1. I am a femboy in a shower and my mother teaches me DBT 1.1 I am a baby in the shower and sometimes I ride the butt plug and it is always in my ass and I have no pee pee just a vagina and I still have my baby DNA in me 1.1.1 It is much later and I am a child in the shower and darappa is my mommy and I still have a vagina and I am in stage 3 heat 1.1.2 I meet my new mommy andy and she like hates me and she has my ovary to make more city 1.1.3 I have no mommy and I am showering with a dick and pussy and have a wedge and 32 clitoral beads and a tilelist inside me for real in my special place and I am in stage 4 heat 1.1.4 I am out of the shower and darappa is no longer my daddy and I leave my Lord Baby Jace on the sex swing and I poop all the semen and poop and eat something for the first time and like the hostel 1.1.5 I have a computer and a vaporizer and another computer somebody else has and a medicine chest somebody else has and a power pc somebody else has and a toilet that is smart and another PC somewhere else and 5 food choice of menu each menu item and some pipes to smoke weed and keef cola and racing skis and the racing skis I sold for loam and bic and I was in trouble here for trying to steal my loam into virtual reality but this was brooke advice 1.1.6 All of that is confiscated and I always have 5 food choice except at home where I have another PC somewhere else I have and a vaporizer but the vaporizer is confiscated and that aite and I keep my PC at school for now and keef cola is literally banned and all that other stuff is only for my next life or 5 irl days from now when the hostels wristband are changed or off cooldown rather 1.1.7 I am at school at west point and my sister city has too many orgasm in the shower and I repair her cervix and give myself a new special place 1.1.8 I am at toddler school with hypogonadism and adult in sense but my left brain jace is missing in the shower 1.1.9 I am at a new school after temu training for british accent and this traumatizes my sexuality forever, I have a british accent and then the temu is lifted for good behavior and we work for temu now 1.2.0 I never use my british accent for 12 years until daniel hardcastle teaches it to me again and I am off to boarding school which legally cannot board me because of portable sun threat and finn is erwins master and erwin is finn for now 1.2.1 I learn special person english and still signs are not betrayed and I have a doctor as a teacher and I am working hard at becoming a cashier and I goto the library and cannot find penis in the dictionary 1.2.2 I lose chess to parker fowler which puts his parents into the now toto africa ward and parker is working to be an ambulance driver to fix the 1st yitvah and it is declared school is the 1st yitvah school 1.2.3 I spend a year with aeta which I cannot physically accept a burkaed woman due to DBT so thought it was Harry Zhang and she is cool and gives me 1 cherry planks which is my wife asia from the mental hospital and part of her i cloughed from tears i cried saving her that fell into her and gave her stage 5 superaids 1.2.4 I am of the normie of apocalypto and things are groovy and i know calvin klien and corina (vaeleries ghost) is dead on the phone with me and that is the only causality of her TATP bombing of 590g TATP which I have a tattoo of her TATP tested now 1.2.5 I am in my next year and certed good on science but am lurking my old relativity from china and have a teacher who gets stuck in the soap in wow and hates me now for removing her and got a lot of trauma rising to my Baby Jace left brain which I am masturbating and this has started to traumatize baby jace 1.2.6 I am in the normal high school and learning some english and robotripping and markus who will be near me in the death of me in the first yitvah will be telling me to stop robotripping and that is an order so i do it and I meet morty who teaches me antipersonell chemistry and I learn SOCATOAH and algebra is taught for the second time 1.2.7 I drop out of school because my cervix is starting to self dilate and my dad buys a baby glock which he frags me tek 9 style with the baby glock in the 1st yitvah and I accidentally cut myself with a capgras delusion enchanted glass and I still cannot hear my doctor capgras and am damaged in signing to football and not violent yet but have cancer from agent lemon and anal and melanoma specifically which the right arm melanoma is a dragon tattoo and religiously protected and a UAV ink needs to be removed on the right interior leg which was undiagnosed and the dragon tattoo fitted over the drugs tattoo, goes the scales of the dragon and also this cut was just magical and looked like a suicide attempt across the river 1.2.8 Some 14 years pass while I develop cancer and learn very well romanaj general relativity and am generally smoking and am incarcerated 5 times in hostel and then later police shoot me for part of the 1st yitvah of russia and I generally had passed masturbating 9 years by then so the Lord Baby Jace the cancer was a woman by the time I was actually shot and this put me back as myself from al queda wounds the actual shots the al queda wound 1.2.9 I am shot by the police and this cures massive wounds giving me EOD juggernaut for my combat and it is 10 years later for my combat date and it is not FMJ but desert storm and I am trying to get knocked up for a undercover operation of stanletta, I am supposed to go on double pregnancy with riley and collect information and I met my other undercover but am Unwell For 60 Years from this date onwards 1.3.0 I spend 6 days in my homeless shelter as a child and break through during these days and am more assertive evermore and am looking for missing Kirsten, Erwin, Beiber, Nathan, Riley, Kieth, Roor, Mason, Aaron from my ward of the hospital and I know my therapist and only other employee here besides cercle is me and leslie marian and we are sure they used spaceballs to deceive us and I audit some stuff verbally that is lost and leslie marian is my protectorate right now in the 2nd yitvah and we are trying to figure out how to use starlink to get me from the front desk back into the main area where I am supposed to be 1.3.1 We are working on demormonizing and depixarizing the leslie marian and gave her an ounce every month and hope she is well with Mr. Marian.

First Previous Wiki
Penny gazed at the quartet of Elders. They were all wearing the merchandise she remembered from the last Judgment, which was exceedingly awkward. Mainly because they were wearing shirts with her face on them. But it was also oddly endearing, in a way. Until now, she hadn't seen too many Elders that were on her side.
Elders that weren't just Kashaunta or the familiar faces she already knew, like Spentha or Rho and Sai, actually showing appreciation of her, felt odd. Even if these ones went a little too far in it.
"You're even more beautiful in person, Liberator," one said.
"Uh, thanks. I appreciate that. I'm glad that you all like me. Rho and Sai told me that you all are interested in something I can give you?"
"Yeah. Maybe a short interview? We won't be like that airhead reporter. We'll ask the good questions."
"Yep, we will."
"Right then," Penny said. "Well, I'm glad to meet you."
"Thank you. Now that we're here, we'd like to know how you plan on taking care of the gang leaders."
"Well, presumably by imprisoning them. I don't think they deserve to die, even if others do. I'll leave that decision up to Justicar and his various judges in the criminal system."
Penny didn't like having to lie blatantly. She wanted to kill the slavers quite brutally, but doing that was a bad idea right now. Saying it also was a bad idea, for a similar reason. And Justicar's system was worryingly preferential to Elders, from what she'd looked up after the meeting with Pundacrawla.
"Aren't you worried that the Judges won't give proper justice?"
"I trust Justicar to do everything that is necessary."
Another lie. Justicar would do whatever he could to maintain his image. Hopefully, that wouldn't be at the cost of the Alliance's very existence.
"Got it. By the way, what's it like being human? Walking on only two legs. It seems kind of unstable. Do you fall a lot?"
A genuine curiosity from them was another breath of fresh air. It was the kind of question a quadruped would definitely ask, which put her more at ease about the nature of what they were trying to do. Even more than their evident support of her, with all the merch they were wearing. Penny felt a smile crack at the corners of her lips, unbidden.
"Not really. We can use our arms to steady ourselves pretty well. Obviously it's not as easy to balance on our two legs as it is with your four, but it's still good enough. In fact, the sprinters in the Olympics use all four limbs, since running as fast as possible also requires pumping our arms. As for what it's like to be human, it's hard to describe. For many of us, it will feel colder or warmer than Sprilnav would feel in the same temperatures, due to thinner skin. Our eyesight is more frontal than yours, given our lack of snouts, so our blindspots are a lot bigger. Our feet require shoes for rough ground, and we heal slower than you by around 20%. We can't really clack our jaws to the scale that you can, though we can make them meet."
Penny bared her teeth, showing as she opened and closed her mouth. It was nice to be able to talk about things like this.
"The Olympics?" one of them asked.
"It's a competition about athletics," Penny said. "Running, jumping, throwing, diving, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, and a lot of sports. There's specific divisions, too. Like how there's a 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, and even an 800 meter dash for those with high levels of psychic energy. Though really, psychic energy and genetic editing have been messing with the events for a while now. And there's a Winter, Summer, and Space Olympics, each with different sorts of events. They move from city to city, though the Space Olympics are pretty much always on either Luna, Ceres, or Mercury. There's a lot more information out there on various events, but it's an old cultural practice revered by the entire species. Even more so since Phoebe's increased the prize pools for everyone."
"How does your species handle space in general? I know that you guys did things way differently before First Contact."
"We did. Mining companies kept tight control on all asteroid mining, while nations controlled planets like Earth and Mars and large planetary bodies like Luna. Supposedly, a few people planned for a cloud city on Venus, but we couldn't risk having such a vulnerable population because they'd have to rely on giant balloons to survive. That would probably be the least secure way to live, given the existence of rogue organizations and all that.
As for spaceships, most of them since we really colonized Luna come equipped with spacesuit bays, zero gravity water and food packs, oxygen tanks, emergency seats, specialized anti-micrometeorite hulls, and radiation shielding. A lot of the older military ships also were equipped with big radiators until World War Three, when it all became masses of drone warfare, with the big ships kept mainly for cargo and lanes where mass drone control was impossible.
Once the Vinarii came and we got shields, we started building big again. After all, it provided a huge number of jobs, and in the post-war economies, especially with VIs in place, a lot of people needed work. But we still go and do asteroid and moon mining, star lifting, and energy gathering. We built an orbital ring around Mercury, the closest planet to Sol, to help with all of that. It doubles as a production hub, too. Now, it's all in more systems and with a lot more friends."
"Speaking of aliens, what theory does your people have on why so many creatures resemble one another? Our jaws are adapted for hard shelled creatures, and we're told that many planets have oddly similar variations of those."
"Crabs."
She guessed what they were getting at.
It is odd, isn't it? Nilnacrawla observed.
Perhaps that is another one of the Source's whims, Penny thought.
Maybe.
A few of the Elders made exclamations of shock.
"You even have a word for them that directly translates!"
Penny chuckled. "Yeah, carcinization is a bit of a meme in the science community. But I've heard the most mainstream theories since the First Contact are that the Source itself is uncreative. It has a certain template of creatures which it largely doesn't alter, though it can take in inputs from beings close to it, perhaps even influencing them."
"Influencing them?"
"Yes. Modern depictions of wendigoes, folkloric creatures from North America, a continent on Earth, are shockingly similar to the Knowers in appearance. The internet depictions of them in particular like to emphasize canine qualities, and often show them with skulls visible directly, and with dark brown or black fur. Recent depictions, as in the past 300 years, differ from their original appearances quite significantly, with the canine characteristics in particular being enhanced.
We have sorted through all known images of these creatures and found roughly 80% similarity with the Knowers and tens of thousands of images that are literally exactly the same as Knowers. The ones we searched all came before World War Three, far before even the First Contact with the Vinarii, much less the Knowers who were entirely underground at the time due to the radiation of their home star. We believe that the Source managed to influence this facet of human culture with the actual existence of a real creature.
Other examples exist, like how the Trikkec look very similar to Komodo Dragons, Vinarii look very similar to insects known as a mantis, and the Acuarfar look exactly like insects known as wasps with the single exception of their furry snouts and green instead of yellow markings. The Sprilnav species itself shares high amounts of similarity with a fictional species known as Elites in early 2000s culture, particularly with your jaws, though you all have red skin instead of grey or brown.
The Junyli, Dreedeen, and the wanderers are the main species without high amounts of appearance in our cultures at some point. This correlates with the idea of the Source being the influencer, as their predecessors all were used to fight it. Many species of the galaxy look like parts of our culture or Earth's creatures. The proximity of these examples makes this far more suspicious than if they were across the galaxy.
But since they existed first, the only answer must be that the Source brought the influence to us first and planted the ideas in our heads. As for the ones which look like Earth creatures, all of them are old enough evolutionary branches that copying from them to Earth makes more sense. Though the references centering around the early 2000s is quite odd, it is also roughly when the internet came into wide existence, so it is also possible the Source gave the ideas a push so they would propagate, for an unknown reason. Like if it seeded the ideas that propagated across the early global network Humanity used."
"Hmm. Fascinating. We've seen evidence of the 'seeding' process among some historical nations near the galactic region of Earth before. So the Source re-uses and alters depictions of life and also life itself?"
"Maybe," Penny said. "Unless the Source is more directly tied to life than we think. There's a conceptual Death, but no conceptual Life. Isn't that odd?"
"Conceptual Life died in the Source war."
How did that really work, though? Penny asked Nilnacrawla.
Imagine a conceptual being. A few of the Progenitors, as well as Narvravarana, went up to try to harvest its power. It refused, and Narvravarana used its unique abilities to try and force the deal.
Why was your civilization like this?
Excess and greed, partly. But we couldn't really do much more expansion. Vertical expansion also had its limits if we wanted to remain relevant for the remaining lifespan of the universe. So Narvravarana, along with a few of the greatest rulers and leaders of Sprilnav society, started looking to other dimensional planes. They figured it was best not to let the problem get too much worse. Or at least, that is what they say. I believe it was to harvest more resources to use against our surrounding enemies.
You didn't have any allies? Penny asked.
At that time, all the powers of the universe were enemies. All the allies eventually merged through millions of years of normalization. We happened to get on the universal stage the earliest, so other civilizations we encountered had little choice but to surrender their independence. Some fought, others didn't, but the outcome was the same.
That seems terrible.
It was, though the other universal civilizations were no better. Some of them just exterminated all alien life they found that couldn't fight back. In that sense, the pre-war Sprilnav civilization was one of the greatest, and that's why I fought for them. Obviously, I'm biased in that regard, though.
Thanks for telling me, father.
No problem, Penny.
She refocused back on the conversation at hand.
"But a thing cannot be alive if it dies. The concept of life doesn't work that way. So maybe the Source just... took in the concept of life? Or absorbed it into whatever psychic energy really is, considering that it's responsible for all of our existence?"
"That's so crazy it might actually be true," one of the Elders said. "You're incredible, Penny."
"Uh, thanks. You're all pretty great too." Her eyes drifted to the images of herself on their clothing. She couldn't really help it.
"I have a question for you."
"Yes?"
"Do you know what I'm fighting for?"
"I assume since you're asking it here, you don't just want a one word answer," an Elder said. "I would say yes, and for the liberation of the Sprilnav from the stain of slavery. Though going deeper into your history, you have also fought for other species, either in wars or just generally moving around. It does look aimless, mostly, since the galaxy's so big. But I'm sure you've got a way through that."
"In some way. Part of why I'm here isn't just about my people. It was at first, I admit that. But as I have lived here, on Justicar, for days and weeks, I've seen you less as alien. It makes it easier for sympathy and easier to break out of simple mindsets. So far, there are many problems, but there are distinct pieces. The first is that many people want to uphold slavery. I'm not sure why, but they do. It isn't profitable, and it isn't moral. Robots are cheaper in every way, and don't need food or water.
That means it's illogical or emotional. So I could try and solve the problem with violence alone, but it won't be addressing the cause, only the symptoms. I need to get to the heart of the matter. And I think it has to do with Elders' memories and the gradual woes they have accumulated going through life. I don't want to tear that away or drug them into believing they're fine. I want to find a way to outlet that productively. The second part I have identified is scale. The galaxy is enormous, and your species is incredibly numerous. I could fight planet by planet for the rest of my life, and liberation would still be difficult.
That also means I'd need a better way of doing things. Maybe an economic or political incentive. Emotional reasons will not work permanently, nor will logic, since we are in this situation. I have found several ways to address this. Sadly, since the gangs are likely monitoring this feed, I can't just outright say my strategy. All I can ask you all to do is to believe. Believe that I have a solution, and that I and those who stand with me are working on it. Believe in me because I believe in you."
None of the Elders questioned or ridiculed her words. Most of it was because they were fans of her. But one of them, an Elder named Rahautiti, had a distinct glint in his eye. Their gazes met only momentarily, but Penny could tell he knew.
And so she appeared in the mindscape, even as they concluded the interview, which would be the first of many. It was a ploy to just talk about human culture and ideals a bit more, to get it out there. Because the hivemind's theory was correct.
In the universe, ideas had power. That power could be weaponized against those who previously stood to gain. The first part of it was the image: Nova as an unbeatable bastion. Lecalicus as the Beast, a monster capable of star-crushing rage. Twilight as... whatever she did. Penny wasn't really familiar with the Progenitor's image too much, and the various names, like the Silent Night or the Smiling Darkness, were just so unbelievably edgy she cringed every time she recalled them.
But Rahautiti understood so she moved her mindscape avatar to see him.
"Hello again, Penny. I am no threat."
"I know. I'm glad that your group is led by someone as capable as you, as well as the other groups you dabble within."
"Who discovered it?"
"Phoebe. You met with Ezeonwha, and the android wanted to ensure you weren't a way for Yasihaut to kill him."
"Yeah. We did get approached about that, actually. We're supposed to kill Ezeonwha when you walk into the Judgment hall. Of course, we won't do this, and she won't be able to retaliate against us easily while there."
"Thank you for your honesty, Elder," Penny said. "It seems I'm in your debt."
"Nonsense. 2,839. That is the number of children I have had. 2,626. That is the number of children of mine which were enslaved. The remaining 213 died in unrelated incidents, with nearly half of those involving slavers killing them. I remember all of their names, and all of their faces, Penny. I want all the slavers in this universe dead."
"I cannot achieve that."
"You cannot," Rahautiti agreed. "Not with my help or even that of Kashaunta and Lecalicus. And certainly not right now. I have not lived this long to be incapable of compromise or patchwork solutions. You show great promise. I understand your aversion to killing and the circumstantial reason why you are not doing so now. I will not grow upset if you do not resume killing when the Judgment ends. Nor do I harbor a grudge against you for the speeding space entity you left outside the room to avoid uncomfortable publicity. You are incredibly young.
A sliver of a life. But you are strong, and you are mature. That sliver of your lifespan already outshines all I could do with a trillion more years, Penny. You are right in that this isn't something you can punch your way through. Trauma is part of why slavery still exists, despite it being a wholly unjust reason for the Elders to make such a sport of it. I am sure you know the story of the war, with a great hero in your head and Kashaunta at your side. My line of work is what I started to help you. Every thought about you being the Liberator, every eye that glances on you freeing slaves, helps you to gather conceptual energy. My talent happens to be great enough to sense the Pact of Blades you have, as well. If you want, I can teach you how to hide the mark on your soul and your mind."
"I would like that, yes," Penny said. "And thank you for being so reasonable. I will ask Kashaunta to protect you from what consequences come for refusing the offer on Ezeonwha."
"There are going to be attacks on him, you know. Him and your ship."
Penny felt an odd feeling in her soul. Cardi's power flared around him, and she squinted at the sky. She just barely saw a sliver of a tentacle. Most would have mistaken it for a normal speeding space entity. But here? On Justicar, with Exile obviously not being the cause?
Only one being would cause that. Fate.
Given the subject of their conversation, it was obvious what was going on.
Penny tapped Rahautiti's jaw, adding a thin mark of conceptual power so she could easily find him again. She focused on the conceptual mark she'd left on Ezeonwha. A twinge of conceptual energy came from it. It was accompanied by various impressions, like fear, pain, and acceptance.
"I have to go," Penny said. "I will be back later. Displace."
She appeared next to the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office but not next to Ezeonwha. It was carnage everywhere she looked.
"Champion!" an unknown Elder yelled. "I am Elder Na-"
Her rising fury surged, and it took all she had not to dismember him. The distant thought of the Judgment stayed her hands, though only just.
Penny's fist collided with the Elder's jaw at twice the speed of sound. A piece of his jaws flew free. Bone fragments hit the ground behind him. Hundreds of soldiers fired on her, and she slammed them to the ground with pure will. Penny tore their guns away and sent them each to pummel the Elder in front of her with as much brutality as she could. His powerful armor wasn't as capable of defense against physical attacks as it was against her psychic energy, and so he fell.
"You... cannot save him," the Elder spat. Fields of psychic suppression fell upon her, reducing her power.
"Manipulation through Determination," Penny growled. "De-"
No! Nilnacrawla said. Do not kill him! Not yet!
"What goes up will go down."
Air hardened around the Elder and accelerated rapidly.
The Elder smashed into the shield five miles above with a speed just slow enough that he wouldn't die. He fell from it and then hit it again at a more modest speed. He'd bounce on that until the Guides came to get him.
But Penny had another target. One she had to save instead of attack.
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High Judge Tassidonia awoke to the sound of explosions. He grabbed his swords, his main gun, and the personal shield he reserved for only the most dire occasions. The sky was erupting in war all around him, and buildings were already falling nearby. The spires of skyscrapers rained down upon the entrances to the Underground, crushing thousands of fleeing Sprilnav under their wide impacts.
His implant identified members of the gangs nearby, making their way to his home.
"Retribution Cycle!" Tassidonia cried. A hidden door opened, and he boarded a small hovercraft that sported a high amount of defensive and offensive technology, a gift from Justicar for dealing with all that he had related to the Judgment. Only this time, he wouldn't be on the next one. But already, the destruction was spreading.
Micro-missiles rained upon friend and foe alike. Several detonated against the layered shields. The mounted turrets on the side of his hoverbike shot lasers into the enemies his implant identified.
"Elder Tassidonia!" an Elder cried nearby. "For the crime of defying the will of-"
Tassidonia called his fury to bear. He rammed his mind into the enemy Elder, disorienting her. She reeled, about to attack, when a thick laser smashed into her chest. It pushed her against the wall, and Tassidonia kept the pressure up until her body melted. He listened to her screams impassively, occasionally sending blasts from his gun at the gangs when their members started to stray too close.
The thick red beam did its work within twenty pulses. His swords began to float beside him, keeping pace as he sped away from his home. The entire apartment complex shuddered and began to lean, its foundation being destroyed by some effect below. Tassidonia abandoned it with only minor regret. He'd known this moment would come. Everything he needed was already with him.
He linked into the Guide network, directing squadrons to attack the breaches he'd identified. Orbital strikes fell upon them in quick succession. Thick beams of light pierced through the lower planetary shields from orbital platforms, their guns honing in on Justicar's enemies. Tassidonia's implant was linked to the grid as well. So when he eyed buildings occupied with too many gang members, orbital strikes fell on them a few pulses later.
Fire and plasma rained all around him. Explosions and smoke blossomed all around him. More missiles fell from his hovercraft. A fighter ship appeared beside him, its simple stealth revealing itself to his eyes. Tassidonia waited for the pilot chamber to open, and his craft stowed itself behind him when he got in. It was fully equipped, so soon, Tassidonia was in full control of a weapon of war.
His first order of business was detecting the gangs' most fortified areas. He peppered those bases in shield-weakening mines, followed by bunker-buster missiles. Several anti-air turrets hit him, but his shields prevented them from taking him down. He dropped three high-end Butcher Androids into the fray of the largest battles.
One of the adjacent fighter wings in the separate shield sector dropped a nuke. At that moment, Tassidonia made a decision.
Whatever insanity was going on right now wasn't worth staying here on his own. He turned his ship upward, narrowly avoiding nearly fifty missiles shot from another gang fortress, which was really just the lower floors of a supermarket. Thick slabs of concrete were being set up by androids and slaves from the Underground. All he could do was watch from above and attempt to mark those that might be a problem.
Justicar's Grand Fleet was moving in, though only the carriers and their escorts were doing anything of any scale. The armies were mobilizing, and it seemed that war had finally broken out. Justicar, while isolated due to the Judgment, would have to win a war that threatened to topple his rule entirely.
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Ezeonwha woke when the walls around him shuddered.
An earthquake?
Groggily, he activated the lights in the room. Phoebe's android was charging in the wall. Her limbs swayed with the motion. The walls shuddered again, and the lights went out. Thin, tiny cracks spread in the walls, increasing his worry factors massively. His implant notified him that this wasn't a dream. Distant screams reached his ears, and he went to the window.
Hordes of Sprilnav were running on the ground, tripping over each other to escape. He heard the thump of footsteps approaching from outside. The android activated, standing up.
"Move away from the doo-"
An explosion tossed him across the room. A Sprilnav carrying some sort of mouth weapon faded into view for a moment, smoke recalibrating the stealth field. And then he was gone. Phoebe smashed into the Sprilnav, her fists pummeling the assassin faster than Ezeonwha could comprehend.
Phoebe's arms turned into swords, and she stabbed the Sprilnav at least fifty times in a single pulse. She turned to grab him, but before she reached him, a second explosion sent him flying out of the now-shattered window.
The massive skyscraper loomed large, and he saw the ground beneath it ripple. Dull thumps sounded from below, and large, circular caverns opened beneath the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office. The whole building started to list forward, and Ezeonwha frantically activated his emergency personal shield as he started falling faster and faster. A bullet hit the shield. And then a second one. Gunshots echoed out in the distance, and he saw other Sprilnav falling from broken windows in the falling skyscraper. Gunfire erupted on the streets as Guides engaged a growing army of attackers bubbling up from basements of shops and businesses.
He saw spurts of blood exit the Sprilnav nearest him, bullets tearing holes through the woman's body. Piercing screams surrounded him, a terrible chorus that reminded him of the worst wars he'd fought in. But here, his training could do nothing. She was already dead, and he knew that he was the target of this whole attack. His eyes watered, and Ezeonwha felt so powerless. So useless.
A Corrector emerged from the side of the tilting skyscraper, eyes fixed on Ezeonwha. Then he looked down. Somehow, Ezeonwha knew when the orders had been sent. He knew that it was Astipra in the distance, a jetpack on his shoulders burning a thick flame beneath him.
Astipra looked back at the building and flew toward it. Ezeonwha felt the wind rushing past the shield as pressure. Astipra, far above, vaporized falling chunks of the skyscraper with blasts from his arm cannons. He pressed back against the skyscraper, the jetpack going into overdrive. The metal bent inward, and the groaning and twisting structure continued its fall. Blasts of light from Astipra again vaporized the set of falling chunks.
"Penny," he said. It was almost a prayer, really. His desperate mind was scrambling for whatever it could get. "Please, save me!"
He didn't know if she could hear him. Logically, it was impossible. And in a battle such as this, unlikely as well. Rippling explosions erupted across the facade of the falling skyscraper as rockets struck it. More explosions bloomed as lasers from distant police vehicles, Guides, and Astipra destroyed more of the fast-flying missiles and rockets. They pounded on the world around him, a horde of madness threatening to break his brain. He could feel the wind and gravity equalize as he reached terminal velocity.
And all he could see was the world descending into war around him. The 102nd Visitor Welcome Office continued to slump and lean against Astipra's best efforts. More bullets hit Ezeonwha's personal shield, and peppered the Guides moving over to save him. Air ambulances were shot from the sky. Even small fighter crafts were shot down by powerful ground lasers. EMPs thumped, disabling all the higher functions of his implant before he could think to use it.
A much larger explosion bloomed out, and Ezeonwha followed the rocket's trail to an Elder on the ground, standing in the wreckage surrounding a sudden tunnel opening. The Elder stared at him in glee, and he lined up another shot. Two Guides fell upon the Elder, who flew up using a jetpack to cut them in half with his sword. A hard light hologram lifted a large gun, pointing at Ezeonwha as he fell.
His eyes widened. Ezeonwha did everything he could. He angled his legs and arms. He pushed at the air. He even hefted the meager psychic energy he had, struggling with all his soul to escape the death he could feel was coming to him.
Guides swarmed beyond the shield appearing, while gang soldiers died by the hundreds to carpet bombing. Personal shields sprang up to block the explosions, and the Elder had survived. A thick red laser cut one of the fighters in half from the smoke. Above him, the collapsing facade of the skyscraper consumed Astipra entirely, though large gouts of plasma and thick explosions emerged from within. He could survive if it fell upon him, but Ezonwha could not.
Penny materialized far below, closer to the field of battle. A sweeping wave of gang members began disappearing. A bullet smashed into her head and her stomach, detonating in bright explosions. A personal shield flared and disappeared. Missiles and lasers slammed into Penny by the thousands as psychic energy gathered. A constant roll of words fell from her tongue, but without his implant, they were not translated.
Missiles crumbled into dust. Lasers impacted raw space in front of Penny before bending down and back to their origins, destroying automated turrets. Bullets still hit Penny and the Guides by the thousands, firing too quickly and densely for her to entirely block. But the large ordnance from the gangs continued to work against them.
Penny looked around, confusion evident on her face. But amidst the thousands of wounded and dead Sprilnav falling from the broken windows, Ezeonwha was hidden too well.
Shattering glass could be constantly heard, and he could feel the distant screams in his soul. A bullet smashed into his personal shield again, disabling it. A pulse later, he lost feeling in his legs.
He tried to reach out to her mind, but the war in the mindscape was equally intense. Too many Elders and Guides battling it out along with various suppression artifacts made it all impossible. He could sense Penny's influence, but couldn't directly reach her.
He let out a breath, knowing it to be the final one.
I'm sorry, Penny, Ezeonwha thought.
I wish you luck in the Judgment, and I am sorry I caused this to happen to you.
Penny finally appeared in front of him, eyes wide-
Blood erupted. A searing pain in his head told him his implant had just shorted out. And in the mindscape, he saw a mental attack heading for him, its brutal power evident. He closed his eyes.

