#i/dominus rex

[gt-preys]

Scales, claws and jaws

Note: I changed how the paddock looks to fit my idea.

Indominus rex! Billy x Handler! Male reader

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(Y/N) works the T-rex enclosure, has done for years. So it's a little suprising when he's called up to the restricted area, sector six, paddock eleven.The new asset.

"Hey (Y/N)" the worker grins, spotting a familiar figure standing by the parked cars. "Hey Eddie" he calls back, jogging up the path towards his coworker. "Okay so, want to tell me why I've been called up here?"

Eddie gives the park worker a quick rundown on their situation as they walk around the concrete walls. "We need someone who can deal with big carnos" Eddie begins "and since you worked with the rex..." he shrugs, shooting them a smile. "How big?" They ask curiously "fifty feet in length" Eddie replies and (Y/N) raises an eyebrow "jesus that's big."

They round the corner to the gates, buzzing past the first one. Eddie had told them it was feeding time for the new asset. Someone from atop the concrete walls tosses down a few large slabs of bloody meat. They don't have to wait long for the dinosaur to make an appearance, white scales glisten in the summer sun as it steps out from the tree line. "The Indominus rex" Eddie murmurs the announcement.

The lizard itself is pure white, scales slowly morphing into tanned skin. Angular face framed by long curly blonde locks. The indominus was certainly handsome; they'd give the higher ups that.

What they don't expect is for the creature to completely bypass the meat and head straight for the gate. (Y/N) stumbles back as it snaps its jaws at them, biting at the bars and growling. Trying to get to the two park workers behind them.

"He isn't like your rex. No way you can go in with him" (Y/N) nods trapped in place by the indominus's icy blue eyes "I can see that" they agree. The second (Y/N) takes his eyes off of the hybrid to look at Eddie, the rex throws himself at the metal bars. The worker throws themself backwards in a panic, tripping over their own feet in their haste to get away. They hit the ground hard, head bouncing hard off of the muddy ground.

"Oh shit (Y/N)!" Eddie is by his side instantly, pulling the younger up and into his arms. The metalhead is thorough as he begins looking his friend over, gingerly feeling around their scalp. "I don't think I can see any blood" he mumbles with a relieved sigh, pulling (Y/N) into his arms for a hug. From where he sits (Y/N) is so sure he can see the Indo grinning at him maliciously from beyond the bars.

This dino is trouble.

After the little incident in the cage, (Y/N) makes sure he has eyes on the Indominus at all times. So far his first week has been going well. Currently they're up at the top of the concrete walls, standing on the metal platform ringing the top of the enclosure. The glare they receive from down below makes them feel extremely vulnerable as they drag the meat to the railings gate, shoving it off the platform to the hungry reptile below.

It had been the last piece and (Y/N) leans over the railing as they closed the gate to look at the Indo below. He catches the meat in his jaws, throwing his head back the dinosaur swallows the chunk whole. Catching the worker's eyes he runs his tongue over his lips and (Y/N) can't help but feel like there's a threat in those icy blue eyes.

A task they had not been looking forward to was cleaning. Sure this wouldn't be their first time brushing an asset's teeth, but it certainly was the first time their asset had to be restrained for the routine clean.

The Indominus had been detained to a glass holding cell in the center of the lab's facility. Chained to the floor with what looked to be a heavy duty carjack propping its mouth wide open.

Stepping into the room ice blue eyes snap to look at them, a deep rumbling growl fills the space. "Believe me bud, I'm not exactly happy about this experience either" he says, clipping the rope to his safety harness. Just a precaution. The Indominus is still slightly out of it from the tranq darts that were used to knock him out, in order to get him to the facility safely.

(Y/N) takes a deep breath as they stand before the hybrid's open jaws. He decides to start on the outside, scrubbing at the flat surfaces of the giant's large shark-like teeth. Another growl but they pay no mind, instead they babble on about their day in an attempt to distract themself from how unnerving it is to be staring into the dark cavernous maw of a predator that no doubt wants to make a meal of the tiny human. "It's good I'm getting out more, I'm getting exercise. All in all, hikings been pretty fun" he babbles, stepping over the bottom row of teeth into the dinosaur's mouth.

"Of course it's great to get out and see more nature, y'know?" (Y/N) continues to chatter as they scrub at the Indominus's molars. "I even caught a frog on my last trek" he smiles thinking back to the moment. He had named them Fredrick the frog. They spend the next half an hour scrubbing the Indo's teeth and tongue, all the while chatting about anything that comes to mind. They talk so much in fact that they don't notice that he hadn't growled at them since they began.

"They named him by the way" Eddie takes a pull of his cigarette as he leans against the concrete wall. The metalhead often stopped by to spend his breaks with (Y/N). They stand in the cage watching the Indominus through the metal bars as he rips into the carcass (Y/N) had dropped into his enclosure a couple of minutes ago.

It had been three weeks since they took on the role of being the Indominus rex's head keeper and it seems he'd started to mellow out around (Y/N), though he still growled and snarled at others. The key seemed to be talking to the temperamental lizard.

"Oh yeah?" They ask glancing from the Indo to Eddie who hums in response. "Yeah, Billy" he replies, dropping his head back against the walls as he blows the smoke upwards. "Billy, huh" to their suprise the dinosaur looks up from his meal, visually perking up at the name.

The next time they encounter Billy without the safety of the concrete walls and metal bars, it's for a check up. They check his vitals, feeling unnerved at getting so close to him. Even with him restrained, Billy is an intimidating creature. This time he simply tracks them with his eyes as they wander around him, only receiving a small snarl when they draw a sample of blood from his arm. "Sorry bud" they apologise, stroking his cheek which seems to work in placating the Indo.

(Y/N) had spent the best part of the morning chatting idly to Billy, he had stayed near the gate since they arrived at the enclosure. The keeper sits on the concrete blocks the metal bars are embedded in, leaning back against the wall. He doesn't know when he had fallen asleep but upon waking up he freezes, recognising his surroundings. He had fallen asleep in the paddock cage, leaning against the bars. He swallows anxiously, eyes falling to the large white claw laying across his midsection. Billy had slipped his forefinger through the space between the bars, managing to touch the researcher where they sat.

(Y/N) tries to keep his cool and keep still, worried he'll be carved in half if he moves. Shifting his eyes to the paddock he finds that the Indominus is sound asleep. Taking a deep breath he attempts to slip out from beneath the claw, however they aren't stealthy enough. Billy wakes with a low guttural growl already building in his throat, the keeper whimpers fearfully in response.

Billy pauses for a moment, half awake, he looks to tiny shaking under his touch. He makes a questioning hum in the back of his throat, eyelids already threatening to drift closed once more.

"Hey...hey there buddy..." they start nervously "you think you can lift this off me?" They pat the claw covering their abdomen gently and to their suprise he listens to them, pulling his finger back through the bars. (Y/N) is quick to stand and back away from the bars, putting distance between them and the reptile "thanks buddy."

Those ice blue eyes stay on them as they retreat, maw parting in a long yawn. The Indo seemed intent on getting back to his rest but refuses to for some odd reason. "I've got to go, I'll see you later" they say, walking away and closing the second metal gate behind themselves. Billy let's out a soft sad growl before huffing and leaving, heading back into the foliage.

Later in the week (Y/N) decides to take his break up on the concrete wall. Max, one of the higher ups' daughter, decides to tag along. The two had become friends when they had been ordered to entertain the girl for the day and gave her a park wide private tour, even allowing her to meet the park's iconic T-rex one on one. Steve had adored the 'tiny human' so much that whenever (Y/N) was on shift with him, Max was right there with them.

The two hook safety harnesses to themselves when they reach the metal grating. The park had decided to do some touch ups on the enclosure whilst another team checked over the security system, all in all it's routine park work. The only difference being that the asset in the enclosure is not friendly like so many of the park's bigger carnivores are. The winches whirl steadily as the two walk over to greet a few familiar faces, trading a few jokes and laughs.

"So where is he?" Max asks looking out over the enclosure "hmm?" (Y/N) hums in question, chewing on a granola bar as they move to stand beside the redhead. "The dinosaur. Billy, I think I heard someone call him" she replies. The keeper doesn't answer her, instead choosing to call out into the forested area "Billy!" It only takes one call for the dinosaur to come stomping through the foliage. He gives a questioning growl, looking towards the gate when he sees it's empty. "Up here big guy" the keeper grins leaning on the railing. Billy's head snaps up and those big blue eyes settle on the two humans above, another questioning growl. What was his keeper doing up there? It wasn't feeding time yet.

They're too distracted by the hybrid and don't hear the railing creak under them as they lean further. They do however hear the groan of metal, but it's too late when they finally hear it. The platform gives way, sending both (Y/N) and Max into a freefall. Twin screams fill the air and thankfully the workers are quick enough to jam the winches and stop their descent.

Two hang in shock for a few moments, only a minute or so but it feels like they've been suspended for hours. "Pull Max up! Pull her up quick!" (Y/N) screams up at the workers. The group of men agree and begin to work in tandem to pull the redhead upwards, all the while (Y/N) is reassuring her that they'll both be safe and get out of this incident alive.

Max manages to keep herself fairly cool, that is however till she begins to panic halfway up. There's a fray, (Y/N) has a fray in his rope. "Pull him up! Pull him up now!" She screams as soon as she's safely stood on the sturdier platform.

There's a growl from below, (Y/N) carefully peeks over his shoulder to see Billy still standing below, watching and waiting. A cold shiver runs down their spine. They had seen the Indominus eat before, watched him crunch bone and tear flesh, those bloody images flash before his eyes.

They look back up as the workers begin to pull them upwards, grunting as they work in unison to hoist them up little by little. "We've got you (Y/N)" Max shouts down. (Y/N) can see where the rope begins to unfurl, threads slowly breaking free.

The rope snaps.

(Y/N) shrieks as he falls, limbs flailing uselessly in the air.

They're lucky. Body falling into a thick soft bush, the foliage softens the blow as they hit the ground though they know the pain will come later. It could have been so much worse. Right now he's fueled by the adrenaline and fear rushing through his veins. He pulls himself out of the bush, crawling on all fours as he pants and huffs. He knows he's shaking but all he can focus on is the soft green grass under his hands.

He's alive and intact, that's all that matters right now.

Just as he's sighing in relief at not dying from the fall, hot breath warms his back and he freezes. There's so much screaming from above, but he can't make out any of the words. All he can hear are those low breaths coming from right above him.

Ever so slowly he tilts his head to the side, just enough to look up and back. Sure enough the Indo is there leaning over him with wide blue eyes. They roam over the human, inquisitively scanning his shivering form.

"(Y/N) RUN!" Max's scream throws him into action, just as a claw tipped hand begins reaching towards him. The keeper pushes himself up, taking off in a dead sprint for his life. The Indo makes confused growl at the sudden movement, seemingly stunned for a second. However Billy snaps out of his suprise fast and takes off after the human.

(Y/N) enters the forest, ankle burning as he hops over fallen logs and dodges deep footprints. He can hear the Indominus crashing through the foliage behind him. Several things happen all at once in quick succession. One (Y/N) stumbles, falling forwards onto the hard forest floor. The force knocks the air from his lungs completely winding him. Two the Indominus breaks into the clearing, coming to a halt as it spots the human laying in the grass. Three when the human tries to push himself up onto his hands and knees to sprint once more, a heavy weight is placed on his back pushing them back down against the earth.

(Y/N) whimpers as large white talons pierce the dirt either side of his head, the weight isn't heavy, just enough to keep the man in place. If Billy decided to put his full weight down on his foot, it would crush them. (Y/N) can't decide if that's better or worse than being eaten alive.

The keeper can hear Billy catching his breath above them. It's been awhile since the Indominus rex had been given live prey.

There's a deep rumble from the dinosaur and (Y/N) is sure this is it. Any moment now Billy will tear into him and he'll be reduced to nothing but dinosaur food. However instead of being chowed down on, the weight on his back is relieved. The keeper seizes the opportunity to escape, scrambling to get up. He pushes up to sit on his knees, but before he can get up and run again his left arm is gripped and raised by a large clawed hand.

The Indominus moves to stand before him, focused eyes looking over the appendage before moving to repeat the same motion with his other arm, grunting in approval.

Was it trying to figure out where to start? What was the best meat? Would it pull him apart? Numerous horrific images flash behind (Y/N)'s eyes, that is until the Indominus does something that has all the pieces falling into place.

Billy grips the human's chin, the touch surprisingly gentle for something so big. Big blue eyes flicker over (Y/N)'s face and head, tilting their head this way and that. The action was very similar to how Eddie had reacted to Billy's first outburst.

He was mimicking the keeper.

"you're checking me for injuries..." he gasps at the realisation and at that Billy's eyes snap up to pierce theirs. The Indominus holds their gaze for a long moment before nodding.

"You understand...not just basic commands.." it slowly pieces together in their mind. It never made sense how Steve could comprehend English and respond, yet Billy had been here four years or so and had only shown the bare minimum in understanding them and never spoke. He can understand, he's just been acting as if he can't. "You've understood me this entire time..." they think back to how he laid down by the gate each day, listening to them ramble on about their life. They thought their words had been falling on deaf ears, but no, Billy had understood it all.

Billy watches them silently, offering a single nod in acknowledgment. He then moves to grip (Y/N)'s ankle to continue his check up, only to jerk back when he cries out. They lean forwards to hold the injured leg, teeth still gritted from the shock of pain. "Shit, I think it's sprained" they groan. "Sprained?" The voice is rough from lack of use, but the tone is soft, maybe even a little bit worried.

(Y/N) looks up in suprise. He spoke, Billy spoke to them. They're the first person to hear him speak. They sit in awe. He looks upset, eyebrows furrowed and a deep frown is etched onto his pink lips. "It's just a torn ligament" they explain, this does not seem to calm the Indominus "Hurt?" They nod "just a little bit" they answer softly "but it'll heal, I'll be fine."

The Indominus frowns eyeing his surroundings before looking back to his keeper. Billy doesn't say anything as he wraps his large hand around (Y/N)'s waist, lifting the little human up from the forest floor as he moves to stand at his full height. The keeper panics, tiny hands gripping at his fingers as they try to decipher what he's planning "what...what are you doing?"

Billy doesn't respond to them, instead he opens his mouth wide. Plump pink lips parting to reveal large sharp teeth glistening with saliva. (Y/N) screams and begins thrashing in his grip as he moves them closer to the open maw. "NO! NO! NO, PLEASE!" They plead using their hands to push against his lips, kicking at his chin with their uninjured foot. "DON'T EAT ME!"

He pulls them back but their relief is short lived as he shifts his thumb to pin their arms. A couple of tears fall from their eyes. Billy makes a soft noise in the back of his throat, leaning forwards to lick the salty tears from their cheek. "Please" they whimper as he pulls back. "Safe" he mumbles to them.

There's no more room for arguing as he tilts his head back and raises the tiny human over his open mouth. (Y/N) is lowered in up to their waist, Billy's hand slipping away as he uses his tongue to guide them the rest of the way into his mouth before righting his head. They begin to hyperventilate as the Indo's teeth click shut behind them. The tongue beneath them laves at them, carefully stroking against their sides. Their surroundings rumble as the Indo begins to make a noise they can only describe as a purr.

He's enjoying this.

(Y/N) cries out as the tongue flicks against his ankle, Billy makes that soft whining sound again. Their surroundings tilt and (Y/N)'s scream is cut off as they're sucked down, pulled completely into the Indominus's hungry throat. They grunt at the pressure on their ankle as the muscles push them down deeper into the dinosaur.

(Y/N)'s slips out and into a new spacious chamber. They back pedal pressing themselves up against the wall behind them. His stomach, they were in Billy's stomach. They curl up, burying their face in their knees to muffle their sobs. They were going to die a horrific death. They had thought they were making progress with him, getting on his good side. But here they are, just another meal.

"Hey, I got the message what's the emergency?" Eddie calls out as he jogs up the path to the Indominus's paddock. He's confused to find a familiar redhead pacing back and forth in front of the tall white walls. Upon hearing the keeper's voice however her head snaps up to look at him, in a heartbeat she's throwing her arms around him and sobbing into his chest.

