Ffxiv hunting log
Final Fantasy XV
2010.01.28 19:57 reseph Final Fantasy XV
A community for fans of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, which includes a free trial that includes the entirety of "A Realm Reborn" AND the award-winning "Heavensward" expansion up to level 60 with no restrictions on playtime. FFXIV's newest expansion, "Endwalker", is out now.
2014.07.09 08:36 Ephier FFXIV Hunters Log
FFXIV Hunters Log is dedicated to anything and everything to do with hunts, that is to include relative spawn timers, general vicinity of spawn locations, discussion of hunt etiquette . Help the community to help yourself.
2013.09.18 21:53 Midgardsormr - Final Fantasy XIV Server
This is a subreddit for players on the Final Fantasy XIV server Midgardsormr.
2023.06.07 18:16 TarbusCavarus [RF] Uncle Jim
Prologue
As the end of autumn approached, the chill of morning and evening began to cut through like a hunting knife. Through the tanker's windshield, the driver could see a woman wearing a knitted scarf and a blanket on her shoulders. She had sat down in the middle of the road and was howling long and heart-wrenching like a lament. Passers-by looked at her with horror, surprise, or contempt. When a lady in a fur coat approached her to inquire, the unfortunate woman began to roll on the ground, thrashing about like a rolling log heading down the valley, and screaming with even greater force and deeper sorrow, so loud that it could be heard all the way to the shire, after which she stopped in a sob, crying quietly like the water of a lowland spring. She was Uncle Jim's eldest daughter.
Part I
Mr. and Mrs. Axelton were two retirees with charitable souls. They had the sign of charity burning on the soles of their dusty, second-hand shoes, laced up with shoelaces they got from the thrift store. They brought a bag of beans for the dog, bananas for the children, bread, bologna, and mustard for the homeless - lost souls from the outskirts of the city. They entered the basement of an abandoned building through labyrinthine paths surrounded by plywood and wrought iron fences. The building was marked with a red dot.
Around an improvised brick stove, illegally connected to the neighbourhood’s electricity network, sat Uncle Jim, Melissa, the children, and Baxter, opening cans of food received from a philanthropic organization. Baxter was a small mongrel with blue-blooded hunting dog lineage, who always hovered around Jim and helped him beg. Mrs. Axelton felt more compassion for the dog than for the family without a penny.
Jim spent his days in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral with Googie Gums, Mr. Blondey, Fane Fairfax, and Tane Cuthbert. They lived as best they could. On the drier days, they humbly lined up behind the priests, praying for them to give them something from the charity box. In the evenings, they opened a cheap two-litter bottle of beer, played backgammon, talked about the fate of the country, football, and the apocalypse.
One spring afternoon, a benevolent gentleman took Jim aside, treated him royally, and offered him an impossible-to-refuse deal. He handed him two thousand five hundred lei in cash, for which all he had to do was sign some blank documents. At that time, it was a good sum of money. Jim thought that luck had fallen upon him like a huge wheel of cheese, so he immediately accepted, without hesitation. With the money, he bought new clothes for Melissa, notebooks for the children, food, and drink in abundance.
At the beginning of the summer, a conflict erupted with Mr. Axelton over such an absurd issue that it would make customers of the "Tancredi Kingsley Jr." brewery doubt the honesty of the storyteller. Mrs. Axelton, a sensitive and volunteer person, was involved in a campaign to save stray dogs who, without the dedication of people like her, would have ended up in miserable shelters on the outskirts of the city. Those who were up for adoption were taken off the streets, washed, vaccinated, and sent to their new owners.
Jane, a neighbour from the ghetto, had told Jim one evening while gossiping on the roadside that significant profits could be made from selling animals. Therefore, seeing the strange pensioner walking through the neighbourhood week after week taking care of stray dogs, the idea arose in his mind that these actions could only have mercantile and hidden purposes, from which he was unfairly excluded from sharing the profits.
Despite Axelton's explanation, treating him to a sausage roll and a coffee from the vending machine, Jim remained unchanged in his opinions, considering his neighbour guilty of greed. When he saw him coming out of the building or on his way to the grocery store, he shouted at him from the other side of the street to demand an explanation and followed him grumpily like an unhappy landlord who had not been paid rent for a long time. He had become a real nuisance on the head of our unfortunate citizen, who now found himself forced to make unimaginable detours from the exit of the building to the bus station just to avoid the annoying neighbour with whom he did not want to continue the confrontation.
Part II
Fortunately, an unexpected twist of fate spared Mr. Axelton from a steep climb up the confrontation ladder when Jim was unexpectedly summoned to the station by a local police officer. It turns out he had signed a mortgage without any collateral which he had no chance of repaying in this lifetime. He was charged with fraud and sent to the White Gate prison for five years. No one visited him. When he was released, after two and a half years of serving, he limped and had only a few teeth left in his mouth. It was as if he had aged ten years.
Meanwhile, Melissa had coupled up with Fane and had a child with him. They moved together to the Hopeless Heights, a neighbourhood built specifically for needy people, and Jim's children were sent to an orphanage. Baxter was taken in by a kind-hearted nobleman who loved animals and owned a seafood restaurant, entrusting him to a mute maid who walked him around the blocks three times a day. Sometimes, on summer days, dressed in a bathrobe and a pair of flip-flops, Sir. Hatchet Jenkins would come out with two other small dogs as big as cats who walked swaying like wind-up toys. He walked the streets like a traveling circus performer, but if anyone dared to mock him, he became so furious that he turned into a steam boiler, blowing heat through his nostrils and obscenities at his enemy, threatening to punch them, showing them the cane he would strike his heels with.
Uncle Jim first moved in front of St. Nicholas Church, where Father Murphy O'Malley served. He was a small man, always carrying a leather briefcase like a spy movie security agent, had a carefully groomed moustache, a gold watch and ring, and patent leather shoes. Everyone said he had the gift. He came to church in a luxury car. When he opened the door, he was greeted by a multitude of beggars, some of whom had come from neighbouring quarters, trying to kiss his hand and ask for coins. Jim didn't last long there, the competition was too high.
Lately, he had been experiencing more frequent headaches. He walked with a cane down the narrow street, swaying in the wind like a turnip pulled from the ground. I didn't think he would last much longer, but Uncle Jim had a survival instinct that most mortals lack. He stopped first at Mr. Axelton's, with whom he had made amends in the meantime, and asked for a pair of boots for the snowy weather and a packet of aspirin for his headache. He found an old fur hat with ears that had been thrown away and drank a cup of mulled wine, given as charity for the souls of the dead. Then, he found shelter in a cave under the ruins of an abandoned manor.
In the morning, he emerged from the ground like a contemporary Lazarus and sat next to the all-night convenience store near the Agriculture Department. On his way out, the kindest customers would always leave him something: a roll, a coin with the king's face on it, half a salami stick, a pair of socks, a cube of melted cheese, or a bottle of curdled milk. He had a yellow plastic bag in which he loaded all of his products. In the evening, when he returned to his lair, it was always full of wonders.
Epilogue
When spring arrived, Jim began to bloom like snowdrops. His teeth grew anew, made of copper, his hair turned green like grass, his eyes started to distinguish details with the precision of an eagle, his skin became as smooth as that of young boys, his arms became steel, his forehead raised, his thoughts became clear, and his vision became as clear as that of great wise men. It was rumoured that he was making so much money that he could move to a hotel. The last time I saw him was on a foggy April morning. He got into a taxi and disappeared into the smoke of history.
submitted by TarbusCavarus to shortstories [link] [comments]
As the end of autumn approached, the chill of morning and evening began to cut through like a hunting knife. Through the tanker's windshield, the driver could see a woman wearing a knitted scarf and a blanket on her shoulders. She had sat down in the middle of the road and was howling long and heart-wrenching like a lament. Passers-by looked at her with horror, surprise, or contempt. When a lady in a fur coat approached her to inquire, the unfortunate woman began to roll on the ground, thrashing about like a rolling log heading down the valley, and screaming with even greater force and deeper sorrow, so loud that it could be heard all the way to the shire, after which she stopped in a sob, crying quietly like the water of a lowland spring. She was Uncle Jim's eldest daughter.
Part I
Mr. and Mrs. Axelton were two retirees with charitable souls. They had the sign of charity burning on the soles of their dusty, second-hand shoes, laced up with shoelaces they got from the thrift store. They brought a bag of beans for the dog, bananas for the children, bread, bologna, and mustard for the homeless - lost souls from the outskirts of the city. They entered the basement of an abandoned building through labyrinthine paths surrounded by plywood and wrought iron fences. The building was marked with a red dot.
Around an improvised brick stove, illegally connected to the neighbourhood’s electricity network, sat Uncle Jim, Melissa, the children, and Baxter, opening cans of food received from a philanthropic organization. Baxter was a small mongrel with blue-blooded hunting dog lineage, who always hovered around Jim and helped him beg. Mrs. Axelton felt more compassion for the dog than for the family without a penny.
Jim spent his days in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral with Googie Gums, Mr. Blondey, Fane Fairfax, and Tane Cuthbert. They lived as best they could. On the drier days, they humbly lined up behind the priests, praying for them to give them something from the charity box. In the evenings, they opened a cheap two-litter bottle of beer, played backgammon, talked about the fate of the country, football, and the apocalypse.
One spring afternoon, a benevolent gentleman took Jim aside, treated him royally, and offered him an impossible-to-refuse deal. He handed him two thousand five hundred lei in cash, for which all he had to do was sign some blank documents. At that time, it was a good sum of money. Jim thought that luck had fallen upon him like a huge wheel of cheese, so he immediately accepted, without hesitation. With the money, he bought new clothes for Melissa, notebooks for the children, food, and drink in abundance.
At the beginning of the summer, a conflict erupted with Mr. Axelton over such an absurd issue that it would make customers of the "Tancredi Kingsley Jr." brewery doubt the honesty of the storyteller. Mrs. Axelton, a sensitive and volunteer person, was involved in a campaign to save stray dogs who, without the dedication of people like her, would have ended up in miserable shelters on the outskirts of the city. Those who were up for adoption were taken off the streets, washed, vaccinated, and sent to their new owners.
Jane, a neighbour from the ghetto, had told Jim one evening while gossiping on the roadside that significant profits could be made from selling animals. Therefore, seeing the strange pensioner walking through the neighbourhood week after week taking care of stray dogs, the idea arose in his mind that these actions could only have mercantile and hidden purposes, from which he was unfairly excluded from sharing the profits.
Despite Axelton's explanation, treating him to a sausage roll and a coffee from the vending machine, Jim remained unchanged in his opinions, considering his neighbour guilty of greed. When he saw him coming out of the building or on his way to the grocery store, he shouted at him from the other side of the street to demand an explanation and followed him grumpily like an unhappy landlord who had not been paid rent for a long time. He had become a real nuisance on the head of our unfortunate citizen, who now found himself forced to make unimaginable detours from the exit of the building to the bus station just to avoid the annoying neighbour with whom he did not want to continue the confrontation.
Part II
Fortunately, an unexpected twist of fate spared Mr. Axelton from a steep climb up the confrontation ladder when Jim was unexpectedly summoned to the station by a local police officer. It turns out he had signed a mortgage without any collateral which he had no chance of repaying in this lifetime. He was charged with fraud and sent to the White Gate prison for five years. No one visited him. When he was released, after two and a half years of serving, he limped and had only a few teeth left in his mouth. It was as if he had aged ten years.
Meanwhile, Melissa had coupled up with Fane and had a child with him. They moved together to the Hopeless Heights, a neighbourhood built specifically for needy people, and Jim's children were sent to an orphanage. Baxter was taken in by a kind-hearted nobleman who loved animals and owned a seafood restaurant, entrusting him to a mute maid who walked him around the blocks three times a day. Sometimes, on summer days, dressed in a bathrobe and a pair of flip-flops, Sir. Hatchet Jenkins would come out with two other small dogs as big as cats who walked swaying like wind-up toys. He walked the streets like a traveling circus performer, but if anyone dared to mock him, he became so furious that he turned into a steam boiler, blowing heat through his nostrils and obscenities at his enemy, threatening to punch them, showing them the cane he would strike his heels with.
Uncle Jim first moved in front of St. Nicholas Church, where Father Murphy O'Malley served. He was a small man, always carrying a leather briefcase like a spy movie security agent, had a carefully groomed moustache, a gold watch and ring, and patent leather shoes. Everyone said he had the gift. He came to church in a luxury car. When he opened the door, he was greeted by a multitude of beggars, some of whom had come from neighbouring quarters, trying to kiss his hand and ask for coins. Jim didn't last long there, the competition was too high.
Lately, he had been experiencing more frequent headaches. He walked with a cane down the narrow street, swaying in the wind like a turnip pulled from the ground. I didn't think he would last much longer, but Uncle Jim had a survival instinct that most mortals lack. He stopped first at Mr. Axelton's, with whom he had made amends in the meantime, and asked for a pair of boots for the snowy weather and a packet of aspirin for his headache. He found an old fur hat with ears that had been thrown away and drank a cup of mulled wine, given as charity for the souls of the dead. Then, he found shelter in a cave under the ruins of an abandoned manor.
In the morning, he emerged from the ground like a contemporary Lazarus and sat next to the all-night convenience store near the Agriculture Department. On his way out, the kindest customers would always leave him something: a roll, a coin with the king's face on it, half a salami stick, a pair of socks, a cube of melted cheese, or a bottle of curdled milk. He had a yellow plastic bag in which he loaded all of his products. In the evening, when he returned to his lair, it was always full of wonders.
Epilogue
When spring arrived, Jim began to bloom like snowdrops. His teeth grew anew, made of copper, his hair turned green like grass, his eyes started to distinguish details with the precision of an eagle, his skin became as smooth as that of young boys, his arms became steel, his forehead raised, his thoughts became clear, and his vision became as clear as that of great wise men. It was rumoured that he was making so much money that he could move to a hotel. The last time I saw him was on a foggy April morning. He got into a taxi and disappeared into the smoke of history.
2023.06.07 17:13 alonealsoatnight Games that offer a strong traditional narrative/story without sacrificing gameplay
Super long post ahead, feel free to skip to the TL;DR. I simply want to help you to help me by explaining my needs in full.
I'm looking for some games to play over the summer that simply have good stories, in a traditional sense. Meaning they have characters, dialogue, development, a tangible plot, a start, beginning and an end... you know. But I'm not really looking for walking simulators or point&click adventures - I want something that also has traditional gameplay, with combat, puzzles, exploration etc.
Some of my favorite games of all time include titles like Dark Souls (1-3), Hollow Knight, Risk of Rain 2, Binding of Isaac, Spyro & Crash trilogies... and I am NOT looking for games like these. I don't think anyone would say that these games have bad stories. I could immerse myself in Dark Souls or RoR lore for hours, but... I hope you see the games don't really have traditional narratives, with proper plots and characters and stuff. The story is often told through notes or logs or implication, but I want traditional storytelling atm. Hollow Knight is probably closest to a traditional story, and even that isn't really enough for what I'm looking for. It's great though don't get me wrong.
However, my faves also include titles like SOMA. Fantastic story, great characters, all in all one of the most effective narratives I've experienced, but... not looking for that either. SOMA really has no gameplay. I enjoy it for what it is a ton but at the moment I want something more exciting.
More notes on what I'm NOT looking for:
-point&clicks, walking simulators or visual novels. Already said this but want to make sure. I yearn for more gameplay elemets. There are some games out there like Dredge that does have gameplay and I enjoyed it, but even that one is a bit too passive for what I'm after now.
-open world/nonlinear titles. I also adore Morrowind and Witcher 3 and they have both great stories and gameplay, but I want something more curated, with less sidequesting and fluff. Just a concise, solid story that's a full experience in and of itself. Or Outer Wilds - FANTASTIC game. Like, a masterpiece. But I'm not looking for something that open and freeform.
-JRPG. I love Final Fantasy, VI is probably my favorite game of all time. I also love LISA and Undertale and stuff like that. They're almost what I'm looking for and fit my criteria perfectly, I'm just not in the JRPG mood at the moment? Recommend anyway if you have something good in store.
-Games that are super short/artsy/super low budget. Please don't get me wrong, there are some absolute gems in this category. But I'm really looking for a proper, full game that's also technically impressive and doesn't feel "unfinished".
Enough about that, so what exactly could I be looking for? Any good examples you might ask? Well, one game that pops to mind is Silent Hill 2. Gameplay? Dated, but sure it has puzzles and combat and stuff. Story? Legendary.
This doesn't mean I'm looking for a horror game specifically, but I hope you get the gist. First Bioshock could be an another good example! The game can be any style however, top down, pixel art, hand drawn, you name it.
I'd also prefer newer games! But will check out older titles of course. I play on PC so would prefer Steam/GOG release. Thank you and sorry for the wall.
TL;DR - Looking for a game that has a great plot/story, that's told in a traditional way (so no lore hunting or reading notes to no end, has to have real dialogue, scenes, setpieces, plot development etc). I am not however looking for "pure story" like walking simulators. I also want good, fun gameplay. I don't want the gameplay to feel like it's just there as an afterthought, nor do I want the story to feel tacked on just for the sake of it. Both sides have to work. Thank you!
submitted by alonealsoatnight to gamingsuggestions [link] [comments]
I'm looking for some games to play over the summer that simply have good stories, in a traditional sense. Meaning they have characters, dialogue, development, a tangible plot, a start, beginning and an end... you know. But I'm not really looking for walking simulators or point&click adventures - I want something that also has traditional gameplay, with combat, puzzles, exploration etc.
Some of my favorite games of all time include titles like Dark Souls (1-3), Hollow Knight, Risk of Rain 2, Binding of Isaac, Spyro & Crash trilogies... and I am NOT looking for games like these. I don't think anyone would say that these games have bad stories. I could immerse myself in Dark Souls or RoR lore for hours, but... I hope you see the games don't really have traditional narratives, with proper plots and characters and stuff. The story is often told through notes or logs or implication, but I want traditional storytelling atm. Hollow Knight is probably closest to a traditional story, and even that isn't really enough for what I'm looking for. It's great though don't get me wrong.
However, my faves also include titles like SOMA. Fantastic story, great characters, all in all one of the most effective narratives I've experienced, but... not looking for that either. SOMA really has no gameplay. I enjoy it for what it is a ton but at the moment I want something more exciting.
More notes on what I'm NOT looking for:
-point&clicks, walking simulators or visual novels. Already said this but want to make sure. I yearn for more gameplay elemets. There are some games out there like Dredge that does have gameplay and I enjoyed it, but even that one is a bit too passive for what I'm after now.
-open world/nonlinear titles. I also adore Morrowind and Witcher 3 and they have both great stories and gameplay, but I want something more curated, with less sidequesting and fluff. Just a concise, solid story that's a full experience in and of itself. Or Outer Wilds - FANTASTIC game. Like, a masterpiece. But I'm not looking for something that open and freeform.
-JRPG. I love Final Fantasy, VI is probably my favorite game of all time. I also love LISA and Undertale and stuff like that. They're almost what I'm looking for and fit my criteria perfectly, I'm just not in the JRPG mood at the moment? Recommend anyway if you have something good in store.
-Games that are super short/artsy/super low budget. Please don't get me wrong, there are some absolute gems in this category. But I'm really looking for a proper, full game that's also technically impressive and doesn't feel "unfinished".
Enough about that, so what exactly could I be looking for? Any good examples you might ask? Well, one game that pops to mind is Silent Hill 2. Gameplay? Dated, but sure it has puzzles and combat and stuff. Story? Legendary.
This doesn't mean I'm looking for a horror game specifically, but I hope you get the gist. First Bioshock could be an another good example! The game can be any style however, top down, pixel art, hand drawn, you name it.
I'd also prefer newer games! But will check out older titles of course. I play on PC so would prefer Steam/GOG release. Thank you and sorry for the wall.