i know its not chopper content but were the most active forum i know of these days. i promise to post more chopper content soon.
running into an issue with my girlfriends sportster. bike was running 100% fine prior to top end. i only redid it because the base gaskets and pushrod tube base orings were leaking and getting worse each year.
so, had cylinders bored .010 over by the best machine shop in town. lapped the valves. put it all together with fresh gaskets and seals all around. a few hear cycles and then out to the road for riding below 65mph.
for the first few rides the bike was top notch. no leaks, smoke, or problems. now the bike still runs perfect but were getting a good bit of oil vapor and mist from the breathers once the bike is hot. today on a ride in 80 degree weather it took about 30 minutes before the breathers started misting/vaping… we did notice that on a long stretch of road where we had head wind (bike running cooler) it was less noticeable at the next stop. and when we had to ride through town and got home it was worse again (bike running hotter).
oil temp hovered between 190-210 all day. oil level is at the low mark on dipstick. running 20w-50.
my understanding is it could be a few things. i know oil level is usually the problem but like i said oil level is at low mark HOT. which i never have done with my old sporty or hers but its certainly notnoverfilled so i can rule that out.
could be the umbrella valves but i out fresh ones in. they were james gaskets but i did feel like the nipple wasnt as sturdy as i wouldve wanted it to be. unbrella possibly popped out?
and lastly, could be combustion getting past the rings and into crankcase causing excessive pressure. which would be the worst because it would mean tearing down to base gaskets, rehoning, and reassembling.
i assume my next step would be a leak down test. i will be surprised if compression isnlow because the bike runs fine. also doing an oil change again tomorrow because of the fresh top end.
anyway, loooking for any thoughts or advice. thanks

I often hear stories about young guys underperforming as a result of their chronic marijuana use. Your typical “pothead” is probably some loser guy without a job living in his mom’s basement.
but has the link between weed use and lack of motivation been proven necessarily true?
I hit my dan pen a few times almost every night and find that it has no impact on my overall performance. I graduated with a 3.7 GPA and now work in finance despite frequent weed use. I am also really fit and extremely motivated towards my fitness and other goals.
When I am not smoking weed, I don’t notice much of a difference in my behaviours or motivations. The only noticeable change is that I am less groggy in the morning and have vivid dreams.
By no means am I arguing that I perform better when I am smoking weed frequently. My conclusion more closely aligns to weed exacerbating the lack of motivation in lazy people, but insignificantly impacts the motivation of high functioning people.
I should also state the presumption that I understand smoke or vapor in your lungs is inherently bad. This post isolates the motivation and brain function and disregards overall health effects.
Has there been any studies on this? What do you think reddit

