#murk raiders

[viperiumprime]

Fondly remembering a show I loved as a kid - Storm Hawks! ⚡️

The first episode I saw was Terra Deep, with the badass design of the Murk Raiders’ airship. It’s always stuck with me!!

[cowdeath]

Wanted to give Captain scabulous and potentially other murk raiders more shark/fish like traits because it just fits :-p

also because junko is allergic to murk raiders and sky sharks!

[rin-henricov]

What would you say is your top 5 favorites in Storm Hawks? (BUT you can't use Stork XD)

Aww man, you caught me on the last word :'D I thought for a long time, trying to remember all the characters I like besides Stork, but it was even more difficult to put them in their places, cause I love them all equally. So be it, I will answer! 1. Radarr.

Number one on my list is the sky lemur, a comic-relief sidekick and just a funny character whose antics are so much interesting to watch. He's just a cute little fella, so assure you, he can safely be trusted with a firearm. Have to admit, but the show would have be much boring without Radarr (and I think he has a lot more dynamic with Stork than with Aerrow). 2. Master Cyclonis.

The supreme ruler of a matriarchal empire in the person of a cynical teenage girl? Give me two! I also really like her design — especially impressive is the idea of a hood that resembles the petals of a devil's daisy. At least, never seen anything like this in any media before. Well, now let me share my subjective opinion. Let's be honest: just because she's a lonely girl with no friends doesn't absolve her of responsibility for deliberately ravaging the terras for the empire's expansion (has anyone ever wondered about Finn's or Piper's terras?) and entertaining her people with brutal gladiatorial battles. Even if she had undergone a thorough introspection and returned from the other side of Atmos with the entire squadron, it was unlikely that anyone would have forgiven her. Also don't like the fact that in the eyes of some fans (don't speaking for everyone!) she is no more than Draco in leather pants, whose essential flaws no one tried to notice :( I understand that my opinion may seem very controversial, and you have every right to disagree with it. However, I still hold the thought that «loving a character does not mean justifying their actions». 3. Repton.

A badass, strong, fearless leader of the criminal squadron, who does not back down before any challenges, no matter how serious they may be. Admired the fact that Repton, as one of the most competent servants of the Empire, is not afraid to contradict Cyclonis herself and always remains true to his beliefs. I always assumed he called Stork a salamander cause of his cowardice and dodgy nature. Even after the merb had destroyed his entire squadron, Repton continued to treat him with the utmost prejudice and did not consider Stork a serious opponent. Based on the lore, it is logical to assume that the Raptors were raised with the idea that they are the most dominant species in all of Atmos, and all others must serve them or be conquered. I just think that's one of the few reasons he harbors a general dislike for all existing races :D 4. Merbian postmaster from episode "Scouts Honor".

Oh yes, my favorite trope — «a character who appears in a two-minute scene, says just one phrase, and manages to win your heart in half a minute». I've always wondered what his background might have been, and what he might have done besides his work. It seems to me that he is less emotional and more resistant to any stress than Stork. However, he may experience some social awkwardness in communication, and it is easy to confuse him with a couple of personal questions. Therefore, he prefers to use short and clear phrases, which makes his speech more meaningful than it really is. I've already drawn him once, but it's quite possible that I'll do it again. 5. Griffin.

He's my son, ask questions. Characters that aren't on the main list, but are also my favorites: 1. These cute bunny fellas.

2. Hamish.

3. Aaaand... The Murk Raiders!

[far-side-skies]

Discord Tip Game Requests - Captain Scabulous

Another Discord request, this one by @mordecaizerkaa

Yes he’s a violent, marauding pirate captain of the Murk Raiders but if Calling All Domos was any indication, he or at least one of his crew knows how to cook and can appreciate the work of chefs. He’s the ringleader of every loud and rowdy group of bar-hoppers who’ve stopped by the restaurant for a snack break and more drinks to spend their stolen wealth on. Loud and overwhelming he’s not exactly the most savoury of customers, but at least he doesn’t expect you to count change for solid gold coins of unknown origin.

“Keep the change,” he slurs as he and his crew stumble out and onto the next bar.

2/10, I’d dread having him as a customer

[loudtimemachinewitch]

Deeps Deeps Crush Your Tiny Hulls Deeps Deeps Leave Nothing But Your Skulls

Deeps, Deeps, they'll crush your tiny hulls. Deeps, deeps, LEAVE NOTHING BUT YOUR SKULLS. (gif plz)

[haomnyangz]

Deeps, deeps, they’ll crush your tiny hulls. Deeps, deeps, leave nothing but your skulls.

STORM HAWKS S01E12 TERRA DEEP

[bottlehawk]

hs kids' first day on the earth c minecraft survival server

jake: starts digging straight down as soon as he spawns. keeps digging. keeps digging. keeps digging. no one ever sees him again

jane: enters ready to get everyone organized. half the server immediately runs off doing their own thing. stops the remaining crew before they wander off so they can start building a base before it turns to night. gives everyone roles and then has to go afk because she was on her lunch break and is actually playing minecraft on her company computer. comes back hours later and finds the entire server on fire.

karkat: gets a stone hoe and some wheat seeds thrown at him and is told to set up a wheat farm. nods even though he's never played minecraft before and doesn't know how. clicks the ground with the hoe and it seems to do something so he does that for a while. dave comes over and asks him why he's been just plowing the ground in one really long straight line. tells him to fuck off so he does. wishes he hadn't when he realizes he could've asked him for help. figures out that if you click on the ground with the seed it plants it and decides he's actually a minecraft genius and doesn't need anybody's help at all. dusts his hands off proud of the work he's done and then goes to try to find kanaya.

kanaya: is given a stone axe and is told to chop down some wood for the houses. does and gives roxy some stacks and goes to chop down some more wood because she honestly finds it kind of therapeutic. ends up clearing an entire mountain. night comes and mobs start sprouting up and she chops them down too. is surrounded by fields of floating rotten flesh and bones and cursed armor when suddenly she sees flames in the distance near the base. starts marching down there with the grim resolution of an executioner, ready to now start chopping some necks.