TL;DR - Looking for a game that has a great plot/story, that's told in a traditional way (so no lore hunting or reading notes to no end, has to have real dialogue, scenes, setpieces, plot development etc). I am not however looking for "pure story" like walking simulators. I also want good, fun gameplay. I don't want the gameplay to feel like it's just there as an afterthought, nor do I want the story to feel tacked on just for the sake of it. Both sides have to work. Thank you!
2023.06.07 16:39 SpacePaladin15 The Nature of Predators 122
First Prev
Patreon Arxur POV of the Cradle Series wiki Official subreddit Discord
---
Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, United Nations Fleet Command
Date [standardized human time]: January 15, 2137
I was claiming an unwanted milestone with this voyage; I was certain I was the furthest below water of any Gojid, who hadn’t already been dead and sinking, in history. Some predators were monitoring their scanners for the slightest sign of activity, though I was told an entire team was dedicated to sonar monitoring in a separate chamber too. Sitting in a dark room with headphones for hours, with no idea what was happening, sounded awful. The supervisory officials and secondary team here got a much better deal.
Additionally, fire control technicians oversaw guidance systems on the bridge. Most of their work was grounded in electronic and digital concerns. From what Onso had told me, this vessel had underwater missiles which were connected to the ship computer by wires. Once the payload got close enough to the target, an onboard homing mechanism took over.
By watching the various stations, I was beginning to decipher bits and pieces from their screens. Judging by the learning curve, anyone with training in starship sensors could adjust to sonar after a few days, in a pinch. Onso seemed aware of most duties, having studied up on the intricacies; I was grateful for his explanations. All the same, it was of some comfort that Tyler, Samantha, and Carlos were in unfamiliar territory too.
“We’re getting close to the presumed location of the Farsul base,” Carlos whispered. “There’s no telling what they’re hiding down here. Maybe it’s everything that’s been done to every species!”
Onso flicked his ears. “A proper database would help with bringing our culture back, exactly as it was. They’re the historian species, so it’s a good place to go digging. They have a weapon as great as any Kolshian tech: information. The baseline for every civilization that has ever lived.”
“I wonder what they have on humanity. Perhaps one or two things that are true?” Sam snickered.
Tyler pinched the bridge of his nose. “What made them so certain we died in nuclear Armageddon? How much did they hide about us?”
“I don’t know, but my ship’s doctor wrote a paper in an ethics class about why it was morally just to execute you for your aggression. They didn’t teach anything good about you,” I offered.
Samantha beamed with mock excitement. “Wow, what a splendid ethics class, and a rousing thesis by the good-hearted doctor! Meanwhile, our physicians swear an oath to do no harm. I’m glad that prey are so much more well-versed on right and wrong.”
Tyler struck a puzzled expression. “I took an ethics class in college, before I dropped out of that shit-hole to piss off my old man. Best decision of my life. Anyhow, there were some interesting dilemmas they brought up in that class. The trolley problem is about if it’s ethical to ever do harm, but for good, you know?”
“I don’t. What’s the trolley problem?” I asked.
“There’s a train going down a track toward five people. You can pull a lever so it only hits one dude on another path instead. Should you?”
“Why does anyone have to get run over by a train? Did Onso make this garbage up?”
The Yotul flashed his teeth with a growling sound, pinning his ears back against his head. I didn’t see why my question was objectionable; he was the one with an affinity for outdated trains, to the detriment of advancement. The marsupial made a point of lamenting railroad destruction when we first met.
“Oh, fuck off.” Tyler rolled his blue eyes, and raised his hands in exasperation. “Your ethics classes wanted to genocide our whole planet!”
Carlos nodded. “And us predators talk about killing the least amount of people. Even I see the irony.”
“The Federation has no redeeming attributes,” Sam hissed. “Guess we’re gonna get to see Baldy’s real culture soon. Then we’ll know if the rest of the galaxy used to have a brain.”
My spines bristled, at the thought of uncovering the original Gojid culture. While I knew that the Federation committed similar atrocities as omnivorous and predator races, it was still painful to think of our real history being flaunted in front of me. What if the Terrans could throw past atrocities in my face, and hammer home the fact that a species’ empathy wasn’t a prevailing factor against cruelty? I couldn’t imagine how it felt for the predators to continually defend their past.
If our past culture was depraved, I don’t want it rebuilt or brought back. We could’ve been like Onso’s kind, killing our own people over food.
The fact that I was worried about our discoveries meant I’d accepted the ludicrous idea that the Farsul had institutions beneath the waves. Perhaps I trusted the humans too much, but it was a rare occasion when they were off the mark. They’d been a reliable source of information, even if they weren’t often forthcoming. I studied Captain Fournier as he presided over the bridge; his words on submarine capabilities left me shaken.
Understanding why the predators behaved with such a laissez-faire attitude toward extinction was a moot point; worrying for them was the emotion I couldn’t squash. I knew the three humans from my shuttle were all from different tribes on Earth. If we won this war and peace prevailed in the galaxy, what was to stop the Terran settlements from pointing doomsday weapons at each other again? Would Samantha and Tyler be trying to kill each other?
There were certain crevasses in humanity’s history that were like a mirror, when the comparisons were spelled out in plain fashion. However, in this area, I wasn’t worried about similarities being unearthed. There was an inherent difference in our species’ aggressivity that was evident, given our contrasting sensibilities. It bothered me, knowing that Terrans were not suited to long-term cooperation with each other.
“Can your aggression ever truly sto—” I started to blurt.
A sonar supervisor barked words in a commanding voice, after receiving a broadband communique from her team. “Two matching acoustic signatures, 200 meters out. We’ve put a tracker on them and forwarded the data to weapons.”
Captain Fournier clasped his hands behind his back. “Two contacts, 200 meters out. We’ll log the sound patterns in our database. Maintain battle readiness and prepare to fire on my command.”
With enemy submersibles sighted, the crackpot underwater base theory looked more plausible. Onso’s eyes lit up, as the human shipmates coordinated various actions. I could see a security feed of the torpedo bay, where predators were prepared to physically load replacement weapons from racks. The munitions looked massive, even compared to a predator’s unyielding frame. Other Terrans were tending to pre-loaded tubes, hooking up communications cables.
The wires do seem a little primitive, but it’s stealthy and immune to interference. The predators have extravagant tech, yet it’s only used when it’s optimal.
Much of the necessary procedures and checks could be done by weapons specialists on the bridge. Captain Fournier growled the order to fire two torpedoes, and fire control ejected the munitions through the muzzle doors. Without a viewport, I could only judge the launch’s success from received data. From what I could tell, the twin projectiles were propelling themselves in the wrong direction.
Onso had noticed my confused gaze. “Yeah, they’re aimed off-kilter, just at first. Makes it difficult for the enemy to tell where the missile came from…to track it. It’s like interfering with targeting on a starship.”
The Yotul’s explanation proved correct again; fire control routed the torpedoes back on course, after their initial journey. The Farsul submarines were oblivious to the incoming weapons, and with our minimalist noise, they might not detect anything until their vessels were annihilated. The predatory nature of this sneak attack wasn’t lost on me. The humans operated unseen, not alerting foes to their presence until it was too late.
The cables were cut once the torpedoes were in seeking range; the warheads’ active sonar was inescapable in close proximity. The pings tipped off the exact enemy locations, and allowed last second course corrections. Human engineering was perfect in orchestrating a kill, as I never should’ve doubted. They’d risen to every challenge hurled at them, from bringing drones into spatial warfare, to shield-breaking missiles. The ocean was an old, familiar hunting ground to them, so this fight was both natural and intuitive.
Sonar screens lit up with bursts of noise, painting a story of metal cracking like a dropped fruit. The power of our munitions contributed to the explosion’s loudness too; that level of energy output was anything but quiet. Stealth was no longer necessary though, with our submarine’s proverbial fangs planted in the Farsul’s throats. I could imagine the two submerged vessels being spliced into shrapnel, as the detonations clashed against their plating.
Captain Fournier conversed with the sonar supervisor, before turning to the bridge. “Two confirmed kills. Continue on a descent course, in the direction of those ships.”
“We go toward them, we’ll find the base,” I muttered.
Onso wagged his tail. “We find the base, we save the Yotul. We rid ourselves of their influence once and for all!”
Samantha raised an eyebrow. “Assuming they don’t wipe digital data or blow up the base, when all is lost. They love scorched earth, lightly suggested by the whole exterminator hoopla. Better destroyed than used by predators.”
“You are irony-poisoned.” Carlos shook his head lightly. “We get to the Archives, and we find what we can. Even if they wipe servers, who says our techies can’t recover it?”
Our submarine descended ever deeper, pressing ahead toward the real Farsul Archives. Talsk’s moon was falling above us, and space fleets were clashing around the deorbiting body. All the same, the real battle was a handful of stealth ships here, dishing out silent strikes. We remained vigilant for other enemies, knowing we were close to the base’s suspected location. If they spotted us first, then they would have a chance to strike before we could.
Is there any way to defend against an oncoming torpedo, if the Farsul have such weapons? It seems like you never sense them coming, and you can’t…look out a window.
Captain Fournier pursed his lips. “Sweep the area with an active sonar ping. We need to get a read on the terrain and hopefully, the base’s exact location.”
The sonar supervisor relayed the orders, and Onso tensed up a little. The Yotul whispered to me that active pings gave away our position, by transmitting our own sound into the water. However, sailing blind into unknown territory could end us crashing, or missing the base altogether. We had to hold our breath, and pray the Farsul wouldn’t pick us up. Their capabilities were unknown, but they must possess listening devices for deep-water travel to be possible.
Knowing that we were more than a thousand meters below water, I didn’t want to find out what would happen to us if the ship imploded. It was impressive that it wasn’t crushed by the outside pressure already, come to think of it. At this depth, atmospheric pressure couldn’t be suitable for land lifeforms. That was a fear I didn’t need to dwell on.
The acoustic energy illuminated the terrain for our sightless submarine, allowing the predators to map their surroundings. I listened to the bridge chatter, as they scrambled to classify nearby points of interest. Echo sounding confirmed we were close to the ocean bottom; it was level apart from a few elevation shifts. Deep-sea invertebrates sprouted skeletons on the sea floor, wherever space was available. The most promising sign was a wide area of unusual signal absorption, which was believed to be the base.
As nervous as I was about getting attacked, well out of any sun’s eye, it seemed like we’d gotten away with the emitted ping. Perhaps it was foolish to assign human competence to the Farsul. Why would they expect to see other vessels on the seafloor, armed with a predator’s tech? How could a prey animal even think of using detection methods, which hunted other ships down for making the slightest noise?
The sonar supervisor stiffened. “Torpedo in the water!”
Oh stars. At least the humans had picked up a telltale propulsion system from the torpedo, but that meant the Farsul knew we were here. While there were other UN submarines en route, none were flanking us or backing us up. The predators better have some insane defensive tactics, or we would wind up in a million pieces. I didn’t like the prospect of my lungs being crushed.
“Brace yourselves for inbound munitions!” Captain Fournier growled into a microphone. “Return fire toward the source.”
The Farsul submarine was patrolling just shy of the Archives base, and wasn’t, to our knowledge, joined by any comrades. While taking immediate defensive steps, the Terrans dubiously focused on getting their own torpedo into the water. Skepticism marked itself on my face, but Onso leapt to the predators’ defense. The Yotul claimed this counterstrike was to prevent the enemy from firing again. I could feel my heart crawl into my throat, as our own projectile was spit back with haste.
Our submarine reoriented itself in the opposite direction, away from the base, and fled at maximum speed. The incoming torpedo had the edge in speed, so it seemed futile to run away. I guessed that the munition had limited fuel; even so, its tank wouldn’t run dry quick enough. We dove as close to the seafloor as we could risk, and the sharp descent almost made me tumble down the bridge.
The Farsul’s torpedo was gaining ground, threatening to sink us. Captain Fournier, just like his counterparts in the stars, was cool under pressure; he waited for the munitions to lock onto us. The bearded leader shouted for a sonar decoy to be deployed. As the deceitful device jetted away, I squinted for clues on nearby screens. Per Onso, it unleashed a cloak of bubbles and jamming frequencies, scrambling the missile’s sonar-seeking systems.
“Did it w-work?” I wrapped my claws around Carlos’ arm with the bear tattoo, remembering not to cling to Samantha again. “I hate water. I’ll take death by vacuum any day.”
Carlos squeezed my paw awkwardly. “I don’t know if it worked. We always hope for the best, but no combat situation is a guarantee. Just breathe, buddy.”
Our submersible attempted to skirt the torpedo’s search area, while it was hung up on the false targets our decoy provided. We veered well off to the side, and ensured absolute silence. The Deep Core looped back around, tiptoeing past the range we’d been chased from. There was no sign of an inbound contact following us. I realized we had successfully fooled the munition’s homing logic; I released Carlos’ arm at last.
Perhaps it had been wise of the Terrans to impart a shot back. Our foes were too preoccupied to send more trouble our way; one torpedo was enough.
Those thoughts reminded me that we had taken offensive actions to counter theirs. Sniffing out the vessel that attempted to sink us was a priority. The torpedo we’d fired at the Farsul submarine hadn’t found its mark, as the enemy managed to pull nifty evasive maneuvers. However, their engines stirred up ample noise, with that sudden haste. Though they had avoided our first missile, I thought we had a clear target for our next round.
However, it was not necessary to expend another weapon on this nefarious submarine. The Terran torpedo missed its target the first time, but it doubled back for another pass without warning. On the second attempt, it struck true into the hapless Farsul’s frame; another hostile was ravaged in the blink of an eye. The humans had a perfect sinking score, proving themselves to be the more devious prowlers.
I doubted the Farsul expected anyone to get this close to their lair; all we had to do was poke at their defenses from a few angles. If this mop-up was representative of our disparate power, the other UN submarines must be closing in on the base too. In space, losses and hardships could be inflicted upon the predators. However, land and sea appeared to be their chief dominion, where their exceptional talents put them miles ahead of the competition.
The oceanic path to the Farsul Archives had been cleared, and soon, humanity might begin to reclaim the actual history of the multitude of Federation species.
---
First Prev
Patreon Arxur POV of the Cradle Series wiki Official subreddit Discord
submitted by SpacePaladin15 to HFY [link] [comments]
Patreon Arxur POV of the Cradle Series wiki Official subreddit Discord
---
Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, United Nations Fleet Command
Date [standardized human time]: January 15, 2137
I was claiming an unwanted milestone with this voyage; I was certain I was the furthest below water of any Gojid, who hadn’t already been dead and sinking, in history. Some predators were monitoring their scanners for the slightest sign of activity, though I was told an entire team was dedicated to sonar monitoring in a separate chamber too. Sitting in a dark room with headphones for hours, with no idea what was happening, sounded awful. The supervisory officials and secondary team here got a much better deal.
Additionally, fire control technicians oversaw guidance systems on the bridge. Most of their work was grounded in electronic and digital concerns. From what Onso had told me, this vessel had underwater missiles which were connected to the ship computer by wires. Once the payload got close enough to the target, an onboard homing mechanism took over.
By watching the various stations, I was beginning to decipher bits and pieces from their screens. Judging by the learning curve, anyone with training in starship sensors could adjust to sonar after a few days, in a pinch. Onso seemed aware of most duties, having studied up on the intricacies; I was grateful for his explanations. All the same, it was of some comfort that Tyler, Samantha, and Carlos were in unfamiliar territory too.
“We’re getting close to the presumed location of the Farsul base,” Carlos whispered. “There’s no telling what they’re hiding down here. Maybe it’s everything that’s been done to every species!”
Onso flicked his ears. “A proper database would help with bringing our culture back, exactly as it was. They’re the historian species, so it’s a good place to go digging. They have a weapon as great as any Kolshian tech: information. The baseline for every civilization that has ever lived.”
“I wonder what they have on humanity. Perhaps one or two things that are true?” Sam snickered.
Tyler pinched the bridge of his nose. “What made them so certain we died in nuclear Armageddon? How much did they hide about us?”
“I don’t know, but my ship’s doctor wrote a paper in an ethics class about why it was morally just to execute you for your aggression. They didn’t teach anything good about you,” I offered.
Samantha beamed with mock excitement. “Wow, what a splendid ethics class, and a rousing thesis by the good-hearted doctor! Meanwhile, our physicians swear an oath to do no harm. I’m glad that prey are so much more well-versed on right and wrong.”
Tyler struck a puzzled expression. “I took an ethics class in college, before I dropped out of that shit-hole to piss off my old man. Best decision of my life. Anyhow, there were some interesting dilemmas they brought up in that class. The trolley problem is about if it’s ethical to ever do harm, but for good, you know?”
“I don’t. What’s the trolley problem?” I asked.
“There’s a train going down a track toward five people. You can pull a lever so it only hits one dude on another path instead. Should you?”
“Why does anyone have to get run over by a train? Did Onso make this garbage up?”
The Yotul flashed his teeth with a growling sound, pinning his ears back against his head. I didn’t see why my question was objectionable; he was the one with an affinity for outdated trains, to the detriment of advancement. The marsupial made a point of lamenting railroad destruction when we first met.
“Oh, fuck off.” Tyler rolled his blue eyes, and raised his hands in exasperation. “Your ethics classes wanted to genocide our whole planet!”
Carlos nodded. “And us predators talk about killing the least amount of people. Even I see the irony.”
“The Federation has no redeeming attributes,” Sam hissed. “Guess we’re gonna get to see Baldy’s real culture soon. Then we’ll know if the rest of the galaxy used to have a brain.”
My spines bristled, at the thought of uncovering the original Gojid culture. While I knew that the Federation committed similar atrocities as omnivorous and predator races, it was still painful to think of our real history being flaunted in front of me. What if the Terrans could throw past atrocities in my face, and hammer home the fact that a species’ empathy wasn’t a prevailing factor against cruelty? I couldn’t imagine how it felt for the predators to continually defend their past.
If our past culture was depraved, I don’t want it rebuilt or brought back. We could’ve been like Onso’s kind, killing our own people over food.
The fact that I was worried about our discoveries meant I’d accepted the ludicrous idea that the Farsul had institutions beneath the waves. Perhaps I trusted the humans too much, but it was a rare occasion when they were off the mark. They’d been a reliable source of information, even if they weren’t often forthcoming. I studied Captain Fournier as he presided over the bridge; his words on submarine capabilities left me shaken.
Understanding why the predators behaved with such a laissez-faire attitude toward extinction was a moot point; worrying for them was the emotion I couldn’t squash. I knew the three humans from my shuttle were all from different tribes on Earth. If we won this war and peace prevailed in the galaxy, what was to stop the Terran settlements from pointing doomsday weapons at each other again? Would Samantha and Tyler be trying to kill each other?
There were certain crevasses in humanity’s history that were like a mirror, when the comparisons were spelled out in plain fashion. However, in this area, I wasn’t worried about similarities being unearthed. There was an inherent difference in our species’ aggressivity that was evident, given our contrasting sensibilities. It bothered me, knowing that Terrans were not suited to long-term cooperation with each other.
“Can your aggression ever truly sto—” I started to blurt.
A sonar supervisor barked words in a commanding voice, after receiving a broadband communique from her team. “Two matching acoustic signatures, 200 meters out. We’ve put a tracker on them and forwarded the data to weapons.”
Captain Fournier clasped his hands behind his back. “Two contacts, 200 meters out. We’ll log the sound patterns in our database. Maintain battle readiness and prepare to fire on my command.”
With enemy submersibles sighted, the crackpot underwater base theory looked more plausible. Onso’s eyes lit up, as the human shipmates coordinated various actions. I could see a security feed of the torpedo bay, where predators were prepared to physically load replacement weapons from racks. The munitions looked massive, even compared to a predator’s unyielding frame. Other Terrans were tending to pre-loaded tubes, hooking up communications cables.
The wires do seem a little primitive, but it’s stealthy and immune to interference. The predators have extravagant tech, yet it’s only used when it’s optimal.
Much of the necessary procedures and checks could be done by weapons specialists on the bridge. Captain Fournier growled the order to fire two torpedoes, and fire control ejected the munitions through the muzzle doors. Without a viewport, I could only judge the launch’s success from received data. From what I could tell, the twin projectiles were propelling themselves in the wrong direction.