Eddie's suprised, Max wasn't really one to show excessive negative emotions openly. "(Y/N) fell into the enclosure." The world around them fades away and his heart falls into his stomach "what?" His throat feels like it's constricting around his words. "He ran into the forest but we haven't seen him since" Max sobs into his uniform. He stumbles over a few reassuring words, but they all feel hollow and leave an ashy taste on his tongue.

"Fuck, I have to call this in."

A team is called out to comb the enclosure for the missing keeper, they're wary of the Indominus however contrary to past encounters he leaves the group alone. Only giving a couple warning growls when they get too close. Eddie and Max are given the rundown of what they found and honestly they wish they hadn't.

(Y/N)'s footprints cut off suddenly half way into the forest, there are signs of a struggle but no other evidence. Their case is updated from missing to deceased. The two are horrified to learn of their friend's demise. Eddie is given the day off to mourn his fallen friend, he's also informed that he'll be taking over (Y/N) position when he gets back. All in all the higher ups seem more interested in a cover up rather than the fact that a keeper was mauled by their secret star.

He hates that fucking dinosaur.

Max visits the paddock the next day, despite the orders that she's not to ever see the Indominus rex again, but then again she's never been one to follow rules that didn't she didn't like. Billy watches her curiously from where he lays by the gate, big blue eyes focused solely on her. "He didn't deserve that you know" she spits, arms crossed over her chest as she glares right back at him. "(Y/N) was so good to you, he cared about you, FOR you and that's how you repay him" she rants beginning to pace back and forth inside the cage. "You took away someone who's precious to a lot of people, he was my friend!" Max isn't quite sure when she started yelling but she doesn't care.

Eddie's suprised to find her here, screaming at the massive rex. "Max?..." he says softly between her yelled expletives. The redhead spins to face him and his heartbreaks all over again. This must be so tough for her, kids shouldn't have to deal with the reality of situations like this. "Come on. Let's go visit Steve, I'm sure he could use some company right now." He doesn't expect her to agree so easily, but she does and maybe it's because she knows how the rex feels right now. All three of them lost a good friend.

She turns to grab her bag, ready to leave when a noise from the enclosure stops her. The Indominus is lent over coughing, it sounds like he's trying to hack something up. She glances at Eddie with confusion, the rex had shown no indications of being ill when she got there.

The two watch in both suprise and horror a body slips out from between his jaws. They instantly recognise the uniformed body as it lays there on its back at the Indominus's feet. Eddie's stomach flips at the sight. He was eaten whole? That's cruel even for an apex predator like Billy.

The Indominus gives the body a gentle lick before backing up a couple of steps, eyeing the two humans behind the gate.

"He's breathing..." Eddie barely manages to register Max's words. In a second she's slamming her hand down on the gate's button, the metal grid separating them from the predator begins to slowly lift and Eddie watches in, completely frozen to his spot as the redhead ducks beneath the gate. Max has no other thoughts in her mind as she sprints towards the body, she needs to get (Y/N) to safety.

Finally Eddie breaks free of his trance and is set into motion, rushing under the gate after Max who has already made it to the body and is kneeling beside it. "He is! He's breathing!" She calls back, grabbing under both of (Y/N)'s arms. She grunts, pulling the body backwards with a lot of effort.

Reaching them Eddie moves to put himself in front of the two, arms out in a protective stance as he walks backwards with them. Billy pulls a face at the man's sudden arrival, letting slip a small growl but other than that, he stays put. He watches the little human as she makes her way back under the gate with the second keeper following close behind. Once back under Eddie is quick to close the gate again.

Eddie calls in the medics and Max sobs as she feels a strong pulse. "Never pull that shit again" he says, gathering the crying girl into his arms for a hug. She grasps at his shirt, agreeing through hiccups. Over her shoulder Eddie can see the Indominus watching them closely, still stoked where he had been when Max rushed in.

(Y/N) is put on bed rest for two days, his ankle is wrapped up and he's given crutches to keep the weight off of his injured foot. Eddie fills them in on what happened after they disappeared and how the Indominus had spat them back up. They manage to fill in a few of their own theories whilst resting. Billy isn't too happy seeing their foot wrapped up like that when they visit, but he seems more distracted by the fact that they came back at all.

"Hey bud" they great him from behind the gate. The Indominus only stares as he moves closer "been awhile" still no response "I'm not back as your keeper just yet, still got some healing to do but there were no rules saying I couldn't visit you so...hi" still Billy says nothing as he makes his way over to the gate, leaning down to look at the tiny human. They're suprised as he licks up their front through the bars before pulling back, there's a small smile tugging at his lips. It certainly is an odd greeting but they appreciate it.

"So the past two days have been utter shit..." he begins his usual ramblings as he hobbles over to the concrete to sit down and Billy moves to lay down as close as he can to the bars. The two falling back into their regular one sided conversation.

Billy's face visible through the bars. A lazy look on his face, though he focuses on the little human whenever they look up or move. So in tune with every little movement they make. Keeping a close eye on his keeper.

His human.

[nitrosodiumfmp]

Behold, a First Look at Nharro

For being a pretty key character in Sinister's story (without him being asleep, the story would not happen), I haven't touched on Nharro much. This is my first piece of concept art for the Spirit King himself. I actually put a lot of thought into his design - much like the rest of Sinister, it doesn't look weird to look weird, it all has a purpose. Firstly, notice his pose, left hand raised upwards. (Left hand is noted because the word sinister means left-handed in Latin). This pose has been used, in some capacity, in Hinduism art, especially of the god Shiva.

Note the lower right (Shiva's right, at least) facing palm-outward to the viewer. Shiva is regarded as a god of both creation and destruction within Hinduism, and this parallels Nharro as the ruler of limbo, a realm between life and death. I've thought about this a lot and incorporated it into his design - not only is Nharro very symmetrical, but most things in his design are in groups of two, five and ten. I was thinking about how to represent the soul without connecting it to any specific religion (even my look into Hinduism was surface-level). What makes the human being different from any other animal (assuming animals do not have souls)? Our intelligence? But animals like dolphins are just as smart. Our genes? Perhaps, but we share nearly 99% of that with pigs and apes. I would like to point to the thing that has let us survive as a species: hands, specifically, five digits and opposable thumbs to allow us to master the tool. We have two hands, five digits on each, and ten across both. Look closer at Nharro's design if you haven't already - each curling line, each pattern of dots, practically everything comes back to that theme of two, five and ten.

You may have also noticed the pocketwatch tied to Nharro's ring finger by a chain. This is so he can count the lifetimes of the many souls entering his domain, but it also represents the mechanical aspects of Nharro's realm, the gears and moving parts. To him, the cycle of life and death is the perfect machine, multiple components (decay, growth, et cetera) working together. However, as Nharro's mind spirals into unconsciousness, so does the underworld. The immaculate order is gone, warped; gears now spin independent of any drive shafts or machinery, no longer obeying laws of friction nor thermodynamics. Warehouses of perfectly-ordered containers are now strewn in absurd patterns, stacked to the ceilings for no logical reason. The rusted hulks of boats pile up in the harbor, the carcasses of a once-orderly fleet of limbo-faring ferries. No wonder the Shipwright went mad.

Now let's look at Nharro's subordinates, the skeletons at his sides. They are dressed in cloaks; an idealistic artistic representation of a Grave Digger's garb, no longer torn apart by the ravages of time. The leftmost (our left this time, confusing I know) skeleton is carrying a spade, indicating that this one would fill the role of Grave Digger. Nharro has his hand rested on its skull; an act of affirmation to who are essentially his children. The other skeleton is carrying a large tome, and while it is not visible in the image, some messages in Latin are written.

Nharro spiritus est rex terram inter vitam et mortem.

Dominus maris in quem omnia flumina influunt.

Manes ad milites, sepulchra ad sutores, cryptas ad urbes.

Mortis in visione vitae.

I chose Latin because, beyond it being the go-to language for writing interesting messages without creating a conlang, it also contains the root of the word Sinister, as previously mentioned. The messages translate roughly to:

Nharro is the spirit king of the land between life and death.

Lord of the ocean into which all rivers flow.

Ghosts unto soldiers, tombstones unto cobbles, crypts unto cities.

Death in the visage of life.

Beyond being a nice bit of purple prose to fill the artwork, it describes my idea of Nharro and the wider afterlife quite well. The "ocean into which all rivers flow" is a metaphor I've wanted to use for a while in conjunction with Sinister - the afterlife's geography is very ocean-heavy, and the sea has always been a source of mysticism, from sirens and sea monsters to the supernatural implications of Davy Jones' Locker, and the various disappearances of ships throughout the ages. Plus, if you think back to the idea of Nharro loving the perfect cycles of life and death, look at the water cycle. Water begins in rivers and flows to the ocean, where it is "reincarnated" via evaporation. Sinister has you die over and over, and where do you evaporate, or respawn from, each time? The harbor. The ocean. My plan for traveling between levels has you on a boat - you're on your own water cycle in that sense. And what of "tombstones unto cobbles, crypts unto cities"?. Obviously this is a resting place functionally, but look at the level architecture. Everything is built out of gigantic pieces of stone, as if the afterlife was literally built out of ancient tomb remnants.

The artwork on the book is also related; though it's basically incomprehensible in the image I took. The first one is an ornate skull at the bottom of the first page, which doesn't have any meaning, but it's in line with the rest of the art design for the drawing. The next one represents a group of skeletons in a boat, crossing a stormy sea. This obviously relates to souls entering the afterlife by boat; the imagery originally comes from Charon and his ferry in Greek mythology, but it's also how souls canonically arrive to Nharro's realm in-game. The third image shows four buildings, standing tall. However, the remains of four skeletons are entombed within, making the skyscrapers appear more like sarcophagi. This relates to that line "crypts unto cities", on a more metaphorical level.

On Nharro's actual physical shape, I borrowed a lot from Moon Lord from Terraria.

The irregular head shape with multiple eyes, visible ribcage, and torso that tapers off is a very striking design, and something I have tried to mirror with Nharro. Obviously, his emaciated look comes from him being the god of death; of course he looks like a wizened corpse. Nharro's head was the first thing I designed of his character actually; I couldn't tell you what it properly represents, but it does somewhat resemble a coffin. If you look closely, a leering skull is visible in the centre, and this pattern is mirrored if you look at it upside-down, once more bringing things back to the themes of two, five and ten. In retrospect, it also looks very phallic, but given that sex is a key part of the life-death cycle (leading into birth obviously), it does still relate. Truthfully, it was an interestingly curved symmetrical pattern I could easily draw. Maybe it's different for everyone who looks at it. That is the key part of the project, after all. One thing can appear to be one outcome, and end up being another entirely. Nothing is as it seems. I think the Spirit King emulates that quite well.

(I am also aware that the name "Spirit King" is used by various characters, but it isn't Nharro's official title anyway).

I plan to have this drawing as a texture on a massive wall in the second level of Sinister, perhaps in some sort of church so I can lean into the more Gothic and fantastical elements of the art style. I could even make it transparent somehow and put it on a stained-glass window; now that would be cool. I have put masses of thought into this design, and so I really want to implement it somehow. I'd hate for all this effort to go to a character you don't even see.

[turangalila]

Johannes Brassart (c. 1400 - c. 1455) – Regina coeli [(no. 87-179. pp.197r-198r) MS 1374 [87] (Trent 87). Museo Provinciale d'Arte, Castello del Buonconsiglio, Trento, Italy]

Regina coeli, laetare, alleluia. / Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia. / Resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia. / Ora pro nobis Deum. // Alle Domine, nate matris Deus alme / nobis confer praestaque vivere. / Quoniam te decet laus honor Domine, / qui de morte surrexisti rex pie. / Fac nos post te surgere, alleluia.

– Ave Maria [(no. 87-036. p.51r) MS 1374 [87] (Trent 87). Museo Provinciale d'Arte, Castello del Buonconsiglio, Trento, Italy]

SUPERIUS I Ave Maria gratia plena Dominus tecum / Et tua gratia sit mecum / gloria mulierum, gemma virginum / stella sacerdotum, rosa martyrum / domina apostolorum, regina angelorum / Iocunditas celorum, Iesu dei mater. / Amen. 

SUPERIUS II Ave Maria gratia plena / ego peccator suspiro ad te / inclinans ad te intercede pro me / ad dilectissimum filium tuum / ut mundet me a peccatis, liberet me a poenis / ut salvet me in cælis, ut vivam cum beatis. / Benedicta tu in mulieribus / et benedictus Iesus / dulcissimus fructus ventris tui. / Amen

_ Arnold de Lantins:  Missa Verbum Incarnatum Capilla Flamenca. Dirk Snellings Psallentes. Hendrik Vanden Abeele Clari Cantuli. Ria Vanwing  (2002, Ricercar RIC207)

[3xm-draconic]

Broken Chains (Werebat Cyris and Astarion Story)

Summary: Astarion confronts Orin to save Cyris...with help from an unexpected source.

The temple reeked of blood and viscera. Orin and a pure white dragonborn stood definitely before them, “Durgy, Kill them, make their bowls ooze all over the floor, for Bhaal!” She giddily hummed to the twitching muttering creature “hahahaha…yes…FOR BHAAL!” he roared.

They needed to fill the dagger with her blood, it would consume her with one stab…if only Astarion could get that close…

Halsin and Karlach were smashed into the walls and poor Shadowheart was sent flying into the temple ceiling…this Dark Urge guy…he’s tougher than they expected, but NOTHING is stopping him from killing Orin and taking her blood back to the temple of Entumbrue.

He’s cutting that bitch’s heart out one way or another…

Astarion got Halsin up “Get Shad and Karlach out of here”, “no Astarion we are not leaving you here”, “Iam not letting you all get killed by-”

The Durge roared and looked as if he were tearing himself apart…then he transformed.

He took the form of a hideous monstrosity, “YOU need to leave NOW”, “NO, I know you want him back but it’s suicide! You can’t fight that thing alone!” 

Astarion wasn’t listening…

They were all pinned…

“Gods…Cy..” he sobbed “I’am sorry”...

BOOM

Suddenly the door to the temple burst open and an elderly dwarf in gleaming platemail zoomed past them striking the creature in the face with a gigantic warhammer.

“YOU” BOOM whent the hammer down on the creature’s head, “DON’T”, BOOM down it whent again, “HURT”, BOOM “MY LITTLE GRAND BABBY’S”, BOOM, “FRIENDS!” WA-BAM!

The creature was sundered into the Skull of Bhaal, “GRah! You-” BANG, “enough out of you, I’am done looking at such an ugly face!” He snapped.

The dwarf raised his hammer high, “NO!” Orin screamed as the Durge’s head was caved in like a rotten pumpkin…

“Alright you, get back on your feet we have this nasty piece of work to deal with”, “who are you?” Shadowheart gawked, “no time for introductions, kill crazyass first”.

Orin screamed and transformed into the same monster as the Durge before…

That's when Astarion got an idea “get her to face you guys, I’ll sneak attack her, one shot is all I need…”, “you sure boy?” the elderly dwarf turned to him, “trust me”.

Orin lunged at the dwarf but he was surprisingly nimble for an old man, Astarion turned into a bat and clung to the ceiling “just the right angle…” he murmured, Orin stomped and slashed about…then.

Astarion dropped from the ceiling, poofed back into human form mid-air and stabbed Orin in the head.

She shrieked and roared and cried, but the dagger did its job, it exsanguinated her and now with her life blood in hand it was time for a sacrifice.

“Ok…who are you exactly?” Karlach asked the old dwarf as Halsin patched her up, “Oh right, I promised to tell all of you when we killed that crazy bitch” the dwarf laughed “name’s Cyris Stonebreaker, I’am Cyris’s Grandpa”.

“WAIT WHAT?” everyone gawked, “I thought he was raised by halflings” Shadowheart pondered, “your correct, his mother is light foot but his daddy be a strongheart, a stout, a half-dwarf” Stonebreaker laughed “I married a halfling lass who had o’l little Tommy boy”.

