#Advanced Parenting Tactics Channel

[parenting-strategies]

Parenting Strategies: 5 Reasons For Parents To Love Audiobooks

In today's fast-paced world, parents often find themselves juggling multiple responsibilities while trying to create a nurturing environment for their children. Amidst the chaos, finding time to cultivate a love for reading can be challenging. However, audiobooks present a fantastic solution that allows parents to instill a passion for literature in their kids while enjoying numerous benefits themselves. In this blog post, we will explore five compelling reasons why parents should embrace audiobooks as a valuable tool for both education and entertainment.

[mechwarrior-rose]

Shelter: Pirate's Nightfall

DAI LONG PLAIN TESTING GROUND OBERON VI OBERON CONFEDERATION 28 SEPTEMBER 3049

Shelter turned his head this way and that. His new sidecut felt alien to him. He'd always kept his hair long. Made sense. He had more femme days than masc, and on those days he loved his long hair. Even when it was tied into a bun for work. But if he was wearing a neurohelment into combat, he needed the sides buzzed close.

When he was young and didn't know himself better, he'd kept his hair long out of social expectation. His parents had been fairly conservative middle-class folks in civilian jobs within the service, hoping their perfect daughter would escape military service and go on to be an accountant or, even better, a trophy wife for an Inner Sphere noble or something. But the War Griffins had--

The War Griffins were dead. He was the last one left who could fight. No one else among the technicians had sufficient training to do more than walk a 'Mech into a repair bay. Today would be his last day alive. Maybe there'd be enough of him left to bury with the rest of his family.

He punched the wall. Picked up the clippers, turned them back on, and went after the rest. Didn't stop until every strand was cut down to a single millimeter. Black curls coiled in the sink. His scalp was an angry red from the pressure. Shaven in mourning.

"Let's go kill some fucking pirates," he snarled to the man in the mirror.

++++++++++

Ariel's ass print was still on the command couch of her Griffin. Of all the things to strike Shelter as funny, and of all the absolutely wrong times to laugh, and of all the uncomfortable positions to be caught in a fit of hysteria: crammed into the limited space between displays and couch, doubled over, bulky helmet pressed into the headrest, cooling vest too rigid to allow him to collapse into tears like he really wanted.

He stepped over the center console and dropped into the seat, erasing the last mark Ariel had left on this godforsaken planet.

He knew the checklist. Ran through it as efficiently as any 'Mech jockey. The Griffin responded eagerly. Weapons online. Sensors online. All systems nominal.

He toggled the radio to the lance frequency. "Razor One, this is Razor Four coming online."

"That's everyone," Lieutnant Rieck's voice replied. Shelter was surprised, but he said nothing. Lieutnant Keller must have been a casualty. Which probably meant there weren't many lieutnants left.

Hell, maybe Hendrick Grimm himself would come to the field in the final defense of his world.

"Razor Lance, we will advance in formation to Nav Point Epsilon. We will hold station there."

"Yes, sir," the lance chorused back, Shelter included, as if he'd been responding to combat orders his whole life.

Two beeps signaled that the Lieutnant wanted a private chat. Shelter flicked to the direct channel. "Sir."

Rieck's voice was full of sympathy. "This is a brave damn thing you're doing, Corporal. I respect the hell out of you."

Hateful sympathy. Shelter had no time or heart left for it.

"Rather earn that respect on the field, sir. Shall we?"

++++++++++

The pirates were already at Nav Epsilon by the time Razor Lance arrived.

Their comms were jammed, just like at Black Canyon. There was no way to get the word to the main force or link up with another lance. So Rieck made the best call he could in the moment: run for Kennedy Beach to draw the enemy away from the city and into open space.

Running from Black Canyon had been terrifying enough. Running while plugged brain-first into a war machine that was screaming because it was being missile-locked by a FrankenMech was nightmarish. The tactical computer was trying to decide if it was a Thunderbolt, a Marauder, or gods knew what else. The circle-vision strip at the top of Shelter's HUD flickered in and out as his 'Mech's stock EW systems and counter-systems tangled with the enemy's more advanced tech. Lances of coherent light, the screams of missiles, the actinic flare of particle cannons. No wonder Ariel had had a heart attack.

An enemy Hunchback--wait, a Hunchback with two autocannons?--sent fire and metal shrieking into Razor Two. The Shadow Hawk folded in on itself as if its reactor core had just produced a singularity. The 'Mech's auto-eject had been enabled; bolts blew and rockets fired, carrying him skyward. Uninterested in the helpless pilot now drifting down-strand on a full chute, the Hunchback turned toward Razor Three.

Shelter didn't even think. He tied all three of his lasers to the same circuit and carved his anger into the Hunchback's side armor. The 'Mech was within the minimum range of his LRMs, but he fired those anyway. Heat washed into the cockpit. Shelter ignored it. Two missiles made it into the rents his lasers had opened, touching off the ammunition within. The Hunchback simply disintegrated from the knees up. The explosion rattled the cockpit glass of Shelter's Griffin.

But it was for naught. Another enemy FrankenMech, this one a Catapult with Marauder arms stitched on, buried Razor Three in missiles and laser fire. Wolverines were tough, but nothing could withstand an onslaught like that. Shelter thought he caught a scrap of Sergeant Baker's scream of terror before her radio was obliterated.

On the circle-vision strip, Shelter saw Rieck's Marauder go down, its leg removed at the knee by a fusillade of laser fire. It couldn't have all come from one 'Mech. Yet there was an enemy machine with what looked like a dozen lasers ringing its arms, streaking in for the kill.

It was over. But Rieck and Razor Two--Shelter had never even gotten his name--might be able to escape if Shelter acted fast. He flicked the radio to broadband, remembered the jamming, then engaged the external speakers.

"Enemy forces!" he shouted. "I am Shelter of the War Griffins, last of my family. If any of you have the fucking balls to do it, come try me. I'll take you all on myself."

As he spoke, he edged his Griffin away from the strand, away from Rieck and Razor Two. He also pressed a red button on his side console that began dumping his LRM ammunition out of a hatch in his rear armor. The enemy were all too close now for the missiles to be of use anymore, and Shelter had no intention of dying the same way the Hunchback pilot had.

The dull crackle in Shelter's ears suddenly stopped. The enemy had dropped their communications jam.

A woman's voice came over broadband. "Shelter, I am Star Captain Mila of the 11th Wolf Guards. While it is well past the time for such a challenge to be issued, we will meet it nonetheless. Let the Circle be drawn."

Shelter quickly flipped to the private channel with Rieck again. "Now run, you son of a bitch. Eject, meet up with Razor Two, and get out of here."

He'd be with his family soon. War Griffin reunion.

[janetushar1]

Industrial Diamond Market to Hit $2.50 Billion by 2032

The global Industrial Diamond Market was valued at USD 2.05 Billion in 2024 and it is estimated to garner USD 2.50 Billion by 2032 with a registered CAGR of 2.5% during the forecast period 2024 to 2032.

Are you looking for the Industrial Diamond Market Research Report? You are at the right place. If you desire to find out more data about the report or want customization, Contact us. If you want any unique requirements, please allow us to customize and we will offer you the report as you want.

The global Industrial Diamond Market can be segmented on the basis of product type, Applications, distribution channel, market value, volume, and region [North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa]. The Industrial Diamond Industry 2024 report provides a comprehensive overview of critical elements of the industry including drivers, restraints, and management scenarios.

Download Sample PDF: @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industrial-diamond-market-2005/request-sample

Top Players

Applied Diamond Inc. (US), Industrial Abrasives Limited (India), Advanced Diamond Solutions Inc. (US), Diamond Technologies Inc. (US), Hebei Plasma Diamond (China), Diamonex (US), Morgan Technical Ceramics (UK), Scio Diamond Technology Corporation (US), Novatek (Russia), Sumitomo Electric (Japan), Worldwide Diamond Manufacturers Pvt. Ltd. (India) and others.

Trending 2024: Industrial Diamond Market Report Highlights:

A comprehensive assessment of the parent Industry

Development of key aspects of the business

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Evaluation of market value and volume in past, present, and future years

Evaluation of market share

Tactical approaches of market leaders

Innovative strategies that help companies to improve their position in the market

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Analysis Of The Top Companies, Product Types, and Applications In The Market Report:

This report provides sales, revenue growth rate, and verified information about the major players. Also includes a regional analysis and a labor cost analysis, tables, and figures. It also highlights characteristics such as technological growth. The product type segment is expected to continue to maintain its leading position in the future and capture a significant market share based on sales. This report provides analysis, discussion, forecast, and debate on key industry trends, market share estimates, Industry size, and other information. This report also discusses drivers, risks, and opportunities.

Global Industrial Diamond Market report contains detailed data and analysis on the Industrial Diamond Market drivers, restraints, and opportunities. Experts with market and industry knowledge as well as research experience from regional experts validate the report. The Industrial Diamond Market report provides forecast, historical and current revenue for each industry, region, and end-user segment.

Regions Included

-North America [United States, Canada, Mexico]

-South America [Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Chile, Peru]

-Europe [Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia, Spain, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland]

-Middle East & Africa [GCC, North Africa, South Africa]

-Asia-Pacific [China, Southeast Asia, India, Japan, Korea, Western Asia]

Global Industrial Diamond Market report data will help you make more informed decisions. For example, in relation to prices, distribution channels are means of marketing or identifying opportunities to introduce a new product or service. These results will also help you make more informed decisions about your existing operations and activities.

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You Can Use The Industrial Diamond Market Report To Answer The Following Questions:

What are the growth prospects of the Industrial Diamond Market business?

Who are the key manufacturers in the Industrial Diamond Market space?

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What are the main segments of the global Industrial Diamond Market?

What are the key metrics like opportunities and market drivers?

The Industrial Diamond Market Insights

Product Development/Innovation: Detailed Information On Upcoming Technologies, R&D Activities, And Product Launches In The Market.

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Market Diversification: Comprehensive Information On New Products, Untapped Regions, Latest Developments, And Investments In The Industrial Diamond Market.

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Global Esoteric Testing Market: Report Forecast by 2032

[wellnessweb]

Key Factors Driving Growth in the Lymphoma Treatment Market

The Lymphoma Treatment Market size was valued at USD 17025.22 Million In 2023 & is estimated to reach USD 32698.71 Million by 2031 with a growing CAGR of 8.5% between 2024 and 2031.The landscape of the Lymphoma Treatment Market is evolving rapidly, driven by advancements in biotechnology and personalized medicine. From traditional chemotherapy to targeted therapies and immunotherapies, the approach to treating lymphoma has diversified, offering more precise and effective options.

Innovative treatments like CAR T-cell therapy have revolutionized patient outcomes, promising higher response rates and durable remissions. Moreover, the market's growth is propelled by increased awareness, early diagnosis initiatives, and expanding healthcare infrastructure globally. As research continues to uncover novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets, the future holds promise for further enhancing survival rates and quality of life for lymphoma patients worldwide.

Among the market's inorganic growth tactics were acquisitions, partnerships, and collaborations. Participants in the Lymphoma Treatment Market  have been able to grow their clientele and profits thanks to these measures. Market trends, organic and inorganic growth techniques, and market trends are all examined in this research. Future market participants should enjoy favorable growth opportunities as a result of the growing demand on the global market. New product releases, as well as other organic growth methods like events and patents, are heavily prioritized by many businesses.

Get Sample of This Report @ https://www.snsinsider.com/sample-request/3427

Market Segmentation

By Disease Type

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Hodgkin Lymphoma

By Treatment Type

Immune Therapy

Radiation Therapy

Targeted Therapy

Chemotherapy

By Route of Administration

Injectable

Oral Route

By Distribution Channel

Online Pharmacies

Retail Pharmacies

Hospital Pharmacies

COVID-19 Impact Analysis

This updated study includes observations, analysis, projections, and estimations as well as an assessment of COVID-19's effect on the Lymphoma Treatment Market . By using the data they have gathered to pinpoint openings as well as rival advantages and weaknesses, market actors can enhance their goods and services. A wide range of consumer behavior and demand shifts, purchasing patterns, supply chain rerouting, market dynamics, and government involvement are covered in the study paper on COVID-19.

Competitive Outlook

The competitive environment looks at the different corporate expansion tactics used by important market players. Market companies use tactics including mergers, acquisitions, and market activities to protect their market positions. The research report contains a SWOT analysis, market strategies, and profiles of significant competitors in the Lymphoma Treatment Market . The report also includes company biographies, a description of the products and services offered, financial data, and recent developments for significant market participants.

The Lymphoma Treatment Market  research is based on first-hand knowledge, qualitative and quantitative analysis by industry analysts, and suggestions from major market participants and stakeholders along the chain. The study investigates parent industry trends, micro and macroeconomic data, governing factors, and market attractiveness on a segment-by-segment basis. The study also demonstrates the potential qualitative effects that various market factors may have on regional market segmentation.

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When you employ our services, you will collaborate with qualified and experienced staff. We believe it is crucial to collaborate with our clients to ensure that each project is customized to meet their demands. Nobody knows your customers or community better than you do. Therefore, our team needs to ask the correct questions that appeal to your audience in order to collect the best information.

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[lifeway6231]

How to Create a Positive Learning Environment for Students with Disabilities

In order to support the intellectual, social, and emotional development of students with disabilities, a pleasant learning environment is crucial. The classroom dynamic is enhanced when there is assistance for these children, in addition to aiding in their success. Here are a few essential tactics for developing a welcoming and productive learning atmosphere.

Understanding and Acceptance

Understanding and acceptance lay the groundwork for a pleasant learning environment. Respect and inclusion are attitudes that staff, students, and educators need to foster. To do this, it is necessary to acknowledge and value the distinct skills and difficulties that every kid brings to the classroom. Teachers and students can benefit from this by attending training sessions on disability awareness and inclusion offered by schools.

