment on, officially, we are in a state of war with the Phryndian Empire."
There was a slight pause. The Secretary-General closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them up again.
"From this moment on... We are instituting total mobilization of all military assets. We are going to do everything in our power to defend our freedom against tyranny. Defeat is not an option."
"Do not fret, do not worry. For mankind has gone through worse. We have prevailed and we shall prevail once more."
"We will remind our foes once more how humans wage war"
Phryndian Homeworld
108 Hours after Achilles Station
The underground sewers of the Phryndian capital. Abandoned centuries ago, these veritable catacombs became home to outcasts and vagabonds. In these tunnels, since the ascension of the new Emperor, a new type of inhabitant called this place home.
The Freedom Fighter. The Revolutionary.
General Chryfder sat back in an old and decrepit chair as he listened to the briefing of what these young Phryndians knew.
He would once call them terrorists, criminals. Those who went against the crown went against everything Phryndia stood for. But now instead of rounding them up and sending them to the deepst pits. They were his only ticket to freedom.
They were the only ticket that provided any semblance of hope against the Emperor's tyranny.
"From what we've been able to gather the Emperor Mab Pletyn's actions are not his own. He is merely a puppet in someone else's game. There are rumours that advisor Dibynadwy is somehow connected. We ha-" the red-scales Phryndian, dressed in an old military uniform wasn't able to finish his sentence before General Chryfder interrupted.
"It is not Dibynadwy, I am sure of that. That man is too incompetent to do his own work let alone to do any shady dealings behind anyone's back. Let alone Imperial Intelligence." Chryfder remarked.
"That... That's true but the best he can do in that case is shut up if there is something happening. If he knows something a simple threat or bribe is enough to shut him up."
Chryfder thought for a few moments, scratching the scales on the back of his head.
"You might be right... If we can't be sure or even trust the very men who were tasked with such a responsibility as to protect this country and advise the Emperor... Then who can we trust? Other than the few members of military who aren't scared of the consequences? What say you, Rhyddid?"
The red-scales Phryndian, Rhyddid, answered without hesitation.
"There is only one thing we can do then. The only other group with which we share a common enemy, which we can only hope won't stab us in the back is... Well, humans."
As soon as Rhyddid said that a voice from the group shouted:
"Humans?! Do you really think that they will cooperate with any Phryndian after all of this? They will see us with great suspicion and in the worst case kill us! No species with a modicum of intelligence is dumb enough to trust let alone cooperate with an enemy race, even if they share common goals!"
Another voice joined in soon thereafter:
"Yeah! And how can we even start cooperating? How can we even get into contact with the humans?! That plan is a joke."
After the crowd vented out their frustrations and calmed down. Chryfder stood up from his chair and cleared his throat.
"Gentlemen, I am afraid that Rhyddid is right." He paused, awaiting backlash, but none came.
"I sympathize with your worries. The humans can't trust any of us. We are at war with the Terran Federation, but you fail ti understand one thing about the humans..." He turned and looked at everyone present.
"The humans have a much more flexible way of working with others. As long as you are of use, no matter your race or species, and can of course be trusted, you will have a great ally... I do not mean to brag when I tell you this, but without me you probably wouldn't stand a chance of getting the humans on your side. Like all of you said, no intelligent being is insane enough to cooperate with an enemy. But right here they have the greatest inside network they could've ever hoped for. And as for me, I worked with the humans. I have fought with them, I am well known among them and I have a good enough reputation. So the chances that they will accept us is much higher."
There was murmuring in the crowd, whispers. The group was split on what to do. Someone from the group then spoke up.
"That is all well and good General... But where in the nine hells are we going to find a human here? Or even get into contact with a human? All incoming and outgoing transmissions are monitored."
Chryfder smiled and let out a small chuckle before replying:
"Well, young one, that is very simple. We will not come to them, they will come to us... And it is worth mentioning that there are humans here... They are near, especially now."
"It is only a matter of time..."
Earth
Veterans Memorial, Hamburg
1524 Hours CET
"... and to the brave men who stood their ground til' the bitter end. Sergeant Trevor McCawley, Officer Sota Hayashi and the last man standing, Private Lawrence Schmidt. These are the names that will forever be remember for their bravery."
These were the words spoken by the Chief of the Military a few days after Achilles Station. Within the crowd that listened on that sunny Hamburg day was a man dressed formally, yet comfortably. Slowly smoking a cigarette as he listened to the speech.
"It's weird isn't it?" Someone beside the man said. "To see history unfold right before your very eyes."
The man took one last drag of the cigarette and extinguished it on the floor, before retrieving a small box and putting the cigarette bud inside.
"Indeed it is, not the first time for me though. You kinda get used to it after a while." The man dressed in black said.
"You military? Special forces?" The man beside him asked. The man dressed in black looked at him.
"Something like that..." He said before turning around and leaving. Weaving through the crowd and going back on the main street. He walked down the street, it was well decorated with trees lining each side. A nice stroll in the shade sat well after a depressing speech.
He sat on a bench, looking out to the park across the street where children played. While their parents chatted. He smiled.
He got a pack of cigarettes out and put one in his mouth, but before he could light it up he heard a ring in his ear.
"Ahh, Jesus, what now." He said with exasperation.
He pressed something behind his ear and a holographic screen appeared before him. It was not visible to anyone but himself.
"Yeah chief, I'm on vacation, you know that?"
"Agent Walter Meyer, your vacation is over. You heard the orders of the Secretary-General." The hidden face and deep voice from the other side said.
"All agents on high alert, yes that is clear." Walter replied. "Any updates on my mission?"
"No, your mission is cancelled. You have been given a very special mission agent Meyer, we believe you are the only one available who is up to the task..."
"And what kind of task would that be?" Walter asked.
"You are going to be smuggled through one of the few lanes that are still open, by that I mean we have utilized a few connections on the other side of the law. Your mission is to conduct espionage and find out what you can about the Royal family as well as attempt sabotage if possible..."
Walter sighed "Alright, not something I'm unfamiliar with. I assume I am going to the Phryndian frontier... Wait, Royal family? Where am I going exactly?"
"Byd Cartref, the Phryndian homeworld. Your ride is waiting for you outside of Hamburg. Be there at 16:30 sharp. I'll send you the coordinates. Good luck soldier."
"Looks like there's no vacation for me...“
Next Chapter:

Part 6 of “Destination; Wriss”
A Fanfic of u/SpacePaladin15’s work “The nature of Predators” Thank you for the story!
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Memory transcription subject: Elva, Combat Medic Specialist.
Date [standardized human time]: September 27th, 2136
Our armored convoy sped down the road. Its bumps and jostles made sitting comfortably rather difficult. Maya tried not to bounce off of the seat across from me. As her eyes locked onto mine in a competition for dominance. She started to shake her fist at me and I returned the gesture in kind. After the third maybe fourth shake on account of the rough ride we thrust our arms outwards at each other, and she held her fist in the air while I gently covered her paw with my own flat one.
“You are too good at this game Elva! It’s not fair!” My tail started to wag as best it could on the seats-
ERROR: SEVERE MEMORY CORRUPTION DETECTED
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Memory transcription subject: Elva, Combat Medic Specialist.
Date [standardized human time]: September 27th, 2136
The growing burning sensation and throbbing in my head and body grew into an unbearable pain. I peeled my face off of the pavement to the sound of gunfire, explosions and low flying ships. My attention was immediately drawn to the inferno that was a burning town around me.
James and Alexander had taken cover behind the bombed out husk of the first armored vehicle in our convoy while the other had been pulled over to the side to give us a makeshift fort. I started to crawl to their position when I noticed Maya laying next to me. I gently laid a paw on her to ask where I was needed and she didn’t move.
A large piece of metal had penetrated her helmet and was jutting out of the side. I started to examine her wounds only to look into her eyes and see that her soul had already flown into the night. My paws found their way to her neck but could not find a pulse. I started to try and do chest compressions.
One.Two.Three. Gunshots whizzed by my head forcing me to duck. As I laid against her I could already feel that her body had begun to cool. I was too late.
I can feel my heart begin to race. My breathing became frantic. I was panicking or going into shock and both of those will kill me right now. I scanned for anyone I could approach and steady myself with. Sergeant Amélia and her squad were pinned down almost [50 yards] away guarding the war reporters and civilians. Thankfully I found Alexander and Jamie were a lot closer and if I crawled I could maybe get there safely. I held my breath as I started towards them under incoming fire. The sounds of screaming civilians sent pangs of fear through my body begging me to stand up and run. A Gojid did just that and fell to the ground headless, and set an example of what panicking would bring to me.
The only thought I could find was to observe my surroundings and react accordingly. Looking around as I crawled painfully slowly, I saw the Venlil reporter from Dad’s news crew had set up a camera and was desperately trying to record what was happening. Bjorn took a shot to the arm and fell to the ground. Their medic pulled him to the side and started to treat him. I could hear the unmistakable scream of an Arxur bomber followed by another vehicle exploding.
I pulled myself up next to Jamie who genuinely smiled at me. “OH THANK GOD! I THOUGHT YOU DIED TOO!” Several shots punctured through the old vehicle that was our cover. I looked to my alien friend to displace my fear only to see the same fear looking back at me.
Before I could respond Alexander screamed “GET DOWN THEY’RE MAKING ANOTHER PASS!” followed by the screaming Arxur death machine swooping down at us again. Another explosion that thankfully didn’t take anyone's lives, but still seemed to put us all closer to death by obliterating our cover.
I raspily tried to ask “What's going on?!? Last I remember I was in the back of the transport!” The three of us tried to hug the ground as best we could as our cover was further reduced to molten slag.
Our Sergeant slapped Jamie on the back and pointed to a nearby building. “CRAWL NOW OR WE DIE HERE!” I started to envy Humans and their clothes as we crawled through flaming debris and scattered glass into the bombed out ruins of an old arcade.
Power had yet to die in the city so the cold blast of air ran across my body in stark contrast to the fires outside. The sounds of arcade jingles trying to tempt the passersby to play them failed to drown out the screaming, explosions and gunfire in the chaos that is now a second full blown invasion.
Alexander took a raspy breath. “Where is Luca? I never found him!”
Memories of Luca sitting towards the cab of our transport teasing Maya flooded back into the forefront of my mind. “He was sitting near the cab of my transport… Did anyone else make it out?”
Alexander shook his head. “No… We need to keep moving and fall back to base. Jamie, take point and lets try and leave through a back exit and circle around to Amélia’s squad. Elva stay behind me.”
The three of us made our way to the back of the store. A mild whimpering came from a nearby door and distracted us for a brief moment. Alexander waved for Jamie to head to the sound, who followed it to a small broom closet. Slowly Jamie opened the door to a small trio of children. One Gojid, one Mazic, and one Nevok screamed as they beheld the heavily armed Marines.
Both of the marines stepped aside and looked to me for help. By the time my first paw stepped forward the three children rushed me and quickly herded behind me. I turned to them and did my best to sound confident “Ok you three. Things are really dangerous right now but we can’t stay here. We have to go around and regroup with the other marines and retreat to safety ok? Stay behind me and do as I tell you ok?”
I could not make out the words the children said, but I could only hope they would listen as we marched forward. The door at the back of the building led to a small alley that was thankfully clear of hostiles. Jamie led the way and Alexander guarded our flank while I herded the children and tried to keep them quiet. One blind turn and all that separated us from reuniting with the rest of our escort was one empty street.
I felt the M̴a̸z̸i̵c̸ ̶c̶h̶i̴l̵d̵ ̴p̶r̵e̵s̴s̵ ̵i̵n̷t̸o̴ ̴m̴y̸ ̴b̵a̵c̴k̸ ̴a̶s̷ ̵t̵h̵e̶y̴ ̵s̸a̶w̵ ̶t̶h̶e̴i̸r̷ ̸m̵o̴t̸h̵e̶r̵ ̴b̸e̵i̴n̶g̶ ̸p̸r̶o̴t̷e̶c̴t̸e̴d̷ ̴b̴y̴ ̸A̸m̴é̶l̶i̸a̷’̸s̸ ̵s̸q̵u̴a̵d̵.̴ ̴W̷i̷t̶h̸ ̷a̶ ̶m̶i̶x̸t̶u̵r̶e̸ ̴o̸f̸ ̶p̶a̶n̶i̴c̶ ̷a̸n̸d̸ ̷h̸o̶p̵e̷ ̴t̴h̴e̸y̴ ̸s̷h̵o̴u̵t̶e̴d̸ ̴“̸M̶O̷M̴M̶Y̶!̴”̶ ̶a̶n̷d̴ ̷s̵p̷r̶i̷n̷t̶e̴d̶ ̶o̴u̴t̷ ̷o̴f̴ ̶m̸y̴ ̴r̷e̴a̸c̶h̶ ̴a̵n̸d̶ ̸s̷a̴f̵e̸t̵y̶ ̷i̷n̶t̴o̸-
ERROR: SEVERE MEMORY CORRUPTION DETECTED
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Memory transcription subject: Elva, Combat Medic Specialist.
Date [standardized human time]: September 27th, 2136
M̵y̵ ̶h̵e̷a̸r̷t̵ ̵w̸a̸s̸ beating far faster than what was healthy for a Venlil. I handed the b̶l̸o̵o̷d̷ covered Nevok to their mother and tried to shake myself out of shock. I watched through hazy eyes as B̶j̸o̴r̸n̶,̷ ̵F̷r̴a̶n̵c̵i̴s̷c̶o̴ ̶a̷n̷d̷ ̶M̷a̸r̴i̵a̵,̵̧͇̀̑ were dragged back into cover. My paws made their way to Bjorn's body and began to work to stitch up his wounds. I felt a firm hand grab my shoulder and pull me off.
Alexander stared into my eyes and shook his head. His glass blue eyes spoke of the pain he was feeling while his brow tried to hide his rage. Alexander looked up to the rest of our group and shouted “FALL BACK!” and the marines started to cover our retreat. One group would stay behind and suppress the Arxur that are stalking us with drooling maws while the other group fled to set up a new fall back point and defend their retreat.
A large explosion sounded in the distance and the radios we were all carrying came to life with the sounds of hundreds of UN troops desperately trying to communicate. By some method unknown to me Pullay managed to discern information about another group retreating not far outside of town as well as a rendezvous point for larger scale transport back to the base. Slowly we moved block by block and made our way to what we hoped to be our salvation.
Despite our group's best efforts and cohesion, the Greys are relentless. Hundreds of cattle ships descend from the sky every hour. Every quarter claw we spent fighting, the Greys were destroying the Cradle and whittling us down to nothing.
We fought our way down the street. No bodies littered the town yet, like in the aftermath videos the Greys would taunt us with. We drew closer to the corner of the block. Yet in an instant several gray reptilians appeared from around the corner and opened fire without any hesitation. I watched another medic take several shots to their torso before the Grey’s suffered a similar fate. I rushed to their side only to find again that I was too late.
Amélia ordered us to advance. We could not stop here. Jamie jogged beside me as we all scanned for any sign of hostiles “We are coming back for them. We just have to regroup first.”
We only got halfway between blocks when more shots rained down upon us from the rooftops. Before I could even see where they came from the Humans made a small dinging sound and hurled rocks onto the roofs. No one but the humans would have predicted the roofs exploding sending red slabs of cannibals sliding down the walls.
I took stock of our situation again. This time a young Gojid couple were covered in the blood of another civilian. I sprinted to them “Look at me! Don’t think about it! Just focus on me!” I managed to stop them and a few others from fleeing, but watched in horror as half of our civilians started to stampede the very way we came. I tried to shove the few we had left after the marines and finally got our group making progress again.
The sounds of gunfire and screams came from behind us and we all started to move a bit faster. Several marines noticed movement in the windows only to lower their weapons when Gojid’s appeared. I and Pullay approached them. “Come with us now! We are evacuating and can’t hold this position!” Yet they didn’t move, their eyes locked onto the marines. Pullay spoke calmly to them “You can come with the Humans who won’t harm you OR you can stay with the Arxur who WILL make sure your deaths are as PAINFUL as possible. Make a choice now, WE are LEAVING.”
Another group of Arxur rounded the corner, but this time had no clue we were here and were cut down with them only returning a few shots. We led our new civilians to the herd. They had little difficulty with the decision after that. A mysterious fate is better than the one we all know.
An errant Arxur round had found its way into our group and embedded itself into Jamie’s rifle, throwing it out of his hand. He picked it up only to let out a curse and threw his destroyed rifle to the ground before pulling a folding shovel out of his pack. With a few practiced motions he unfolded it and gripped it with both hands. I begged the stars and sun to keep him safe. “You can’t be considering using THAT as your weapon?!?”
A devilish grin spread across his face. “Don’t worry! I’m just using this until I can scavenge one off of a dead Croc!” Alexander ordered us to shut up and move out. We continued to slowly retreat from this damned town. The next ambush came sooner than we expected. We didn’t have enough time to even clear the block before the fighting started again. If it weren’t for Jamie pulling me into cover I don’t know if I would be amongst the dead now.
While the Arxur were relentless, they were also apparently stupid. Every ambush they had pulled off was thwarted when they began to sprint towards our civilians. The trained marines had almost no trouble landing their shots. I half expected to see more civilians stampede again, but it appeared they had learned what happens to a stampeding herd.
Finally we could see the edge of the farming town. The hope of reinforcements as well as a way to safety reinvigorated us for the final push. Yet that hope was quickly dashed when the Greys sprang their final ambush. Three vehicles in front of us exploded blocking the street. The route’s right and left had been blocked with destroyed vehicles and Arxur were pouring out of the buildings behind us with happy looks on their faces.
Jamie had half a second to scream “FUCK!” as rounds started to sail at us. This time the Arxur did not blindly charge us. They stayed behind cover. Any explosives lobbed at them were fled from and into cover that protected them from human fire. Instead of Arxur on both sides of us, they made sure not to risk shooting their own soldiers… OH BY THE STARS! Those weren’t ambushes. Those were just raiders running into us. THIS is them actually planning!
We scrambled for any cover we could. Jamie crouched near me while we both could only uselessly watch our friends and charges die. The Nevok mother sobbed whilst holding her only child, Papa’s reporter friend desperately started to broadcast to whoever could hear us, Amélia pulled Pullay’s orange-soaked body into cover and I finally found Alexander laying in a slowly expanding crimson pool out of anyone’s reach.
This time I watched as our marines fell one after another. I watched shots land near civilians forcing them out of cover only to die in an instant. We were actually trapped this time, without so much as a chance to fight back.
An explosion landed nearby raining dirt down upon us. For some stars forsaken reason the reporter decided now was a good time to start a news broadcast so the entire galaxy could see every human die and fail to stop the Greys!!! He started to shout into his camera “I AM CURRENTLY WITH A GROUP OF MARINES NEAR THE CITY OF WIEREWOOD-”
My pulse began to race as I watched a red puff come from Jamie’s arm and leg before he collapsed onto the ground. Fuck the consequences I can’t lose him too! I sprinted to his side as the heat from several plasma rounds threatened to end my life. His leg was the first thing I saw. A round had gone straight through his femur, searing it in half. I ripped the Saline/anesthetic container out of my aid kit and flushed the wound of debris. As quickly as I could I packed the wound with gauze and started to bind it. His blood started to stain my paws red, as I realized I was out of sterile gloves. I begged for whatever was listening to not let it get infected but with it as fixed as I could m̸a̸n̶a̴g̴e̷ ̸a̶t̸ ̶t̵h̴e̷ ̷m̴o̷m̴e̵n̸t̷.̶ ̶I̷ ̴w̶e̷n̷t̵ ̵f̶o̴r̴ ̵h̷i̶s̸ ̶a̶r̵m̵,̵ ̵w̶h̷i̴c̷h̸ ̷p̵u̵l̴l̸e̷d̸ ̶s̵t̴r̸a̸i̶g̵h̶t̸ ̶o̸u̸t̴ ̸o̷f̴ ̷h̶i̸s̷ ̴s̷l̸e̴e̵v̵e̸-̴
ERROR: SEVERE MEMORY CORRUPTION DETECTED
ESTIMATED TIME LOSS: 2 MINUTES
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Memory transcription subject: Elva, Combat Medic Specialist.
Date [standardized human time]: September 27th, 2136
T̸h̸e̴ ̸A̷r̴x̶u̷r̶ ̷t̵h̴a̴t̴ ̵h̴a̶d̸ ̴s̵t̸e̸pped out from hiding spoke to me. “Well, well well! What do we have here! Little pet taking care of master? Don’t let me stop you prey! Patch him up and the Chief Hunter wants to see what all the noise… is… about… they’re predators… OH SHIT.” was the last words that would ever come from that abomination onto sapience. I could feel my teeth break as I snarled with every bit of anger I could muster. My pistol left its holster and aligned with that fucker’s head in a heart beat. I pulled the trigger as it started to charge me. I watched a hole rip through its neck then I watched the rest of my shots miss.
With a wide sweep of its arm I felt its claws dig into my flesh. I felt my body lift off of the ground. I watched the world move slowly underneath me. I watched it slowly come up to meet me.
ERROR: SEVERE MEMORY CORRUPTION DETECTED
ESTIMATED TIME LOSS: 32 MINUTES
RESUME AT NEXT STABLE MEMORY?
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Memory transcription subject: Elva, Combat Medic Specialist.
Date [standardized human time]: September 27th, 2136
I screamed as I took in a long deep breath and pain jolted through my body. I forced myself to look at my abdomen and orange flesh- my intestines were hanging out. A familiar scarred face of the man I forced into a medical examination came to my side holding my medkit. “The- the TOradOL/SAliNE! The TorADol/SaLINe! Gotta clean- clean guts first! Flush it over!”
The rebuilt human started to douse my guts in the pain relieving saline yet despite its name only pain rang through before the drugs kicked in. “Next- slOWLy- put them back instartingatone- end and working them in-” I controlled my breathing as he had to slowly pull my body apart to reinsert my guts. Thank you stars the pain meds are kicking in. I don’t want to feel this.
“Flush again… and get the medi-foam can.” It took a painfully long time for him to realize what I needed him to do. He turned the can upside down and inserted it into my wound. I suppressed a scream but still bucked as the fluid filled my abdominal cavity hopefully flushing out any debris.
The bionic man held me down as I started to reflexively kick. He picked the lid off of the bio-foam can and activated a small amount to come out. He took a moment to read the directions and looked to me “sorry” before he jammed it down as well. I knew he had to but I still cursed him out of pure reflex. The foam expanded and filled the gaps in. If I had a perforated intestine it would spill its contents into the foam pouch instead of my body.