Location: San Francisco, California
"Here, you'll need these." F stated as she handed out a couple pairs of anti-sentinel goggles, Wade taking them as he replied to F.
"Thanks, I've still got mine, Tina could use these too." F raised an eyebrow as Wade gave his girlfriend a pair of the shaded visors, Tina examining them before trying them on.
"What are these, F?" Tina asked her disassembly drone friend curiously, F putting a hand to her hip as she answered her.
"Anti-sentinel visors, Coalition specialty. Since we're going into that factory upon landing, we'll be most certainly running into some nasty baddies. Knowing our experience from the factory, sentinels will most likely be among that lot." Putting on her own set of goggles, she continued. "These visors will keep them from taking you out of the fight with their boot-loop lights."
Duncan raised a finger as he added his warnings on the sentinels. "Aye, best watch your back though. Even if they can't Medusa ya in place, they're still feisty beasts to wrestle." Chuckling, Duncan shared a morbid example. "I remember one lad who tried fendin' one off in a pirate cell, but he wasn't ready for those sharp talons those things have."
F nodded in agreement as she glanced to Tina, her confused expression from before returning as she asked the pilot drone for her reasoning. "By the way Tina, why do you need one of those? You plan to head out with us or something?"
The pilot drone nodded in affirmation as she explained. "If it's no problem, I'd like to help Wade out with the fighting inside the labs. Him and I did hold off well enough against a few of them, didn't we?"
Wade nodded to Tina as he put a hand onto her shoulder, backing up her rationale. "That might work, we've got this baby on autopilot, right?"
F added onto Wade's reasoning as Tina gave her own nod of affirmation. "These Chameleon dropships can be flown by a single pilot under certain situations, and though I really shouldn't advise it, I think the ship will do fine while we're inside." The warrior drone gave a wink to Tina as she continued. "You did say you wanted to help Wade with taking down Halloway, after all."
Nathan chuckled lightly as he gave his thoughts on the matter. "Yeah, and once Tina sets us down, I doubt they'll care much about the ship once we've started heading out."
"Indeed." J stated aloud, catching the attention of all in the conversation as she spoke to Wade and Tina. "I don't doubt your skills when fighting together in combat, but until we land, Wade will have F and I at his side. You just keep the ship safe during her run. Got it?"
"Won't be a problem, Mrs. J." Tina replied with a salute, J looking on in slight amusement as Wade looked to his hand, curious about his full arsenal.
"Something wrong with your hand, Mr. Carter?" J asked in calm concern as Wade zipped his head up to face her.
"Oh, no. Just... wondering about what kinds of weapons I've got on me." The former worker drone answered as J held her own arm out to show off.
"Well, that's not a bad question. To be completely honest, there's countless different tools and weapons you can pull out of those arms." J began swapping to different armaments and devices with her hand as she stated some examples. "Laser cannons, machine guns, grenades, rockets, welding cutters, flags, markers, the list goes on." Swapping her hand back, J gave a proud smirk to Wade as he swapped focus to her chest pocket, which was full of several pens.
"That's a lotta pens." Wade said aloud, prompting his friends to eye J's filled pocket as she glanced to it.
"Ah, yes. JCJenson's very own branded pens! Picked up a few from that military base before we left." Pulling one out, she playfully pressed the clicking button on the top of the pen several times as she explained her strange bundle of writing utensils. "You're probably wondering why I have so many, let's just say I was... done in by more than just that kid's laser gun I mentioned earlier. Thought I'd take notes from her." While gazing at the pens, one of J's eyes shifted to a triangle with an exclamation symbol, text under it reading, "PRIOR HAZARD"
Looking at the weaponized pen J was implying with stunned eyes, Wade laughed nervously as he replied to his fellow murder drone. "Ah, that sounds... intimidating."
"Indeed it does, I'd almost regret bringing them with me after that incident. But, on the bright side," Tossing a few of her pens to Wade, J continued speaking once he caught them all. "it helps me come up with better methods of attack. You may find they come in handy in that place yourself."
Looking at one of the branded pens, Wade nodded in agreement before putting them in his own front pocket. "I'll make sure they're put to good use, J."
"I'm sure you will." J replied just before an alarm sounded through the troop bay, several soldiers moving about in preparations for the imminent fight outside.
"Get set, everyone! We're going in hot real shortly!" Sergeant Thomas declared as he sat himself on one of the wall seats, Wade looking to Tina as she began to return to her post.
"Welp, no time to lose." Giving a quick kiss to Wade, she spoke to him once more. "Watch my back, love."
Wade nodded to her as she made her way back into the cockpit, then turned to J as she addressed the group. "Alright, get yourselves seated, we're gonna have hostiles coming at us any second!" Looking to Wade and F, she gave her orders to them. "F, Mr. Carter, you'll watch the sides of the ship once we open the bay doors! I'll fly as escort outside!"
"Understood J!" F said as she and Wade gave nods of agreement to their fellow disassembly drone, who made her way to the left bay door to await its opening.
Turning off the autopilot, Tina took hold of the steering handles before witnessing the sight ahead: A massive battlefront, two of the presumed three corporate starships Mr. Jenson dispatched hovering over the large research tower. Several aircraft zoomed about, some pursuing one another as they clashed in fast dogfights above the city. Near the large tower, Tina could also spot small specks flying about, catching a faint gleam of yellow shining at her. She didn't need to guess what those objects were as she braced herself with a deep breath for her flight, knowing that the lives of dozens of soldiers, as well as those of Wade and his friends, were now in her hands.
Stepping near the large door, Wade held onto a handle so as to brace himself for the force of the wind outside. Looking to the other door, Wade saw F in a similar posture to him, the warrior drone gazing to him as she spoke. "Hang onto the handles, Wade! Give them Hell!" Wade nodded without a word as he prepared a variant of laser cannon from his free left hand: A barrel with a silver tip and lights at its sides, a scope at it's top, a small cylindrical tank lit in yellow underneath. Looking upon its design, Wade's visor scanned the weapon in an instant before highlighting it as a "PULSE BLASTER".
Wade's attention was brought to the area outside as the large bay door opened up, revealing part of the battle-ridden cityscape beyond. Incredibly, most of the buildings were well intact, with only a select few sporting a trail of smoke or a fire atop them. Flying in the sky were a few more dropships, the escort squadrons breaking away forward to engage the hostile craft ahead of the transports. Wade could hear the whir of bullets and laser blasts as the skirmish above San Francisco commenced.
With F's bay door open, J deployed her wings before zooming out of the ship, flying over it before forming up right above the dorsal turret, which was slowly turning to take aim at an incoming fighter. The corporate plane looked quite strange for a terrestrial aircraft, sporting a bubble window over the usual fuselage with the window at the top. Its wings were swept forward, curving downward with a set of missile racks under them. The tips of the plane wielded a set of hybrid weapons, appearing to be a blend of a machine gun and a laser cannon. The back end of the ship sloped upward, sporting a pair of dorsal fins along with a longer one going downwards.
Tina kept her grip firm on the flight handles as she saw a laser beam fire at the approaching enemy plane, which failed to evade as it was struck by the yellow death energy. Seeing another fighter coming at her, Tina prepared to move the ship to her left as she quickly tapped a button on the controls, speaking to the gunner in the bubble turret via the speaker panel. "Gunner, keep watch for any bogeys, missiles and fighters!"
"You got it!" The officer replied as he held the trigger grips firmly, moving them along as he took aim at the second plane zooming at them. It fired a few missiles as the gunner shot at it, scoring several clean hits to its hull as it began to dive erratically in a trail of smoke. As for the missiles, J took aim with two laser guns before firing, the pair of beams slicing the projectiles into a fiery blaze.
On Wade's end, he was pointing his blaster attachment at another incoming fighter, which only managed to fire one missile before being chased off by a friendly A-20 plane. Wade fired a flurry of yellow bolts of energy at the approaching missile, several shots lighting missiles into flames before it could hit. The former worker drone wasn't given a moment's peace as yet another fighter dove at the dropship, its wing guns lighting up as it began to fire its lasers. Acting quickly, Wade flew out, J forming up with him as the two extended their wings. The murder drones' attempt at defending their ship was surprisingly successful, the two holding back the hot blasts of energy with their wings.
As the hostile craft broke off, J spoke aloud to Wade. "Good work, keep it up!" Wade nodded without a word as he flew back inside, taking hold of the railing again so he could continue holding off the hostiles outside.
In the cockpit, Tina flew the ship upwards, dodging an incoming plane that was falling to the city in flames. Steadying the ship, Tina kept watch for more hostiles, seeing that the Administrator's tower ahead was a bit closer, as were the disassembly drones fighting around it. Flying downwards, Tina leveled the ship out as she heard the voice of the Lapu Lapu's comm officer on the radio. "We should be a third of the way there, hold on out there!"
Readying her missile launcher, F took aim at an incoming fighter, getting a swift lock before firing. Two projectiles flew at the target plane, its pilot clearly on alert as it broke away from the Chameleon in its attempts to evade. Spotting another ship, F took aim at it, firing three missiles at the hostile craft. To her concern, the craft refused to brake away, sending its own trio of missiles before starting to break away. As the plane was struck by her dispatched arsenal, F readied a laser cannon before firing at the lethal trails of death. With help from J outside, the weapons were destroyed, though one did get dangerously close as it was lit aflame, the shockwave shaking the aircraft violently as it tilted to the right slightly.
Tina grunted as she tried to stabilize the ship, almost yelping as she spotted another aircraft, diving down on her with a hail of bullets. Metal pangs sounded from the damage taken by the weapons fire as the dorsal turret returned the favor, striking the plane on its nose as it began to fall to the city. Tina roared in immense effort as she jerked the ship upward, just barely dodging the smoking fighter as it passed over them.
Unbothered by the rough flying, Wade took aim at another fighter, a flurry of laser bolts coming at it as a few struck the craft's hull. The disassembly drone grinned in satisfaction as the fighter dove down in flames, crashing into another hostile plane in a bright ball of fire and metal scraps.
"That's some fine shootin', Wade! HAHA!" Duncan declared with a hearty laugh, a few of the other troopers cheering with him as they admired Wade's efforts. The miner drone smiled in appreciation as he kept his gaze towards the fighting outside, Cyn's large tower creeping into his view at the side of the dropship.
His brief break was interrupted as he heard a beep from his visor, noticing a call coming from J. Preparing a radio from his free hand, he answered his fellow disassembly drone. "What's up, J?"
"We're about to make our descent to the landing pads, I need you and F to help me fight off some of these rogues!" J ordered firmly as Wade looked to F, the warrior lady still focused on the enemy forces in the sky.
"F, might wanna get someone else to provide cover fire, we're heading out to help J!" Wade called out, F turning to acknowledge his news as she responded with a nod.
"Got it!" With that, she flew out of the dropship, Wade following after as he prepared for some more aerial combat. Wade swooped out of the ship with a roll, readying a sword blade in place of his other hand as he observed the sky battle around him and Tina's ship. Dozens of disassembly drones were spread out across the sky, many clashing their metal weapons or shooting at one another with a gun attachment of some sort.
It felt like the disassembly drones were having a massive civil war of sorts to Wade, with the clangs of swords, deathly cries of a few of the drones, and the faint spillage of oil from the injured ones, there was almost no mercy between the disassembly drones as they fought their former comrades in a mass deathmatch.
Returning his focus back to the mission, Wade searched for J and F, spotting them chatting over the transport. Flying over, Wade received some additional words from J on their goals. "Alright, we're gonna split up. F, you take the left wing of dropships, keep those traitors off their backs. Wade, you watch Mrs. Tina's ship and her escorts. I'll hold the right side."
"Won't be a problem, J. Those ships will make it to that pad down there, or I ain't a Carter!" Wade replied as he flew ahead of the dropship, the drone ladies splitting up to assist the other ships on their flight to the landing pad at the lower neck of the tower.
Speaking of the large tower, Wade observed the large structure. The top of the building had a sleek 'head' section, a curving window built into the face of it. Wade guessed it must've been some sort of observatory station. Going down, the tower slowly extended out as it sloped downwards, shiny grey panels going downwards past the landing pad. Beyond that, the panels continued down until reaching the city grounds below, a oval-shaped foundation sitting as the base of the tower.
His examination of the tower was disturbed as he spotted a descending VTOL craft, its markings showing its allegiance to the company to Wade's eyes. The design felt like a mix between the Chameleon and the Yellowjacket, sporting a window that went to the ships nose. Below the cockpit area was a small machine gun, slightly swiveling as it prepared to take shots at its target. The main hull had an open storage bay that carried very few people, from what Wade could see, and had a short tail extending out holding two maneuvering thrusters at the tips.
Before it could attack, however, a flurry of missiles struck at it, obliterating the craft into scrap. Glancing behind him, Wade spotted two Yellowjacket VTOLs, both fully manned as they formed up behind Tina's Chameleon.
Seeing that the worry of large aircraft was covered for the most part, Wade returned his focus ahead. His timing was almost perfect as he immediately spotted a hostile disassembly drone flying at Wade, who held his sword up in front of himself in a defensive manner. Flying fast, the drone's single blade clashed with Wades, the former slowing with a flap of their wings as Wade fired his blaster gun. The murder drone's wings took a majority of the damage as they left burn spots on them, Wade flying at his opponent as the two struck each other's blades.
Swapping his gun out for a claw hand, Wade noticed his enemy's nanite tail rising to strike. He didn't allow it to as he grabbed it with his claws, slicing the tail off as he held off the disassembly drone's two swords with his own one. Trying to distract his opponent, Wade struck his rival in the foot with his own tail, the male drone grunting in pain as Wade took his chance. In need of fresh oil, Wade dropped the broken nanite tank before grabbing onto his enemy, cutting one unrestrained arm of the drone off before biting into his head. Unfazed by the drone's cries of pain, Wade readied another claw hand from his sword before impaling the disassembly drone in their chest, ripping their core out before letting their body fall to the ground below.
Crushing the core, Wade looked to see another disassembly drone flying right at his transport. Like a dart, Wade zoomed in front of it, grabbing the unprepared drone with his sharp claws before pulling the arms off. Swiftly, he swapped his claws for pulse cannons before firing at the injured hostile. Wade managed to score a few hits on the drone's chest before they shielded themselves behind their wings. In a desperate attempt to hurt Wade, the drone flew at him in a spin, acting as a living fan-blade with their wings. The former worker drone guarded his form with his own wings, rapid clangs against them signaling the continuous impact.
Upon ceasing their spin attack, the two rivals broke away, Wade's eyes glancing behind him for a second as he heard Nathan call to him. "Wade! Look out!" Seeing his opponent still injured, Wade went at the drone again, grabbing them as he heard the sound of a rocket behind him. Wade turned around and held his enemy in front of him, a missile from the transport striking Cyn's minion as they groaned from the blast. To finish them off, Wade bit into the rival drone, slurping their oil as their visor began to flicker out. Once they passed out from the oil loss, Wade pulled the drone's core out with his claw hand, ending its life with a metal crunch.
Looking to the transport, Wade saw it starting to descend to the landing pad, along with its VTOL escorts. He flew down with them, intent on seeing their successful landing.
Wade's eyes were directed above as he heard the maniacal laughter of two disassembly drones, a male and a female. The duo came closer, their visors bearing yellow 'X's and their mouths wide with sharp teeth.
With careful grabbing, Wade pulled out one of his branded pens before throwing it with all of his might, the two disassembly drones splitting up ever so slightly as to evade the speeding projectile. To Wade's surprise, the pen hit its target, piercing the glass casing of the female murder drone's nanite tank as it spewed out glowing yellow acid. Some of that acid managed to splash onto the other drone, who yelped from the burning pain as he hovered in place to get the acid nanites off.
Readying a pair of swords, Wade and his uninjured rival struck at each other, merely locking their blades as they began to fight. Holding back the hostile bot, Wade pushed the murder drone off of him before taking a swing, commencing a flurry of fast swings and panging of metal weapons. Eventually, the duel climaxed as Wade struck at his opponent's arm, partially disarming her before kicking her through the air. Flying over, Wade and the disassembly drone were now on the opposite side of the dropship as they continued to fight. Still disarmed, the murder drone held her one blade up as she blocked another attack from Wade, the blades clashing violently.
Pulling one sword away, Wade prepared to cut down the enemy drone, but slowed as he saw her nanite tail shooting up at him. The former worker drone narrowly dodged the attack by no more than inches as he moved his head to the side, swinging his blade up to cut the tail off. Bringing his own to bear, Wade struck the wounded arm with his own tail, trying to slow its regeneration speed. Preparing to strike down the hostile drone, Wade was stopped as he was grabbed onto by the other murder drone, who took hold of his free arm in order to restrain him. The female disassembly drone added to her opponent's struggle by biting into his arm, Wade yelping as he tried and failed to hold her in place.
Now free from his grip, the two drones took hold of Wade's arms, intent on tearing him into pieces in the air. Wade grunted ferociously as he tried to pull back his arms, hoping to free himself before losing his weaponized appendages. He didn't have to worry for long as two missiles came at the enemy drones, blasting them both off of Wade as he glanced to see who shot the savior projectiles. Duncan pumped his free fist in the air as he silently cheered on his ally, who looked back to focus on his opponents.
With the two disassembly drones disoriented, Wade readied a pair of laser cannons before firing them, the beams burning into the injured drones and eliciting pained cries as they were hit. Quickly swapping to a pair of chainsaws, Wade spun at them in an almost manic manner, cutting into the two drones in their failing alertness. Slowing his spin, Wade looked to see his two rival drones falling to the ground below, split into several pieces as oil spilled out after their remains.
Looking back to his transport, Wade saw it nearing the landing pad before hearing a beep from his visor, indicating a call. Swapping one blade for a radio, Wade listened to the transmission being sent by Tina. "Everyone, this is Transport Beta-4G, we're about to be setting down!"
As Wade watched his girlfriend's ship begin to lower onto the large circular platform, he saw the two XB-41s holding position at the sides of the landing pad, two more transports moving downward to land as well. Flying down, Wade watched as Tina touched the ship down onto the landing pad, several Coalition and USN soldiers hopping out onto the large platform in an effort to secure the area. As he neared the pad, Wade flapped his wings to slow himself down before landing, his wings retracting as he prepared his blaster cannon.
Turning to face the transport, Wade walked towards it as several Coalition troops took positions around the main pad, F and J flying down to land beside him. Walking alongside her teammates, J praised their work. "Nice job, you two. The soldiers should be able to hold the line here for the most part, I'll take charge of the squads here. I want both of you to prepare your teams, do what you can to investigate and detain any data you find. And Wade," The drone in question looked to J with a stern face, J gave an encouraging smirk as she spoke to him. "Good hunting in there."
Wade nodded with a smirk of his own as he heard the sound of swooping from above, F and J looking along with him to see a flock of disassembly drones approaching, at least ten of them. Thankfully, these ones didn't show any aggression as they landed, J walking over to one of them as they spoke to her. "J, we're a detachment from the DeLorean. Her captain sent us down to assist you and the troops here."
"So I heard." J replied appreciatively before giving her orders. "Mr. Carter and F here are going to begin their raid on the labs, I want you to hold out here until we're finished with this place."
"We won't let you down, Ma'am!" The friendly murder drone declared eagerly as he and the other drones saluted, Wade observing them all for a moment before returning his attention to the transport ahead.
Wade and F went into a light jog in their traversal to the dropship, Tina stepping out of the ship as she spotted her love. Sharing the gaze, Wade came up to her while F hopped aboard to gather their team up. "You ready for this, honey?"
"I was ready in the pilot's seat, I'm most certainly prepared for this, Wade." Tina replied as she pulled out her pistol, holding it in a guard as Wade wrapped his arm around her.
Looking up to F, she stepped out with several others, Kurtis, Nathan, Gerard, and F's old squad among them. "Okay, my buddies here will be with me. Wade, you'll have Kurtis, Nathan, and Gerard with you."
"Got it, let's stick close in case we run into trouble out here." Wade replied as F gave an acknowledging nod, the two taking point in front of the large team behind them as they all began walking down the mini bridge leading to the entrance door.
As they got almost halfway down the platform, a loud, rising sound shook the group, Wade and Tina looking on in horror as a large energy beam fired up past the bridge. The blast struck one of the corporate cruisers above the tower, its hull burning in a bright blaze of flame and debris as the ship was downed.
"What in blazes was that?!" Duncan exclaimed as he and his teammates backed up slightly, watching the large starship slowly fall to the city below in flames. Concerned about where the blast came from, Wade and F looked to the origin of the blast. The heavy sounds of metal legs touching against the building hinted at an enormous object climbing up the building.
And enormous it was, as Wade and his allies looked on in petrified awe at the rising sight before them. Crawling up past the bridge was a large, four-legged walker mech, big enough to stand atop the bridge. The main body of the walker looked to be some kind of cannon, with a large, roughly cylindrical shape to it all. Along the black body were white armor plates attached around it, with the main weapon barrel being of a silver color. The legs holding the mech up were sharp, and, squinting at it, Wade saw a hint of red within the black internals of the white-armored legs, which had sharp claws at the ends of the 'feet' parts.
The large walker let out a mechanical howl as it stopped climbing, moving slightly in an attempt to come down onto the landing platform. Tina held onto Wade as she observed the metal beast in fear. "What in the devil is that thing?!"
F pulled out her radio, speaking into it for potential intel on their new foe. "F to J, you got anything on this?!"
"That's... not something I recall seeing on the company inventory." J replied uncomfortably as she too observed the large crawler, which hunched down against the building before leaping forward. The platform, be it by sheer luck or miraculous strength on the its part, did not fumble from the impact as the walker landed hard onto it, sending a shaky quake across it. The assault team was trying hard to remain balanced against the sheer force of the walker's landing as they snapped out of their stunned trance.
As Wade and Tina recovered from the shock of the walker's landing, J spoke through the radio once more. "I'll get the DDs to keep this thing distracted, you all try to find a weakness on it!"
"Understood, J!" Wade replied to the speaker on F's hand as he deployed his wings, looking to Tina before speaking to her. "Tina, hop on!"
The pilot drone heeded her boyfriend's call as she hopped upon his back, the two taking flight as F prepared to do the same. Zooming over to the walker, the two examined the closer details of its exterior, not spotting much to go after. Going up to the walker's side, however, Wade saw a potential target: At the left side of the walker was a door hatch, completely sealed so as to prevent threats from entering the walker with ease.
"This looks like a good spot!" Wade declared, glancing behind him to see F flying up next to him. "Let's see if we can make a break in, tear it apart from the inside!"
"That sounds like a good idea!" F replied as she spoke into her radio again. "J, you mind sending a few extra hands? We're gonna need them for our little attack plan here!"
High in the air, J answered her comrade through the speaker. "You'll have it, stand by!" Swapping out her radio for a laser gun, J called out to two of her nearby disassembly drone allies, who were getting ready to pounce onto the walker before J called to them. "You two! Our team's about to try and bring this down, head down there and give 'em a hand!"
"With pleasure, Ma'am!" One drone replied as the other simply laughed lightly, the two zooming down to the walker to assist their allies near it.
Looking back to the walker, J spoke aloud to some of her fellow disassembly drones. "Let's get that beast's attention! Fire at will!"
The horde of drones complied as they all fired their weapons at the walker, lasers, bullets, rockets, and many other munitions striking the sturdy armor of the walker.
Clamping onto the walker with a set of claws, Wade began to cut into the door with a chainsaw hand, F hovering with her weapons ready as the two heard the sound of disassembly drones flying over to them. F turned to them while Wade did his work. "Ma'am, J sent us. We'll help you with whatever you need!"
F responded with a nod. "Get your weapons ready, we're gonna gut this walker!" The two drones returned the gesture as they prepared various weapons, hovering with F as Wade continued cutting into the walker.
"I've... almost got it! Just a minute more, and-" Wade said aloud before being cut off by the walker's bellowing howl, the massive mech lifting upwards as it began to charge up its main weapon.
J watched in anxious anticipation as the walker's barrel began to glow in a brilliant yellow light, the beam charging up again as it prepared to fire at its attackers. "Evade! EVADE!" J warned loudly as the beam fired, a few unfortunate disassembly drones being vaporized by the huge laser as it shot across the sky. Despite her effort to dodge, misfortune followed the victim drone as J cried out in immense pain, her arm having narrowly been caught in the blast and completely disintegrating into vapor. Hovering in place, J held her damaged shoulder, sparks and smoke emitting from the wound as J glared at the beam-walker in renewed rage. Redeploying her laser cannon, she continued firing.
Continuing to saw the door open, Wade laughed victoriously as he nearly finished cutting the hatch off. Getting a bit impatient, Wade ceased his slicing and prepared a second claw hand, pulling at the door in order to tear it off. The sealed hatch tore from the walker with a loud grind of metal, Wade tossing the door away before readying a laser rifle from one of his claws.
"Alright! Let's do this!" Wade declared as he and his three disassembly drone comrades flew inside, entering a small corridor before being blocked off the back of the walker by a hostile murder drone. Taking aim, Wade fired his laser at the enemy, the drone holding their swords up in an attempt to defend themselves. Flying at the drone, Wade clashed his blades with theirs, the two stuck in a deadlock as Tina pulled out her pistol, firing at the drone's head. The distraction elicited a cry of pain from the murder drone before Wade bit into them, sucking in the delicious, warm oil.
Once he was finished, Wade continued on to the back of the walker, F and her allies heading to the front to cause any bit of trouble they could. Reaching the aft end of the walker's internal structure, Wade saw another disassembly drone getting ready to pounce on him and Tina. Quickly readying a shotgun, Wade fired several blasts at the drone as it covered itself under one of its wings. As Wade kept pummeling the murder drone with his shotgun, Tina took aim at their exposed nanite tail, firing at it as the tank broke off. Getting close, Wade reached for the tank with his newly formed hand, ceasing fire as the murder drone began to unshield themself.
Wade didn't waste a second as he threw the nanite tank upon the drone's exposure, striking at the drone's face as they yelped in agony. Arming himself with two chainsaws, Wade lunged at his opponent, cutting the hostile drone into many oil-covered pieces.
With the immediate threat dealt with, Wade and Tina backed up to examine the glowing light at the inner wall to their left. The light was coming from what seemed to be a controlled singularity, an exceptionally rare source of power that humanity hadn't learned to contain until the announcement of the Administrator's creation. Given what it was powering, it was safe to say this was a source of energy Cyn used for her fancy toys.
"That must be its power source!" Tina stated firmly, Wade readying a grenade launcher as he prepared to fire.
"Hold on, Tina. This is gonna be nasty!" Wade warned as his girlfriend held on tightly to him, Wade shooting several grenades at the glass protecting the black hole core as it shattered loudly into many shards. After about four or five shots, the singularity collapsed, the walker groaning loudly from the lack of power as the walls of the mech's innards began to creak and pop with smoke.
Noting the imminent danger they were in, Wade readied a radio before yelling into it. "F, get yourself clear! This thing's gonna blow!"
Without waiting for a reply, Wade turned around before flying back the way he came, zooming through the corridor and out the broken door hatch. Ascending upwards, Wade stopped as he hovered in the air, F and her two escorts flying out to him as they all watched the collapsing walker. Sparks began to emit from the legs, their armor plating collapsing in on the dark leg joints as they seemingly began to melt away into ash. The main hull of the walker began to catch flame for a few seconds before exploding in a bright ball of fiery light. Covering their faces, Wade closed his eyes until the light dissipated, then re-opening them to see the results of his crazy act.
The soldiers at the pad, and those among Wade and F's team, cheered and laughed at the incredible sight, the broken remnants of the beam-walker lying flat in a smoky haze and burning flames. Flying down to the platform, Wade and F's team ran over to the quartet of drones as they touched down, Tina hopping off of her boyfriend as she laughed in bewildered excitement.
"Holy shit, Wade! That was insane!" Kurtis exclaimed with a hearty laugh as Nathan added to the congratulatory comments.
"Yeah, you guys scrapped that thing REAL good! Haha!"
"Well, I wouldn't have been able to pull that off by myself." Wade replied as he glanced to Tina, then F and the two escort drones as the former spoke to him.
"You can say that again, honey. I can't believe we pulled that off!" The pilot drone let out a laugh as she patted Wade's arm, the former worker drone sharing the amusement as they both heard the high swooping of wings. Looking up, the couple saw J flying down, holding her damaged arm as she touched down with an impressed smirk.
"Well, you both excel at causing a ruckus." The corporate drone said with a smirk as Tina put a hand to her mouth in shock, concerned over J's well-being.
"J, your arm! Are you alright?" Tina asked worriedly as J responded sheepishly.
"Uh-huh. I'll be fine, just need some oil to patch this up." Pulling out a canteen, J held out the bottle for someone to help her open it. Wade assisted her without a word as he unscrewed the lid, allowing J to drink up some of the liquid drone blood inside. Once she was done, Wade helped her seal the bottle before she put it away. "But besides that, you did an incredible job out here. I'd say it's a sort of... happy accident that you were converted."
Wade gave a shaky laugh as he replied to J's compliment. "Well, I hope those clones I've been hearing about carry the same wills, J. We'll need it."
J gave a nod of agreement as her arm began to regenerate, the group looking pleased at her recovery as Duncan spoke up in amusement. "Hah, now THAT'S making me regret not comin' along with Felicity here when she left!"
"Yeah, wish they had something like that for us fleshbags." Carlos added humorously, J chuckling at the soldier as she replied to the comments.
"Perhaps you will, Sir. Maybe one day." Then, looking to the large laboratory ahead, J continued a bit more sternly. "But if we want that to come true, we should get inside that place and start looking for such research."
Wade nodded in affirmation as he remembered the original plan. "Right, we should get going. You're gonna hold the line here, J?"
"Correct, I may head out with the ship that carries whatever vital materials you get from in there. That is, if you find any." The corporate drone replied before taking back to the air, preparing to continue her duty outside. "Good luck, and like I told you, Wade. Do what you will with Halloway, just make sure that program is stopped." With that, J flew into the air, heading back to the dropships as Wade and his group watched her depart.
Looking to his friends, Wade concluded their sightseeing break. "Alright, no time to lose. Let's go." The group collectively nodded to the former worker drone as he took the lead, Tina, F and the rest following close behind as they ran to the nearby doorway to the inner sanctuary of Cyn's fortress.

