#we're also doing no-mount map completion with them!

[astralarias]

@the-tired-commander and I made some plants in love...fated to be the Commanders by the Dream, running away from their destiny to be gay together <3

Bonus judging:

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

ok so I actually completed SotO's new story chapters on day 1, but I've taken a little while to put my thoughts together on it. some of it's good, some not, but I did my best to be fair and direct on it.

so anyway here we go, major spoilers under the cut!

The Good

I like the map, I like the writing direction, I like the lore. I liked most of what we got, honestly. dungeon fixes, customizable character screen backgrounds, bugfixing the new 'green circles' mechanic, and adding a mount ley-line toggle are also all huge things that people have been wanting, and I'm very very glad they listened.

Peitha is shaping into an absolutely fascinating character too, and it's getting a lot more obvious why she connected to the Wayfinder so quickly... they feel very much cut from the same cloth, two strong leaders fighting to make their worlds better. and yet they're also burdened by the weight of that choice, and the sacrifices that must be made for their vision to be made into reality.

moments like this hit me like a bag of bricks; there's so much going on in the Kryptis homeworld. it's fascinating starting from the perspective of the Ward, seeing them all as just these vicious invaders... to now finding out they have names, ambitions, homes, maybe even families. we're told time and time again that their motivation is fear. the Wanderer, Irja, the little grunts we kill en masse to power the beacons, even Heitor herself.

'There's a version of this world where she joined us.'

like... just thinking about that. man. a version where Heitor hadn't lost hope so completely that by the time we come along, Peitha informs us that she wanted to die-- if only because she knew that at least we'd make it quick. it's horrifying to think about on its own, but the reality that it didn't have to be that way makes it so much worse.

it's... such a clear illustration of why their world has to change. they're fighting and dying to preserve the status quo not because it brings them comfort or privilege, but because they've been living in hell for so long that they don't believe an alternative exists. for as alien as the Kryptis seem to us, we're every bit as alien to them.

it feels like there's a really solid direction here, and I hope that it continues being solid through to the end. I could talk WAY more about my feelings on the story, but I'd better keep going.

I also like the Convergences; they're fun and I hope they survive. having public vs private instanced content seems to cause issues with publics staying populated long-term though, which... concerns me. I STRONGLY prefer publics just because you can bring Jade Bot protocols in, which makes it easier to travel freely and keep boons.

and now that I've dug into all that, uh... let's get to the less fun stuff.

The Bad

there's a lot of things to like about this release, but there's also a lot to... Not. the main 'drop' for Convergences outside of raw essences are Concealed Unstable Kryptis Essence Coffers... lootboxes which can only be opened with an Unstable Kryptis Motivation, which at the moment costs... upwards of 10 Gold per pop if you buy them off the TP. the only other way to get them is grinding tier 2 and 3 rifts, and good luck getting one because they're RARE.

I do not like this direction, for a LOT of reasons. the biggest one should be pretty obvious: it's making a portion of the victory rewards inaccessible to players who can't shell out the gold or the rift farm time to get the keys OUTSIDE the Convergence. the other is that the rewards aren't even worth 11 Gold anyway, so the coffers are dropping rapidly in price while the keys stay high. at this point it's arguably better to just sell the keys on the TP than to ever actually use them. the market on these is gonna get wacky I'm sure.

I don't want to see that become a trend. just.......... no.

the other main gripe I have is that... there's no portal of entry in and out of Inner Nayos. no, really. you can't get in and out at all without porting one way or another. it's right next to the Wizard's Tower but there is no entry point connecting these two maps. I thought I was going insane at first so I turned on the story again while in the Wizard's Tower to see if it'd point me towards a door. nope! it just sticks the story star icon on the Inner Nayos map and calls it a day.

aside from making travel in and out unnecessarily irritating and costly, this also means that you can't easily get alts into the dang map without a TP to friend. otherwise you have to do the story on them, whether you're ready and willing to or not.

I don't like that shift either, and really hope they remedy it when the 'under construction' gate opens in the future. that said, that should have been made available as soon as you finish the story.

and now the final segment, you know where this is going.

The Ugly

it's... short. really, really short. like, no, really. I finished all the story chapters in an hour and a half tops. now at maybe three, four days in I already have enough mastery points to top off the last mastery in the new line. I've map completed the new zone twice. both of the new Vault tasks are done. everything went so so so so fast.

and for reference: this cycle is going to last even longer than the last, based on the Vault reset time period.

additionally, the weaponmaster training underwent a stealth change: the new weapons can no longer be equipped on characters under level 80. this was not listed in the update notes. while that didn't affect me, it does seem kind of cheap to pull the rug on that when a lot of players were using that to level their characters since, well... a lot of core weapons just aren't that great. I can't really blame anyone who would rather use weapons that don't hit like a wet paper towel.

there have also been some... interesting bugs on release, of which the biggest one was unlimited hero's chests per day from the Inner Nayos meta. some people got a month's worth of chests in one day before they turned the chest drops off entirely to fix it.

they're back now, but that was still... something to behold.

I've also heard rumors that the new Legendary Kit from the Vault may be bugged; some players are reporting opening the kit and getting nothing out of it. I can't confirm how frequent that issue is, but... yeah that's a little concerning. I'll hold onto mine for now, just to be safe.

Overall Impression

despite the many sore points mentioned, overall I'm... okay with it. I like what we got, but I wish there was more there to like. from the much smaller Vault selection, to the shorter story, to the single-waypoint but otherwise very cool map that feels like it could have more going on in certain areas... I dunno.

but on the other hand... if my biggest complaint is that I like it enough to want more of it, that's an alright problem to have when we know we're going to get more. I'd be more worried if what we got was a miserable slog and I didn't even want to return to the maps-- and in fact, the opposite is true! I want to return to the map frequently and I want more to do in it-- and mostly I want easier access to it.

my hope is that the slowdown is an indication of resources being put into other backend work, such as the dungeon fixes, the character select screen, and so on. because, realistically, if they can fix up the core more, that would streamline their workflow a LOT and make it easier and quicker to work on things in the future.

I guess in short, my impression is... tentatively optimistic.

that's all I've got on it for now, maybe I'll talk about story more in-depth in the future though because boy I do have a lot of thoughts on that-- which... is part of why I had to redo this post like 6 times. it kept getting way too long and rambly over story. (oops)

[betweenlands]

Someone else wrote a full essay for Pandora first, so now I finally have an excuse to write one about the Ghost's Vault!

Let's talk about power, visual metaphor, and why exactly the Ghost's Vault is an utterly iconic location that is absolutely a tournament winner in its own right, relative obscurity be damned. In fact...

I. Obscurity as Power

The Ghost's Vault is not visible on any maps of Dominion SMP -- it's totally sequestered away somewhere underground. Actual teleportation to it is done via waystone, and even if you somehow do manage to find it on the waypoint list on the vanishingly rare occasion it's set as a public waystone, the initial teleportation location is a small raw deepslate room with nothing but a few empty chests in it. It's so hard to find that people literally haven't been able to locate it in the world download -- that is how hidden and secret this place is.