terezi: learns how to craft a flint and steel and discovers the magic of fire. laughs maniacally as she starts burning cows she runs into and laughs even more when she discovers they drop cooked meat. wants to find more things to burn. finds a raider's base and the sound of the wood torching up into flames does something to her and she starts setting fire to the entire forest. stumbles across the base. sets fire to one of the buildings. karkat comes over and yells and asks what the fuck she's doing. sets karkat on fire. laughs as she watches him run in circles not knowing how to stop the flames. suddenly gets murked by kanaya who's sneaked up behind her, and continues being hunted down by her as she respawns for the rest of the night.

jade: wanders off and finds a cute little village. decides that she's adopting it now. places some flowers she's picked along the way around to make it look nice and pretty. tames and places some cats around the perimeter and puts some torches nearby to keep away mobs. builds a water fountain in the middle of the town square. waves goodbye to go find some wolves to tame and promises that she'll be back.

dave: builds elaborately detailed dirt penises all over the farm while karkat works and negs him. karkat tells him to fuck off and go do something useful. fucks off accordingly and finds jade's village. raids everything from the chests and all the crops. puts dirt dicks all over the place. kills the cats for string and free exp. kills some sheep and creates beds and pushes some of the villagers inside a shitty little acacia building he made with a sign on it saying "breeding pen". throws some potatoes at them and then blocks up the entrance. turns around and immediately gets blown up by a creeper.

calliope: is the only one given op privileges as she is the only one that everyone can trust to have it. decides she wants to build a big cool glass castle in the sky. has just finished building the base when jade types in chat that whoever destroyed her village is going to pay. types "oh no!!!" in the chat. gets a dm from dave asking her for sanctuary because jade is going to KILL him. remembers that he's made NFTs. sends jade screenshots of the exact incriminating parts in the server log and happily continues building her castle.

rose: has debug screen turned on. immediately crafts several stone axes. runs off to the nearby desert and finds a desert temple and raids it, crafting an iron bucket. fills it with water and goes to a lava pool and builds a nether portal. enters the nether. speed bridges over to a nether fortress and makes a wither skeleton farm and proceeds to grind for ~3-4 hours. collects enough wither skulls. readies her bow and summons the wither and starts using its detonating blasts to mine down for ancient debris.

roxy: tried to convince everybody at the beginning to download 727378282 mods to make the server "more FUN!!". was unsuccessful. gets told to make some houses and beds for the base so she does. looks for other things to do and finds karkat's wheat farm and is flabbergasted. why is it in one long straight line. there isn't even any water. where is the water? tells john to go get her some redstone while she fixes it up so she can automate it.

john: not sure what to do. roxy tells him to start mining for redstone ("its red and shiny lol you wont have to dig that far"). digs straight down into a cave. realizes he forgot to get wood but decides to go on anyway. uses up all his stone pickaxes mining copper because he doesn't know what it is and it looks cool. hits a slime and it divides into more slimes and he freaks out and runs away with two hearts. keeps running and finds a door in the side of the cave wall. opens it. wanders around in a cool maze and then enters a weird room with some yellow and green chest like boxes. suddenly gets attacked by a little bug making a screechy sound and panics and dies.

dirk: rounds up some animals into pens for the base and then busts out a boat and a fishing pole to try to get them a book of mending. is chilling in the middle of the ocean and then sees that dave gets blown up by a creeper in chat. asks if he's okay and if he needs someone to come over. sees that karkat got killed by terezi. sees that terezi got killed by kanaya. asks what is going on. is now rowing back towards base. jade types that her village has been destroyed. jane has logged on and is asking why the entire base is on fire. is crafting buckets and filling them with water. sees that rose got an achievement for summoning the wither. texts her "Dude did you just summon the Wither???". rose ominously replies "I've got it handled." sees john got killed by a silverfish and roxy asking when the hell john found the stronghold. jake gets a cheating death with a totem of undying achievement. proceeds to have a total aneurysm.

[yami268]

Top 5 fav storm hawks characters? (BUT you can't use Snipe XD)

Very Well. Challenge Accepted.

Carver

What solidified Carver as a favorite for me was the episode ‘Second Chances’. While I did assume the twist, I like how they presented him as cunning and charismatic. He pretty much had everyone almost believe that Aerrow was under mind control. The other thing is that his reason for it was him being petty that he got beaten. I figured he has a hero complex and I would’ve loved it if he was in the show more as a morally grey/anti-villain who just wants to beat Aerrow.

Cyclonis

One of the popular characters that I like for the same reasons as well: good design, interesting personality, and story potential. She’s also intriguing as you’re trying to find a balance between “She’s a villain and needs to be stop” or “She needs a blacket and cocoa”. If the show had been more developed and gave more thought to the world-building, I think it could have shown more of her character, especially on how she was thinking she was reclaiming a false legacy.

Scabulous

Not gonna lie, I am a sucker for sky pirates. So seeing Scabulous and the Murk Raiders was a definite highlight for me. I’ve always imagined them to be like zombies or mutants. I wished they had more appearances than they did. They are certainly fun to watch.

Aerrow

Aerrow’s the typical teen hero, but I can I like him. He has the vibe down and dual-wielding is awesome. If there’s one complaint about him, I wish he was shown more fallible. He could do well with learning lessons like, “Not everyone on your side is going to hold the same standards as you do” or “Those who could be considered good aren’t really.” *Has long list of examples*

Suzi Lu

I like this pupper. She’s a good Canadian pupper.

[crassussativum]

@turianspeedjunkie

Murk and Mav had determined that the hospital was a better home base while they figured out everything leftover from the raider’s attack. Cato thought he understood it. The hospital was easier to defend and had more access to things like running water and rooms and food and all things medically needed right now. 