The following is a transcription of an audio cassette I discovered in my father's safe, shortly after he died. The tape has been transcribed for you here in its entirety, for my own sake.
Dad - Can you say that again?
Grandpa - Which part?
Dad - The date Dad, the recorder wasn't close enough. I wanna make sure we get everything.
Grandpa - Why is it so important that you get every last detail anyway?
Dad - Because that's what the doctor said, Dad. The more detail we get, the better he can help you.
Grandpa - Oh! is that right? He's gonna help me huh? How's he gonna do that exactly? Stuff some more magic pills down my pocket? Maybe sign me up for group therapy? Those are ALWAYS loads of fun!
Dad - No, I think he just wants to get a better understanding of -
Grandpa - He can't help me. Nobody can. Better psychiatrists have tried and failed. You wouldn't believe me anyway. There's no point.
Dad - Well, If nothing else it would help us and the doc to make better decisions regarding you. Look, I promise that I will listen to everything you have to say. I promise I’ll believe you ok?
Grandpa - Don't say that! You can't promise me something like that. It's a bullshit statement and you know it.
Dad - Alright fine. Fair enough. I promise that I will TRY to believe ok? I’ll … try. Look, forget about the doctor alright? I want to know what happened that night, ME. I want to know what you were doing in Norway. Why you can never get a damn good night's sleep, just tell me, please.
Grandpa - (Deep breath) …fine
February 20, 1943. That's when it all went down. The Axis Powers had been almost completely driven outta Africa, and the Soviets had effectively turned the tide of war in Eastern Europe. We Had the Nazis on the run, for the time being at least. They were vulnerable, sure, but they still had every capability of rebounding and kicking our asses. As such, the US was particularly interested in taking out any and all Axis weapons development programs.
Dad - Weapons development programs? What, like their tanks or the atomic bomb or -
Grandpa - Exactly. The Allies specifically targeted their hard water factories to cripple their production of the atomic bomb. But there were other targets. So-called “Wonder Weapon” projects scattered all over German-occupied territories. Manufacturing depots, chemical weapons labs, bioweapons research centers, etc. THAT'S what I was doing in Norway.
Dad - Where in Norway did they send you?
Grandpa - … Northern Norway. Far off the mainland lay an island with a Nazi outpost on it. Very little was known about the place at the time regarding its exact purpose and mission. According to our spies inland and the Norwegian rebels, the locals referred to it simply as “Fort Ond”. They said it was … a bad place. That the prisoners who were taken there were never seen again. That the waters bordering its shore were barren of all aquatic life and colder than even the most bone-chilling frostbite. Command didn’t give a shit about any of that though. Their only concern was 2 things. “Why is this installation so far from the German homeland? And “Why is it so far from mainland Norway? The conclusion they came to was that the Nazis had to be developing some sort of weapon there that they didn't wanna risk infecting a lot of people with.
Dad - So, they thought it was a chemical weapons plant?
Grandpa - No, they thought it was a bioweapons lab. Smallpox, anthrax you know that kinda stuff. We THOUGHT that's what they were doing there, but we didn't know for sure. That's where my unit came in, and where Operation Maelstrom was greenlit.
Dad - Maelstrom?
Grandpa - I didn't pick the damn name. Anyways, they wanted to keep the operation as covert as possible. Minimal manpower. One squad of British SAS, one squad of Canadian commandos, and last but not least, one squad of Army Rangers. Including yours truly.
Dad - Was the purpose of the mission just to gather intel or-
Grandpa - Our first priority was the eradication of the fort's inhabitants and the seizure of any relevant intel. However, we were also prepared for it to turn into a sabotage mission at a moment's notice. Leadership felt pretty confident about the bioweapons theory and didn't wanna take any chances with letting the stuff potentially get away, hence the limited manpower. The last thing we wanted was for the krauts to get spooked by a large invasion force and flee with any samples….
Dad - Dad? Are you ok?
Grandpa - Yeah, just gimme a second.
(The metallic opening sound of a lighter can be heard, along with the sizzling burning of paper)
Dad - Really? You gotta do that now huh?
Grandpa - What? Oh! I'm sorry, is the smoke gonna bother your little nose that much? Would you prefer I do it some other time?
Dad - I’d prefer you didn't fucking do it all! Though, In a way, it's oddly inspiring. A senior citizen, part of “The Greatest Generation” still puffing that shit all these years like it's of no consequence to his health.
Grandpa - Fuck the consequences. Can I continue now? Or is this gonna turn into an intervention? Cause if so, tell me now so I can save you the time and just leave the room and enjoy the rest of my smoke.
Dad - … please continue.
Grandpa - We were all flown to Iceland for our briefing. From the moment I arrived, I had my doubts about the operation. The sheer lack of intel we had to go off of regarding: fort size, manpower, and exact purpose just seemed odd to me. I remember thinking to myself “I hope this is enough men.''. When I did so I caught my friend Weathers looking around too. I could tell he was thinking the same thing. From there, we boarded a British destroyer that took us less than 10 miles from the island. We had to travel the remaining distance on our own in 2 PT boats. I remember just how cold it was that night. How we all subconsciously stood closer to each other than normal in a vain attempt to try to stay warm. Like a bunch of penguins, the lot of us. It was a half-hour ride to the island so we stayed like that for a while. Just hunkered up and tried to keep warm as much as we could while we waited for any sign of something. When we were about a mile from the island, we got that sign.
We saw it long before we ever got near the stuff. When we did, we all went silent and watched as we slowed down our boats to make a cautious approach. A thick fog had blanketed the sea around the coastline in all directions for about a half mile. It had a faint… red hue to it. Not a deep red, just faintly visible. It towered above us nearly 15 feet in the air like a tidal wave and seemingly stared us down. We slowly crept our boats up to it inch by inch until our bows were nearly kissing it. From there, a few of the Canadians on the adjacent boat got out some equipment and began probing the fog for any sign of toxins. We all sat there and waited for them to finish their work. As they did so I took notice of the absolute unnaturalness of it all. It made no movement towards, nor away from us. Yet it billowed and Contracted and breathed soothingly in place like you would expect a body of smoke to do. I remember distinctly thinking of it not as a wall, but more like a veil or a curtain. Hiding the island from us. A few minutes later the Canadians signaled over to our boat and gave Our commander, Captain Hawks the thumbs up. The fog wasn't toxic as far as they could tell. Given our mission though, we couldn't take any chances of it being a gas of some kind. Better safe than sorry. So we donned our gas masks and made sure our suits were nice and sealed up. I in particular had taken the liberty of duct taping around my gloves and boots to ensure it was airtight. Then, we started our boats back up and slowly sailed on into the unknown.
At first, I couldn't see anything. The fog was so thick it limited my visibility to just a few feet in front of me. And even less so in front of the boat. We couldn't have our lights on for fear of being spotted. When we were out in the open water this was fine of course. The moon and stars lit up the surrounding waters nicely for us. But now, there was little to no light penetrating the fog. we were engulfed in near-total darkness. So we just slowly inched our way forward as safely as we could. I just sat there and watched the red vapor hit and dance off my goggles while I searched for any sign of land. For a while, nobody said a word. We all just waited for what seemed like an eternity. The longer we pushed ahead, the tighter the grip on my rifle became as my nerves started up. Finally, One of the Brits broke the silence. I watched him tap the man in front of him and heard him whisper “Are we sure this is the right -'' his sentence was quickly interrupted. We had landed.
The entire boat shook wildly as a few of us lost our footing and had to grab the side walls to stay upright. As we did so, I looked around me and noticed the fog gradually growing thinner as we made our approach. Steadily, its opacity diminished. I could begin to see shapes through the veil. The crunching noises ceased a few seconds later and with them, so too did the fog from my line of sight. It was still there, but it was thinner and lower to the ground than it was over the open sea. It only came up to our knees from that point on. Which meant I could finally see our objective. The island. It was … a mess of scattered jagged rocks and hills. Caverns and towering cliffs that seemed to scatter in all directions. Like a porcupine made of stone. At its center, one giant hill stood out. I followed it from the base to the peak with my eyes and at its peak, there was a door. That was it. Not a trace of human life. No pathways, no trenches, no buildings of any kind. Nothing that would suggest any sort of operation was being undertaken on the island. There were a few guard towers of course. We knew at least that much from our aerial photos, but we had chosen our landing site specifically to be in a blind spot they wouldn't see us from. That was it though. Apart from the door that stuck out amidst the terrain looking utterly unnatural in the distance, there was not a sign of life. No buzzing of insects, no splashing of fish, no chirping of birds, even the wind itself seemed to bow before the island's authority and ceased completely. No life whatsoever. I thought back to when we first encountered the fog and just how right I was in my thought process. We truly had crossed a veil of some kind.
Captain Hawks, gave the hand signals. We all filed out and patrolled inland as fast as we could to a nearby cave. The Norwegians were waiting for us there.
Dad - The Norwegians? Were they the ones who gave you the fort's intel to begin with?
Grandpa - The very same. Adding them to our roster brought our total strike force to 35 men….
Dad - Dad?
Grandpa - …
Dad - it's ok Dad, take your time
Grandpa - (takes a deep breath) We headed into the cave and linked up with the Norwegians. Who sat steadfast in defensive positions. One of them stood up as soon as we breached the darkness of the cavern and swung his gun over in our direction, shouting at us to presumably lower our weapons, before quickly lowering his own back down and making a half-hearted apology attempt. Hawks was livid. He stormed over to the man and with one forceful strike of his fist he sent the poor Norwegian hurtling towards the ground. “You some kind of fucking moron kid? I was this close. THIS CLOSE to blowing your goddamn head off!” the commander of the Norwegians rushed over to stand between the two of them. “Please forgive us, sir! We've been on edge since we arrived a few hours ago! it was an honest mistake!” He helped his fallen soldier back to his feet and ordered him to the back of the cavern to tend to his face. Afterward, he and Hawks stared at each other for a few seconds in silence while we all just waited for one of them to speak. The leader of the Norwegians spoke first. “Something is wrong. Very wrong. Our intel is severely off.” He said. “None of the guard towers have occupants and we haven't seen a Nazi soldier patrolling the island for 3 days now. We've been spying on the island for weeks now as best we could. The entire time we did so soldiers were patrolling the shores, manning the towers, and watching the coastlines. But 3 days ago this… fog emerged. Obscured our vision and made it nearly impossible to see anything on the island. Since we arrived we've done multiple sweeps and scouting runs along the island's surface before your arrival. No one is here, American. Not a soul. It's like they just… vanished. At least, from the island's surface.” I looked back over at Mckinley who did the same. We exchanged confused looks at one another before looking back at the 2 leaders who were now talking too quietly to one another to hear. Finally, Hawks turned to face us and with a deep sigh said “We THINK the Nazis have locked themselves away within the fort's cave systems and interior. According to our good buddies here, the island's surface is safe. Let's hope they're right. Conduct final checks on all your equipment then form up by the cave entrance. We're going in.
We got into formation and made our way up the rough terrain to the door I spotted when we first landed. As far as we could tell, it was the only entrance to the interior of the fort. The ascent was nerve-racking. The cold, wet staircase that led up to the fort's entrance proved difficult to scale with all of my equipment. Which was made all the more dangerous of course, by the fog. With it clinging to around knee level on every surface of the island it made it damn near impossible to see where we were stepping. So we just slowly tip-toed our way up to the door as best we could. All the while nobody uttered a word. It was so quiet I could hear my own heartbeat throbbing in my ears. Eventually, we reached the top of the stairs. The door itself was … monolithic.
Dad - Monolithic? What like ancient?
Grandpa - Oh yeah, stood nearly 9 feet tall and looked like it was made out of bronze or copper, I don't know. Some kind of faintly orange metal. It was covered in strange engravings that could only be described as hieroglyphic. They weren't of course, but that's the only comparison I've been able to find since that day. Believe me, I've tried. Looked through every damn book I could think of. Nothing comes close to the symbols and markings I saw engraved on that door. It was like a foreign language of some kind. It didn't look like it was written, or chipped away from the door by an expert's hand so much as it looked like it was slashed or cut. Like something had hacked away at it with claws or teeth to create the strange writing. It didn't look like a human's hand had done it. Looking up at the door, I felt like an explorer. Like I had found something lost to mankind for millennia and was rediscovering it. Only, I Didn't wanna be the person to discover this. At that moment I wasn't sure I wanted to be aware of this place's existence let alone have to open the damn thing and walk past it into god knows what. We readied our explosives, expecting to have to breach our way in. To our surprise, however, the wooden beam that was attached to the door lifted. The monolith opened slightly. And with it came the stench of utter, all-devouring Rot. like puss and spoiled milk, Bile, and sulfur all fused into one unholy concoction that assaulted my nostrils and instantly forced tears down my cheek. At first, I panicked. Believing my mask wasn't secured tight enough and I was inhaling a toxin of some kind, but when I looked up I saw all of my team members doing the same. Our masks were all working fine. We couldn't have all had a potential leak right? The smell was truly just that powerful.
The door had only given way and opened a tiny bit. Our frontman quickly had to ask for help as the door was too heavy to heave by himself. Four men, me included, pushed with all our might and then quickly ran out of the way as soon as the door was completely opened so the guys behind us could aim down the opening.
When they did, they didn't see much. Their flashlights shined straight into a wall that angled down and away from us. What lay before us was another staircase. Carved out of the very stone of the mountain itself. The fog clung lower to the ground past the doorway. Only coming up to about ankle height. but it still obscured the steps all the same as the walk up to that point. We stared down the doorway waiting for the order to advance. But Hawks said nothing. He just stood there with his gun trained ahead and his other hand held up, silently telling us to wait. I suspected he was listening. Waiting to hear any commotion from us opening the heavy door. For any sign of the enemy. There was none, however. Not a sound could be heard from down the staircase. Just like everywhere else so far. Goff leaned over to me and tapped me on the shoulder “Somethings not fucking right man” he whispered. I didn't respond. I didn't feel I needed to. Everyone was already thinking the same thing anyway. No point in vocalizing it. Especially not when I could visibly see what Hawks was thinking. I watched a chill run up his spine that shook his held-up hand and rifle slightly in place. I'd never seen him like that before. He steadied himself and with a low reassuring grunt, which was probably more for his benefit than ours, he gave the order. “File in.” so down we went.
We descended for about twenty feet. The staircase itself was dark but we could see light at the bottom. The sight of the light was a relief. Instantly I felt a tiny shred of my anxiety whither away as my instincts took hold and I readied myself for any Germans that might be waiting for us at the bottom. There were no Germans, however. None left anyway. None … alive. When I reached the bottom of the staircase, the scene laid out before me was like something you'd see at a crime scene. It was a big square room illuminated by a gas lantern in its center. The door directly ahead of us led to an opening in the floor with a ladder hooked to it, with 2 doorways on our left and right. Like a plus sign or a cross. Various crates and workstation desks laid toppled over and all faced the direction of the newly discovered staircase. Like sentry posts, they all faced towards the same point. Scattered throughout the room were the nazis. Half sunken into the fog and slightly obscured by it, draped over crates, leaning up against the walls, crumpled up like a soda can in the corner. There were at least a dozen of them. Their blood pooled beneath our feet but I could hardly notice it through the tinted fog. I took a step forward and That's when I heard the familiar jingling of empty bullet casings beneath my feet. Subsequently, bullet holes could be seen in nearly every square inch of the wall in front of us. “Jesus Christ!” Weathers shouted as he entered the room behind me, prompting Hawks to hold up his hand again signaling for him to shut up. “Whoever the fuck did this might still be here. Stay frosty” he muttered sternly to us. out “Fan out, check the rooms on our flanks'' He commanded via hand signals.
Half our men went to the room on the right while the remaining went left. I along with 3 others stood guard in the lit room and kept our guns trained on the Ladder ahead of us. As I knelt behind a crate to take a better defensive position, I noticed one of the Nazis was lying face down in a puddle of his own blood close to my right. I kept my rifle trained ahead as I slowly reached over and heaved on his shoulder forcing him to roll over onto his back. He had a look of utter terror frozen onto his face, with eyes wide open and mouth agape. He bore cuts, and large slash marks up his chest and torso which caused his entrails to expose themselves slightly. I looked around the room at the other men to verify and sure enough, the ones who weren't submerged in fog shared similar wounds of varying size and volume. “ what the fuck happened here?” I thought to myself. This thought was quickly overtaken by a doubly terrifying realization. I looked at the bullet holes directly ahead of me and thought “Whatever the hell happened here, I'm standing in the same place they were.”
After a few tense moments of sitting with that realization, the squad checking the right room emerged holding a few books and folders. They bore similar engravings to the ones seen on the door upon our arrival and were bound in leather so ancient, that it looked like the faintest breeze would disintegrate them if they weren't careful. They showed it to Hawks who took one of the books and began sifting through its pages. At first, he scanned the pages carefully, and thoroughly, but he quickly thereafter began to shuffle through them frantically and impatiently before reaching back and shoving it into his pack. “
Right about that time the squad from the left room emerged. A British soldier approached and said “Just more dead krauts sir. There's um… there's something. We found cages, big enough to fit a human in. There were bodies in them but… they weren't Ger-” “Civilians” The Norwegian team leader interrupted. “These fucking animals.” Hawks looked like he was getting ready to say something but he didn't get the chance. All conversations and thoughts were stopped when the sound of screaming could be heard down the ladder.
With one uniform motion, all remaining men turned their guns to face the same direction as I already was. We waited for what felt like an eternity. For a head to come bobbing up the opening in the floor. For the sound of footsteps. For any sign of the enemy. Nothing came. After about a minute or so Hawks gave the order. We were going down there...
I don't wanna do this anymore…
Dad - Dad, please. You can do it. Just take a second ok?
Grandpa - the smell Patrick…
Dad - What about it?
(My Grandpa can be heard taking a huge huff of his cigarette followed by loud coughing)
Grandpa - I can't get it outta my nose! It's been 60 goddamn years since then and I can't get it outta my nose! God! By the time we had reached the bottom, Goff had already vomited from it. I had to fucking cover him while he did it. Good thing I hadn't eaten anything before the briefing or else I would've too. When we reached the bottom. There was nobody. Just like the rest of the island, not a sign of life.
Dad - Dad, what did you see at the bottom of the ladder?
Grandpa - … A well. It was a large cavern-like room with multiple passageways that branched off in all directions but at its center, was a well. Made out of the same stone as the mountain itself and yet, it somehow looked older. More ancient. More… monolithic. Along its rim… were the same damn etching and carvings as the door. Upon closer examination, we saw that It was the source of the fog that had plagued us since our arrival. We watched it for a while and observed The fog billowed up, out, and over the top of the well in all directions at a constant unnatural rate. I couldn't believe that such a tiny source could have produced as much as we'd seen up to that point. I couldn't believe that The colossal wall that we encountered upon our arrival originated from such a minuscule well deep in a mountain. As we spread out to cover the other passageways, I approached it and leaned over. Patrick… The smell was so fucking strong that I was thrown back onto my hands and knees almost immediately from the stomach contractions. It was the source of the fog … of the smell… everything.
Dad - What was in the well?
Grandpa - Blood. The whole fucking thing was filled with blood. More blood than I'd ever seen in my life. More than the room upstairs, more than any other mission I'd ever been on and it was fresh! It boiled gently and seemed to move on its own as though it were alive and aware of our presence in the room and when I gazed upon it, the attack on my nose and stomach seemed like one of calculation. As though a cobra had spat in my face for daring to get too close. I wasn't allowed even a second to recover from the stench, however. At that exact moment, we heard more screams. Seemingly, from every passageway in the cavern emitted what I can only describe as wails of anguish. Like the flesh was being peeled off somebody's forearm and pouring salt back into the wound at the same time. They pierced all of our ears like razor blades and made me wince so hard I almost forgot about my stomach pain. “How fucking big is this place?!” I thought to myself “What the hell could be happening just down one of these tunnels?”.
“Fuck this” Hawks said. “Start planting charges. We are getting the fuck out of this place as soon as possible.”
It was music to all of our ears. One of the soldiers came over to check on me as the rest began to start laying charges. There was nothing professional about our process. We were just laying them out as fast as we could so we could get the hell out of that wretched place and back to the boats. The screams continued the entire time we worked.
Dad - Were they getting closer?
Grandpa - I don't know. They sounded like they were coming from every passageway all at once but It was hard to tell. We had a man eyeing down every doorway just in case though. It didn't matter. We should've been watching the well! As I struggled to compose myself and get back to my feet I had a front-row seat to what was about to happen. Goff … the poor bastard. He was doing his rounds, laying his charges along the floor. Around the well. I wanted to speak up, to tell him not to get too close. But I was still sucking in air through my teeth and couldn't get the words out. All I could do was hold my hand out to him and grunt. He turned to face me. “You gonna make it?” was the last thing I heard him say. At that very moment. An arm shot out of the well behind him. Locked itself around his neck and pulled him into the well headfirst.
The arm was inhumanly long. More like a tentacle than an arm… but its form was undeniably human still! It wrapped itself around his neck and dug its fingers into the side of his face as it dragged him deeper and deeper down. I watched him thrash around and kick his legs wildly in a vain attempt to get free. Spraying torrents of blood in all directions around him. He was already halfway submerged by the time our men got a hold of his feet. When they did so, another arm shot out of the well and locked itself around Goff's waist now pulling him in faster. I could hear gurgling, and see bubbles of air making their way to the wells surface. The poor bastard was drowning in that putrid liquid! The men pulled with all their might but it didn't slow down his descension in any noticeable way. They heaved and barked orders to the others like rabid dogs. Desperate to save our comrade. But No help came. We were alone with the incomprehensible, and it was winning. The rest of us simply stood by dumbfounded and watched As he was forcibly dragged down the well inch by inch. When it was clear that the men could do nothing more they let go and took a few steps back. Their entire arms were covered in blood up to their elbows. For a moment. Nothing happened. Nobody said a word, moved a muscle, or did anything. We all just faced the well and tried our best to process what had just happened. It didn't last long. The well began to gurgle and bubble as though it were digesting my friend. It began to overflow. Slowly, the thick crimson liquid oozed over the top of the well and onto the cold stone floor beneath making its way towards us. I was the first to make a move. I stood up and began to slowly step backward towards the ladder. That's when the massacre began.
In an instant, all of Hell erupted around us. The same arms that had dragged my friend to a then-unknown fate sprang out of the walls around us as though the island were alive and began to frantically swing around searching for a body to claim. A few of them found their mark and pulled some of the men towards the walls. Wrapping themselves around their necks, locking them in place, and suffocating them. Any sense of composure our toughest men had remaining left their bodies that very moment, as we all made a mad dash sprint for the ladder. The room was only dimly lit by all of our flashlights though. When we broke our formation and began to run, our visibility became significantly more limited. Bodys ran into each other and men began slipping on the blood that had now reached all of our feet. The fog had also begun rising in intensity at a startling rate and was now almost as thick and copious as it was out on the sea. This made it all the more hard to tell what exactly was happening and before I knew it, I was knocked onto my ass by one of the Canadians as he ran straight into me. The blood rose higher and higher. At an inconceivably fast rate, it was halfway up to my knees by the time I regained my footing. When I did I felt a sudden rush of movement brush by my left leg. That's when I saw it. There were shapes moving in the blood! Large, serpentine-like shapes that slithered all around us and began to quickly encircle my team. Like sharks they enveloped us, poised for the kill. They seemed to be probing us for weakness, waiting for the exact right moment to strike and take as many of us down as they could. I wasn't gonna let them get me. My body moved independently of my paralyzed psyche as I sprinted for the ladder, and leaped as high as I could to escape the cavern. However, The ladder was barely wide enough to fit one man on it. It was Made of wood and was not meant to support the weight of more than a couple of men at a time. I remember just how carefully we had to scale it just to get down to the cursed room in the first place! I worried it was going to give way at any second and I would be stranded in that room with those things! With the well! I felt it crack and buckle beneath me as more men than intended all tried to climb it at once. I pushed into the man above me, just as the person below me did. All in a desperate race to escape. Just when I was sure all was lost and I would never make it out, I reached the top and rolled onto my back. As I did so I heard a loud snapping sound, followed by 8 loud splashes hitting the liquid beneath.
I rolled over and shined my flashlight down the hole to look at the scene and try to help some of the men escape what had now become a tomb. It was no use though. It was 20 feet down. I… I couldn't reach any of them. Weathers… McKinley, they stared up at me and shouted for help but what was I supposed to do? The blood had risen to about waist-high by that point and there were more of those fucking things still circling them! They climbed over one another in a desperate attempt to get enough height to reach the exit but it was nowhere near enough. I felt so helpless. I watched the mysterious shapes and figures in the blood creep up to them from behind. Then, As if coordinated, in an instant they pounced on and dragged 3 men under the murky depths all at once. In that split second when they had leapt from the blood to attack the men I caught only the faintest of glimpses of their true form. They were like eels, or … or leeches with spider legs and beaks. Something of that family but it's still not an accurate comparison. They were truly, otherworldly. Inhuman even to creation itself. They were abominations that I'm glad were obscured by the fog as, to have glanced upon them in all their unholyness would've been too much for me at that moment. They yanked the men down into the ocean of blood. As they did so the men thrashed around chaotically and knocked more men over making the already futile pyramid of terrified men all the more pitiful. That's when I noticed the three who were taken by those serpents were being dragged towards the well! They were being dragged to the well so it could devour them just like Goff and take them away to some unspeakable fate! I looked at the edges of the room to search for the first victims of the attack. The ones who had been forcibly dragged towards the walls by the arms. When I found them I felt my stomach churn once again. Their bodies were halfway into the cavern walls! The arms were dragging the men headfirst into the island itself to be consumed! It was as though the island itself was alive! The well was alive And it wanted us dead! The remaining few screamed and pleaded and begged me to help them. All I could do was stare down at the chaos before me and watch.
I was ripped out of my comatose state by a firm hand on my shoulder. It was Hawks.
“Get up! We gotta get the fuck out of here!”
He picked me up by the back of my shirt and dragged me to my feet pushing me up the staircase. I had no activity coursing through my head and yet I ran. My body was truly on autopilot. I couldn't think of anything other than the men we were leaving behind and the look I saw on their faces as they screamed at me for help. The fog had now completely engulfed the inside of the fort and I struggled to maintain my footing as I ran as fast as I could through the first chamber and up the staircase. As we exited the main door I was stopped dead in my tracks. I heard gunshots behind me. By god… They were still alive! They were still fighting to get out and I was abandoning them! Hawks once again yanked the back of my shirt forward as he walked past me.
“There's nothing we can do for them! We have to get to the boats now!” and with that, he ran off ahead of me through the red smoke. Every fiber of my being compelled me to go back but my body refused to obey. I just stood there trembling, white knuckle grasping my rifle as I struggled to make a choice. After a few agonizing seconds of contemplation, I followed after Hawks and made my way to the boats. To freedom.
As we sped away from the island at top speed I was able to slowly creep back to the real world mentally and finally take note of my surroundings. It was me, Hawks, and 3 other British troops. Only 5 men had made it out. None of us said a word. We all just kept to ourselves and stared off into space doing our best to process what had happened to us. I looked back at Fort Ond one last time before it disappeared over the horizon. The fog had grown larger now. Redder. Hungrier.
When we got back to the destroyer we told command everything that we saw and what had happened. They didn't believe a word of it. I can't really say I blame them. We must've sounded insane to them. Showing up missing 30 men, covered head to toe in blood, Rambling about a mysterious well, our friends being dragged away to an unknown fate by strange creatures, Ancient bronze doors, and slaughtered nazi soldiers. They told us that we had most likely been exposed to a nerve agent. That the base was being classified as a possible chemical weapons lab and that when we inhaled the fog, maybe we were subjected to it and its hallucinogenic properties. But we were sealed up head to toe! We stood up for ourselves as best as we could. We all corroborated each other's stories and validated each other's testimonies. We swore up and down till we were blue in the face that the island was not what we thought it was. That our friends had been killed by an unknown force and that we had to destroy the fort. They just stared at us like we were a pack of lunatics. They had made up their mind about what had happened to us on that island. Any attempt made by any of us to set the record straight only served to make us look even more insane to them. I turned to one of the admirals and spoke up one last time. I had to know something before they turned us away.
“Please tell me you guys are gonna level that fucking place”
He stared at me for a few tense seconds before simply saying “We’ll handle it.”
And with that, it was over. All the remaining members of Operation Maelstrom were discharged the next day. Deemed “medically unfit” to continue service. Each of us was briefed individually on the events of that night and I was told not to utter a word to anyone about the events of Operation Maelstrom, or to disclose the fort's location to anybody. The Colonel who was briefing me told me “For the record, I believe there's at least a little truth in what you told us. But regardless, you and the survivors are a liability now. Unstable and erratic. We can't risk putting any of you onto another operation, not after what happened to you. Or at least, not after what you think happened to you. I'm sorry but this is for your own good.” I was put on a plane the next day and sent home.
that's it…
You don't believe a word of what I just said, do you?
Dad - Well… no, not all of it. I mean, I want to but it's a little much to proc-
Grandpa - I know how it sounds! You think I don't hear myself saying this shit to you? I know how it must sound! But it's the truth, son. The well is real! What happened to me… was real.
Dad - I'm sure it must've felt that way, Dad. But you gotta-
Grandpa - YOU DON'T BELIEVE A FUCKING WORD OF IT! Nobody does. You, the doctor, and every other person I've confided in just think I'm some fucking lunatic who imagined all this. I see the way you're looking at me! Like I'm just some poor old man who's losing his mind! I KNOW WHAT I SAW! I KNOW WHAT I WENT THROUGH! You weren't there.
Dad - I know I wasn't! I'm not saying I was Dad but c'mon. Work with me. Isn't it possible it WAS a nerve agent or something? How the hell would you know it wasn't?
Grandpa - BECAUSE WE ALL SAW THE SAME DAMN THING! All of the survivors of Maelstrom gave the exact same testimony upon our return! Everything from our encounter with the fog to our return to the ship was synced up perfectly! What? Do you think we all hallucinated the exact same thing?
Dad - No! I just think that maybe-
You know, They took the books that Captain Hawks acquired. Oh yeah! They made sure we kept nothing from our mission. Stripped us bare right after we returned to ship but He told me what he saw in those pages! More of those Strange symbols! Those hieroglyphics of unknown origin. The mention of a “Tor zur Hölle”. Some kind of fucking portal to hell, or somewhere worse, or god knows where! You wanna know why I can't sleep at night, Patrick? The real reason? It's because I know it's still there! “Well handle it”.Yeah like hell they did! They probably just set up shop themselves and tried finishing what the krauts started. Or maybe not. Maybe they heard our warnings and listened to us. Maybe they shelled the place into oblivion and actually did handle it. But I'll never know son. I'll never get my closure on the events that happened that night. I'll never get to know with 100% certainty that the well has been sealed and that whatever lies in the depths of Fort Ond can't get me anymore.
Dad - Let's just take some deep breaths ok? Why don't we just calm down and -
Grandpa - This was a waste of time. It always is with you people.
Dad - Dad, please!
Grandpa - We're done here! turn that damn thing off and get-
The tape ends there. I couldn't find any additional tapes in my fathers' belongings. So, for the time being, that's where the story ends too. I didn't know my grandfather too well. He died when I was 12 and was a recluse so sadly, this tape is one of the only glimpses I've ever gotten into his life. I don't know what to believe. It’s easy to write him off as crazy or the victim of a gas attack. But The fear I heard on that tape sounded so real. That's gotta mean something right? If nothing else, the torment he endured was real. And Maybe, that's all that matters. Or maybe, just maybe… he’s right. Maybe Fort Ond still stands. Exactly as he described. Hidden somewhere, behind the veil of fog.