Onso had noticed my confused gaze. “Yeah, they’re aimed off-kilter, just at first. Makes it difficult for the enemy to tell where the missile came from…to track it. It’s like interfering with targeting on a starship.”
The Yotul’s explanation proved correct again; fire control routed the torpedoes back on course, after their initial journey. The Farsul submarines were oblivious to the incoming weapons, and with our minimalist noise, they might not detect anything until their vessels were annihilated. The predatory nature of this sneak attack wasn’t lost on me. The humans operated unseen, not alerting foes to their presence until it was too late.
The cables were cut once the torpedoes were in seeking range; the warheads’ active sonar was inescapable in close proximity. The pings tipped off the exact enemy locations, and allowed last second course corrections. Human engineering was perfect in orchestrating a kill, as I never should’ve doubted. They’d risen to every challenge hurled at them, from bringing drones into spatial warfare, to shield-breaking missiles. The ocean was an old, familiar hunting ground to them, so this fight was both natural and intuitive.
Sonar screens lit up with bursts of noise, painting a story of metal cracking like a dropped fruit. The power of our munitions contributed to the explosion’s loudness too; that level of energy output was anything but quiet. Stealth was no longer necessary though, with our submarine’s proverbial fangs planted in the Farsul’s throats. I could imagine the two submerged vessels being spliced into shrapnel, as the detonations clashed against their plating.
Captain Fournier conversed with the sonar supervisor, before turning to the bridge. “Two confirmed kills. Continue on a descent course, in the direction of those ships.”
“We go toward them, we’ll find the base,” I muttered.
Onso wagged his tail. “We find the base, we save the Yotul. We rid ourselves of their influence once and for all!”
Samantha raised an eyebrow. “Assuming they don’t wipe digital data or blow up the base, when all is lost. They love scorched earth, lightly suggested by the whole exterminator hoopla. Better destroyed than used by predators.”
“You are irony-poisoned.” Carlos shook his head lightly. “We get to the Archives, and we find what we can. Even if they wipe servers, who says our techies can’t recover it?”
Our submarine descended ever deeper, pressing ahead toward the real Farsul Archives. Talsk’s moon was falling above us, and space fleets were clashing around the deorbiting body. All the same, the real battle was a handful of stealth ships here, dishing out silent strikes. We remained vigilant for other enemies, knowing we were close to the base’s suspected location. If they spotted us first, then they would have a chance to strike before we could.
Is there any way to defend against an oncoming torpedo, if the Farsul have such weapons? It seems like you never sense them coming, and you can’t…look out a window.
Captain Fournier pursed his lips. “Sweep the area with an active sonar ping. We need to get a read on the terrain and hopefully, the base’s exact location.”
The sonar supervisor relayed the orders, and Onso tensed up a little. The Yotul whispered to me that active pings gave away our position, by transmitting our own sound into the water. However, sailing blind into unknown territory could end us crashing, or missing the base altogether. We had to hold our breath, and pray the Farsul wouldn’t pick us up. Their capabilities were unknown, but they must possess listening devices for deep-water travel to be possible.
Knowing that we were more than a thousand meters below water, I didn’t want to find out what would happen to us if the ship imploded. It was impressive that it wasn’t crushed by the outside pressure already, come to think of it. At this depth, atmospheric pressure couldn’t be suitable for land lifeforms. That was a fear I didn’t need to dwell on.
The acoustic energy illuminated the terrain for our sightless submarine, allowing the predators to map their surroundings. I listened to the bridge chatter, as they scrambled to classify nearby points of interest. Echo sounding confirmed we were close to the ocean bottom; it was level apart from a few elevation shifts. Deep-sea invertebrates sprouted skeletons on the sea floor, wherever space was available. The most promising sign was a wide area of unusual signal absorption, which was believed to be the base.
As nervous as I was about getting attacked, well out of any sun’s eye, it seemed like we’d gotten away with the emitted ping. Perhaps it was foolish to assign human competence to the Farsul. Why would they expect to see other vessels on the seafloor, armed with a predator’s tech? How could a prey animal even think of using detection methods, which hunted other ships down for making the slightest noise?
The sonar supervisor stiffened. “Torpedo in the water!”
Oh stars. At least the humans had picked up a telltale propulsion system from the torpedo, but that meant the Farsul knew we were here. While there were other UN submarines en route, none were flanking us or backing us up. The predators better have some insane defensive tactics, or we would wind up in a million pieces. I didn’t like the prospect of my lungs being crushed.
“Brace yourselves for inbound munitions!” Captain Fournier growled into a microphone. “Return fire toward the source.”
The Farsul submarine was patrolling just shy of the Archives base, and wasn’t, to our knowledge, joined by any comrades. While taking immediate defensive steps, the Terrans dubiously focused on getting their own torpedo into the water. Skepticism marked itself on my face, but Onso leapt to the predators’ defense. The Yotul claimed this counterstrike was to prevent the enemy from firing again. I could feel my heart crawl into my throat, as our own projectile was spit back with haste.
Our submarine reoriented itself in the opposite direction, away from the base, and fled at maximum speed. The incoming torpedo had the edge in speed, so it seemed futile to run away. I guessed that the munition had limited fuel; even so, its tank wouldn’t run dry quick enough. We dove as close to the seafloor as we could risk, and the sharp descent almost made me tumble down the bridge.
The Farsul’s torpedo was gaining ground, threatening to sink us. Captain Fournier, just like his counterparts in the stars, was cool under pressure; he waited for the munitions to lock onto us. The bearded leader shouted for a sonar decoy to be deployed. As the deceitful device jetted away, I squinted for clues on nearby screens. Per Onso, it unleashed a cloak of bubbles and jamming frequencies, scrambling the missile’s sonar-seeking systems.
“Did it w-work?” I wrapped my claws around Carlos’ arm with the bear tattoo, remembering not to cling to Samantha again. “I hate water. I’ll take death by vacuum any day.”
Carlos squeezed my paw awkwardly. “I don’t know if it worked. We always hope for the best, but no combat situation is a guarantee. Just breathe, buddy.”
Our submersible attempted to skirt the torpedo’s search area, while it was hung up on the false targets our decoy provided. We veered well off to the side, and ensured absolute silence. The Deep Core looped back around, tiptoeing past the range we’d been chased from. There was no sign of an inbound contact following us. I realized we had successfully fooled the munition’s homing logic; I released Carlos’ arm at last.
Perhaps it had been wise of the Terrans to impart a shot back. Our foes were too preoccupied to send more trouble our way; one torpedo was enough.
Those thoughts reminded me that we had taken offensive actions to counter theirs. Sniffing out the vessel that attempted to sink us was a priority. The torpedo we’d fired at the Farsul submarine hadn’t found its mark, as the enemy managed to pull nifty evasive maneuvers. However, their engines stirred up ample noise, with that sudden haste. Though they had avoided our first missile, I thought we had a clear target for our next round.
However, it was not necessary to expend another weapon on this nefarious submarine. The Terran torpedo missed its target the first time, but it doubled back for another pass without warning. On the second attempt, it struck true into the hapless Farsul’s frame; another hostile was ravaged in the blink of an eye. The humans had a perfect sinking score, proving themselves to be the more devious prowlers.
I doubted the Farsul expected anyone to get this close to their lair; all we had to do was poke at their defenses from a few angles. If this mop-up was representative of our disparate power, the other UN submarines must be closing in on the base too. In space, losses and hardships could be inflicted upon the predators. However, land and sea appeared to be their chief dominion, where their exceptional talents put them miles ahead of the competition.
The oceanic path to the Farsul Archives had been cleared, and soon, humanity might begin to reclaim the actual history of the multitude of Federation species.
---
First Prev
Patreon Arxur POV of the Cradle Series wiki Official subreddit Discord
2023.06.07 16:08 6YearOldGirl My husband convinced me to join Gielinor, now I want to thank him with an OSRS-themed Father's Day gift
My husband has been playing RuneScape since high school on and off. For the last 5 years or so, I've listened to his achievements like finally getting the Diary Cape and hitting rocks 12000 times to get a pet. He could talk for hours about the game and I just adored listening, but never really had interest in joining, myself.
I played FFXIV for a while, but couldn't get into the OSRS vibe because I was spoiled by pretty graphics and glamour hunting 😂. Well, I finally dove in about 2 weeks ago, and I TOTALLY get it! I've had so much fun running around, I get a kick out of the little jokes and puns scattered all around Gielinor. I'm an absolute noob who probably wastes an incredible amount of XP (much to the horror of my almost-maxed Partner), but I'm having FUN.
Since I'm so new, however, I'm not sure on all of the lore or memes or silly little experiences you all probably shared with him and it's making it difficult to come up with a real meaningful Father's Day gift. I was originally thinking of painting a silly little photo of Dad the Troll... Except this year I want to do something extremely special for him. There's just SO much!
So, I'd love to know some of your favorite memes, or events or whatever that has happened over the years that make you stay in the game. Maybe some of your favorite quotes from various quests? It doesn't have to be sappy or sweet or anything, as we are a pretty sarcastic household. I just want a taste of some of that sweet nostalgia I missed out on. Then I'm gonna try to take it all in and paint him something to make this Father's Day super special. I'm also thinking of having a week of OSRS-themed meals, so any food from the game that holds a special significance would be fun, as well.
Thanks, everyone! I know some of y'all can be grumbly, but honestly, I haven't had this much fun in a game in quite a while... So, thank you to all of you who make this hilariously silly old school game a joy to log into.
submitted by 6YearOldGirl to 2007scape [link] [comments]
I played FFXIV for a while, but couldn't get into the OSRS vibe because I was spoiled by pretty graphics and glamour hunting 😂. Well, I finally dove in about 2 weeks ago, and I TOTALLY get it! I've had so much fun running around, I get a kick out of the little jokes and puns scattered all around Gielinor. I'm an absolute noob who probably wastes an incredible amount of XP (much to the horror of my almost-maxed Partner), but I'm having FUN.
Since I'm so new, however, I'm not sure on all of the lore or memes or silly little experiences you all probably shared with him and it's making it difficult to come up with a real meaningful Father's Day gift. I was originally thinking of painting a silly little photo of Dad the Troll... Except this year I want to do something extremely special for him. There's just SO much!
So, I'd love to know some of your favorite memes, or events or whatever that has happened over the years that make you stay in the game. Maybe some of your favorite quotes from various quests? It doesn't have to be sappy or sweet or anything, as we are a pretty sarcastic household. I just want a taste of some of that sweet nostalgia I missed out on. Then I'm gonna try to take it all in and paint him something to make this Father's Day super special. I'm also thinking of having a week of OSRS-themed meals, so any food from the game that holds a special significance would be fun, as well.
Thanks, everyone! I know some of y'all can be grumbly, but honestly, I haven't had this much fun in a game in quite a while... So, thank you to all of you who make this hilariously silly old school game a joy to log into.
2023.06.07 14:19 HolyRebelzGaming Does coal consumption work offline?
So I mined my little butt off last night and found a crap tonne of coal, right? Well put 1000 of it into the steam generator to keep my base warm and powered while I went out to hunt raiders and find colonists to join. Getting tired so I made a little makeshift base and saved for the night. Logged back in today and went back to my base to see that it's dark and all the coal that I had just put into the generator was gone. Not sure if that is a bug or if the generator uses the coal even when you are not in game? I'm playing single player as well if that helps.
submitted by HolyRebelzGaming to FarworldPioneers [link] [comments]
2023.06.07 11:48 Srxq Euphoric City RP Public (Monday-Wednesday), Allowlisted (Thursday-Sunday), 18+
Website Discord Trailer
Euphoric City Roleplay is a semi-whitelisted FiveM server that focuses on quality roleplay and listening to community feedback. We maintain an active staff team and community, all of which work together to provide the best and most up-to-date FiveM server out there.
We are currently whitelisted on Thursdays - Sundays, open Mondays - Wednesdays
Our team has various people from all different walks of life, allowing us to come together and create something bigger than ourselves and something that we believe welcomes people of all different creeds.
Our community is one of the friendliest and most welcoming you will ever meet! Scared to get involved in a new server? No need to worry, someone will always be willing to help and show you the ropes! We like to show appreciation to our community by listening to them and implementing new features that they have asked for.
We are regularly bringing in new heists for you to work your way towards and become the most notorious criminal in Los Santos!
submitted by Srxq to FiveMServers [link] [comments]
Euphoric City Roleplay is a semi-whitelisted FiveM server that focuses on quality roleplay and listening to community feedback. We maintain an active staff team and community, all of which work together to provide the best and most up-to-date FiveM server out there.
We are currently whitelisted on Thursdays - Sundays, open Mondays - Wednesdays
Our team has various people from all different walks of life, allowing us to come together and create something bigger than ourselves and something that we believe welcomes people of all different creeds.
Our community is one of the friendliest and most welcoming you will ever meet! Scared to get involved in a new server? No need to worry, someone will always be willing to help and show you the ropes! We like to show appreciation to our community by listening to them and implementing new features that they have asked for.
Whitelisted Jobs
We offer various jobs which require a small application to join, in order to ensure they are conducted at the highest level possible, these include:- 🚓 Police Department
- 🚑 Emergency Medical Services
- ⚖ Department of Justice
- 🌐 Weazel
- 🏡 Real Estate
Player-Owned Businesses
We offer many player-owned businesses, as well as the chance to create your own from absolute scratch, only costing in-game money that you have earnt throughout your time in the city! If you wish to work for one of these, simply ask a manager or an owner of the business in the city!- 🍔 Burger Shot
- 👨🔧 Tuner Shop
- 🚗 PDM
- 🔧 Various Mechanics
- 💎 Diamond Casino
Civilian Jobs
We offer many civilian jobs that anyone can sign into can do in their free time for some cash on the side! These allow you to explore the city and are often a good first step for anybody new to the city!- 🗑 Garbage Truck Job
- 🦌 Enhanced Hunting
- 🎣 Enhanced Fishing
- 🚚 Trucking
- 🌾 Farming
- 🪓 Logging
- 👷♂️ Quarry
- ⛏ Mining
Illegal Jobs & Heists
We offer many illegal jobs, with our new and custom-made criminal reputation system, allowing criminals to work their way up in the criminal underworld and unlock various things as their reputation increases. At the absolute basic level, this includes store and house robberies, but as you gain a name in the city, this expands to so much more that you must find out in the city!We are regularly bringing in new heists for you to work your way towards and become the most notorious criminal in Los Santos!
Other Activities
Euphoric City offer a few activities to entertain you in your down time, these include:- 🎾 Tennis
- ⛳ Golf
- 🎳 Bowling
Custom Scripts
On top of all of this, we have made almost 95% of our scripts from absolute scratch, as well as offering various elements not seen before in any other city!- 💇♀️ Custom clothing & hair
- 🏢 Custom MLOs (All paid for & Up to date!)
- 🔨 Custom crafting system
2023.06.07 11:46 Srxq Euphoric City RP Public (Monday-Wednesday), Allowlisted (Thursday-Sunday), 18+
Website Discord Trailer
Euphoric City Roleplay is a semi-whitelisted FiveM server that focuses on quality roleplay and listening to community feedback. We maintain an active staff team and community, all of which work together to provide the best and most up-to-date FiveM server out there.
We are currently whitelisted on Thursdays - Sundays, open Mondays - Wednesdays
Our team has various people from all different walks of life, allowing us to come together and create something bigger than ourselves and something that we believe welcomes people of all different creeds.
Our community is one of the friendliest and most welcoming you will ever meet! Scared to get involved in a new server? No need to worry, someone will always be willing to help and show you the ropes! We like to show appreciation to our community by listening to them and implementing new features that they have asked for.
We are regularly bringing in new heists for you to work your way towards and become the most notorious criminal in Los Santos!
submitted by Srxq to GTA5Roleplay [link] [comments]
Euphoric City Roleplay is a semi-whitelisted FiveM server that focuses on quality roleplay and listening to community feedback. We maintain an active staff team and community, all of which work together to provide the best and most up-to-date FiveM server out there.
We are currently whitelisted on Thursdays - Sundays, open Mondays - Wednesdays
Our team has various people from all different walks of life, allowing us to come together and create something bigger than ourselves and something that we believe welcomes people of all different creeds.
Our community is one of the friendliest and most welcoming you will ever meet! Scared to get involved in a new server? No need to worry, someone will always be willing to help and show you the ropes! We like to show appreciation to our community by listening to them and implementing new features that they have asked for.
Whitelisted Jobs
We offer various jobs which require a small application to join, in order to ensure they are conducted at the highest level possible, these include:- 🚓 Police Department
- 🚑 Emergency Medical Services
- ⚖ Department of Justice
- 🌐 Weazel
- 🏡 Real Estate
Player-Owned Businesses
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2023.06.07 09:04 TheGeekyZoologist Jurassic World: The Hegemony of Biosyn (JWD rewrite) - Act III
See the previous posts: https://www.reddit.com/JurassicPark/comments/1419mpy/jurassic_world_the_hegemony_of_biosyn_dominion/ https://www.reddit.com/JurassicPark/comments/142b35e/jurassic_world_the_hegemony_of_biosyn_jwd_rewrite/
Visually confirming Rainn's revelation, Victoria is shown in a cage inside Amelia Everett's lab, within Biosyn's Citadel. Mia does her best to comfort the scared and depressed Achillobator and her motivations are explored shortly after. It's revealed that due to her experience within the team who made the Indominus and the Indoraptor, Biosyn tasked her with reviving InGen's IBRIS program by breeding raptors with high obedience potential. However, none of the achillobators cloned by Biosyn proved to be trainable enough for the program's ambitions (even though they attempted to mimic Owen's experience by having keepers being there at the animals' birth), which displeased Dodgson and the other higher-ups, who are now favouring another research team, who focuses on a more intrusive way of controlling dinosaurs. Basically treated as a second-class researcher amidst a rather toxic work environment, Mia became desperate enough to hire poachers to capture Blue, which she intended to breed with their achillobators in order to finally have trainable individuals. As Victoria is not sexually mature, Mia is in front of a considerable setback and fears that Dodgson will pull the plug due to her lack of results, especially in this troubled period for Biosyn.
The tying noose
The next day, the intel collected by the UN agents (people involved in the Black Market, Biosyn's connections with it) are sent to the nearby countries, including Italy, where an arrest warrant is launched against Kayla.
On his side, Isaac Gibbon is contacted by Bigelow who tells him about the debacle of their mission in Malta, saying that Claire and Owen saved the grey guards from disaster. He orders her to stay in Italy for the moment and wait for new orders. Shortly receives, he receives a candidate for a desk job in the DSD: It's Franklin. Gibbon tells Franklin he heard about his bravery during the 2019 incidents and his past connection with InGen (Before the DPG, Franklin worked for it as an IT Technician), before asking questions about Claire as he is aware that she collaborated with him not only on some occasions in the past few years but also in the 2019 Costa Rican incident, where Franklin was the couple's companion while they were running from InGen's agents and the authorities.
Dubrovnik
The inhabitants and tourists of the Croatian seaside city of Dubrovnik are surprised when a Biosyn Quetzalcoatlus descends upon the old town and starts attacking people. As a joke similar to one in TLW with the Japanese businessman and his reference to Godzilla, some extra could yell in Valyrian "I left Westeros because of this!" or "By the Seven, not again!" (Dubrovnik was one of Game of Thrones' filming location).
Ramsay's email
In a manner similar to the Hawaii attack scene in Gareth Edwards' Godzilla, the Dubrovnik scene cuts just as the Quetzal swoops on the bystanders and we are now in the bar of Biosyn's employee village. Wu is watching the news of the Dubrovnik attack on the TV (there is even a declaration from Zoe Murdoch, in which she denies the pterosaur came from Auronzo's Sanctuary and was probably created by a rival company who somehow put their hands upon Biosyn Quetzalcoatlus DNA. In the bar, someone whisper that one of their Quetzals did escaped from the valley thanks to the temporary deactivation of the invisible fence system and that Dodgson has launched an investigation to know who's responsible) when he receives a mysterious email from Ramsay, which includes the name of some woman. Wu search it on the internet and ends up on IMDB where he discovers that the adult "Charlotte" on the videos is actually an actress who lives in London.