“A strongheart halfling half-dwarf?” Karlach scratched her head “well ain’t that something…”

The temple to Entumbru was rebuilt, hastily but with care, the basin at the base of the shrine was repaired and ready for its offering. Menphes Gloombeard acted as priest of the ritual, “you sure this will work?” Gale shuttered, all the bats looking at him…felt…hungry, “yes, Entumbru promised and he will keep his word” Astarion turned to Gale with a determined look.   

Out of the 300 or so spawn and 70 werebat deep gnomes, they had the 100 worshipers required, they had Orin’s blood, the temple was rebuilt and now…

Astarion took the dagger out and broke it over the basin, a gallon of blood oozed out, the converts began chanting…

“dominus nofler. rex bate. custos crepusculi. adtende vocationi nostrae o sancte pater et huic orationi mediae responde”, Entumbru hopped down and began to drink Orin’s blood. 

“reddite nobis furto. Hanc oblationem suscipe, et huius sacrificii virtute convalescas. o rex lunarum pallidarum et purpurearum astra” Entumbru morphed before their eyes…he grew into the form of a man…

A very familiar man…

���Cyris?” Astarion gawked, this…form of the bat god…why did he?

“I go now to rescue my son” he turned to the worshipers “keep the basin full…please do not let my power wane” he stepped through a portal to the hells… “I will be back…shortly”

The basin never seemed to be full, it kept draining and draining like a bottomless pit “Astarion we may not have enough blood for this” Sebastian worriedly turned to him, “I have an idea” he said as he approached the basin, he put on every item of magic that increased health, had his friends stand by with healing potions and spells…

He then cut his palms and let them bleed into the basin, repeatedly using the spell “life transference” to give his blood to the basin.

“ASTARION!”, “I’ll be fine…just, just keep me alive” he groaned.

It felt like hours but Entumbru returned with Cyris’s soul intact, “that when rather quick” Gale noted “what on earths did you do to get him back you could not have fought the devil that easily?”, “simple…I fucked Mephostpholies” Entumbru nonchalantly shrugged.

The party was silent, “what?” Entumbru grumble “Iam a god of nature, twilight, harvest, protection and…” he chuckled coyly “Iam also a god of…fertility”

“Whatever lets just put Cyris’s soul back into his body now” Karlach flusteredly changed the subject. 

Cyris awoke to being in a bed back in Little Hope-Light, the tavern in Bloodcrystal Vail “was it all a dream?” he groaned, Astarion saw him awaken “CYRIS!” he embraced him “gods darling~!” he kissed him all over his big bearded face “I love you, I love you!” he cried.

The party practically smothered him in affection, hells even lae’zel was hugging him and telling him how worried she was about him.

Cyris looked at his body, the chains were gone…but scars of their presence still remained, on his neck and wrists were long jagged scars where the tattoos had been removed.

“Jellybean!” Cyris’s Grandfather, Stonebreaker, called out to him as the two hugged “oh, boy It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, Moradin’s beard! You’ve gotten tall haven't you?”, “Grandpa! You came all the way here to help” Cyris smiled but the frownd “won’t grangran be worried about you with your mechanical leg acting up?”

Stonebreaker shrugged “as long as I got oil on the thing it’ll be fine squirt” he chuckled.

Entumbrue approached Cyris, Cyris confused at what was before him simply gawked in stunned silence, “hello son” Entumbru smiled, “son?”,  Entumbru laughed “son as in my SON, you are of my flesh and blood, I am your biological father Cyris”.

Stunned silence filled the room.

“Then…who’s my mother?” Cyris asked, his mind racing, “you met her already, she saved you from jumping off that belltower…”, “you mean?” Cyris gasped in shock, “yes Cyris” Entumbru nodded “you are the son of Yondalla”.

[thistechnologicalterror]

I HAVE RECENTLY DISCOVERED THAT THE WORD “DOMINO” IS ACTUALLY DERIVED FROM ONE OF THE ANCIENT LANGUAGES THAT CONTRIBUTED TO OLD-COMMON (WE CURRENTLY USE MODERN-BASIC INTER-GALACTICALLY, OLD-COMMON WAS ITS ANCESTOR)

AS IT TURNS OUT, DOMINO IS DERIVED FROM DOMINUS, WHICH MEANS LORD OR MASTER.

... I SUPPOSE THIS MEANS THAT THE FORCE HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR FOR OUR DEAR CAPTAIN REX.

A SQUAD OF LORDS FOR THE CAPTAIN-KING. QUITE POETIC, IS IT NOT?

[aeon2407]

WIP Snippet #2: The Terran War

My first attempt at a Star Wars fic after rewatching Rebels, about a year or so ago.

A very, VERY bleak and brutal perspective of how our society would deal with an alien invasion.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chopper Base, Atollon, Dominus Sector, Outer Rim

Hera was sitting in the Ghost’s cockpit with Chopper, watching Ezra spar with Kanan outside, practicing what she recognized as Kanan’s favored Form III. Sabine and Zeb were throwing playful jabs at Ezra’s expense from the side, more Zeb than Sabine. Hera smiled at their familiar antics as she waited on a full system diagnosis. It had only been a few days since her last check, but the Empire had been suspiciously quiet lately and Hera felt like something big is about to happen. The last thing she wanted was for her turrets or engines to malfunction in the middle of a firefight. That had happened once, before she met Kanan, and Hera strived to make sure that it was the only time.

‘Ghost Crew, report to the Command Center immediately’, Commander Sato’s voice blared through the comm unit on her hip. A glance out the viewport told her that her crew also got the call. “Stay here Chopper”, she told the orange astromech, who complained extensively about the order but begrudgingly stayed behind, before heading towards Commander Sato. She noticed that Ahsoka was there, along with Rex, who was scowling at her, and Fenn Rau, who was uncharacteristically disturbed. Something was wrong alright.

“What’s going on?” she heard Kanan asked as her crew converged around the holotable. Rex turned to him, visibly upset.

“Nothing, just one of the worst plans in Galactic history”, he replied angrily, shooting a glare towards Ahsoka, who only sighed and rubbed her eyes.

“I get why you’re mad, Rex. Really, I do. But this would give us an edge that we desperately need”, she reasoned, which softened him up somewhat.

“I understand desperation, Ahsoka. Trust me, I do. But there are better ways to fight this war than asking the Terrans for help”

“Woah woah woah, time out”, Sabine interrupted. “The Terrans? As in Terra? In the Sol System?” she asked incredulously. “You’re looking for their help?”

Hera was as shocked as her. The Sol System was far away from the rest of the galaxy. The closest major planet just so happened to be Ryloth, but even from there it would take the Ghost seven days in the Corellian Run to reach Terra. Even though the Empire tried to cover it up, a lot of people knew what happened on that planet. The infamous Terran War.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was after the fallout of Order 66 had mostly passed and most signs of sedition across the galaxy had been crushed that the Empire decided to send probes into wild space in search of new conquest opportunities. Planets such as Malagarr, Lwhekk, and Kinooine fell swiftly and firmly into Imperial rule, either through surrender or by force, but it was during the invasion into Lamaredd that a Star Destroyer picked up distant signals further out. A probe confirmed that there was a planet in a single-star system, nearly 800,000 parsecs away, containing a moderately developed civilization and intriguing resources.

The Emperor agreed to deploy two Imperial-class Star Destroyers and six Quasar Fire-class carriers, or light carriers as they were more commonly known, along with the corresponding number of stormtroopers and TIE fighters around Terra’s orbit. It was a stroke of coincidence that spoken Galactic Basic was identical to English, even the Aurebesh alphabet was extremely similar to the English one. All twenty-six characters and ten numbers have a direct substitute, with only twenty-two extra characters and symbols from Aurebesh that were easy enough to decipher, so there was no language barrier. How was that tidbit discovered?

Well, the two Admirals present, confident in their military power to the point of arrogance, sent a planet-wide signal containing a message stating who they were, how they represented the Galactic Empire, and finally that they would wait one day for messages of surrender to arrive before they open fire upon the planet.

Within six hours, every government, save for North Korea, had casted aside their rivalries and differences and repurposed the United Nations into the High Government of Terra, putting various head of states in charge of the entire planet. Within eight hours, every special operations branch under the sun was standing by to lead the entirety of Terra’s military might against the Empire and defend their freedom, having been instructed to disregard the Geneva Convention in its entirety. Four hours later, the entire Kim family and most high-ranking North Korean officials were assassinated by unknown parties, making South Korea, now the Republic of Korea, a nuclear superpower.

Fourteen hours after the ultimatum was given, two nuclear warheads, hidden amongst a cluster of ICBM missiles, made contact with the Vanguard.

The five-year Terran War began from there.

The Vanguard itself disintegrated. As it turns out, tritium is very effective when it comes to breaching deflector shields. The other Star Destroyer, the Tyrant, immediately deployed multiple squadrons of TIE fighters and three carriers-worth of stormtroopers to engage in ground-level combat.

Once they breached the upper atmosphere, it was too close to the surface to utilize nuclear warfare, so SAMs were used to intercept the carriers, acting as a battering ram against their shields, while F-22s, J-20s, Rafales, F-18s, J-31s, Typhoons, Su-57s, and all three types of F-35s engaged in dogfighting with TIEs in lower atmosphere.

With complete technological inferiority, it took Terra a combination of jets, SHORAD systems, and HIMAD systems just to keep the fight for aerial control plausible. Missiles struggled to lock onto the smaller and more agile TIE fighters, although once it locked that TIE was as good as dead due to a lack of countermeasures. Guns, on the other hand, found themselves extremely useful against the standardized titanium hull, with 30mm ammunition achieving full penetration with only two or three strafes. After the first year, every Terran jet being utilized were revamped for exospheric warfare and equipped with guns capable of shooting .50cal rounds, along with a significantly higher mag capacity, making the TIE fighters even more fragile, which evened out the skies a little.

On the ground, however, stormtroopers flooded every major city in the world, only to find that their training was no match for Terra’s extensive and bloody history of warfare. Their best detachments were easy prey for Spec Ops units, and even normal infantry platoons were more than sufficient to counter the average stormtrooper. It got even worse when Imperial ground forces discovered the hard way that slugs like the .223 Remington could tear through plastoid like paper. From there a combination of surprise raids and urban warfare thinned the herd of stormtroopers down like weeds.

Another thing the Empire discovered the hard way was that if there was one thing the Terrans knew how to do, it was finding creative and gruesome ways to kill. America opted to airstrike Imperial bases, Vietnam resurrected the art of guerrilla warfare, several countries deployed sarin, ricin and various other toxins into occupied enemy territory. All in all, by the second week, every stormtrooper not within the security detail on the Tyrant was required on the surface. After the first month, the Tyrant had to call for reinforcements in the form of five additional platoons of troops. By the sixth month, hearing the word ‘Terra’ from their CO was a stormtrooper’s worst nightmare. It was only through a combination of air superiority and orbital bombing did the ground forces stand a chance, but even then surface combat was a nightmarish affair for Imperial troops.

After about a month, Fleet Admiral Matthew McCallan, Chairman of the JCS and former DEVGRU Commanding Officer, proposed an engagement in psychological warfare to the High Government and received a majority vote of approval. After that, everywhere stormtroopers went, they saw the mutilated corpses of their fellow soldiers. Severed heads on spikes in the desert, headless bodies hanging from tropical trees, corpses riddled with bullets crucified onto the walls of abandoned buildings for all to see. Messages drawn from the excess blood, the Imperial symbol with bloody handprints smearing it away, appeared nearby. These psychological tactics persisted throughout the war.

Four years into the war, one certain event changed the course of aerial combat. In the past, whenever a TIE fighter was shot down, it would crash land and explode upon impact with the ground. However, on October 4th, 2026, Lieutenant Commander Jackson “Hellhound” McCallan, TOPGUN graduate and Admiral McCallan’s flying ace of a middle child, finessed a shot from his F-35 into a TIE’s engine in such a way that forced the aircraft to glide down for a minimal damage landing instead of the usual crash landing and explosion. This allowed Terran forces to collect both tech and intel from the fighter.

Suddenly, Terran jets have blasters and are capable of extraorbital combat, significant increases in speed and maneuverability, along with backup repulsor engines and repulsor landing systems. Jackson himself was awarded the rank of Captain, given an F-22 by the Air Force, and proceeded to achieve this feat six more times, along with dozens of confirmed aerial takedowns.

Halfway through the fifth year, both sides had sustained billions in combined casualties. The population of Terra had gone from eight billion to four. The Empire had lost around a billion stormtroopers, including millions of SCAR Troopers and Storm Commandos. The cost of sustaining the war had outweighed the benefits that Terra as a planet had to offer. A last-ditch effort to force a surrender saw one extremely loyal TIE pilot weave past air defenses and crashed herself, along with the two proton bombs aboard, into the Pentagon, which at the time contained the Terra Military Command Center.

This suicide dive disintegrated the entire building, killing almost every general officer commanding the planet at the time, including Fleet Admiral McCallan. With his distinguished and highly decorated career, Jackson was given an emergency brevet directly to Fleet Admiral and was one of the representatives who accepted the Empire’s surrender a mere two months later. Afterwards, as the High Government declared peacetime and decided to let all countries retain their sovereignty while acting more as a senatorial government, he was given a permanent promotion to Rear Admiral and proceeded to assume command of NAS North Island, then later became a Vice Admiral during his time as JSOC Commander.

After his time there ended, instead of being demoted, Jackson was instead promoted to a four-star when he was appointed COMPACFLT. He kept up his flight proficiency by frequently participating in exercises with a selective squadron of pilots under his command, all of whom comprised his project: VFA-253, the first F-22 VFA in Naval history, nicknamed the Icy Raptors. He pushed them into becoming one of the best Strike Fighter Squadrons in Navy history, and that Squadron was inducted into USSOCOM before long and eventually into JSOC as a Tier One special operations unit by his succeeding JSOC Commander. They were officially renamed to Special Operations Aerial Detachment or SOPAD, colloquially known within JSOC as Strike Wing One, the Navy’s aviation equivalent of DEVGRU.

Terra, as a planet, became a safe haven for outlaws and fugitives as the only known planet completely free of Imperial influence. Over time, it evolved into a trading hub for various different factions, trading goods and services in a peace enforced by well-trained soldiers carrying slugthrowers, which also meant that the Terran government could tax the kriff out of those trades. Weed and narcotics became popular with many different planets, especially the Hutts, while Terran booze was a sought-after delicacy that traded at exorbitant prices. Aurebesh became the universal language, and Imperial credits exchanged 1:4 with the Euro. The planet prospered even more when people started taking an interest in Terra’s diverse ecosystems, and tourism soon became the planet’s main source of income.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been just over a decade since the Empire retreated from Terra, and by principle they don’t have a presence there at all save for an aquatic outpost to act as an embassy. But Hera would be foolish to take that as a fact. There was a reason why so few rebel cells chose Terra as a base, besides the long commute with the rest of the galaxy.

“I’ve been in contact with someone within Terran military”, Ahsoka explained. “They said that they’re part of a group of elite pilots that might be able to help the rebellion, but they’d need to be convinced. Hera, given that you’re the best pilot we have, I think you’re the most suitable person for this job”

Usually, Hera would jump at any good chance to give the burgeoning Resistance an edge against the Empire. But Terra was infamous for its brutality in combat, doing everything imaginable to not only emerge from a confrontation alive and victorious, but cripple their enemies’ morale and conviction in the process. Hera was already an adult, flying the Ghost across the galaxy when the Empire retreated, and as such she’d seen the holovids sent back from Terra. There were things in those vids that would make even a Mandalorian flinch. She actually vomited when holovids of female Imperials in captivity was leaked onto the net. There truly were fates worse than death.

She didn’t want the Resistance associated with any of that, even if the rest of the galaxy had decided to turn a blind eye towards the planet’s actions from the war, justifying it as the desperate acts of a desperate people to avoid extinction.

[human-antithesis]

Altered States of Divinity

Lyrics: My flesh and my heart have fainted away, and I became a blaze, a reflection of the void. Locked within the maze of serpent scales, his light shall gently scorch the earth.

The tongues we speak are of the dead and what dwells in us is not humane. Oh, divine flame, leading existence towards endless enthropy... Chaos!