“Now- the- stitches- SEw- me- together- tightly!-” He took the pre-threaded needle and started to dig it into my flesh. The simple guide on the lid of my kit helped to guide his hand. One painful pull after another, I felt myself come back together. I focused on anything else. I turned my head to see the Nevok mother stepping onto a transport still holding her child as safely as she could. Jamie was being loaded onto a stretcher with a few bandages I know I didn’t do. I let out a small sigh of relief at the small sign he still lived but lost it a moment later.. Amélia leaned against a car as crimson fluid flowed from her mouth.
I tracked my friends in my mind. All that was left of our little group was Jamie and myself now. The memories of our squad started to flood back in as I felt my pulse drop. I’m blacking out. I’ve lost a lot of blood. Need to spike the blood pressure. Need to find the blood loss and stop it. My mouth opened to speak-
ERROR: SEVERE MEMORY CORRUPTION DETECTED
ESTIMATED TIME LOSS: 13 MINUTES
RESUME AT NEXT STABLE MEMORY?
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Memory transcription subject: Elva, Combat Medic Specialist.
Date [standardized human time]: September 27th, 2136
I DESPERATELY kicked as a wave of panic flowed through me. I could feel something holding me down stopping me from moving. A scared human face filled my vision and the mouth moved and words came out. The overwhelming urge to run coursed through my body. I desperately searched for anything that would help. The human held a small bag of synth blood in the air. I was partially strapped to a gurney. I turned my head and saw an empty vial of adrenaline.
That’s what happened. Pulse dropped. Blood transfusion. Adrenaline shot to keep the heart pumping. Panic is normal. That’s what adrenaline does. Breath ELVA. Breath. I could feel the panic start to subside. Two medics came over and started to lift me up. Once again Kaeden spoke but I couldn’t quite make it out.
My hearing began to return and I could hear someone shout. “We are out of room! Can’t take anyone else with us!” another voice began to shout “We can’t leave anyone here! They won’t make it back in time! We all have to leave now!”
“We don’t have a choice! Either some of us get out or none of us get out! And these people won’t survive!”
“I-I’ll stay!” The small Venlil reporter for Prime news hopped off of the transport. “I-I need to cover this.” Another marine jumped off. “I volunteer.” I watched as a few more followed him. Their faces were a mixture of pride, terror and confidence that left me feeling like they might just survive this suicide mission. The scarred, gravitationally challenged man’s words finally reached my ears. “It looks like you have enough room for the civilians now. Good luck and stay safe.”
I felt fear coursing through my veins as I shakily searched my UN provided poncho and grabbed two things; My spare small medkit and a few magazines for my pistol. “Take these! My pistol must have landed somewhere near where I did. Stay safe.”
It might have been the multiple concussions I received but the once-mutilated human looked to soften up for a moment as he took my small offer of help. He and the other volunteers disappeared out of sight as I was dragged onto the transport. The roar of the engine drowned out all chatter that might have given me some small comfort about abandoning the volunteers to their suicide mission.
All that kept me company was the bouncing of the transport, the sounds of explosions, Jamie’s unconscious body, as well as the realization that I was a medic that failed to save anyone.
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I’d like to take a moment to thank u/CrusingNW for all the help proofreading several of these chapters. Every time I think I’ve managed to write something without 10 errors in it and they just go through and make it red. It’s really been a big help! I’d also like to thank u/RebelHero for letting me use Kaeden! It’s one of a few crossovers I hope I get to do! (also Elva does know his name from adding the examination to his medical records) And I can’t forget u/Thirsha_42 for working with me on an upcoming crossover!
As with all of my fanfics this is considered creative commons by myself so feel free to grab anything from my stories to use in your own works! I would appreciate a shout out for this but that isn’t required.
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Will be in the comments or something. I don’t even know anymore.
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Spoilers ahead.
This is my complete personal take on Melina that I wanted to share for a while. Most of it is likely common knowledge at this point. And as I already experienced it some will also strictly reject it or parts of it for several reasons. But anyway maybe some enjoy reading 😉
The special kindling
“You must find kindling. Only the smoldering flame in the Great Forge of the Giants, on the highest peak in the Lands Between, can burn the Erdtree. But special kindling is required to reignite the flame. For the flame to burn the Erdtree, a sacrifice is needed. Of one who envisions the flame. And can lead you to the Rune of Death." The thing that I find most interesting about Enias dialog is the fact that she even knows of the very specific requirements of how to burn the Erdtree. This is not your average knowledge. Of course, many would be aware of the first cardinal sin aspect, at this likely something the believe system of the Golden Order shares. Prophets get banished just stating that there will be a Erdtree burning, that shows us how this subject is handled. Of course, the Finger readers have access to special knowledge through the Two fingers, but it feels strange that the Two fingers would even share this specific information, as they very strictly oppose a burning. So, this leaves the close ties of the Finger readers to royalty that could explain Enias knowledge. And here I think it was a turn of events in the past that needed Marika to share this information in the first place. Without something like that the knowledge shouldn’t be around at all.
We know of only two possible kindlings for sure. That is Melina and us after inheriting the flame of frenzy. Interestingly in comparison to Melina we don’t die after sacrificing. To keep it short, I think the whole frenzied flame thing is just out of Enias ruleset. I think Enia isn’t even aware of the possibility to burn the tree this way and therefor her “rules” don’t apply to it. Most likely because this is a very old fundamental power that is even older than the upcoming of Two finger – Finger readers.
We learn from Melina herself that her mother seems to be Marika, and I think most will agree to this. This makes her a demigod. This also can be combined with Enias specific words about the burning of the Erdtree: “That is not the domain of mere men.” That’s strongly indicating that something “superhuman“ or “godly” has to be involved in the process. This at least should rule out other possible kindlings, there is only Melina.
The righteous in distress
As we encounter Melina and learn about her, she tells us several things and she helps us a lot. What do we learn of her, specifically: “I offer you an accord. … You need only take me with you. To the foot of the Erdtree.” “Me, I'm searching for my purpose given to me by my mother inside the Erdtree long ago, for the reason that I yet live, burned and bodyless.” “My utmost thanks. For bringing me to the base of the Erdtree. Here, I can govern my own movement. And thus, the accord is fullfiled. I shall depart to ascertain the purpose I was given. Farewell”
Everything she says is directly supported by her actions. She helps us willingly with her powers, even if for example turning runes into strength seems exhausting for her. She leaves us as soon she is able to move on her own, she does not want to burden us longer than necessary. She helps us with the Morgoth fight, as she also wants to reach the Erdtree and may not be able to pass him herself. That’s good evidence supporting her righteous character. I would therefor assume all of her words true.
Her initial state of being is a problem for her. As she can govern her own movements in Lyndell this would imply she can’t before. This would indicate she is kind of locked at the stranded graveyard. After the cutscene we obtain the flasks. They read “The one washed up on the gravesite was sure to die, until this flask offered its gift of rejuvenation. To seek the Elden Ring.” This seems to indicate that Melina just saved our lives. This hints us that she is very desperate on putting her believe into us to help her. Basically, with Giddeons dialog indicating the lack of fresh Tarnished for quite a while this would mean Melina also had to wait there fairly long for getting a new chance for a “transport”. In Lyndell there is the Two finger barrier hindering Tarnished from entering. There are also the Wandering nobles, their garb tells us: “Travel attire worn by nobles in the capital. Abandoning their birthplace after the Shattering, these undead wanderers are pitiful product of unending life.” This is indicating that they had to leave the capital at some point and with the Archer Golems at the eastern Lyndell Outskirts even shooting at them, are not allowed to return. For Melina to get a “transport” to Lyndell seems very hard at this time around. Without a competent Tarnished it seems nearly impossible. She is in that way very depended which fits giving the flasks to us.
And finally, there is the similarities between her and the Tarnished. Melina uses the words “for the reason that I yet live” for herself and the intro calls us Tarnished “these who died, but yet live”. So, there is also a possibility of very simple kind of sympathy towards us, as we Tarnished share some of her state of being.
The purpose
Melina takes her time opening herself to us, adding details one after another. But over time we learn quite a lot about her. For me it does not seem that she forgot and then suddenly remembers, but that she is over time willing to open. At the beginning we are an “ally by pact” and later she calls us “old friend”.
So, I would propose she is very well aware of her memories and therefor even the details of her past and the given purpose. But as something kind of went wrong she is now trying to understand her current purpose. Her words for this particular search are: “I was born at the foot of the Erdtree. Where mother gave me my purpose. Though now, everything is lost to me. I...have to ascertain for myself. The reason for which I live, burned and bodiless.” She thinks that her current state of simply being alive is something that is not in line with her initial given purpose. All she wants is to understand what went wrong. As her initial purpose was given to her by Marika, her goal is to reach and ask her.
So, for me, this is the conclusion for her initial purpose: she had to die, to be more specific, she had to burn. This adds up with Enia knowing of the kindling. At some point Marika needed a kindling for the flame of ruin and she made Melina, specifically entrusting her with the abilities to do her task.
We find Melinas dagger in a kind of remote and almost secret chamber at the outskirts of Lyndell directly in reach of the Forbidden lands. In front of her chamber there is the officials’ attire, it reads: “Grubby blue robe worn by magisterial officials to carry out their grim tasks. Surveillance, executions, gruesome rituals... The darkest duties drive the wheels of mankind.” Pretty fitting words for someone who watches over the Kindling maiden whose purpose is to die in the flames.
Melina also seems to have a very strained relationship with Marika. In the dialog about Boc she wonders about how Boc is longing for care from his mother. She herself grew up knowing that she was just born to die anyway. If her mother did not give her anything good for her life, like love, perspective or even simple care, then Melinas struggle with Bocs feelings is understandable.
The plottwist
Melina is, like the player, not able to reach Marika. Yet she changes her mind after the battle with Morgoth. I think this is because she then found the thorns. If she is very well aware of her initial power and purpose, to set the Erdtree aflame, then the thorns very plainly tell her, that she not fully succeeded. That there is still need and use for someone with her specific set of abilities. She says: “The only way to stand before the Elden Ring...and become the Elden Lord...is to pass the thorns. My purpose serves to aid in that very act.“
This is sad in a way IMO and a nice story twist, because her then found “new” purpose to reach the forge and die in the flames, is simply her old purpose, again. But she herself experiences this in another way and even tries to justify herself as she says: “My purpose was given to me by my mother. But now, I act of my own volition. I have set my heart upon the world that I would have. Regardless of my mother's designs.” Melina gained hope and love for the world, and to a degree her own mindset and free will that is independent of Marikas.
The implications
If you can relate to this interpretation of Melinas words and actions so far then I would also like to share the implications, which this would have on the surrounding characters and events.
Melina as a child of Marika in the time of the unshattered Eldenring, would be a demigod, and following Miazakis own words, demigods are immortal due to the missing Destined death. This could very well explain why Melina survived her first burning in the flame, it was just the rules applied to her as well. But Melina seems also be connected to Destined death, as indicated through her eye. This affection is most likely a necessity for a kindling, like Enia describes it as “one who envisions the flame. And can lead you to the Rune of Death." But the eye is closed shut, question remains, why exactly is this. But my ideas on that are waaaaay too speculative.
No NPC in the game mentions Melina expect from the hints from Enia. It seems Melinas birth and raising up was a closely kept secret. Yet Melina has Torrent who’s former Master seems to be Miquella. This could indicate that they met which implies Miquella knew or found out about Melina. Quite fittingly the “hugging statue” in the Haligtree has the arms spread wide enough for a third “invisible” person beside Miquella and Malenia, just like an acknowledgement of Melina as a third sibling. This also fits well with the three butterfly types.
If Melina went to the forge once, while being fully alive it seems in a way unlikely that she went alone, as important as she is. I think this is the point where a great champion fitting to be lord comes into play, to guide Melina on her travels. This is Bernahl who before engaging in that task had to vow "See nothing, hear nothing, doubt nothing, and carry on, along the path set in stone." He succeeds to guide Melina but then witnesses her sacrifice. After that he comes to reject the Golden order and is then tarnished. I think, in the time after returning to the Lands between Bernahl didn’t met Melina, he is able to access Farum Azula because he was around at Melinas first sacrifice far in the past.
The prophets of the past envisioning a coming burning of the tree as the kindling was on her way to the forge, were true. But as the religious system itself rejected that possibly strictly and only few higher ups even know of Melina, the prophets were banished. Kind of a sad collateral damage.
Even if I use the words “first burning” of the erdtree, I think, there wasn’t one. There are several hints to a withered old Erdtree that lost its leafs and even branches. This reduces the potential for a wild and raging fire. Melinas butterfly is just the “smoldering butterfly” and the fire we find in the forge is also just a smoldering one. Therefor smoldering is the way I would imagine this burning event. If this event is also the transition from a real but partly withered Erdtree to the current glowing Golden tree, which again has lots of leaves and looks considerably vital, then I doubt this smoldering event would be witnessed as a burning at all, it would look astonishingly positive and rejuvenating. So far as, with time, mentioning the shortly interlude of withering would be considered sacrilegious, like the great clud description tells us.
With Melina being the only kindling, there is the need for another explanation for Vyke. Here I would keep it quite simple. His maiden is located behind the guarded frenzied village, behind the maddening frenzy tower. I would assume Shabiri had just abducted Vykes Finger maiden to force him to meet the three fingers. After all, Vyke most likely had acquired two Great runes at that time and was close to be the new Elden lord and it seems as a knight of the roundtable he was just the heroic type who would not let a maiden die. He even was strong or cautious enough to not get a full grip of the three fingers, they just imprinted him but did not completely access him. This event even changed Shabiris tactic, not forcing someone down there, but getting someone to go there on their own account.
Melina uses the erdtree seal for casting that belongs to the age of plenty. Her birth and raising up therefor seems to belong in the time of transitioning from the age of plenty to the war driven age of expansion with its formless erdtree seal. This raises a lot of questions about the timeline but as this post is already too long, I will not go on diving into this, again this would be waaaay to speculative.