Phantom Viking, as a character (referred to as dViking when discussing other versions of Viking, just referred to as Viking from here on out), is also someone who initially went completely unnoticed. According to his backstory, he spent the entire first half of Dominion still on the server but wholly unable to interact with anything or anyone -- invisible, intangible, undetectable. This is a tension point between Viking and the other Dominion members; people don't take him seriously, and people especially don't take the fact that he can go spy on them at will seriously.

The Ghost Vault's secrecy points out that this ability to remain unseen is power -- Viking may just know more about the rest of the server than any of them know about each other. It's no coincidence that you'd literally have to start breaking random blocks to get into the Vault proper... unless you're Viking. Phantoms can walk through walls. Viking has access to power that no other Dominioners have, because he is the only person able to access the Ghost's Vault, and he makes sure of it.

II. Material as Power

Let's take a look at this screencap of the Ghost's Vault and break down exactly what we're seeing here, resource-wise.

Starting small, there's the carpet runner and the choice of lighting in general. There are people that are immune to lava in the Overworld, and while Legundo (the person not on the throne in this image) is one of those people, his Piglin origin also gives him Weakness in the presence of soulfire -- what the whole room is lit by, right down to the hidden lighting under the carpet runner. The room itself is tailored towards literally and metaphorically elevating Viking above Legundo, who happens to be one of the most powerful people on all of Dominion. That's also probably why it uses so many Nether materials (quartz and basalt) in its construction; this entire place likely rings eerily familiar for Legundo.

While we're on the subject of the material makeup of the room itself, there are also ender chests under the carpet runner that shed particles throughout the room, giving it a sort of liminal feel. It's cool as hell, but it also ties in to the dragon head mounted on the throne. The Queen of Dominion at the time, Jamie, was a Dragonborn. This is another threat -- Viking does not care about whatever's going on with the Queen, even if she is possessed by the Void.

Speaking of the Queen... let's talk about that throne.

When the Ghost's Vault was built, there was an in-universe ban on keeping diamonds -- raw diamonds, diamond ore or blocks, and diamond tools or armor. You could upgrade the latter to netherite to keep it, but that's obviously not feasible for most people to do in the span of two weeks (because that's when the tax collectors rolled around). A lot of people found other ways around this -- using them as vital parts of their build's infrastructure, pivoting to other things for currency, trying to figure out where she was even putting the diamonds.

Viking just built a Vault for his diamonds instead.

Seeing this many diamonds on display anywhere on Dominion is, and I cannot stress this enough, blatant disregard for the current power structure of Dominion. The entire throne is made of both forbidden contraband and the means by which to upgrade that contraband. It speaks to raw power as material wealth in its highest form -- oh, yeah, and there's also the ten full sets of netherite armor and swords.

Viking collected all of this material in the span of... I think roughly two weeks, though I may actually be overshooting by a significant amount. That means every single one of these ten numbered netherite armor sets was made by hand, from diamond to debris to enchantment, in the span of two weeks. It's a frankly terrifying display of competence on Viking's part that only gets a tiny bit less terrifying when you remember he plays Hardcore and also that phantoms can noclip.

Finally, there are the Books.

III. Influence as Power

If this section is a little terse and/or incoherent it's because I am doing my best not to scream about Viking lore at the top of my lungs. If you have watched Dominion you already know why this is. Let's talk IOUs.

If you've watched enough MCYT you've probably seen an IOU come into play before, most notably in more than one season of Hermitcraft. IOUs are a sort of simple payment method/contract/gift -- a signed book or piece of paper saying they're good for one favor from the person who handed over that IOU. If there's no stipulations on that contract, you're able to ask them to do just about anything -- this could be something as simple as "build me a flower farm"/"pretend I didn't just prank you" or as devastating as "give me everything in your ender chest right now"/"kill this guy for me, no questions asked".

Viking has two no-questions-asked IOUs, one from Legundo and one from Legundo's biggest rival, Fix. He's got kind of a thing for IOUs, as they're what initially got him into trouble on Dominion and also are a very useful resource to have on-hand. Two IOUs, two books on the throne... you might see where this is going, but that's only half the story.

Dominion is a constant power struggle between different parties -- the Queen, thieves, tax collectors, Legundo's piglins, capitalism, et cetera. Everyone wants to be in control all the time, and Viking is no different. The book on the diamond block is titled IOU, and as mentioned in the propaganda above it's a simple to-do list with exactly one entry: Run Dominion.

The Ghost's Vault is an extension of this goal, and an extension of Viking's influence towards this goal. It is a visual threat because Viking's greatest source of influence is his ability to threaten others, and it is designed to intimidate Legundo in particular because Legundo is terrified of Viking.

The Ghost's Vault is also a descent into madness.

IV. Power Corrupts

The book on the netherite block, though, is another story entirely. It's never been opened on Dominion before, and there's a reason for that; according to Viking, this is a cursed book of such immense power that it literally broke his brain the last time he opened it. Viking's not only a ghost, he's also an amnesiac -- he doesn't remember any of who or what he was before he died, and it's very likely that the Book contributed to this fracture.

Viking's not exactly a stable person. He's nice enough, but push him too far and the mania starts peeking through... and by the time the Vault is built, Viking has been pushed entirely too far, frequently breaking into fits of manic laughter or dropping his voice into a lower, threatening register at random. Nobody enjoys this, especially not Legundo -- although Viking just thinks it's kind of funny.

The Book being displayed so prominently on the throne is absolutely an intentional visual metaphor; this is the thing that drove him to this point and the thing that continues to push him further. Somewhere within the Book is a ritual that'll restore memories if done correctly, and Viking will do anything in his power to get the supplies for that ritual -- even though he can't actually open it to check, because the Book is apparently so powerful that it will literally tear Viking in half if he reopens it.

When you get down to it, the Ghost's Vault -- all of it, the netherite armor, the diamond throne, the lava and high ceiling and soul lanterns and ender chests -- is ultimately a container for one thing, and that's the Book. Nobody else can be allowed to come near it, because it's so incredibly powerful that it could kill them, and Viking does everything in his power to obscure the existence of the Book from anyone else that might get their hands on it. He isolates himself from his friends, disregards his allies, lies and cheats and steals, all of it to keep people from finding out the truth.

V. The Ghost's Vault is a prison.

It is a prison for the Book, and it is a prison for power -- for VikingPilot's most malevolent impulses.

It is self-inflicted. It is invisible. It is a lurking threat waiting to be uncovered. It is so incredibly haunted -- to the point where the ghost of Viking is said to still be haunting the world download of Dominion.

In this way, considering that it is a sealed chamber deep underground containing an ancient presence of unimaginable power, it is also something else that very few other builds can claim to be:

it is not only a vault, not only a prison, but also a tomb.