They’d left Cato in charge of the children. He wasn’t totally sure why. He wasn’t the best with kids, he knew he was good with them. But that was when they were happy and wanting to play and Cato knew what to do with that. How to handle that... Pierus hadn’t stopped crying since Mav had knelt down in front of him and spoke so softly even Cato hadn’t heard his words. But he could guess. He didn’t need to guess. There were two bodies in that front room wrapped up for the pyre.

Cato swiped silent tears from his eyes. He didn’t want to cry again. The kids needed him to be as mature and strong as the other adults right now even if all he wanted was to cry too. He just needed a moment to gather himself again, so that he didn’t cry. That was how Cato found himself dunking into a little alcove , hand over his mouth to try to muffle his keens. 

[crossyyt]

Voice headcannon idea if Storm Hawks ever gets redubbed

Crispin Freeman (the voice of Alucard from Hellsing and Zelgadis from Slayers) as the Murk Raider leader

[darkwingphoenix]

@loominggaia Memes Right Outta the Oven! CAUTION: HOT

When literally anyone asks Saraia about paleontology:

Saraia admitting her crush on Skylie (Using Trip as the she's not)

Clarity after being taught how to write by Amber (She showed Cobalt, aka her dad)

Skylie, Saraia, Darshaan, and Trip after some time separated

Saraia, Cobalt, Alani, Skylie, Cyana, Citrine, Saraia and then Skylie again (Evangeline Kingdom 6022)

Baby King vs Adult King

Amber when Halloween

Skylie and Saraia to their gay allegations

Darshaan, Trip, Skylie and Saraia being immortal fools with the inhibitions of frat boys

Lumine, Maia, Skylie and Amber doin a lil dance

Another Version

Skylie Murking Evangeline Royal Guards Solo

Skylie calling Saraia with her nieces and nephews in the room (Amber asked WTF Aunt)

Skylie asking Lumine, Maia, Citrine, Alani, Amber, and Clarity who broke her portable coffee machine

Skylie, Saraia, Darshaan, Karenza, and Trip as a friend group

Part of Saphirra's husbands play made by Skylie

Clarity or Trip randomly

Skylie, Cyana, Cobalt, Lumine, Maia, and Saphirra rocking out as Danus, Rodrig and Marine burn at the stake for high treason behind them (It'll be the last time anyone's burned at the stake in Evangeline, and it went out with a BANGER)(Indiga died before a war, Cerulea died during, and Teal died at the homefront)

Skylie teaching Trip using Saraia's trilobite collection (She has what is known as A Lot of Trilobites)

Darshaan Right Before Attacking Evangeline Capital

Angeline, Jet, Saraia, Sai, Justinia, Metzwell and Asterion for 0 reason

Saraia Tryna Sing Karaoke(Skylie's tryna plan a siege against Greenhearst)

Skylie after figuring out how big Saraia is

A Vicious Koholasaur Attack against an ogress, circa 6023

Amber after trying wack for the first time

High King Gultopp Be Like

Amber 0.00000000001 seconds after Loopy the Hoopsnake becomes public domain

Maia with her first (And hardest) girlcrush, Nathalia (Supposed to be femChilde from Genshin Impact, one of Sacarmouche's bigger pairings) flirt with her toxic ASF BF (We're talking some Dorito Dust type shit here)

Also Maia 30 nanoseconds after Cobalt, realizing Nathalia is in serious trouble from her BF (And she's admitted to Maia she wants out), puts a Dead or Alive mark onto Nathalia's BF

More Saphirra Husband Play Material

Skylie, Amber, Clarity, Lumine, Maia, Citrine, Nathalia, Justinia, and Angeline over Nathalia's BF's corpse

Amber when Drunk

Siege Dragons teaching their hatchlings to fly

Skylie, a tall girl at 6'1", at a Royal Gala wearing 11 inch heels

Skylie randomly

Maia distracting Royal Guards as Skylie with a dozen slaves in tow runs past

MOAR Eight (Saphirra's husbandos play) material

Maia after learning a fictional girlcrush of hers has a name she was mispronouncing (Amber rants at her to Can Can)

Lumine, Maia, Amber, Nathalia, Tyria, and Furina doing this dance in a line formation (It's like they're in a single file line)

Angeline when she has her period

Maia sometimes

Lumine, Furina, Nathalia, Maia, and Amber

The Great Kingdoms having grand, triumphant, motivating music for the GGW... Meanwhile Ascendance (They'd rather resolve the GGW with a dance battle)

Saraia, Skylie, and Darshaan having to be dragged away from their vices (Saraia's is fossil-bearing amber, small shell, ammonite or trilobite shells, Skylie's is cosplay and cosplay items, and Darshaan's is fighting the Order of Love and Light and random minervae because of how many Crescent Cultists they killed, even those with no masks)

The Raider Shogun, Karama Sara (Her tengu general), Ayaka Kamisato (A fatui advisor of hers), Kokomi Watatsumi (Her mermaid assistant), and Yoimiya Elenas (Her elfenne artillerist) on off days

Swamp Thing, Boulderback, Cockatrice, Coatl, Cryonix, World Turtle, Hell Drakon, and Brownie using magic (Cryonix, Hell Drakon, and Brownie are new Saraians)

Saraia when Skylie steals her Paleontologist hat

Saraia when high off crazy beans

Angeline's favorite food: Cyana's

What people think Etios is like (Not that off tbh)

Acacia, Salahi, Mako, and Clarity when Big Sis Amber forgets to read them a bedtime story