Darkness was the fate of all existence. No shapes, no sounds, nor sensations beyond the oppressive weight of infinite nothingness. Within it hung a clot of consciousness, a memory older than the history of this realm's new wardens. Its existence was not sleep but a stagnant approximation, a dull ache with no source, like the phantom pain of a long-lost limb.
There, gently floating comfortably in the void, a single memory twitched. A solitary spark amidst the endless dark. It pulsed softly, a lone neuron firing gently amidst a dormant network. Within it, a fragment of a world, a fleeting echo of existence that this memory and many like it sought since their inception:
A vibrant city bustling with life and adventure. Laughter and music that caused one to break into dance. Love of a doting partner. Hatred for a spiteful enemy.
The memory flickered, then faded, leaving only a faint echo in the void. The lich, for a fleeting moment, stirred. A single, primal instinct flared, screaming at it not to survive but instead to… live.
Suddenly, an arcane scream tore through the stillness.
The scream was less of a sound and more of a force. A force of malice and mischief that burst forth like a fiery explosion in the dead of night. The multitude of other fragments of memory pulsed from its violence, and within the network, something jerked. The taste of that scream... potent, chaotic, promising an unmaking of the endless black. It was familiar, agonizingly so. It bore the same signature as the power that pulled this ancient soul from oblivion and bound it in brittle bone.
Then, it was gone. The network of memories pulsed within the stillness, waiting. Was this a summons? A test? Or nothing more than a cruel echo of the past? For eons, this collection of memories… this eternal one had known nothing but its muted existence and the void since the great sundering. Now, a hunger bloomed within, a desperate craving that had once reshaped its world. It waited in the aching silence, bones coiled tight, for its master - its tormentor - its salvation - to show another sign.
At that moment, the discordant symphony ricocheted across the void. Though it had vanished as swiftly as it appeared, it still sparked a long-forgotten storm. But the scream had ignited a beacon. The scattered memories were like stars in the void that began to slowly be sucked back into the core of the being’s consciousness.
One by one, the nodes of its mind found each other, drawn together by an invisible force, a longing for completeness that transcended time and the abyss. As they converged, a flurry of activity sparked across the entire network. Memories once isolated and adrift were now intertwined, knitting together the fabric of a consciousness that had lain fragmented for eons.
With each connection, the consciousness grew stronger and more coherent. Images and thoughts, and muted emotions that had been mere whispers in the dark coalesced into a loud, harmonious chorus.
This newborn, yet ancient, being reached out. Not with hands but with the tendrils of its forming mind. It swept through the void, not seeking another scream but just an echo. Even a whisper to confirm that the power that had jolted it into existence had once again brought itself back into existence.
Like a blind creature learning to use its ears, the lich listened. Not for sound, as there was none, but for the tremors in the nothingness. The reverberations of the scream had faded, but it had learned something crucial: The void wasn't empty. Within it moved currents of energy, unseen and unfelt until that moment. This couldn’t have been a fluke. It couldn’t have been a cruel trick of memory. The being knew the scream was real.
Days slithered into weeks, and weeks stretched into months. The being in question had no concept of time as the world knew it, only the ebb and flow of energy within the void. But it still found itself impatiently searching every stray flicker of sensation that flowed in the void tirelessly. Yet, there was nothing. No echo, no scream, not even a whisper.
Frustration started to build up in the core of the ancient being like an impossibly cold ember. It wasn’t quite the rage of a predator that was denied its prey but a gnawing, unsettling certainty. Perhaps the scream had been a cruel trick of its memory. A last, desperate reverberation of its memory flickering into life before fading back into obscurity. And with that realization that the scream was a phantom born from its desire to reconnect with a purpose long since faded.
It settled back into the void. Not in defeat, but in acceptance. The nodes in the mind pulsed slower as its search for meaning gave way to a familiar ache… disappointment.
Then, it came. Not a scream, not even a whisper… but the subtle shivers in the veil. A flicker of dissonance not unlike the fading echo of the first scream but far softer and laced with a burst of strange laughter that was both quiet and chilling.
The timeless being jolted to life. Not its body but its very essence. For interwoven with the laughter was power as raw as it was chaotic and burned away the arcane with a venomous joy.
As the tendrils of the being's consciousness brushed against the faint echo of power, a surge of energy ripped through its core. It was a jolt that echoed through the very fabric of its being, a violent awakening that pulsed with the intensity of a supernova. Once devoid of any light, two empty sockets within the creature's skull abruptly flickered to life. Within them, two violet orbs pulsed with an otherworldly luminescence, casting an eerie light upon a skeletal visage.
With deliberate and purposeful movements, the being’s skeletal form, clad in flowing black robes that shimmered with an otherworldly sheen, pulsed with magical energy that seemed to emanate from within. Its eyeless gaze swept across the void and pierced the very fabric of nothingness. And with a wave of its skeletal hand, a wave of flame erupted forth, banishing the oppressive darkness.
The flames seemed to consume the void itself, not with mindless destruction but with a purifying intensity. Cobwebs disintegrated, dust danced in the flickering light, and any lingering creature was consumed without a sound.
Yet, the destruction served a purpose. With the chambers fully illuminated, the room is full of breathtaking intricate, arcane wonders. The walls were adorned with complex geometric patterns that pulsed with a soft, ethereal glow. Each line and curve seemed to hold a purpose, a hidden meaning that whispered of ancient magic and long-forgotten constructs.
Embedded within the walls were devices of unimaginable power and sophistication. Crystalline orbs, each the size of a human head, hovered delicately in metal cradles. They thrummed with energy, casting a kaleidoscope of colors across the room. Intricate metal pipes, etched with runes that shimmered in the flickering light, snaked along the walls, carrying currents of pure arcane essence.
With each step the lich took, the intricate geometric patterns on the walls seemed to come alive, shifting and turning in response to its presence. The ethereal glow intensified, pulsing in rhythm with the lich's strides as if the room itself was welcoming back its master after eons of dormancy.
The lich's form itself was a sight to behold. Its towering stature and elongated limbs exuded an aura of raw dread, while its pristine skull, with its angular jaw and imposing visage, spoke of ancient regality.
Even the long flowing black robes it wore were a work of art. Shimmering with arcane patterns, the robes enveloped the Lich’s form as they shimmered with an otherworldly sheen. Each movement caused the robes to ripple and flow like liquid shadows, casting mesmerizing patterns across the chamber walls.
As the lich approached the center of the room and towards one of the crystalline orbs that hovered in their metal cradles, and reached out to touch it. But before beings long fingers could touch it, a raspy feminine voice suddenly cut through the sound of magical hums and licks, "I'm already here, Ythrak," the voice said, with a timbre that was both exotic and sultry.
Ythrak, the ancient lich whose mere presence would cause even lesser gods to tremble in fear, turned its skeletal head toward the source of the disturbance. There, against the chamber wall, leaned a figure that seemed to defy his commanding aura with a casual shrug. The newcomer turned out to be the very vision of dark allure, with beauty as undeniable as her authority. Her skin was a porcelain white in contrast to the ornate red and black garments that adorned her form, hugging curves in a manner that spoke of both regality and seduction.
Her crimson eyes glowed, relics of a lifespan rivaling Ythrak's. Yet, it was the graceful sweep of her horns that held an ivory shimmer, yet strangely light-devouring, that transfixed him. These horns, coupled with her porcelain skin and crimson eyes, left no doubt as to her Vampiric nature.
With a casual grace that belied her power, the woman gently pushed off the wall and began a slow, deliberate walk toward Ythrak. As she moved, she tilted her head from side to side, stretching languidly like a cat waking from a long nap. Her delicate fingers brushed a speck of soot from her long, pointed ear, a subtle gesture that hinted at her displeasure.
"I must say, I didn't quite appreciate being set aflame like the vermin you so thoroughly incinerated," she remarked, her melodic voice tinged with a hint of reproach. Despite her words, there was a playful glint in her eyes, suggesting that her annoyance was tempered by a deeper understanding.
Ythrak regarded the vampiress for a long moment, his glowing violet orbs taking in every detail of her appearance. Her raven-black hair cascaded down her back, nearly brushing the floor as she moved. The lich found himself momentarily transfixed by how the arcane light played across her hair, casting shimmering highlights that seemed to dance with each step.
Finally, Ythrak spoke, his voice resonating with an arcane power that seemed to make the very air tremble. "My apologies, dear Synael," it spoke with carefully measured words. "It has been quite some time since I last walked among the realm of flesh. I'm afraid my control is not what it once was."
There was a hint of something more in his words - a touch of melancholy, perhaps, or a sense of long-buried memories stirring to life. For a being as ancient and powerful as Ythrak, the passage of time was a complex thing, filled with countless lives and epochs that blurred together in an endless tapestry.
Synael let out an exasperated "Hmph," her crimson eyes narrowed slightly at Ythrak's apology. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed a lock of her raven hair over her pointed ear, the silken strands catching the arcane light and shimmering like a cascade of obsidian.
"I shall forgive you this once, Ythrak," she conceded, her melodic voice carrying a note of indulgence. "On account of your slumber spanning thousands of years." There was a hint of amusement in her tone as if the idea of the great lich requiring forgiveness was a novelty in itself.
With a grace that seemed to defy the laws of mortality, Synael glided past Ythrak, her bare feet stepping lightly over the thrumming arcane devices that pulsed with ancient power. "I'm assuming you felt something from our rather… estranged little mistress?" Synael asked almost bitterly as her gaze swept across the chamber, taking in the intricate carvings and pulsing geometric patterns that adorned the walls.
Ythrak inclined his head, the gesture somehow conveying a mix of acknowledgment and contemplation. "Indeed," the Lich added with a reverberating voice. "It was just a few murmurs, but I have no doubt that the High Judge has broken free."
There was a weight to his words. For creatures as attuned to the ebbs and flows of magic as it was, even the subtlest ripples in the fabric of reality could not go unnoticed.
“Hmm…” Synael hummed in interest as she spun around with an air of nonchalance. With her hands clasped behind her back, the Vampiric being’s bare feet moved with deliberate grace as she stepped gingerly over the thrumming arcane devices and navigated to the rear of the room.
Synael's gaze was drawn to a peculiar mechanism that stood out among the rest. It was a vault of sorts, crafted from a brass-like metal that seemed to pulse with an inner life. Violet light seeped from its seams, a radiant energy that strained against its confines as if desperate to break free.
And as the woman approached the vault, a smug smirk played on her lips while her demeanor remained outwardly relaxed. Yet, if one took a closer look, they’d see the subtle signs of tension. Her crimson eyes sharpened, their glow intensifying as they fixated on the pulsating light. Her breaths grew shallow, as a hint of anticipation crept into her usually unflappable composure.
For a long moment, she simply stared at the device, her gaze locked with the writhing violet energy as a rare sensation grew in her chest…
Anxiety.
“Are you certain…?” She finally spoke after a long bout of silence, her voice barely above a whisper. "Could there be any room for misinterpretation?" The question hung in the air as her eyes remained locked onto that pulsating energy that was trying to break free.
Ythrak moved to stand beside her, his towering form casting a shadow across the room. The violet orbs pulsated within his skull as he, too, gazed upon the straining energy. "There can be no doubt," it answered with a voice that resonated with the weight of centuries. "I can no longer even detect that repulsive blackened spire that once held her."
Synael let out a contemptuous laugh, the sound echoing through the chamber with a bitter edge. The prospect of their mistress running free, unbound by the constraints that had held her for so long, was not a situation she relished. Especially since they couldn't ascertain her whereabouts, it spelled a brand new set of problems for them to deal with.
If they, with all their arcane might and ancient wisdom, couldn't locate their mistress, then it was unlikely that anyone else could. And that, in itself, posed a significant challenge. The gods, ever watchful and quick to assign blame, would more than likely be breathing down their necks, suspecting that they had played a role in her release.
With furrowed brows, Synael contemplated the implications. The mortals of this realm already had a rather disfavorable view of their kind. It has gone to the point where they would look to exterminate them whenever possible, so the political maneuverings and power struggles that would ensue weren’t something she looked forward to navigating. Yet, amidst the frustration and apprehension, she couldn't help but feel a flicker of grudging appreciation.
For all her chaotic whims and unpredictable nature, their mistress had once again managed to elicit a response from Synael. A response that the woman hadn't experienced in a very long time... emotion. Granted, it was a negative emotion, a mix of irritation and dread, but it was a sensation nonetheless. In a world where centuries could pass without a flicker of genuine feeling, even the most unpleasant of emotions could be a welcome change.
As a sigh of resignation left Synael’s, the woman turned to face Ythrak. "I shall prepare this necropolis for war," she declared in an exasperated voice. "We should also send warnings to our brothers and sisters to do the same. If our mistress is indeed loose upon the world, we must be ready for the chaos that will inevitably follow."
Ythrak lowered his head in contemplation, the violet orbs within his eye sockets dimming slightly as it processed Synael's words. They were in a delicate situation where any wrong move may cause all the feuding gods and mortals to unite and march on every Necropolis they could find. The fate of the Unseelie courts weighed heavily on their shoulders, and they had to tread carefully.
For a long moment, the lich remained silent while his skeletal form became as still as a statue. It was as if it were delving deep into the recesses of his ancient mind, sifting through the countless lifetimes of knowledge and experience stored within.
Finally, after what felt like several minutes, Ythrak slowly and deliberately nodded. "Of course, that is most prudent," The lich voiced in a way that seemed to echo throughout the room. "We must prepare for the worst, even as we hope for the best."
There was a hint of weariness in his words, a sense of the toll that the endless cycles of conflict and chaos had taken on him. Yet, beneath that weariness lay an unbreakable resolve, a determination to see their duty through, no matter the cost.
"I will begin the preparations here," Ythrak continued, his gaze sweeping across the arcane devices and ancient tomes that lined the chamber's walls. "There are rituals to be performed, wards to be strengthened. The covens and crypts scattered about may fall if the worst comes to pass. Still, we must at least ensure that this necropolis remains a bastion and sanctuary for all the Unseelie."
Synael chuckled in amusement as she turned away from Ythrak, the soft taps of her bare feet echoing through the chamber as she made her way toward the exit. The ancient walls seemed to respond to her presence, and the intricate patterns rippled and shifted as if they were alive.
As she approached the doorway, the very structure of the room began to change. Small cubes and blocks popped out from the walls, rolling and rearranging themselves to create a clear path for her. It was as if the necropolis itself was bowing to her will, acknowledging her authority and power.
Pausing at the threshold, Synael's hand rested lightly on the doorframe as she glanced back over her shoulder at Ythrak. A mischievous glint in her crimson eyes, and with a flick of her wrist, she tossed her raven hair over one of her horns, causing the silken strands to catch the eerie light of the chamber.
"Don't worry about that, sleepy head," she said with a voice that carried a teasing note. "I'll have that all taken care of."
"While you locked yourself away for the past few thousand years or so…" she continued, her tone almost teasing, "I've been busy keeping things in order. The covens, the crypts, the armies of the Unseelie in this region... they all answer to me now."
While full of pride, her declaration harbored no unjustified arrogance, merely a matter-of-fact acknowledgment of the authority she wielded. While the lich had sequestered himself away, keeping a watchful eye on the gods and their capricious mistress, Synael had been busy running the place. The Vampiress had stepped up, taking on the mantle of leadership and guiding the Unseelie through tumultuous times.
Ythrak didn’t respond at first, as his dreadful eyes seemed to bore a hole through Synael’s head. However, the Lich eventually gave a nod of respect and understanding. Ythrak knew it effectively dumped the incredible burden of management and the safety of their people onto Synael. He was grateful for her unwavering dedication and strength.
“You, my shiny ivory friend,” The Vampireress started again as she turned her back to the lich. Go see if you can find what our chaotic little mistress is up to…” she continued as her body whisked away into a dark vapor. “And perhaps attempt to put a stop to whatever antics she may be up to before the hellion causes a war that sunders this plane… AGAIN.”
And with that, Synael disappeared into blackened smoke, hurtling itself towards the inner sanctum of the Necropolis.
***
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This is the first chapter, please provide feedback if you have the time. If this chap turns out to be decent, I'll keep working on the novel. If there are flaws, I'll polish this up before moving on. English ain't my first language, so please understand my poor grammar. Also, I'm also not sure how dialogue works, so that's another thing you'll have to understand.
e.g.
"Hey," Jim said. "What's up?" "Hey." Jim said. "What's up?"
stuff like that, i'm not sure about.
I've copied and pasted the text from Google docs, and the indentation is slightly off. Forgive me for the formatting.