This is the final phase of the first arc/saga of this new universe which has so far been well received. If you haven't read Phase One and Phase Two, I would welcome you to do so.
Now then, let's finish this arc.
Schedule

• Doctor Strange: The Oath
• The Brotherhood of Mutants 2
• Inhumans
• Captain Marvel
• Iron Man: The Five Nightmares
• X-Force
• Black Panther: War of the Worlds
• Spider-Man: The First Hunt
• Marvel Presents: The Phoenix Force - Part One
• Moon Knight
• Inhumans vs. X-Men
• Marvel Presents: The Phoenix Force - Part Two

Doctor Strange: The Oath

Get a character study director on this, I like the profile of Greta Gerwig but I fear I may be overusing her.
As the title suggests, it's a faithful adaptation of the Oath storyline from the comics, a storyline very small in scale and a lot more personal than the usual Doctor Strange adventure. For the unfamiliar, the story is about an elixir that could potentially save the world from a very specific disease, one that Wong is afflicted with, and the story ends with Strange deciding to save Wong by using the last of the elixir rather than potentially save the world. We will continue to set up Nightmare as the big bad for the final Doctor Strange film, as he possesses access to the affliction the elixir cures, and sends dark sorcerors to try and retrieve the elixir so that he can infect the world, spurring the plot of this film. One of those sorcerors is Nicodemus West who we have already used in the previous Doctor Strange film, so replace him with another sorceror.
Stephen swears by his oath and saves Wong's life at the end, and him and Christine finally get together, completing their two movie arc (Christine will play a much larger role in the plot of this film too so her relationship with Stephen should tie into the main plot instead of being just a side plot thread).