Pandora"s Vault:

Contained : Dream, Tommyinnit, Ranboo, Technoblade, Connoreatpants

Series : DSMP

Propaganda : its so big. Its so so big. Look at a map of the dsmp. Its just a black void bigger than l'manburg was. You look at it and you just know it's something terrible. the obsidian walls, lava, the iron. It's just there. In the middle of the ocean. It does not fit in and its scary. the AMOUNT of redstone and functions it go is AMAZING. the only way to enter is through a portal that then leads u to the nether and has to be manually activated again by the warden. So to enter you literally NEED the wardens permission. All the bridges and all the door. It's so fucking cool man what can I say. The amount of security. the lore that happened inside pandora as well. Pandoras arc was the best arc of the whole of dream smp and I stand by that. There is so so much to unpack. Sam and Dream could have just built some shitty obsidian box and called it a prison, but no they made PANDORAS VAULT

The Ghost's Vault:

Contained : VikingPilot's Prized possesions

Series : Dominion SMP

Propaganda : Perhaps the only self-titled Vault to actually be one, the Ghost's Vault, built by VikingPilot, is two things -- a consolidation of wealth, and a display of power. Built at a time on Dominion where every single diamond had to be handed over to the Queen every two weeks, the Vault is made in total opposition to that policy as an extremely intimidating secret stash. All 10 sets of Netherite armor are enchanted and labeled. It's built with soulfire lanterns under the center carpet runner for the sole purpose of unnerving the local piglin. He's taken people here twice onscreen, and both times it was to cash in a no-conditions-set IOU with that other person in order to make sure things work out exactly the way they need to. It also contains two very important books! Viking's "To Do" list is very simple -- Run Dominion. However, the other one -- the Book -- is quite possibly the single most dangerous thing in Viking's possession. He's not sure what's in it, other than that it contains rituals of unimaginable power and that if he opens it again, he will crack in half. Oh, and the Ghost's Vault is also the location for the world's most unhinged 12-minute 100% improv monologue to ever exist.

[autumnslance]

Hunts for Experience and Profit

It comes to my attention many folks have no clue about how the Daily and Weekly Alliance and Clan Hunt system works or why they should do it. They've heard of Hunt Trains, perhaps, but the rest of the system is a mystery. Folks are also uncertain about the markers on random mobs heads and what they mean; what's a viable target and what isn't?

This will also tie in to some previous tutorials I've written, about using Recommendations to track your activities (like the Hunts) and also how the Tomestone to Seals and Nuts process goes for the endgame gear.

So let's go below the cut to learn about the Hunt!

Now most of us caught on, when leveling new classes in ARR, that the trainers give you a Class Hunting Log you can fill out as you level. This is a good alternate source of Experience as you bust up through ARR, especially once you're out of main story quests and need variety from dungeon and/or PotD spam. Many of the mobs you'll incidentally see as you travel the zones and go into instances anyway. Completing each individual entry gives experience, and completing an entire level bracket gives another large boost.

There's also a Grand Company version to do which contributes to accumulating Seals, experience points, and requirements to rank up in your GC.

Mobs that are for your Class Hunt Logs have partial circle markers over their heads.

ARR ALSO had Alliance Hunts, given out by your Grand Company. These can include regular mobs around various zones, as well as FATE encounters (which can be annoying to track when those pop). The Alliance Hunts grant Allied Seals, which is a currency used at the Grand Company to purchase gear, minions, and other goodies.

Blue Mage also uses Allied Seals for their currency, obtained through the Carnivale.

ARR Hunts will only concern themselves with ARR zones, of course, because in Heavensward we met a new group responsible for Hunts.

You do not need to have completed any sort of Alliance Hunt quests or unlocks for Clan Hunts, but you DO have to unlock the Clan Hunts in order, starting in HW and progressing forward. It's literally just a single-step talking to the main vendor and board NPCs though.

Clan Centurio is located in the Forgotten Knight in Ishgard. The elderly couple at the counter by Gibrillont are the vendors, while Eustacia by the board outside handles the bills. Yloise in Idyllshire is who will allow you to select the Senior and Elite Bills. The Clan deals in Centurio Seals for their currency.

This continues through Stormblood with Clan Centurio members and boards available in both Kugane at the Shiokaze Hostelry when you arrive, and at Rhalgr's Reach (after level 67), between the regular vendors and where the tomestone vendors set up. Once you get to Kugane at level 61, the ability to join the Clan Hunts is available and continues as you level up through StB.

In Shadowbringers, given the circumstances, we meet the bloodthirsty Clan Nutsy and their new currency, Sacks of Nuts. The Boards and vendors are in the Crystarium near the Temenos Rookery (Amaro pens), and Eulmore's Understory (the middle section where the military barracks are). The Hunts are available pretty early on in the story again, and continue as you level.

In Endwalker, we're still using Nuts for the Guildship Hunts (and there's a viable lore reason why, given who's in the party by the time we get to Old Sharlayan). The Boards are in Old Sharlayan at Scholar's Harbor, near the Levequests and the Variant Dungeon NPCs; and in Radz-at-Han at Mehryde's Mehane. As before, the basic Hunts are available soon after the initial MSQ quests.

Note too that the Hunt Boards and their vendors DO appear on the maps.

Now you know where and how to find them and the general idea how to unlock them, why is this a thing? Well, as said in one of the other linked Tutorials, the Hunt vendors are where one can purchase Minions, Mounts, Target Dummies, Orchestrion Rolls, Materia, Tomestone Gear Augmentation Items, and eventually previous Tomestone Gear. That stuff doesn't vanish when their tomestones do!

For instance, in Endwalker as of patch 6.2, the Moonward gear has left the Tomestone Vendors, leaving us with Radiant and Lunar Envoy. But the Moonward is still available for purchase--with Sacks of Nuts.

J'lakshai in Old Sharlayan and Wilmetta in Radz-at-Han have the same inventory options. Various items and the Moonward gear are available from both. Eventually (patch 6.4) the Radiant gear will end up here too, to make room for whatever EW's last tome gear will be.

OK, so how does one collect Nuts?

Go to the Board you want to Hunt for, in this case, Dark's leveling a job in the 80s, so I stop by the board in Old Sharlayan; I just like to start there for my circuit. I can select Junior, Associate, and Senior Guildship Marks. I can also, since I haven't yet this week, grab an Elite Mark. The bills will be found in my Key Items inventory.

Junior, Associate, and Senior are daily requests to beat up normal mobs. Elite Marks are a weekly target, the "B Rank" marks. Daily marks will get a little red Mandragora over their heads, while a Weekly B Rank gets a blue burst. B Ranks are a single mob spawning somewhere in a zone, and respawns a few seconds after it's killed. B Ranks can be reliably killed solo by a character near or at level cap.

The "A Rank" mobs are only up sometimes, take several hours to respawn, and are the target of Hunt Trains as they are not soloable at level, coming with a load of hitpoints and nasty mechanics. "S Ranks" are even worse, requiring specific conditions (usually certain player actions in that zone) to spawn and are meant to be a step up in danger and difficulty. A Ranks have a red and gold burst icon.

Once I have my bills, I open up my Recommendations menu, set it to The Hunt, and once I'm in a zone with Hunt targets, it will show those targets to me. This is detailed in the Recommendations Tutorial, linked above.