Let the Lord be in our hearts and on our lips, within the luscious saliva we spit into open mouths. May the words of the gospel wipe away the stars and may their years be counted... to nothing. Nothing!

Canite Deo! Canite regi nostro. (Let's sing to God! Let's sing to our king.) Quia rex terræ Deus, canite. (Because God is king of the earth, let's sing.) Quia ipse Deus, Deus noster. (Because he is God himself, our God.) Dominus salvabit me. (The Lord shall save me.)

Canite Deo! Canite regi nostro. Quia rex terræ Deus, canite. (Quia ipse Deus, Deus noster.) Dominus salvabit me.

Infect through me! Ruin through me! Burn my lungs with the praise, tear my mouth with the name! Bleed me! And shall my blood drain the world to ashes, with each single drop dissolving the bonds of creation.

It looks all new seen through undead eyes, with earthborn flesh pulsating with its light.

May the words of the gospel wipe away our kin and may their years be counted to nothing. Nothing! All you, earthborn! All you, sons of men! Through your bloodveins shall flow the praise!

Canite Deo! Canite regi nostro. Quia rex terræ Deus, canite. Quia ipse Deus, Deus noster. Dominus salvabit me.

Canite Deo! Canite regi nostro. Quia rex terræ Deus, canite. (Quia ipse) Deus, Deus noster. Dominus salvabit me.

[pagesofkenna]

bi-dominusrex replied to your post “hey so uhh new CR episodes get posted to youtube the monday afterward,...”

my little brother watches it and if he misses i have to listen to him complain about waiting? does that help

yes because now i have one more thing to talk to your little brother about behind your back

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #24: Before We Were So Rudely INTERRUPTED!

September, 1987

DOMINUS REX!

Namor gonna sue you for using a thing that’s like his thing. God help you if you also have sweet abs.

I like the title of this issue. It feels. Offended. Like the comic was trying to tell a simple story about the West Coast Avengers fighting a doofus and his quirky miniboss squad but then had to go through all this lost in time stuff and is being snippy about it.

Anyway.

HOPEFULLY I can streamline the last time section now that most of the plot threads have been tied up.

Last times on West Coast Avengers: the team got Lost in Space-Time when Dominus tricked them into standing on Dr Doom’s time machine.

They had many hijinxes. Hawkeye and co went to Ancient Egypt and were involved in the background of one of the earliest Fantastic Four stories! And Hawkeye met Khonshu!

In less fun news, Mockingbird got trapped in cowboy times and love potioned by Phantom Rider. After some Hawkeye cosplay brought her to her senses, she was fairly furious and wound up killing or accidental pre-meditated deathing him. Which she does not tell Hawkeye once they’re reunited.

Hank Pym, Moon Knight (sent in the present by Khonshu in the past), and La Espirita eventually retrieved the team with the Fantastic Four’s version of Dr Doom’s time machine. So now they’re all in the present again.

Yup, that’s much less complicated.

Now that we’re back to before we were so rudely interrupted, it’s time for Dominus to be an actual antagonist and not just an inciting incident.

Show us what you got, dude who replaced Lucifer.

... The guy that broke Xavier’s spine, I mean. Not the devil man.

So Dominus decides to explain to Sunstroke all about his alien race and their evil schemes.

Why he does this, I don’t know. Villains just love the sound of their own voices.

So the Dominus and Lucifer race is called the Arcane.

Like the Skrulls, they Secretly Invade planets and conquer them through subversion. Unlike Secret Invasion, the Arcane are actually good at it.

The Arcane are actually pretty obscure on the galactic stage. BECAUSE THEY’RE ACTUALLY GOOD AT BEING STEALTH INVADERS. THEY DON’T BROADCAST THEMSELVES.

It helps that the Arcane have a really effective method of taking over that requires a lot less infiltrating.

They just have one agent go to a planet, build a hidden base, and build a Master Machine suited for that planet. It can take years but once its done, the machine activates and sends out mind control rays that enslave the entire planet.

The Skrulls wish they were this effective and evil.

Dominus also exposits about Lucifer, mostly so he can call him a fuck up.

Lucifer was sent to take over Earth but got thwarted by Xavier once and then the X-Men.

For being a fuck up, Lucifer was banished to the dimension called the Nameless Dimension.

Then Lucifer broke out of the Nameless Dimension and menaced Iron Man. And then later he menaced Falcon and Captain America.

SUFFICE TO SAY, he had some mission creep there. And all these fights with superheroes were definitely drawing more attention than the none that the Arcane would prefer.

So boom, Lucifer was terminated by his people and the Arcane left Earth alone until people forgot that there was an alien named Lucifer who was hugely important in Xavier’s backstory.

What’s funny is that with the sliding timescale, the amount of time the Arcane waited until deciding ‘good enough!’ ever diminishes.

Three years prior to this comic, Dominus decided ‘good enough!’ and came to Earth to do the whole Arcane thing. Except without being a fuck up like Lucifer.

I don’t know that he succeeded because: look: his mission was to set up base in the American Southwest and try not to attract attention from the X-Men or from the Defenders or Rangers.

Dominus created the Desert Dwellers to spy on those three groups and he set up his time machine scheme if any of them found him. Which the West Coast Avengers did which is why they were Lost in Space-Time.

But why did the Desert Dwellers attack the West Coast Avengers at all? They could have laid low and the Avengers would have come and gone, never any wiser about the secret villain plot.

Its not like Dominus ever needs to fight any superhero teams if he gets his Master Machine working.

Dominus, you’re as much a fuck up as Lucifer is, aren’t you?

He says he had the Desert Dwellers lure the West Coast Avengers so he could send them into the past and then destroyed the Fantastic Four’s time machine so they couldn’t be found but, my dude, you are drawing a lot of attention to yourself!

The West Coast Avengers aren’t even one of the groups you were originally worried about so now you still have them to worry about AND you’ve aggroed the Fantastic Four!

You fuck up!

You absolute and total goon!

You complete kneebiter!

Anyway, yeah, the West Coast Avengers are looking to tie off the loose end of the jerk who sent them back in time.

Each of the Avengers and guests gets a chance to have some thoughts about their most pressing thoughts.

Iron Man is thrilled that not only is he back in the present but Hank Pym is back to superheroing. He’s felt really weird about Hank hanging out as a not superhero in previous issues so this is a good turn.

Hank Pym is also thrilled that the Avengers seem to be accepting him returning to superheroing despite uh his past difficulties.

Tigra is also thrilled to be back in the present. Because she’s been wanting to stalk Dominus for sending them back in time. She’s feeling the cat instincts.

Moon Knight is tagging along because he’s trying to figure out what Khonshu is trying to tell him by sending him on this quest and revealing that Hawkeye is the one who made his random bullshit weapons.

La Espirita is praying because yeah.

Wonder Man wants to get this over with so he can get back to his big Hollywood dreams.

Hawkeye is also revved up to fight Dominus.

Hawkeye: “You put us through the ringer, Dominus, but all that happened was, you showed us what we can do! I’ve got a team, buddy! I’ve got a team that can take anybody -- and we’re takin’ YOU!”

And Mockingbird is just thinking how much she missed Clint Hawkeye when they were separated in TIME. Annnnnd how grateful she is he’ll neverrrrr find out about that guy she killed.

Yeah, I’m just waiting for that shoe to drop.

When the West Coast Avengers turn the corner in the cave, they find the quirky mini-boss squad the Desert Dwellers waiting.

Except they’ve kind of become a quirky mini-boss army.

Yeah, there’s apparently fifty of them now. Multiples of Gila, Butte, and Cactus. Still just one Sunstroke though.

Dominus can just make more dudes.

(Fun little touch here is Moon Knight’s bafflement at a dude named Cactus. He wasn’t here for the first part of the story.)

Anyway, the Avengers and guests just jump right into without even so much as an assemble.

Hawkeye and Tigra fight a bunch of Cactuses. Cacti? Anyway, Hawkeye shoots a buzzsaw arrow because of course he has one. And Tigra gets punched in the ass by Cactus and winds up with an ass full of cactus needles.

Then she goes angry cat and tears some Cactusi apart.

Wonder Man and Iron Man have another argument while punching some Buttes.

Wonder Man: “One punch! One punch is all I need per Butte!”

Iron Man: “They may have been created in a machine, Wonder Man, but that doesn’t mean they’re not alive!”

Wonder Man: “I’m not killing them, lead-head! Even demolished they don’t die! Why don’t you just get hip to yourself and back off, anyway? Give me some room!”

Iron Man: “Room?!! You’re lucky to be here at all, the way you’re acting!”

While Hank Pym embiggens a baseball bat and starts whacking some Gila monsters, La Espirita flies off to go deal with Suns- well its Sunstroke but she calls him Sunspot.

That’s a completely different dude, Bonita, but its a reasonable mistake to make since she only heard the name once.

Anyway, since Sunstroke is the only unique in this mob, she figures he’s the leader of the mook army.

Mockingbird goes ham on some more Buttes with her battle-staves. Like seriously ham.

Mockingbird: “Now there’s a man after my own heart! I’ve used battle-staves all through my costumed career -- and they haven’t let me down yet! They’ve never let me down, and I’ve never let myself down! No matter what anyone does to me -- they always have to listen to the Mockingbird!”

Hawkeye overhears this and wonders why she’s being so being so intense.

But almost immediately dismisses it as “husbands never do understand wives altogether -- !”

Cool, Hawkeye. Entirely dropping the ball there.

And Moon Knight is still processing all this, while chopping up Cactuses.

Moon Knight: “Hawkeye designed this grappling hook -- ! The Sun is always the same, but the Moon always changes, doesn’t it, Khonshu? Maybe you’re right! Acting as your fist by myself drove me crazy -- drove away the woman I love -- ! Maybe it’s time for the Moon Knight to change!”

So he’s interpreted this whole adventure to mean that Khonshu wants him to have more of a social group.

If he’s reading the situation right, pretty cool of Khonshu to be watching out for Moon Knight’s well-being.

More recent depictions have him less cool.

Anyway.

La Espirita and Sunstroke have a standoff, blasting fire at each other.

He does a ‘we meet at last thing’ and reveals he’s been spying on her. But he calls her Firebird so she points out that he can’t have been doing a great job with it.

And they have a sort of symbolism debate.

She says she’s La Espirita because she burns with “the holy and eternal flame of spirit!” (She has the power of god and anime on her side?)

Sunstroke counters that he has the power of the Sun.

She counter counters that many religions equate god and the Sun so clearly they’re equally matched.

Then he flies off because he’s realized that while they were standoffing, the West Coast Avengers have mopped the floor with the other 49 Desert Dwellers.

Basically: fuck this, the boss man can take over.

The West Coast Avengers chase after him, ascending a spiral staircase that leads up the mountain.

Since they have some time -- it is a rather tall staircase -- Hawkeye tells Hank he’s glad he’s back superheroing.

Tigra picks up the conversation and says that Hank was there for her when she was at her lowest point and is glad that someone was there for Hank.

Hank Pym: “Nobody’s gladder than me, Tigra! Things looked so dark and dismal at that moment, but look at all the brighter moments since -- the moments I would have missed!”

Tigra: “Thanks, Espirita!”

Yeah, thanks Espirita!

La Espirita: “Thank God -- he brought me there!”

Thanks God!

Hank clarifies to the group that he’s just going to be a superhero (although he calls it an adventurer) but he won’t use a codename or wear a costume.

Iron Man: “Costumes don’t mean anything, Avenger! It’s the man who counts! The only exception to those rules is Wonder Man!”

Wow, throwing shade at Wonder Man’s costume when he’s flying right next to you.

But Tony isn’t saying anything that everyone isn’t thinking. Wonder Man’s costume is an abomination.

Look at Hank having a laugh at Simon’s expense. Good to see him smiling again.

The Avengers and guests catch up to Sunstroke or rather he’s stopped running in a big machined room and told them “come and get me.”

Which is an obvious trap but superheroes love running into traps and they run right into Dominus who jumps out of a nook.

The Avengers aren’t exactly impressed because they just beat up an army of 49 mooks and Dominus probably doesn’t have another time machine to trick them with.

Dominus: “Ignorant fools! My race built an empire by enslaving lesser races with the master machine -- and each new race required specific improvements to the machine -- until the machine became so powerful -- it enslaved US! I am Dominus, but I am not this man! I am the MACHINE!”

The man has had basically no story except ‘like Lucifer’ but now he’s pulling a surprise twist when they don’t even know him enough to be surprised.

Anyway, he also blasts pink mind control energy at the Avengers. Plus guests.

Zordon was right.

Too much pink energy IS dangerous.

For reasons, Dominus couldn’t do this the first time the Avengers West Coast barged in. But now all eight of the intruders are under his control. Yup, his sensors indicate that specifically eight minds are under his control. Specifically.

Do you like the Discworld book Carpe Jungulum? I do.

But that’s apropos of nothing.

Tigra thinks that if she were still split between cat and human halves, she could fight against this but alas, she has integrated her selves into one.

With the Avengers and guests slumped and helpless under his control, Dominus, of course, monologues. Villains. Love to hear themselves talk. Et cetera.

Dominus: “The Arcane were the dominant life-form in the universe! When I, Dominus, succeeded in converting even them to my servitors -- I knew I would never again have to watch helplessly as fools like Lucifer failed to put me to proper use!”

Dominus sends Sunstroke off to go do some pre-discussed task while Dominus prepares to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!

And then Moon Knight steps forward out of the pack of helpless heroes.

Steps forward and socks Dominus right in his head.

Dominus is baffled by how Moon Knight is fighting against him, especially since the sensors still read Moon Knight is under his control.

Moon Knight: “The Moon keeps one face always hidden, dear boy -- it doesn’t reveal its secrets!”

Dominus tries blasting Moon Knight with MORE pink mind control energy and he’s briefly affected but soon walks forward, saying it doesn’t work on him.

And Dominus flips his shit.

This cannot be, that sort of thing.

Dominus: “I’ve never failed! Not on a thousand worlds! The Arcane always improved me, to triumph over any adversary!”

Moon Knight: “You ain’t never met the fist o’ Khonshu, though!”

Dominus: “A god of the Moon can’t stop me! I’ve conquered whole worlds -- every kind of world -- ! I am all-powerful! I run an empire no one but me can ever guess at! I am DOMINUS!”

Moon Knight: “But I’m SLICK!”

You sure are, Moon Knight.

Dominus tries pulling out a science laser gun and shooting Moon Knight but the caped crusader just ducks under the blast and then grapples Dominus.

As he notes, Dominus is really remote controlling this body so there’s a bit of a lag between intention and action and that makes it hard to actually nail a moving target.

Dominus: “Why can’t I stop you? Why can’t I STOP you?!! WHY?!!”

And Dominus, who is the computer running everything, freaks out so much that the entire facility starts to explode.

Y’know. As one does.

And the Dominus puppet body just collapses.

So how did Moon Knight resist the powerful pink mind control?

He’s got three minds in his brain and Dominus only took over two before giving assuming Moon Knight was entirely immune.

I dunno how this kind of trope comes off on a mental health level but Discworld pulls a very similar trick with Agnes Nitt and her alter ego Perdita X. Dream. And Lapis Stevenuniverse being too depressed to be incapacitated by a depression beam. So I can’t hate it.

Since Moon Knight thinks Khonshu wants him to be an Avenger, he decides to not really explain what happened lest he freak them out with his three personalities thing.

So when La Espirita asks how he resisted the pink energy, he dodges the question by saying that if he explained it, Dominus would stop having a mental breakdown over being fallible.

And also that they need to run before the mountain collapses on them.

And almost as soon as they escape the evil lair, the mountain does collapse.

To reveal a not unphallic looking spaceship blast off with the core of Dominus inside.

Hawkeye orders the fliers Iron Man, Wonder Man, and La Espirita to stop Dominus’ penis rocket from escaping but it soon escapes the atmosphere and the heroes run into trouble.

At first, Iron Man assumes that La Espirita will have to turn back.

What with needing precious oxygen to live.

Except... she doesn’t? She can breathe in space.

Which she, of course, decides is a miracle.

Now here’s the womp womp moment.