Individualised Support and Accommodation

Every disabled student has different needs, necessitating individualised care. It is imperative that Individualised Education Programmes (IEPs) be developed. The accommodations, adaptations, and support services that are provided in these programmes ought to be tailored to the individual needs of the students. For example, students who are blind or visually impaired could need audio materials or braille textbooks, while students who are mobile learners would need classroom arrangements that are easily accessible.

Flexible Teaching Strategies

Students with impairments can greatly benefit from the use of flexible teaching practices in the classroom. Differentiated instruction works very well when it uses different teaching strategies to meet the needs of different learning styles. To keep pupils interested, teachers might incorporate technology, practical exercises, and visual aids. Furthermore, students can be assisted in understanding and finishing their work more effectively by being given clear and simple directions and having complex assignments broken down into manageable pieces.

Positive Behavioural Support

Positive behavioural support also plays a role in creating a positive learning environment. This means being explicit about what is expected of you, constantly rewarding good behaviour, and dealing constructively with bad behaviour. Acknowledgement, prizes, and other forms of positive reinforcement can inspire pupils and boost their self-esteem.

Collaboration and Communication

It is imperative that educators, parents, experts, and students work together and communicate effectively. To guarantee that all parties are in agreement with the student's requirements and progress, regular meetings and open channels of communication are necessary. Experts in their fields, like psychologists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists, can offer insightful advice and assistance. Occupational therapy in Ajman, for instance, can provide pupils with specialised interventions to advance their motor abilities and increase their capacity to carry out daily chores.

Creating an Accessible Environment

One of the most important components of an inclusive learning environment is physical accessibility. Wheelchair accessibility should be considered while designing or modifying classrooms, libraries, labs, and other spaces. Furthermore, giving students with disabilities access to assistive technologies like voice-to-text software, screen readers, and adaptable keyboards can help them learn more efficiently.

Encouraging Peer Support and Social Integration

Students with disabilities feel more included and respected when peer assistance and social integration are encouraged. All kids can benefit from buddy networks, peer tutoring, and group activities that encourage communication and cooperation. Academic achievement is aided by social integration, which also improves friendships and social skills.

Continuous Professional Development

It is imperative that instructors engage in ongoing professional development. In order to effectively teach kids with disabilities, teachers need to be up-to-date on the most recent research, resources, and instructional methods. To enhance teaching methods and provide students with appropriate support, workshops, seminars, and online courses can offer invaluable knowledge and skills.

Conclusion

A multimodal approach that includes comprehension, tailored support, adaptable teaching techniques, reinforcement of positive behaviour, cooperation, physical accessibility, peer support, and ongoing professional development is necessary to create a positive learning environment for students with disabilities. Teachers may contribute to a more welcoming and encouraging learning environment by putting these techniques into practice and assisting all students in thriving and realising their full potential.

[magic-missle-blog]

Ghost division

approx 5k words

The teacher stood in front of her class, looking over the rows of teenagers. The red sun shone through the glass illuminating the brightly coloured room and the wooden desks. The youngsters were mostly green skinned mammalian Drek, like herself, although she did have two reptilian Gath, shorter and stockier than the Drek, they sat on specially made chairs to accommodate there long tails, Their parents had recently moved to this colony, the new mines and the wealth therein drew sentients from all over the galaxy. Most were dressed in a similar fashion, dark blue trousers and skin tight teeshirts with a Varity of symbols of cartoon characters. She inwardly shuddered at the fashion sense of the young,

:readmore:

Off to the side was a older Drek, he was an elder, over 70 years old and even though his once blue hair was now all grey, and his back had a slight stoop, he stood proud and his eyes were bright. He had on a dark green military uniform, a couple of shades darker than his skin. The rank badge on his chest showed he was a captain, the dagger with wings on his sleeve showed he was in the war fleet.

“Class” the teacher began “We have a special guest with us today. As you know tomorrow is 'Alliance day', the most important holiday we have, and it’s a very special one. Tomorrow marks fifty years since the alliance between Drek and Gath, fifty years since the foundation of the united galactic council, fifty years since the Canidations were defeated and peace was restored to the galaxy.”

She took a breath. “Please give a warm welcome to captain Furon.”

The teacher clapped her 6 fingered hands together and sat down behind desk.

Captain Furon walked smartly to stand in front of the class. He precisely placed a bottle of water down next to some paperwork on the crowded wooden desk. All eyes were on his uniform and side arm.

He looked at the teacher. “Thank you for the most gracious introduction.” He said with a smile.

“I want to tell you about the battle for this colony; it was the turning point in the great war, but ...before I begin, who can tell me how the alliance started?”

A forest of hands rose in the air. Furon pointed to one of the Gath students. The student stood up and said in a hissing voice. “Sixty or so years ago a race called the Canidations tried to conquer the galaxy, they invaded and destroyed many worlds. The Canidations attacked both the Gath and Drek our empires bordered one another. We stood together, and fought off attack after attack, eventually driving the Canidations back into their space. After the war ended, our peoples joined in the alliance and started the galactic council, over the years we invited four other species into The Alliance.”

The reptilian sat back down.

As the student spoke Furon nodded along. Once the Gath had returned to his seat, the captain said “That’s the official bare bones history, but it’s not the full truth.”

Captain Furon looked around the class. “It started with the Canidations, that right enough, but what you don’t realise is just how powerful they were. They had more ships, more weapons than any other species, several times over. In their home system there was a gas giant with many moons, these moons were the size of small planets and the Canidations built factories. Giant factories that could mass produce warships in great numbers. Their fleet had tens of thousands of fighters, thousands of cruisers and hundreds of capital ships. The Canidations were a strong warrior race, with a high birth rate. The soon outstripped the resources on their home worlds and wanted more.” his voice turns cold “They were a plague. They couldn’t be reasoned with or bargained with, they believed they were the only true form of intelligent life, everything else was simply an animal to be destroyed.”

He looks lost in memories for a moment, the room is silent, hanging on his every word, For the first time the students actually grasped that standing before them was a warrior, a man who had lived through the horror of the great war .A man who had stood toe to toe with the Arachnidiod Canidations, who had spat in there ruby coloured multifaceted eyes.

Furon continued “In ten years the Canidations invaded and slaughtered five species and with every conquest their blood-lust grew and grew, they gave no quarter, gave no mercy. The wounded, civilians, even children were all fair targets to them.

The seemed unstoppable, we knew it was coming of course. The Drek and Gath were next in line, as the Canidations territory expanded it was a matter of time until they were at our door. We tried to build up our fleets, improve our weapons and fortify out colonies but it was futile.”

He reached for the bottle of water on the teacher desk and took along slow sip, then continued.

“Around 7 years after the war started the Canidations attacked a Gath border post, a few months later they attacked one of our convoys. Normally only a fool starts a war on two fronts, but the Canidations were so powerful and so arrogant they didn’t care. Then they made a mistake. They opened up another front. They attacked The Terrain Empire.”

The class murmured and looked around. This was new information. The Terrans don’t have an empire, they are generally vagabonds or mercs, and they are rare. The population only a few hundred thousand individuals across know space, in fact, no one in the class had ever seen one.

Furon continued “The Terrans, or Humans and they were sometimes known, were a relatively young race. They only had interstellar travel for a few decades, but they quickly built up a small empire. As a young race no one really considered them a threat, including the Canidations, but they were wrong. You see humans had one great strength, adaptability. The Canidations became warriors, but Humans were born for war. In the 5000 years of recorded human history there was not one single day when some part of the planet was not at war. They could see as well as we could what was coming so they built up their fleets and dusted off ancient tactics renewed and improved for a new age. When the Canidations first attacked the Terran Empire, they terrans would lose three ships for every one Canidation vessel killed, but with every battle, every loss the humans learned. They studied the enemy, they adapted. After six months it was one to one, and after a further six it took five Canidation warships to kill a Terran vessel. The humans tech advanced at an unmatched pace. They created new and unique weapons and defences, but it was not enough. Even with losses of 5 to one the Canidations were so many that those loses was a victory, however it slowed the advance into Terran space, and forced then to pull resources from Gath and Drek space to fight the Terrans, giving us much needed breathing room. The advance slowed, but it did not stop,”

Furon took a breath

“I want to tell you about a battle, a very important battle that took place here, in orbit of this colony towards the end of the war. This was the most important battle in the history of the Drek, because it paved the way for the alliance.”

“Back then this colony had around ten million people, and it was an important supply and repair centre for the fleet. At first it was far inside Drek space but as the Canidations pushed onwards this world soon became a target. We tried to evacuate the civilian population but we didn’t have the ships or resources, our fleets were spread so thin as Canidation attacks hit all over the empire. Around seven million people were left when the Canidation death fleet arrived. I was a young officer stationed in the bridge of the Warship 'Firestorm', part of small defence force, all that high command could spare. Our orders were to defend the colony at all costs.”

************************************************

Ensign Furon looked up from his screen. The green and black display flashed in warning. “Captain....sensors have just picked up a large Canidation fleet heading this way. We have 30 minutes until they reach the system.”

The captain looked around his small bridge. The red emergency lights shrouded his crew in an eerie glow, various consoles beeped for attention, chair creaked as people shifted. His crew were at battle stations, ready to fight and die if needed. The Firestorm was destroyer class Warship, Small and fast yet it packed a punch. He was proud of his ship and knew it inside and out. “How large?”

Furon checked his screen, “six capital ships, thirty cruisers, five carriers....we're outnumbered six to one.”

The captain checked the status of the other ships in his fleet. A ragged assortment of cruisers and destroyers most damaged to some extent from the constant warfare, they were only here as this was the closest repair station to the front. There were various other civilian ships in orbit and a large ring of defensive satellites. The civilians he could discount as they were unarmed, but the satellites might be able to help...and then there was the repair station itself, upgraded with the latest weapons..... Captain Brekka shook his head, in his heart of hearts he knew it wasn’t enough, the firepower the Canidation fleet had would cut through the colonies defences like a hot knife through butter.

“Comms open a general distress call”

“Channel opens Captain”

The captain

“This is captain Brekka of the Drek warship Firestorm. We have incoming hostile craft; we are in orbit of Baldur colony. If anyone can help. Please come. We have transport full of children, please assist.”

The Comms office waited a few moments, “nothing captain, no reply”

The first officer, a tall Drek with long lanky limbs replied “all ships are battle ready and moving into formation, plasma cannons are charging. The colony rail guns are active and defensive satellites fully powered. We'll squash those fucking bugs like a spider under our boots'”

The captain smiled a rare smile. He appreciated Firsts attempt to raid the crew’s spirits but everyone knew they didn’t stand a chance.

“Furon. Status of the evacuation ships”

Furon checked his screen. “Three are fully loaded and taking off, the remaining ten will be airborne within twenty minutes. There have been delays, people are crowding on. Its chaos down there.” The main view screen showed various scenes of the plant below. Parents trying to push their children onto the waiting transports, civilian craft fleeing. People fighting each other and trying to flee.

“Cutting it close...” the captain said. He pressed a button on his command console, opening a channel to his fleet. “Prepare to break orbit, defend the transports at all costs.”

The bridge crew looked at the captain. The first office spoke up. “But captain...the planet....there are seven million people...”

The captain, his face drawn, heart heavy, looked at the sensor display. He knew what was going to happen. Those capital ships would smash the space dock as the cruisers destroyed the satellites and ground cannons. Once the defences were down they would bombard the colony with fusion bombs. A few might survive in outlying settlements, or if they managed to get to the bunkers....but by this time tomorrow most would be dead. “There’s nothing we can do for them, but if we defend the transports at least the children will survive.”

Minutes seemed like hours. Furon checked and rechecked the status of the Canidation fleet as they drew closer. The tension was unbearable. A trickle of sweat crawled like a spider down his spine.

CLICK CLACK.

CLICK CLACK

Someone was clicking a pen.

CLICK CLACK

CLICK CLACK

CLICK ...

The first office strode across the bridge and plucked the pen from the officer at fire control. With a grunt the pen was crushed in the firsts strong hand.

Blue eyes glued to the screen, Furon was the first to see the Canidations dropped out of hyperspace just shy of the planets gravity well and began their approach at sub light.

Heavy cruisers bristling with weapons, smaller but faster destroyers, behind that the capital ships. Monsters made of titanium and horror, each one ten times the size of his own vessel. Last but certainly not least the carriers with their cargo of small deadly fighters.

“Five minutes until weapons range” Furon said. The captain sat in his chair, still as a rock watching the sensor display on the main screen. The transports had all reached orbit and were slowly moving out of the gravity well where they could safely activate hyper drive, but they were slow, far too slow.

“Captain” Furon said with alarm “Enemy fleet is breaking formation.”

On the screen the carriers offloaded their cargo of small sleek fighters. Fast and deadly shaped like locusts, they were moving around the Drek fleet to try to flank the transports, as the main body of cruisers attacked head on. The capital ships headed straight for the colony, where their large guns and mass drivers would rain death on the helpless people below.

The captain knew the colony was doomed; all he could do was try to save the transports. Save as many people as he could. He knew his duty, but hated himself for abandoning the colony.

The captain pressed a button on his command console “Sword, Wildcat, intercept those fighters, the rest of you, battle formation, buy those transports as much time as you can....it’s been an honour serving with you.” He cut the channel, nothing else needed to be said. He looked around the bridge crew, emotion plain on the green faces, anger, hatred, but no fear. They faced death but they wouldn’t go down easy and with luck their sacrifice would save thousands of Drek on those transports. The captain couldn’t have been prouder.

“Two minutes until weapons range” Furon said

The incoming ships slowly grew in size as they drew closer.

“Weapon range in 90 seconds, the first transport is 3 minutes from the minimum safe FTL jump point, the last transport is 10 minutes away. Fighters will intercept transports in 3 minutes” Furon said.

So, Captain Drek thought, it’s not all in vein, a few transports will be safe and we’ll buy the rest as much time as we can.

“Weapons range in one minute....wait...captain....I’m picking up something on Comms, its an audio . it sounds like a...a howl?” when the captain nodded furon opened the channel. An eerie moan, filled the bridge. Words, almost two low to catch were mixed in the scary sound, “we are the ghost division, we are your death...”