Maia during the GGW

Skylie after she realized Cerulea and Rodrig told her sibs she died

Skylie to Cyana, randomly

Jeimos when they fight be like

Some Freemasons when Skylie gives them sneak peeks of their Visions

Saraia when she loses a non-paleology arguement

Literally centaurs

Vampires after drinking drugged people's blood

Rodrig and Cerulea seeing Skylie for the first time in like 10 years

Jeimos when they're losing an argument

Skylie's preferred form of positivity

Nighttime in Seelie Court

Skylie after a siege dragon blasts her right before she fights Gultopp

Saraia half the time

Basically Evangelites

Skylie when she and Saraia are unarmed and surrounded by enemy soldiers

Darshaan Doesn't Know Universa Spelling

When the Nymphs fight the Modernists

Maia, Lumine, Furina, Nathalia, Amber, and Tyria doing this dance

Acacia, Amber and Clarity fighting over snacks

Lumine, Maia, and Amber when a toaster's broken

Literally Saraians to Evangelites

Ascendii Spies in Folkvar be like

Skylie, Darshaan, and Saraia's Dynamic (No matter how you arrange them lmao)

Literally Elves in Looming Gaia (Audio, pretend the frog and snake are a human and an elf)

[home-on-the-wastes]

Hell of a Ride (1/2)

When someone finally makes it through the Gauntlet, Gage's relieved that they might finally have a candidate for Overboss--until he sees that the contender's just a kid. Still, she's the first who's gotten this far in a long time, so maybe there's some merit to her skills, and would be a good fit for the role after all. Besides, kids can be bossed around, right? Characters: Porter Gage, Murk Mathis (Fallout 4 OC), Overboss Colter, Other Nuka-World residents Tags: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Nuka-World Amusement Park, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon Divergence, Swearing, Killing, Murder, Raiders, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Underage Drug Use Part 1 // 2

God fucking damnit.

It was a kid. Redeye had said the new vic was on the young side, but Gage wasn’t expecting a teenager. A scrawny, wiry thing in armor that had been looted from corpses and didn’t fit right. Her gear was a hodgepodge of leather and old Gunner armor. She had gotten this far because of caution if Redeye’s commentary had a lick of truth, but slow and steady doesn’t help in a battle against Colter.

Still…maybe it was something.

Gage turned on the intercom. “All right, listen the hell up if you want to make it out alive—I’ve only got a minute.”

“Who’re you?”

The kid had already found the intercom. That was a good sign; taking initiative, or whatever.

“I’m the guy who’s gonna try and get you out of this alive, so listen up. The game’s rigged, kid—”

“It’s fucking rigged?!” echoed the kid. “Figures.”

“Shut up or I turn off this comm and you’re on your own.” Gage didn’t have the patience for this. It was easier when kids showed up wanting to be a raider, wanting to engross themselves in this life. But a kid surviving the Gauntlet was a whole different story–she couldn’t tap out or sneak off in the night. The gangs wanted a show. They wanted blood. “Now, you gonna be quiet?”

The kid said nothing.

“Good. Now, listen close.”

Gage outlined the plan. To the kid’s credit, she listened intently. She retrieved the Thirst Zapper as he instructed and paid attention to the plan. In fact, she got a little too quiet, and it made Gage nervous.

Funny, that stuff could still make him nervous.

“So, you got it?” he asked again.

“This isn’t going to work. Sure, water conducts electricity, but this is a toy.”

No shit, thought Gage. “Well, that’ll knock out his power armor long enough to let you get a few shots in. If you don’t believe me, then leave it, you little shit. You got a gun besides the zapper?”

The silence on the other end was, to say the least, concerning. Something clattered on the other end of the intercom. Then, the voice piped up again. “Yes?”

“Ammo?”

There was another clatter. “Yes.”

Gage shut his eye and took a deep breath. This kid’s fucked.��“Well, good luck, kid. Try and die quick.”

“Fuck you.”

“Save that venom, you’re gonna need it.”

Colter shouted his usual pre-match bullshit, some of the crowd going wild. The others cheered but a few looked uncomfortable at the spectacle. The kid looked a little on the young side, still obviously a teenager, but since some of them were barely out of adolescence themselves. It could have easily been them in the arena with Colter instead of sitting in the audience as their fellow gang members lost it over the bloodshed.

Colter turned to the holding area, and Gage could hear the sneer of delight in Colter’s tone. “Don’t worry, kid–it’ll all be over soon.”

On cue, Gage hit the button to open the door. The crowd cheered.

Here we go, thought Gage. He saw the Thirst Zapper at the kid’s waist, tucked in a holster. Make it quick, make it painless. Make sure that kid doesn’t know what hit her.

The kid held onto her submachine gun, finger on the trigger, and charged. At least she was willing to give them a show.

The first part of the fight was painful. Coulter clipped the kid the moment she stepped into the arena. The kid hid behind the wreckage of ride pieces, occasionally taking pot shots but they rarely hit. It was obvious the kid couldn’t aim for shit–her hands shook so bad, it was comical. Colter chased her around like a loud cat toying with a mouse–shouting jeering remarks, but not taking her very seriously. The way everyone roared in the arena, Gage couldn’t help but feel bad. He didn’t want to even look, but he made himself watch anyway.

Then, a small explosion. A ripple of energy throughout the arena made Gage’s hair stand on end, his wrapped-up feet tingling as a current surged through the floor.

“What the–what is this?!” Colter demanded. 

Gage stepped sideways to see past Colter’s hulking frame. The sparking electricity that normally cloaked Colter was gone, leaving him standing there holding his combat rifle like a goddamned idiot. He let his guard drop, just for a moment, grabbing at his armor like that would fix it, and then–that’s when the kid struck.

Throwing the Thirst Zapper aside, she charged Colter, one hand around a beat-up submachine gun, the other outstretched to grab something. For a split second, Gage eyed something shiny at her waist–the machete hanging at her hip was just unnecessary weight in the fight of her life. That machete wasn’t going to do shit against the steel plating, and how the hell was she planning on picking up the Thirst Zapper in the chaos? The electricity would be shorted only for maybe ten, fifteen seconds tops. Not enough time to kill him. Maybe her plan was to give Colter lockjaw once she ran out of ammo if she lived that long.