The Brotherhood of Mutants 2

Continue the feud between Magneto and Doom, plants seeds of doubt in Sabretooth to the brotherhood, get Colossus more involved in finding out the Brotherhood's true nature, make Toad a proper player in the game and expand Mystique's and Rogue's characters. I don't have a proper plot in mind but these are the general goals of this film.
This is my next genre experimentation as I want Wes Anderson to direct this. Combining his distinct visual style with old Eastern Europa will create some stunning imagery, I can already see it. He can tone down the action for a more thriller-like plot if he wants to, it's all really up to him how he completes those goals.
By the end of the film, Sabretooth leaves the brotherhood, and is approached by Xavier.

Inhumans

Create a character thriller drama, to the point of it being almost theatrical, as I want this to be a mix of styles. Think of something like Matthew Warchus' Matilda: The Musical mixed with Ari Aster's Hereditary.
Black Bolt needs to be established as a top player in this universe. While the Illuminati isn't a thing yet, there should be no mistake about the fact that not only is he the king of Attilan, but the king of all Inhumans, who are revealed to the world by the end of this film. I don't have a particular plot in mind, but something within the Inhumans would be ideal as I don't want any external threats, rather making this film a self-contained story with its own characters all within its own species. I would include Medusa, Maximus, Lockjaw, Karnak, Crystal, Triton, Quake, Ms Marvel, Gorgon and Tonaja (the latter of which I think could be reworked as the primary antagonist and eventually killed).

Captain Marvel

Get a proper Captain Marvel origin story, going from her human origins all the way to her getting her powers, no real mystery but just a straight shot. Our antagonists are Mandroid and Yon-Rogg, who while they only offer a physical threat at first, must create an emotional dilemma for Carol Danvers. This is why once again we have to get a director who will focus more on characters driving the story to get some actual stakes. Mar-Vell features too, fighting alongside Carol in the final act. We have tiny roles from Nick Fury and Bruce Banner, with Bruce being accidentally ejected into space god knows where.

Iron Man: The Five Nightmares

Adapting the Five Nightmares storyline, with a legacy villain too.
Our main antagonists are Ezekiel Stane as Titanium Man and Justin Hammer's daughter, Sarah Hammer. We have MODOK and The Tinkerer too, but MODOK doesn't die, rather escaping Tony's grasp and the Tinkerer is arrested.
Tony ends his relationship with Bethany in this film because he fully accepts that he's falling for Pepper but the movie's midpoint is where Pepper turns Tony down alongside Stane and Hammer having destroyed his current armour, saying she doesn't want to make things weird and doesn't have interest in him like that. It destroys Tony until Rhodey appears for the first time in the film and gets him back on his feet, which is when Tony reveals the War Machine armour alongside a prototype for Tony's own next armour, setting up our final protagonist pairing for the rest of the film.

X-Force

This is essentially everyone trying to be in an X-Force film while Deadpool keeps trying to turn it into Deadpool 4.
Our roster is Wolverine, Deadpool, a returning Cable, Sunspot, Cannonball, Domino, Multiple Man, Warpath and Polaris, fighting against the Worthington Industries in Archangel and the Brotherhood, namely Magneto, Magik and Colossus.
Magik and Colossus change sides by the end, being freed of Magneto's indoctrination.
Wolverine sees the err in his previous actions during Age of Ultron, trying his best to stop Archangel by making him change his ways rather than killing him. However, nothing seems to work and Deadpool decapitates him, pissing Logan off. The two bicker and eventually come to blows, turning our final act into Deadpool 4 proper as its just Wolverine and Deadpool fucking the shit out of each other. The fight has no real stakes and is basically the punchline to the setup that has been present throughout the movie, but the fight before is the one with real emotional stakes.
The movie ends with Logan and Wade simultaneously decapitating each other, and then their disembodied heads roll next to each other and have a casual one-take conversation for a few minutes in which Wade declares X-Force disbanded.

Black Panther: War of the Worlds

Possessing the same sub-title as the second Namor film, this is a continuation of that story, and deals with T'Challa's death.
Basically the main plot of it is that Wakanda and Atlantis' shaky truce gets worse as time goes on, and Namor, tempted by Storm and T'Challa's absence, decides to break the truce to declare war once again: obviously this is a war crime but if Atlantis is revealed to the world then Wakanda will be too so they can do nothing but fight back.
Shuri is our protagonist and her main arc is the arc of responsibility, realising that even if she may not be ready for the throne, she must take over to defend her country as if she doesn't, Wakanda will be helpless. I will give this movie license to kill a couple of side characters such as Namora and Monica Lynne to raise stakes but it really doesn't need to happen, I just prefer if the rosters of films aren't too bloated.
The film ends with Wakanda successfully defending itself, and Shuri deciding not to go on the offensive and spare Namor's life so he can go back to his kingdom: unlike T'Challa who went on the offensive after losing his mother. All hail the queen.

Spider-Man: The First Hunt

This is an adaptation of Spider-Man: Blue, but replacing Gwen Stacy with Mary Jane Watson. Gwen does play a short role in a flashback to flesh out Peter's story. I want to play a little fast and loose with the continuity, essentially continuing Peter's story from where No Way Home left him off but never really acknowledging if its canon or not, as May is alive, Flash Thompson is a blue eye-blonde hair white guy again (not that I have a problem with Tony Revolori, he was so funny but I don't think he would be the right choice for Anti-Venom). We have Harry Osborn as the new best friend, although he as well as every other character in the film, is unaware of Spider-Man's identity. Norman is here too, set up as a big villain before he is twist-killed by the Goblin serum as he was incompatible with the formula. We also have Dr Kurt Connors in a minor role, he does nothing outside of showing up in a lab a couple times and that's it.
Our main villain is Kraven the Hunter, who hunts Spider-Man down and comes narrowly close to figuring out Spider-Man's identity using his superior tracking abilities. However, he is off by just one apartment, knocking down the apartment next to Peter's, starting our final sequence which is almost a horror sequence as Peter tries to get out of the building while Kraven is there knowing he can't handle him in tight spaces, before the actual final fight begins in which Peter eventually wins but after some great struggles.
Post-credits: Kraven is in prison when he is drugged and wakes up in a mysterious location, untied. He looks around to see Whiplash, Mysterio, and... Mastermind. Mastermind brought them all out with a purpose: to take down their enemies together, as they can do more together than they can alone.
After the other three are out of sight, Mastermind's body changes, revealing his form was actually an illusion. He is crippled, wheelchair-bound. The damage Emma Frost and Xavier did to him was real, but not fatal.