Arrest
In Rome, early in the morning, Kayla is arrested in her flat by the police as she is accused of illegal smuggling.
Viscontini
Following all the incidents in the Alps, the clash in the Sabine Hills and the recent Dubrovnik attack, people gets pissed at Biosyn and protests occur in several locations, including Rome. In the Italian Ministry of the Interior, Viscontini has an argument with Pazzi, declaring that they need to take severe actions against Biosyn but the minister retorts that taking large-scale actions against the corporation might trigger a whole deal of undesirable consequences, including deteriorating US-Italian relations due to the close ties between Biosyn and the US government. He won't risk that just because of some rumours, weak proof and small incidents. Viscontini retorts that soon, Biosyn might have an angry mob showing at its gates with the goal of driving it out of Italy.
Following Vuillier's instructions, Claire, Owen, Nyamu and Dougal leave Malta the same day and fly to the Eternal City, where they have to meet Viscontini in the AISI headquarters. There, they have a video call with Vuillier. He and Viscontini wants to send the trio of WDMC agents to Auronzo Valley so they can infiltrate Biosyn's facility, find compromising information and transmit them to the Italian authorities, hoping to finally convince Pazzi and the rest of the government to take action against Biosyn. However, one of the agents points out that they will need an entrance ticket as one doesn't simply walk into Auronzo, since the borders of Biosyn's lands are guarded and monitored while some people disappeared after going too close from the Sanctuary (anti-Biosyn activists, reckless adventurers, Grendel Corporation's spies, others from the AISI's and Austrian government). Viscontini declare they might have that ticket.
We cut to Kayla in her prison cell. The guard announces she has visit and she is brought to a room where Viscontini and Dougal waits for her. The head of the AISI and the WDMC agent then negotiate with her: In exchange for her freedom, she will bring Dougal, Claire and Owen to Biosyn's Sanctuary. However, Viscontini precise he'll have her hunted down if she ever betrays them.
Kayla raises the fact that she can't show up at Auronzo like this and needs a motive. Viscontini and Dougal then talk about the animals seized in Malta's black market.
Theo's Mission
That day, Wu summons Theo, explain the whole issue with the fake Charlotte and ask him to go to London, find the actress and question her about the videos so they can have proofs to show Maisie, who started to really become insufferable because of Dodgson's bad influence (in that part of the story, one of the few scenes where she's likeable is one where she and Drummond bonds over the common passion for dinosaurs). The ex-mercenary soon leaves Auronzo, taking a bus for Venice in the nearest village while Wu explains to Pellegrino and Dodgson that Theo had urgent family matters to deal with in the UK.
Leaving San Francisco
Desiring to supervise the Dolomites Crisis more closely, Vuillier fly to Italy.
Nine containers
As evidence of Biosyn's possible connections to the Maltese black market has been discussed on the news, Dodgson knows it's a matter of time before Vuillier, the Italians or the Austrians send people in Auronzo and expose Biosyn's misdeeds.
We then follow Pellegrino's POV as she oversees the exit of nine large mysterious containers from the Citadel and their departure from the airstrip just outside the valley. One of her subordinates asks what's inside and she answers that she has no idea, with Dodgson only giving her a series of instructions. They watch the containers being flown abroad.
The following day, Pellegrino speak about it to Wu and other employees with anti-Dodgson sentiments like Drummond. She notices that Wu is uncomfortable as they talk about it and realize he must be hiding something. Ramsay, who just arrived from the US in preparation for a big corporate event in the Citadel, almost surprise their discussion. As they're not sure if they can trust him or not, they pretend it's nothing. Wu then phones Theo and asks him about his secret mission's progress.
London
In London, Theo finds the actress from the videos and initially posing as a reporter, filming her in an interview, he then ask her questions about the videos and after some hesitations, she concedes to give him answers and reveals among other things that the shooting occurred a few months ago in some local warehouse, that the director of those videos is none other than Colin Trevorrow (who, desperate for a job after the debacle of the Jurassic World film, accepted to participate to that project, oblivious that Biosyn was behind it since a dummy company took care of the production).
AISI
Vuillier arrives in Rome and meets with his agents, Nyamu and Viscontini in one of the AISI headquarters' conference rooms, where a map of Auronzo Valley and its surroundings has been laid. Kayla is also there and offscreen, our characters talk about the plan.
At the end of the meeting, everyone but Vuillier and Viscontini leave the room. Both have a secret conversation during which the Italian say that the Grey Guard's Mediterranean Company, supported by the Austrians and secretly by him (as he fears that Biosyn has informers within the Italian government), are deployed in one of the villages near Auronzo, and is supposed to act as a Plan B should the Claire-Owen-Dougal trio fail, by taking a secret path through an old mine and a mountain pass before breaking into Biosyn's citadel. The WDMC agents don't know that and when Vuillier ask why, Viscontini answers that it's better that way (should the agents be captured ant tortured, they won't tell Biosyn that there is a second team) and that the secret path isn't safer as one of his spy was killed by some creature after taking it and arriving in sight of the valley. He thinks that a small dozen of grey guards have better chances surviving the pass' guardian(s) than three civilian agents.
To the Dolomites
The next day, in the middle of the morning, Kayla is preparing her plane in some airstrip near Rome and the seized creature from the black market is loaded in the hold (I have no idea which species to choose). Equipped by the Italians, Claire, Owen and Dougal say farewell to Vuillier, Nyamu and Viscontini. The Frenchman tells Claire that it's time to unleash the She-wolf upon Dodgson but Claire correct him by saying "Not the She-wolf. The Dragon." (in this AU, she has a particular connection with the dragon-like Indominus), implying she'll get the mission done whatever it takes. He and the other two men wish them good luck and the trio of WDMC agents climb aboard the plane. They soon take off.
Biosyn's aerial defense
Kayla's plane arrives in sight of the mountains which delimit Biosyn's Sanctuary. Informed of their mission by Vuillier and Viscontini, one of the grey guards is watching the plane through his binoculars as it passes over the village where they are staying.
Kayla is soon contacted by the Citadel's control room as they detected the aircraft on their radars and they ask her why she's coming. The pilot answer that she collected an animal which might interest them (she told the WDMC agents and the Italians that Biosyn doesn't have this particular species in their Sanctuary) and ask to land on their airstrip. While the Biosyn employees discuss, the plane is about to enter Auronzo Valley by the east, as that part of the sanctuary is the furthest from most of the buildings (while the airstrip is in the northernmost parts of Biosyn's lands, beyond the mountains with the frozen dam lake) and thus where Claire, Owen and Dougal has the best chances of landing unnoticed. The trio of agents take their parachutes and prepare to jump, but at the same time, Dodgson, who heard that Kayla was arrested by the authorities just a few days ago, fears that her plane is a Trojan horse and decides to activate the valley's "aerial defense". On the screen of one of the room's monitors, we see a group of dots heading straight towards the plane. It's actually a group of pteranodons, from the same toothed variant as those who appeared in Jurassic Park 3 (there is even at least one black male identical to the scrapped one from Johnston's film), and they just collide with the plane, crashing against the cockpit and getting turned to shred by the rotors' blades, damaging the plane (the scene is partly inspired by a cutscene from the Ninth Mission of Paraworld's campaign). Owen wonder why those pteranodons behave in a suicidal manner. Suddenly, the pteranodons retreat and as their window is shrinking, the agents know they have to jump now (they've reached the middle of the valley and their trajectory deviated northwards, towards the mountain dam). Claire jumps first but as Owen is about to jump in his turn, the plane is attacked by a Quetzalcoatlus and the Raptor Whisperer sees another and a few pteranodons chasing her fiancée, whose parachute opened. Claire shakes the pterosaurs off by disappearing into the valley's dense forest. As they will be grabbed by the attacking pterosaurs as soon as they leave the aircraft, Owen, Dougal and Kayla stay inside it and brace for the crash. The plane crashes down at the surface of the frozen lake by the mountain dam in the northern part of the valley.
Back in Rome, Vuillier, Nyamu and Viscontini are worried as they heard the agents and the pterosaurs' screams (they had an open channel all that time with Kayla's plane). They hope the agents will survive this ordeal and activate the beacons they were given before their departure.
Note: The fate of the animal they took with them is still unclear for me. It really depends on the chosen species. If it's something large and potentially dangerous, Kayla would probably want to drop it in the valley in order to have a lighter plane and not deal with it after crashing. But if it's a creature about the size of a small dog for example, they could free it as they leave the wreckage.
Gigantoraptor
We then cut to Claire hanging in the trees but instead of a Therizinosaurus (which already appeared in TRQ. Moreover, Claire had a small arc with this species in that story), she is threatened by a Gigantoraptor. The scene plays out much like the Theri scene from Trevorrow's version, with Claire hiding in a pond etc.. Once the Gigantoraptor walks away, Claire gets out of the pond and sees the fumes from the plane's crash in the distance, behind the mountain dam.
The dam lake
Before it sinks in the lake, Owen, Dougal and Kayla leave her plane and step on the ice. Under it, they notice a large shadow and know they better move away from the lake. They notice a ladder by the dam but as they head towards it, a Quetzalcoatlus or a Pteranodon lands on their way. They step back, moving towards an opening on the lake's surface. Suddenly, a giant 9-meters long temnospondyl (based upon an unnamed and fragmentary genus from Lesotho) burst out the water, almost killing one of the characters. Ensue a scene where our three protagonists have to evade both the pterosaur and the amphibian. The pterosaur ends up being dragged underwater by the temnospondyl but other pterosaurs arrive and to escape them, our trio climbs on the dam and rushes to its elevator, going down in the valley. Down at the dam's base, they notice it's dilapidated and Kayla tell her two companions that Biosyn sell some of its power to the nearest villages.
Note: The main doubt I have about this scene is having a temnospondyl living in the icy water of a mountain lake. It might be too much of a stretch so if you think it's not realistic at all, it will be scrapped from the scene (and perhaps be replaced by a juvenile Baryonyx or something like this, an animal which could be also the one our characters brought with them in the plane.
Plan B
Since the agents lost their beacons during the pterosaurs' attack and the crash, they couldn't tell Rome that they were still alive. Vuillier and Viscontini fear the worst and send a message to Laurenzo Cesare.
Droppings
Meanwhile, Claire started walking towards the dam, hoping to find her companions on the way if they made it out alive from the crash. When she hears a racket in the woods, she hides and a Biosyn tyrannosaur arrives. But it's not on a hunting mode and instead, it just leaves some droppings on a log near Claire's hiding place. After the predator leaves, she approaches the log and smears her face with the droppings, remembering her "Walk in the Park" with Owen when they searched her nephews during the Fall of Jurassic World (the droppings hide her smell, dissuading the other animals to investigate her).
Argument
An argument bursts out between Owen, Dougal and Kayla while they're walking south. The first wants to find his fiancée, the second says that their mission is more important, and Kayla is mad at both men since she lost her plane (and livelihood) because of the WDMC's mission. And unsure about her intentions, the two men distrust her but she tries to reassure them by saying that Biosyn can fuck off since they are also responsible for destroying her plane.
However, the Sanctuary's denizens remind them that they better be united or else it will be the failure of their quest.
At some distance, in the middle of the fog, they see the recognizable silhouette of a sauropod, that of an Argentinosaurus (the species was seen in the distance and mentioned earlier in the story. Instead of Argentinosaurus, it could also be another large titanosaur). However, this herbivore has the particularity of having a symbiotic relation with some small carnivore species within Biosyn Sanctuary (I'm more thinking about a pterosaur or a flying/semi-arboreal theropod than a strictly ground-dwelling predator. For now, the baboon-sized Variraptor is my candidate), with the Argentinosaurus letting those carnivores eat its parasites and the insects flying around it while the carnivores will let out an alarm call shall a large predator approach. It could be illustrated in a scene where an Acrocanthosaurus (the one from the Drive-in scene) is spotted by the carnivores as it passes by. The Argentinosaurus turns to face the larger predator, adopt a defensive posture, and as the acro hasn't yet moved, the smaller carnivores take off from the sauropod and flies straight to the acro's head. Harassed by those creatures, the Acrocanthosaurus retreats. Thus, if those small carnivores (which we'll call the Argentinosaurus' suite) are brave enough to attack a megatheropod, our three protagonists know they're not safe and that they better move away.
The Sanctuary's true nature
While still heading north, Claire's path crosses that of a bull Shantungosaurus. She move out of his way and stay still. She and the audience recognize the animal as he was already in the JW rewrite and TRQ (in the first story, he gained some scars after a fight with a few Metriacanthosaurus), where he was a secondary "character" (and a threat in a few scenes). Both have a peaceful scene where they make eye contact but that quiet moment is shattered when a gunshot resounds in the forest and the hadrosaur flees, badly wounded. Claire hides and in the distance, she sees a hunter, accompanied by a couple of Biosyn security guards and another employee which she presume is some sort of supervisohunting guide. Watching how the hunter is dressed and how he behave in the wild, she knows he's not a professional hunter but just a rich hobbyist and then realizes the Sanctuary's true nature: It's a hunting reserve. As the Shantungosaurus escaped them, the hunter express his discontentment at the guide, which promise to find him another quarry. They leave and following the blood trail left by the hadrosaur, Claire finds him by a stream. His wounds are too grievous and he's too weak to lash out at Claire, who kneels by his head, trying to comfort him in his last moments, up until his last breath. Watching another of her former park's animals dying fills Claire with not only grief, but also anger. She change her plans and heads back south instead of continuing northward, following the hunting party's track.
Note: It doesn't necessarily have to be a Shantungosaurus in the role of the animal shot by the hunters, but it have to be a recognizable animal from the previous installments for emotional impact and Claire's development (another candidate could be the Therizinosaurus from TRQ)
She later finds another hunting party. One of its members, a Biosyn guard, pulls out an item she recognize: a raptor resonating chamber. The guard use it like a bird call and soon, an Achillobator, arrive, believing it heard one of its kind. The poor animal is shot by the hunters, who scream in satisfaction before taking a picture with their quarry. They then brings it to the Biosyn vehicle waiting nearby but before they leave (after having a short conversation during they mention that another team captured the rex and is bringing it the paddocks), Claire deliberately attract the attention of one of the guards, the same one which used the resonating chamber, and he say to his companions he won't be long. He move away from the road and deeper in the woods, he fall into Claire's ambush. She kill him, loot some of his equipment (including the resonating chamber), hide his body and leave. Worried for his colleague, the other guard with the hunters orders the guide to drive them back to the lodge, and search his friend. But he too is murdered by Claire, who takes a small metallic box on him. Activating the box, she realize it's a sonic weapon she has seen before, in the hands of InGen Security's elite troops during the fall of Isla Nublar (it's like a weaponized version of the box Dodgson and his companions have in Crichton's TLW). She turns it off, take it with her and follows the hunters vehicle's tracks on the road, towards the lodge.
However, Claire ignores she's being watched, and not by human eyes...
Over hill
Cesare and his men leave their accommodation and head for the frontiers of Biosyn's lands. Leaving their vehicles near a ruined fort, the grey guards start their trek while the sun is setting behind the mountains ahead of them.
A bed in the trees
As walking through the valley at night would be too dangerous, Owen, Dougal and Kayla decide to find a resting place and climb in a tree. From it, they have a panorama on a nearby lake and notice they are approximately halfway between the dam and the Citadel. At this moment, we also have peaceful scenes with the valley's denizens at dusk (Pelecanimimus fishing in the lake, herbivores drinking nearby, the same Spinosaurus from the report at the beginning peacefully sitting on the bank like an oversized duck...).
Theo's peace
In the evening, just a few hours before his flight to Venice, Theo also passes by his former home, which he left years ago before joining Ken Wheatley's mercenary company. His ex-wife still lives here and noticing that she started a new life with another man and seems happy, he walks away in peace, leaving behind him the last picture he had of himself and her (earlier in the story, Theo is seen looking at said picture).
The secret path
Back in Italy, the grey guards find the entrance of an old mine and enter it, taking the path that will allow them to pass under the limits of Biosyn's lands.
Mercenaries
Mercenary troops land in Biosyn's airstrip and their leader is brought to the Citadel. He has a discussion with Dodgson behind closed doors.
Foes... or allies?
A few hours after nightfall, Claire finally finds a large old chalet with typical Tyrolean architecture: The Hunting Lodge (it's implied that it was built way before Biosyn bought those lands, when the area was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before WWI). Claire remarks it's surrounded by an invisible fence (identical to the one from Jurassic World Evolution 2's Biosyn DLC) which prevents the animals from getting too close. Aware that the lodge wouldn't be a shelter for her and that its occupants probably outnumber her, she turns away from it, continuing to wander in the woods. But just a few minutes later, she hears sound in the nearby bushes. Aware she might be hunted, she is ready to use the ultrasound box and fight for her life. A pack of Achillobators shows up, menacingly walking towards her. At the same time, it starts to rain.
Claire first thinks of using the box and running away while the predators would be bothered by the sound but she knows it will be useless in the long run as they could track her all across the Sanctuary. She then remembers the reports she read earlier in the story, and especially that of the 2001 incident on Sorna, where Alan Grant and his companions walked out alive and unharmed from a close encounter with raptors.
In dire straits, she makes up a desperate plan and carefully, she pulls out the resonating chamber she stole from the Biosyn guards. She uses it and due to their bad experience in the sanctuary with the resonating chambers' usual users, the raptors get agitated but their pack leader tells them to calm down as Claire doesn't seem to be a Biosyn guard or a hunter. The pack leader walks alone towards Claire and sniffs the dried blood on her hands and clothes, realizing it belongs to other humans. Nothing happens for a moment and then the pack leader lets out a bark. Behind Claire, two raptors move aside. Slowly walking backwards, watching carefully the raptors' moves, Claire exits the circle made by the surrounding predators and continues doing so until she's at a respectable distance. At the beginning, the raptors just watch her but as she's heading towards the Hunting Lodge, she hears them following her. However, she is aware that they would have already pounced on her if they wanted to eat her and knows that they're more intrigued. Meanwhile, the rain intensifies (there could also be a storm).
Claire reaches the invisible fence, crosses it, and searches for its power source. But as she's sabotaging it, the Lodge caretaker (a gnarly-looking old local man) spots her and frightened by her look, runs away towards the building. She is forced to catch him and, after a short struggle, kill him with her knife before he can raise the alarm. After showing some trouble due to killing a probable innocent, she resumes her sabotage and the fence is deactivated. The raptors cross it and see Claire entering the lodge. Near its entrance, she finds a sword hanging on the wall as a decorative element and noticing it's still sharp, she takes it along with its sheath and heads for the rooms. Behind her, the raptors open the door and silently enter in the lodge. In the hallway which leads to the rooms, Claire stays still when the raptors walk past her as they head to the rooms and grin as her audacious plan is working. Claire enters one of the rooms, raises her sword blade over a sleeping hunter and when the time comes, thrust it into his body. Meanwhile, the raptors open other doors and entering the rooms, they rush on the sleepers. Slaughter ensues and only those who locked up their doors have the time to wake up, grab a weapon and fight for their very survival. Some of the lodge's occupants offer some resistance in the lounge but there, Claire activates the sonic weapon she stole and an ear-piercing sharp sound comes from it. While the raptors back off behind her, their common enemies kneel and scream in pain and Claire (who put on some earplug) slashes their throats, deactivate the weapon, and let the raptors tear the hunters alive while she raids some items (stuff like snacks, water, a first-aid kit, a map...) and leave, disappearing in the woods.
A bit later, she finds a small cave whose entrance is high from the ground and rest in it, sleeping until mid-morning.