I tend to start out in the lowest level zones, and kill those critters. They may be on the Junior Bill--or they may be on the Senior, or even on multiple Bills; the level of the mob doesn't matter, but the payout is more for Senior Bills (and you get paid for both if the targets are on more than one Bill!). I'll do them all, going through the zones until the tracker's empty.

Limascabras are worth 904 exp; even with food and a scroll buff, it's not a lot per mob at level 87--but once I finish the Senior Bill asking for 2 limascabras, I get a burst of experience points--222,750 exp--and my 15 sacks of nuts and 1,500 gil.

There's five mark targets (asking for 1, 2, or 3 kills each) per Bill. It adds up, especially when combined with the combat tribal quest, which can be done at the same time you're doing marks in that zone. And since I go in zone order, in EW I end in Zone 5 with the gathering tribe quests.

It's important to note that Weekly B Ranks and the A Ranks do not give experience points. B Ranks will give gil and Seals/Nuts, while A Ranks will give Seals/Nuts, gil, and tomestones.

----

And that's about it, really! Learn where mobs are, see the sights of Eitherys, get gil, currency, and experience points, and nab yourself some nice glamours/initial endgame gear/combat retainer gear and other rewards. You'll learn where to find the daily marks, how to tell a B Rank from an A Rank, and maybe sometime join the Hunt trains to fill your currency tab and get yourself a fancy mount or augmentations for your tome gear if you're not running the 24man raids.

For you sprouts--or just those who've never bothered with the Hunt before, I hope you've found this useful! Until next time; I have some mobs to beat up.

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Our vision' : New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"Our vision"

"Freya, people don't forget....nothing is forgiven !"

Chapter Summary : After having spent an peaceful night in an old cabin, Yirina & Park are ready to infiltrate the hidden soviet base in the Mount Yamantau but for the two of them....something's off....

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +3400

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Me & Park really did it...right in the middle of the USSR at the Mount Yamantau in an old abandoned cabin, the same place I presume I have done this with Freya before an long time ago. Honestly, both of us never thought that we were going to able to finish, thinking that at any moment, we could be jumped by an surprise guest but in fact, we were able to enjoy an moment of peace alone...an moment of passion we didn't really have made since some times...last time we did that was in an car, I can say that it's far better back on an bed.

Even with everything that happened since days, that moment was for releasing ourselves, to forget about all the things around us, like if we weren't spies at all...just women in love with each other. Directly that we finished our things that we went into getting sleep, me holding her like the person I wouldn't want to lose. That wasn't her fault at all to have me brainwashed....I can't be angry at her and I wouldn't never do this, knowing that after that, I will hate myself for what I did, I can't be mad at her because I'm in love with her.

All night, during my sleep, I was wondering of an lot of things, mostly about the mission that Hudson assigned to us : why only the two of us ? Why we don't have any radio support ? I couldn't answer those questions even if they were still in my head at the moment I woke up first, still holding Park in my arms. I got up and dressing up back in my clothes before heading to the little space in the cabin to prepare our two MREs, knowing that she will soon woke up.

"What an night." I could hear Park's slowly awakening voice behind me as I was actually preparing my MRE after doing hers.

"I'm seconding this." I smiled, turning around to look at her, her body covered by the white blanket hold by her hands. "You're looking like an angel." I exclaimed, watching her with great eyes, amazed by her beauty.

"Thanks." She whispered, passing her hand through her hair to make it look back to normal. "Which time is it ?" She asked, having finished.

"Almost noon, we slept for 12 hours straight." I replied, looking up at my watch on my left wrist before turning around to finish my MRE.

"Bloody hell." She exclaimed, sounding an bit stunned.

"Yeah, you really did sleep 12 hours." I scoffed, taking the two MRE in my hands, going to walk to the table where ours guns were posed on. "I've prepared your meal, get dressed and come eat."

"Yes, ma'am." She expressed in an fake lazy voice as she start to get up to put her clothes on. "I've been thinking now, that's an first." She said

"What ?" I stopped myself, almost getting an part of what I was eating in my mouth to look at her curiously on my chair. "An first to what ?" I added, wanting her to clarify.

"That you woke up first before me or anyone else." She replied, putting her jacket on and laughting about it.

"Really ?" I raised an eyebrow, slowly moving my arm to eat the meal I've got in my hands.

"Yirina..." She rolled her eyes around as she walked to get to the table. "You know what I mean, I'm always waking you up or you always waking after me." She clarified, sitting up in her chair to eat her own MRE.

"Is that an compliment ?" I chuckled, faking an incomprehension towards her.

"Well, since I'm always here when you woke up, yes." She winked at me before taking an bite of her MRE.

"So, thanks, then." I grinned, continuing to eat while exchangings some glares during the few moments after that little compliment.

"Apart of that, did you have any memories back ?" Park demanded after we both finished our meals together at the same time but I shook my head.

"No, didn't have anything this night." I fully responded, putting my arms in an crossed form on the table and looking outside through the window in front of me. "I was thinking of something else."

"And what was that ?" She asked me.

"At first, it was about you." I smirked back at her direction, causing an blushing from her on her cheeks before looking away. "But then, it was about that mission."

"You too ?" She breathed, putting her meal aside.

"I'm wondering why Hudson did sent only the two of us here." I started, taking an deep breath. "I know that saving Adler is important for the CIA but even if Perseus want an mysterious necessary data in that base, why he didn't send more people on it ?" I continued, knowing that she couldn't answer that question, no one couldn't right now. "

"I did propose to him to have some MI6 reinforcements but he wasn't allowing it." Park revealed, making me more curious about that.

"Why did he refused ?" I questioned her.

"He said that he wouldn't want to waste time and it must stay an discreet job." She answered, sounding like she wasn't believing his words at all. "You saw what the others tried to do, it was the same thing." She added.

"Yeah, you needed here, Adler's our priority number one." I sort of mimick Hudson himself and my impersonation did caused Park to laugh.

"You got lucky that he wasn't here." She joked with me laughing about my own joke about Hudson.

"I would have done it even if he was there to be honest." I admitted, leaning myself against the back of my chair.

"I bet you would do." She nodded with an smile before looking outside the window. "Do you think that our path will be clear to get to the base ?" She asked me.

"Since that the snowstorm ended as it seems, it would maybe take an little bit of more time to travel until arriving to the base." I responded, thinking about it even if we didn't set an foot outside to verify my claim. "We will scout out the entrance and when it's done, we will try to find an way to enter."

"The base must be lightly protected even if it's holding some dark secrets." She suggested, biting an part of her lips to me. "The soviets are maybe careful with that but as the base is deep inside the USSR, they aren't going to bring too much firepower." She continued, crossing her arms.

"Maybe but we don't have too much guns too." I exclaimed, making her look to our two MP5 on the table next to me. "An MP5 isn't going to blow up the entire soviet army arsenal." I scoffed.

"I agree with this." She stated before she got up from her chair. "We're going now or we wait for the afternoon ?"

"I think that we should go now." I replied, also getting up from my chair and grabbing my MP5 in the process. "More we wait, more it's possible that Freya & Knight can strike at any moment." I expressed, checking my MP5 current mag.