Furon had turned a sickly pale blue colour. He cut of the channel, and turned to the captain, he was about to speak when his station beeped. “Captain, its a distress call its...it’s from the Canidation capital ships... they want aid....the call has cut off”. Furon said confused.

The screen zoomed into capital ships closing in on the planet, but where the there should have been six monstrous death machine, only four could be seen. Two expanding clouds of debris still glowing, were the remains of the others. As they watched a bright red explosion blossomed from the main hull of another ship, it quickly consumed the huge vessel. As it died a bright yellow explosion from the rear of the ship, the fusion plant loosing containment no doubt, finished it off.

On the main screen an explosion destroyed an enemy destroyer, and then another destroyed a cruiser. Within a few second ten Canidation ships were no more than glowing space dust.

The line of incoming ships dissolved into chaos. They fired weapons all around. The Drek couldn’t see anything though, the Canidations seemed to have gone mad, firing at empty space.

The first office looked up “the cruisers and fighters are breaking off they’re heading to the capital ships...what the fuck is happening?”

The bridge was a jumble of activity. Sensor reports were coming in, the Comms system was going crazy as the other ships in the fleet reported the same thing, asking for orders.

Furon shouted over the noise on the bridge “something is attacking them, I’m reading...fuck I don’t know what I’m reading. I’ve never seen anything like this. Weird gravity spikes, then ships appearing then vanishing. If I didn’t know better I’d say the sensors were damaged.”

The screen showed the Canidation fleet in full retreat. Black ships around the size of destroyers appeared out of no where, fired a barrage of projectile and energy weapons then vanished again. It didn’t matter where the Canidations turned or how the dodged, a ship always appeared, fired and vanished. It made it impossible to target them, or get an accurate count of numbers. When the new sleek warhips were sure of a direct hit they would fire a large torpedo, the weapon didn’t seem to have any guidance, but it packed a punch. Any cruiser it hit was killed, and even the monstrous capital ships were destroyed. With one missile. Brekka had no idea what the warhead was, but it was immensely powerful. It seemed to vapourise anything it hit rather than exploding like a normal missiles

The Comms office piped up “incoming hail”

“On screen” Brekka said

The screen changed from the confusion of battle to a video call.

A tall dark skinned human in a dark grey uniform appeared on screen.

“I’m captain Conroy of the Terran warship Lucifer; we received your distress call. Your transports will be safe now, want to help us mop up the rest of these bastards?” he asked with a grin.

Brekka let out a Drek war cry and said to the crew.

“You heard the good captain. Give them Hell”

****************************************

“The battle lasted less than 30 minutes. We didn’t lose a single ship, neither did the humans. Only one Canidation ship survived, and that was because the humans let it go. ‘Teach them to fear the wrath of Earth’ Captain Conroy told us. We offered the humans shore leave but they declined, they had a mission. To spread fear among the Canidations, to hit hard without mercy and vanish like ghosts. That battle was a major victory, it inspired our people, and it showed that non Drek could help, would be willing to help so in turn we could help others. Due to the humans example the Firestorm was the first Drek ship on the scene when a small flotilla of Canidations attacked a Gath supply line, we helped save a half dozen Gath ships. The Gath returned the favour and soon we were fighting side by side. It was from these small actions the alliance was born. If it wasn’t for the Terran ghost division, the alliance would never have happened.”

Hands rose as Furon finished history. “What happened to the humans? How could they make their ships invisible, what kind of weapons did they use?” a jumble of voices asked various questions.

Furon smiled and raised his hands for silence.

“We don’t know what stealth tech the human ships used, we think they could manipulate artificial gravity in some way to bend light and sensor beams around the ships but we can’t replicate it yet. As for the weapons, well they used tungsten projectiles fired from rail guns and plasma based energy weapons for the most part...but those torpedoes... they were something else. We managed to recover a few that missed their targets. From what we gather they used some kind of exotic matter with negative mass to generate an antigravity wave, That wave was unstoppable, and any matter caught in it was destroyed and changed into energy. This caused a chain reaction, if effectively turned the ships own armour into an energy blast. “

Furon took another drink.

“As for what happened to them....they spread fear among the Canidations. For months Ghost division stuck Canidation ships. Burned colonies, wherever that eerie sound would play Canidations died by the hundreds and thousands. They spreads So much fear that the Canidations halted their advance into Gath and Drek space and committed almost everything to the destruction of Earth. The humans fought hard and made the Canidation bleed for every inch but eventually the humans were pushed back into their home system. tens of Thousands of Canidation ships dropped out of FTL into the Sol system, almost the entire Canidation fleet, almost every and solider so they could watch humanity die.

The terrans had pulled everything back into Earth orbit, every ship, and every colonist. Everything other than ghost division

It must have been an amazing sight, the two biggest fleets the galaxy has ever seen...ready to fight to the death.”

Furon looked around the class

“But the humans...they were vindictive bastards, and clever. From what we gather they built one last torpedo. It must have been huge, at least a mile long, and filled with millions of tonnes of exotic matter. They fired it directly into their own sun causing it to go supernova. The Gravity wave of the dying star made FTL impossible. The entire Canidation fleet was wiped out in one go, millions of Canidations, dead In a heartbeat, I sometimes wonder what when through their mind before they were blasted into ash. Then the alliance struck. Our ships, the combined might of the Gath and Drek empires attacked. We hunted down and wiped out every last Canidation ship, but when we arrived in the home system, we found it had already been killed. The ghost division had been there first...no Canidations survived the human’s wrath. The home world had been cracked open like an egg. Every planet and moon that had even a hint of canidation presence was sterilized.”

The Gath that had spoken earlier said with awe “the humans destroyed their own home world rather than let it fall...they must have been mighty warriors.”

Furon smiled

“Oh they were re than mighty warriors. They were inventors, thinker ands dreamers. After the supernova had passed and it was safe, mercy vessels from the alliance went into the remains of the sol system... we knew it was hopeless but we owed it to the terrans to look for survivors. We found the smashed remains of the two inner planets, and the irradiated husk of the fourth planet. We found a diamond thousands of miles wide, all that remained of the planet after the atmosphere had been blown away. But of earth there was nothing, no debris, no wreckage, nothing.”

“ Just before the supernova wave reached earth, our long range scopes picked up something odd, a massive energy spike. We think the humans somehow created an artificial wormhole, they used the power from the supernova to rip open time and space. They shifted their entire planet, their moon and the whole fleet and left the Canidations to die. They used their own planet as bait and their star as the biggest bomb the galaxy has ever seen. You might say its impossible, but Humans could dream the impossible and make it possible...I don’t know if it s true or not, but they might still out there somewhere and could come back one day., and if they do i hope to all the gods that they come in peace.

[ravennm84]

Lyre Festival Justice

Here is the sequel to Lyre Festival Fraud where you get to see exactly what happened to Lila during her long weekend after she went back to Italy. I thought, at first, that I may have gone to far with the salt... But it’s Lila and I really don’t like her character. So, Warm-Fuzzies and enjoy this salty goodness!!

It was a beautiful day in Rome and Lila was enjoying her shopping spree around the city. She and her mother had spent the first few days after moving back to Italy unpacking and getting settled. It was Sunday, and her mother had to go to the embassy to make sure that all of her paperwork had transferred from Paris, which gave Lila the opportunity to spend the money she’d gotten from the idiots from her old class. Really, she couldn’t believe how stupid they all were to have just handed her over €2,000 for a luxury vacation in Venice. She should have gotten at least €3,000 from the class, but that Mari-brat and stick-in-the-mud Adrien had convinced some of them that she was lying. Oh well, €2,000 was better than nothing.

Best part, none of it could be traced back to her. They travelled to Venice on their own, nothing had been written down, her old mobile phone was disconnected and in a landfill somewhere, and she would just tell her mother that she had gotten all her new clothes at a thrift shop she remembered from the last time they’d been living in Rome. And if the idiots got in trouble and tried to say that she was involved, she’d turn on the tears and her mother would side with her like she always did. Seeing a little cafe, she stopped in to get a good cappuccino, it had been too long since she’d had a deceit cup of coffee.

It was mid afternoon by the time she got home. She had made a stop at the thrift store to grab a couple of their shopping bags to hide the real ones inside. It felt wrong to put a Versace skirt in a bargain bag, but one does what one must to keep her life going smoothly. Opening the door to the apartment, she barely caught sight of her mother sitting on the couch before Lila started gushing about how great it was to be back in Italy and all the things she’d missed. 

She prattled on for a couple minutes before noticing that her mother hadn’t said anything. Turning to look at her, Lila flinched when she saw her. Something was seriously wrong, the last time she had seen her mother so angry was when she’d told her that her dad was cheating on her. That hadn’t been true but they had ended up getting divorced anyway, which was to Lila’s benefit since the man had always called her out on her lies.

“Is everything okay, Mama?” She asked cautiously, doing her best to sound and appear small and innocent.

“Sit down.”

Her tone left no room for argument. Lila set down her bags and sat in the chair across from her mother.

“Mama, wha-”

“Be quiet!” She snapped, and Lila shut her mouth. This actually seemed worse than the fight her parents had before they divorced. “I received a very strange email on Friday night, from a former classmate of yours in Paris. It seemed that the majority of your class was under the impression that we were throwing a party for a lot of important politicians, celebrities, and musicians on a private island and you had invited them. I told myself, ‘not my daughter, she would never do something like that’. But the email went on, with a list of the students that were supposedly going on this trip and gave you money for the expenses. Again, I thought ‘Lila would never be so cruel as to steal money from her friends right before we left Paris’. So I told the person who sent me that detailed information, that I would handle it. I still thought it was a joke.”

The teenage girl didn’t even have to listen to the end of this story, she knew that goody-two-shoes Marinette had ratted her out. Lila was fighting every instinct she had to run and lock herself in her room, but if she moved even a little her mother would stop her. She could only sit there and hope that she could come up with some kind of lie to convince her mother that she was being set up.

“Then when I went into the embassy today, my boss pulled me into his office and started grilling me as to why I allowed seven unaccompanied minors entry into the country. I tried to explain that I had no idea what he was talking about, and then he started reading off the names. Do you want to guess why those names sounded so familiar?”

By this point, Lila was practically curling into herself to make herself appear smaller. She had to say something, any lie that would make her mother believe her and only her. Turning on the tears, she buried her face in her hands and spoke between sobs. Fake crying always gave her a few extra seconds to think before she had to speak. “I swear, Mama. I didn’t want to do it. Marinette forced me to take those papers from your office to give to our classmates so they could get into the country without their parents. I never took any money from them, I swear! Marinette was bullying me the entire time we were in Paris, I was scared of what she’d do to me if I didn’t do what she said. You’ve got to believe me!”

“So you’re saying that you didn’t tell your class about some non-existent party on a private island, had no knowledge of who was coming into Italy, where they were going, or anything like that?” Her mother’s eyes narrowed as she brought out her mobile phone.

Her hands were shaking as she kept her face buried in her hands, something about her mother’s tone  and the way she spoke made this feel like a trap. But she couldn’t backtrack now, Marinette was her way out and she had to stick with it. So she nodded as she continued to sob into her hands.

“Then please explain this to me.” Her mother turned the phone towards her and Lila looked up, her face falling in horror when she heard her own voice. It was a video of her telling her class about who was going to be at the party that she and her mom were organizing, how she was going to need to know for sure who all was coming before the weekend, and Marinette had somehow gotten video of Alya and Nino each handing her €300!

It took longer than she would like to admit for the shock to wear off, but she was smart enough to stick to her original story. “It’s fake! Marinette must have made it to get me in trouble. Max probably helped her, he’s really good with computers. It’s all too convenient to be true. I mean, she sends you all this information about which people are going, how much money they gave me, and a story about a party on a private island in Venice, that anyone would be able to see is clearly fake. Can’t you see that I’m being set up?”

Her mother’s eyes grew harder as she stood from her chair, causing Lila to shrink even further into her own. 

“You say that this is all a set up and you had no idea where your classmates were going in Italy, but you just told me the exact city where they were found. You left them waiting on a dock for you to come ferry them to that non-existent private island, and don’t even bother saying that you know which city because of the video I just showed you, because it never names the city they were in.”

Well, crap. She was about to try another tactic, but her mother cut her off before the first syllable left her mouth.

“Young lady, do you have any idea how much trouble you are in?” she yelled, her face beginning to turn a purplish-red and began pacing the room. “You forged my signature on multiple federal documents, endangered the lives of multiple minors, committed theft, and god knows how many other laws you’ve broken. I can’t protect you from this! You will be facing federal charges for what you’ve done!”

Lila felt her stomach drop to her ankles. “But-but that was all in Paris, and I had diplomatic immunity while I was there!”

“It became an international incident when you forged an ambassador’s signature on federal documents that endangered minors! My boss gave me a choice,” her voice grew even harder and colder than before. “Either you answer for what you’ve done and plead guilty, or I lose my job and we both go to trial for what you’ve done.” 

“You’d let me go to jail for one little lie? It’s not like anyone got hurt!” Lila screamed, standing from her chair in a panic. This was much worse than she’d imagined. 

“And what if they had been?” Her mother screamed back. “What if they had been kidnapped and sold into human trafficking? What if one of them had fallen off the dock and drowned in the channel or hit by a boat? I would be held responsible for that because you forged my signature! Do you not care about the people around you at all? What is wrong with you?”

“But nothing happened to them! It’s their own fault for being stupid enough to believe such an obvious lie. And you’re taking their side over mine? How dare you call yourself my mother and claim to love me!” 

“Don’t you dare try to blame me for your bad behavior!” Her mother yelled back as she advanced on her, making her fall back onto the chair. Mme. Rossi looked back at the shopping bags she had knocked over when she had turned, revealing the Versace bag. Tilting her head back, she took multiple deep breaths before looking at her daughter.