The mountain's pass
At the end of their night-long ascent, the grey guards arrive in a pass/cave where they found human bones, which they presume to be those of the AISI's spy Viscontini told them about, and the remains of a Biosyn drone. Soon after, they are attacked by the guardian animal(s) the corporation left there to kill any trespasser coming from that direction. (I haven't chosen any species yet). They manage to defeat it (or them) and dawn break out as they arrive at a vista point which overlooks the valley. The grey guards observe it, the eyes of Cesare stop on the Citadel for a moment, and they retreat back inside the mountain to rest a few hours before descending into the valley. They send a message to Vuillier and Viscontini, telling them that they're inside the Sanctuary.
Traces of a slaughter
During their early morning patrol, a security team discovers that a massacre occurred during the night in the Hunting Lodge. They find clues indicating that someone helped the raptors and participated in the killings. The control room check the Lodge CCTV footage and fear spreads like wildfire among the staff when they discover the culprit is a sinister-looking black-clad hooded woman. Seeing that one of the figure's hand is a prosthesis and that the other wear a silver ring with a red gem, they realize it's Claire and Dodgson pretty much start to crap his pants (partly because one of the hunters was a very wealthy and powerful foreign client whose disappearance won't go unnoticed). Since she made it out alive from the plane's crash, Dodgson fears that the other WDMC agents might have too. When asked about the slaughter itself, Dodgson orders his staff to cover it up for the moment, as he don't want to worry the board of directors who are set to arrive later that day for a big event he planned in the evening.
Theo's return
Theo returns to Auronzo and Wu, who just learned about Claire's presence in the valley, tells him that they must get Maisie out of the facility as soon as possible since disaster tends to follow Claire like a shadow.
Taking the gloves off
However, Maisie has meanwhile discovered that the videos were another lie, by recognizing one of the scientists from the video, who also work at the Citadel (and who didn't aged, even though the adult Charlotte's video was supposed to be taken fourteen years ago). Aware that the gentle method is no longer considerable, Dodgson decides to use the hard one and Doctor Lesser locks Maisie in a cell within her lab, to which Wu can't access. Lesser reveal that it wasn't Wu who told Dodgson that she was a clone but the spy he has among Lockwood Manor's employees, and that the only true part in the video was the one about the genetic disease: Charlotte did had it, just like her mother Elizabeth before that (she died in 1993 and it was because of her Lockwood and Hammond fell out), and had the car accident which took her life didn't happened, the disease would have killed her a few years later. As he wanted Maisie to have a long life, Benjamin Lockwood asked the scientists he hired (there is a whole subplot about what they became in TRQ) to cure it and they did find a way. As the scientists' notes were accidently destroyed, the solution is now within Maisie's body, and Dodgson wants it so he can put new drugs on the market.
Before it's too late, Wu and Theo, with Ramsay's help, start organizing Maisie's evasion. The geneticist mentions a secret trail from WWI in the northeastern mountains: It's their escape route. He then heads for his lab, planning something else.
Tracking Claire
Curious about Biosyn's movements around the Hunting Lodge, Owen, Dougal and Kayla investigate it after the departure of the security troops. They discover evidence of Claire's passage and Owen tries to follow her fiancée's tracks. Kayla and/or Dougal make comments about the slaughter of the hunters.
Bigelow's last chance
Isaac Gibbon gives Jessica Bigelow a new mission: Go to Auronzo and ensure the evacuation of Lewis Dodgson and Biosyn's most important research. The agent ask her boss why and he said that he just received news that Biosyn is compromised. He also precise that it's her last chance after the Malta fiasco. Bigelow leave her safe house in central Italy and goes north.
Shady preparations
Continuing south, Owen, Dougal and Kayla see mercenaries positioning some sort of moveable antenna on a ridge which overlooks the road which connects the Citadel to the valley's northern continue, as finding Claire and entering the Citadel is more urgent.
The gathering of the clouds
One of the control room's employees ask Dodgson to come. He shows him footage from the Biosyn lands's southern gate, near the employee village.
Before the gate, a group of Carabinieri stand, showing to the guards and the security cameras a search warrant: The government finally decided to act against Biosyn. But Dodgson refuses to open the gates for the Carabinieri and orders the mercenaries who arrived during the night to intimidate them. The Carabinieri move away from the gate, with their leader warning against the consequences of such an action. At a respectable distance from the gate, Vuillier, Viscontini and Nyamu watched the scene. Soon, other groups of Carabinieri are deployed along the other entrances to Biosyn's lands. The siege of Auronzo has started.
Hearing about the siege's situation, some employees leave their post and head for the metro (which connects the Citadel to the village. Another loop also connects the Citadel to the various facilities across the Sanctuary, including the seven towers and the dam), in order to go to the village and then hoping to be able to leave Biosyn's lands before things starts to get too ugly but Dodgson's has the metro's station locked and commands them to go back to their posts. Seeing their CEO starting to act like Hitler in his bunker, they are afraid.
End of Act III.
See you tomorrow for Act IV
submitted by TheGeekyZoologist to JurassicPark [link] [comments]
Act III - The Gathering of the Clouds
Mia EverettVisually confirming Rainn's revelation, Victoria is shown in a cage inside Amelia Everett's lab, within Biosyn's Citadel. Mia does her best to comfort the scared and depressed Achillobator and her motivations are explored shortly after. It's revealed that due to her experience within the team who made the Indominus and the Indoraptor, Biosyn tasked her with reviving InGen's IBRIS program by breeding raptors with high obedience potential. However, none of the achillobators cloned by Biosyn proved to be trainable enough for the program's ambitions (even though they attempted to mimic Owen's experience by having keepers being there at the animals' birth), which displeased Dodgson and the other higher-ups, who are now favouring another research team, who focuses on a more intrusive way of controlling dinosaurs. Basically treated as a second-class researcher amidst a rather toxic work environment, Mia became desperate enough to hire poachers to capture Blue, which she intended to breed with their achillobators in order to finally have trainable individuals. As Victoria is not sexually mature, Mia is in front of a considerable setback and fears that Dodgson will pull the plug due to her lack of results, especially in this troubled period for Biosyn.
The tying noose
The next day, the intel collected by the UN agents (people involved in the Black Market, Biosyn's connections with it) are sent to the nearby countries, including Italy, where an arrest warrant is launched against Kayla.
On his side, Isaac Gibbon is contacted by Bigelow who tells him about the debacle of their mission in Malta, saying that Claire and Owen saved the grey guards from disaster. He orders her to stay in Italy for the moment and wait for new orders. Shortly receives, he receives a candidate for a desk job in the DSD: It's Franklin. Gibbon tells Franklin he heard about his bravery during the 2019 incidents and his past connection with InGen (Before the DPG, Franklin worked for it as an IT Technician), before asking questions about Claire as he is aware that she collaborated with him not only on some occasions in the past few years but also in the 2019 Costa Rican incident, where Franklin was the couple's companion while they were running from InGen's agents and the authorities.
Dubrovnik
The inhabitants and tourists of the Croatian seaside city of Dubrovnik are surprised when a Biosyn Quetzalcoatlus descends upon the old town and starts attacking people. As a joke similar to one in TLW with the Japanese businessman and his reference to Godzilla, some extra could yell in Valyrian "I left Westeros because of this!" or "By the Seven, not again!" (Dubrovnik was one of Game of Thrones' filming location).
Ramsay's email
In a manner similar to the Hawaii attack scene in Gareth Edwards' Godzilla, the Dubrovnik scene cuts just as the Quetzal swoops on the bystanders and we are now in the bar of Biosyn's employee village. Wu is watching the news of the Dubrovnik attack on the TV (there is even a declaration from Zoe Murdoch, in which she denies the pterosaur came from Auronzo's Sanctuary and was probably created by a rival company who somehow put their hands upon Biosyn Quetzalcoatlus DNA. In the bar, someone whisper that one of their Quetzals did escaped from the valley thanks to the temporary deactivation of the invisible fence system and that Dodgson has launched an investigation to know who's responsible) when he receives a mysterious email from Ramsay, which includes the name of some woman. Wu search it on the internet and ends up on IMDB where he discovers that the adult "Charlotte" on the videos is actually an actress who lives in London.
Arrest
In Rome, early in the morning, Kayla is arrested in her flat by the police as she is accused of illegal smuggling.
Viscontini
Following all the incidents in the Alps, the clash in the Sabine Hills and the recent Dubrovnik attack, people gets pissed at Biosyn and protests occur in several locations, including Rome. In the Italian Ministry of the Interior, Viscontini has an argument with Pazzi, declaring that they need to take severe actions against Biosyn but the minister retorts that taking large-scale actions against the corporation might trigger a whole deal of undesirable consequences, including deteriorating US-Italian relations due to the close ties between Biosyn and the US government. He won't risk that just because of some rumours, weak proof and small incidents. Viscontini retorts that soon, Biosyn might have an angry mob showing at its gates with the goal of driving it out of Italy.
Following Vuillier's instructions, Claire, Owen, Nyamu and Dougal leave Malta the same day and fly to the Eternal City, where they have to meet Viscontini in the AISI headquarters. There, they have a video call with Vuillier. He and Viscontini wants to send the trio of WDMC agents to Auronzo Valley so they can infiltrate Biosyn's facility, find compromising information and transmit them to the Italian authorities, hoping to finally convince Pazzi and the rest of the government to take action against Biosyn. However, one of the agents points out that they will need an entrance ticket as one doesn't simply walk into Auronzo, since the borders of Biosyn's lands are guarded and monitored while some people disappeared after going too close from the Sanctuary (anti-Biosyn activists, reckless adventurers, Grendel Corporation's spies, others from the AISI's and Austrian government). Viscontini declare they might have that ticket.
We cut to Kayla in her prison cell. The guard announces she has visit and she is brought to a room where Viscontini and Dougal waits for her. The head of the AISI and the WDMC agent then negotiate with her: In exchange for her freedom, she will bring Dougal, Claire and Owen to Biosyn's Sanctuary. However, Viscontini precise he'll have her hunted down if she ever betrays them.
Kayla raises the fact that she can't show up at Auronzo like this and needs a motive. Viscontini and Dougal then talk about the animals seized in Malta's black market.
Theo's Mission
That day, Wu summons Theo, explain the whole issue with the fake Charlotte and ask him to go to London, find the actress and question her about the videos so they can have proofs to show Maisie, who started to really become insufferable because of Dodgson's bad influence (in that part of the story, one of the few scenes where she's likeable is one where she and Drummond bonds over the common passion for dinosaurs). The ex-mercenary soon leaves Auronzo, taking a bus for Venice in the nearest village while Wu explains to Pellegrino and Dodgson that Theo had urgent family matters to deal with in the UK.
Leaving San Francisco
Desiring to supervise the Dolomites Crisis more closely, Vuillier fly to Italy.
Nine containers
As evidence of Biosyn's possible connections to the Maltese black market has been discussed on the news, Dodgson knows it's a matter of time before Vuillier, the Italians or the Austrians send people in Auronzo and expose Biosyn's misdeeds.
We then follow Pellegrino's POV as she oversees the exit of nine large mysterious containers from the Citadel and their departure from the airstrip just outside the valley. One of her subordinates asks what's inside and she answers that she has no idea, with Dodgson only giving her a series of instructions. They watch the containers being flown abroad.
The following day, Pellegrino speak about it to Wu and other employees with anti-Dodgson sentiments like Drummond. She notices that Wu is uncomfortable as they talk about it and realize he must be hiding something. Ramsay, who just arrived from the US in preparation for a big corporate event in the Citadel, almost surprise their discussion. As they're not sure if they can trust him or not, they pretend it's nothing. Wu then phones Theo and asks him about his secret mission's progress.
London
In London, Theo finds the actress from the videos and initially posing as a reporter, filming her in an interview, he then ask her questions about the videos and after some hesitations, she concedes to give him answers and reveals among other things that the shooting occurred a few months ago in some local warehouse, that the director of those videos is none other than Colin Trevorrow (who, desperate for a job after the debacle of the Jurassic World film, accepted to participate to that project, oblivious that Biosyn was behind it since a dummy company took care of the production).
AISI
Vuillier arrives in Rome and meets with his agents, Nyamu and Viscontini in one of the AISI headquarters' conference rooms, where a map of Auronzo Valley and its surroundings has been laid. Kayla is also there and offscreen, our characters talk about the plan.
At the end of the meeting, everyone but Vuillier and Viscontini leave the room. Both have a secret conversation during which the Italian say that the Grey Guard's Mediterranean Company, supported by the Austrians and secretly by him (as he fears that Biosyn has informers within the Italian government), are deployed in one of the villages near Auronzo, and is supposed to act as a Plan B should the Claire-Owen-Dougal trio fail, by taking a secret path through an old mine and a mountain pass before breaking into Biosyn's citadel. The WDMC agents don't know that and when Vuillier ask why, Viscontini answers that it's better that way (should the agents be captured ant tortured, they won't tell Biosyn that there is a second team) and that the secret path isn't safer as one of his spy was killed by some creature after taking it and arriving in sight of the valley. He thinks that a small dozen of grey guards have better chances surviving the pass' guardian(s) than three civilian agents.
To the Dolomites
The next day, in the middle of the morning, Kayla is preparing her plane in some airstrip near Rome and the seized creature from the black market is loaded in the hold (I have no idea which species to choose). Equipped by the Italians, Claire, Owen and Dougal say farewell to Vuillier, Nyamu and Viscontini. The Frenchman tells Claire that it's time to unleash the She-wolf upon Dodgson but Claire correct him by saying "Not the She-wolf. The Dragon." (in this AU, she has a particular connection with the dragon-like Indominus), implying she'll get the mission done whatever it takes. He and the other two men wish them good luck and the trio of WDMC agents climb aboard the plane. They soon take off.
Biosyn's aerial defense
Kayla's plane arrives in sight of the mountains which delimit Biosyn's Sanctuary. Informed of their mission by Vuillier and Viscontini, one of the grey guards is watching the plane through his binoculars as it passes over the village where they are staying.
Kayla is soon contacted by the Citadel's control room as they detected the aircraft on their radars and they ask her why she's coming. The pilot answer that she collected an animal which might interest them (she told the WDMC agents and the Italians that Biosyn doesn't have this particular species in their Sanctuary) and ask to land on their airstrip. While the Biosyn employees discuss, the plane is about to enter Auronzo Valley by the east, as that part of the sanctuary is the furthest from most of the buildings (while the airstrip is in the northernmost parts of Biosyn's lands, beyond the mountains with the frozen dam lake) and thus where Claire, Owen and Dougal has the best chances of landing unnoticed. The trio of agents take their parachutes and prepare to jump, but at the same time, Dodgson, who heard that Kayla was arrested by the authorities just a few days ago, fears that her plane is a Trojan horse and decides to activate the valley's "aerial defense". On the screen of one of the room's monitors, we see a group of dots heading straight towards the plane. It's actually a group of pteranodons, from the same toothed variant as those who appeared in Jurassic Park 3 (there is even at least one black male identical to the scrapped one from Johnston's film), and they just collide with the plane, crashing against the cockpit and getting turned to shred by the rotors' blades, damaging the plane (the scene is partly inspired by a cutscene from the Ninth Mission of Paraworld's campaign). Owen wonder why those pteranodons behave in a suicidal manner. Suddenly, the pteranodons retreat and as their window is shrinking, the agents know they have to jump now (they've reached the middle of the valley and their trajectory deviated northwards, towards the mountain dam). Claire jumps first but as Owen is about to jump in his turn, the plane is attacked by a Quetzalcoatlus and the Raptor Whisperer sees another and a few pteranodons chasing her fiancée, whose parachute opened. Claire shakes the pterosaurs off by disappearing into the valley's dense forest. As they will be grabbed by the attacking pterosaurs as soon as they leave the aircraft, Owen, Dougal and Kayla stay inside it and brace for the crash. The plane crashes down at the surface of the frozen lake by the mountain dam in the northern part of the valley.
Back in Rome, Vuillier, Nyamu and Viscontini are worried as they heard the agents and the pterosaurs' screams (they had an open channel all that time with Kayla's plane). They hope the agents will survive this ordeal and activate the beacons they were given before their departure.
Note: The fate of the animal they took with them is still unclear for me. It really depends on the chosen species. If it's something large and potentially dangerous, Kayla would probably want to drop it in the valley in order to have a lighter plane and not deal with it after crashing. But if it's a creature about the size of a small dog for example, they could free it as they leave the wreckage.
Gigantoraptor
We then cut to Claire hanging in the trees but instead of a Therizinosaurus (which already appeared in TRQ. Moreover, Claire had a small arc with this species in that story), she is threatened by a Gigantoraptor. The scene plays out much like the Theri scene from Trevorrow's version, with Claire hiding in a pond etc.. Once the Gigantoraptor walks away, Claire gets out of the pond and sees the fumes from the plane's crash in the distance, behind the mountain dam.
The dam lake
Before it sinks in the lake, Owen, Dougal and Kayla leave her plane and step on the ice. Under it, they notice a large shadow and know they better move away from the lake. They notice a ladder by the dam but as they head towards it, a Quetzalcoatlus or a Pteranodon lands on their way. They step back, moving towards an opening on the lake's surface. Suddenly, a giant 9-meters long temnospondyl (based upon an unnamed and fragmentary genus from Lesotho) burst out the water, almost killing one of the characters. Ensue a scene where our three protagonists have to evade both the pterosaur and the amphibian. The pterosaur ends up being dragged underwater by the temnospondyl but other pterosaurs arrive and to escape them, our trio climbs on the dam and rushes to its elevator, going down in the valley. Down at the dam's base, they notice it's dilapidated and Kayla tell her two companions that Biosyn sell some of its power to the nearest villages.
Note: The main doubt I have about this scene is having a temnospondyl living in the icy water of a mountain lake. It might be too much of a stretch so if you think it's not realistic at all, it will be scrapped from the scene (and perhaps be replaced by a juvenile Baryonyx or something like this, an animal which could be also the one our characters brought with them in the plane.
Plan B
Since the agents lost their beacons during the pterosaurs' attack and the crash, they couldn't tell Rome that they were still alive. Vuillier and Viscontini fear the worst and send a message to Laurenzo Cesare.
Droppings
Meanwhile, Claire started walking towards the dam, hoping to find her companions on the way if they made it out alive from the crash. When she hears a racket in the woods, she hides and a Biosyn tyrannosaur arrives. But it's not on a hunting mode and instead, it just leaves some droppings on a log near Claire's hiding place. After the predator leaves, she approaches the log and smears her face with the droppings, remembering her "Walk in the Park" with Owen when they searched her nephews during the Fall of Jurassic World (the droppings hide her smell, dissuading the other animals to investigate her).
Argument
An argument bursts out between Owen, Dougal and Kayla while they're walking south. The first wants to find his fiancée, the second says that their mission is more important, and Kayla is mad at both men since she lost her plane (and livelihood) because of the WDMC's mission. And unsure about her intentions, the two men distrust her but she tries to reassure them by saying that Biosyn can fuck off since they are also responsible for destroying her plane.
However, the Sanctuary's denizens remind them that they better be united or else it will be the failure of their quest.
At some distance, in the middle of the fog, they see the recognizable silhouette of a sauropod, that of an Argentinosaurus (the species was seen in the distance and mentioned earlier in the story. Instead of Argentinosaurus, it could also be another large titanosaur). However, this herbivore has the particularity of having a symbiotic relation with some small carnivore species within Biosyn Sanctuary (I'm more thinking about a pterosaur or a flying/semi-arboreal theropod than a strictly ground-dwelling predator. For now, the baboon-sized Variraptor is my candidate), with the Argentinosaurus letting those carnivores eat its parasites and the insects flying around it while the carnivores will let out an alarm call shall a large predator approach. It could be illustrated in a scene where an Acrocanthosaurus (the one from the Drive-in scene) is spotted by the carnivores as it passes by. The Argentinosaurus turns to face the larger predator, adopt a defensive posture, and as the acro hasn't yet moved, the smaller carnivores take off from the sauropod and flies straight to the acro's head. Harassed by those creatures, the Acrocanthosaurus retreats. Thus, if those small carnivores (which we'll call the Argentinosaurus' suite) are brave enough to attack a megatheropod, our three protagonists know they're not safe and that they better move away.