Wonder Man can also breathe in space so he assumed no problem with pursuing the penis rocket into space.

But he forgot his back jets are jets, not rockets. So require oxygen to work.

And he goes plummeting back towards the ground, where he would make one chagrined crater.

But Iron Man (and also La Espirita, who’s not going to be the only nerd flying into space) give up pursuing Dominus. Iron Man catches Wonder Man, plays it off with a joke, and Wonder Man tears him a new asshole.

Wonder Man: “You -- you grandstander! It didn’t matter if I fell! I’m invulnerable!”

Iron Man: “Maybe you are! We’ve never seen you fall that far! If you were wrong -- !”

Wonder Man: “I’m not wrong!”

Iron Man: “Mister, you’re about as wrong as anybody I’ve ever met!”

The two stop fighting, only because La Espirita asks them not to argue in front of the others.

Hawkeye notices, but pretends he didn’t.

As far as he’s concerned, this mission was a big success. Sure, they loss Dominus but it’ll take him years to build back up if he comes back to Earth. And they lost Sunstroke but who cares?

SUCCESSFUL MISSION MEANS BARBECUE!

Hawkeye just really likes barbecue.

And he’s thrilled at all the possible new West Coast Avengers hanging around.

But later, when the Avengers retrieve their Quinjet from the Albuquerque airport - where its apparently been just racking in the parking fees - and return to the West Coast Avengers Compound, they find Menachim Heitz, the assistant to Wonder Man’s producer waiting for them.

The guy, with some glasses that can only be described as a fashion statement probably, is completely flustered that Wonder Man just vanished from the face of the Earth.

Menachim doesn’t have time to actually listen to Wonder Man’s thrilling tale of where he was because there’s a MAJOR PUBLIC RELATIONS DISASTER THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.

That being the public hates Wonder Man’s costume.

Hey!

Finally, the Marvel public has good opinions.

This is so funny. When the new costume was introduced, the book shilled it so hard. Big splash page opening to introduce it and everyone told Simon Wonder Man how cool his new outfit was.

But now, I’d bet, the reactions are in from the readers of the comic book, and they are underwhelmed. So suddenly Iron Man is making snide comments about what a terrible outfit it is and the public has voiced its outrage.

Its like when Danny Chase was introduced to the Teen Titans with much shilling but suddenly Wolfman started having everyone tell him he was a jerk. Nothing is sadder or funnier than the author turning against their own idea because of public opinion.

Wonder Man protests that his producer was the one who okayed the new costume and Menachim admits that it was a bad call but now time to go back to something like his previous outfit which people actually like.

Wonder Man also protests that HE likes his current outfit and the Avengers tries to get his back about how he can wear whatever dumb thing he wants but Simon snaps at them.

Wonder Man: “I have two careers, and I have to think of both of them... and I’m still learning the other one, so I need [Menachim’s] advice! And don’t look at me like that! None of you knows the other worlds I’m operating in now! When you co-star in an Arkon movie, then you can criticize me! And that especially means you, Leadhead! You can keep you advice!”

Hurt and confused by this, the Avengers just kind of shrug it off and tell Simon they’ll be at their celebratory barbecue.

While Wonder Man wonders (ha) aloud to Menachim if it isn’t time for him to leave the Avengers.

Dun dun dun!

Usually I’d say oh no but you’re being a pill, Simon, and we’ve got three people who can replace you. Maybe some time off will do you some good.

NEXT TIME, it would be another pair of crossing over annuals but now I’m way behind on East Coast Avengers and need to sync the books back up so I can do those crossing over annuals.

The work of a me is never done.

Follow @essential-avengers​ because of all this good work I do for you, the viewer. Like and reblog also. Please don’t make me do a telethon for notes.

[tinyshe]

Te Deum laudamus, te Dominum confi temur. Te aeternum Patrem omnis terra veneratur. Tibi omnes Angeli, tibi caeli et universae Potestates. Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim incessabili voce proclamant: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt caeli et terra majestatis gloriae tuae. Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus, te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus, te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus. Te per orbem terrarum sancta confi tetur Ecclesia. Patrem immensae majestatis; venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium; Sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum. Tu rex gloriae, Christe. Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius. Tu, ad liberandum suscepturus hominem, non horruisti Virginis uterum. Tu, devicto mortis aculeo, aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum. Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris. Judex crederis esse venturus. Te ergo quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni, quos pretioso sanguine redemisti. Aeterna fac cum Sanctis tuis in gloria numerari. Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine, et benedic hereditati tuae. Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in aeternum. Per singulos dies benedicimus te; et laudamus nomen tuum in saeculum, et in saeculum saeculi. Dignare, Domine, die isto sine peccato nos custodire. Miserere nostri, Domine, miserere nostri. Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos, quemadmodum speravimus in te. In te, Domine, speravi: non confundar in aeternum. Amen. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.

We praise thee, O God: we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee: the Father everlasting. To thee all Angels cry aloud: the Heavens, and all the Powers therein. To thee Cherubim and Seraphim: continually do cry, Holy, Holy, Holy: Lord God of Sabaoth; Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty: of thy Glory. The glorious company of the Apostles: praise thee. The goodly fellowship of the Prophets: praise thee. The noble army of Martyrs: praise thee. The holy Church throughout all the world: doth acknowledge thee; The Father: of an infi nite Majesty; Thine adorable, true: and only Son; Also the Holy Ghost: the Comforter. Thou art the King of Glory: O Christ. Thou art the everlasting Son: of the Father. When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man: thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s womb. When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death: thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God: in the glory of the Father. We believe that thou shalt come: to be our Judge. We therefore pray thee, help thy servants: whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood. Make them to be numbered with thy Saints: in glory everlasting. O Lord, save thy people: and bless thine heritage. Govern them: and lift them up for ever. Day by day: we magnify thee; And we worship thy Name ever: world without end. Vouchsafe, O Lord: to keep us this day without sin. O Lord, have mercy upon us: have mercy upon us. O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us: as our trust is in thee. O Lord, in thee have I trusted: let me never be confounded. Amen. Holy, Holy, Holy.

Ambrosian hymn: Te Deum

[queenfredegund]

MEROVINGIAN REGINAE | Ingund I Regina (520s-550s?)

Chief wife of Chlothacar I Rex, to whom she bore five sons, Gunthacar (I) Rex, Childerich Rex, Charibert I Rex, Guntchramn Rex, Sigebert I Rex, and at least one daughter, Clodosuinda II Regina. Older sister of Aregund Regina, she may have been of aristocratic lineage and a parent of Ingiltrudis, mother of Bishop Bertchramn of Burdegala, as suggested by Gregorius of Tours.

“Introeunte itaque Berthramno, interrogat rex: 'Quis’, ait, 'est iste?’ Diu enim erat, quod ab eo visus non fuerat. Dixeruntque: 'Hic est Berthchramnus Burdegalinsis urbis episcopus’. Cui ille: 'Gratias’, inquid, 'agimus, quod sic custodisti fidem generationi tuae. Scire enim te oportuerat, dilectissime pater, quod parens eras nobis ex matre nostra, et super gentem tuam non debueras inducere pestem extraneam’. Cumque talia et his similia Berthchramnus audisset [...].

When Bertram came in, the King asked: ‘Who is this man?’ It was a long time since he had last seen him. ‘It is Bertram, Bishop of Bordeaux,’ they replied. ‘I am grateful to you’, said Guntram, ‘for the loyalty which you have shown to your own house. You should have remembered, dear father, that you were my kinsman on my mother’s side, and you should not have introduced into your own family this pestilential person from overseas.’ Bertram had to listen to this and to more in the same strain.”

DLH, VIII, 2. Qualiter ei episcopi praesentati sunt, et qualiter ipse convivium praeparavit

Her dates of birth and death are unknown, however, she seems to have been always in life circa 535 and beyond, as she may have been in charge of the education of the young Radegund Regina. As one of the wives of Chlothacar, she may have lived in Sexonas (Soissons), the capital city of his regnum, and perhaps in the villa of Athies, where Radegund was raised. 

“Quae veniens in sortem praecelsi regis Chlotharii, in Veromandensem ducta Adteias in villa regia nutriendi causa custodibus est deputata.

Given to the very high king Clothar, she was taken to the Vermandois, in the royal villa of Athies, and entrusted to guardians responsible for raising her.”

Vita Radeg., II.

According to Gregorius of Tours, she was deeply favoured by Chlothacar, and therefore took the chance to initiate the entrance of her sister in Chlothacar’s harem by asking him to find a good match for Aregund.

“Quae autem causa fuerit, ut uxoris suae sororem acciperet, dicam. Cum iam Ingundem in coniugio accipisset et eam unico amore diligeret, suggestionem ab ea accepit, dicentes: ‘Fecit dominus meus de ancilla sua quod libuit et suo me stratui adscivit. Nunc ad conplendam mercide, quid famula tua suggerat, audiat dominus meus rex. Praecor, ut sorore meae, servae vestrae, utilem atque habentem virum ordinare dignimini, unde non humilier, sed potius exaltata servire fidelius possem’. Quod ille audiens, cum esset nimium luxoriosus, in amore Aregundis incedit et ad villam, in qua ipsa resedebat, dirigit eamque sibi in matrimonio sociavit.

When he had already married Ingund and loved her with all his heart, she made the following suggestion to him: ‘My lord, you have already done what you wished with me, your handmaiden, and you have taken me to bed with you. To complete my happiness, listen now to what I have to say. I ask you to choose for my sister, who is also a member of your household, a competent and wealthy husband, so that I need not be ashamed of her, but rather that she may be a source of pride to me, so that I may serve you even more faithfully.’ Lothar was too much given to woman-chasing to be able to resist this. When he heard what Ingund had to say, he was filled with desire for Aregund. He went off to the villa where she lived and married her. When he had slept with her, he came back to Ingund.”

DLH, IV, 3. De uxoribus ac filiis eius

If the story is most certainly apocryph and a personal interpretation of the event by Gregorius, it could be possible and a result of the so-called “sororal polygyny”. Indeed, Ingund, as the chief wife and the mother of at least five sons, must have wanted to reinforce her position by having next to her a member of her kin to support her and her faction. 

Her burial, as well as her fate besides Aregund’s story, is unknown, but she was the mother of three different reges: Charibert I Rex, Guntchramn Rex and Sigebert I Rex, meaning that she may have received considerable honors through her life and perhaps in her afterlife.

[missbrunettebarbie]

dominus and darius

Dominus Calante

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang

Idk I think he is probably hot considering Laila is attracted to him, but he’s not my type and his personality leaves a lot to be desired.

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

I know you sorted him as Double Badger and I approve, tho I wonder if I see glimpses of Lion secondary sometimes. He’s just so surprised by Laila’s snake and Solaterea’s entire Snake-ish culture.

best quality: I can value his honesty and direct approach.

worst quality: I think I would die of boredoom if I ever had a conversation with him.

ship them with: Laila, you know I once crack-shipped him with Ellena xDD, Lyra maybe?

brotp them with: Darius in their own way

needs to stay away from: Humans in general, his dad and probably darius and Laila too.

misc. thoughts: In a way I feel sorry for the guy. He is just a tiny fish next to players like Laila and Darius.

Darius Calante

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang

His fashion sense + his personality make him pretty hot in my eyes.

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

He is like the blueprint for Snake Birds, LMAO.

best quality: That he has no reservations in dethroning daddy dearest.

worst quality: Stop killing people!! Or at least stop eating them!

ship them with: Laila and...only her, actually. True Love and all that :))

brotp them with: Dominus in that messed up way we see, his mom because I really want to officially meet her, Echo for the same reason

needs to stay away from: His parents, LOL. And for his own good, Laila. And for their own good, people in general.

misc. thoughts: I cannot wait to see him as the rex. I have high expectations from him.

[longitudinalwaveme]

Fortuna Inversis

Kaon. It’s an open, festering wound on the otherwise generally peaceful and prosperous planet of Cybertron; a city-state prostrate under the heel of the tyrannical Lord Straxus. Everyone knows this, and no one knows it more than the inhabitants of its closest neighbor, the city-state of Vos. Kaon is a place of energy deprivation, filth, poverty, and misery; in short, it is a place Vosians go out of their way to avoid. So how did a well-bred Vosian noblemech like me end up in one of Kaon’s hovels? That, I am afraid, is a rather complicated story, and for you to fully understand it, I need to start at the beginning. My name is Succendam Off de domo Domini Cael (or, for those of you who do not speak Vosian, Blast Off of the House of Space), the creation and only heir of Dominus Spatium and Domine Astrum.

My creators were extremely wealthy, arguably even wealthier than the royal family, and they were a regular presence in the court of Rex Ventus, the King of Vos; however, they were also spacefaring explorers, and, as such, they were killed in a particularly unpleasant spaceship explosion when I was four stellar cycles away from the age of legal majority. It was a tragedy, of course, but as they had been away from home frequently for most of my life prior to that point, it did not affect me as much as it might have, and upon their deaths, I became the master of the Cael estate and its workers. Not long afterwards, I hired a mech from Kaon to serve as my clerk. He was quiet and efficient, and generally did good work, but he was always filthy and clearly half-starved, not to mention a war-frame, and that did not fit in with the image I wanted my staff to project. Thus, I fired him; which proved to be stressful for both of us. When I informed him that he was being let go, he started creating quite a scene, begging me to keep him on for the sake of his family and generally acting horribly undignified. In the end, I grew tired of trying to reason with him and had my guards remove him from my estate. After a few days, I forgot about him altogether, little imagining that we would encounter each other again, and my life progressed quite smoothly for the next two stellar cycles. I even arranged a sponsalia (that is, an engagement) for myself with Illusion of the Furtim Line, a female from the Towers District. But my happiness proved to be transient. Just a few solar cycles after I reached sedecim (sixteen) stellar cycles of age, I was baselessly arrested for treason. Sure, I may have made a few….inopportune….statements about Rex Ventus’ ability to rule, but I had never plotted to overthrow him, and everyone knew it. As he soon made clear, his real interest was not whether or not I had betrayed him but rather to see if he could get his filthy hands on my land and holdings….and irritatingly, because he was the king and thus the head of the judiciary system of Vos, it soon became apparent that he could do just that. On the pretext of incredibly flimsy evidence (even the king’s young creation, Princeps Stella Clamor- Prince Starscream- remarked on the flimsiness of it), I was found guilty of treason, and stripped of my title, my lands, and my holdings. Ventus made a show of mercy, claiming that he would spare me from execution because of my youth. Then he banished me to the slums of Kaon with no servants, no Shanix, and no energon….which, had fate not intervened, would have been nothing more than a prolonged death sentence. So much for his mercy. Not long after I was abandoned in Kaon, I was approached by a mech whom, I would soon learn, was one of Lord Straxus’ Enforcers.

“What are you doing out at night, Empty?” he spat. While I could understand Neocybex fairly well, my ability to speak it was rather limited. Most nobles (and their servants) could speak Vosian, after all, so there had been little need for me to practice speaking the language. Thus, my response to his question was less than elegant.

“I do wrong?” I stammered in broken Neocybex.

“What’s the matter, Empty? Can’t you speak?” the Enforcer mocked

“Empty?” I echoed, utterly confused. I knew the word-in Vosian, it was vaccus -but he seemed to be using it as a noun rather than an adjective.

“Yeah, an Empty. That’s what you are…a worthless piece of gutter trash. Although if you’re too stupid to know what that means, then maybe you’re also too stupid to know that no one is allowed out after curfew. If you don’t get inside in the next ten minutes, I’m taking you to prison. You got that, Empty?”

“Yes,” I replied. With that, I bolted away from the mech and started searching for some way to get inside before I got thrown into a Kaonite prison, which I was certain would make the one I had been locked up in in Vos seem like my palatial estate by comparison. After a few minutes, I stumbled upon a small building-a hovel, really-and, in desperation, banged on the door.

“ Fac me introire! Ergot placet mihi! ” (Let me in! Please, let me in!) I was in such a panic that I didn’t even stop to consider the fact that whoever was inside probably didn’t speak Vosian. After a few seconds, the door was opened by an exhausted-looking war-frame, one who was startlingly familiar.