“This is what’s going to happen. You are going to return everything you bought today, and you are going to explain to the managers of each store exactly why you are returning everything.” Lila was about to protest, but one look from her mother had her mouth snapping shut. “We will also be clearing out your savings to pay back your classmates for the money you took, their travel expenses, their parents travel expenses, and any money they lost while being away from their jobs to retrieve their children. After that, you will be standing trial for forgery and fraud. If you know what’s good for you, you will go before the judge and apologize profusely for what you’ve done and listen to everything the judge tells you. If you’re lucky you may receive a lenient sentence; but either way, you can expect your next school to be a reformatory school. And if you try to fight me on any of this, I will let a court appointed attorney with no experience handle your case instead of the family lawyer. Have I made myself clear?”

No longer having to fake her tears, Lila nodded to her mother, resigning herself to the fact that her life had been ruined because her mother didn’t love her and Marinette didn’t know how to keep her nose out of where it didn’t belong.

~oOo~

The rest of the day, Lila was forced to return everything that she bought back to the stores and tell the managers how she had stolen the money from her classmates and then abandoned them in a country and city that they weren’t familiar with. The people that overheard her were horrified by what she had done and the managers banned her from ever shopping in those stores again. After all, if she was willing to steal money from her friends, there was little doubt that she would steal from the stores.

After everything was returned, she was taken to the embassy where they recorded her confession on how she lied to everyone, forged her mother’s signature on the documents she stole, and how she scammed over €2,000 from her former classmates. After the confession was taped, she was taken outside of the embassy and handed over to the police to be kept in a juvenile detention center. She screamed at her mother, not believing that she would just hand her over like that, but the woman looked down her nose at her and said, “It’s time for you to face the consequences of your actions, young lady.” 

When she arrived at the police station, she was relieved to see their family lawyer was waiting for her, although he was less than thrilled by what she had done. He explained that even as a minor, she could be serving 2-6 years just for the forgery of the documents, that wasn’t even factoring in the scam or reckless endangerment of seven minors. If she were to be tried as an adult, she could be serving 6 years for each document, facing serious fines and more time for each classmate she endangered.

After hearing that, Lila had to rush to the trash can to throw up. She couldn’t believe that one little lie could get her into so much trouble. But this wasn’t her fault, none of it was. If there was anyone to blame, it was that goody-two-shoes Marinette Dupain-Cheng. After all the effort she went through to destroy that girl, she just wouldn’t back down. She would make that girl pay for what she’d done. As soon as the charges were all dropped, she would do everything she could, use every dirty trick in the book to force the nosy girl to end her life and stay out of hers.

But that would have to wait for now. For the time being, she would do what her mother said and play her part. Act like the innocent girl that had gotten caught up in her own fibs while trying to make friends in a new country. She didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt or in trouble, she was just so overwhelmed and she is so sorry for everything that happened. She would need to cry a lot, that was a given, but she could do this. Just fake it until she could get her revenge on the girl that ruined her life.

~oOo~Three Months Later~oOo~

Lila hadn’t meant to lose control in front of the judge. She’d spent months locked away with a bunch of low-class delinquents, talking to different lawyers and quack-doctors before going to court. She had been the picture of innocence and childhood regret the second she walked into the courtroom, she was sure to get off all the charges against her. But she and her lawyer had been blindsided. 

The quack-doctors had called her a narcissist and a sociopath, in need of desperate help. To prove that, all of her lies, everything she had said while in Paris had been brought into evidence against her. They’d exposed her truancy and forgery at her old school, found proof of her purposefully getting Marinette expelled, and faking interviews on the Ladyblog which brought her more lawsuits from a bunch of the celebrities she’d lied about. 

Some of her classmates had come to give testimony on what she had done and said during her time in Paris. The goodie-two-shoes brat had even come to Italy to give testimony against her, though Lila hadn’t been allowed in the courtroom while she was there, as Marinette hadn’t felt safe to be in the same room. Lila’s lawyer had actually agreed, probably so she wouldn’t cause a scene. And she probably would have. She would have stabbed her in the face with a pencil, in front of the entire courtroom, if she had the chance.

But the worst had to do with the school security cameras. After M. Damocles and Mme. Bustier had been fired for neglectful and abusive behavior to their students, which had been brought about by the investigation into Marinette’s expulsion, the Board of Governors went farther back through the recordings to see how long the bullying had been going on. What they found was video evidence of Lila grabbing an akuma out of the air and putting it into her earring, and then willingly working with the known terrorist. 

To make matters even worse, Ladybug and Chat Noir had sent a video as testimony of the times Lila had purposefully interfered with their rescues and had led Chat away from Ladybug to make her more vulnerable to the akuma Oni-chan. Her lawyer tried to get the video stricken from evidence as he couldn’t cross-examine the two heroes, but it was denied.

Her parents had been sitting behind her when they showed those videos. When her mother saw them, it was like she completely shut down. She heard her say that she wanted to leave, and Lila watched as her father helped her mother to her feet and lead her out of the courtroom without looking back. 

The judge had been absolutely disgusted with her, going as far as to call her a monster for willingly aiding a terrorist. Since she had already confessed to multiple counts of forgery, fraud, and reckless endangerment of minors, and would now be adding slander and other charges from her time in Paris, the most notable being terrorism; he declared that she would be tried as an adult and was likely to spend the rest of her life in prison.

She’d completely lost it at that point, screaming at the top of her lungs as she jumped over the table to attack the judge. She didn’t remember smashing the water pitcher against one guard's head, scratching another guard across the face, or getting tasered in the back. When she woke up, she was strapped to a bed by her wrists and ankles, her head felt really foggy, and there were a bunch of nurses and orderlies that were keeping keen eyes on her.

Lila Rossi spent the rest of her life heavily medicated in a maximum security mental health hospital. Most every night, the nurses would hear her plotting some kind of scheme to show everyone what a loser Marinette was, but then she would trail off about how she wanted to hear the song Jagged Stone wrote for her or the album she’d help Clara Nightingale write. When she saw people, she would ramble and lie about being a princess or a secret agent, and that she was only here to keep her safe until they came to get her. Over the years, it was all written off as the insane ramblings of a very disturbed girl that would be remaining at the hospital for the rest of her life.

[five-rivers]

Vlad gets caught by the GIW

“He didn’t,” said Danny.  

“He did,” said Jazz, turning on the TV and flicking through the channels until she hit Ghost Watch.  

“What the heck,” said Danny, pulling a chair away from the table and sitting down.  “How did he get caught?”  This was mostly a rhetorical question, as he could see a replay of the moment on the screen. “Even I’ve never been caught by those guys.”

Jazz put a hand on the back of Danny’s chair.  “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this,” said Jazz, “but Vlad actually sucks.”

“I know he sucks, Jazz.  We talk about this all the time.”

“No, let me finish.  He sucks at thinking things through, and also all combat tactics that don’t boil down to ‘overwhelming force.’“  She paused.  “I mean, you don’t think things through, either, a lot of the time, but you’re a teenager.  And you’re still better than Vlad.”

“Thanks.”

“I mean, when was the last time you tried to use ghostly artifacts to advance your social position?”

Danny didn’t answer and slid down in his chair.  

“Okay.  We’ll... talk about that later,” said Jazz.  

“Good call,” mumbled Danny.  

“So...  What should we do?”

“I have to rescue him,” said Danny, already feeling resentful of the imposition.  He’d have to skip school and hope that his parents could handle the ghosts he normally would.  “Otherwise, as soon as they find out what Vlad is...”  And that was if Vlad didn’t throw him to the wolves on his own.  

Vlad probably wouldn’t do that.  Right away.  

“We will rescue him,” corrected Jazz.  “Let’s make a plan.”

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

July 19, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

This morning, on the Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends, personality Steve Doocy told viewers to get the coronavirus vaccine because it would “save your life” and noted that 99% of the people now dying from Covid-19 are unvaccinated. Brian Kilmeade answered that not getting the vaccine is a personal choice and that the government has no role in protecting the population. “That’s not their job. It’s not their job to protect anybody,” he said.

It is, of course, literally the job of the government to protect us. The preamble to the Constitution reads: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

But Kilmeade’s extraordinary comment cuts to the heart of the long history from the New Deal to the present.

In the 1930s, to combat the Great Depression, Democrats under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had offered a “new deal for the American people.” That New Deal meant that the government would no longer work simply to promote business, but would regulate business, provide a basic social safety net, and promote infrastructure. World War II accelerated the construction of that active government, and by the time it was over, Americans quite liked the new system.

After the war, Republican Dwight Eisenhower rejected the position of 1920s Republicans and embraced the active government. He explained that in the modern world, the government must protect people from disasters created by forces outside their control, and it must provide social services that would protect people from unemployment, old age, illness, accidents, unsafe food and drugs, homelessness, and disease.

He called his version of the New Deal “a middle way between untrammeled freedom of the individual and the demands of the welfare of the whole Nation.” One of his supporters explained that, “If a job has to be done to meet the needs of the people, and no one else can do it, then it is the proper function of the federal government.”

In this, Eisenhower and his team were echoing Abraham Lincoln, who thought about government at a time when elite southern enslavers insisted that government had no role to play in the country except in protecting property.

As a young man, Lincoln had watched his town of New Salem, Illinois, die because the settlers—hard workers, eager to make the town succeed—could not dredge the Sangamon River to promote trade by themselves. Lincoln later mused, “The legitimate object of government is ‘to do for the people what needs to be done, but which they can not, by individual effort, do at all, or do so well, for themselves.’…Making and maintaining roads, bridges, and the like; providing for the helpless young and afflicted; common schools; and disposing of deceased men's property, are instances.”

So Eisenhower and his fellow Republicans were in line with traditional Republican values when they declared their support for an active government. But those who objected to what became known as the post–World War II liberal consensus rejected the idea that the government had any role to play in the economy or in social welfare.

In 1954, William F. Buckley, Jr., and his brother-in-law L. Brent Bozell, Jr., made no distinction between the liberal consensus and international communism when they defended Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy for his attacks on “communists” in the U.S. government. They insisted that the country was made up of “Liberals,” who were guiding the nation toward socialism, and “Conservatives,” like themselves, who were standing alone against the Democrats and Republicans who made up a majority of the country and liked the new business regulations, safety net, and infrastructure.

That reactionary mindset came to dominate the Republican Party after 1980, and now, forty years later, a television personality is taking the stand that the government has no role in protecting Americans against a worldwide pandemic that has killed more than 600,000 of us.

And yet, the idea that the government has a role to play in the economy remains popular, and this is creating a problem for Republicans. As soon as they took office, President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan without any Republican votes. About 60% of Americans liked the plan, and it is likely to be more popular still now that checks from the Child Tax Credit extended in it began hitting parents’ bank accounts on July 15. Even before that, at least 26 Republicans were touting the benefits of the measure to their constituents while neglecting to mention they voted against it.

Now, Congress is negotiating a two-part infrastructure plan. Biden and the Democrats have worked hard for three months to get at least 10 Republican senators to agree to a $579 billion measure that would provide hard infrastructure like roads, bridges, and broadband. Negotiators are still hammering out that agreement and Democrats are making concessions; yesterday, Ohio Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, told CNN that a provision to pay for the package in part by enforcing tax laws against those ignoring them bothered Republicans enough that negotiators cut it.

And yet tonight, leading Republicans said they would not vote to advance the bill on Wednesday, citing the fact it is not fully written. Since both parties regularly move their measures forward under such circumstances, many Democrats simply see this as a delaying tactic to try to kill the measure before Congress starts a month-long break on August 6. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has said for weeks that he would bring the bill up in mid-July.

If the bipartisan bill fails, the Democrats can simply fold the provisions in it into their larger infrastructure bill that they intend to pass through budget reconciliation, which cannot be blocked by a filibuster. This larger, $3.5 trillion measure includes funding for human infrastructure, such as childcare, and for addressing climate change. It also will move corporate taxation from the 21% established by the 2017 tax cut up to about 28%. (It was 35% before the 2017 tax cut.)

The Democrats need to get these measures through because they are facing serious financial deadlines. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 suspended the debt ceiling—the amount the country can borrow—only until July 31 of this year. And the budget needs to be hammered out by September 30. If it isn’t, government funding can be extended by a continuing resolution, but in the past, Republicans have sometimes chosen to shut down the government instead.

All of this will take place while the House select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection will be holding hearings. Today, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) made it clear he intends to disrupt those hearings: three of the five people he named to the committee—Jim Banks (R-IN), Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Troy Nehls (R-TX)—voted to challenge the election results in Pennsylvania and Arizona, thus helping to legitimize the Big Lie that led to the insurrection.

McCarthy made Banks the ranking member, suggesting that he expects House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to reject Jordan, but there is already outcry at the idea of any of these three investigating events in which they participated. Already, Banks has indicated that he is not really interested in studying the events of January 6, saying tonight that Speaker Pelosi “created this committee solely to malign conservatives and to justify the Left’s authoritarian agenda.”

McCarthy’s other two appointments are Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), and Rodney Davis (R-IL).

In today’s struggle over the nature of government, the Democrats are at a disadvantage. They want to use the government to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty, just as Lincoln and FDR and Eisenhower advocated. To drive their individualist vision, though, all the Republicans have to do is stop the Democrats.

—-

Notes:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/brian-kilmeade-says-its-not-governments-job-to-protect-anybody-from-covid

https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/defending-people-who-dont-want-get-vaccinated-brian-kilmeade-argues-its-not

https://news.yahoo.com/senator-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-loses-171317546.html

https://capaction.medium.com/25-and-counting-republicans-who-voted-no-but-took-the-dough-68fbf11df957

https://www.crfb.org/blogs/upcoming-congressional-fiscal-policy-deadlines

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/19/gop-infrastructure-deal-500166

​​https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/07/senate-democrats-unveil-reconciliation-progressive-aim-at-moderates/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/jim-jordan-four-other-republicans-chosen-by-house-minority-leader-kevin-mccarthy-to-serve-on-panel-investigating-jan-6-riots/2021/07/19/85c6b534-e8df-11eb-8950-d73b3e93ff7f_story.html

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[mainviper]

The new player card Reyna x Viper has my mind racing for answers and I love the theory you posted sooo....