"You're right." Park said, moving to take her own MP5 and making sure that she got her pistol in its holstler. "Well, let's go." She ordered, moving to grab the other part of our very limited stuff in the cabin.

After we checked up that we got everything : guns, pistols, knifes and the map of the base with us, we were ready to leave and get out of that cabin, preparing ourselves to walk in the numerous path of the mountains to reach the hidden soviet base in the Yamantau. As we got out, we could see that the snow was much higher than the last time we were outside thanks to the big snowstorm that occured all night.

Once fully ready, we started to walk into an different direction from the path we took to get here and thanks to the snow, we had to peak a view at the map every 2 minutes to be sure that we weren't completely lost in the Urals Mountains. As I thought that we were going to woke up with the snowstorm still occuring, instead, we were greeted by an blue sky, some clouds and the sun, not even snow dropping on us and strangefully, the heat wasn't so cold, more moderate.

We walked almost 45 minutes on the mountains, trying to avoid any dangers in our path like maybe helicopters patrols or just ground patrols but by chances, the environement was calm...too much calm to be honest. Is it either me or it's just the ambience of the Urals everyday ? After that time, we finally arrived in sight of the hidden soviet base....that wasn't so hidden after all with an concrete entrance in the side of an mountain.

"Finally." I breathed, seeing the base in my sight before we start to walk on an path below it, Park taking the lead.

"This little storm should cover us." She told me, advancing as during our walk, an little snowstorm was happening and like she said, it was going to provide cover. "You didn't hear some shots before ?" She demanded to me as 10 minutes ago, we heard like two louds noises, echoing in the mountains.

"No, I don't know what he could be." I expressed sincerely as these sounds were like inaudible for me. "Do you want....

"Jesus !" Park cut me straight in my words and stopping herself and when I moved my head to look at what was in front of us, I could discover the dead body of an soviet guard. "That doesn't look good." She admitted as I moved past her to check the body.

"Someone shot him, must be the sounds you heard." I said, on one knee to observe the gunshot wound on the body. "One in the shoulder, one piercing his hand and his skull." I added, watching his left hand with an bullet hole in it. "He tried to protect himself but he didn't manage to survive." I then got up from it.

"That's means that we're not alone to have interest in this data." Park whispered, approaching me by behind.

"And also meaning that Freya & Knight are already here." I proclaimed, looking towards the path leading to the entrance of the hidden base. "We can't back down, it's maybe dangerous but it's too late to flee." I affirmed directly as I start to walk again.

"Do you think that they're still here ?" Park questioned me as I took the lead.

"If they're still here, we will try to stop them." I admitted before stopping at an few meters from an chained fance. "And if they're here, you will have to call me 'Bell'."

"To maintain the illusion that you're not aware of your true state." I nodded to her statement, she know that it's sometimes painful for me & her to pretend to be Bell but with Freya, I've got no choices.

"When our feets are inside, you're using Bell as my name." I breathed before moving to get through the fence that was already moved away, meaning that we were maybe walking in Freya & Knight footsteps.

"I know." Park chuckled, passing in the fence as I was making sure that she didn't have an scratch from the cut part of the fence. "There's more dead guys." She pointed at an direction and when I turned around, I could see this time two dead bodies, facing each other.

"Poor devils didn't see the two coming." I exclaimed, both walking to get next to the two bodies. "These two were slashed by something that's not an knife." I checked up the wounds on them. "The cuts are too large for an single knife." I verified that by putting my own knife above on the wound of one of the guys at his chest.

"Must be Knight's work." Park thought, making me look at her with an curious face. "Back at the time, Knight was using like ice pick for his job." She continued, kneeling with one knee on the ground. "Guess that it's still his tools of work."

"Bodies are still hot, meaning that the two are still here." I proclaimed, having checked the heat of the body only by touching his neck.

"No way to back down." Park whispered, getting up and looking at the big entrance in the inside. "It's maybe an trap but....let's do this." She took an deep breath before we start to move away.

With the guards already dead, our doubts about having to face Freya & Knight were confirmed, the two were still there and we will have to watch out. It's with guns up and checking our surroundings that we start to enter the hidden base, discovering some dead bodies on the way in. When my foots were inside, I was now 'Bell', I need to react & act like her and I will have no choices, Park knows it and even if it's painful for us.

"We should maybe check the security room." Park proposed, arriving at an sort of junction between two big hallways. "There's cameras around here."

"Good idea." I nodded, walking in the left hallway as the security room was in that direction. In fact, it was just at an few meters from the panels indicating its direction. "I'm going in." I told Park, taking my M1911 in my right hand, holding the door handle in the other before slowly opening the door. "All clear." I said as the room was quiet but with an dead guy on the ground, an knife on his back.

"Cameras." Park pointed at the control panel, discovering multiples TV in front of us. "There must be an way to rewind them."

"Let me check that." I volunteered myself, putting my M1911 on the table, starting to verify if we were able to verify our claims. "Got it." I breathed, 30 seconds after I start. Hopefully that I was russian...."Camera 5" I pointed at the TV in the middle of the others.

"That's the two, entering inside." She scratched her forehead as we were seeing Freya & Knight advancing while neutralizing the soviets guards on their path. "Wait, there aren't alone, there's an third person !" She exclaimed, putting her finger at the position of where she see them.

"Yeah but they're hooded." I muttered, seeing them now. "I will try to put the cameras back to normal, trying to see where the trio could be." I suggested as Park walked behind me to check that no one was coming in. "Freya is in the archive room." I expressed, looking at the TV right next to the middle one. "She's alone." I added.

"Bell !" I could hear Park's voice behind me, sounding an bit in trouble and some footsteps too but when I redressed myself, I could hear an click of an gun...pointed at the back of my head.

"Game's over, you fucking fuckers." This was the voice of an man just behind me, his pistol threatening me. "Tutututut....don't even think about it." He added, knowing that I was looking at my M1911 on the table that he decide to grab in his hands.

"You must be...the british Knight." I put my hands up while turning around him to face him.

"I'm an Irish, you wanker." He told me, pointing his pistol right between my two eyes, seeing that Park was hold at gunpoint behind him by the third person, still hooded. I could discover his outfit, an big Perseus white paint on his torso and an black helmet. "You are the lady Bell, it seems."

"Touché." I decided to joke around, playing what Bell would do in that situation.

"Pretty funny." He breathed, sounding annoyed before he moved behind me, still aiming at me. "Walk, we're going to join Wraith and don't try anything with your friend." He ordered as we start to walk outside the security room, Park at my side and our hands up as Knight and the third person was holding us at gunpoint. We then arrived in the archive room where I could see Freya, putting something in an bag. "You got the data, Wraith ?"

"Yes, our work is done soon here." She replied, sounding normal before she turned around to look at us, not even surprised to see us here. "Where did you find them ?"

"Been wandering in the security room, Freya." The third person responded to her....that voice was..familiar to me as they were moving in front of Park before removing their hood.