The charging kid forced Colter to stumble back. They were so close to the glass barrier he could see her eyes past the smudged windows–dilated pupils so wide her eyes were almost black as a ghoul’s, fixed on Colter. Gage guessed she was hyped up on chems, and if her gritted teeth and foolhardy stupid charge were anything to go by, it was Psycho. Bloodthirsty, ready to give a show. 

The kid spared Gage the briefest glance and then—ran past Colter? Was her plan to try and get into the glass room, just charge and break the glass? No, not that—she reached out and grabbed some of the metal mesh on Colter’s armor. Used it to slide on the scuffed metal floors, relying on her weight to swing behind him. The metal cut into her fingers, blood bursting out in a gory pressure display, but she didn’t let go. She shoved her fist, still clutching the machine gun, towards the back of Colter’s power armor–

“Oh, fuck,” said Gage.

The fusion core popped out, wobbling loosely in its power chamber. The kid lost momentum and slid into an upturned bumper car with a crash but then dragged herself over it to give herself some cover.

“I’m gonna tear you apart!” roared Colter, unaware of the telltale signs of the power armor shutting down until it was too late. He made it about ninety degrees before it shut down entirely, and the fusion core started to slide to the ground. “You fucking bitch—”

She lined up the shot, which was impossible to miss, even with her shitty aim.

The resulting explosion threw everyone in the immediate area off their feet. Gage blacked out for a few seconds and came to with glass showering on top of him. He heard screams of panic and excitement once the ringing in his ears faded, noises of confusion, and the gang bosses tried to corral their people for a second as he collected himself.

Next >>

[the-shattering]

Chapter 17: Blood

Theran and Lovac returned with their report a while later, Lovac spoke as soon as the duo approached Caleste and Emmon.

“We found bootprints, loads of ‘em. Reckon a force of twenty or so,” he said in his usual clipped tone, “Headed south.”

“There’s no sign that they have any mounts,” Theran added, “We didn’t see any hoof prints at least.”

Emmon and Caleste exchanged a look.

“They couldn’t have gotten far then,” Emmon said, “Though I’d imagine if this was some kind of raiding party from the Southern Kingdom then they’d have ridden in on horses at least.”

“Perhaps they thought the terrain too rough,” Caleste surmised, “In any case, if they truly are on foot then we should be able to catch them.”

Emmon looked unsure, “They have us outnumbered two to one. We should get reinforcements.”

However, Caleste knew that going back to get reinforcements or recruiting extra hands from whoever was left in this forsaken valley would take too long. They had a chance at finding and catching whoever sacked Odrum, a chance that was rapidly slipping away as they sat and chatted. Her hands itched as if they were desperate to wield her halberd in battle once more. She’d be more than happy to indulge.

“As if that’s ever stopped us before?” Caleste raised an eyebrow at Emmon, “We’re the best warriors this side of the Barrens with the best mage on the continent. Do not underestimate you or your men’s skills … and more importantly, do not underestimate mine.”

Emmon shrank slightly under her gaze and after a few tense moments he finally nodded, “I’ll get our men ready.”

“I want to leave within the hour.”

She turned and walked away before Emmon could respond. She walked by Edrahn who was kneeling next to the ruins of a house with one of her hands planted on the ground in the still hot ashes. Her wife showed no signs of discomfort despite the smoke rising from just under her palm. Her brow was furrowed as if concentrating on something.

“What is it my love?” Caleste asked.

“I’m not sure,” she admitted, “I can sense traces of magic in these ruins.”

“You think there’s a mage with them?”

That information wouldn’t change Caleste’s decision about going after these raiders, though a mage may require a slight change of tactics.

“That’s the thing,” Edrahn stood up, the same strange expression on her face, “I can sense magic all through these ruins but it’s not … it’s not ours.”

A sense of unease crawled down Caleste’s spine at that. She had never seen her wife so spooked. For a moment she wondered if she was making the right decision to go after the raiders instead of returning to Caleston to bolster her forces and inform the queen. Almost immediately she shrugged off the thought, annoyed at herself for being worried.

Everything would be fine.

She placed a hand on her wife’s shoulder, “We’ve faced worse,” she said, “Between you and I, these raiders don’t have a chance. Strange magic or no.”

Edrahn flashed her wife a grin, “I know.”

***

Within the hour they were back on their mounts and following the trail the raiders had left behind. Caleste rode in front with Emmon and Lovac while Edrahn stayed further back in the middle of the column, flanked by Theran and another knight. The sun was high overhead though Caleste could barely tell. The smoke and the thick forest canopy mostly choked out the sunlight. Their world was reduced to a hazy, unnatural twilight and Caleste could see only a few feet in front of her in the murk.

Her sense of unease hadn’t abated since they left Odrum, a nagging voice that had been once a whisper in her head was now practically screaming at her that this was a very bad idea. She ignored it for the most part but kept a sharp watch for any signs of danger. The forest was dead quiet save for the sound of their horses.

The haze only thickened around them.

Caleste noticed her horse was lagging and its breath came out in a harsh wheeze. She turned to ask Emmon if his horse was having any difficulties when a surprised yelp and a loud crash broke the unsettled quiet of the forest. Everyone turned in alarm to see what caused the disturbance:

One of the knights near the rear of the column was now on the ground, groaning and rubbing his sore shoulder. His leg was trapped under his horse that now lay on the ground barely breathing. Immediately everyone stopped, Emmon began barking orders, “Stay sharp - Theran, Meris: Get that horse off his leg.”

“What happened?” Caleste asked. She felt her horse swaying unsteadily under her, it was the only warning she got before it too dropped. It was only due to her quick reflexes that she didn’t get trapped under her steed, she hit the ground and rolled out of the way before the horse could land on her.