Caaaan we get a one shot? 🥺

I'm so sorry it took me that long to answer @boxedyogurt , I tried to compensate working really hard on this one

Reyna x Viper Card • Poor Unfortunate Soul

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Regina was only six years old. She loved ice cream, her teddy bear which she affectionately named "Tactic Bear", and dreamed with a better life. She was very loved by her parents and older sister, but when she was seven years old everything changed.

Pains started to appear, the girl was getting more aggressive and hardly slept anymore. Her eyes didn't focus and sometimes it was possible to see them completely purple, when she slept she had nightmares and several attempts to wake her and get her out of this terror failed, the girl had a superhuman strength and almost killed her family several times .

So, when her older sister discovered that there was a convention on radiants going on in the city, she didn't think twice about going after ANY answer that could help the girl. She arrived at that Congress, signed up with the justification of wanting to pursue a career in science, since it was her last year of high school she had a priority. Reyna didn't want to be a scientist, nor was she interested in the study of radianite, she just wanted to save her family.

So when she saw the lecture of a young scientist, perhaps five or six years older than she, on the technological advancement and security that contained the Kingdom Corporation's experiments, her naive teenage heart believed her.

And Sabine believed it too. When they signed the contract, her idea was that in a year the girl would be recovered.

She met little Regina and became enchanted with her, made her mission in the world to save the girl from all the evil she was experiencing. She also enjoyed talking to young Reyna, explaining to her what they were doing so that the girls' parents would understand. She let the teenager stay in her laboratory to calm her sister, played with the stuffed animals that the girl brought and tried her best to make it very clear that she was on their side. Always.

After a year, her colleague and best friend was relocated to help with the case. Frederick was an excellent chemist and his analyzes were essential to reduce the pain that the girl had throughout her body. Fred, Sabine and Reyna talked until after work to find solutions and discover the source, the root of the problem.

Two years passed, something was beginning to change in Regina. She grew and became quieter, more restrained, her eyes lost their brightness and became more wild. Control of her, when she went into “radiant mode” was gone and she was capable of anything. These tantrums were frequent when her sister was not around and when she felt threatened. Due to her extraordinary strength, she ended up attracting the attention of Kingdom's Weapon team.

Three years passed before the extension of Regina's power reached a level that no one foresaw. War agents made weekly visits, no matter how much Sabine loathed interruptions, they only increased.

Frederick was examining the girl, the pain was starting to return and it was necessary to have a blood test.

Reyna was on vacation from college, she was on her sister's side and saw one of the agents at the door. She didn't want to let go of her little sister's hand, only that the girl insisted that the man stay.

At this time when the two separated, the girls' parents began to view the sessions as routine, she was left under the tutelage of Sabine and Frederick, and while the two argued at the end of each "consultation", Regina made a friend. He constantly asked about her day, always praised her and said that she should not try to limit herself, that her radianite should be a source of pride. He even gave a plush sloth to give Tactic Bear some company, so the only thing Regina wanted to do was impress him.

Reyna's hands started to burn, the older sister asked the youngest to stop but the girl would not let go. Her eyes shone in a purple tone and her body started to hover in the air, Reyna cried begging for mercy. The girl screamed and all the windows on the floor shattered, the two fell together but the older one passed out.

Sabine ran to help them both, but saw that Reyna's case was serious, she took the matter in her own hands, asked for a full list of tests, did all the procedures to ensure that nothing but that black circle on the teen's shoulder was the result of the accident but there was one more thing: she didn't wake up. All the tests done showed that there was no change in Reyna but she didn't open her eyes, nor responded to any stimulus and no one, not even the young and brilliant doctor, would know why.

Frederick stayed with the other sister while Sabine ran and tried in vain to bring Reyna back to consciousness. The girl panicked, she started crying hysterically and said it was all her fault, that she just wanted to show what she was capable of, that she SERVED to help. The chemist's heart sank, he hugged her and comforted her.

That day was the start of a huge battle in Kingdom Co.

Sabine and Frederick against the entire War department, the two refused to give information and claimed that the patient couldn't be treated as a weapon of mass destruction, after all, she was a human being, just a girl who was very frightened and blamed herself for almost losing her sister.

Sabine became obsessed with finding a solution, she worked day and night in search of a way out and five years after they started treatment it finally came.

Regina was eleven, her sister was in a coma for two years and all she wanted most was to get the radianite out of her. Her parents agreed, they asked for this to be the case and against all their beliefs the war department wanted to help find a way to channel the girl's energy.

An intern presented a device, something capable of sucking the radianite from spaces without the need for mining.

It was a prototype. And Sabine hated it.

Of course, technological advancement was incredible in her eyes, but what she loathed most was the prospect of using it on a patient.

Every part of that idea she tried in vain to argue and bring risks to parents and staff. She knew that she had lost when even Frederick admitted that the idea was a good one, that it could work, almost choked him for saying that in front of the patient's family. Could it work? Yes. But it could go terribly wrong and then they would have lost not only Reyna but Regina.

Years of study, years of experiences to treat the girl and to understand how a radiant body worked would be thrown in the trash. She was almost deciphering, almost mapping the powers and body composition of young Regina completely. No one had any idea how important her research was for the development of new technologies that would help other patients and, well, she loved working with that family so much.

They explained the whole process to her.

She provided some data so that nothing could go wrong.

She promised to follow everything closely, Frederick said that he would put the girl himself and tie her in the extraction room.

When the day came, she went to visit Reyna. Not that she stopped, Sabine took care of the young woman almost every day, saw her grow old on that stretcher, confided things to her and even though she knew she couldn't be heard she continued. She apologized for not having any answers and for not finding another alternative for "hermanita". Intubated on that stretcher, the young woman seemed to show a peaceful expression almost every day, but her doctor noticed something different.

She seemed to suffer. The black circle on her shoulder took on a purple color at its edges.

A very bad feeling started, she called Frederick asking him to wait for her to be there to start.

"We are about to start, the team's agenda is very busy. I'll be in with Regina in five minutes."

Sabine ran off when she hung up the phone. The procedure was scheduled for two in the afternoon ... How much time did she spend with Reyna? How could she lose track of time in such a reckless way? She looked at her watch and yes, they were almost late. If she ran she would have time to get to the front building.

To this day, Viper doesn't know how she survived.

When she entered the elevator everything seemed normal, but when she leaved she was faced with the huge wreckage of an accident. People were running desperately everywhere, and she was incredulous walking, but then running to the center of everything. Her heart beated faster and faster as she approached, she fought the desperate tide of colleagues and patients trying to save themselves. Screams echoed, people agonized beside her, but she was hipnotizedd by the scene she encountered.

Regina, her little and beloved patient, was lying in the middle of everything. Her eyes were completely empty, she didn't move and as she touched the girl, Sabine realized that the worst had happened. There was no sign of Frederick or the girl's parents. In the midst of the rubble, she hugged the girl and cried. Trying in vain to bring her back, patting her face and calling her name.

Another explosion occurred in the building where she had left. Sabine watched Reyna's floor go completely dark for a moment and a purple glow came out of the young woman's window. She screamed, and to her surprise, Regina's sister appeared. She was staggering, barely able to steady her own feet, but what caught Viper's attention was not the sudden awakening, but the color of Reyna's eyes and the black circle that now enveloped the woman's entire arm with some lines that looked like a tattoo.

She was filled with a purple aura that grew stronger and stronger as she approached the doctor. An orb, hovering over Regina's head appeared, had a strange and supernatural shape, Reyna raised her hand and pulled the orb towards herself.

Viper would never forget that scene, the terror of people around her, panic, Reyna's wrath and how many lives she took. People who were struggling to get out of there, who had either been buried in the wreckage or crawled to safety, died.

Only one orb hovered beside them, this one, Reyna managed not to take for herself but to place it inside a prism-shaped bottle that she kept. Sabine would stay with it and find a way, she understood who was in it and started crying again, passing Regina into her sister's arms.

And silence was made.

And Reyna came to her senses, with a small sparkling pulse that glowed in her chest. The young woman seemed to have awakened, leaving her stupor and finding terror soon afterwards, when she saw her lifeless sister.

The mexican never blamed Viper for what happened, she remembered the doctor's words while she was in a coma.

The following week Sabine resigned. She refused to pass data on her research with Frederick and was impeached for it. They took away all her professional credibility, Kingdom made sure to ensure that she never worked in her profession again.

And Viper didn't want to either. Her anger at the corporation took shape, and she would make it a point to help and find a way to save radiants before Kingdom got their hands on them and treated them like lab rats.

She moved to another country, went into hiding and started a new degree in chemistry. She still had contact with Reyna and the two visited each other from time to time.

It was after one of those visits that a man knocked on her door. She recognized him as one of the employees of Kingdom's war department, the man who was always talking to Regina and who also liked the girl asked to come in and seemed to be nervous about the situation.

Suspiciously she listened to what he had to say, he told that he spent the last few years trying to contact her, said that he was sorry and wanted to get away from Kingdom too. He felt guilty, but he was not humiliated when he left. The man then proposed the idea of ​​working together, of making the world a better place so what happened to Regina would not be repeated.

Which, according to him, was very close to happening.

The bottle Sabine was carrying, containing Frederick's soul, began to shine and that was how she knew that helping the man would be the right thing to do.

Fortunately, Brim already had a few people in mind and Viper knew exactly where to start.

[sandsupply]

Pencils of Promise creates new hope

Joshua Webber

Prof. Susi

COMM-1400-600

For my Non-Profit Organization, I have chosen Pencils Of Promise (POP). 

This charity was created in 2008 by Adam Braun, in order to spread educational awareness throughout the world. This charity focuses on building schools in 3rd world countries where children struggle immensely to gain any type of education. Since its founding in October 2008, the organization has built 554 schools across Laos, Guatemala and Ghana. More than 110,000 students attend the schools globally. https://pencilsofpromise.org 

Pencils Of Promise can be found on Instagram, Twitter, Youtube and Facebook.

They’re a very large organization but use a lot of different tactics other than social media to gain donors, such as events across the world, private donors, and even huge companies. This obviously doesn’t mean they don’t use social media as voice to gain audience on the apparent issue. They have large viewer base on most of their social media websites, such as Instagram, with a staggering 200,034 followers. On their Twitter as well, they have over 200k followers (202,700) to be exact. Facebook has 208,978 followers, and 1,164,296 views on YouTube collectively. This shows most people are engaged on the three major social media platforms. 

They have a larger following base than like traction to most of their posts or tweets.

Twitter they may have 0-420 comments or 0-500 likes per post. Their Instagram has anywhere between 500-3,000 likes per post, while their comments are from 1-150. Now for Facebook, they have likes per post between 1-157, comments between, 1-47. Pencils Of Promise YouTube however, shows a little more love with 400-243,000 per video.

When researching their vanity metrics, they receive about 44.7k hits monthly and steadily increasing. https://twitter.com/PencilsOfPromis?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Due to their high follower base on social outlets, they definitely have room for improvement.

I believe they could be more interactive with their viewers and donors on their platforms.

Although huge mainstream celebrities, such as Justin Bieber, DJ BLAU, and the infamous social media king, Gary Vaynerchuk himself have all publicly spoken on and donated to Pencils Of Promise, but that’s not all these influencer’s have actually gone to Guatemala and other 3rd world countries to actually help build these schools. On another side people like DJ BLAU, have taken a different approach using music as a form of donation, while each stream generates revenue that goes towards this charity, they really go into detail about how they work with BLAU’s own streaming service and even Spotify to help the cause. https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/dj-justin-3lau-blau-raises-200000-for-pencils-of-promise-w451896/ 

Personally I believe if they were to partner with larger groups such as sports teams on national television, they would be able to reach out to millions of more viewers and increase their audience flow tremendously, but they could even start at a lower rate with Tik Tok by creating user friendly videos for children, that would likely show their parents, etc;

As I stated prior, I believe an advanced metric they could work on would be engaging more with their followers on instagram, seeing they don’t have many replies or much activity under their posts. As for a behavioral metric, they are pretty much on top of spreading awareness about their cause and frequently at that if I may add. A channel metric I would suggest would again, be creating more post’s dedicated to a younger audience. In these ways, I believe they would be able to see revenue and viewer engagement beyond what they are currently receiving or even projecting, though this charity is not that old they still have a long road ahead of them, and by implanting these tactics, personally I think they will not only continue to keep increasing their social media outlets, but benefit millions of more children around the world to gain an opportunity for education and freedom.

[parenting-strategies]

Parenting Strategies: 5 Reasons To Choose A Traditional Kids Summer Camp

Summer is a time for children to explore, learn, and make lasting memories. While there are numerous options available for summer activities, traditional kids summer camps continue to be a popular choice for families worldwide. These camps offer a unique and enriching experience that goes far beyond the boundaries of a typical vacation or day camp. In this blog post, we will delve into five compelling reasons why choosing a traditional kids summer camp can be a fantastic decision for your child's growth and development.

[razieltwelve]

The Last Hurrah (The Vestige)

“Ma’am,” Lebreau murmured. “We need to evacuate.”

Lightning stared at the holographic display. Eden City’s Eidolons were all locked in mortal combat against the most powerful fal’Cie in recorded history. There were four Category Vs and a Category VI. Even with Chaos, Spira, Shiva, and Bahamut on the battlefield, it just wasn’t enough. The Category Vs were holding the Eidolons at bay while the Category VI advanced toward the Ark itself.

“Clever bastards,” Lightning whispered. “They’ve worked out that we’re the ones in charge. They’re not prioritising the Eidolons anymore. This isn’t a raid or a conventional offensive. It’s a decapitation strike. If they destroy the Ark and wipe out our command and support structure, they don’t need to kill the Eidolons to win.”

“Ma’am,” Lebreau repeated. “We need to evacuate now.”

“There’s no point.” Lightning pointed at the holographic display. “Look.”

The Hawks and Knights had engaged the Category VI, Tyraneant, in a desperate bid to beat the colossal fal’Cie back. It had to be at least twice the size of even the largest of the Category Vs. It lashed out with speed that should have been impossible, knocking the aircraft out of the sky with its tail or tearing them to pieces with its claws. There was a brief flash of light before a shockwave rippled outward, pulverising all of the remain aircraft and shaking the Ark to its foundations.