"Sonya Kuzmin !" I snorted, discovering them after all these times in front of us...."How was the arrest by the CIA ?" I scoffed but my words only provoked Knight to literally put his pistol behind my head.

"Seems that you didn't forget about me." They exclaimed, smiling at me. "But now, the roles are reversed, right ?" She was the one to scoff right now, aiming at Park's face. "We got luck that the CIA guy told us about them." They turned around to look at Freya with an smile.

"He sold us out..." I whispered silently, exchanging an glare with Park...this mission was an set-up from him...he gave us away to Perseus....that's why he never wanted us to have support.....

"What do you want ?" Park asked Freya directly.

"What I want ?" Freya started, moving slowly towards Park to face her. "I want to know why...you stoled my Yiri ?" She demanded, feeling in her voice an broken tone deep inside her.

"What are you talking about, Wraith ?" Park was faking an incomprehension at Freya before Sonya moved to put Park on her knees.

"Don't touch her !" I ordered to Sonya, feeling the angriness in my voice before Knight decided to do the same for me and then, Freya moved to face me, kneeling.

"What did they do to you ?" She told me silently, resisting the urge to put her hands on my face before she did it anyway.

"Hey, who is she, Freya ?" Sonya demanded, sounding an bit stunned to see Freya doing this.

"She wasn't just an 'sister' to me, Sonya." Freya answered, turning her head towards them as me...I was keeping an straight face. "What...did you do ?" She repeated to Park.

"Nothing !" Park admitted clearly. "No one is touching Bell or they wil suffer !" She affirmed in an angry voice and Sonya decided to hit her on her face with their pistol, not knocking her down entirely.

"You..." I was going to curse and threw myself on Sonya before Knight put his hands on me to stop me moving.

"You ain't moving an single inch, maggot." Knight said in an serious voice. "We kill them and we're off ?" He demanded.

"No !" Freya directly replied, sounding an bit angry to heard this idea to have us killed here. "We have to bring the two with us, we will try to save Yirina and....maybe persuade Park to change allegiances..." She revealed to us before getting up.

"In your dreams." Park taunted them.

"Sonya." Freya gestured to them to move to Park to maybe hit her again but then, Sonya took an syringue out of one of their pockets to inject it in Park's neck who in the seconds following the injection, lose consciousness before falling on the ground on her back...

"What did you fucking do ?" I exclaimed loudly.

"We just put her to sleep." Sonya responded, throwing the syringue aside on the ground.

"Sonya, you call the helicopter : they will took the two with you back at the hideout." She ordered in an serious voice before Sonya moved away to make that call. "Knight, we will have to arm the nuke to cover our tracks."

"I ain't going anywhere and you will not take Park with you." I proclaimed, sounding like an death threat.

"I'm sorry." Freya whispered before she took an needle too, causing me to struggle but it was useless as Knight was holding me until Freya injected me with the needle...in the neck..."It's the only way, I'm sorry."

"Things are done now." Knight said as I was slowly going into vapes, falling on my back, watching Freya & Knight on top of me, watching me & Park almost inconscious before Freya took an radio in her hands.

"Stitch, we got the data !" She started as she looked at us. "We also got Yirina & Park, the CIA guy was right."

"Good, bring them to me." I could hear Stitch's voice through the radio as Knight was moving to grab my & Park's legs to drag us on the ground and I could only look at Park, trying to join my right hand with her left one....she was...inconscious and I was soon going to be like her...before I could hear Stitch for the last time as my body was going asleep....

"They will soon understand our vision for an Greater Russia !"

[droneseco]

GameSir X2 Bluetooth Review: Is This The Perfect Smartphone Gaming Controller?

GameSir X2 Bluetooth Controller

8.00 / 10

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The GameSir X2 Bluetooth is a great controller that feels comfortable to the hand even after hours of gaming. A couple of petty niggles with game compatibility can't detract from the excellence this controller embodies. 

Specifications

Brand: GameSir

Platform: Android, iOS

Battery: 500 mAh

Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0

Headset Support: No

Programmable: No

Extra Buttons: Yes

Pros

Great action on all buttons and triggers

Feels great even over longer gaming sessions

Lots of attention to detail with the controller design

Carry case is very sturdy and should protect the device easily.

Cons

Occasional connection issues

Some games don't recognise the controller

Having to reconnect for mapping mode is a little clunky

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Gaming on the go has never been more attractive. From mobile streaming services to full-blown triple-A ports, gaming on your phone is more enjoyable than ever, but touchscreens just don't cut it. Enter the GameSir X2, a high-quality, side-mounted game controller aiming to provide premium quality without breaking the bank, but does it deliver?

Hands-on With the GameSir x2 Bluetooth

When you open the box of your GameSir X2 Bluetooth, here's what you'll find inside:

GameSir X2 Bluetooth Controller

Controller Carry Case

USB-C Charging Cable

4 Black Thumbstick Grips

User Manual

GameSir Logo Sticker

GameSir Registration Card

Quality Control Slip

Setting Up The GameSir X2 Bluetooth

Setting up the GameSir X2 Bluetooth controller is incredibly simple. Pull gently but firmly to open the phone grip and slot your phone inside. Then it's simply a case of connecting the controller to your phone through the Bluetooth manager.

The process of connecting the controller to your phone is pretty simple and reliable. However, you should note that we did suffer from a strange connection problem on our testing phones. Once connected, the X2 has a habit of randomly disconnecting, requiring you to reselect it.

After this initial connection problem has been fixed, the controller remains connected even after extended playtime. The issue may lie more with the phone than the controller, as on our other test phone, we did not experience this connectivity issue.

GameSir X2 Bluetooth - Key Features

Before getting down to brass tacks, we should discuss a few of the key features of the GameSir X2 Bluetooth controller.

Bluetooth 5.0 connection

500 mAh battery

Quick-action mechanical switches

GameSir App integration for controller mapping

Ergonomic rubber grip

Supports Phones up to 173mm tall

Screenshot and Turbo Buttons

Gaming on the Go With the GameSir X2 Bluetooth

At first glance, the GameSir X2 Bluetooth bears a lot of similarities to a Nintendo Switch. The controller is rectangular, with slightly rounded corners and offset analog sticks. The right set of face buttons is also quite close to the right thumbstick, a mild annoyance if you have larger hands or fingers.

Related: Our Razer Kishi Review, and Why We're Returning It

One key difference here is that the X2 Bluetooth isn't completely flat on the back. There is some ergonomic molding to the back edges of the controller, making it fit the hand much more comfortably. Aiding this, there's also textured rubber to aid in keeping a firm grip during gameplay.

The buttons on the X2 use mechanical switches, and you can really tell while you're using it. Not only do the buttons have a swift and definite action to them, but they're also quite loud. Whether or not the excessive volume is a pro or a con for you is down to personal taste, but it certainly might annoy others if you plan on using the controller in public a lot.

The GameSir X2 Bluetooth is surprisingly usable for longer gaming sessions. You should find that after hours and hours, your hands don't cramp up, even if you normally suffer from cramps with other smaller controllers.