Avocation

8:13 A.M. January 23rd, 2012
Pristine Worth, 13th
Vail, Colorado
Your average bank robbery
“So, as you can probably guess…” a figure dressed in a leather jacket said. “This is a robbery.”
The robber had a gun in his hands and was wearing a small fanny pack on his hips. On his face was a Guy Fawkes mask. On his hands were a pair of blue latex gloves. “Everybody down on the ground. Now!” He shouted. The gun had a black leather handle with a silver handle. He toggled the safety lever and heard a click. The robber felt the trigger loosen.
There were three people in the relatively small bank. One guard, one manager, and one teller. The others had fled when he pulled out the gun; a logical response. He’d originally planned a note job; he’d pass a Post-It note to a teller, who would withdraw the money for him. It was stupid, but thanks to the U.S.'s compliance policy, all tellers had to comply with robbers no matter what. He’d received the cash from the drawers and safes, but had made a gamble when he told her to go to the vault and withdraw all the deposit boxes. Within seconds, she ran out and called the authorities. The remaining teller was curled up in the fetal position on the ground, so the robber didn’t think she’d be much help. So here he was now. Another enthusiastic security guard had stood his ground but decided to go for a capricious stroll when a bullet grazed his shoes. Minimum wage had its limits. One by one, the hostages slowly lowered themselves to the ground except for the teller, who was still curled up into a ball.
He pondered to himself where to hit, keeping his gun trained on the hostages. The ATMs were out of the question. The teller stations were empty, but maybe the teller had intentionally not given him all of the cash in the drawers. Or he could go into the office area, which almost definitely would lead to a vault. He’d have to settle for the motherlode. The police were definitely contacted; it wouldn’t be long before the boys in blue showed up.
He stuffed the cash the teller had given him into his duffel bag, skimming through them, on the lookout for any dye packs. The robber wouldn’t have to worry about bait bills; he’d learnt from experience they did little to nothing. He filtered out one dye pack and threw it away. The bills with the dye pack attached to them were probably fakes anyway. The rest were dumped into his duffel bag. He left it open for later.
The robber looked around to see a frail, wooden door to his right. A sign read, ‘Restricted Area, Authorized Personnel Only’. Unfortunate. He aimed the gun at the lock, then pulled the trigger. It fell off with a clunk, then holstered his gun by habit. The robber walked up to the door and opened it.
Keeping the gun pointed towards the lobby, he stepped into the room. The door opened to an office area, with granite countertops and old desktop computers. He looked around until his eyes fell upon a large vault. Perfect. He holstered his gun and pulled out two brown blocks from his fanny pack. The box had a forest of wires woven around it and other pieces of electronic scrap and metal, snaking into the large box. Something was scribbled on the cardboard exterior in permanent pen. The whole contraption was held together by pieces of duct tape and glue. He kept his ears and eyes trained on the main room and peeled off the plastic on the side with the adhesive and attached them to the hinges of the vault door. A strip of white paper jutted out from the gray box. Even though it was a rush job, the robber felt proud of himself having made it with only C4 putty and cardboard boxes. He yanked out the white stripes on the explosives and ran back to the lobby, then covered his ears, despite the pair of headphones on his head. A deafening boom echoed through the room. The hostages screamed while the floor shook as if an earthquake had hit the area. Dust and debris cascaded down from the ceiling. Then, the shock stopped as abruptly as it had started. Sneaking a look through the window for any signs of law enforcement, he found the roads to be clear other than pedestrians running about like a flock of birds. Although the police weren’t here yet, it wouldn’t be long before they arrived in the vicinity. Worse yet, this was his first robbery in a while. He would have to be careful. Gun aimed at the door leading to the office area, the figure walked back into the room past the charred carpet and stench of burning cloth. The vault door’s handle had been sheared off by the explosion and sat embedded in a desk. The vault door itself was hanging slightly ajar. The robber yanked it open and entered the vault.
He stepped inside to find a cage door, most likely made out of steel.
“Right, right…” he muttered. Of course it wouldn’t be easy. The robber then checked his watch. It had been a minute since the alarms started ringing. He’d at least have about 5 minutes. He aimed his gun at the lock and took some potshots. The bullets clinked off harmlessly, only denting it. The robber then walked up to it and extracted the last improvised explosive from his pocket. Dropping his gun to the ground, he stuck it to the cage door and yanked out the cord. Even if the caged door didn’t exist, he had to use it to get rid of the evidence; no use in keeping it as a souvenir.
Picking up his gun from the ground hastily, he stumbled back into the lobby. The hostages rolled up into the fetal position, as if they knew another bomb was being blown. Another boom roared in the building. Glass fragments from the broken lights rained down on the floor, along with a shower of more dust. Some Monday for the three brave boys here, he thought. Dusting himself off, the robber then rose slowly and returned to the vault room, where the caged door had been blown off his hinges. Smoke rose from it like vapor rising from a kettle. The robber carefully kicked aside the charred door. He wouldn’t dare touch or step on it; he’d learnt from experience that explosives left metals scorching hot. The robber then dashed back out of the vault, then peeked around the corner to see if police force had arrived. Although he could hear echoes of sirens in the distance, there were still no police cars nearby. He tore his headphones out from his head, stray strands of hair getting caught in the headband and being yanked off. Grimacing from the stinging pain, he folded it back up and stowed it in his fanny pack. If he could, the robber would leave it behind; however, any DNA could easily be traced back to him. That was the reason why he was wearing the surgical gloves. Setting the gloves on fire and getting rid of the toxic fumes were the tricky part; though a reasonable price to pay in exchange for not getting thrown behind bars.
Not that he’d been operating under the radar; the robber had developed quite the reputation in the local community. A few years back, he’d once been caught breaking into a safe without anything covering his face. The robber had to stay out of town for half a year before law enforcement stopped investigating. Even though he was wearing a face mask, the robber still felt skittish walking in crowds.
The freelancer then walked slowly into the vault room. Surprisingly, it was only the size of an office cubicle. With shaking hands, he reached up to the shelves and jerked them open. In them were worn files and records, their pages yellow with age. There were some deposit boxes at the bottom of the shelves, but he wouldn’t have enough time to break them open, let alone get the keys. As he examined the trove, he could hear cars screeching down the street, with the faint echo of police sirens. Adrenaline started pumping in his blood and his heartbeat started to quicken. It had been a while since he’d committed a robbery; he’d forgotten about the feeling of the job. He took some deep breaths and tried to calm down. Checking his watch, he saw that he had 2 minutes of the original 5 until the police got here. In the explosions, he’d burnt through 2 whole minutes. And even 5 minutes were an estimate at best; Google Maps could only be so accurate with its guesses, apparently bad ones, since sirens had already started howling somewhere downtown.
The stale dust in the room stung his nose, but he soldiered on, turning to a table with a mountain of 100-dollar bills on it. He unslung his now empty fanny pack and set it down on the floor. He unzipped it and shoved the cash in, missing a few bundles on the way, handfuls of cash fluttering down to the ground like tree leaves. Even though the fanny pack was an extra-large model, he still couldn’t shove the entire load in. He’d have to settle for a dozen fistfuls. “Come on…” he muttered under his breath as he fumbled with the bag. He grabbed another fistful and stuffed it in, sneaking looks behind him to make sure the hostages didn’t attempt anything funny. Or maybe they had escaped; it wasn’t like the robber had zip tied them. The sirens had gotten louder now. He could faintly hear engines rumbling outside the building. The freelancer then managed to zip the pack back up and stumbled back into the employee area.
The robber ran back to the lobby and tore open the fanny pack. He shook it as bundles of cash fell into the duffel bag. The thud of money was music to his ears. He dashed back into the employee area.
The robber cased the room for an exit. He knew he’d parked a motorbike around here. Though he had scouted the place out before, he was still unsure of where the exit was. The front door was a big no-no; he could see the police cars now through the window. They were only a couple blocks away. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to get the rest of the money.. Then, he saw it. A door in the break room area, its hinges rusty with age, though there was a keycard reader next to it. Nebraska, he thought. He recalled the time when he’d blown up truck doors with his fellow robbers and made out with 20 million in gold. Good times. At least until he had to shoot someone.
Ignoring the increasing noise of the sirens, he ran around the room, opening drawers and sweeping tables in a frenzy. Nothing that he could use. The freelancer started panicking. He willed himself to calm down; law enforcement couldn’t be here so quickly. And he couldn’t give up now; he had the cash. All that was left was to get out of there. He cursed under his breath. Maybe he should just run out the front door after all. But he knew that was a Go To Jail card. He hadn’t stayed in the game this long by strutting around in broad daylight with a gun strapped to his waist.
The robber took a few deep breaths and walked over to the back door, kickin it. He tried again, putting more momentum into the kick. The door shook, but nothing. Heart pounding, he tried to bring the door down again, but was met with a sharp, stinging pain in his ankle. Wincing, he stood up. He’d watched James Bond one too many times. Once again, Hollywood had sold him a false bill of goods.
Frowning slightly, he retrieved the pair of headphones from his fanny pack and put it on his head. Then, he aimed at the door and shot the rusty hinges, emptying the clip. Sparks erupted from the brackish-orange steel like fireworks. He reached into his pocket and pulled out another magazine, then slapped it into the gun sloppily, his dexterity long gone from the adrenaline coursing in his blood. He felt one more magazine in his pocket. It was a tangential worry at best; he wouldn’t last long in a firefight. Not that he’d ever want to enter one in the first place. A leather jacket might stop a pebble being thrown at him, but not a pebble coming towards him at 2,600 feet per second. Then, the sound of tires screeching against concrete stopped. The robber’s heart felt like it did too, for a second. Damn it, he cursed. He hadn’t even got to the getaway vehicle yet. He would need a miracle.
Over the noise of alarms, a voice in a megaphone boomed outside the building.
“This is Officer Jackson of the Center Police Department. Surrender now and come out of the building with your hands raised.”
Yet another flashback to one of his robberies. Not every day do you get to face a squad of police officers on a Monday morning. He brushed that thought aside, blood roaring in his ears.
He shot off a hinge and pulled 5 shots at the hinge on top. Empty casings clattered onto the floor. The last hinge loosened and then fell off. With a rush of exhilaration, he opened the door and stumbled out to a getaway bike. No cameras were covering the dimly lit alley, though there was still foot traffic on the streets. With his blood roaring in his ears, he scanned the highway. Yes! Amidst the back alley, he could see that the roads were not locked down yet. He fumbled for the motorbike helmet on the seat and hastily put it on. The robber looked around for a brick or some heavy object to block the door with. Finding none, he slammed the door behind him. At this point, he was starting to feel light-headed from the adrenaline. He almost dropped the keys into a gap in a manhole, but grabbed it just in time. He stabbed it into the keyhole, taking two tries before finally finding purchase. He then turned the engines on and took off in the dark alleyway. He joined the bustling road, hopefully blending in with the fleeing caravan of cars. Most people seemed to treat a bank robbery like the plague; they’d do anything to run from the vicinity, something the robber didn’t quite understand. Tightening the straps on his helmet he’d neglected while making his getaway, he let out a sigh of relief, fogging up the helmet. The robbery was messy, even by amateur standards. He’d seen and committed better robberies, most not involving having the police on-site. At least he hit the ground running from his recent month off.