The Sanctuary's true nature
While still heading north, Claire's path crosses that of a bull Shantungosaurus. She move out of his way and stay still. She and the audience recognize the animal as he was already in the JW rewrite and TRQ (in the first story, he gained some scars after a fight with a few Metriacanthosaurus), where he was a secondary "character" (and a threat in a few scenes). Both have a peaceful scene where they make eye contact but that quiet moment is shattered when a gunshot resounds in the forest and the hadrosaur flees, badly wounded. Claire hides and in the distance, she sees a hunter, accompanied by a couple of Biosyn security guards and another employee which she presume is some sort of supervisohunting guide. Watching how the hunter is dressed and how he behave in the wild, she knows he's not a professional hunter but just a rich hobbyist and then realizes the Sanctuary's true nature: It's a hunting reserve. As the Shantungosaurus escaped them, the hunter express his discontentment at the guide, which promise to find him another quarry. They leave and following the blood trail left by the hadrosaur, Claire finds him by a stream. His wounds are too grievous and he's too weak to lash out at Claire, who kneels by his head, trying to comfort him in his last moments, up until his last breath. Watching another of her former park's animals dying fills Claire with not only grief, but also anger. She change her plans and heads back south instead of continuing northward, following the hunting party's track.
Note: It doesn't necessarily have to be a Shantungosaurus in the role of the animal shot by the hunters, but it have to be a recognizable animal from the previous installments for emotional impact and Claire's development (another candidate could be the Therizinosaurus from TRQ)
She later finds another hunting party. One of its members, a Biosyn guard, pulls out an item she recognize: a raptor resonating chamber. The guard use it like a bird call and soon, an Achillobator, arrive, believing it heard one of its kind. The poor animal is shot by the hunters, who scream in satisfaction before taking a picture with their quarry. They then brings it to the Biosyn vehicle waiting nearby but before they leave (after having a short conversation during they mention that another team captured the rex and is bringing it the paddocks), Claire deliberately attract the attention of one of the guards, the same one which used the resonating chamber, and he say to his companions he won't be long. He move away from the road and deeper in the woods, he fall into Claire's ambush. She kill him, loot some of his equipment (including the resonating chamber), hide his body and leave. Worried for his colleague, the other guard with the hunters orders the guide to drive them back to the lodge, and search his friend. But he too is murdered by Claire, who takes a small metallic box on him. Activating the box, she realize it's a sonic weapon she has seen before, in the hands of InGen Security's elite troops during the fall of Isla Nublar (it's like a weaponized version of the box Dodgson and his companions have in Crichton's TLW). She turns it off, take it with her and follows the hunters vehicle's tracks on the road, towards the lodge.
However, Claire ignores she's being watched, and not by human eyes...
Over hill
Cesare and his men leave their accommodation and head for the frontiers of Biosyn's lands. Leaving their vehicles near a ruined fort, the grey guards start their trek while the sun is setting behind the mountains ahead of them.
A bed in the trees
As walking through the valley at night would be too dangerous, Owen, Dougal and Kayla decide to find a resting place and climb in a tree. From it, they have a panorama on a nearby lake and notice they are approximately halfway between the dam and the Citadel. At this moment, we also have peaceful scenes with the valley's denizens at dusk (Pelecanimimus fishing in the lake, herbivores drinking nearby, the same Spinosaurus from the report at the beginning peacefully sitting on the bank like an oversized duck...).
Theo's peace
In the evening, just a few hours before his flight to Venice, Theo also passes by his former home, which he left years ago before joining Ken Wheatley's mercenary company. His ex-wife still lives here and noticing that she started a new life with another man and seems happy, he walks away in peace, leaving behind him the last picture he had of himself and her (earlier in the story, Theo is seen looking at said picture).
The secret path
Back in Italy, the grey guards find the entrance of an old mine and enter it, taking the path that will allow them to pass under the limits of Biosyn's lands.
Mercenaries
Mercenary troops land in Biosyn's airstrip and their leader is brought to the Citadel. He has a discussion with Dodgson behind closed doors.
Foes... or allies?
A few hours after nightfall, Claire finally finds a large old chalet with typical Tyrolean architecture: The Hunting Lodge (it's implied that it was built way before Biosyn bought those lands, when the area was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before WWI). Claire remarks it's surrounded by an invisible fence (identical to the one from Jurassic World Evolution 2's Biosyn DLC) which prevents the animals from getting too close. Aware that the lodge wouldn't be a shelter for her and that its occupants probably outnumber her, she turns away from it, continuing to wander in the woods. But just a few minutes later, she hears sound in the nearby bushes. Aware she might be hunted, she is ready to use the ultrasound box and fight for her life. A pack of Achillobators shows up, menacingly walking towards her. At the same time, it starts to rain.
Claire first thinks of using the box and running away while the predators would be bothered by the sound but she knows it will be useless in the long run as they could track her all across the Sanctuary. She then remembers the reports she read earlier in the story, and especially that of the 2001 incident on Sorna, where Alan Grant and his companions walked out alive and unharmed from a close encounter with raptors.
In dire straits, she makes up a desperate plan and carefully, she pulls out the resonating chamber she stole from the Biosyn guards. She uses it and due to their bad experience in the sanctuary with the resonating chambers' usual users, the raptors get agitated but their pack leader tells them to calm down as Claire doesn't seem to be a Biosyn guard or a hunter. The pack leader walks alone towards Claire and sniffs the dried blood on her hands and clothes, realizing it belongs to other humans. Nothing happens for a moment and then the pack leader lets out a bark. Behind Claire, two raptors move aside. Slowly walking backwards, watching carefully the raptors' moves, Claire exits the circle made by the surrounding predators and continues doing so until she's at a respectable distance. At the beginning, the raptors just watch her but as she's heading towards the Hunting Lodge, she hears them following her. However, she is aware that they would have already pounced on her if they wanted to eat her and knows that they're more intrigued. Meanwhile, the rain intensifies (there could also be a storm).
Claire reaches the invisible fence, crosses it, and searches for its power source. But as she's sabotaging it, the Lodge caretaker (a gnarly-looking old local man) spots her and frightened by her look, runs away towards the building. She is forced to catch him and, after a short struggle, kill him with her knife before he can raise the alarm. After showing some trouble due to killing a probable innocent, she resumes her sabotage and the fence is deactivated. The raptors cross it and see Claire entering the lodge. Near its entrance, she finds a sword hanging on the wall as a decorative element and noticing it's still sharp, she takes it along with its sheath and heads for the rooms. Behind her, the raptors open the door and silently enter in the lodge. In the hallway which leads to the rooms, Claire stays still when the raptors walk past her as they head to the rooms and grin as her audacious plan is working. Claire enters one of the rooms, raises her sword blade over a sleeping hunter and when the time comes, thrust it into his body. Meanwhile, the raptors open other doors and entering the rooms, they rush on the sleepers. Slaughter ensues and only those who locked up their doors have the time to wake up, grab a weapon and fight for their very survival. Some of the lodge's occupants offer some resistance in the lounge but there, Claire activates the sonic weapon she stole and an ear-piercing sharp sound comes from it. While the raptors back off behind her, their common enemies kneel and scream in pain and Claire (who put on some earplug) slashes their throats, deactivate the weapon, and let the raptors tear the hunters alive while she raids some items (stuff like snacks, water, a first-aid kit, a map...) and leave, disappearing in the woods.
A bit later, she finds a small cave whose entrance is high from the ground and rest in it, sleeping until mid-morning.
The mountain's pass
At the end of their night-long ascent, the grey guards arrive in a pass/cave where they found human bones, which they presume to be those of the AISI's spy Viscontini told them about, and the remains of a Biosyn drone. Soon after, they are attacked by the guardian animal(s) the corporation left there to kill any trespasser coming from that direction. (I haven't chosen any species yet). They manage to defeat it (or them) and dawn break out as they arrive at a vista point which overlooks the valley. The grey guards observe it, the eyes of Cesare stop on the Citadel for a moment, and they retreat back inside the mountain to rest a few hours before descending into the valley. They send a message to Vuillier and Viscontini, telling them that they're inside the Sanctuary.
Traces of a slaughter
During their early morning patrol, a security team discovers that a massacre occurred during the night in the Hunting Lodge. They find clues indicating that someone helped the raptors and participated in the killings. The control room check the Lodge CCTV footage and fear spreads like wildfire among the staff when they discover the culprit is a sinister-looking black-clad hooded woman. Seeing that one of the figure's hand is a prosthesis and that the other wear a silver ring with a red gem, they realize it's Claire and Dodgson pretty much start to crap his pants (partly because one of the hunters was a very wealthy and powerful foreign client whose disappearance won't go unnoticed). Since she made it out alive from the plane's crash, Dodgson fears that the other WDMC agents might have too. When asked about the slaughter itself, Dodgson orders his staff to cover it up for the moment, as he don't want to worry the board of directors who are set to arrive later that day for a big event he planned in the evening.
Theo's return
Theo returns to Auronzo and Wu, who just learned about Claire's presence in the valley, tells him that they must get Maisie out of the facility as soon as possible since disaster tends to follow Claire like a shadow.
Taking the gloves off
However, Maisie has meanwhile discovered that the videos were another lie, by recognizing one of the scientists from the video, who also work at the Citadel (and who didn't aged, even though the adult Charlotte's video was supposed to be taken fourteen years ago). Aware that the gentle method is no longer considerable, Dodgson decides to use the hard one and Doctor Lesser locks Maisie in a cell within her lab, to which Wu can't access. Lesser reveal that it wasn't Wu who told Dodgson that she was a clone but the spy he has among Lockwood Manor's employees, and that the only true part in the video was the one about the genetic disease: Charlotte did had it, just like her mother Elizabeth before that (she died in 1993 and it was because of her Lockwood and Hammond fell out), and had the car accident which took her life didn't happened, the disease would have killed her a few years later. As he wanted Maisie to have a long life, Benjamin Lockwood asked the scientists he hired (there is a whole subplot about what they became in TRQ) to cure it and they did find a way. As the scientists' notes were accidently destroyed, the solution is now within Maisie's body, and Dodgson wants it so he can put new drugs on the market.
Before it's too late, Wu and Theo, with Ramsay's help, start organizing Maisie's evasion. The geneticist mentions a secret trail from WWI in the northeastern mountains: It's their escape route. He then heads for his lab, planning something else.
Tracking Claire
Curious about Biosyn's movements around the Hunting Lodge, Owen, Dougal and Kayla investigate it after the departure of the security troops. They discover evidence of Claire's passage and Owen tries to follow her fiancée's tracks. Kayla and/or Dougal make comments about the slaughter of the hunters.
Bigelow's last chance
Isaac Gibbon gives Jessica Bigelow a new mission: Go to Auronzo and ensure the evacuation of Lewis Dodgson and Biosyn's most important research. The agent ask her boss why and he said that he just received news that Biosyn is compromised. He also precise that it's her last chance after the Malta fiasco. Bigelow leave her safe house in central Italy and goes north.
Shady preparations
Continuing south, Owen, Dougal and Kayla see mercenaries positioning some sort of moveable antenna on a ridge which overlooks the road which connects the Citadel to the valley's northern continue, as finding Claire and entering the Citadel is more urgent.
The gathering of the clouds
One of the control room's employees ask Dodgson to come. He shows him footage from the Biosyn lands's southern gate, near the employee village.
Before the gate, a group of Carabinieri stand, showing to the guards and the security cameras a search warrant: The government finally decided to act against Biosyn. But Dodgson refuses to open the gates for the Carabinieri and orders the mercenaries who arrived during the night to intimidate them. The Carabinieri move away from the gate, with their leader warning against the consequences of such an action. At a respectable distance from the gate, Vuillier, Viscontini and Nyamu watched the scene. Soon, other groups of Carabinieri are deployed along the other entrances to Biosyn's lands. The siege of Auronzo has started.
Hearing about the siege's situation, some employees leave their post and head for the metro (which connects the Citadel to the village. Another loop also connects the Citadel to the various facilities across the Sanctuary, including the seven towers and the dam), in order to go to the village and then hoping to be able to leave Biosyn's lands before things starts to get too ugly but Dodgson's has the metro's station locked and commands them to go back to their posts. Seeing their CEO starting to act like Hitler in his bunker, they are afraid.
End of Act III.
See you tomorrow for Act IV
2023.06.07 08:19 Puzzleheaded-Way2145 Best phone tracker app
Phone tracking applications are becoming increasingly popular, providing users with the power to monitor and track the location of their phones and the phones of those they care about. GPS tracking technology is being used by parents to monitor their children’s whereabouts and by business owners to keep tabs on employees’ usage of company issued mobile devices. But with so many tracking apps on the market, which one is the best? Here we examine the best phone tracker app, technical features and tips for getting the most out of it.
The world has become fast-paced and filled with data, and mobile communication undeniably plays a key role in our first-world ambitions. With this cultural shift also comes responsibility for parents to protect their kids from online threats, monsters in disguise passed off simply as friend requests or suspect spellings – making the hunt doubly dogged. Many wonders how they can truly ensure that their woolly chicken wings stay safe year round without impeding on big dreams–little things like trackers day planner app are actually required to do both tasks ideally.
The best phone tracker app offers a range of benefits to its users. First and foremost, it provides peace of mind to parents and guardians who want to keep tabs on their children or elderly relatives. The app allows them to view the device’s location in real-time, so they can rest assured that their loved ones are safe. Moreover, the app can be used for tracking the location of lost or stolen devices. This helps users recover their devices quickly and easily. The app also offers a number of other features, such as monitoring calls, texts, and other activities. This allows parents to keep an eye on their child’s activities and ensure that they are not engaging in any dangerous activities. Overall, the best phone tracker app provides a range of useful features that can help parents and guardians keep their loved ones safe and secure.
Tracking communication patterns has changed drastically with parental oversight rules and programs honed through everyday surveillance systems like Google Android accessibility routes parenting back what all other means have ignored ensuring limits over speeding lunatic carnivals otherwise known us cable packed media nights forcing limitations into the edge then snapping them for balance enabling controls until responsible measures taken indeed ;
At the top of the list is Spapp Monitoring - the world’s most popular phone tracking application. Spapp Monitoring allows users to track and monitor mobile phones in real time from any location. The app can be downloaded to any iPhone, Android, or Windows phone in a matter of minutes. The program works in the background, collect location data and sends it to an online control panel where users can monitor and analyze the data in real time. With Spapp Monitoring, users are able to view the exact location of their phone at any given time, set geo-fences to get alerts if the device is taken somewhere outside of a designated area, view call logs, check text messages, view contacts, and more.
submitted by Puzzleheaded-Way2145 to SpappMonitoring [link] [comments]
The world has become fast-paced and filled with data, and mobile communication undeniably plays a key role in our first-world ambitions. With this cultural shift also comes responsibility for parents to protect their kids from online threats, monsters in disguise passed off simply as friend requests or suspect spellings – making the hunt doubly dogged. Many wonders how they can truly ensure that their woolly chicken wings stay safe year round without impeding on big dreams–little things like trackers day planner app are actually required to do both tasks ideally.
The best phone tracker app offers a range of benefits to its users. First and foremost, it provides peace of mind to parents and guardians who want to keep tabs on their children or elderly relatives. The app allows them to view the device’s location in real-time, so they can rest assured that their loved ones are safe. Moreover, the app can be used for tracking the location of lost or stolen devices. This helps users recover their devices quickly and easily. The app also offers a number of other features, such as monitoring calls, texts, and other activities. This allows parents to keep an eye on their child’s activities and ensure that they are not engaging in any dangerous activities. Overall, the best phone tracker app provides a range of useful features that can help parents and guardians keep their loved ones safe and secure.
Tracking communication patterns has changed drastically with parental oversight rules and programs honed through everyday surveillance systems like Google Android accessibility routes parenting back what all other means have ignored ensuring limits over speeding lunatic carnivals otherwise known us cable packed media nights forcing limitations into the edge then snapping them for balance enabling controls until responsible measures taken indeed ;
At the top of the list is Spapp Monitoring - the world’s most popular phone tracking application. Spapp Monitoring allows users to track and monitor mobile phones in real time from any location. The app can be downloaded to any iPhone, Android, or Windows phone in a matter of minutes. The program works in the background, collect location data and sends it to an online control panel where users can monitor and analyze the data in real time. With Spapp Monitoring, users are able to view the exact location of their phone at any given time, set geo-fences to get alerts if the device is taken somewhere outside of a designated area, view call logs, check text messages, view contacts, and more.
2023.06.07 05:29 xtremexavier15 TSROTI 6 (pt 1)
Toxic Rats: Geoff, Scott, Trent, Sammy, Sierra
Mutant Maggots: Anne Maria, Katie, Molly, Scarlett, Dave, DJ
Episode 06: Runaway Model
"Previously, on Total Drama Revenge of the Island!" Chris opened over a stock shot of Wawanakwa, the capstone theme starting up in the background. "The campers got deep," the recap montage opened with Sierra and Molly sinking to the lake bed in their antique diving suits, the former quickly getting held back by Fang, "in an underwater scavenger hunt."
"Sierra quickly got under her team's skin as soon as she came back," Sammy was shown upset with Sierra for taking a picture of her, "and Anne Maria and Geoff began to develop feelings for each other," the two were shown having a conversation with each other in the morning.
"In the end, Leshawna was tossed for swiping everybody's stuff," Sammy was shown tossing out everyone's belongings from the bag, "even though it was really Scott. Sneaky," the host added over Scott admitting his role in the confessional.
"It's now Team Maggot versus Team Rat," the host said, the Maggots' logo appearing on-screen against a radiant golden background. The logo rotated around into the Rats' logo, and a five-way split-screen of the Rats' remaining members rose up from the background – Trent in the upper left against a brownish-red backdrop; Geoff in the upper right against dark blue; Sierra in the middle top against orange; Sammy in the bottom left against turquoise; and Scott in the bottom right against yellow. "Will the Rats man up before they're a man down? Let's hope not," Chris said as the scene cut to him standing at the end of the dock with Chef. "There's nothing more entertaining than a man down."
As if on cue, the wood under Chef started to creak and crack, breaking away and sending Chef plunging into the lake with a startled scream. Chris laughed. "More where that came from, right now, on Total! Drama! Revenge of the Island!"
XXXXX
The sun was already high in the sky as the episode opened, and a loon cried out in the distance as the camera panned down onto DJ and Dave looking rather distressed outside the communal bathroom. The normal guy knocked on the door and asked "Is it our turn next?"
"Keep your panties on!" Anne Maria called out as the camera cut to the inside of the bathroom. The mirror on the back wall was too cracked and smudged to use, the trash can was grimy, and the strip of fly paper hanging in the corner was in need of a change, but nevertheless, Molly, Anne Maria, Katie, and Scarlett were still gathered along the countertop – Scarlett was sitting on the far left, Molly was plucking her unibrows, Katie was happily filing her nails, and Anne Maria was spraying her hair.
"Anne Maria?" Molly said. "Could I borrow some lipstick from you? I forgot it back at the cabin."
"You can help yourself, but don't go touching my hair spray," Anne Maria answered. She finished spraying her hair, and flicked it to show how bulletproof it was as it briefly shined. "Now that is how you do hair!"
"I prefer having a natural appearance," Scarlett clarified. "I'm mostly just here to wash my face and brush my teeth."
They later saw that Katie had pulled out a bag containing a makeup kit.
"What's that bag for?" Molly asked the influencer while brushing her hair.
"This is my portable makeup kit," Katie said. "If I need to get myself ready in the morning, this'll do the job in five minutes max."
"Do you carry that around with you at all times?" Anne Maria looked at the bag.
"Only when I'm traveling to places," Katie answered as she put on her lipstick. "I've done a lot of makeup tutorials with this thing, and they've skyrocketed my channel up to one million views."
"That's interesting to hear," Scarlett rolled her eyes. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my leave."
Katie watched Scarlett and Anne Maria go, and turned to Molly. "By the way, you can borrow my lipstick too if you want."