If there's one annoyance that springs from the X2's similarity to the Switch, it's psychological. Because of the similarity, you may often find yourself pressing B instead of A, thanks to the alternative button layout used by Nintendo. While this isn't really a fault with the controller, it is certainly worth bearing in mind.

There are also dedicated screenshots and turbo buttons located at the bottom of the device. The screenshot button is useful for sharing funny or interesting in-game moments, but the turbo button leaves a lot to be desired. While the turbo features are occasionally useful, configuring them is horribly unintuitive, more than once leaving us stuck on turbo mode.

Game Compatability

When it comes to mobile gaming controllers, one of the biggest issues is game compatibility. While there are plenty of mobile games out there that support controllers, not every controller will work with every game.

There are certainly ways around compatibility issues, such as 3rd party apps or the X2s touchscreen-mapping mode, but out-of-the-box compatibility is still essential.

So how does the X2 stack up? In most cases, the GameSir X2 Bluetooth worked very well. In Knight of the Old Republic 2, Stardew Valley, Dead Trigger 2, and Terraria, the controller connected and worked immediately once configured. In many cases, the controller didn't even need configuring at all, which was a nice bonus.

However, it's not all sunshine and roses when it comes to compatibility. Sheltered wouldn't recognize the controller at all, no matter what we tried. Even installing the app on another device didn't help. We had similar issues with Dead Effect 2, which worked for the most part, but didn't recognize certain buttons for some reason.

It's not unusual to find games that don't work well with certain controllers. However, games like Dead Effect 2 worked out of the box with our other test controller, and the GameSir controller wasn't recognized by 3rd-party mapping software either. Clearly, there are some compatibility issues, even if they're relatively minor.

Related: Mega Modz Custom Xbox Series X Controller Review

The GameSir App

If you want to play a game like COD: Mobile, the GameSir app does allow you to map your controller to touchscreen controls. Download the GameSir app and connect the controller in touchscreen-mapping mode, and you can make any game you connect to the app.

The touchscreen system actually works really well, and we couldn't notice any appreciable difference between native controls and touchscreen mapping. Even better, you don't typically need to map these controls yourself.

The application not only allows you to upload your own layouts, but you can download touchscreen maps for more popular games yourself. More obscure titles will probably not be available for download, but mapping the controls yourself is a simple affair.

One of the most interesting parts of this feature is that the touchscreen mapping is stored on the device itself. If you disconnect the controller from a device and reconnect it in touchscreen-mapping mode to another, it'll retain the screen mapping. Obviously, if you're connecting to a device with a different aspect ratio, the mapping will be slightly off-center, but it's still a useful feature to have.

Having said that, the app itself does leave a lot to be desired. Much of the app seems to only be available in Chinese, making it occasionally hard to use. We also experienced some issues with connecting to the GameSir servers while trying to create an account.

Does the GameSir X2 Bluetooth Match up to the Competition?

Compared to other similar controllers, the GameSir X2 Bluetooth has a lot of advantages. There's a premium feeling when holding the controller you don't find with most smartphone controllers.

The X2 Bluetooth also has a decent weighty feel without being so heavy that it becomes cumbersome. What's most surprising for a Bluetooth controller is that there's no real latency in the controls. Responses may not be quite as fast as a direct USB-C connection, but unless you're a top-tier esports player, you probably won't notice a difference.

There's also an attention to detail that is often overlooked. By default, the thumbsticks are a little small and can be hard to use, but GameSir includes thumbstick caps to solve the problem and reduce wear and tear.

Both the premium quality and the attention to detail are also found in the included carry case. It's a rigid, material-lined case that really protects your controller, and normally we'd expect this to cost extra. Finding it thrown in for free is a nice touch. Plus, the case can double as a carry case for your gaming phone, too, if it's small enough.

The final added touch comes from the design of the controller itself. As with many side-mounting controllers, you lose access to the charge port and headphone jack while using the controller. However, the ridged and segmented design prevents speakers from being muffled and allows the phone enough airflow to keep cool under extreme pressure.

Is the GameSir X2 Bluetooth Worth Your Money?

The all-important question is whether or not you should spend your hard-earned money on the GameSir X2 Bluetooth controller. If you're looking for a side-mounted controller that will work with almost any phone, then the X2 Bluetooth comes with a high recommendation.

Care and attention have been put into the design of the controller, and you can be sure that whether your emulating, streaming, or playing a native application, the X2 Bluetooth will serve your needs admirably.

  GameSir X2 Bluetooth Review: Is This The Perfect Smartphone Gaming Controller? published first on http://droneseco.tumblr.com/

[skaihedaofthe100]

"Xenos" series

Chapter 1. We're back, bitches!

description: "Xenos" from the Ancient Greek "stranger, foreigner". Xenia Kane and the other 99 delinquents are strangers for everyone who managed to survive on the Earth. Her story has just started. Enjoy

Everything is black but suddenly I open my eyes and I'm in...Wait, what? Where the hell am I? The last thing I remember is punching the guard who tried to drag me out from my "beloved" cell and well, this time I wasn't so happy to leave it. This man scared the shit out of me, I was thinking that the chancellor decided to float me a little bit earlier. Saying "a little bit" I mean REALLY too soon, like guyyys, this is 17 year old girl in front of you who was going to spend nearly one "full of adventures and happiness" year with other young criminals. So I don't feel bad for punching this guard. Mentally. Speaking about my physical state, the things are worse. Everything hurts and it seems like I was electroshocked. There is also some kind of a big bracelet on my wrist which is way too heavy to be an accessory.     

After looking around I realize that I'm in a dropship with other delinquents. Suddenly everything is shaking and the boy in the seat in front of me starts to float. A big smile covers my face when I see his. This is Finn. The boy seems to notice me too because he is moving closer to the place where I'm sitting and greets me with a loud "Hi, Commander!". Pfff, wanna know how I got this nickname? Well, the guard I punched earlier today wasn't the first one to be attacked by me. The thing is that the latter was not just a guard but commander Shumway. This is why I got a "warm and comfortable" cell and eventually ended up here, in the dropship. -Listen, Finn, call me by my real name or I will call you a Spacewalker till the end of your life, got it? - Yeah, Nia,- he chuckles, - Anyway, wanna fly around with me? - There would be a firm no. And I don't advise you to do it or you'll eventually get yourself killed today but my plans were to call you Spacewalker for a long time because I'm more than sure you won't stop calling me a Commander, okay?- was my answer

Unfortunately, there were two other guys who decided to follow my friend's actions unbelting themselves and while this trio is flying around carelessly and another delinquents are listening to the Jaha's words (in which I'm not so interested anyway) from the television screen I will tell you a little bit about myself.

So, as Fin has already said, I'm Nia and Xenia is my full name. I have no idea why my parents gave me this name. Speaking about them, my father, Marcus Kane, is the only one left alive. Something has happened to my mom but I'm not in the mood to tell you now. What else? Em, I'm 17, have brown hair and brown eyes...WAIT, you'll here more later if everything will be okay 'cause I have thoughts that the dropship is CRASHING! Oh my god, I don't want to die like this neither I want my friends to do the same.