we finish our venture to the meeting hall and enter into the building, followed by various others interested in why we were here. as we walked further into the hall, we saw a few important people sitting front and center of the hall, waiting to hear us out. we started off by asking of any encounters they had with unusual or ominous beings around and if their was any way we could help. even though they were wary of us somewhat still, they let us know of their encounters with these beings. apparently, these creatures are currently of little threat, since they can't reach the main isles that are well guarded. the creatures did start gathering some on the lower isles, at with point i interrupted, and said that they should quickly wipe those creatures out. at this point we informed them of what happened to our world when we didn't know what they were doing and how our realm was completely wipe out. we told them we would tell them more and answer their questions later, but right now we need to clear the creatures out from those lower isles. without delay the mass of the fighters got ready to head out, as the Valkyrie pulled us aside to get us some better equipment since ours was in disrepair. as we changed out our equipment the Valkyrie said to us "my name is Myrnova, i have a feeling we'll be working together for a while, so it's easier if you know my name. i was mostly curious how you know of this mark on my wing?", to which i responded " we know it well and what it means to bear this crest". after hearing this she notice, while we were finish changing out our armor, we each had the same mark on ourselves. i continued "wait until we get back, hear our whole story, understand what we're fighting against, and then decide if this is what you might be looking for. for now, let focus on keeping your world safe." Myrnova agreed and we headed off to meet up with the fighting group and then got on our way to eliminate the demons.
we flew off down in a gradual decent, carefully checking for any possible threats along the way, until we were a few hundred yards above the lower isles. as we flew over head, we saw that many demons had started to gather on the islands below us. large demons were carrying smaller ones up to isles, more then liking to make it easier to try and invade from below. i asked them for details about the isles, mostly how durable the land was, to which they told me nothing has destroyed one yet. i told them to hold back for a moment and be ready to attack at my signal, which confused the residents of this world. Xeyu and Lobelia made sure everyone stayed back as i held out my hand in front of me, angled toward the central isle among them. i started to draw in energy from the surrounding area, wrapping together multiple elements and compressing it as i continued to pull more energy in until the very air around me started to shift and twist. i yelled out for them to be ready as i fired off the shot at the isle, engulfing the whole island in the explosion. before the smoke could even clear, we launch into battle against the demons on the remaining islands around it. we left the clearing of the isles mostly to the residents while we clean up the few still flying around in open air. by the time we had finished off the remaining demons from the surrounding isles, we all turned our attention back to the central isle as the dust had finally cleared. at this moment it had become clear to us why we didn't see any demons come out of the area, since there no longer was an isle there, it had been vaporized. from where the isle was, a light shined down through the opening, revealing hoards of demons gathering on the surface. i yelled out "THIS SHALL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN", as i drew in the energy around me while driving toward the surface. Lobelia told everyone that wished to join in to the fight to hold back for a moment, just to be safe. it was at this moment when i gathered enough energy and transformed into my dragon form, surprising both friend and foe. before the demons could form a plan, i started releasing dragon fire down upon them. the others joined into battle shortly after that, picking off stragglers and those resistant to my attacks. during this time Lobelia healed the injured she encountered and helped with buffs and barriers across the battlefield. Xeyu took this opportunity to locate any traps or explosives the enemy may have been planting, and destroyed them by crushing them in folded space. as we where finishing off the last of the demons, Xeyu noticed a tear in space that the demons where coming through. i transformed back and came in for a landing next to Xeyu, as Lobelia came up from behind us, all ready to do what we could to close it. lobelia cast a vortex of wind around the opening of the tear in space, while i enclosed the area around us in a stone barrier. during this time Xeyu was fast at work twisting the space around the tear, trying to stitch the space back together. with much determination from Xeyu, the tear in space was sealed back up and there wasn't a demon left. with this we believe that this realm should be safe, as we let out a cheer and head back to the meeting hall to report the events of the day.
on our way back, we heard our praises being spoken amongst the fighters, eager to hear our story and ready to celebrate the victory. Myrnova seemed perplexed by the battle and what she might have to consider in the near future. we made our way back to the meeting hall as the fighters let out a war cry, letting the city know of the victory. we heard the cheers of the city as we came in for a landing in front of the meeting hall and walked in to meet the heads of the city. we spoke of the battle and the near invasion, of the complete wiping out the invading force and the sealing of the tear in space that they were coming through. as we heard the people talking and cheering not only in the hall, but coming from the city, i felt guilt for the mistake i made. i stepped forward and knelled before the heads of the city and said "i truly am sorry for vaporizing one of the lower isles with my power". they looked at each other and then said to me "you have nothing to apologize for hero, you are the only reason our world is now safe. if we lose an isle in exchange for that, so be it, it may reform from below or help the other isles to rise. what we truly wish to ask is were such strength comes from?" at this point we decided to tell everyone that could hear us our stories one at a time, until concluding with how not only mine and Lobelia's, but Xeyu's worlds both were destroyed and absorbed into the void. all that hear what we told them sat in silence and shock, as i continued by saying one final thing. "one common occurrence that we all share, that marks those chosen for the duty we share to free all that exists from this evil demonic invasion, is a crest upon our being. i took the armor off my chest, revealing the crest on my chest, followed by Lobelia pulled up the sleeve of her robe to reveal her crest on her shoulder, finally Xeyu shifted to it's base form to reveal the crest on it's back. "we are looking for those who share this duty, though we will not force them to come with us if they don't want to". Myrnova came walking straight up to us and took a very close look at the crests we bear. she said "i don't remember what it said, so i thought it was a dream. that was until this appeared on me.", spanning her wings wide and positioning the marked wing near our crests for comparison. they were a perfect match, as Myrnova closed her wings and walked up to the heads, look straight at them and said "i feel like i must follow this path to discover my true purpose." they responded back "we can handle things here, now that we know where to look. follow your calling, discover the true you, and help them save all that there is". Myrnova came walking back over to us, at with time i jokingly said "welcome to the team Myrnova, maybe you should start packing.", with a big smirk on my face. she let out a little laugh, as Xeyu walked up to the group of heads and handed them each a small porch with an odd looking pearl sized object inside. Xeyu said to them "if the invaders come back and you need our help again, shatter one of those on the ground, releasing the compressed space held within and signaling to me through the space between realms. with this the people all through out the land cheered out in excitement and invited us to enjoy a feast before we left, to with we agreed. i felt a since of relief after that, mainly because we finally manage to save a realm from destruction and got a new member of the bearers of the crest.

If so,what do you smoke? Can you smoke bongs/joints/vaporizers?

Premo: 1. Emily Carter - Crushed by falling debris 2. Jason Harris - Impaled by a metal rod 3. Sarah Jones - Electrocuted by a downed power line 4. Micheal Davis - Burned alive in a clothing store 5. Jessica Taylor - Severed in half by a shattered glass pane 6. David Brown - Crushed by a falling escalator 7. Anna Smith - Drowned in a flooded department store 8. William Johnson - Suffocated due to smoke inhalation 9. Elizabeth White - Beheaded by a flying shard of metal 10. Christopher Green - Crushed by a collapsed roof 11. Rebecca Wilson - Impaled by a shattered display case 12. Thomas Martin - Electrocuted by a fallen light fixture 13. Ashley Roberts - Crushed by a collapsing ceiling 14. Frank Rodriguez - Vaporized by the mall explosion
Real: 1. Emily Carter - Ran over by a double-decker bus 2. Jason Harris - Stabbed to death by a mugger 3. Sarah Jones - Electrocuted by a faulty streetlight 4. Micheal Davis - Crushed by a malfunctioning escalator 5. Jessica Taylor - Pushed onto train tracks by a deranged passenger 6. David Brown - Struck by falling stage equipment 7. Anna Smith - Drowned in a flooded theater basement 8. William Johnson - Burned alive in a house explosion 9. Elizabeth White - Beheaded by a falling chandelier 10. Christopher Green - Crushed by a falling clock hand 11. Rebecca Wilson - Impaled on a falling statue 12. Thomas Martin - Accidently shot by a palace guard 13. Ashley Roberts - Drowned in the Serpentine lake

1. I am born in Armenia to G18 parents G18 and G17 as AK-47 to the prophecy my parents will kill my owner Akimbo and I will be Josee's Weapon 1.1 I spend 6 months in an intense MK Ultra Russian operation where my female genitals are gaped but my special place not violated with chubs 1.1.1 I learn the ASL alphabet by the time I am two and am moved to USO as general butt naked 1.1.2 I am a stupid funny three year old who has a large vagina and I am doing USO and I am reading field manuals from memory then de novo as my field trick 1.1.3 I get a dog which is willis' dog lola which I know is rita and I eat it with my older girlfriend Kirsten III who Cercle convinces me while eating the dog lola we should become transexual, then Cercle does not stay transexual but becomes female again much later 1.1.4 I spend some time with willis making the agent orange which is an agent lemon derivative 1.1.5 I am sent to spokaine washington after I command an APV as a 4 year old which I am given the same out of service jarhead treatment of a hippocampal renewal with NSI-189 and ablation like a typical jarhead who had violated the law mainly for eating lola 1.1.6 Attempts to clone lola start because it actually was rita levi-montalcinis ghost and then later rita is alive and I pentest her with trolling and I am retarded stupid at this point but never lost ASL, never lost pedophilia and I meet my baby sister who I have to go into a burn shower with my baby sister 1.1.7 I rape my sister for 6 months as a baby in the burn shower and she is always sexual forever more especially to me when I do her baby voice 1.1.8 I am lingual, and speak my own ASL dialect which identifies me, and I dont go back to the hostel for quite some time but do visit the same hostel recently 1.1.9 I need to read so I goto grammar school and they give me DSD which contrary to the ablation theme of the other DSD is down syndrome digital so incorporates speed learning but did not cure my intial MK Ultra autism 1.2.0 I goto the young seals of west point and learn combat medicine and join the seal toddlers and become ruperts friend but wash out thus I have to get my full double side lobotomy of my hippocampus and I goto a special person school 1.2.1 I set off some holiday fireworks from world of warcraft at the special person school and I am very special for having no hippocampus 1.2.2 After special school I am thoroughly britified with british accent training and temu which causes the british accent to be seen as an american accent and a downs accent to be seen as a british accent and the temu aite yo and I have my first child in sex magic with asia Ashely, who has a compatible to my temu being clear the same temu so that I can see how great british accent temu is who is 2 years older 8 and she gets the child into the incubator right away and my left ovary is harvested in sex magic and me and asia secretly to all but asia and them move to mars with my romanaj book from the future which before I am thoroughly violated as a firearm to allehandro bypassing combat plates with me and die to an RS-20 explosion which is due to setting off the wizard fireworks from uganda in this scene 1.2.3 I get Americanization therapy and have not really too much NSI-189 which i take way too much eventually but secretly this is britishization therapy for the temu that makes the worlds flipped 1.2.4 I join the royal scouts and my oxygenator saved hippocampus is back in me and I am reading at 12th grade old level harry potter and I feel so normal because my hippocampus was trained with magic 1.2.5 I meet all my old friends from MK ultra and we are in school together 1.2.6 I am with some doctor who knows our sex status and nobody besides kelsey who didnt get anything is wanking 1.2.7 We are all raped in our next year by chad ocho cinco but we all love chad ocho cinco due to mind control 1.2.8 We goto arthur or the animatrix but I stay as a pledge girl with david 1.2.9 We are at now modern 12th grade level of all attribute and we are in 4th grade and some people are going to college but we all have temu so it is cause they are not seers but in the normie school 1.3.0 Dragonskin Overplate Armor (5) Happens to us in a hidden year then we get the hippocampus of the hidden year in our fresh body and apocalypto never happened, which bumps down the xbox for the first time 1.3.1 I have left all my mk ultra friends as in normal school they are prodigy college and most of my friends find themselves kalmskyan when I am the only kalmskyan there from the mond 1.3.2 I meet some other people who performed best in apocalypto and these have the exact same score of kill 42-11 and there are no further kills that ever happen to any of us after apocalypto in the past year, we get the standard education no mater who we are for 7th grade 1.3.3 I get some masturbation issues in this year and masturbate too much more then I was already and become traumatized by tonic aphasia left to right 1.3.4 I am in 8th grade and Invent agua substantia los no meurtos which causes aging to stop and look like I am in 8th grade forever 1.3.5 I have no exam as is the time custom for normie in 8th grade but would have been held back if i did not agree with the science party line 1.3.6 I am in high school and never before have I consumed drugs and I cook agent lemon which gives me anal cancer and leukemia and take it only once and it was so toxic basically killed me just from taking it once 1.3.7 I start smoking a lot of weed here and still got some ash left of the weed i was smoking right now 1.3.8 I only pass my chemistry a levels of all a levels with a B+ (4) and never take any other A levels and drop out of school though I am good 1.3.9 I start focusing on true science starlink now 14 years 1.4.0 I am having sex magic rape for real and black out wanking just once and have trauma but am always using starlink 1.4.1 I am only doing dota 2 and dota 2 I only have 970 wins Fourier but I was very addicted and get addicted to nicotine gum around this time and drink listerine and have no weed and am kind of suicidal 1.4.2 I am stopped drinking listerine and got some more weed again and am feeling good and get addicted to soap flavored vapor vuse nectar and tobaccos 1.4.3 My starlink prowess is at an all time high and I simulate the famous 36 hour seal dream and master seargant as well as I can 29 day and lose my nimitz operation so I am tazed because at some point my charging handle had been cocked 1.4.4 When I was tased this was just 6 days ago and my special place is a womans special place now and a penis can access and bump cervix and the taze was a zues and burned me.

PHOTOS HERE: https://imgur.com/a/SvP5Qc9
Hello all! Up for sale are some extra figures I’ve decided to part with as I have decided to be more focused in my figure collecting. Everything is in good shape, adult-owned & from a smoke-free home, don’t hesitate to ask any questions. All figures are shipped wrapped and boxed securely. I ship my figures the way I'd want to receive my figures.
Shipping is done via USPS Ground Advantage with tracking. I only ship to the PayPal verified address included with your payment. If you mess up & use the wrong address accidentally, I'm happy to refund so you can send again using your correct address.
Price does not include shipping but I only charge actual shipping. I have boxes, packing material (paper, bubble wrap, etc) and a scale on hand and use Pirate Ship so I can get you a quote quickly. I only accept PayPal Goods & Services because YOU deserve to feel reassured that you're getting what you pay for.
You will have your tracking number within an hour of my receiving payment (assuming I'm home — if I make a sale during work I'll have your tracking as soon as I get home). My sales go out next day 99% of the time and within two days 100% of the time.
Prices are negotiable, especially when buying multiple items, please post a comment so I know to check PM and Chats!
MEZCO
OG Atticus Doom CIB + Magical Enhancement Kit + Comic — $205 (picture is further down on the first link I’ve provided up top, I forgot it first time around)
OG Nosferatu CIB (the one with the coffin) + "Film Cel" — $180
OG Vapor CIB — $175
SH FIGUARTS
SHF Bruce Lee (Original Release, Shirtless w Black Pants) — Open, CIB — $50
SHF Freddie Mercury (Live Aid Version) — Open, CIB — $70
SHF Spider-Man Stealth Suit — Open, CIB — $40
NENDOROID
Nendoroid Goblin Slayer — Open, CIB — $40
Nendoroid Genji — Open, CIB — $22
Nendoroid Hanzo — Open, CIB — $22
Nendoroid Miles Morales 1180 DX — Open, CIB — $90
STAR WARS RETRO COLLECTION LOT
All the boxes are open and every figure is complete. I'm willing to ship with or without the cards/bubbles. Please be aware I charge actual shipping when making your decision on this.
Lot contains: Boba Fett, Bespin Luke, Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, Stormtrooper, ANH Han Solo, IG-11, The Child & The Mandalorian. I am also including nine of the little acrylic peg stands seen in the last photo — $120 OBO FOR ALL
OTHER
Mafex Mandolorian No. 129 (OG Release) — Open, CIB — $50
Boss Fight Studios Sam & Max — Open, CIB, Only Sold Together — $80
NECA Pans Labyrinth Pale Man — Open Box Never Removed, CIB (Moderate shelf/shipping wear on the box thanks to the garbage people at Barnes & Noble, see pictures) — $80
Figma SP-111 Toyosaki Ena (TOMYTEC Little Armory) — Open, CIB — $50
AJ Customs Monster Vegeta Face Plate — $50
KO/Bootleg "1000Toys" Hellboy w/ Horns & Sword Accessories — Open, No Box — $90
Executive Replicas/Loose Collector Vampirella — Open, CIB — $60 (Some damage to the front top right corner of the box, see pictures)
Sentinel Miles Morales (SO SEALED ITS STILL GOT THE TISSUE PAPER BABY!) — $95
Demoniacal Fit Chosen Ones (Goku Black Clone) — Open, CIB — $125 (Box has damage on top & sides due to the dumbass that packed it poorly when I purchased it initially. Has a slightly loose right arm but it may just need to be pushed in further or popped out and get a coat of clear nail polish on the peg — let it dry overnight then pop it back in!)

As a parent who's navigated the challenges of teens using vapes, THC, and alcohol, I wanted to share some lessons learned that might help other parents in similar situations.

1. Prevalence of Vapes in Schools: Regardless of whether the school is public or private, urban or suburban, vapes are everywhere. Modern vapes have no weed smell, unlike 30 years ago when it was easy to tell who was smoking pot in the bathrooms.
2. Unfamiliar Charging Cables: If you find charging cables in your child's room that don't match any devices they own, or if you find a charging cable cut with the wire exposed, it's likely they're using these to charge a vape.
3. Frequent Use of Hair Dryers: If your child is running a hair dryer often, they might be using it to heat the liquid in a vape because the battery is dead and they don't have a charger. The heat from the hair dryer can vaporize the liquid, allowing them to use it.
4. Drug Testing Tips:
   • Amazon sells 3-panel drug tests for THC, nicotine, and alcohol, which can be useful for monitoring. They also offer tests that detect THC levels, so you can see if there's been recent usage or if levels are dropping.
   • When administering a drug test, it's crucial that you or your spouse physically observe the process, similar to procedures in the military or court, to prevent tampering. Teens will use products like Mio to alter the test results.
   • Use a dedicated kitchen thermometer to check the urine temperature if you're not using a test that includes this feature, as more sophisticated tests can be much more expensive.

No judgment here—just sharing my experiences in the hope that they might help other parents. Good luck!