“Who are you, and what do you want?” he barked in Neocybex.

“Need roof...help,” I replied, now desperately wishing that I was more fluent in the language.

“ Vosiane loqui possum. Quod requires? ” (I can speak Vosian. What do you need?) the other mech asked, surprising me. His rough, thickly accented voice was also familiar, but I still couldn’t place him.

“ Et opus tectumque . Quaeso! ” (I need shelter. Please!) I replied. The war-build examined me, and then glared at me coldly.

“Et nota videtur. Quod nomen tibi est? ” (You seem familiar. What is your name?)

“ Succendam Off de domo Domini Cael ,” I replied….and just as I said this, I realized why the war-build seemed so familiar. He was the same one whom I had fired from his position as my clerk two stellar cycles previously. A sense of dread washed over my spark. This was not good.

“Quid si ego auxiliatus sum tui? Et accensus sunt me, cum scires haec non erat familiaris. ” (Why should I help you? You fired me unjustly, even though you knew I had a family.) the war-build said coldly.

“ Paenitet! Paenitet-” (I’m sorry! I’m sorry…) I exclaimed, stopping short when  I realized that I had never bothered to learn his name.

“ Impetus. Impetus sit nomen meum. Cum tibi, ne quidem sciunt nomine meo: ego auxiliatus sum tibi, non. Exite!” ( Onslaught . Onslaught is my name. Since you do not even know my name, I will not help you. Go away.) In complete panic, I fell to my knees.

“ Amabo, noli me manere. Faciam quod vis facere! ” (Please, let me stay! I’ll do anything you want!) I pleaded.

“ Quidquid ?” ( Anything ?) Onslaught asked.

“ Ita, quod, ” (Yes, anything.) I replied. Onslaught seemed to ponder this for a few seconds, then pulled me to my feet.

“‘Ut maneat in domo in tribus conditionalibus. Primo, vos mos reperio a officium, mercedem tuam super me, et convertam. Habeo tres alere velis nobiscum sic oportet operam. Secundam, maneat, si tu non es membrum de familia. Et erit servum, et sic potest haberi. Tertius, et sic loquetur ad me, domine . Mecum adhuc volo?” (You may stay in my home, on three conditions. First, you will find a job and turn over your wages to me. I have three brothers to support, so if you wish to stay with us, you must contribute financially. Second, if you stay, you are not a member of the family. You will be a servant and be treated as such. Third, you will address me as “sir.” Do you still wish to stay with me?) he asked. Naturally, I was horrified by the conditions that he had set, but because the alternative was even worse, I was forced to swallow my pride and accept them.

“ Ita domine. Habeo alia optio, ” (Yes, sir. I have no other choice.) I said. Onslaught nodded.

“In that case, you can come in. You will speak Neocybex from now on.”

“I...try, sir,” I replied. Onslaught nodded, and mercifully did not comment on my broken Neocybex. Then he led me inside the shack of a building he called his home, and I was shocked by the squalor inside. There was a table, three recharging centers, and four chairs, crammed into a space that was smaller than the storage closets on my estate. Other than that, there was no furniture-no washracks, no energon dispenser, nothing! In place of those essentials were a third grown mech who clearly transformed into a tank, a grey youngling whose rotors marked him as a helicopter, and the tiniest sparkling I had ever seen. He was bright yellow and had enormous purple optics, and he appeared to turn into a ground-based vehicle of some sort, though I wasn’t sure of what type.

“These are my brothers, Brawl, Vortex, and Swindle,” Onslaught said, as he pointed to the tank, the youngling, and the sparkling in turn.

“Who’s that, Onslaught?” the tank, Brawl, asked. He was exceedingly loud, and I could tell right from the beginning that he was going to be a major irritant.

“This is Blast Off of the House of Cael,” Onslaught replied.

“The rich jerk who fired you? What’s he doing here?”

“I’m not entirely certain of that, Brawl, but given the fact that he, a very wealthy, very arrogant mech, begged me to allow him to take shelter in what he probably thinks is a shack, I’d guess that he has run into a disaster of some kind,” Onslaught replied. When he said this, I realized for the first time just what I had done. I had agreed to work as an unpaid servant in exchange for being allowed to take shelter in a hovel !  

“We can barely keep ourselves fueled; why’re we givin’ some of our energy and our home to a rich, spoiled jerk?” Brawl asked.

“We aren’t “giving” Blast Off anything. This is probably a foreign concept to him, but rest assured-from now on, he’s going to have to earn every drop of energon we give him,” Onslaught replied. Although he was ostensibly speaking to his brother, it was clear that Onslaught was telling me something as well: namely, that if I didn’t please him, I would not get to refuel.

“Where’s he gonna recharge?” This question came from Vortex. The question being something that I, too, was interested in, I turned to Onslaught for the answer.

“There isn’t enough space for him to recharge on the floor, at least not without us tripping over him on a constant basis, the recharging center you share with Swindle is far too small for another sparkling, let alone a shuttle of his size, and my recharging center barely fits me. Thus, he will have to share Brawl’s recharging center,” Onslaught replied.

“ What ?” Brawl and I exclaimed simultaneously. Vortex giggled.

“Now you know how I feel having to share a recharger with Swindle,” he said to his older brother. Brawl growled, and I backed away from him, but the small helicopter just giggled again.

“Vortex, go back to recharge,” Onslaught said.

“But I’m not tired! And Swindle kicks really hard in recharge,” Vortex whined, gesturing at the unconscious sparkling. How that sparkling managed to stay in recharge with Brawl and Vortex shouting around him, I did not and do not understand.

“I know that sharing a recharger is unpleasant, Vortex, but we don’t have enough Shanix or enough space to get you your own. If you don’t recharge properly, you’ll be at risk for developing a virus that we wouldn’t  be able to afford to treat. Please at least make an effort,” Onslaught said gently. Vortex pouted, but he climbed onto the tiny recharging center regardless. Evidently, he had been lying about not being tired, as, only a few minutes later, he was clearly in recharge. Once he was assured that the youngling was resting, Onslaught turned back to Brawl and me.

“It’s very late, so it would be wise for the three of us to get some rest, too. I’ll see you both in the morning,” he said. With that, he went to his own recharging chamber and was almost immediately dead to the world, leaving my-shudder-new companion and me staring awkwardly at each other.

“Just my luck, havin’ to share a recharger with a prissy little snob,” Brawl muttered.

“I...not like….either,” I replied, mortified by how poor my spoken Neocybex was. Brawl shot me an odd look.

“Why’re you talkin’ funny, Prissy?” he asked. I scowled at him, as I did not at all appreciate him calling me “prissy”. It was hardly my fault that I had been bred to be disgusted by the squalor that these brothers lived in!

“I speak Vosian. I...not good...speaking...Neocybex,” I explained, inwardly fuming at how unfair it was that I was expected to adjust to the language used by these plebeians.

“Oh. Okay then. Which side of the recharger do you want? I ain’t gonna like it regardless, so it don’t matter none to me,” Brawl asked. I idly wondered why he insisted on butchering his own language before replying.

“Left,” I replied. I had no desire to be trapped in between the tank and a wall.

“Fine. Just so you know, Prissy, I snore. Hope you don’t mind,” Brawl said as he got onto his recharging center. I very much did mind, but, under the circumstances, there was nothing I could do but wish fervently that I was anywhere but in the slums of Kaon and follow him to the recharging center. I gingerly joined the tank on the center, glad that the lighting was too poor for me to see how filthy they both probably were, and struggled to enter recharge. It seemed as though every time I was about to do so, Brawl’s engines decided to rumble noisily, and then, as though that wasn’t unpleasant enough, he eventually rolled over in such a way that he pinned my arm to the recharging center’s slab. This was, as one might imagine, quite painful, and I cried out, but no one reacted. Evidently, they were accustomed to recharging through a racket. After what seemed like an eternity of discomfort, exhaustion eventually took over and I fell into recharge.

“Wake up! You have work to do!” I checked my chronometer, and was startled to find that it was only 4:30 in the morning.

“ Suss etiam mane, ” (It’s too early.) I protested. I was not fully awake, and, as such, my CPU had not yet fully registered that I was no longer at home. Then my optics focused, I saw Onslaught, and the events of the previous night rushed back to me. I groaned in a mixture of exhaustion and disgust, and then quickly got to my feet. A quick perusal of the room (my processor simply refused to accept it as a building) revealed that Onslaught, Brawl, and Vortex were already awake. The tiny sparkling was still asleep, but then, he wasn’t even out of his first frame. Clearly, then, and much to my distaste, I was going to have to become an early riser.

“I had better not have to wake you up again, Blast Off. As one of my employers told me, it’s ‘not my job to coddle the hired help’,” Onslaught snapped. The fact that I had been the employer in question made the whole situation even more mortifying.

“Yes, sir,” I replied weakly. I knew that protesting would likely only make my-*shudder*- employer angrier.

“Good. Now, your alternate mode is a shuttle- if a small one- correct?” Onslaught asked.

“Yes, sir. Quare -er,why?” I asked, wondering what my alternate mode had to do with the work that he would expect me to do (whatever that proved to be).

“You have no work experience, and you can barely speak Neocybex. Due to those handicaps, the quickest way for you to get a job is to get you employed as transport of some kind, since, as a shuttle, your alt mode meets the main requirement for that position. Here are the instructions to the transport center; download them to your CPU,”  Onslaught replied as he handed me a small chip. I stared at him, mildly appalled. A noblemech working as transport? It was beneath my dignity!

“Hey, Onslaught, I don’t think Prissy likes that idea,” Brawl observed, sounding mildly amused. Vortex snickered.

“Can I call him Prissy, too?” he asked.

“No,” I said.

“Sure, kid,” Brawl replied.

“You’re in no position to complain about what they call you, Blast Off; or, for that matter, the job I want you to get…..unless, of course, you’d prefer to find energon and shelter on your own,” Onslaught said coldly. I sighed weakly. Any ludicrous hope I had had that I would be able to maintain a semblance of dignity as the-ugh-unpaid servant of a pauper was effectively dashed by what Onslaught had just told me.

“I….be good, sir.” Onslaught nodded.

“In that case, get going. Brawl and I have our own jobs to get to,” he snapped.

“Energon?” I asked. Surely, they didn’t expect me to go job-hunting on an empty fuel tank! Brawl and Vortex laughed.

“Wow, you’re even dumber than Brawl if you expect energon now! We never get to refuel at this time of the solar cycle!” Vortex exclaimed.

“Dumber than Brawl? I’ll show you dumb, tiny!” Brawl bellowed.

“You always do, bro,” Vortex replied, giggling as he ducked to avoid the punch Brawl threw at him. Such barbarism!

“Enough! Blast Off, not everyone is able to refuel whenever they feel like it. This unit is lucky if we get to refuel once a solar cycle, and at present, I have gone without refueling for three solar cycles. Do you understand?” Onslaught asked. I stared at him in shock, wondering vaguely if this was some sort of joke, before realizing that he was serious. If the unit couldn’t even fuel itself properly, no wonder Onslaught needed my labor! Grimly resigning myself to hunger, I nodded.

“Yes, sir,” I replied.

“Then, for the last time, I will tell you to go find a job. I don’t have time to explain everything to you. Brawl and I have work to get to,” Onslaught said. I nodded and quickly left the hovel, then downloaded the directions to the transport station into my CPU, transformed into my alternate mode, and took off. Roughly forty minutes later, I arrived at my destination, which, although not quite as disgusting as the hovel I was currently living in, was still quite filthy. I transformed, landed, and walked inside the building. The inside was just as filthy as the outside. I reluctantly walked over to the window that was marked as “Employment”. Much to my surprise, I was the only one there, so I winced, swallowed my pride for the millionth time in less than 24 hours, and walked closer to the window. The mech on the other side looked at me with very little interest.

“You a shuttle?” he asked. He had a very strange, slightly echo-y voice.

“Yes, sir,” I replied.

“You’re awful small for a shuttle,” the mech said. In response, I transformed into my alternate mode, which, although much sleeker than the shuttles typically used for-ugh- transport, was still most definitely a shuttle. Once I was confident that the other mech was convinced that I was, indeed, a shuttle, I returned to my robot mode.

“All right, all right, you’ve made your point. Though why a delicate thing like you is applying to work as a garbage shuttle, I couldn’t begin to guess,” the other mech said. It was at this point that I realized just how much of a grudge Onslaught held against me. It was one thing to expect me to work, but this? This was an entirely different level of humiliating.

“Job,” I replied weakly.

“You’re not much of a talker, are you?” he asked.

“Vosian. Not good at Neocybex,” I replied. His optics brightened in apparent understanding.

“You can’t speak Neocybex? That explains it, then. Garbage transports don’t have to talk much-and given how lithe you are, I think I’ve got a good job for you. You see, the Towers District has been requesting more garbage transports, but they say they think our regular employees look too bulky. A sleek shuttle like you would be the perfect fit, and I can finally get my boss off my back about that. What do you say?” he said. My first instinct was to say “absolutely not”, but then I remembered that my life was very dependent on my getting a job.

“Yes, sir,” I replied, trying not to sound absolutely horrified.

“Great! You’re hired! Follow me!” he exclaimed. I complied, and he led me to what appeared to be a hanger of some sort. A few other shuttles, all much larger than me, were milling about. They were all filthy and covered in grime, and I shuddered. My beautiful, clean plating….

“Can you transform for me?” a different mech asked. I did so, and then he started gathering cans of paint.

“What...you doing?” The new mech laughed .

“Repainting you. All garbage transports have a specific color, and you don’t match it yet. That being said, this will probably take awhile, so if you want to take a nap, you can. I’ll wake you up when I’m done,” he said. More out of a desire to escape my situation than anything else, I decided to take his advice. I was reawoken about forty-five minutes later.

“All right, I’m done. You can go ahead and transform back into robot mode now,” the second mech said. I complied, and had to hold back a nervous breakdown. My beautiful purple-and-white coloration had been replaced with a hideous shade of brown, and my family crest had been painted over and replaced with Neocybex lettering that read “Garbage Disposal”. Once I had calmed down from panic to mild disgust, I turned to the second mech.

“Thank you,” I said. I didn’t feel thankful at all, but it seemed prudent not to let him know that. The mech smiled.

“No problem,” he replied. He walked off, and the mech who had hired me walked up and took his place, then handed me a chip similar to the one Onslaught had given me earlier.

“Here’s your schedule. Your shift starts at 6 and ends at 5. You make 12 Shanix per day; if you’re late to any of the pickups, it comes out of your pay. Any extra Shanix you earn will come from tips. Any questions?” he said rapidly.

“I...start now?” I asked.

“No, you start tomorrow. That way, you have some time to go over the schedule, though I guess you’ll have to find someone to read it for you if you don’t understand Neocybex very well,” he replied. I didn’t bother to tell the mech that I could read Neocybex just fine; there didn’t seem to be much point.

“I...go home?” I asked. I felt very relieved that I was not going to be immediately thrust into a humiliating, unfamiliar work environment.

“Yeah, you can go home now. But if you aren’t back here by 6 AM sharp tomorrow, you’re fired. Got it?” the mech replied.

“Yes, sir,” I replied. With that, I left the transport station, transformed into my vehicle mode, pulled up the directions that I had used to get to the station, and then simply reversed the directions in order to get back to Onslaught’s hovel. (One of the benefits of being a shuttle is the fact that we all possess a natural skill for navigation.) Upon my arrival, I returned to robot mode and knocked on the door, which was opened by none other than the tiny sparkling.

“Hi,” he said. He seemed a bit bemused, but not particularly frightened. A few seconds later, Vortex joined him at the door.

“That’s the shuttle I told you about, Stumpy, the one who showed up last night when you were in recharge. His name is Blast Off, but Brawl and I call him Prissy because he used to be Onslaught’s boss, back when you were even littler than you are now. He used to be really rich, and he still thinks he’s better than us, but something bad happened to him and now Onslaught says he’s the “hired help”, and that means he has to do what we say. Ain’t that right, Prissy?”

“Yes,” I replied, still a bit shell-shocked by the fact that I-the wealthiest noblemech of Vos-now had to take orders from two filthy little brats.