Remembering careless Finn I start to look around searching for him. Our eyes meet the moment the dropship lands and the boys are thrown on the floor. I'm staying shocked for a few seconds but then I here someone saying "Listen, no machine hum" and it is the signal for me to unbelt myself and run to check if Finn is okay. When I get there I see more familiar faces - Clarke's and... Wells's?? What is he doing here? This day is full of surprises, you know. We've been knowing each other since we were kids and no one in our trio could think that one day we'll be

1) with young criminals 2) ON THIS F****** PLANET EARTH

  They both nod to me and I gaze at Finn. Fortunately, he is alive but I can't be sure about the other boys. There is no one around us by the time my friend stands up from the floor and together we try to reach the big doors getting through a large crowd. Oh, now I understand why we're still in the dropship.    

There are warm greets and hugs between a girl who is nearly my age and a guy in a guard's uniform. That's kinda cute, actually, but I don't want to stand here forever watching it. -That's Octavia Blake, the girl who has been hiding under the floor for 17 years!- someone from the crowd cries. - If you won't shut the f*** up, you'll be the one hiding under the floor from me searching to beat your ass!- I snap back Some delinquents chuckle but most of them don't find my threat funny, probably because they're well aware that I'm a "looks like a cinnamon roll but can actually kill you" type of a person. - Y'all better listen to the Commander,- Finn says to the crowd and I look at him expecting to see a sarcastic smile on his face but it turns out that he looks pretty serious. My eyes meet the siblings' after that and they both are grateful. - Let's give them something else, O,- the older one says -Yeah, like what?- Octavia ask surprised and I'd like to know that too -Like being the first person to step on the ground in 100 years

After his words there are Clarke's meaningless corrections that only 97 years have passed and the air could be toxic and blablabla, I can't wait any longer. -Open the doors, we're going to die either inside or outside, - pissed off me tells them and there are actually words of agreement coming from the teenagers.

Finally, I can see the most incredible thing in my 17 years. The Earth, green forest, blue sky, everything like it was on the photos. The difference is that while looking at the pictures I couldn't feel warm sunshine on my face or breath such fresh air! I look at the young girl in front of me and she is already standing on the grass. -We're back, bitches!!! - her words cause everyone to leave the dropship and go explore the place where we've landed. I wanted to enjoy the Earth standing still for a while but was pushed forward by the youngsters and had to move from the way. I spend a few minutes admiring the surroundings and then head towards Clarke who seems upset. When she is a few meters away someone stops me.

-Hey, Commander, wait!- I turn around and see that it was said by Octavia, her brother standing behind her,- I wanted to thank you for your words, you know, in the dropship. That was kinda badass. -Well, you're welcome, I guess,- I answer her don't know why confused,- My name is Xenia by the way, Commander is just an old nickname from which I can't get ri..., - there is no time for me to end 'cause the older Blake interrupts me. - Xenia from Ancient Greek "Xenos" - a "stranger"?-he asks -Forgive him, he is a weirdo, all in this Ancient and Mythology stuff,-O chuckles -Okay, I'm impressed,- I answer not joking,- and you are... -Bellamy,- the guy tells shortly and nothing else.   Well, he at least answered. I want to say more but Clarke calls me. She is standing with a map and still looks worried. Suddenly there is a boy in the googles in front of me and the blond saying "Cool a map! Where is the bar in this town, I will buy you a drink!" I don't have time to answer 'cause he is being pushed by Wells. Rude. That's the first joke on the Earth in 97 years we all have to clap this guy. -Don't touch him, he is with us, - we hear threatening words coming from a small group of boys.

My friend starts to explain himself and while he is doing it I reach the boy on the grass to check him. I've seen him back on the ark, he's a good guy and didn't deserve such attitude towards him. -Hey, you OK?- I ask the boy -Yeah, totally, thanks for asking. My name is Jasper and this is my best friend Monty,- he answers me clapping a teen near him on the shoulder - Nice to meet you guys, I'm Nia, - I say and feel amazed of how many people I got to know today. And the day has only started! That's really unusual for me 'cause for all the years I'm resting my ass in the cell I was friends only with Finn and that was enough for me. Of course I talked to the others sometimes and then Clarke joined me but she was in another part of the "jail" so I didn't see her that much. I decide to look around and see that there is a crowd again near us. What the hell is wrong now? Oh, I see, Wells got some problems, nothing new.

-You heard my father's words, finding Mount Weather is our first priority, - he tells all of us. What Mount Weather? Guess I had to listen to the Chancellor's speech. Now I have no idea about what is going on. -Screw your father! Do you think that you're in charge here? You and your little princess?- Octavia cries and I scoff. She is right, partly. -Do you think we care who is in charge? We need those supplies and there is a 20 miles trek to Mount Weather. We have to leave now!- was the blond's answer. Now I'm completely confused because Clarke is right too. -I have a better idea, how about the privileged do all the work for once and go get everything for us by themselves?- Bellamy offers and the crowd cheers. Idiots. I have to end it, now. - This "privileged" don't have to risk their asses to get you food and clothes! Y'all have to thank this two for being the only people down here who care about you!- I snap at young criminals and see that some of them nod in agreement. My eyes meet Bellamy's, he doesn't like that his authority was shaken.

- You heard her, we all need to go,- my dark-skinned friend says -Look at him, the Chancellor of the Earth!-the same guy who protected Jasper laughs. Well, he is not as good as I thought at first. Huge intention to fight him spills in me but Wells already moves to him. I don't want my friend to get hurt so I try to stop the boys. -Guys, you've had your fun, now stop it, we don't have the time for this stupid show! Maybe calling their "serious like all strong grown-up men have" fight "a show" pissed this pale-skinned boy off because he headed towards me with a threatening look in his eyes. Okay, l'll let him try me, he doesn't scare me anyway.

-Why so talkative today, my Commander?- he asks sarcastically. I roll my eyes at the nickname. -I'm starting of thinking of how to make you shut up and not get on my nerves! We're moving closer to each other when suddenly Finn jumps of from the dropship's roof between us.

- Only try to touch her, Murphy, - he snaps. That's nice but I don't need his protection. - Just give him a try, Finn, I didn't waste time in the cell and you know it,- there was no opportunity for me to tell the others how I've been spending my time due to the "best" pick up line I've ever heard in my life from Octavia. -Hey, Spacewalker, rescue me next!   But she managed somehow to "clear the air" making some teens to smile and some to go mind their own business including Murphy. And I was thinking about making more friends today! Just great!

-I hope your speech back then meant you're coming with me, Nia,- I hear Clarke's voice -Is Wells staying? That is a really small group of you, I'm coming too, - Finn tells us -And these guys also,- I add, taking Jasper's and Monty's shoulders and dragging them to our party.

-Make it six!- Octavia near me tells too much exited. Well, no one has the right to blame her, I bet she haven't left the Blakes' room at least once for 17 years and now it is a whole forest to explore. The same moment there is Bellamy in front of her saying " you can't go, something will happen to you" stuff which is not so interesting to listen to so I ran after my friends in the woods hearing O's footsteps behind me a little bit later.