Confessional: Katie
"Chris still has a hold of my tablet," Katie confessed. "I'm sure my subscribers are wondering why I'm inactive, but some of them will probably understand that I'm competing on a TV show."
Confessional: Molly
"Katie's been a lot more helpful to us with her device taken away, and now she wants to help me with fashion," Molly explained. "If that means she's not mad at me anymore, I'll take what I can get."
Confessional Ends
The scene flashed to the girls' side of the Rat cabin as Sammy said "I can't believe what happened last episode." The shot cut inside to show her sitting in her bunk bed. "Not only did people's belongings get taken, but Leshawna was pinned for it."
Sierra was using her phone until she heard Sammy. "What makes you so sure it wasn't Leshawna if the bag was under her bed?" the blogger emphasized.
"Someone else could've slipped it under there, and Leshawna's too respectful to touch our things!" Sammy enforced.
"I'll have to think about that more," Sierra said. "You know, this is the most I've ever heard you say."
"What do you mean?" Sammy asked.
"You're mostly silent, and also nervous most of the time," Sierra claimed.
"I just prefer keeping to myself," Sammy said. "I'm introverted."
"Have you managed to have any friends in your life?" Sierra wondered.
"I do, but I only have five friends," Sammy responded while holding her arm. "We make up the cheerleading team back home, and they really love and care about me, but they tend to forget about my own opinions."
"Have you ever told them it bothers you?" Sierra asked again.
"Not really. I don't want them to hate me," Sammy said sadly.
"I never had many friends, so I don't know how to help you there, but if you want to let them know something is wrong, just do it," Sierra shrugged. "I'm sure it can't hurt."
Confessional: Sammy
"Sierra may have a point. She's eccentric, but she definitely can be smart." Sammy admits. "My friends can drag me into activities I'm not interested in, although cheerleading is something I like to do."
Confessional Ends
The whining ring as the scene cut to a shot of one of the island's loudspeakers heralded a broadcast from Chris. "Iiiit's challenge time!" he began. "Campers~! Meet me on the other side of the island~!" he announced in an almost sing-song voice.
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The footage immediately skipped ahead to the two teams already nearly assembled on two sets of low bleachers in a clearing lined with a handful of stage and spotlights. The five Rats were seated on the stands to the right of the camera, while DJ was just now filing in with his teammates on the left.
"Yo Katie," DJ greeted the girl. "Your hair is looking fantastic today.
"It's all thanks to this makeup kit," Katie showed her bag as DJ took his seat next to her. "It's really helpful for your looks."
The perspective inverted to reveal that the two teams had gathered before a large stage and runway, complete with a short catwalk and a large curtained-off backstage area. Chef was already waiting in the pink dress he'd worn to ceremonies back in season two, and Chris shortly joined him by way of descending from above with his jetpack. The host was wearing a sharp gray suit and fashionable glasses with tinted lens, but more noticeable were the changes to his hair – it was now pure white and long enough for him to sport a short ponytail.
Chef walked up as he landed and took the jetpack of his back, then walked away as Chris spread his arms and smiled. "Welcome to your challenge," he opened. "The Weird and Wild Fashion Spectacular!" He took a paper fan out of his breast pocket and waved it a bit as he spread his arms even wider.
"We're doing a fashion challenge? Awesome!" Molly cheered.
"Fashion? Now you're talkin'!" Anne Maria sprayed her hair about while complimenting Chris.
"You won't be walking the catwalk," Chris started to fan himself, "no-no-no-no. No amount of fashion can help you people."
"You don't say?" Dave mumbled to himself.
"Here's how it's gonna work," Chris continued. "Each team gets a wardrobe of clothes," the camera cut to a dresser, clothes rack, and several pieces of luggage on the side of the stage, "a make-up kit, and ten minutes to dress and make up a model." Chef held up an hourglass and glared mutely at the camera. "Which, you'll send down the runway," the shot zoomed in on the host's fan as he walked his fingers across it, "to be judged by myself, Chef, and today's Total Drama classic competitor, Lindsay!"
One of the suitcases on the side of the stage popped open, revealing the former contestant. "Yay! Don't you just love my new, special fashion boots?" Lindsay asked the campers, raising a leg to show off blue boots different from her regular brown ones.
"Wait, we get to dress an actual model!" Trent got excited.
"Uh-huh," Chris said, scraping some white powder off his shoulder with his fan. "Right after you catch one."
"Catch a model?" Geoff wondered. "Why would one even come to this island?"
"Did I say human models?" Chris corrected, fanning himself again as he walked across the stage. "Don't think so! No, your models are in there!" He thrust his finger off to the right, forcing Lindsay to duck under his arm. The camera quick-panned to the woods just as an earth-shattering roar shook the area.
"They're wild! They're mutated!" Chris told the campers, the camera moving behind his back. "And like me, they despise teenagers." The five Rats were shown looking shocked and concerned.
"Okay fashionistas," the host said in a campy accent, "go!" He blew his airhorn again, and the campers ran off.
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The footage flashed ahead to a trail in the woods, Sierra and Geoff searching behind a rock and Sammy looking at a bush in the background while DJ walked by in the foreground. The camera panned to the right and stopped on Anne Maria and Scarlett, who were warily looking upwards.
Something croaked above them and the shot cut to a small frog, seemingly normal aside from an eye stalk on the top of its head, sitting on a branch. With a grunt of effort, Molly pounced on it from the right, and smiled when she opened her hands and saw she'd caught it. Unfortunately for her, the mutant frog produced an odd noise and flash of light, blinking out of sight but quickly reappearing on top of the confused young woman's head. With another noise and flash of light it disappeared, this time bringing Molly with it, and they blinked back into existence in mid-air a few yards away. Molly screamed as she started to fall, and the mutant frog teleported away to presumed safety before its failed assailant landed with a crash on the forest floor.
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In another part of the forest, Trent was looking around absentmindedly while approaching what appeared to be a gigantic turtle shell, a short and spiky tail poking out of one end. The boy tapped the tail with his foot, but gasped when the tail suddenly wrapped around his leg and pulled him inside the shell. The beast inside growled and stood up, its stout legs and turtle head popping out of the shell's holes...along with Trent. With another growl, the mutant punched him away, and he landed in a heap with a pained groan.
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The camera cut next to what appeared to be an ordinary beaver sitting perfectly still just at the edge of a bush. Dave rose, grinning from another bush in the background, then pounced upon it. His jubilation quickly faded into confusion as the unmoving beaver was somehow lifted up by its tail, taking Dave with it.
The shot cut outward to reveal the beaver has no more than a lure of a large bipedal anglerfish-like monster, which promptly roared. Katie, who was standing nearby, promptly ran away, and was soon followed by Dave and the angler mutant.
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Another flash moved the focus to a close-up of a slice of pepperoni pizza, lying on the ground in the middle of a loop of rope that led off to the left. "Pizza? What's this doing here?" Scott said, the camera zooming out to show him looking down at it. He looked up and tilted his head, and the shot cut over to none other than Fang not quite hidden behind a tree, an axe in one hand and the anchored rope of his snare trap in the other.
Scott knew what was going to happen, but decided to have a little fun. "Too bad there's pepperoni on it, otherwise I'd totally eat that," he said loud enough for the shark to hear as he walked off.
Fang palmed his face and walked over to the slice and started picking the toppings off of it. Meanwhile, Scott used his shark tooth to cut the rope of the snare.
The effect was instant. Fang was hoisted up in the air by his wrist, and Scott came over to where the pizza was. "Oh perfect! No pepperoni!!" He picked up the pizza and ate it as he left, the shark growling at him as he was hung up.
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The scene cut abruptly to a massive mutant brawl between a massive two-headed rabbit, two spiny woolly beavers, and a hairless squirrel zapping them with its eye-lasers from a nearby branch. The camera panned left as a giant hermit crab scuttled up and snapped its claws, with Trent, Sammy, and Geoff watching from behind a bush in the background with wide eyes.
"So which one do we use?" Geoff asked.
"Uh, maybe we should find something that can't eat us," Sammy replied.
A whine signaled the loudspeaker turning on once again, and soon enough Chris's announcement rang through the air. "Five minutes, people!"
"Hey, Rats!" Sierra quickly followed, directing her teammates' attention to their right. "Why don't we use that rat?" he asked, the shot cutting to a close-up of a small rat happily chewing on a leaf atop a fallen log. A large hairless rat jumped onto the log, quickly stuffed the rat into its mouth, then chittered and looked around.
"It'd be easy to catch and dress. It just needs a little more domestication," Trent proudly said.
"That's a good plan," Scott supported with a grin.
"Stand back," Geoff told everybody and went towards the rat's direction. "I have an idea for the fashion style."
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"Don't give up yet! There's gotta be something on this island we can catch!" Molly told her teammates, the Maggots now hunkering down behind a bush.
"How about that critter?" DJ looked over the bush, and the shot cut to none other than Sasquatchanakwa walking into a cave, oblivious to the teens watching him.
"How are we gonna get him out of that cave?" Dave asked.
Scarlett smirked. "I've conducted a plan, but I need a bag for this," she told her teammates.
\
The Maggots were back on the stage watching Scarlett seated near Katie's makeup bag. She folded a few clothes together, squirted it with glue, and shook the bag together.
"This is what I call a "Detonating Duffel Bag," Scarlett talked about her creation. "It can and will dress any target within its sixty foot blast radius! With a mix of glue and clothes it'll be unremarkably simple to just launch the bag at the animal."
Confessional: Anne Maria
"I like her way of thinking," Anne Maria told the camera, "even if I don't understand what she's saying half the time."
Confessional Ends
Katie picked up her bag and looked at what was inside. "Puffy sweater vests? Plaid skirts? High knee socks? It seems you just put together an outfit that resembles yourself, Scarlett."
"Katie has a point," Dave told the brainiac. "You clearly made the outfit something you yourself would like instead of what everyone would like."
Scarlett was annoyed. "So what else should we use instead?"
"How about we compare our fashion styles and see what we'll all agree on," Katie suggested.
"That can work," DJ nodded. "To our cabins!"
\
The scene immediately flashed away to the Rats where their own rat has been dressed by Geoff.
"This rat looks ready to party and have fun!" Geoff described his choice as the rat was wearing a black collared shirt, a brown cap, a black chain necklace, and gray sneakers.
The rat expressed its dislike of the party style by ripping the clothes into shreds.
"Seems the rat isn't a big fan of the choice of fashion," Scott said.
A sudden ringing got the team's attention, and Chris announced "Three minutes remaining!" over an unseen loudspeaker.
"If you guys don't mind, I'll take a crack at it," Sammy offered.
\
The scene cut back to the Maggot cabin, where the team were inside the girls' side of the cabin.
"So these are what we normally wear," Katie said as she presented a row of clothes on the bunk bed. From left-to-right, it showed clothes belonging to Scarlett, Anne Maria, DJ, Dave, Molly, and Katie.
"That's correct," Anne Maria agreed, "but why are our clothes all lined up?"
"You know how some teams normally can't agree on anything, right?" Katie started her conversation.
"You're right about that," Molly said.
"So what if instead of arguing, we just combine our fashion styles into one big burrito?" Katie said extravagantly.
"A fashion mesh? That's a weird way to go, but I don't want to argue right now," Dave told them.
"If I had my sewing kit, I'd whip up a line of clothing suited to fit our animal, but since we're running out of time, let's just try to stuff all our clothes into the bag," Molly suggested.
"I'll add some dye colors inside just to make our colors clash," Katie said.
"I'll assist as well, but let's make sure to actually fold our clothes," Dave emphasized.
"Agreed," Scarlett said. "We want to make our outfit mash look as clean and fresh as possible."
"Now that we have a plan, let's get right to it," Molly encouraged the team.
Confessional: Dave
"I don't like to give away my clothes, but once I realized that I only have to give two pairs, I went along with the plan," Dave admitted.
Confessional Ends
The scene flashed back to the Rats, the camera positioned close to Sammy's face but focused on her four teammates behind her. The camera zoomed out as they watched her tighten a piece of cloth over their rat model.
"That should be about it," Sammy said. "Me and my friends tend to design clothes during our sleepovers."
"It's not bad, Sammy," Geoff started to say.
"I think you did a wonderful job," Trent critiqued.
Another ringing got their attention, and they looked up towards an unseen loudspeaker as Chris announced "One minute!"
"It's good enough," Scott declared. "Let's get back to Chris."
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The scene flashed back to the Maggots hiding behind a rock near Sasquatchanakwa's cave.
"This DDD is ready for action," DJ held up the bag.
"What does it stand for exactly?" Anne Maria asked him.
"Detonating Duffel Bag," DJ made it more clear before tossing the bag over to Katie. "Go long!"
Katie ran towards the cave with the bag in hand as the scene cut to the inside. Sasquatchanakwa was sitting in a wooden armchair, drinking a can of soda and watching some jaunty-themed show on an old television set when Katie's bag landed in his lap. With a curious grunt he looked at the bag.
That's when the explosion happened, and when it did, the yeti let out a frightening roar, scaring the Maggots.
"That doesn't sound good!" Katie panicked.
Confessional: Katie
"I don't know if running away from Sasquatchanakwa is worse than hurting him," Katie said. "I'm not the fastest runner, but I'm not going to die."
Confessional Ends
The scene cut to a spotlight as it turned on; then a couple stage lights turning on as well; then a mutant squirrel hopping up next to a book-reading bear which lowered its book to reveal its three eyes, both animals looking at something curiously; then the stage and catwalk, Chris front and center with Chef and Lindsay – the former in sort of rapper-ish outfit with a red tracksuit and hat, earphones, and gold chains – sitting at the judge's table.
"It's freaky forest fashion time!" the host announced. "Rat-istas," he turned and pointed his fan backstage, "show me somethin' fierce." The five Rats walked out on stage, Geoff, Trent, and Sierra on the left with Sammy and Scott on the right.
"Chef, drop that needle!" Chris commanded next, the shot cutting to a close-up of a record turntable as the needle was dropped onto the spinning disc and a trendy tune began to play. The camera zoomed out, and Chef gave the host and campers a thumbs-up.
"This small rodent is wearing a fresh, popstar fashion style like no one else's," Sierra began smoothly, motioning to the gap between her and Sammy as their model reluctantly scurried out on all fours but continued down the runway on its hind legs. It was wearing a pink wig and a purple dress with white stripes. The camera followed it as it walked along looking both nervous and awkward, Sierra continuing her piece all the while. "Her pink hair matches well with her diva attitude and her dress screams fame." She finished with a grimace.
"A bit typical and overly glamorous," Chris said as the rat reached the end of the catwalk. "I give it an 8.5," the host announced as he held up a placard with his score.
The Rats shouted cheers of victory.
Chef held up an 8.0.
Lindsay held up a 1.8 to the uproar of the Rats. She realized her mistake and flipped her placard upside down, showing an 8.1. "Oops."
"Okay," Chris said tersely, looking back towards the catwalk. "Show me what you've got, Maggots!" he called out, the trendy music resuming as the shot cut back to the stage, showing it utterly empty. The camera zoomed in and the music kept playing, but for several more seconds there was still no movement backstage. "...Maggots?" Chris called out again and finally Katie ran out screaming at the top of her lungs.
"As you can see, the yeti is wearing a mix of several different styles based upon us," Katie said as her team quickly ran out to join her.
All six looked towards the backstage curtain, and the furious sasquatch growled and chased after them. His outfit consisted of several different styles – white sneakers resembling Katie's, long white socks resembling Scarlett's, pants resembling Anne Maria's, a blue and yellow collared shirt resembling Dave's, glasses resembling Molly's, and a hat resembling DJ's.
"The outfit consists of a variety of garments applied forcefully to random parts of his body," Katie said, cringing in terror as her team's model quickly tossed Scarlett, Dave, and Molly away again while DJ and Anne Maria quickly got off the stage. The ape-man grabbed her after she finished.
The music stopped, and Sasquatchanakwa finally noticed the three judges just as the first one spoke up. "That thing is huge," Lindsay gasped at the sight of the model before her, "but the outfit had too many themes. Maybe stick to just one next time."
"I agree with Lindsay," Chris admitted, fanning himself again. "It hardly complements the Yeti's husky physique."
Confessional: Katie
"Going with Scarlett's first idea for the yeti would have been boring," Katie groaned in disappointment, "but at least the yeti probably wouldn't have gotten as mad right now."
Confessional Ends
Still holding Katie, Sasquatchanakwa saw what he was wearing. Angry at the 6-way outfit put on him, he threw Katie away, took off the hat and glasses, kicked off the shoes and socks, and ripped off the pants and shirt.
"Chris is right. The team are too different-" Lindsay tried to say, but was cut off when the yeti suddenly reached forward and grabbed her by the head, yanking her out of her seat. The shot zoomed out as an engine whirred to life, revealing that Sasquatchanakwa had also commandeered Chris's jetpack. With the captive dumb princess in his arms, he took off into the air.
"Hey, he took my jetpack!" Chris quickly protested. The shot cut back to the ape-man and dumb blonde as Lindsay screamed, and Saquatchanakwa flew off to the foggy and ominous crags of Boney Island.
"Uh-huh...," Chris said blankly, still fanning himself. "Will Lindsay survive?" he asked the camera, lifting up his shades. "And am I legally liable if she doesn't? Find out, after the break."
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(Commercial Break)
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Mutant Maggots: Anne Maria, Katie, Molly, Scarlett, Dave, DJ
Episode 06: Runaway Model
"Previously, on Total Drama Revenge of the Island!" Chris opened over a stock shot of Wawanakwa, the capstone theme starting up in the background. "The campers got deep," the recap montage opened with Sierra and Molly sinking to the lake bed in their antique diving suits, the former quickly getting held back by Fang, "in an underwater scavenger hunt."
"Sierra quickly got under her team's skin as soon as she came back," Sammy was shown upset with Sierra for taking a picture of her, "and Anne Maria and Geoff began to develop feelings for each other," the two were shown having a conversation with each other in the morning.
"In the end, Leshawna was tossed for swiping everybody's stuff," Sammy was shown tossing out everyone's belongings from the bag, "even though it was really Scott. Sneaky," the host added over Scott admitting his role in the confessional.
"It's now Team Maggot versus Team Rat," the host said, the Maggots' logo appearing on-screen against a radiant golden background. The logo rotated around into the Rats' logo, and a five-way split-screen of the Rats' remaining members rose up from the background – Trent in the upper left against a brownish-red backdrop; Geoff in the upper right against dark blue; Sierra in the middle top against orange; Sammy in the bottom left against turquoise; and Scott in the bottom right against yellow. "Will the Rats man up before they're a man down? Let's hope not," Chris said as the scene cut to him standing at the end of the dock with Chef. "There's nothing more entertaining than a man down."
As if on cue, the wood under Chef started to creak and crack, breaking away and sending Chef plunging into the lake with a startled scream. Chris laughed. "More where that came from, right now, on Total! Drama! Revenge of the Island!"
XXXXX
The sun was already high in the sky as the episode opened, and a loon cried out in the distance as the camera panned down onto DJ and Dave looking rather distressed outside the communal bathroom. The normal guy knocked on the door and asked "Is it our turn next?"
"Keep your panties on!" Anne Maria called out as the camera cut to the inside of the bathroom. The mirror on the back wall was too cracked and smudged to use, the trash can was grimy, and the strip of fly paper hanging in the corner was in need of a change, but nevertheless, Molly, Anne Maria, Katie, and Scarlett were still gathered along the countertop – Scarlett was sitting on the far left, Molly was plucking her unibrows, Katie was happily filing her nails, and Anne Maria was spraying her hair.
"Anne Maria?" Molly said. "Could I borrow some lipstick from you? I forgot it back at the cabin."
"You can help yourself, but don't go touching my hair spray," Anne Maria answered. She finished spraying her hair, and flicked it to show how bulletproof it was as it briefly shined. "Now that is how you do hair!"
"I prefer having a natural appearance," Scarlett clarified. "I'm mostly just here to wash my face and brush my teeth."
They later saw that Katie had pulled out a bag containing a makeup kit.