“Onslaught must think you’ll make a lot of Shanix.” Unbelievably, this particular comment came out of the mouth of the tiny sparkling.

“What?” I asked.

“If you’re living with us, we’ll have to buy energon for you, which will increase our expenses. If Onslaught’s letting you stay anyway, it must be because you’ll bring in enough energy to cover the difference-and also make a net profit,” the little sparkling replied. I stared at him in utter bewilderment. What sort of sparkling had that level of understanding of economics?

“Onslaught says that Stumpy’s an “economics prodigy”,” Vortex explained, as though sensing my confusion.

“I see,” I replied. It was rather unfortunate for Onslaught, then-but quite fortunate for me, conditions being what they were-that the sparkling was far too young to be employed full-time (even in a cesspool like Kaon).

“What are you doing back here so early, anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be getting a job?” Vortex demanded.

“I...got job. Job starts tomorrow,” I explained quickly.

“Oh. Okay. See you later, Prissy. Stumpy and I have stuff to do,” Vortex exclaimed. He grabbed his younger brother by the hand and proceeded to pull him outside.

“You go to school?” I asked.

“School?” Vortex and “Stumpy” echoed, apparently perplexed, which in turn puzzled me. Surely a youngling and a prodigy knew what a school was.

“Learning place,” I explained. Vortex frowned.

“We know what school is, dummy. We just don’t know why you think we go to school,” Vortex replied.

“Schools cost money, and Onslaught can’t afford to send us,” the sparkling added. This shocked me. Apparently, my assumption that public education was available across the entirety of Cybertron was mistaken.

“Where going?” I asked.

“Out,” Vortex replied. Before I could ask any more questions, both the youngling and the sparkling scampered away and disappeared. After a few seconds of worry that Onslaught would be upset that I had not kept an optic on them, I quickly realized that, since Brawl and Onslaught both worked, and I hadn’t lived with them until very recently, they were accustomed to Vortex and Swindle taking care of themselves in spite of their youth...and in truth, they were both probably more street savvy than I could ever hope to be. Unfortunately, with their departure, I was left alone in the tiny, filthy hovel, with little to do except reflect on my thoroughly unpleasant situation. Starting the following day, I-a noblemech of Vos!-would be working 11 hours every day as a garbage transport, all so I could pay my former employee for the “privilege” of living in a hovel and sharing a recharging center with a loudly-snoring, filthy tank. How had I been reduced to this? Overwhelmed by the blatant unfairness of it all, I started to weep. Why me? After I finished wallowing in (very deserved) self-pity, I finally downloaded the schedule that I had been given at the transport station, which promptly created yet another cause for self-pity. Because the universe apparently has it out for me, the last stop on the schedule was Amabilia Manor, the estate of my sponsa (betrothed), Illusion of the Furtim Line. In other words, there was a very real chance that Illusion, whom I was still quite fond of, would see me working on her estate as a garbage shuttle ! What had I done to deserve that? A few hours of alternatively wallowing some more in self-pity, vaguely wondering if I was supposed to be responsible for cleaning the interior of the hovel, and trying to ignore my ever-lowering fuel levels later, Vortex and the little yellow sparkling returned with a handful of Shanix and one (very small) energon cube.

“How... you get that?” I asked.

“Stumpy. I dirty him up a little, set him in full view of passersby, have him make his sad face, and bam! Instant Shanix. Nobody can resist helping out a poor, starving orphan, after all. It’s great!” Vortex explained. Wonderful. I was living with a pair of miniature con artists.

“I hate it. Why don’t you ever have to be the orphan?” the tiny sparkling said.

“Because I’m a warbuild, and thus, not small or cute enough to get sympathy. For some reason, you were the only one of us our creator didn’t design as a warbuild, so you have to do the cutesy stuff. Besides, you’re a better actor than I am,” Vortex replied.

“But I have to do all the work!”

“No, you don’t! When your cute face doesn’t bring in enough Shanix, I make up the difference by raiding their subspace containers while they’re distracted. How do you think we got the energon cube today, magic?” Vortex replied. Oh, terrific. One of them was a thief as well. However, much to my surprise, rather than keeping the Shanix for themselves, the pair instead deposited it in a container located under Onslaught’s recharger. The box was largely empty and lined only with a thin layer of Shanix, which puzzled me. Even considering the fact that neither Onslaught nor Brawl was likely to have a particularly well-paying job, it seemed like they should have more Shanix than that. With two grown mechs (soon, I reflected sadly, to be three) working full-time, why were their savings so limited, and why did they have to ration energon so strictly? The answer to that question arrived a few minutes later, when a large red-and-white mech stormed into the hovel, prompting shrieks of fear from Vortex and the sparkling, who both  promptly ran to hide behind me.

“Who is he?” I asked.

“An Enforcer. Do whatever he says,” Vortex explained, clearly ill at ease. Given how confident he had been previously, this was rather alarming.

“All right, Empties. Pay up!” the Enforcer exclaimed aggressively. In response, Vortex ran over to the Shanix container, handed it to me, and instructed me to hand it to the Enforcer, which I did. The sparkling started crying into my leg, and for the first time, I actually felt a pang of sympathy for the two of them. If I was terrified, it had to be even worse for a youngling and a sparkling. The Enforcer emptied the container into what appeared to be his personal subspace compartment and then scowled.

“Is that all the Shanix you have?” he demanded. I looked at Vortex, who nodded. In response, the Enforcer proceeded to upend the hovel, apparently in search of any hidden Shanix, and totally destroying one of the chairs. My fuel pump felt like it was beating out of my chest, and my spark constricted in terror. After what seemed like an eternity, but, according to my chronometer, was actually only five minutes, he stopped tearing the hovel apart, now apparently having determined that Vortex had told the truth. Then he stomped over to me.

“Tell Onslaught that if he doesn’t have at least fifty shanix waiting for me next time, I’ll take your two youngest brothers as payment instead. There’s a titanium mine that would pay hundreds of shanix for a couple of slaves who are small enough to fit in those hard-to-reach crevices,” he said threateningly. With that, he grabbed the energon cube, downed it in one gulp, dropped it back onto the floor, and stormed out of the hovel. As soon as he was gone, I found myself awkwardly attempting to comfort a sobbing sparkling while also trying to work out what, exactly, had just happened. After a few seconds, I gave up and decided to just ask Vortex.

“What happened?”

“I told you that guy was an enforcer, right? Well, all of the Enforcers work for Lord Straxus and make sure he gets to stay the boss. Because of that, they can do whatever they want-short of trying to overthrow him, that is-and almost all of them eventually set up this thingy they call a “patrol fee”, which is a fancy way of saying that they can come into your home and take as much of your Shanix as they like, and you can’t do anything to stop them...unless you wanna get thrown in prison. And if you can’t meet the fee they want for whatever reason, they’ll throw you into debtor’s prison or sell you into slavery,” Vortex explained. This, as one might imagine, was less than comforting news. While it certainly explained the desperate poverty of Onslaught’s unit, the revelation that most of my earnings wouldn’t benefit me even remotely was even more disgusting and unpleasant than the fact that I was expected to work as garbage transport in order to earn them in the first place. Once the sparkling finally stopped sobbing, I reorganized the hovel to the best of my (very limited) ability, as Vortex watched with very irritating amusement. I was trying my best! It was not as though I had ever personally had to reorganize a room before! As soon as he was convinced that his home was (more or less) back in order, Vortex started heading for the exit again, dragging his younger brother behind him.

“No! I’m n-not going out again! The Enforcer might still be around, and if he catches us begging, he might put us in jail!” the sparkling said, clearly terrified. His huge optics somehow seemed even wider than usual. Vortex laughed.

“C’mon, Stumpy. They’ve never caught us before,” he said, remarkably boldly, I thought, for a youngling who had been hiding behind my leg, in apparent fear of an Enforcer, not thirty minutes before.

“‘“M not going. Enforcers are scary,” the sparkling replied, suddenly sounding a lot more like what I had expected a sparkling still in his first frame to sound than a business mech.

“Only if they’re close enough to hurt you. If they don’t know where we are or what we’re doing- which they won’t-they’re no threat,” Vortex replied. In response, the sparkling latched onto my leg again, much to my mild disgust. Although I pitied the pair, I had no desire for them to be putting their filthy hands on me on a regular basis.

“You can’t make me. The Enforcer is too close! And if you do, I’m gonna tell Onslaught,” the sparkling said. Vortex scowled.

“Fine! Stupid sparkling,” he exclaimed. With that, he pouted and sat down on his recharging center. It was at this point that I realized that I had not yet learned the sparkling’s name (or, for that matter, how old he was). Onslaught had told it to me the previous night, but I had subsequently totally forgotten it.

“Name? How old?” I asked the sparkling.

“Swindle. I’m five stellar cycles old,” he replied. “Swindle” seemed like an odd name for a sparkling, but then again, “Onslaught” and “Brawl” weren’t exactly names that I would have imagined a creator giving to their creations either. Perhaps it had something to do with what their creators were like. Since three out of the four brothers were war-builds, it seemed likely that at least one, if not both, of them were also war-builds, amongst whom such names might be common. My curiosity having been aroused, I decided to continue questioning the sparkling to see if I could obtain any further information about Onslaught’s unit.

“Creators?” I asked. Much to my surprise, it was Vortex who answered. I had assumed that he was too street-savvy to trust me with such information, but evidently I had either overestimated him, or he did not think that the information was important.

“Our male creator was named Dragline and our female creator was named Highwall. They were miners and they died in a cave-in two solar cycles after Stumpy was brought online. He doesn’t remember them at all, and I was only three stellar cycles old, so I only remember little bits and pieces. Brawl was eleven stellar cycles when the cave-in happened, and Onslaught was thirteen, so they remember more,” he explained.

“Other members of house?” I asked.

“Well, there was Dragline’s brother, Onslaught. He was a soldier, but he was offlined in battle a long time ago, I think before Brawl came online. Our Onslaught’s named after him,” Vortex replied. Stunned, I started performing some mental calculations. If Onslaught the elder was the only member of their house besides their creators, and he and their creators had all gone offline by the time Onslaught had reached the age of thirteen stellar cycles, that meant two things. First, Onslaught had been raising his three younger brothers, alone, since he was thirteen, and second, if he had been thirteen when Swindle had just come online, and Swindle was five stellar cycles old now, that meant that he was currently only eighteen stellar cycles old, barely any older than me. I had thought he was at least thirty-five stellar cycles!

“I see,” I replied at last. The next several hours passed largely uneventfully (especially in comparison to the shocks that the morning had provided), and, around 7:00 in the evening, Brawl returned to the hovel. (His approach was so loud that I heard him coming several minutes before he actually arrived.) Upon his arrival, he immediately collapsed into one of the chairs, looking absolutely exhausted.

“Hey, Brawl, how was work?” Vortex asked.

“Long. Did Prissy get a job?” Brawl replied.

“Yep. He starts work tomorrow,” Vortex said.

“You stay out of trouble, Tiny?” Brawl asked. Vortex smirked.

“Of course, bro. Stumpy and I would never do anything that would get us in trouble.” Brawl snorted. Clearly, he knew better than to believe his brothers.

“And what really happened?”

 “We got ten Shanix and an energon cube from our usual methods, but then the Enforcer broke in and took all of it, so now we’ve got nothin’ again. I hope you picked up some extra shanix today, ‘cause if not, none of us are gonna get to refuel, and I’m hungry,” Vortex explained.

‘Lousy no-good Enforcers. Ain’t like we got any Shanix worth stealin’,” Brawl muttered.

“How much Shanix did you earn, Brawl? I’m hungry too,” Swindle asked. In response, Brawl actually gave what passed for a smile; which was much more terrifying than his scowls.

“10, plus 6 extra I spent on energon,” he said. Vortex and Swindle cheered, and even I felt a sense of relief. Admittedly, it was disgraceful that I- a noblemech!-felt relief at the prospect of something so basic as being able to consume fuel, but it was still better than dying of fuel deprivation. Vortex started pawing at his older brother, likely in search of the energon.

“None of that, tiny. Nobody’s refuelin’ till Onslaught gets back,” Brawl said. Vortex pouted, but didn’t argue, instead choosing to kick me in the shin to relieve his frustration.

“Ouch!” I exclaimed. Vortex giggled, and I glared at him. Why had I felt sympathy for the filthy little youngling, again? I elected to ignore him and turned my attention to Brawl instead.

“Where...work?” I asked.

“Construction. Ain’t many jobs for a stupid tank like me, but I can lift stuff pretty good. So long as I can do that, my boss don’t care that I’m not so bright and don’t have no ed-you-cay-shun,” Brawl replied tersely. (I am not exaggerating his pronunciation of the word “education”, by the way. That’s exactly the way that he said the word.)

“No...school?” I asked.

“Not really. Our creators worked real hard to make sure that they could send Onslaught and me, but I only went for a stellar cycle. Teachers said I was too stupid to learn anything, and so my creators took me out ‘cause it was too expensive to spend Shanix on school for me if I wasn’t gonna be learnin’ nothin’. My female creator tried to teach me some after that, but she was always real busy, so I never did learn much before our creators died. Onslaught’s real ed-you-cated, though. His teachers said he was the brightest student in his level, and he always made real high scores. Our creators were so proud of him. He was ‘posed to be our ticket outta bein’ poor, seein’ as he was so smart and all. His teachers even said he could probably get a scholarship to Kaon’s Military Academy, but a stellar cycle before that could happen, our creators were killed, and he had to drop out to provide for Vortex and Swindle and me. Don’t bring that up around him, though. Makes him mad,” Brawl explained. I had a feeling that this was the longest that I would hear Brawl speak for a very long time. He didn’t seem particularly chatty by nature. The fact that he didn’t say another word until Onslaught arrived at the hovel about an hour later, even as his younger brothers chatted nonstop around him about a variety of inane topics, proved my suspicion correct. Upon Onslaught’s arrival, he took one look at the room and then glared at me.

“What happened here?” he demanded.

“I...sorry, sir! Not...clean...before,” I apologized. Onslaught didn’t look appeased.

“It wasn’t really Prissy’s fault, Onslaught. An enforcer showed up and tore the place apart looking for Shanix other than the ones in our container. Prissy was just too stupid to know how to put things back right,” Vortex said. Normally, I would have glared at him, but I was too relieved that he was defending me to really care whether or not he was calling me an idiot (which, for the record, I am most certainly not.)

“An enforcer? Are you two all right?” Onslaught asked.

“Yeah, we’re fine, but the Enforcer said that if we didn’t have at least fifty shanix when he came next time, he’d take me and Stumpy as payment instead,” Vortex replied. In response, Onslaught sat down on his recharging center (remember, there wasn’t-and, sadly, isn’t- that much room in the filthy hovel) and buried his faceplates in his hands, clearly quite upset.

“He said WHAT?” Brawl exclaimed as he jumped out of his seat, so loudly that I am surprised my audio receptors weren’t burnt out. Vortex repeated his explanation, and Brawl collapsed back into his chair, his anger evidently spent. Onslaught, for his part, turned to me.

“Did you get the job?”

“Yes, sir,” I replied, trying not to think about how horrible the job was.

“Good,” Onslaught said, sounding utterly exhausted. Then the little sparkling walked over to him, huge optics filled with worry.

“If we don’t give him enough Shanix to pay his “patrol fee”, the Enforcer’s gonna take us away! You won’t let that happen, will you, Onslaught? I don’t wanna be taken away by an Enforcer. They scare me,” Swindle asked.

“I most certainly will not allow that to happen, even if it means working even more shifts than I currently do. Nothing is going to pull this unit apart,” Onslaught replied firmly. At this, Swindle seemed to relax. I, on the other hand, still felt nervous. No matter how hard Brawl, Onslaught, and- *sigh* -I worked, I did not see how it was possible for us to be able to purchase energon and consistently maintain at least fifty shanix for the enforcer on our meager salaries.

“Now can we refuel? I’m hungry,” Vortex asked.