Marvel Presents: The Phoenix Force - Part One

The film opens with Jean and Scott by themselves at home, with a reveal that they now have a child named Rachel Summers. The opening set piece is Scott and Rachel running away after Jean's possession at the hands of the Phoenix becomes apparent and she nearly kills the two of them. This first film in the Phoenix Force is essentially the Dark Phoenix Saga, Jean Grey being overwhelmed and taken under the control of the Phoenix Force. She essentially becomes another Ultron-like threat, fighting everyone all by herself at one point.
This part has essentially every mutant that has appeared in the series who isn't dead alongside the debut of the Illuminati in the form of Iron Man, Namor, Professor X, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Mister Fantastic and Black Bolt. We see Sabretooth and Wolverine in the same place finally too, brothers re-uniting after decades.
The Phoenix is a lone force, forcing people like Magneto, Xavier and Captain America to all work together to stop it, putting aside their differences temporarily. However, even that is not enough to win without losses, as Nightcrawler, Thunderbird, Sabretooth, Lifeguard and Mystique all die by the midpoint of the film. Domino dies too, saying that she's lucky she doesn't have to live through this, really setting the darkness that may lie in the future. I want to create narrative reasons for their deaths but that would require a lot of intricate set-up and payoff, essentially having to write a scene-to-scene script which I don't want to right now. Sabretooth's dead crushes Logan, and he is motivated to kill Jean but him and Scott fight over it, Scott wanting to save Jean from the Phoenix than just kill her.
However, all this time, it's clear that the Phoenix is not limited to Jean as a vessel, as there are hints of yellow present in certain characters. The final battle is another one-versus-all, with the Phoenix fighting the physical threats in one realm while Xavier and Wanda fight her together in a telepathic dimension, neither able to control her mind and only facing resistance from the Phoenix, believing it to be the Phoenix using Jean's telepathy. At one point, Logan manages to get close enough to kill Jean but just as it seems like he's going to cut off her head he is lasered away by Cyclops, which gives the Phoenix enough time to re-direct a Havok blast towards Iceman, killing Bobby and sucking away Havok's power. Scott sees his best friend and brother both destroyed, and is distraught. We see some of the yellow fade from Jean's body as it seems like the Phoenix may be losing the fight against Jean, but when the camera goes back to Scott it's clear the Phoenix actually is changing its host, and Scott, clearly affected by the Phoenix, directs a gold-accented laser at Jean's neck, killing her and releasing the Phoenix Force into the world, where it concentrates into a golden flash before latching itself onto the five closest vessels it can find: Cyclops, Namor, Magik, Blink and Spider-Woman. The Phoenix Five.
Xavier tries to stop the Phoenix once again, asking Scott to let go of the power as it would corrupt him. Scott does not respond, leading to Xavier trying to open his mind, only to find that it wasn't Jean's telepathy stopping him from taking control of Jean, but rather the Phoenix Force itself, as he is only met by a laser from Cyclops to his head. After they had seemed to have finally put their differences aside after years to stop Jean, Scott kills Xavier.

Moon Knight

Get Christopher Nolan in a room, get him to read Moon Knight's All New All Different series, let him work his magic.
For the unfamiliar, Moon Knight's ANAD run is focused on mental illness and illusion more than the superhero aspect of Moon Knight. I think Nolan is possibly the best mindfuck director in the history of cinema, so he could work wonders with this concept. Complete creative freedom given to him, I don't want to taint his filmography.

Inhumans vs. X-Men

Showing more of Magneto's capability to turn people with his words, he is now the head of the Worthington company alongside Mister Sinister, and the two take a lot of known mutants, primarily from the brotherhood, and put them together into their own 'X-Men', a name which isn't owned by anyone since pretty much everyone is scrambling for power and don't really know what they're doing in the wake of the Phoenix Five. Cyclops and Blink are recruited too, but keep their involvement secret from the other three in the Phoenix Five.
This X-Men team is tasked by Magneto with taking down the Inhumans who he sees as mutantkind's biggest threat, this acting as our arc ender for the Inhumans as they don't play a big role in the Phoenix Force storyline.
Inhumans: Black Bolt, Medusa, Maximus, Karnak, Lockjaw, Crystal, Quake (dies), Triton, Dazzler
'X-Men': Magneto, Phoenix Cyclops, Phoenix Blink, Beast, Toad, Rogue, Quicksilver (switches sides)
Attilan does lose Quake but manage to fend off the Brotherhood by defeating Phoenix Blink and proving they can't be defeated just yet.

Marvel Presents: The Phoenix Force - Part Two

The Phoenix Five essentially hold the world hostage, their great power causing fear amongst everyone. This is where we finally get Krakoa as a haven for mutants, ruled over by the Phoenix Five.
After the events of the Inhumans vs. X-Men, Black Bolt talks to the rest of the now expanded Illuminati: Iron Man, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Beast, Mister Fantastic and Black Panther, and they agree that the next infringement from a Phoenix Five member must result in response. Sure enough, Phoenix Namor, separated from Atlantis after his Phoenix powering, tries to regain his kingdom, and this is the last straw.
Cyclops and Iron Man talk, and Cyclops gets angry before the two fight and eventually Tony is forced to flee, knowing Cyclops will win. The Phoenix Five decide to go on the offensive against the Avengers, and that's the rest of our plot: Avengers vs X-Men. Of course this is different, as the 'X-Men' is really just the Phoenix Five while the Avengers include non-Phoenix Five mutants.
The Phoenix Five arrive at the Future Foundation building and decimate it, with Ben and Johnny sacrificing themselves so that Reed and Sue can get away. By then, Captain Marvel arrives, sensing a great cosmic force and holds the Phoenix Five in place for some time before the rest of the Avengers and mutants come, starting our final big battle.
Cyclops is fixated on loss after losing Jean, and focuses on the closer pairs, and the Phoenix Five eventually succeeding in killing Captain Britain (brother of Psylocke), Scarlet Witch (sister of Quicksilver) and Colossus (sister of Magik).
Magik does not realise that Colossus was a target too, and when she sees him die something clicks in her as he cries out to her for help. A seed of doubt. Cable goes to defend Colossus although he knows he is too late, and is attacked by Magik, although Cable is just able to block it, before he is killed by Spider-Woman from behind, who looks at Magik with suspicion - it was clear she was holding back. Storm and Shadowcat are trapped around three members of the Phoenix Five while the others try crowd control, and the two try their best but are outmatched, and they die too.
However, the heroes finally strike first blood when Iron Man uses one of Blink's portals against her and fires a Unibeam through it, hurting and distracting her before Black Bolt finally speaks for the first time, destroying her body. Magik manages to break free of the Phoenix spell after an internal struggle, but the Phoenix Force realises this and immediately kills her from the inside, but not before Magik manages to suck the power from Namor and Spider-Woman into herself. The explosion of power fractures the force into nothingness, leaving just the last piece of it inhabited within Cyclops.
Phoenix Cyclops fights harder than ever but is eventually halted by Rachel, his daughter. He hesitates but continues to fight nonetheless, although it is once again clear that Scott may have one hand on the wheel as he always seems to miss Rachel. Eventually Black Panther manages to get a vibranium cover over Scott's eyes which he takes a minute to get off, time in which the Phoenix Force works on pure instinct in fighting everyone off. Scott finally gets it off and tries to fight again but stops in place and clutches his heart. The camera moves into Scott's body to reveal the Wasp blocking an artery, and she expands out of Scott, killing him and releasing the last of the Phoenix Force which Doctor Strange contains within a mirror cage before its destroyed by a combination of a lot of people's powers.
Post-Credits: Reed and Sue re-form the Future Foundation, not as a building but as a team, with Wolverine and the Wasp joining.
That brings us to the end of The Phoenix Arc, the first of three arcs of this universe. The Phoenix came and was destroyed. The mutants peaked but lost their leaders, the Avengers and Illuminati were formed, the Inhumans were revealed to the heroes, and the Fantastic Four came together and were destroyed.