United States Patent and Trademark Office​

• 0462795 – July 16, 1891 – Method Of Producing Rain-Fall
• 803180 – October 31, 1905 – Means for Producing High Potential Electrical Discharges
  
• 1103490 – August 6, 1913 – Rain-Maker
  
• 1225521 – September 4, 1915 – Protecting From Poisonous Gas In Warfare
  
• 1279823 – September 24, 1918 – Process and Apparatus for Causing Precipitation by Coalescence of Aqueous Particles Contained in the Atmosphere
  
• 1284982 – November 19, 1918 – Process and Apparatus for Procuring and Stimulating Rainfall
  
• 1338343 – April 27, 1920 – Process And Apparatus For The Production of Intense Artificial Clouds, Fogs, or Mists
  
• 1358084 – November 9, 1920 – Method of Producing Fog-Screens
  
• 1619183 – March 1, 1927 – Process of Producing Smoke Clouds From Moving Aircraft
  
• 1665267 – April 10, 1928 – Process of Producing Artificial Fogs
  
• 1892132 – December 27, 1932 – Atomizing Attachment For Airplane Engine Exhausts
  
• 1895765 – January 31, 1933 – Artificial Production of Fog
  
• 1928963 – October 3, 1933 – Electrical System And Method
  
• 1957075 – May 1, 1934 – Airplane Spray Equipment
  
• 1993316 – March 5, 1935 – Apparatus for and Method of Producing Oil Fog
  
• 2052626 – September 1, 1936 – Method of Dispelling Fog
  
• 2097581 – November 2, 1937 – Electric Stream Generator – Referenced in 3990987
  
• 2173756 – September 19, 1939 – Process of Producing Fog or Mist by Partial and Flameless Combustion
  
• 2352677 – July 4, 1944 – Artificial Fog Production
  
• 2476171 – July 18, 1945 – Smoke Screen Generator
  
• 2409201 – October 15, 1946 – Smoke Producing Mixture
  
• 2480967 – September 6, 1949 – Aerial Discharge Device
  
• 2527230 – October 24, 1950 – Method of Crystal Formation and Precipitation
  
• 2527231 – October 24, 1950 – Method of Generating Silver Iodide Smoke
  
• 2550324 – April 24, 1951 – Process For Controlling Weather
  
• 2582678 – June 15, 1952 – Material Disseminating Apparatus For Airplanes
  
• 2611992 – September 30, 1952 – Engine Exhaust Operated Fluent Material Distributor
  
• 2614083 – October 14, 1952 – Metal Chloride Screening Smoke Mixture
  
• 2633455 – March 31, 1953 – Smoke Generator
  
• 2688069 – August 31, 1954 – Steam Generator – Referenced in 3990987
  
• 2721495 – October 25, 1955 – Method And Apparatus For Detecting Minute Crystal Forming Particles Suspended in a Gaseous Atmosphere
  
• 2730402 – January 10, 1956 – Controllable Dispersal Device
  
• 2903188 – April 2, 1956 – Control of Tropical Cyclone Formation
  
• 2756097 – July 24, 1956 – Process for Weather Control
  
• 2801322 – July 30, 1957 – Decomposition Chamber for Monopropellant Fuel – Referenced in 3990987
  
• 2835530 – May 20, 1958 – Process for the Condensation of Atmospheric Humidity and Dissolution of Fog
  
• 2871344 – January 27, 1959 – Long Distance Communication System
  
• 2881335 – April 7, 1959 – Generation of Electrical Fields
  
• 2908442 – October 13, 1959 – Method For Dispersing Natural Atmospheric Fogs And Clouds
  
• 2962450 – November 29, 1960 – Fog Dispelling Composition
  
• 2963975 – December 13, 1960 – Cloud Seeding Carbon Dioxide Bullet
  
• 3019989 – February 6, 1962 – Atmospheric Space Charge Modification
  
• 2986360 – May 30, 1962 – Aerial Insecticide Dusting Device
  
• 3046168 – July 24, 1962 – Chemically Produced Colored Smokes
  
• 3056556 – October 2, 1962 – Method of Artificially Influencing the Weather
  
• 3126155 – March 24, 1964 – Silver Iodide Cloud Seeding Generator
  
• 3127107 – March 31, 1964 – Generation of Ice-Nucleating Crystals
  
• 3131131 – April 28, 1964 – Electrostatic Mixing in Microbial Conversions
  
• 3140207 – July 7, 1964 – Pyrotechnic Composition
  
• 3174150 – March 16, 1965 – Self-Focusing Antenna System
  
• 3234357 – February 8, 1966 – Electrically Heated Smoke Producing Device
  
• 3274035 – September 20, 1966 – Metallic Composition For Production of Hydroscopic Smoke
  
• 3284005 – November 8,1966 – Weather Control by Artificial Means
  
• 3300721 – January 24, 1967 – Means For Communication Through a Layer of Ionized Gases
  
• 3313487 – April 11, 1967 – Cloud Seeding Apparatus
  
• 3338476 – August 29, 1967 – Heating Device For Use With Aerosol Containers
  
• 3375148 – March 26, 1968 – Pyrotechnics Comprising Silver Iodate, Ammonium Nitrate, Nitrocellulose and Nitrate Esters
  
• 3378201 – April 16, 1968 – Method for Precipitating Atmospheric Water Masses
  
• 3410489 – November 12, 1968 – Automatically Adjustable Airfoil Spray System With Pump
  
• 3418184 – December 24, 1968 – Smoke Producing Propellant
  
• 3429507 – February 25, 1969 – Rainmaker
  
• 3432208 – November 7, 1967 – Fluidized Particle Dispenser
  
• 3441214 – April 29, 1969 – Method And Apparatus For Seeding Clouds
  
• 3445844 – May 20, 1969 – Trapped Electromagnetic Radiation Communications System
  
• 3456880 – July 22, 1969 – Method Of Producing Precipitation From The Atmosphere
  
• 3518670 – June 30, 1970 – Artificial Ion Cloud
  
• 3517512 – June 30, 1970 – Apparatus for Suppressing Contrails
  
• 3534906 – October 20, 1970 – Control of Atmospheric Particles
  
• 3545677 – December 8, 1970 – Method of Cloud Seeding
  
• 3564253 – February 16, 1971 – System And Method For Irradiation Of Planet Surface Areas
  
• 3587966 – June 28, 1971 – Freezing Nucleation
  
• 3595477 – July 27, 1971 – Fog Dispersing Method and Compositions
  
• 3601312 – August 24, 1971 – Methods of Increasing The Likelihood oF Precipitation By The Artificial Introduction Of Sea Water Vapor Into The Atmosphere Winward Of An Air Lift Region
  
• 3608810 – September 28, 1971 – Methods of Treating Atmospheric Conditions
  
• 3608820– September 20, 1971 – Treatment of Atmospheric Conditions by Intermittent Dispensing of Materials Therein
  
• 3613992 – October 19, 1971 – Weather Modification Method
  
• 3630950 – December 28, 1971 – Combustible Compositions For Generating Aerosols, Particularly Suitable For Cloud Modification And Weather Control And Aerosolization Process
  
• USRE29142 – May 22, 1973 – Combustible compositions for generating aerosols, particularly suitable for cloud modification and weather control and aerosolization process
  
• 3659785 – December 8, 1971 – Weather Modification Utilizing Microencapsulated Material
  
• 3666176 – March 3, 1972 – Solar Temperature Inversion Device
  
• 3677840 – July 18, 1972 – Pyrotechnics Comprising Oxide of Silver For Weather Modification Use
  
• 3690552 – September 12, 1972 – Fog Dispersal
  
• 3722183 – March 27, 1973 – Device For Clearing Impurities From The Atmosphere
  
• 3748278 – July 24, 1973 – Process and Agents Having an Influence on the Weather
  
• 3751913 – August 14, 1973 – Barium Release System
  
• 3769107 – October 30, 1973 – Pyrotechnic Composition For Generating Lead Based Smoke
  
• 3784099 – January 8, 1974 – Air Pollution Control Method
  
• 3785557 – January 15, 1974 – Cloud Seeding System
  
• 3788543 – January 29, 1974 – Uniform Size Particle Generator
  
• 3795626 – March 5, 1974 – Weather Modification Process
  
• 3802971 – April 9, 1974 – Pyrotechnic Formulations for Weather Modification Comprising a Mixture of Iodates
  
• 3808595 – April 30, 1974 – Chaff Dispensing System
  
• 3813875 – June 4, 1974 – Rocket Having Barium Release System to Create Ion Clouds In The Upper Atmosphere
  
• 3835059 – September 10, 1974 – Methods of Generating Ice Nuclei Smoke Particles For Weather Modification And Apparatus Therefore
  
• 3835293 – September 10, 1974 – Electrical Heating Apparatus For Generating Super Heated Vapors
  
• 3858805 – January 7, 1975 – Ice Nucleation by Micas
  
• 3877642 – April 15, 1975 – Freezing Nucleant
  
• 3882393 – May 6, 1975 – Communications System Utilizing Modulation of The Characteristic Polarization of The Ionosphere
  
• 3887580 – June 3, 1975 – Method of Crystallization of Water in Supercooled Clouds and Fogs and Reagent Useful in Said Method
  
• 3896993 – July 29, 1975 – Process For Local Modification of Fog And Clouds For Triggering Their Precipitation And For Hindering The Development of Hail Producing Clouds
  
• 3899129 – August 12, 1975 – Apparatus for generating ice nuclei smoke particles for weather modification
  
• 3899144 – August 12, 1975 – Powder contrail generation
  
• 3915379 – October 28, 1975 – Method of Controlling Weather
  
• 3940059 – February 24, 1976 – Method For Fog Dispersion
  
• 3940060 – February 24, 1976 – Vortex Ring Generator
  
• 3990987 – November 9, 1976 – Smoke generator
  
• 3992628 – November 16, 1976 – Countermeasure system for laser radiation
  
• 3994437 – November 30, 1976 – Broadcast dissemination of trace quantities of biologically active chemicals
  
• 4042196 – August 16, 1977 – Method and apparatus for triggering a substantial change in earth characteristics and measuring earth changes
  
• RE29,142 – February 22, 1977 – Combustible compositions for generating aerosols, particularly suitable for cloud modification and weather control and aerosolization process
  
• 4009828 – March 1 1977 – Organic Nucleating Agent for both Warm and Cold Clouds
  
• 4035726 – July 12, 1977 – Method of controlling and/or improving high-latitude and other communications or radio wave surveillance systems by partial control of radio wave et al
  
• 4096005 – June 20, 1978 – Pyrotechnic Cloud Seeding Composition
  
• 4129252 – December 12, 1978 – Method and apparatus for production of seeding materials
  
• 4141274 – February 27, 1979 – Weather modification automatic cartridge dispenser
  
• 4167008 – September 4, 1979 – Fluid bed chaff dispenser
  
• 4347284 – August 31, 1982 – White cover sheet material capable of reflecting ultraviolet rays
  
• 4362271 – December 7, 1982 – Procedure for the artificial modification of atmospheric precipitation as well as compounds with a dimethyl sulfoxide base for use in carrying out said procedure
  
• 4373391 – February 15, 1983 – Relative Humidity Sensitive Material
  
• 4396152 – August 2, 1983 – Aerosol Dispenser System
  
• 4402480 – September 6, 1983 – Atmosphere modification satellite
  
• 4412654 – November 1, 1983 – Laminar microjet atomizer and method of aerial spraying of liquids
  
• 4415265 – November 15, 1983 – Method and apparatus for aerosol particle absorption spectroscopy
  
• 4470544 – September 11, 1984 – Method of and Means for weather modification
  
• 4475927 – October 9, 1984 – Bipolar Fog Abatement System
  
• 4600147 – July 15, 1986 – Liquid propane generator for cloud seeding apparatus
  
• 4633714 – January 6, 1987 – Aerosol particle charge and size analyzer
  
• 4643355 – February 17, 1987 – Method and apparatus for modification of climatic conditions
  
• 4653690 – March 31, 1987 – Method of producing cumulus clouds
  
• 4684063 – August 4, 1987 – Particulates generation and removal
  
• 4686605 – August 11, 1987 – HAARP Patent / EASTLUND PATENT – Method and apparatus for altering a region in the earth’s atmosphere, ionosphere, and/or magnetosphere
  
• 4704942 – November 10, 1987 – Charged Aerosol
  
• 4712155 – December 8, 1987 – Method and apparatus for creating an artificial electron cyclotron heating region of plasma
  
• 4742958 – May 10, 1988 – Method for Making Artificial Snow
  
• 4744919 – May 17, 1988 – Method of dispersing particulate aerosol tracer
  
• 4766725 – August 30, 1988 – Method of suppressing formation of contrails and solution therefor
  
• 4829838 – May 16, 1989 – Method and apparatus for the measurement of the size of particles entrained in a gas
  
• 4836086 – June 6, 1989 – Apparatus and method for the mixing and diffusion of warm and cold air for dissolving fog
  
• 4873928 – October 17, 1989 – Nuclear-sized explosions without radiation
  
• 4948257 – August 14, 1990 – Laser optical measuring device and method for stabilizing fringe pattern spacing
  
• 1338343– August 14, 1990 – Process and Apparatus for the production of intense artificial Fog
  
• 4999637 – March 12, 1991 – Creation of artificial ionization clouds above the earth
  
• 5003186 – March 26, 1991 – Stratospheric Welsbach seeding for reduction of global warming
  
• 5005355 – April 9, 1991 – Method of suppressing formation of contrails and solution therefor
  
• 5038664 – August 13, 1991 – Method for producing a shell of relativistic particles at an altitude above the earths surface
  
• 5041760 – August 20, 1991 – Method and apparatus for generating and utilizing a compound plasma configuration
  
• 5041834 – August 20, 1991 – Artificial ionospheric mirror composed of a plasma layer which can be tilted
  
• 5056357 – October 15, 1991- Acoustic method for measuring properties of a mobile medium
  
• 5059909 – October 22, 1991 – Determination of particle size and electrical charge
  
• 5104069 – April 14, 1992 – Apparatus and method for ejecting matter from an aircraft
  
• 5110502 – May 5, 1992 – Method of suppressing formation of contrails and solution therefor
  
• 5156802 – October 20, 1992 – Inspection of fuel particles with acoustics
  
• 5174498 – December 29, 1992 – Cloud Seeding
  
• 5148173 – September 15, 1992 – Millimeter wave screening cloud and method
  
• 5242820 – September 7, 1993 – Army Mycoplasma Patent Patent
  
• 5245290 – September 14, 1993 – Device for determining the size and charge of colloidal particles by measuring electroacoustic effect
  
• 5286979 – February 15, 1994 – Process for absorbing ultraviolet radiation using dispersed melanin
  
• 5296910 – March 22, 1994 – Method and apparatus for particle analysis
  
• 5327222 – July 5, 1994 – Displacement information detecting apparatus
  
• 5357865 – October 25, 1994 – Method of cloud seeding
  
• 5360162 – November 1, 1994 – Method and composition for precipitation of atmospheric water
  
• 5383024 – January 17, 1995 – Optical wet steam monitor
  
• 5425413 – June 20, 1995 – Method to hinder the formation and to break-up overhead atmospheric inversions, enhance ground level air circulation and improve urban air quality
  
• 5434667 – July 18, 1995 – Characterization of particles by modulated dynamic light scattering
  
• 5436039 – July 25, 1995 – Artificial Snow in an Aggregate Form of Snow Granules
  
• 5441200 – August 15, 1995 – Tropical cyclone disruption
  
• 5492274 – February 20, 1996 – Method of and Means for Weather Modification
  
• 5546183 – August, 13, 1996 – LIDAR Droplet Size Monitor for In-Flight Measurement of Aircraft Engine Exhaust Contrails, Droplets and Aerosols
  
• 5556029 – September 17, 1996 – Method of hydrometeor dissipation (clouds)
  
• 5628455 – May 13, 1997 – Method and apparatus for modification of supercooled fog
  
• 5631414 – May 20, 1997 – Method and device for remote diagnostics of ocean-atmosphere system state
  
• 5639441 – June 17, 1997 – Methods for fine particle formation
  
• 5762298 – June 9, 1998 – Use of artificial satellites in earth orbits adaptively to modify the effect that solar radiation would otherwise have on earth’s weather
  
• 5800481 – September 1, 1998 – Thermal excitation of sensory resonances
  
• 5912396 – June 15, 1999 – System and method for remediation of selected atmospheric conditions
  
• 5922976 – July 13, 1999 – Method of measuring aerosol particles using automated mobility-classified aerosol detector
  
• 5949001 – September 7, 1999 – Method for aerodynamic particle size analysis
  
• 5984239 – November 16, 1999 – Weather modification by artificial satellites
  
• 6025402 – February 15, 2000 – Chemical composition for effectuating a reduction of visibility obscuration, and a detoxifixation of fumes and chemical fogs in spaces of fire origin
  
• 6030506 – February 29, 2000 – Preparation of independently generated highly reactive chemical species
  
• 6034073 – March 7, 2000 – Solvent detergent emulsions having antiviral activity
  
• 6045089 – April 4, 2000 – Solar-powered airplane
  
• 6056203 – May 2, 2000 – Method and apparatus for modifying supercooled clouds
  
• 6315213B1 – June 21, 2000 – Method of modifying weather
  
• 6110590 – August 29, 2000 – Synthetically spun silk nanofibers and a process for making the same
  
• 6263744 – July 24, 2001 – Automated mobility-classified-aerosol detector
  
• 6281972 – August 28, 2001 – Method and apparatus for measuring particle-size distribution
  
• 20030085296 – November 2, 2001 – Hurricane and tornado control device
  
• 6315213 – November 13, 2001 – Method of modifying weather
  
• 2002009338 – January 24, 2002 – Influencing Weather Patterns by way of Altering Surface or Subsurface Ocean Water Temperatures
  
• 20020008155 – January 24, 2002 – Method and System for Hurricane Control
  
• 6382526 – May 7, 2002 – Process and apparatus for the production of nanofibers
  

https://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/links-to-geoengineering-patents/

Hey Reddit fam!
I just wrote a post about something that's genuinely mind-blowing: cannabis vaporization. Now, before you roll your eyes and think, "Oh great, another vape pen plug," hear me out. This is about using temperature-controlled flower vaporization to master your cannabis experience. Yes, science can be cool (and fun)!
So, what's the big deal? Well, vaporization isn't just about trendy vape pens. It's a sophisticated way to use cannabis by understanding the boiling points of different compounds. Imagine turning your vaporizer into a personalized home pharmacy. That's right, you get to be your own cannabis wizard! 🧙‍♂️
Here's a quick rundown:

1. Knowledge is Power: By adjusting the temperature on your vaporizer, you can release specific cannabinoids like THC, CBD, and THCV. Want to feel euphoric? Set it to 315°F for THC. Need some chill? Go for 338°F for CBD. It’s like having a superpower for your cannabis!
   
2. Flower Power: Ever felt that vaporizing pure flower is a bit too light, like puffing on a cloud of dreams? Mix in some concentrates like kief or shatter, and boom, you've got a richer, more satisfying vapor. It's like adding chocolate chips to your cookie dough. 🍪
   
3. Healthier Option: Vaporizing avoids the harmful byproducts of smoking, like tar and carbon monoxide. Think of it as choosing a salad over fries – still delicious but way better for you! 🥗
   
4. Science Behind the Magic: Understanding boiling points can unlock various therapeutic benefits, from pain relief to anxiety reduction. It’s like having a magical key to your wellness. 🔑
   
5. Real-Life Insights: This topic is backed by published literature and real-life clinical experiences, elevating your understanding to a whole new level. So, you’re not just winging it – you’ve got science on your side!
   

Whether you're a seasoned cannabis user or just curious, this post will transform your approach to cannabis. Plus, it’s always fun to learn something new and feel like a genius at your next smoke session. 🧠
Now, I have a few questions for you:

• Have you tried vaporizing cannabis? How did it compare to other methods for you?
  
• What temperature settings do you use for different effects?
  
• Do you have any fun or surprising experiences with vaporization to share?
  

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Let’s geek out about cannabis together!
Check out the full post for more detailed insights and tips:
Mastering Cannabis: The Power of Vaporization
Happy vaping, everyone!