“Even if we tried to evacuate, we wouldn’t get far.”

“We can’t just stay here,” Lebreau pointed out. “All of the Eidolons have already been deployed. There aren’t any left to defend the Ark.”

Lightning’s lips curled. “We still have one.”

“What?” Lebreau’s eyes widened. “You can’t be serious...”

X    X     X

Nora rushed after Lightning as the marshal hobbled down the corridor as fast as her bad leg would allow. “Marshal, this is insane. If you get into that Conn-Pod, you are going to die.”

Lightning didn’t bother to stop as she replied, “And what would you suggest, doctor? If we do nothing we are all dead, and trying to flee isn’t going to help. We’d be lucky to last five seconds against that thing.” Tyraneant had continued its advance. The Ark was pummelling it with every weapon it had, but the titanic creature continued to press forward. The Ark’s Eidolons were still locked in combat against their opponents. By the time any of them were in a position to help, it would be too late.

“Can’t someone else pilot?” Nora asked. She reached out and grabbed Lightning’s arm. “Lightning! You don’t have to do this! It doesn’t have to be you!” “Who else is there?” Lightning growled. “The cadets are too raw. None of them have seen any real combat, and you want them to go up against a Category VI in an unfamiliar Eidolon? You might as well line them up against the wall and shoot them.”

“Is you getting into the Conn-Pod any better?” Nora hissed. “You’re a mess, Lightning. We both know that. Your brain is... the damage you took from solo piloting Odin years ago never fully healed. If you’re lucky, you might last five minutes before you have a seizure, a stroke, or an aneurism. This is suicide.”

“Five minutes is better than nothing.”

“How will you pilot? You can barely walk. There’s no way you’ll be able to actually operate the controls.”

“Dr Dia,” Lightning snapped. “Is the support ready?”

Vanille winced. She’d been trailing after the pair, unwilling to insert herself into the argument. “I mean... it works... and it hasn’t melted the brains of any of the volunteers, but I’m not sure...”

“Get it. Bring it to the preparation room.”

“What are you two talking about?” Nora asked.

Vanille made a face. “I might have been working on a neurally operated prosthetic that can be attached to someone’s leg to support them. Assuming it works properly, it would give the marshal the leg strength needed to operate an Eidolon.”

“And it’s neurally controlled?” Nora threw her hands up in despair. “As if connecting your brain to the Eidolon isn’t bad enough, you’re going to connect it to a prosthetic as well? Forget five minutes, Lightning. I doubt you’ll have even three.”

“Why are you so against this?” Lightning shrugged off the hand Nora had put on her shoulder.

“Because you’re my friend, damn it.” Nora grabbed Lightning again. “And I don’t want to see you die in a Conn-Pod. I’ve seen what solo piloting does to people. I know more about your medical history than anyone. You are going to die if you get in there. Doesn’t that matter?”

“Not when you weigh it against everything else.” Lightning’s jaw clenched, and she continued down the corridor. “I watched my parents die - my whole home city die - because I wasn’t strong enough to do anything. I promise myself that day that I wouldn’t let it happen again.” She snarled. “If this Ark falls, then Eden City will fall with it. I refuse to let that happen. If it takes my life to hold the line, then that’s what I’ll do. Now, you can either help or get out of the way.”

X    X     X

Lightning shivered as the connection to Odin activated. How long had it been since she’d stood in a Conn-Pod. Wrapped around her damaged leg, Vanille’s prosthetic gave her the strength to stand unaided. 

“We’re not getting a stable connection,” Lebreau said over the communications channel. “Marshal... you’re not connecting to Odin well enough to pilot.”

Lightning’s jaw clenched. She hadn’t come this far to fail. “Come on,” she whispered. “Amodar always used to say that we left something of ourselves behind whenever we piloted. I don’t know if there’s a bit of me or a bit of Serah still here, but if there is, I’m begging you, please. You didn’t fail me all those years ago. Don’t fail me now. Even if it’s just this one time, even if you never move again, I need you to move now.”

Maybe it was her words, or maybe it was just the connection taking some time to warm up, but she felt the connection deepen. For a moment, she was back in the shallows off Bodhum, her leg mangled in the wreckage of Odin’s Conn-Pod as she screamed her hate and fury at SIN. And then the moment passed. Shadows danced at the edges of her vision, and the Conn-Pod was filled with the echoes of a thousand half-remembered conversations.

“How is the connection?” Lightning asked.

“It’s... well... it’ll do,” Lebreau said. “But are you sure about this?”

“As sure as I can be.” Lightning swallowed thickly and willed Odin to move. “Clear the area around the main doors. I’m going to greet our guest.”

X    X     X

“How are her vital signs?” Lebreau asked Nora.

“A mess.” The doctor’s expression was grim. “Look at her brain scan.”

It was customary to keep track of a pilot’s neural activity during piloting. Green was good. Red was bed. Lightning’s brain was a single mass of angry red.

“How is she even still conscious?” 

“I don’t know. Her brain scans looks like someone in the middle of having a seizure. I have no idea how she’s still standing, never mind piloting.”

“I guess she’s just too stubborn to die,” Vanille said. The other two women stared.

“What?” Vanille asked. “We were all thinking it.”

X    X     X

Tyraneant braced its claws against the massive blast doors that protected the Ark and pulled. Ten thousand tonnes of alien muscle strained, and the doors began to give way. A cruel gleam entered the monsters eyes. It was not intelligent in the way a human was, but it could still savour the prospect of victory.

And then the doors jerked all the way open.

And two thousand tonnes of humanity’s finest weaponry smashed into the fal’Cie. Odin slammed into Tyraneant at a full sprint, somehow pushing the titan back despite the disparity in weight. As the fal’Cie staggered to get its balance back, the Eidolon drew one arm back.

Electricity crackled along the robot’s fist, and a rocket ignited at its elbow. With the force of ten jet planes, Odin’s Thunder Knuckle caught Tyraneant right on the point of its chin. The fal’Cie’s head snapped back, and its knees sagged. A dozen giant teeth flew through the air, and the water lapping at the base of the blast doors hurtled outward as the shockwave of the blow rippled through the air.

A massive blade unfolded from a holster on Odin’s back. It was the prototype Blazefire Sabre 2.4, a plasma-edged weapon designed to cut through just about anything. It had yet to see widespread deployment since the power demands were so insanely high that it couldn’t operate for more than five minutes at a time in the field.

Lightning likely had less than five minutes before she collapsed, so that was perfectly fine.

As Tyraneant finally got its bearing back, the huge sword swung down. The blade bit deeply into the monster’s shoulder and jammed, unable to cut cleanly through the unbelievably dense flesh of the Category VI’s body. Tyraneant’s tail swung out, and Lightning had no choice to let go of the sword or lose the upper half of her Eidolon to the blow.

As the tail reached the end of its arc and slowed before coming around for another attack, Odin’s left fist transformed. This was another prototype weapon - a rail gun built into the Eidolon’s arm and deployed by retracting its wrist to create a suitable barrel. Lightning jammed the weapon into Tyraneant’s chest and fired.

A tungsten-tipped pole weighing roughly ten tonnes hit the fal’Cie’s chest at close to 65 miles per second. The impact had energy output comparable to a 10 kiloton tactical nuke. Of course, there was a reason Odin was the only Eidolon with a weapon like this. Dr Dia had never quite been able to work all of the kinks out. Firing the rail gun at full power instantly slagged most of the interior of Odin’s left arm. 

There was a brief alarm in the Conn-Pod before the entire limb went dead and unresponsive. Lightning didn’t care. She couldn’t possibly hope to beat a Category VI in a fair fight, especially with a time limit. She had to sucker punch the bastard and keep it off balance if she wanted to have any chance of winning.

The rail gun blew a hole right through Tyraneant chest and out through its back. The exit wound was a terrifying sight to behold, a vast, crater of mangled flesh that took up most of the colossal creature’s back. As Tyraneant staggered, one of its secondary brains completely destroyed, Lightning reached out with Odin’s working arm and grabbed hold of the Blazefire Sabre. Already, she could feel the buzzing in the back of her head, the swarm of angry bees that told her that her time was running short.

Not yet.

Just a little bit longer.

She wrenched the weapon free and then drove it up through Tyraneant chin and into its brain. The fal’Cie quivered, its whole body thrashing at the sudden onslaught of damage to its brain. Yet even with a sword driven through its brain, the creature refused to die. It’s tail swung round and ripped Odin’s left arm off at the elbow. Another savage swipe of its claws cleaved through the armour on the Eidolon’s chest to expose its core. Radiation spewed out of the gap, and the Conn-Pod became a nightmare of alarms and warnings.

Lightning grit her teeth. She was losing power. Odin’s reactor was doings its best, but it was haemorrhaging energy into their surroundings. Another swing of the monster’s tail cracked Odin’s left leg and shattered the right leg at the ankle. Hobbled, crippled, and with only a single working limb, Lightning bet everything on her next move.

The rocket on the elbow of Odin’s right arm ignited one last time, and she drove the Eidolon’s fist up and into the hilt of the Blazefire Sabre. Odin’s knuckles shattered, and half a dozen fractures raced through the super structure of the right arm, but the limb had struck true. The impact drove the Blazefire Sabre up and through Tyraneant’s skull, completing tearing off the top and front of the fal’Cie’s head.

For a long moment, there was only stillness as Eidolon and fal’Cie alike remained locked together before the gigantic monster toppled back and sank into the shallows just off the Ark.

X    X     X

“Son of a bitch...” Lebreau whispered as the entire command deck stared in awe at the battered figure of Odin slumped against the blast doors. “She actually killed that thing.” She grinned. “And it looks like the others aren’t doing too badly either.”

With their leader dead, the other fal’Cie seemed to have lost confidence, and the Ark’s Eidolons were finally on the front foot.

“Lebreau...” Lightning said. “The... target... is... is... is...”

“She’s slurring her speech,” Nora looked around. “Lebreau! Cut the connections to Odin now!” She shot to her feet. “Get a med-evac team to Odin and someone start prepping the operating theatre.” When nobody moved, Nora grabbed the closest person and simply shoved them at the communications console. “Stop standing there and do what I said!”

X    X     X

They’d won, but Fang could help but feel like a failure. The fal’Cie had managed to separate the Eidolons from the Ark, allowing that behemoth of a Category VI to lay siege to the facility. Somehow, Lightning had managed to get back into Odin and pilot him long enough to kill that damn thing.

Even now, just thinking about it made her shiver. Lightning hadn’t piloted in years. With her brain still damaged from her last mission and her leg only working because of Vanille’s prosthetic, the marshal had somehow found a way to win against an opponent she should never have been able to beat.

But the cost...

Nora had operated on Lightning for close to eight hours.

“It’s a miracle she’s alive,” Nora said, peering through the glass at where the marshal was hooked up to far too many machines. “I didn’t think she’d last three minutes piloting, but she lasted a solid four.”

“How... how bad is it?” Fang whispered.

“We don’t know if she’ll wake up,” Nora replied grimly. “And even if she does, we have no idea if she’ll even be coherent, never mind able to walk or talk. We’re not talking a bit of minor brain damage. We’re talking about massive, systematic damage across most of her brain. Quite frankly, we’ve done everything we can. All we can do now is hope.”

“Shit.”

“Pretty much.” Nora’s lips twitched. “But Vanille said it best. The marshal is too stubborn to die. We just... we have to hope she pulls through this too. If anyone can do it, she can.”

X    X     X

Author’s Notes

This scene is a rough version of a battle that takes place near the end of the Vestige. Since Pacific Rim: Uprising was so horrific it basically obliterated my will to go on with Pacific Rim crossovers, I thought I’d post up some of the ideas I had, so people can get a feel for where things would have gone.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here. I’ve recently released two stories, Attempted Adventuring and Surviving Quarantine, as well as two audiobooks, Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Army of Golems, Two Necromancers, a Dragon, and a Vampire, and The Hungry Dragon Cookie Company. If you like humour, action, and adventure, be sure to check them out.

[vikolai123]

Chroma squad review

Hey, guys welcome to my review on the game chroma squad. Do you remember the 90s-2000s that it was a time where the iPhone was an advancement in technology, violent video games wasn't that mainstream anime gaining popularity with works like naruto, bleach, one-piece, and dbz, and its the time for some good old fashion Saturday morning programs i remember the day where my child self goes in front of the tv and watched some good old Saturday morning cartoons(i wish i could watch it longer due to my parents always taking me to church but that, not the point) programs like kids wb and jetx and also the Disney Channel you name it and one show I watched to death is power rangers, I LOVED that show I remember watching that series a lot and it's always a blast, anyway why does all of this relate to chroma squad? Well released in 2015 and developed by bazillion dev team beholder studios chroma squad is a tactical RPG that takes inspiration from the sentai series. In this game, you play as a group of actors working in a not so good sentai show, gotten tired of the director and where the show it was going the actors (which you can name) decided to leave the show altogether and make there own sentai after encounter a weird floating brain prop named ceribro the group began production and creating their own sentai show chroma squad which you can change it up the one thing I liked about is how can you just customize almost everything in the show studio, the name of the sentai team, Megazord, henshin, etc the one thing I wish you can edit is enemy faction name but that's just my little opinion so we got the plot out of the way how's the gameplay? Well, the game is a tactical RPG you control the members of the chroma squad each of them is their own role the lead is balanced, the techie is known for there ranged combat, assault is the damage dealer, the scout has high movement, and finally, the assist is the healer. The combat is simple you click on the enemy to go and attack as long it's in there the squad member's movement range you also have another member to expand your movement with the teamwork mechanic if you have a squad member go into teamwork verity of things will happen you can help another member to go far distance by acrobatic, you can do a team attack, and finally, in true sentai fashion, you can do a finishing move. the next gimmick is the is fans depending on what you do in each episode will determine the number of fans you gain and trust you need fans by clearing the director's notes it will be determined how many fans you will get and at every episode, each fan will culminate into money and fan power. Fan power is used for gaining bonuses when you hire a company to help advertise your show you can also get fans by replying to emails but depending on what you say will determine how many fans you'll gain or lose. money is used for a lot of things such as buying new equipment for your sentai team or for your studio of course you craft equipment by defeating enemies and also a way to hire a company to advertise with the show and you need the green man if you don't have enough money to get by then you'll have a hard time of completing the later episodes. The final part I shall go over is the characters each of them has there own charm with the main cast, the bad guys, and even the little dialogue in battle it oozes with some good old fashioned cheese especially in the later half of the game when all the enemies you faced are no longer actors but as real monsters. The last thing I like is the ost the soundtrack of this game is pretty good the game has some complete bangers my favorite is gaga's theme one of the main villains of the game, and chroma squad theme which is there actual show's theme song.