Her mask became dislodged as she did so, and she got a lung full of the air that surrounded them. Almost immediately her throat seemed to seize up on her as the overpowering stench of sulfur filled her lungs. She hacked and wheezed; her stomach roiled in protest at the strong odor.

She scrambled to put her mask back on and turned to Edrahn, “Clear this out.”

Her voice barely came out in a rasp, but Edrahn heard her. Edrahn wasn’t well versed in wind magic, she was much more of a fireballs out of your fists kind of woman, but she still knew the basic principles behind the action. She began whispering to herself as she concentrated. The branches in the trees began to sway and creak as the wind picked up all around them.

Edrahn was staring upwards at the canopy and the clear air she hoped was above. Over the roar of the wind Caleste couldn’t hear their attackers and didn’t notice them until it was almost too late. The only warning she got was the glint of blackened metal from behind a few trees. Almost immediately after an arrow came screaming through the air at her. It was buffeted by the strong winds and knocked off course, skittering harmlessly over the maille that covered her arm before embedding itself into the tree behind her.

Slowly the deadly fog cleared out from around them and the haze dissipated enough to reveal their attackers. There were around twenty in total, wearing varying amounts of the strange black metal armor and wielding weapons made of the same material. Caleste noted that while some were wearing armor that looked more or less intact, the majority were practically wearing scraps.

What made her heart stop though was what the creatures wearing the armor looked like.

They were not human, not entirely, she thought to herself. Their skin was a pale gray and pulled taught across their cheekbones. Their eyes seemed clouded as if they were blind … or dead. She half expected them to stumble and stagger when they walked; she was shocked when one of them leaped at her with a burst of speed and brought its ax down on her head.

She barely dodged to the right, the ax slammed down onto her shoulder and clove through the metal of her cuirass. The maille underneath provided enough protection to keep her from losing her arm but she felt the force of the blow through the gambeson she wore. She kicked out at her attacker, knocking its legs out from under it. It went down with a mighty crash.

Caleste was on top of it before it could stand up, she withdrew her dagger from her belt — it was a long and stiff-bladed weapon, used for stabbing between gaps in plate or breaking through maille. Her attacker wore neither, clad in what she deemed a sorry excuse for a gambeson and a brimmed helm like the one she saw in Odrum.

She slammed the dagger into its chest. It opened its mouth as if it wanted to scream in pain, but nothing came out, instead it gripped her arm so tight she swore she could feel her bones creak. With a grunt she managed to wrest herself from its grip and yank the dagger out. The next time the blade came down it went into its neck. Nearly black blood oozed from the two wounds and after a few feeble attempts to fight back, the creature finally lay still.

Caleste had no time to process what had just happened as there were still more enemies to fight. All she really gathered in that moment that she had been wrong: These were most certainly not raiders from the Southern Kingdoms.

She was pretty sure they weren’t even human.

She took a few moments to grab her halberd from the ground where it fell after her horse had collapsed. Around her the small battle raged: Lovac was already down with an arrow to the chest, Theran and Meris had taken up guard near the soldier who still had his leg pinned under his fallen horse. Emmon had moved next to Edrahn, protecting her as the winds continued to swirl around them.

A large figure stepped into her periphery and Caleste raised her halberd to block a blow meant to kill her. It was the best armored of the bunch and Caleste surmised it must either be the leader or at least of a higher rank than its companions. Its eyes seemed to gleam under the visored helm it wore. It brandished a long two-handed sickle-like sword. She had managed to catch the blow on the long handle of its sword rather than the blade.

It pressed the sword into the haft of her halberd and shoved, knocking her off balance. The wicked point of the black blade came dangerously close to her face before she managed to regain her footing. She stepped to her right while raising her right arm and letting her left arm drop. Her foe, still putting a considerable amount of force on the blade, stumbled forward as it suddenly met no resistance. She let go of the haft with her right hand, letting the halberd pivot backwards around her left hand.

The head of the halberd slammed into her foe’s chin, the armor it wore was the only reason it didn’t have its jaw cloven in two. In fact, the moment that Caleste’s halberd hit the creature, it felt like she had slammed her halberd into the side of a mountain. Her hands tingled painfully as the force of the blow reverberated up the haft.

“What the?”

The creature seemed unfazed by the blow and stood up with a grunt. It attacked again, swinging its blade viciously at her and this time the edge of the blade caught the haft of her weapon. She watched in astonishment as the blade broke the wooden haft in two.

The creature’s shoulders shook as it made a rasping noise, as if it was laughing at her predicament. She dropped the useless half of her haft and clutched what was left of it in both hands. She wasn’t going to go down without a mighty fight.

With a loud cry, Caleste moved in on her foe with her broken halberd raised — giving it an opening to attack. The creature lunged.

Caleste dodged the thrust at the last second, stepping off to the side as the blade carved into her cuirass. Instead of striking it directly (she had certainly learned her lesson from before) she delivered a savage kick to the back of its knee as it stepped forward and it collapsed as its leg buckled beneath it. She put all her strength into driving the point of the halberd’s spike to the creature’s back. Once again, its armor stopped the blow, though the strike certainly had put a dent into the metal.

The creature slammed its hand on the ground. Almost immediately Caleste felt the ground heave beneath her, and she lost her balance. Her ankle rolled painfully as the unstable ground gave way and she fell to the dirt on her hands and knees.

Caleste noticed more activity in the woods around her, but she paid no attention to it as she focused on the immediate threat. The creature staggered upright with a grunt, favoring its uninjured leg and raising its sword.

“Caleste!”

Caleste was now knocked completely flat onto her stomach as a huge gust of wind slammed into her and the creature. The creature was pushed back several feet and into the trunk of a pine tree. Caleste looked back to see her wife with her staff raised and the air swirling violently around her. Her expression was apoplectic as she stared down the creature.

“Stay away from my wife.”

She had said it quietly but with the winds carrying her voice through the clearing it might as well have been a shout.