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How to Watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
At the moment, you can watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse at your local theater. But like most movies these days, it should hit a streaming website in the near future.
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Like its predecessor, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a flick produced by multimedia conglomerate Disney. What’s more, the production studio owns a number of other famous franchises, like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars. Titles made under these umbrellas have both hit Disney+ sometime after arriving at the box office. Fans may also know the original Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is currently available to stream on the site as well. So, if the 2023 version follows the same pattern, folks will likely get to see Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Disney+ later this year too.
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As for an exact release date for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, that’s more complicated. Most movies produced by Disney often go to its streamer site within three months after debuting in theaters, like the most recent Marvel film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. If this is the case for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it will probably drop in late August 2023 or sometime near Labor Day in early September.
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When the time comes for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to splash onto Disney+ though, make sure you’re all prepared to watch it. If you don’t have access yet, you can opt into a 30-day free trial before choosing a plan that start at $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year. After your account is all set, click on the title page on Disney+’s official website or the Disney+ app.
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As you wait for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to hit the streamer, why don’t you watch the animated version and its sequel Spider-Man: into the Spider-Verse? Or if you want to immerse yourself in another live-action version, click on the 2019 ABC TV special Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Live!. Enjoy!
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Where To Watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Online:
As of now, the only way to watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is to head out to a movie theater when it premieres on June 2, 2023. You can find a local showing on Fandango.
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Otherwise, you’ll just have to wait for it to become available to rent or purchase on digital platforms like Amazon, Vudu, YouTube or Apple, or become available to stream on Disney+.
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Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse coming to Netflix?
Yes, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is coming to Netflix approximately in December 2023.
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In 2021, Sony and Netflix signed a five-year deal that gave the latter exclusive first-pay-window U.S. streaming rights for Sony Pictures titles after their theatrical and home entertainment windows. Fans can expect to watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Netflix six months after the film’s theatrical release, thus in December 2023. The date seems reasonable considering that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse dropped on Netflix on June 26, 2019, six months after its U.S. release on December 14, 2018. The pay-one window usually begins about nine months after a film’s theatrical release, but it might start earlier in particular cases.
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This post will be updated once there is a 100% officially confirmed Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Netflix release date.
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When Will Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Be Available On Netflix?
Regarding when the film will be available on Netflix, the answer is less definitive. The first film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, began streaming six months after its theatrical release. Based on this, it is safe to assume Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will see a similar gap between its cinematic and streaming releases. Given the film’s theatrical release of June 2, 2023, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will likely begin streaming on Netflix in December 2023.
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This tracks with some of Sony’s bigger releases of 2022. Films like Uncharted and Bullet Train were released on Netflix six and five months respectively after their release in theaters. Of course, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse could have other elements that see it release before or after this tentative six-month period, such as underperforming or exceeding expectations at the box office. Although, based on Sony’s track record – including that of the first film – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse can be expected on Netflix in the winter of 2023, likely December for a holiday release.
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Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse coming to Disney Plus?
Yes, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is also coming to Disney Plus approximately in 2025.
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Once the pay-one window runs its time and Netflix’s exclusive rights expire, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will be available on Disney Plus. The pay-one window might last as long as 18 months, which means it will be a while before Disney Plus subscribers can watch the much-anticipated sequel. Unlike in other countries, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse isn’t yet available on the Disney-owned streamer in the U.S.
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American fans will have to wait until 2024 to watch Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and at least until 2025 for its sequel. We will update this post once there is an official Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Disney Plus release date.
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse comes from a joint effort of directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson. The movie will swing into theaters on June 2, featuring the return of Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, and Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker, among others.
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Will Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Be On HBO Max?
No, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will not be on HBO Max since it’s not a Universal Pictures movie. Last year, the company released its films in theaters and on the streamer on the same day. However, they now allow a 45-day window between the theatrical release and the streaming release.
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Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Available On Hulu?
Viewers are saying that they want to view the new animation movie Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Hulu. Unfortunately, this is not possible since Hulu currently does not offer any of the free episodes of this series streaming at this time. It will be exclusive to the MTV channel, which you get by subscribing to cable or satellite TV services. You will not be able to watch it on Hulu or any other free streaming service.
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There are a few ways to watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse online in the U.S. You can use a streaming service such as Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video. You can also rent or buy the movie on iTunes or Google Play. You can also watch it on-demand or on a streaming app available on your TV or streaming device if you have cable.
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When Will Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Be on DVD and Blu-ray?
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will likely be coming to DVD and Blu-ray around the same time as the streaming release. With theatrical films, on average, coming to streaming sooner than ever (usually ninety days after theatrical release), we’ll likely see Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse get a DVD, and Blu-ray release no later than Fall 2023.
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Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse cast:
In terms of the confirmed cast members of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, we can expect the following stars to appear:
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Shameik Moore as Miles Morales/Spider-Man
Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099
Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen
Jake Johnson as Peter B. ParkeSpider-Man
Brian Tyree Henry as Jefferson Davis, Miles’s father
Luna Lauren Vélez as Rio Morales, Miles’s mother
Issa Rae as Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman
Jason Schwartzman as The Spot, the movie’s villain
Daniel Kaluuya as Hobart “Hobie” Brown/Spider-Punk
Jorma Taccone as The Vulture
Takuya Yamashiro as the Japanese Spider-Man
Karan Soni as Spider-Man India
Andy Samberg as Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider
f your Spidey senses are tingling, then you came to the right spot. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse came out Friday (June 2), but if you can’t get enough of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, then there’s another release that should be on your radar. Fans of the film franchise can further get their superhero fill (besides just replaying the movie soundtrack) with a new book titled Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: The Art of the Movie by Ramin Zahed, set to release on July 3.
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Showcase Cinema Warwick you’ll want to make sure you’re one of the first people to see it! So mark your calendars and get ready for a Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse movie experience like never before. of our other Marvel movies available to watch online. We’re sure you’ll find something to your liking. Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you soon! Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse is available on our website for free streaming. Details on how you can watch Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse for free throughout the year are described, Examine the art of the movie as the new book takes you behind the scenes to capture the artistry that went into the film. You can expect to discover exclusive concept art, sketches, character designs and storyboards from production, as well as interviews with writers and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who offer an inside look into their creative process.