Overall if you like strategy RPGs and super sentai I recommend you can get this game on Xbox, ps4, and on steam, I rate this game a GO GO POWER RANGERS/ 10

[coolclaytony]

No-Ah Grand Elders: Ev-En, Elder of Earth (Pathfinder 1st edition Quasi-Deity)

The No-Ah hierarchy is, at it's core, a bureaucratic gerontocracy; where age and station dictate the hierarchy. As such the eldest members of each elemental caste of No-Ah, the Grand Elders, serve as the oligarchs of their people. As proof of their authority, No-Ah who live long enough to ascend to grand elder status go up one size category (no larger than huge), gain the mythic subtype, and become quasi-deific. Their granted domains are Artifice, their racial elemental subtype, and two others of their choice. Their subdomains must be Construct, at least one from their elemental domain, and three others. A Grand Elder is always character level 20 and gains the Advanced simple template. Additionally, a Grand Elder gains “Restore Vitality” as a bonus mythic ability (see below). Only when a Grand Elder dies, or more rarely, when a No-Ah of a new elemental type is born does a No-Ah ascend in this manner.

Ev-En, Elder of Earth LN 3rd No-Ah Grand Elder of Earth, Duty, and Sacrifice Domains Artifice, Earth, Law, Nobility Subdomains Caves, Construct, Judgement, Martyr, Toil Worshipers architects, earth no-ah, miners, soldiers, subterranean races. Minions earth elementals, earth no-ah Symbol a downward pointing triangle bisected by a horizontal line Favored Weapon spiked gauntlet or hook hand Obedience hold your left appendage over your heart (or an equivalent) and make an oath out loud to your self to carry out any task set before you, to the best of your ability, by someone who has legitimate authority over you. You must be willing to do anything within your power, even at the risk of personal injury or death, to see those tasks carried out. You gain a +4 luck bonus to any skill check which helps you accomplish such tasks. Boons 1: stone shape 2/day; 2: summon nature's ally II (small earth elemental) 2/day; 3: wall of stone 2/day Predecessors Ev-Ot > Ev-Ri > Ev-En

It is an understanding among the No-Ah that in order to create and preserve anything, something else must be sacrificed, thus one who gives up themselves for the greater good is the most blessed of beings. Few know this truth better than Grand Elder Ev-En. His birth was one of grim necessity. The Qlippoth Lord, Isph-Aun-Vuln, had galvanized her most powerful alien cults to war against the No-Ah with the intent of undermining their mission to preserve and nurture mortal life. Ev-En was among the many No-Ah who were produced en-mass by the Grand Elders to hold a line against her relentless and ruthless armies, a task which required the destruction of planets that could have been converted into bountiful new worlds. He had to kill many beautiful and vibrant lifeforms, tainted by the qlippoth's lies, and watch those same creatures brutally slaughter his siblings and cousins by the thousands. He would give much of himself to help ensure victories for the No-Ah with as little bloodshed on either side as he possibly could, inevitable as it was. To this end, he learned to fight unarmed, bolstered by abjuration magic. This training would prove useful when Ark-00 became assaulted by the Iathavos and it's nyogoth hordes. This Iathavos was trained especially to deal with the No-Ah and proved formidable even for the Grand Elders. Ev-En was among the No-Ah soldiers who fought alongside his parent, Ev-Ri, when the qlippoth singled them out. It was here that Ev-En talents showed their true worth, as he purged the flanking nyogoth of their corruption and turned the tables in the No-Ah's favor. Sadly, the Iathavos proved to much for Ev-Ri and he was thus slain. Ev-En, the eldest of the living Earth No-Ah, immediately ascended and in a fit of righteous fury; felled the qlippoth with a single devastating punch. Channeling his power in this fashion however, would obliterate his right-arm, an eternal reminder of the costs of the No-Ah mission. Though the No-Ah would ultimately prevail and disperse Isph-Aun-Vuln's mortal armies. Ev-En knows that it is only a matter of time before she rallies her forces again. Thus much of his time in recent history has been spent fortifying the now billions of No-Ah Arks and bolstering his people's military power, all in preparation for the inevitable war which will no doubt span entire galaxies.

Grand Elder Ev-En CR 26/MR 10 No-Ah constructed pugilist brawler 10/ hexbreaker armored battlemage magus 10 LN huge construct (earth, living machine, mythic) Init +5, Senses darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision AC 36, touch 13, flat-footed 31 (+9 Armor, +5 Dex, +12 Nat. Armor, +2 Shield*, -2 Size) *This bonus assumes Ev-En is wielding his constructed limb with the Shielding Limb modification) hp 423 (10d8+10d10+243) Fort +16, Ref +13, Will +13 Defensive Abilities armor training 2, armor master (light, medium, & heavy armor), block attacks, construct traits, earth protection, fortification (50%, 75% w/ secured armor), living machine, medium armor, heavy armor, restore vitality, take a hit; DR 13/epic Speed 15 ft Melee Attacks unarmed strike +21/+16/+11/+6 (4d8+14); or +5 stone constructed limb +26/+21/+16/+11 (4d8+19/x3); or brawler's flurry +24/+19/+14/+10/+19/+14 (4d8+19 [+14 for final two strikes}/x3 [x2 for final two strikes]) Special Attacks arcane pool (9), brawler's flurry, brawler's strike (cold iron, magic, silver), close weapon mastery, constructed limb, fighter training, knockout 2/day, knowledge pool, limb modifications (flex limb, limb extender, shielding limb, tight grip, vicious spikes), magus arcana (improved remove curse, wracking dispel), maneuver training (Disarm +2, Grapple +1), mythic power (10/day, surge 1d12), mythic magic (3/day), preserve life (200 ft), powerful blows (unarmed strike), spark of genesis, spellstrike, versatile modifications, unarmed strike (4d8+5) Space and Reach 15 ft, 15 ft Magus Spells Known (CL 10, Concentration +15) 0 Level (5/day) - Acid Splash, Arcane Mark, Dancing Lights, Daze, Detect Fiendish Presence, Detect Magic, Disrupt Undead, Flare, Ghost Sound, Grasp, Light, Mage hand, Open/Close, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost, Read Magic, Spark 1st level (7/day) - Abjuring Step, Blade Lash, Blade Tutor's Spirit, Call Weapon, Celestial Healing, Corrosive Touch, Desperate Weapon, Duelist's Parry, Enlarge Person, Expedious Retreat, Fallback Strategy, Feather Fall, Glue Seal, Grease, Jump, Jury-Rig, Lighten Object, Linebreaker, Line in The Sand, Long Arm, Magic Missile (M), Magic Weapon, Mirror Strike, Monkey Fish, Mudball, Obscuring Mist, Reduce Person, Reinforce Armaments, Shield, Shock Shield, Stone Fist, Sunder Breaker, Sundering Shards, Swift Girding, Thunderstomp, True Strike, Unerring Weapon, Unseen Servant, Vigor, Wave Shield, Warding Weapon, Weaponwand, Web Bolt 2nd Level (5/day) - Ablative Barrier, Acid Arrow, Alacrity, Alter Self, Animal Aspect, Aristocrat's Nightmare, Armor Lock, Bear's Endurance, Bladed Dash, Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, Cauterizing Weapon, Communal Reinforce Armaments, Contest of Skill, Diminish Resistance, Effortless Armor, Elemental Touch, Erode Defenses, Escaping Ward, Euphoric Cloud, Extreme Flexibility, Fleeting Defect, Fog Cloud, Force Anchor, Glitterdust, Groundswell, Hollow Blades, Huntmaster's Spear, Instant Weapon, Levitate, Molten Orb, Pouncing Fury, Quick Throwing, Raven's Flight, Reloading Hands, Rock Whip, Savage Maw, Slick Walls, Shield of Shards, Spider Climb (M), Splinter Spell Resistance, Stone Call, Stone Discus, Stone Shield, Stone Throwing, Storm of Blades, Telekinetic Assembly, Telekinetic Volley, Visualization of the Body, Web, Winged Sword 3rd Level (4/day) - Air Breathing, Allied Cloak, Beast Shape I, Blade Snare, Blink, Burst of Speed, Caustic Safeguard, Channel Vigor, Clay Skin, Cloak of Winds, Conjuration Foil, Conjure Carriage, Discharge, Dispel Magic (M), Earth Tremor, Elemental Aura, Fly, Forced Mutation, Gloomblind Bolts, Grasping Tentacles, Greater Animal Aspect, Greater Magic Weapon (M), Greater Thunderstomp, Haste (M), Heart of the Metal, Infuse Self, Iron Spine, Irradiate, Keen Edge, Mark of Buoyancy, Monstrous Physique I, Nauseating Trail, Phantom Steed, Remove Curse, Resilient Reservoir, Scales of Deflection, Sickening Strikes, Silver Darts, Slow (M), Spellsword, Steal Size, Stinking Cloud, Tactical Adaptation, Titanic Anchoring, Toxic Blood, Versatile Weapon, Vomit Twin, Water Breathing, Waves of Blood 4th Level (2/day) - Absorb Rune I, Adjustable Polymorph, Arcana Theft, Beast Shape II, Black Tentacles (M), Blightburn Weapon, Caustic Blood, Break Enchantment (M), Detonate, Dragon's Breath, Elemental Body (M), Ethereal Fists, Fey Form I, Greater Celestial Healing, Lend Path, Mass Enlarge Person, Mass Reduce Person, Monstrous Physique II, Naga Shape I, Pellet Blast, Poisonous Cloud, Revenant Armor, Rigor Mortis, Rubberskin, Solid Fog, Stoneskin (M), Telekinetic Maneuver, Temporary Graft, Vermin Shape I, Ward Shield, Wreath of Blades Str 22, Dex 20, Con 20, Int 20, Wis 20, Cha 15 Base Atk +17, CMB +24, CMD 27 Feats big game hunter, bodyguard, combat casting, combat reflexes (M), craft magic arms and armor, craft technological arms and armor, create weapon, create magic weapon, imposing bearing (B), improved unarmed strike (B,M), mythic spell lore (M), poised bearing (B), secured armor (B), spell focus (abjuration) (M), technologist, titan strike (M), toughness Skills Acrobatics +28, Craft (alchemy) +15, Craft (armor) + 25, Craft (engineering) +15, Craft (mechanical) +15, Craft (ships) +25, Craft (stonemasonry) +28, Craft (weapons) +28, Knowledge (arcana) +28, Knowledge (engineering) +15, Knowledge (geography) +15, Knowledge (nature) +25, Knowledge (Planes) +28, Profession (soldier) +18, Spellcraft +28, Use Magic Device +20; Racial Modifiers -4 Fly, -8 Stealth Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Ignan, Infernal, Protean, Terran SQ armed and ready, birth progeny, brawler's cunning, deific, incremental growth, martial training Equipment Artisan's Tools, 100 bullets, 4 Mwk Mithril Daggers, Mwk Mithril Shortsword, Spell Component Pouch, +1 Vigilant Expedious Impervious Adamantine Spiked Stone Plate Special Abilities Armed and Ready (Ex): Whenever Ev-En creates his constructed limb with the Create Weapon feat, the limb is automatically attached to him. It still requires 10 minutes to remove it as normal. Restore Vitality (Ex): Grand Elder Ev-En may spend a point of mythic power to remove all negative levels from himself. Even if those negative levels could not otherwise be removed. Versatile Modifications (Ex): If Grand Elder Ev-En's constructed limb was made using his Create Weapon feat; as a swift action, he may spend up to 5 points of mythic power to change one of it's limb modifications per point spent for 1 minute. This constructed limb may have the vicious blades and vicious spikes modifications simultaneously. The shield bonus from shielding limb stacks with any other shield bonuses Ev-En has. In addition; Ev-En may instead exchange a modification for a magic weapon special ability appropriate for the limb's enhancement bonus. This is a transmutation Effect.

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You Can Read More About the No-Ah Here No-Ah Alternate Traits No-Ah Feats

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I realize most npc stat blocks usually only have the spells listed that the character is most likely to have prepared, but I have no way of narrowing that down, so I recommend just using him like a spontaneous caster and only bothering to decide his prepared spells when the players need that information.

Edit: I forgot some bits.

@dailycharacteroption @bogleech

[kgorman-the-casual-nerd]

Gatecrash, Chapter 1

It's really slow at work so I'm sharing the first chapter of the high fantasy/steampunk I'm working on. Aiming for "if GoT and LOTR had a violent, punk rebel cousin who married a portal fantasy."

Looks like it stripped the formatting (italics) off, but oh well. I *am* looking for beta readers if anyone is interested!

Cheers, all.

*****

Catrin li Ternadon was beginning to hate swords.

Too long, too narrow, with too unwieldy a blade—it felt like her elf hands ought to be slicing a beef cow instead of learning some long-traditioned murder art. Especially with the sword Master-at-Arms Severn Treng had given her. Dull, heavy, and awkward, it had been the bane of her all month, and her shoulders, wrists, and back were all in protest.