“Yes,” Onslaught replied. With that, he, Vortex, and Swindle joined Brawl at the table (which was, like the rest of the furniture, rather worse for wear), and Brawl retrieved four energon cubes from his storage compartment. One was split between Swindle and Vortex, one was taken by Onslaught, and one was taken by Brawl. Assuming that the last one was mine, I reached for it...only to have my hand slapped by Onslaught.

“You are the hired help, remember? You fuel after we are finished,” he snapped. My circuits heated up with embarrassment, but I retreated back to “my” recharging center and sat down on it to wait anyway. While it was humiliating for me-a noblemech!-to be treated like a servant by my own ex-employee-a desperately poor pauper, no less-I could not afford to raise a fuss. Luckily, Onslaught’s unit refueled remarkably quickly, so I was able to refuel myself less than thirty minutes later….only to immediately gag. The taste was disgusting!

“Energon...bad,” I choked out. Onslaught gave out a harsh laugh.

“I would advise you to get used to it. It may not taste like the delicacies you’re used to, but it’ll keep you alive, and it’s all we can afford,” he said sharply. Although I hated to admit it, he made a good point, and so I forced myself to consume the fuel despite its taste. After all, for all I knew, it might be solar cycles before I could refuel again. Not long after I finished, Onslaught sent Swindle and Vortex to recharge. Both complained extensively, but eventually gave in, and were in recharge in only a few minutes. This being accomplished, Onslaught collapsed onto his own recharging center and was immediately offline to the world, and Brawl followed suit. Clearly, both of them had been absolutely exhausted, and that did not bode well for the career that I would be starting the next day. It was only 8:45 in the evening! Was I going to be that exhausted from work every solar cycle for the rest of my life? However, I still joined Brawl on the recharging center a few minutes later. If I was going to have to wake myself up at 4:30 in the morning, I needed as much rest as I could get. I set an internal alarm to ensure that I wouldn’t oversleep and anger Onslaught again, and tried to ignore Brawl’s loud snoring. I fell into recharge after what felt like an hour (but likely wasn’t). Luckily, the alarm worked, and I was woken promptly at 4:30, then left Onslaught’s hovel to head to my first solar cycle on the job (shudder). I arrived at the transport station at 5:10, and sat around awkwardly for twenty minutes, then departed for the first stop on my schedule. (I definitely did not want to have my pay docked for showing up late, so I felt that it was wise to depart early.) I arrived at the first of the manors of the Towers District at 5:50 and sat around awkwardly once again. At about 5:56, a mech whom I assumed was one of the manor’s servants arrived with a garbage container. I winced, tried not to think about what I had been reduced to, and then opened the door to my cargo bay. The servant then deposited the garbage into my interior, and I shuddered. It was so unfair! I hadn’t been built for work like this! Once he finished emptying the container (into my interior!), he pulled out a few Shanix.

“Hey, you! Transform so I can give you your tip,” he said. I complied with an intense feeling of humiliation. Why me?

“T-thank you,” I stammered, hoping my mortification wasn’t too obvious. The servant handed me the Shanix, and I put it into my subspace compartment. (Shuttles actually have two, one which stores the cargo they can carry in alternate mode, and one which is for personal use.)

“No problem. My boss really appreciates your streamlined design, so he decided to reward it. He says it’s much more “aesthetically pleasing” than the other shuttles he sees,” the servant replied. I nodded, reverted to my shuttle mode, and then took off for my next stop. For the next eleven stops, nothing particularly interesting happened, though my beautiful plating quickly became covered in filth and grime. I did receive tips at all eleven of these stops, evidently because of the sleekness of my alternate mode. I had no idea if this would be a regular occurrence or not, but I wasn’t about to complain about it. The more Shanix I made, the more reason Onslaught would have to keep me around. While it was still humiliating to be tipped like a servant, it was preferable to the alternatives, so I planned to keep my mouth firmly shut on the matter. However, the thirteenth and last stop was not so uneventful (sadly). The flight between the twelfth stop and the manor of Illusion was shorter than the flights between most of the other estates, which meant that I arrived early. Although one of the servants was ready with the garbage (and my tip) when I got there, this meant that I had a full hour before I was expected to deposit the garbage at the dump. As such, I found myself standing around awkwardly on the grounds of the estate, listening to the servant talk about various things.

“Sure, they’re a bit stuck-up, but they’re not that bad, all things considered. And in speaking of not bad, the Lord’s daughter is a beaut...and whaddaya know, she’s come out on the grounds with some of her friends now. Aren’t they lovely? Of course, they’re way out of our league, but a mech can dream,” he said. My circuits heated up in humiliation. I had been betrothed to Illusion less than five solar cycles ago, and now she was “out of my league”?

“Yes,” I said quietly. He grinned.

“Well, I gotta run. Have fun watching the lifestyles of the rich and famous,” he said. With that, he left me and went back inside the manor, and I turned my attention to the conversation Illusion was having with her friends.

“Is your betrothal off then, Illusion?” one of the friends asked (I believe her name is Argenti.) Illusion sighed.

“I don’t know. Blast Off hasn’t so much as called me in three solar cycles, and the King of Vos says he hasn’t seen him for awhile, That doesn’t seem like him,” she replied. I sighed. It was official. The Universe hated me.

“Well, if this is his way of calling off your engagement, then I’d say you dodged a laser blast,” Aurum, another of her friends said.

“No kidding. If he doesn’t appreciate someone like you, he’s crazy,” Argenti added.

“But I know him, Argenti. He’s a bit arrogant, but he’s not inconsiderate of me. He likes me! He would never just fail to call me for three solar cycles. Something must be wrong,” Illusion replied. As you might imagine, I was more than a little relieved that Illusion, at least, didn’t think that I was some sort of irresponsible cad.

“I’ll say something’s wrong. Your conjunx-to-be is a creep,” Aurum said. Suddenly, a blue-and-white mech appeared out of nowhere, prompting shrieks from the females. I recognized him as Mirage, Illusion’s cousin. I had met him once or twice at dinner parties.

“Mirage! How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?” Illusion exclaimed. Mirage laughed .

“Is that any way to talk to your favorite cousin?” he asked.

“Mirage, you’re my only cousin,” she replied.

“Technicalities. And I have to say, I agree with Aurum. If Blast Off doesn’t appreciate how beautiful you are, he doesn’t deserve you,” Mirage said.

“Me? Beautiful? That’s why suitors have been beating down my door, I suppose,” Illusion replied dryly.

“They don’t know you’re available again yet, cousin dear,” Mirage said.

“And they won’t be the only ones chasing you. I think that garbage mech is sweet on you, Illusion! He hasn’t taken his optics off of you since Tersus left,” Argenti exclaimed.

“And no wonder! You’re probably the first clean, beautiful thing he’s seen in a stellar cycle,” Aurum added. She, Argenti, and Mirage laughed.

“He would certainly make for an interesting story, at least...and you could use the smell to scare off all the other suitors!” Argenti said. This conversation, as you might imagine, was mortifying, and I decided to make myself scarce. I headed for the edge of the estate, hoping that I would no longer be able to overhear the conversation. Much to my surprise, however, Illusion actually followed me to the edge of the estate.

“I’m so sorry for what my friends said about you. You weren’t causing any harm, and….Blast Off?” she exclaimed. Apparently, being covered in grime and wearing hideous brown paint was not sufficient to prevent my sponsalia from recognizing me.

“ Ita ,” (Yes.) I replied quietly.

“ Quid tibi accessit? Ubi eras?’ (What happened to you? Where have you been?)

“ Me expulso rege fictis maiestatis criminibus. Et comprehenderunt omnia mia. Ego autem in Kaon cum pristini ... servum suum servo suo ut nihil minus. Qui autem pauperrimus, et sicut tale, et iussit ut reperio a officium ad terminos occursum. Est nimis ignominia.” (The king banished me on false charges of treason. He seized everything I own. Now I am living in Kaon with my former servant…as his servant, no less. He is very poor, and as such, he ordered me to find a job to make ends meet. It’s very humiliating.) I explained.

“ O, non! Quod sonos terribilis! Quid facere possum?” (Oh, no! That sounds terrible! What can I do?)

“ Proelio nostros dicere videmur. Non possum non enutriet, et non aliquid incorruptelam possidebit.” (I think we should call off our engagement. I can no longer support you, and you will not inherit anything,) I replied. Because Illusion had an elder sister, Apparition, she would inherit very little from her creators. As the younger child, her fortunes were dependent on picking a suitable Conjunx Endura. I, sadly, no longer fit the criteria.

“ Non curo illud! Te amo,” (I don’t care about that! I love you.) she exclaimed

“ Ego autem en uno-locus, magno cum quattuor aliss. Opus mihi quotidie horas undecim. Ibi sus ‘nunquam satis cibum. Illic est non satis manducare. Non possum facere vobis.” (I am living in a one-room hovel with four other mechs. I have to work eleven hours every solar cycle. There’s never enough energon. If you become my conjunx endura, you’ll have to slave away just to stay alive, too. I can’t do that to you.) I said. As horrible as it felt to call off my engagement, I couldn’t drag Illusion into the desperate poverty that I had somehow found myself in. It wouldn’t be fair to her, and living with a Conjunx Endura that I was unable to support would have been unbearably humiliating. Illusion frowned, but then nodded, apparently having realized the full costs of becoming my Conjunx Endura.

“ Saltem accipe pecuniam,” (At least let me give you some money) she said. Then she handed me a pile worth about 500 Shanix. Part of me wanted to reject it, but knowledge of my dire situation won out.

“ Optime. Gratias tibi,” (Very well. Thank you.) I replied.

“ Gratias. Bona fortuna,” (You’re welcome. Good luck.) she said. I deposited the Shanix in my subspace compartment, bid Illusion farwell, and then transformed into my alternate mode and departed from her estate. I dropped off the garbage at the dump, flew back to the transport station, where I received my (pitiful) wages, and then returned to Onslaught’s slum. Swindle and Vortex were waiting there for me.

“How many Shanix did you earn?” Swindle asked.

“Twelve. Thirteen...tips. 500...female,” I replied.

“500? We’re rich!” Vortex exclaimed. I deposited the Shanix in the container, as Swindle and Vortex enthusiastically speculated about what they would do with it all. About an hour later, Brawl returned home, deposited his earnings in the same container....and then stared at his younger brothers and me in shock.

“Where’d we get so much Shanix?” he asked loudly.

“Apparently, a girl gave Prissy a bunch of Shanix for some reason, and now we’re rich!” Vortex replied.

“That true?” Brawl asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

‘Huh. Maybe you ain’t as bad as I thought, Prissy,’ Brawl said. Coming from him, this was high praise indeed. Onslaught, upon his return to the hovel, was just as surprised.

“How did you manage to get this much Shanix?” he asked.

“Can’t explain...Neocybex. Don’t speak well,” I replied. Onslaught shrugged.

“I suppose that it doesn’t matter where we got it so long as we have it,” he said. That was all he said on the matter, and for most of the evening he treated me with the same hostility of the previous two nights. However, after his brothers had entered recharge, he walked over to me and actually gave me a look of what seemed to be respect.

“You’ve worked all day without a single complaint, and you managed to bring more than 500 shanix to my home with you...more than enough to keep Swindle and Vortex safe from the Enforcers the next time they come by. For that, I suppose I should thank you. I still don’t like you, but you’ve proven that you can earn your keep. You’re still our servant, but you’re now a member of the unit, which means that I’m not kicking you out. You do good work,” he said. With that, he went to his own recharging center and was quickly dead to the world, leaving me to my thoughts. As much as I hated the life I was now stuck in, at least I was no longer utterly hated by the mech whom I depended on for shelter. That, at least, was a positive development, and it is one that has stuck. The past six lunar cycles have been dreadfully humiliating, but at least there is one glimmer of hope. If I could win over Onslaught and his unit, then maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance that all of us might be able to escape the festering wound that is Kaon.

[pagesofkenna]

the screenshots i managed to capture from tonight’s CAH game wth @bi-dominusrex and @mooitstimdrake

[hieromonkcharbel]

A plenary indulgence is granted to all those who devoutly recite, either in Latin or the vernacular, the Te Deum on the last day of the year.

TE DEUM laudamus: te Dominum confitemur.

Te aeternum Patrem omnis terra veneratur.

Tibi omnes Angeli; tibi Caeli et universae Potestates;

Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim incessabili voce proclamant:

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth.

Pleni sunt caeli et terra maiestatis gloriae tuae.

Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus,

Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus,

Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus.

Te per orbem terrarum sancta confitetur Ecclesia,

Patrem immensae maiestatis:

Venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium;

Sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum.

Tu Rex gloriae, Christe.

Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius.

Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem, non horruisti Virginis uterum.

Tu, devicto mortis aculeo, aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum.

Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris.

Iudex crederis esse venturus.

Te ergo quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni: quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.

Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria numerari.

V. Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine, et benedic hereditati tuae.

R. Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in aeternum.

V. Per singulos dies benedicimus te.

R. Et laudamus nomen tuum in saeculum, et in saeculum saeculi.

V. Dignare, Domine, die isto sine peccato nos custodire.

R. Miserere nostri, Domine, miserere nostri.

V. Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos, quemadmodum speravimus in te.

R. In te, Domine, speravi: non confundar in aeternum.

O GOD, we praise Thee: we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.

Everlasting Father, all the earth doth worship Thee.

To Thee all the Angels, the Heavens and all the Powers,

all the Cherubim and Seraphim, unceasingly proclaim:

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts!

Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of Thy glory.

The glorious choir of the Apostles,

the wonderful company of Prophets,

the white-robed army of Martyrs, praise Thee.

Holy Church throughout the world doth acknowledge Thee:

the Father of infinite Majesty;

Thy adorable, true and only Son;

and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.

O Christ, Thou art the King of glory!

Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.

Thou, having taken it upon Thyself to deliver man, didst not disdain the Virgin's womb.

Thou overcame the sting of death and hast opened to believers the Kingdom of Heaven.

Thou sitest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.

We believe that Thou shalt come to be our Judge.

We beseech Thee, therefore, to help Thy servants whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy Precious Blood.

Make them to be numbered with Thy Saints in everlasting glory.

V. Save Thy people, O Lord, and bless Thine inheritance!

R. Govern them, and raise them up forever.

V. Every day we thank Thee.

R. And we praise Thy Name forever, yea, forever and ever.

V. O Lord, deign to keep us from sin this day.

R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

V. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, for we have hoped in Thee.

R. O Lord, in Thee I have hoped; let me never be put to shame.

[ahum420]

Quando coeli movendi sunt et terra Quando coeli movendi sunt et terra Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem My son, now listen what I say: Keep in mind what you have learned Wrap your fingers 'round your sword Maybe you will not return Thousands that we once have been Only a few are still here I've to give this sacrifice... ... oh, the autumn brought us fear! My life, my blood, my tears, my pain I'm the guardener of thee Through an axestrike I have lost The ability to see Now my child, your time hath come Mercy - not with those you'll harm Wrap your fingers 'round your sword... (And the ones we love will fall Like autumn leaves On these endless fields) ... as the horn sounds the alarm! Und als der Sturm begann Als Fleisch auf Eisen traf Hell wie der Glocken Klang Die Schreie derer, deren Glück versagt Mit Wunden übersät Der Eichenhain ihm Schutze bot Wie die Legende sagt War dies des Vaters sich'rer Tod Now that all silence was disturbed The Ground, as red as autumn leafs Father Frost, the last they feel On these mighty, endless fields Quando coeli movendi sunt et terra Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem Hush hush, my child Mother death is your bride If you listen her song you will follow So better beware Let your senses take care Your innocent mind will be hallowed A step in the dark (Miserere Dominus) A secret to hide (Rex tremendae majestatis) A legend to tell (Libera eas) Drowned in the waters of time (Miserere Dominus) A secret to hide He holds Wisdom of ancient times A parchment with numbers and rhymes Fear speaks the spell to survive The circle of druids - alive! They all gathered in the night Within the torches light As their slumber did awake So I did wish a thousand times Mother Death would come to me In her arms I will entwine And I'm rising up to thee Now my child, my time hath come Mercy - not with those I'll harm I wrap my fingers 'round my sword... ... as their horn sounds the alarm! Now the winter begins On this endless fields