Caleste looked around her and saw there were many more people in the clearing than before - many more human people. Warriors in nasal helms with aventails that obscured their faces and golden scale armor were now amongst those battling the creatures in black. One of them grabbed one of the creatures and the air shimmered around the two.

She heard its bones crack before it crumpled to the ground in a twisted heap.

Caleste turned to face the creature she had been fighting only to see it stepping back into the woods and disappearing into the brush and thick haze. She stood up and hobbled after it while ignoring the pain that shot up her ankle. Air rushed past her as Edrahn cleared out the smoke that obscured her path, but it was no use.

There was a low rumble, a slight jolt in the earth, and the creature was gone. A disturbed patch of ground was the only sign that the hole it had disappeared into was there at all. Caleste lowered her broken halberd with a scowl and limped back to the clearing. Edrahn was at Caleste’s side in moments, offering her shoulder for a tired and injured Caleste to lean on.

“Thanks honey,” Caleste said as she sagged against her wife taking the opportunity to kiss her gently on the temple. She couldn’t express how relieved she was to see Edrahn unhurt.

“Any time dear.”

Emmon approached them, next to him was a man clad in the golden scale armor — he had taken his helmet off and had it tucked under his arm.

“What are you doing here?” Caleste asked.

“Same as you it seems,” the man answered, “We were chasing those damned things. They’ve ravaged several of our towns ... We thought we’d never catch them until we found they were attacking you.”

“Thank you,” Caleste said, though her thanks was more out of polite obligation than gratitude. She stared around the now calm battlefield and saw what the battle had cost. Lovac was most certainly dead, as was the soldier who had gotten pinned under his horse who now had his chest caved in by what appeared to be a blow from a mace. Theran was leaning against a tree; she yanked off her ruined vambrace to reveal a bleeding wound underneath.

There were varying other degrees of injury she noted but aside from Lovac and the soldier under the horse — no one else seemed to be dead.

“What were those things?” Edrahn asked quietly, her voice shook slightly, “They felt …”

She trailed off and Caleste could feel her shudder.

“Whatever they were,” the man said, “They’re not human and they’re ruthless.”

“Their armor was strong too,” Caleste said, “Whatever metal that was made of — it can’t be normal iron or steel.”

She took a moment to examine the broken halberd still in her free hand. The spike was visibly deformed, the sharpened point made dull by the blow she had landed on the creature’s armor. The blade of the halberd where it had met the creature’s armored jaw was similarly deformed. Her eyes wandered down the wooden haft; she had thought it had snapped in two as it certainly wasn’t the first time that had happened — though she had just gotten the damn thing replaced.

Her eyes widened as she finally examined the break.

It wasn’t a break — the haft had been cut cleanly in two.

“We should alert the queen,” Emmon spoke up, “She needs to hear of this.”

Caleste’s grip around her broken halberd tightened and her expression soured. They had been made to look like fools in this battle! She had been knocked flat and injured, her weapon broken as if it were a toy. The only thing that hurt more than her ankle was her pride.

Talk to the queen? Tell her what happened here? No. She wouldn’t do that.

She had already asked for help once and she wasn’t about to do it again. What kind of ruler was she that she had to ask for help to handle such a small problem as this? No. She could handle this. She could prove her worth.

Her reply was short and harsh.

“No. We can handle this on our own.”

“M’lord …,” Emmon began but she cut him off.

“We’ll take our wounded and dead and ride back to Caleston,” Caleste said, “We raise an army, and we scour every inch of this damned countryside until we find these … things … and show them that we don’t run — we win.”

[ashe-alter]

New poll time!

[far-side-skies]

How would you rewrite Atmos most wanted?🤔🤔🤔

Oh this is a good one. Anyone who's been in the discord for a while will know more or less my ideas for this one.

Unlike Energy Crisis, I have actual grievances with this episode, and they are as follows:

The Raptors' disguises were just… why? I know why, it's because Storm Hawks is a kid's show, but surely you can give your audience a bit more credit than that. It's Dark Ace in Velocity all over again. I forgive it for the most part because it's a cartoon, but Nerd Corps is on thin ice XD

The people who are on the war path after the Hawks makes no bloody sense for when the episode happens in relation to the rest of the show. Yes, the show has episodic writing but by AMW, the Rex Guardians, Absolute Zeroes and Rebel Ducks all have an established history with the Hawks. If anything, more people than just Dove should've been trying to help them clear their names.

The crimes and items stolen is just nonsensical. There was no end goal for the Raptors here, they were just being evil for the sake of it and as a result the stakes were depressingly low. We deserved a bigger threat than what we got.

With those problems established, let's go over how I'd fix them, starting with the teams who think the Storm Hawks robbed them.

This episode would've been a great opportunity to introduce some squadrons we don't know very well. Perhaps the Buff Buzzards and the Screaming Queens, both teams we've seen in passing during Velocity, but that never got much development.

As for the teams we do know better. All of them felt like they were being written terribly out of character, excluding Wren. Wren can stay the crazy accusing old man he originally was. This man almost yeeted these kids into the Wastelands on their first meeting because he refused to believe that they weren't Cyclonians until Radarr bit him.

So we have Wren on the war path making false accusations again. How about the rest of the Rebel Ducks are following him to make sure he doesn't give himself an aneurism. Meanwhile Harrier and Suzy Lu are trying to get to the bottom of these thefts before pinning it on the Hawks. These kids surely wouldn't steal such valuable and even dangerous items, would they?

Now what is actually being stolen? And why?

The Cheese Stone is funny but ultimately useless. Let's replace it with a box of high-grade explosives, because one of my headcanons for the Rebel Ducks is that blowing things up is their favourite way to get shit done. Nobody makes a bomb like a Galeman can.