He, of course, made it look easy. Elegant. Graceful. A retired Sarasvatani army captain who had cut his career path in the bloody d’Enar revolution and subsequent border chaos, his light eyes, deep skin tone, and smooth, controlled motions stood out against the scenery��like a slash of old-world violence displaced into the peaceful, bucolic backdrop of Pemberlin Castle’s green-edged estate. The effect was double for her. At first, she’d thought him elf-blooded. Not full, like her, but at least part. Maybe from one of the northern Mora lines, as opposed to her own Sinai. He had the right build and color for it—lean and strong, his light eyes and dark skin wouldn’t look out of place among any of her people’s forest dwellings.

Until one put a sword in his hand. And watched him for any length of time.

As he slipped across the grit of the castle’s drive, his alert eyes piercing straight through her, each soft, purposeful step—like the quiet advance of a snake—sent a prickle of unease through her gut and made her itch for the rnari blades currently sheathed in her quarters.

But she hadn’t signed up to train with daggers. She was already good with them. Excellent, even.

She’d come here to learn swords.

And Severn Treng, former captain of the Sarasvatani third wing, was the perfect instructor for a rnari royal guard such as herself.

The rnari were an advanced unit, the pride of the Raidt. Part ranger, part bodyguard, almost every forest elf did service with them, though few made it past the first three or four circles—just enough to give them basic defense, and perhaps pick up a few spells along the way.

The higher levels, like herself, had to cut their way to the top.

She’d been practically born into its ranks, and had fought tooth and nail through the circles to get into the elite twelfth circle. The evidence of her study showed in the tattooed patterns of several advanced spells that adorned the skin of her shoulders and biceps. Her crowning achievement was the addition of the archaic summon spell that connected her with the ice deity Ktullanux, and allowed her to channel his power from the fey realm—a contract students of the Raidt hadn’t managed for the better part of a century.

She was also really good at fighting.

Just—not with swords.

Not yet.

She kept her blade raised—short guard, legs splayed in front stance, pommel held close to her crotch, the tip aimed at the exact line of his neck as she rotated, following his movement. A slow breeze lifted across the field beside them, bringing with it the smell of long, clumpy spring grass, wet soil, and tree sap. Goosebumps rose across her exposed skin, trailing under the padding of her shoulder guards and wrist bracers in a tingling wave. The sun, low in the sky, pushed the shadows of the nearby birch stand far over the lawn. It was early spring yet, their branches still little more than a mess of naked sticks, barely pushing out buds, and the glare of the sun, bleary though it was, dropped past the curve of his face and slid across his eyes.

She watched them narrow at the brightness.

A potential weakness, though she doubted it. He was too good for that.

She kept her face impassive. Loose. Relaxed. Giving nothing away as he stalked his circle, continuing to note the differences between them. Each step and balance she made took thought and effort, whereas he held his own training blade as if it had been born in his hand, its tip balanced and precise as it floated a few inches above the gravel, mirroring her position. He calculated an advance, she a retreat, aware of the curve of the driveway behind her and the grass they would likely be crashing over soon. Her muscles shook. His did not. In fact, except for a slight hitch in his left hip—a result of an arrow hit during an early campaign—there were surprisingly few faults in his motion, despite his age.

She, meanwhile, was feeling a myriad of new bruises as a result of today’s series of beat-downs, along with a stiffness that was weakening her off side.

And there was a spark in her righthand wrist that was threatening to become something more serious.

But she mirrored his position with an exact focus, each step a careful response to his.

He studied her, the consideration and evaluation in his expression the only sign, apart from the dulled and beat-up excuse for a sword he held, that he was about to hand her ass to her as an instructor, rather than just for show.

“Hanging guard,” he directed.

She concealed her wince and switched the blade back to her right, knowing what was coming.

No sooner had she swung the sword down, he attacked.

She smashed her own dull training blade up to meet his, already stepping back. The clang of metal ringing through her sore joints, sparked a surge of pain in her shaking wrist. Her core muscles screamed.

Quick as a whip, he followed. Gravel rasped as he chased her across the drive, pressing his advantages—given her little experience, he had all of them—with a series of eel-smooth thrusts and cuts, barreling into her defense like a blood-scented Hermani hound after a kill. For her part, she moved back smoothly. Only once did she slide into her usual rnari instincts, an easy pivot and strike that she cut almost as soon as it began, instead turning the motion into an awkward defense that made his blade rake over her crossguard in a blow that strained the already-battered tendons in her wrists.

Pain flared up from below her right hand again, angry at the abuse.

She recovered swiftly—he let her—and they resumed the swift chase-and-retreat across the drive, swords ringing and clanging, him driving her back as fast as she could without stumbling. They hit grass, swerved around the oval garden of the center, ground back onto thin gravel again.

Just before she was to hit grass again, he sidestepped, brought his sword up, made for a different strike.

A signal.

She moved in as he crashed his blade down, snapped her sword to meet his. Metal screamed, then rasped as she thrust upward, catching his blade with hers. Her strained shoulders burned with tired pain as she forced herself through the unfamiliar motion, sliding the hilt up and then around until she cradled the edge of his blade in her crossguard, struggling to bring his sword along the outside of her shoulder and trap it.

He fought her, pressing her with his size and strength. She resisted the urge to turn in, instead shoving forward with her lower body—her legs, at least, were conditioned to this.

But, just as she was about to bring the sword back out, threaten him with disarming, pain erupted in her wrist.

The hold collapsed inward, smacking his blade into her shoulder and knocking her to the left. She hissed, turning in with her left to relieve the strain, teeth gritting.

The pressure came off almost immediately. He backed off, disentangled their blades with a quick slide, and gave a formal-looking salute—hilt down, flat toward her, upright to his temple, a Sarasi instinct to him—to signal the end of the spar.

She reversed her sword to her left, held it in a casual grip, and, at a gesture from Treng, lifted her right wrist for him to inspect.

“You’re getting better. Less knife tactics this time.” He had a smooth accent, clipped, but spoke Janessi with a fluency similar to hers. The blunt shortness of his sentences was a result of his character, not ability. She gritted her teeth together when he took her hand. He prodded the bumps of her wrist with a military efficiency. She stayed still, breathing through the pain. After thirty seconds, he let up. “Broken.”

She snorted softly and extricated her hand from his, giving the pained wrist a cool appraisal. It throbbed steadily, the pain only spiking when she moved it. “I’ll get Doneil to do his black-elf magic on it.”

Doneil, the only other elf on the estate, was actually a forest elf, like her. But the joke slid easily.

He grunted. “Steal some bread, too. You’re skin and bone.”

She resisted the urge to contradict him. Right now, when he wore his serious expression, they were master and apprentice.

Plus, he wasn’t wrong. She’d been pushing herself. Pushing far more than she’d ever gone before. Though the muscles specific to sword use would need quite a few more months before they developed properly, she could already feel them filling out, and the rest of her was a taut, iron-clad package of hard muscle. Each morning, she practiced through three full sets of rnari drills, and each evening saw her run the lap of Pemberlin hold’s twelve acre inner border. All the exercise had eaten away her curves into a straighter, long-packed figure. As a result, some of her bones stuck out more.

Which was fine. She was training.

If she wanted to be among the rnari bladesworn, those that served royalty like her parents, she had to be lean and mean. Anything more was a distraction. A sign she hadn’t worked hard enough. A symptom of laziness.

And the dark hells knew she didn’t need that. Not right now.

“Abiermar tonight,” he reminded her. “Wear your rnari dress.”

She nodded. Abiermar, made for the spring god, Abier, marked the beginning of spring planting season. Although a god who saw a broad range of worship, presiding over fertility and wealth, local tradition called to him as a pacifist. No one could carry arms—technically, the actual edict was against drawing weapons, but a few centuries of both common and political sense had decided to remove drunken temptation and put a ban on carrying, at least in court-held celebrations—on the night of his feast. Instead, they all got drunk on special triskan wine, made from the the tiny, star-shaped flowers traditionally picked on the first moon of spring, tied ribbons around the boughs of castle courtyard trees, and held a night-long series of dances that came with their own subset niche of courting traditions among the peerage that she had paid little attention to.

Still, no weapons. For the humans, anyway.

As a bloodlined warrior of Raidt’s court, the edict clashed immediately with her rnari tradition that she be armed at all times.

She got a pass. A pass that Lord and Lady Stanek wanted to parade around.

It wasn’t often that one hosted a bloodlined royal guard in such a minor castle.

“Do elves…” Treng hesitated, a frown deepening the lines of his forehead. “Do you celebrate Abier at all?”

“Some do. Those closest to human lands and those with… lowland farms.” She tilted her head, considering. “There are different, more specialized deities for forest and tree field cultivation, and the spirits that live therein. We have hienma on the—” She did a quick calculation between the two calendars. “—twenty-eighth.”

Treng also did a calculation. “The full moon?”

“Yes. The light plays a factor in rituals.”

He nodded.

“How about you?” she pressed. “What’s springtime in Saras like?”

“Very hot. We like to sleep during the day.”

“Lots of night-time dances, then?”

He slashed a wry smile her way, his eyes and mouth crinkling with memory. “One could say that.”

Some things remain the same across cultures.

She gritted her teeth as a memory slipped through her mind—the last time someone had wanted a ‘night time dance’ with her. Her grip tightened on the hilt of the training sword.

His eyes tracked downward, noticing immediately.

Fortunately, before he could ask, an awareness flitted across the back of her neck and pressed like a shadow against her spine—her woodcraft sense. She stiffened when it touched her mind, head turning toward the source.

Southwest. Approaching along the road.

Beside her, Treng gave her a quiet glanceover, then elected to dismiss the tight hand around the sword to cast his gaze curiously toward the far-off strand of trees where she was looking.

“What is it?”

“Magic. Artifact.” She frowned. A growl could be heard now, crackling like thunder in the trees, and her runes prickled in response to the approaching artifact. Several flocks of birds lifted off in the distance, marking the spot. After a few seconds, she began to see quick flashes of red past the skinny trunks and winter-bare undergrowth. She raised an eyebrow.

“Ah. Motorcar,” Treng rumbled. “I’m surprised he made it past Tindale, the roads the way they are.”

Her other eyebrow tipped upwards. “He?”

“Yes. Prince Nales Cizek, out of Lorka.”

She froze.

Yes, she’d heard of him. She’d heard of all of them. It was hard not to, running in the circles she did—her parents functioned as a bit more than court guards; she’d been groomed all her life to run in the courts, to look for nuance that might prove a threat. Lorka was the capital of the Trenredt, the human kingdom that both sat next to and partially encroached on Raidt elf territory, and the Cizek line had held its reign for close to a thousand years with a combination of deep familial loyalty, cutting ambition, and brutal enforcement.

And blood magic. That was the story they were most famous for. Andalai, a demon-cursed sword that answered only to the chosen of the Cizek bloodline.

It had once subjugated the Raidt elves. And they were still paying that price in servitude—superficially, anyway.

Given that the demonic plane had been sealed from Terra for two hundred and fifty years, she doubted the sword was of much practical use now.

Its legend, however, was enough.

Treng smiled at her look of shock. “Yes, that Nales Cizek, second son of King Drahomír Cizek. He comes out here every Abiermar. Lady Stanek is his mother’s sister.”

An aunt of a royal heir. Well, that explained how Pemberlin Castle kept so many connections with other kingdoms. It had taken her father only six letters to find this place for her—and he’d been looking at elf steads first.

As far as she knew, Pemberlin was only one of two human steads he’d contacted, and had been the first to respond back.

And she wasn’t the only elf it housed. Doneil had arrived nearly a year ago.

Her mood darkened as the growling red monstrosity drew close enough for her to spot the distinct forms of two people in its seats. It was open-air, similar to a chariot, except for the second set of wheels under its back—placed like a horse’s legs, she thought, albeit a very elongated horse. Narrow, too, with a series of half-exposed pipes and mechanical bits that looked to her like thinner, more delicate versions of train parts. She discerned that the artifact she felt—either goblin or human-made, definitely not fey—was seated at its front, where the contraption extended in front of it, in place of a horse but looking more like the large snout of a dog by the way the middle and back thickened.

Most likely a power source.

She immediately spotted the prince in the passenger’s seat at the back. The man driving looked more like a guard. Tall, buff, with a dusting of sand-colored hair currently mussed by the wind, the gray and black monochrome of his double-breasted royal guard coat stood out against the deep red of the car’s siding. A wide grin split his face as he turned the vehicle in through the hold’s wide-open gates and crunched onto the pale gravel drive, and his teeth flashed as he said something to the back seat, belying a certain friendship between the two.

The prince, for his part, was more subdued. Alert, she thought, though not unfriendly. He wasn’t as tall as his guard, and held a slighter frame—not weak, but certainly not the career soldier that sat in the front seat. He held a leaner, more compact build. Sat balanced in his seat, his posture at ease and correct, subtle beneath the dark coat he wore. With his dark clothes, black hair, and the deep olive tint to his skin, he provided a distinct contrast to his companion and, from afar, reminded her a bit of the small, wiry junco birds that picked at the forest floor.

The distance made his expression hard to discern, but she got an impression of smooth, quiet features.

And she felt the exact moment his gaze found her across the space, likely drawn to the unusual sight of a forest elf in training garb standing next to the castle’s Master-at-Arms.

Her reputation had likely preceded her.

Their eyes momentarily locked, his far bolder than she had expected, and a shock ran through her. Anger. Aggression. A flash of memory, quick and dark, never far from her mind. A slice of torchlight against the shadows of a wall.

Her grip tightened on the training sword, but she forced her features to remain smooth and neutral. She dropped her gaze to the vehicle again, and received some satisfaction to see that the shiny red paint along the motorcar’s sides had been marred with splattered mud.

As Treng waved to the two men, and the growling car began to slow—Elrya, it looked like they were stopping to say hi—she gave his elbow a quick tap, lifted her injured and now visibly swelling wrist, and gave a slight bow.

“I better go heal this.”

He gave her a pitying look that she knew had only a little to do with the broken wrist, then bowed his head and gave her the traditional Abiermar greeting. “Merry and bright, Catrin.”

“Merry and bright, Master Treng.”

She bowed a second time, deeper, then left.