Note: This is part 2 to Shiloh's Final Battle
Gomez and Tish pulled into their driveway and heard barking. They'd gotten a German Shepherd pup when Guillermo Del Toro's "The Strain" was on T.V. As a joke, but also because they loved the character? They named him Thomas Eichhorst after the Nazi vampire who was one of Guillermo Del Toro's most powerful villains ever created. No one put much thought into the name choice considering they loved all things horror. "What the hell has Eichhorst going off? He knows it's us!" Gomez couldn't understand why he'd bark at the 2 people he NEVER barks at. "I can honestly say I'm not even surprised after this day." Tish exhaled and proceeded to get out of the car. Eichhorst continued the call of his people. "IKE! EICHHORST! KNOCK IT THE HELL OFF!" Gomez yelled so Eichhorst could hear because he was behind the chain link fence in the backyard. He acted like he didn't hear a word. As they got closer to the house? They noticed Eichhorst was not barking at them. He was barking at the woods BEHIND them. "He sees something we don't." Tish matter-of-factly stated. She & Gomez simultaneously turned to look into the woods. Nothing. No noise. Nothing was there. Eichhorst stopped barking as soon as they turned towards the woods. Everything stopped. "What the hell is going on, Cara Mia?" Gomez was starting to experience what Tish had all day long. "I don't know, Mon Cher. I just know I don't like it." Tish continued glancing into the trees. "Probably time to sit back and relax. You've had a bad day that ended a rough week. It's time to just chill." As if knowing what Gomez had just said? His city issued phone started ringing. "NO. ABSOLUTELY not! I'm off tonight! What is so critical that Gomer & Goober can't handle it?" Gomez could feel his blood pressure start to rise. "Find out what it is 1st, Craig, before you go into a meltdown." Tish always called him Craig when she was irritated. "Hello?!" Gomez did a poor job hiding his inconvenience. "Man, it's Ol Shiloh! You gotta get over here, Gomez. It's bad! It's so bad!" Bubba was inconsolable. He was on the verge of tears. "Whoa, slow down, Bubba. What happened?" Gomez tried bringing levity. "We came by to check on him when we were on patrol. He was in the doorway, he was..." Bubba finally started crying. He hated it. The last thing he wanted to do was cry in front of his co-workers. He just simply could not process what the hell they'd rolled up on. "Wait? Ol Shiloh is hurt?" Gomez was trying to process what Bubba was saying. Tish's brow furrowed. She didn't like what she was hearing. "I mean, if you consider hurt dead with his fuckin' throat ripped out to his spinal cord? Then? Yeah, he's hurt." Bubba's anger at his own insecurities was boiling over onto Gomez. "Look, Bubba. Clearly you guys have been going through something over there. I'm headed that way. For future reference? Don't take your shit out on me. I didn't do anything to you." Gomez scolded. "Sorry, Gomez. It's just so..." and Bubba broke down further. Gomez hopped back into the car. "What's going on? Who was that? Don? Bubba?" Tish was concerned. "Hop in the passenger's side if you want to find out. I have to go." Gomez started the engine. Tish walked around and got in.
They pulled into Shiloh's driveway behind the Eerie, Indiana patrol car. Bubba came running out to greet them. "Don is in there with him. The paramedics just got here a few minutes ago." Bubba proceeded to catch Gomez up. He and Tish had been so busy looking at Bubba and the patrol car they didn't notice the bus parked to the side of the house ready to pick up Ol Shiloh.
Tish & Gomez entered the threshold where Ol Shiloh laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. His throat. Jesus, his throat. It was gone. They both were rocking back on their heels.
"We thought it was a big cat attack. It's not. Those bite marks on his throat? That's human not feline." Kennedy was an intelligent little bastard. Arrogant, condescending and holier-than-thou, but very intelligent. Not only would he inform all of the insubordinates around him about everything they didn't know? He'd do it with one hell of a cocky attitude. Ah, Kennedy, and his unsolicited lessons. Time to sit up and listen in class. ..
"When he opened the door? We thought it was an animal attack. Instead? He must've been attacked by humans. The bite marks definitely indicate human but the vicious nature of how deep the wounds went indicate something much more powerful. This was to his spinal cord." Kennedy didn't look like he knew-it-all. He looked perplexed.
"But how could a human bite that deep?" Gomez asked.
"I don't know. I honestly don't know." Kennedy was lost for the 1st time since becoming a paramedic 7 years ago. He'd never seen trauma of this caliber. He hadn't even seen this level of brutality and he'd rolled up on gang fights.
Don and Bubba were both on the front porch, looking in, mouths agape. Gomer & Goober indeed.
Kennedy loaded up Ol Shiloh's body with the assistance of a new EMT that Gomez was fairly certain Kennedy was banging. I mean, he was a total Chad so why wouldn't he?
Don put the camera away in the trunk of the patrol car. At least he had the presence of mind to get the pictures taken before emergency services hit the scene. This was going to rock Eerie, Indiana's foundation. Murder hadn't happened here in anyone's lifetime so this was a "big city" problem they weren't use to dealing with. Nosey people, scared kids, idiot media, this was not what Eerie needed right now. It certainly wasn't what he needed. He had enough of Allie putting out for anyone that would buy her a 6 pack or some cigarettes. Had he known he could've gotten off so cheaply? He sure as hell wouldn't have married her. Unfortunately, for his dumb ass? He actually fell in love with her. Why? He didn't know. Self esteem was never his strong suit. So? After dating 6 months, her only cheating 3 times, then getting pregnant with his baby? He made the perilous decision to try to make an honest woman out of her. Don sincerely doubted if Allie had ever been honest about anything in her life. Coincidentally? When they came back from their Honeymoon 2 weeks later? She'd miscarried. Well, she claimed she miscarried. Don never saw a pregnancy test nor would he have been 💯% sure the baby was his. He would've actually suspected the baby was not. Looking at all of it now, how did he not see it sooner?
"Get to those pics, ASAP Rocky, Don!" Gomez instructed. "Please, don't be an embarrassing Gen Xer who thinks he's so cool and up to date on all of the current lingo. They laugh at us only a little less than Boomers." Tish was still trying to get a handle on all of this and his Goofy antics weren't really in need right now.
The woods to the side of Ol Shiloh's place was the same as the woods to the back of Gomez & Tish's driveway. Eichhorst couldn't understand why his humans didn't acknowledge his bark. He never barked. He especially never barked at his humans. Why did they think he had? Didn't they see the kids in the woods? The little boy? The little girl? How could they not? As far away as the kids were? They smelled funny. He didn't understand. It was the same smell in the air that he sensed right before thunderstorms began and he hid under Gomez and Tish's bed. Humans don't smell like that. It's impossible to explain ozone to a German Shepherd.
The children watched as Ol Shiloh was loaded onto the ambulance and taken away. The couple were getting into their car and the deputies were already headed down the driveway.
"It has began." The dark-haired pale little girl spoke. "Indeed. It has. Let's see what Venerate has in store for the humans now." The boy replied and they headed towards town.
Eerie, Indiana was like any other Midwest, small town. You had your good ol boys & jerks. You had freaks and geeks. You had Bible thumpers and always humpers. Allie Hoff was the "always humpers" category. No one nor nothing could change that. The girl went through life bartering sex and blow jobs for anything she needed. It was a pitiful existence and she knew it. Unfortunately? She never learned and didn't know another way. With Eerie being so small? She was limited to the same "favor givers" over and over, again. Never any new blood. Never any fresh meat. It really stifled what few prospects she had. She looked up from where she was slumped over the bar, in her barstool, nursing a bottle of beer. She happened to look up to the front door. Who was that? She'd never seen him in here before. He was about 6'3" with dark wavy hair and ocean blue eyes. His skin was sun kissed and the muscles showcased the entire package. Wait. WTF? This dude doesn't belong here. Who the hell is he?
He appeared to glide and almost float towards her. He gestured to the empty bar stool next to her. "Is this seat taken?" He smiled with almost glowing white teeth. She locked up. Wait? He wants to sit next to me?
She just shook her head no because she was too shocked to speak. "Hi, I'm Vinny." He extended his hand and his gleaming smile never faltered. "Allie." She finally squeaked out. Guys like this didn't talk to girls like her. "Nice to meet you, Allie." Vinny swung around and attempted to get the bartender's attention. "I'll have a Jack & Coke. For the lady?" Vinny slyly smiled at Allie and she was entranced. "Same" was all Allie could say. He paid for their drinks and handed Allie hers. "I've never seen you before." Allie just finally came out with it. "No, I'm new to the area. You wouldn't have seen me around here." Vinny replied. "Oh? New from where?" Allie was trying to proceed with caution. She did not want to miss out on the opportunity that was this gorgeous specimen of a man. "You've never heard of it, trust me. No one ever has." Vinny still held his smile. "I'd still like to know." Allie returned a smile that was nowhere near as beautiful as Vinny's. "Maybe when we get to know each other better." Vinny conceded. "Oh? So we're going to be getting to know each other better, are we?" Allie coyly pressed. "If I have any say in it? Most definitely." Vinny winked. Damn. That boy was so fine she'd drink his bathwater if he peed in it. He was the perfect vision of the perfect man. It was as if he were tailor made just for Allie. How, though? How could she actually meet her real life Manic Pixie Dream boy? The one she'd dreamed about when she was a little girl. The one who laughed at everything she said. Listened attentively. The one who only had eyes for her no matter how many "rich bitch" girls were around. She'd treat him like a postage stamp. She'd lick every square inch of him and go back for 2nds on the important parts. "Allie, you strike me as a very straightforward girl." Vinny snapped her out of her daze. "I am. No bullshit." Allie replied. "Then? Allow me to be straightforward by telling you that I want to fuck you senseless." Vinny casually stated as if someone asked him for the time. "Well, that is certainly straightforward." Allie was stunned. She wasn't so stunned that she'd let an opportunity like this pass her by. She'd made up her mind that was going to happen as soon as she saw him. "And your answer?" Vinny inquired. "Anywhere. Any place. Any time Any day." Allie assured. With that? They stood from their barstools and headed outside. He even smelled good but not a typical smell. It was like the air at the beginning of a thunderstorm. He smelled like ozone. Ozone??? Was that even possible?
Gomez and Tish got home and plopped on the couch. Eichhorst came through the doggy door and trotted straight to Tish. "I've got leftovers, Piggy. Give me a sec." Tish opened her container from the restaurant. Eichhorst sat patiently waiting for his command.
"What a fuckin' day." Gomez exhaled exhaustedly. "Yeah. It has been. Poor Ol Shiloh. This is just too much." Tish's head continued to try to find rationality where there was one. "I'm getting in the shower and going to bed. You need anything?" Gomez slowly rose up from the couch, joints popping like a glow stick. "No. I'm probably gonna watch a movie and go to bed after." Tish answered. "Horror?" Gomez queried. "What else?" Tish smiled albeit a tired one. Eichhorst jumped up next to her on the couch and laid on her like a lap dog.
Vinny was walking Allie into their local little flop hotel room. It wasn't like she wasn't familiar with the place. The staff referred to her as "Frequent flier". She didn't particularly like the insensitive moniker but couldn't deny its accuracy, either. He closed the door behind them in one failed swoop. This was a practiced talent she noticed. Didn't matter. He was hers tonight.
"Make yourself comfortable." Vinny gestured to the only bed in the room. Allie took a seat. She looked up at him and noticed the ozone smell becoming stronger. Weird. He smelled good but she had never known someone to smell like a thunderstorm.
"I'm going to step into the bathroom for just a minute. I'll be right out." Vinny stepped into their adjacent bathroom. She heard loud music and laughter from somewhere down the hall but couldn't quite place where. It was for the best. Allie had always been, well, vocal. Normally? If a guy is hitting it right? She hit the vocal range of 2 stray cats screwing. She couldn't help it. She was like this every since puberty. It was all the girl thought about. She figured she was probably a nympho although she was never officially diagnosed. She couldn't hear what he was doing. It didn't matter. It wasn't going to affect her and what she was doing. She walked to the curtains and made sure they were completely closed. Although they were, why did she feel like she was being watched? She stripped down with the efficiency of a HazMat worker decontaminating. She heard the bathroom door opening. She kept her back turned so she could make the surprise last as long as possible. Was this the night? The night she could finally reach sexual satisfaction? Was this the dick that was going to change her life? There was a soft green glow coming from the bathroom. Must be a nightlight? She hadn't noticed before. Was it getting brighter? It looked like it was coming towards her. Was it Vinny? Maybe he's videoing me? Not like I'd care, but he could have asked. "Are you recording me?" She asked as she continued to look towards the window. His breathing was different. It seemed labored and, well, wet. It didn't sound like he did earlier, that was for sure. "You okay?" Allie asked. His breathing was raspier, louder, wetter. She decided to bail on her romantic idea of not turning around before he reached her. She turned around and her playful nature and smile fell away immediately.
Her brain couldn't process what her eyes were seeing. It couldn't be real. God knows along with banging any guy she could get her hands on, she used to hit hard drugs back in the day. This had to be a flashback. It had to be a "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" scenario. This? This "Mars Attacks!" bullshit right here? This is not reality.
It's bulbous head was transparent. It looked like a barrel eye fish that she saw on a nature show she used to blaze and chill to. That also explained the soft green glow. It sounded like and looked aquatic. That's where the wet sounds were coming from. It kept advancing. It had a white upper torso with arms and webbed fingers on each hand. What sent her over the edge? From the waist down? It was a human male. All the important parts and in working condition. How? She had no idea. But? When she meant working condition? It was working it's way right towards her. Wait, this thing is going to still have sex with me?! No. Absolutely not. "No. Stop." Allie feebly tried to resist. It did no good. Allie didn't know she was the reason he was even here. This was the whole gameplan all along. It was never a casual hook up.
Venerate had studied numerous different civilizations but Terrestrials always fascinated him. They were so primitive but also entertaining. The Alliance had tried many different hybrid trials between themselves and Terrestrials. They never made it out of infancy. There was a weakness that need strengthened in their own DNA to combine with humans. They worked on it until their resolution was Venerate himself. He has the best of what their kind has to offer with the malleable adaptivity to change himself into anything he needs to to be able to convince Terrestrials to trust him. It worked. Ol Shiloh thought Venerate was his deceased wife. Allie thought he was her dream man. He needs a human to impregnate. Beggars can't be choosers. It worked out perfectly. Allie took one look at his bulbous transparent head, his lower nontransparent stiff head and proceeded to pass out on the bed. It didn't matter. Venerate didn't need her awake to begin their hybrid breeding program. And? Begin the program he did. Everything was coming to fruition via the Alliance's vision. All of their hard work finally got them here. The pale, dark-haired children stood outside the hotel room window, peaking through the crack in the curtain. They were able to relay the mission a success with Venerate making first, second and third contact. Once the younglings come forth? The Alliance can begin occupation and what a glorious day that will truly be! Everything was going so perfectly. This just had to be fool proof. They walked off into the night, smiling so much those obsidian eyes even looked less demonic. This was the beginning of prosperity. This was the beginning of the end of humanity.
The Windows to the Soul: Allie's Assimilation
END