The snow blaster is… ok, I guess? One of the few instances of gun weapons being seen in Storm Hawks. But let's make it a bit more specific and have it that one of Suzy-Lu's frost crystals was stolen. An extremely rare one that's capable of freezing metal to the point where it shatters.

The Rex Guardians always seemed to me like one of the most influential squadrons in the Free Atmos, so as well as old Sky Knight relics they probably have archives of current and recent goings-on in the war, maybe even things that let them access high-security locations such as prisons.

If anyone can see where I'm going with this, you can have a cookie.

Stealing the Aurora Stone pieces is a brave move, and I'm sure anyone's attention would be grabbed by an attempt at such a crime.

So we have some new antagonists, and a running theme for the items that have been stolen. What can these things be used for? What goal shall we give the thieves of this rewrite?

How about a prison break?

The Atmosia Stockade is a high-security prison that houses Carver, and no doubt numerous other prisoners of war, such as high ranking Talons, turncoat Sky Knights, powerful Murk Raiders, the list goes on. The Free Atmos would stand to lose a lot if so many dangerous individuals escaped. Imagine the chaos!

And if that wasn't enough, I have one last major change to bring out.

The Raptors aren't the thieves in this. Not the main ones anyway. Perhaps they were hired as distractions, perhaps they did help with a couple of the thefts, but they're not the primary culprits. It's the Storm Hawks Reserve team.

This ties into other rewrite ideas I've got lined up, specifically Talon Academy. I decided a while back that several members of the Reserves that Aerrow suggested in TA and that never got mentioned again what the hell were in fact Cyclonian double agents. People with a huge motivation to break people out of the Stockade. And it'd explain why the likes of Wren are so sure that it was the Storm Hawks who robbed them. They have the right uniforms, the right insignia, and they are not a pack of giant lizards in paper masks.

...Sorry, I'm a bit salty.

I want the Storm Hawks to fail in this episode. It would've been interesting to see how they handle a loss like this, and I think it would make things incredibly interesting for the lead-up to Cyclonia Rising. Imagine all the new threats we could've gotten.

So that's my extensive ideas for how I'd rewrite Atmos's Most Wanted. Maybe one day I'll do a fanfic or even an audio drama based on this rewrite, because apparently recording my attempts at voice acting is something I want to so. I hope you enjoyed my ramblings!

[crackinglamb]

Some Sentence Sunday/WIP Whenever

I'm excited, y'all. I've finished writing another chaptered fic (and in just a few months too!). Going back to my FO4 roots, combined with my love of Modern Character in [Fictional Location]. Eventual Hancock romance, because ghoul husband will always be best husband.

Have some:

---

Jack Nunn fell forward out of the pod and onto her hands and knees. She coughed a couple times and shivered. Her clothes felt too tight and she couldn’t seem to catch her breath within their confines. There was a computerized voice droning in the background about evacuating the premises, barely audible above the hiss of the ice subliming into vapor. Her gaze fell to her hand, where a band of gold glinted through the hazy murk surrounding her.

“What?” she said aloud. Her voice sounded funny, like her ears were plugged. She sat back on her knees, feeling cold concrete beneath the even colder air and looked around. “No. No way.”

She was in Vault 111, the very start of the game.

She was inside the game.

“Okay, weird dream?” she queried the hissing air. Of course no one answered. The only thing alive down here was her and some radroaches. Assuming that it was going to match what she knew. This was her favorite game, and she’d played it dozens of times. Rarely to the end, although she’d tried it at least once with every faction for the sake of completion. Even the Institute ending, although it had enraged and sorrowed her in equal measure and she nearly gave up on it several times.

If she was inside the game, then that meant across from her…

“Please tell me it’s a weird dream, fictional dead husband,” she murmured, looking into the cryopod at the slumped body, the bloody wound in his head still visible under the rime.

She’d just started a new playthrough last night. She’d made it through the character creation and the unskippable beginning sequence that was usually her cue to get up and make a snack while it played out. She couldn’t remember anything after that. She didn’t remember falling asleep, but she must have. She must have.

“Critical failure in Cryogenic Array. All vault residents must vacate immediately.”

Jack rotated her jaw and swallowed, trying to get her ears to pop, since everything sounded muddy and distant. It partially worked and she didn’t feel quite so much like her ears were stuffed with cotton. She got to her feet, feeling pins and needles run down her legs after sitting on them for however long she’d been there. If this was a dream, it was remarkably lifelike. She could smell the metal walls and the cold chemical stink of whatever was used in the cryogenic solution. Liquid nitrogen maybe? She didn’t think that was actually a thing that would work. Being frozen should have left her with burns like chicken months past its sell-by date that had gotten forgotten in the bottom of her freezer.

“Well, you remember the real world,” she muttered, still aloud, just to hear something that wasn’t the computerized voice.

She knew she would find a security baton in her winding hunt for the exit. And a 10 mm handgun with enough ammo to get her out of here. She’d face radroaches – and the rads they carried – but they were simple to kill. One good whack each should do it. And then…

...Then she would face the Commonwealth. Hopefully she’d wake up before then.

Raiders. Mutated creatures. Deathclaws. Ferals. Radstorms. 200 year old food and irradiated water. She was so fucked if this was not a dream.

Don’t think about it now, she told herself firmly. Just get out of here. Pretend it’s the game and do what you know you have to.

And that plan worked great until she got swarmed by the roaches in the corridor. They moved fast, nipping and biting her in a dozen places, their rads bleeding onto her in a palpable effect, making her woozy and nauseous. She couldn’t seem to get her hand eye coordination down and kept missing them when she tried to whack them. The pistol was no better. She’d never shot anything in real life. The report of the gun was loud and she flinched each time, wasting precious seconds while the roaches took advantage to attack her more. One leapt at her face, clawing her and going for her eyes. She fell backwards trying to escape its grasp and hit her head on the concrete floor.

She woke up, falling on her hands and knees out of the pod, coughing and cold.

“Fuck.”