"What's that bag for?" Molly asked the influencer while brushing her hair.
"This is my portable makeup kit," Katie said. "If I need to get myself ready in the morning, this'll do the job in five minutes max."
"Do you carry that around with you at all times?" Anne Maria looked at the bag.
"Only when I'm traveling to places," Katie answered as she put on her lipstick. "I've done a lot of makeup tutorials with this thing, and they've skyrocketed my channel up to one million views."
"That's interesting to hear," Scarlett rolled her eyes. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my leave."
Katie watched Scarlett and Anne Maria go, and turned to Molly. "By the way, you can borrow my lipstick too if you want."
Confessional: Katie
"Chris still has a hold of my tablet," Katie confessed. "I'm sure my subscribers are wondering why I'm inactive, but some of them will probably understand that I'm competing on a TV show."
Confessional: Molly
"Katie's been a lot more helpful to us with her device taken away, and now she wants to help me with fashion," Molly explained. "If that means she's not mad at me anymore, I'll take what I can get."
Confessional Ends
The scene flashed to the girls' side of the Rat cabin as Sammy said "I can't believe what happened last episode." The shot cut inside to show her sitting in her bunk bed. "Not only did people's belongings get taken, but Leshawna was pinned for it."
Sierra was using her phone until she heard Sammy. "What makes you so sure it wasn't Leshawna if the bag was under her bed?" the blogger emphasized.
"Someone else could've slipped it under there, and Leshawna's too respectful to touch our things!" Sammy enforced.
"I'll have to think about that more," Sierra said. "You know, this is the most I've ever heard you say."
"What do you mean?" Sammy asked.
"You're mostly silent, and also nervous most of the time," Sierra claimed.
"I just prefer keeping to myself," Sammy said. "I'm introverted."
"Have you managed to have any friends in your life?" Sierra wondered.
"I do, but I only have five friends," Sammy responded while holding her arm. "We make up the cheerleading team back home, and they really love and care about me, but they tend to forget about my own opinions."
"Have you ever told them it bothers you?" Sierra asked again.
"Not really. I don't want them to hate me," Sammy said sadly.
"I never had many friends, so I don't know how to help you there, but if you want to let them know something is wrong, just do it," Sierra shrugged. "I'm sure it can't hurt."
Confessional: Sammy
"Sierra may have a point. She's eccentric, but she definitely can be smart." Sammy admits. "My friends can drag me into activities I'm not interested in, although cheerleading is something I like to do."
Confessional Ends
The whining ring as the scene cut to a shot of one of the island's loudspeakers heralded a broadcast from Chris. "Iiiit's challenge time!" he began. "Campers~! Meet me on the other side of the island~!" he announced in an almost sing-song voice.
\
The footage immediately skipped ahead to the two teams already nearly assembled on two sets of low bleachers in a clearing lined with a handful of stage and spotlights. The five Rats were seated on the stands to the right of the camera, while DJ was just now filing in with his teammates on the left.
"Yo Katie," DJ greeted the girl. "Your hair is looking fantastic today.
"It's all thanks to this makeup kit," Katie showed her bag as DJ took his seat next to her. "It's really helpful for your looks."
The perspective inverted to reveal that the two teams had gathered before a large stage and runway, complete with a short catwalk and a large curtained-off backstage area. Chef was already waiting in the pink dress he'd worn to ceremonies back in season two, and Chris shortly joined him by way of descending from above with his jetpack. The host was wearing a sharp gray suit and fashionable glasses with tinted lens, but more noticeable were the changes to his hair – it was now pure white and long enough for him to sport a short ponytail.
Chef walked up as he landed and took the jetpack of his back, then walked away as Chris spread his arms and smiled. "Welcome to your challenge," he opened. "The Weird and Wild Fashion Spectacular!" He took a paper fan out of his breast pocket and waved it a bit as he spread his arms even wider.
"We're doing a fashion challenge? Awesome!" Molly cheered.
"Fashion? Now you're talkin'!" Anne Maria sprayed her hair about while complimenting Chris.
"You won't be walking the catwalk," Chris started to fan himself, "no-no-no-no. No amount of fashion can help you people."
"You don't say?" Dave mumbled to himself.
"Here's how it's gonna work," Chris continued. "Each team gets a wardrobe of clothes," the camera cut to a dresser, clothes rack, and several pieces of luggage on the side of the stage, "a make-up kit, and ten minutes to dress and make up a model." Chef held up an hourglass and glared mutely at the camera. "Which, you'll send down the runway," the shot zoomed in on the host's fan as he walked his fingers across it, "to be judged by myself, Chef, and today's Total Drama classic competitor, Lindsay!"
One of the suitcases on the side of the stage popped open, revealing the former contestant. "Yay! Don't you just love my new, special fashion boots?" Lindsay asked the campers, raising a leg to show off blue boots different from her regular brown ones.
"Wait, we get to dress an actual model!" Trent got excited.
"Uh-huh," Chris said, scraping some white powder off his shoulder with his fan. "Right after you catch one."
"Catch a model?" Geoff wondered. "Why would one even come to this island?"
"Did I say human models?" Chris corrected, fanning himself again as he walked across the stage. "Don't think so! No, your models are in there!" He thrust his finger off to the right, forcing Lindsay to duck under his arm. The camera quick-panned to the woods just as an earth-shattering roar shook the area.
"They're wild! They're mutated!" Chris told the campers, the camera moving behind his back. "And like me, they despise teenagers." The five Rats were shown looking shocked and concerned.
"Okay fashionistas," the host said in a campy accent, "go!" He blew his airhorn again, and the campers ran off.
\
The footage flashed ahead to a trail in the woods, Sierra and Geoff searching behind a rock and Sammy looking at a bush in the background while DJ walked by in the foreground. The camera panned to the right and stopped on Anne Maria and Scarlett, who were warily looking upwards.
Something croaked above them and the shot cut to a small frog, seemingly normal aside from an eye stalk on the top of its head, sitting on a branch. With a grunt of effort, Molly pounced on it from the right, and smiled when she opened her hands and saw she'd caught it. Unfortunately for her, the mutant frog produced an odd noise and flash of light, blinking out of sight but quickly reappearing on top of the confused young woman's head. With another noise and flash of light it disappeared, this time bringing Molly with it, and they blinked back into existence in mid-air a few yards away. Molly screamed as she started to fall, and the mutant frog teleported away to presumed safety before its failed assailant landed with a crash on the forest floor.
\
In another part of the forest, Trent was looking around absentmindedly while approaching what appeared to be a gigantic turtle shell, a short and spiky tail poking out of one end. The boy tapped the tail with his foot, but gasped when the tail suddenly wrapped around his leg and pulled him inside the shell. The beast inside growled and stood up, its stout legs and turtle head popping out of the shell's holes...along with Trent. With another growl, the mutant punched him away, and he landed in a heap with a pained groan.
\
The camera cut next to what appeared to be an ordinary beaver sitting perfectly still just at the edge of a bush. Dave rose, grinning from another bush in the background, then pounced upon it. His jubilation quickly faded into confusion as the unmoving beaver was somehow lifted up by its tail, taking Dave with it.
The shot cut outward to reveal the beaver has no more than a lure of a large bipedal anglerfish-like monster, which promptly roared. Katie, who was standing nearby, promptly ran away, and was soon followed by Dave and the angler mutant.
\
Another flash moved the focus to a close-up of a slice of pepperoni pizza, lying on the ground in the middle of a loop of rope that led off to the left. "Pizza? What's this doing here?" Scott said, the camera zooming out to show him looking down at it. He looked up and tilted his head, and the shot cut over to none other than Fang not quite hidden behind a tree, an axe in one hand and the anchored rope of his snare trap in the other.
Scott knew what was going to happen, but decided to have a little fun. "Too bad there's pepperoni on it, otherwise I'd totally eat that," he said loud enough for the shark to hear as he walked off.
Fang palmed his face and walked over to the slice and started picking the toppings off of it. Meanwhile, Scott used his shark tooth to cut the rope of the snare.
The effect was instant. Fang was hoisted up in the air by his wrist, and Scott came over to where the pizza was. "Oh perfect! No pepperoni!!" He picked up the pizza and ate it as he left, the shark growling at him as he was hung up.
\
The scene cut abruptly to a massive mutant brawl between a massive two-headed rabbit, two spiny woolly beavers, and a hairless squirrel zapping them with its eye-lasers from a nearby branch. The camera panned left as a giant hermit crab scuttled up and snapped its claws, with Trent, Sammy, and Geoff watching from behind a bush in the background with wide eyes.
"So which one do we use?" Geoff asked.
"Uh, maybe we should find something that can't eat us," Sammy replied.
A whine signaled the loudspeaker turning on once again, and soon enough Chris's announcement rang through the air. "Five minutes, people!"
"Hey, Rats!" Sierra quickly followed, directing her teammates' attention to their right. "Why don't we use that rat?" he asked, the shot cutting to a close-up of a small rat happily chewing on a leaf atop a fallen log. A large hairless rat jumped onto the log, quickly stuffed the rat into its mouth, then chittered and looked around.
"It'd be easy to catch and dress. It just needs a little more domestication," Trent proudly said.
"That's a good plan," Scott supported with a grin.
"Stand back," Geoff told everybody and went towards the rat's direction. "I have an idea for the fashion style."
\
"Don't give up yet! There's gotta be something on this island we can catch!" Molly told her teammates, the Maggots now hunkering down behind a bush.
"How about that critter?" DJ looked over the bush, and the shot cut to none other than Sasquatchanakwa walking into a cave, oblivious to the teens watching him.
"How are we gonna get him out of that cave?" Dave asked.
Scarlett smirked. "I've conducted a plan, but I need a bag for this," she told her teammates.
\
The Maggots were back on the stage watching Scarlett seated near Katie's makeup bag. She folded a few clothes together, squirted it with glue, and shook the bag together.
"This is what I call a "Detonating Duffel Bag," Scarlett talked about her creation. "It can and will dress any target within its sixty foot blast radius! With a mix of glue and clothes it'll be unremarkably simple to just launch the bag at the animal."
Confessional: Anne Maria
"I like her way of thinking," Anne Maria told the camera, "even if I don't understand what she's saying half the time."
Confessional Ends
Katie picked up her bag and looked at what was inside. "Puffy sweater vests? Plaid skirts? High knee socks? It seems you just put together an outfit that resembles yourself, Scarlett."
"Katie has a point," Dave told the brainiac. "You clearly made the outfit something you yourself would like instead of what everyone would like."
Scarlett was annoyed. "So what else should we use instead?"
"How about we compare our fashion styles and see what we'll all agree on," Katie suggested.
"That can work," DJ nodded. "To our cabins!"
\
The scene immediately flashed away to the Rats where their own rat has been dressed by Geoff.
"This rat looks ready to party and have fun!" Geoff described his choice as the rat was wearing a black collared shirt, a brown cap, a black chain necklace, and gray sneakers.
The rat expressed its dislike of the party style by ripping the clothes into shreds.
"Seems the rat isn't a big fan of the choice of fashion," Scott said.
A sudden ringing got the team's attention, and Chris announced "Three minutes remaining!" over an unseen loudspeaker.
"If you guys don't mind, I'll take a crack at it," Sammy offered.
\
The scene cut back to the Maggot cabin, where the team were inside the girls' side of the cabin.
"So these are what we normally wear," Katie said as she presented a row of clothes on the bunk bed. From left-to-right, it showed clothes belonging to Scarlett, Anne Maria, DJ, Dave, Molly, and Katie.
"That's correct," Anne Maria agreed, "but why are our clothes all lined up?"
"You know how some teams normally can't agree on anything, right?" Katie started her conversation.
"You're right about that," Molly said.
"So what if instead of arguing, we just combine our fashion styles into one big burrito?" Katie said extravagantly.
"A fashion mesh? That's a weird way to go, but I don't want to argue right now," Dave told them.
"If I had my sewing kit, I'd whip up a line of clothing suited to fit our animal, but since we're running out of time, let's just try to stuff all our clothes into the bag," Molly suggested.
"I'll add some dye colors inside just to make our colors clash," Katie said.
"I'll assist as well, but let's make sure to actually fold our clothes," Dave emphasized.
"Agreed," Scarlett said. "We want to make our outfit mash look as clean and fresh as possible."
"Now that we have a plan, let's get right to it," Molly encouraged the team.
Confessional: Dave
"I don't like to give away my clothes, but once I realized that I only have to give two pairs, I went along with the plan," Dave admitted.
Confessional Ends
The scene flashed back to the Rats, the camera positioned close to Sammy's face but focused on her four teammates behind her. The camera zoomed out as they watched her tighten a piece of cloth over their rat model.
"That should be about it," Sammy said. "Me and my friends tend to design clothes during our sleepovers."
"It's not bad, Sammy," Geoff started to say.
"I think you did a wonderful job," Trent critiqued.
Another ringing got their attention, and they looked up towards an unseen loudspeaker as Chris announced "One minute!"
"It's good enough," Scott declared. "Let's get back to Chris."
\
The scene flashed back to the Maggots hiding behind a rock near Sasquatchanakwa's cave.
"This DDD is ready for action," DJ held up the bag.
"What does it stand for exactly?" Anne Maria asked him.
"Detonating Duffel Bag," DJ made it more clear before tossing the bag over to Katie. "Go long!"
Katie ran towards the cave with the bag in hand as the scene cut to the inside. Sasquatchanakwa was sitting in a wooden armchair, drinking a can of soda and watching some jaunty-themed show on an old television set when Katie's bag landed in his lap. With a curious grunt he looked at the bag.
That's when the explosion happened, and when it did, the yeti let out a frightening roar, scaring the Maggots.
"That doesn't sound good!" Katie panicked.
Confessional: Katie
"I don't know if running away from Sasquatchanakwa is worse than hurting him," Katie said. "I'm not the fastest runner, but I'm not going to die."
Confessional Ends
The scene cut to a spotlight as it turned on; then a couple stage lights turning on as well; then a mutant squirrel hopping up next to a book-reading bear which lowered its book to reveal its three eyes, both animals looking at something curiously; then the stage and catwalk, Chris front and center with Chef and Lindsay – the former in sort of rapper-ish outfit with a red tracksuit and hat, earphones, and gold chains – sitting at the judge's table.
"It's freaky forest fashion time!" the host announced. "Rat-istas," he turned and pointed his fan backstage, "show me somethin' fierce." The five Rats walked out on stage, Geoff, Trent, and Sierra on the left with Sammy and Scott on the right.
"Chef, drop that needle!" Chris commanded next, the shot cutting to a close-up of a record turntable as the needle was dropped onto the spinning disc and a trendy tune began to play. The camera zoomed out, and Chef gave the host and campers a thumbs-up.
"This small rodent is wearing a fresh, popstar fashion style like no one else's," Sierra began smoothly, motioning to the gap between her and Sammy as their model reluctantly scurried out on all fours but continued down the runway on its hind legs. It was wearing a pink wig and a purple dress with white stripes. The camera followed it as it walked along looking both nervous and awkward, Sierra continuing her piece all the while. "Her pink hair matches well with her diva attitude and her dress screams fame." She finished with a grimace.
"A bit typical and overly glamorous," Chris said as the rat reached the end of the catwalk. "I give it an 8.5," the host announced as he held up a placard with his score.
The Rats shouted cheers of victory.
Chef held up an 8.0.
Lindsay held up a 1.8 to the uproar of the Rats. She realized her mistake and flipped her placard upside down, showing an 8.1. "Oops."
"Okay," Chris said tersely, looking back towards the catwalk. "Show me what you've got, Maggots!" he called out, the trendy music resuming as the shot cut back to the stage, showing it utterly empty. The camera zoomed in and the music kept playing, but for several more seconds there was still no movement backstage. "...Maggots?" Chris called out again and finally Katie ran out screaming at the top of her lungs.
"As you can see, the yeti is wearing a mix of several different styles based upon us," Katie said as her team quickly ran out to join her.
All six looked towards the backstage curtain, and the furious sasquatch growled and chased after them. His outfit consisted of several different styles – white sneakers resembling Katie's, long white socks resembling Scarlett's, pants resembling Anne Maria's, a blue and yellow collared shirt resembling Dave's, glasses resembling Molly's, and a hat resembling DJ's.
"The outfit consists of a variety of garments applied forcefully to random parts of his body," Katie said, cringing in terror as her team's model quickly tossed Scarlett, Dave, and Molly away again while DJ and Anne Maria quickly got off the stage. The ape-man grabbed her after she finished.
The music stopped, and Sasquatchanakwa finally noticed the three judges just as the first one spoke up. "That thing is huge," Lindsay gasped at the sight of the model before her, "but the outfit had too many themes. Maybe stick to just one next time."
"I agree with Lindsay," Chris admitted, fanning himself again. "It hardly complements the Yeti's husky physique."
Confessional: Katie
"Going with Scarlett's first idea for the yeti would have been boring," Katie groaned in disappointment, "but at least the yeti probably wouldn't have gotten as mad right now."
Confessional Ends
Still holding Katie, Sasquatchanakwa saw what he was wearing. Angry at the 6-way outfit put on him, he threw Katie away, took off the hat and glasses, kicked off the shoes and socks, and ripped off the pants and shirt.
"Chris is right. The team are too different-" Lindsay tried to say, but was cut off when the yeti suddenly reached forward and grabbed her by the head, yanking her out of her seat. The shot zoomed out as an engine whirred to life, revealing that Sasquatchanakwa had also commandeered Chris's jetpack. With the captive dumb princess in his arms, he took off into the air.
"Hey, he took my jetpack!" Chris quickly protested. The shot cut back to the ape-man and dumb blonde as Lindsay screamed, and Saquatchanakwa flew off to the foggy and ominous crags of Boney Island.
"Uh-huh...," Chris said blankly, still fanning himself. "Will Lindsay survive?" he asked the camera, lifting up his shades. "And am I legally liable if she doesn't? Find out, after the break."
\
(Commercial Break)
\
2023.06.07 05:16 TheLifeOfKeffin Issues with Data Center Transfer…
Howdy! My friend is coming back to FFXIV and wants to Data Center Transfer from Crystal/Balmung to Dynamis/Marilith. However, upon trying to transfer via the Mogstation, it lets him select the “Destination Home World” (Marilith) but when it comes to selecting the “Home World and Character Selection” it won’t let him select Balmung from the list. It will only show one other server that he has a character on which isn’t the right one.
We already checked to make sure he was logged into the correct account and correct service account so that doesn’t seem to be the issue…
Does anyone know why it’s doing that and if there’s any solution to it?
submitted by TheLifeOfKeffin to ffxiv [link] [comments]
We already checked to make sure he was logged into the correct account and correct service account so that doesn’t seem to be the issue…
Does anyone know why it’s doing that and if there’s any solution to it?
2023.06.07 04:59 tranquility3 1.1 Update adds a use for extra currency and a source of credits
 | submitted by tranquility3 to HonkaiStarRail [link] [comments] |
2023.06.07 04:49 Birdienuk3 Died because I logged out with no food?
I safe logged out with no food but full health, logged back in later when I wasn't busy and could hunt and just got put to the select dino screen
what?
submitted by Birdienuk3 to theisle [link] [comments]
what?
2023.06.07 03:15 Luerin 30 PST FFXIV + FPS friends
Ive been on a FFXIV [Aether- Cactuar] binge lately. Currently nearing the end of Heavensward content but I feel like ive barely scratched the surface of this game. Would love someone to chill with and show me around or just do our daily roulettes. Even if we just in game chat about what weve done thats cool too!
Big Bonus points if we could also get into some shooters when we feel more energetic, specifically Hunt: Showdown or EFT although I could be convinced to play almost anything if we vibe.
Age 20+ Please and no server recruitments thanks!
Discord: Luerin#6071
IGN: Luerin Evandell
submitted by Luerin to GamerPals [link] [comments]
Big Bonus points if we could also get into some shooters when we feel more energetic, specifically Hunt: Showdown or EFT although I could be convinced to play almost anything if we vibe.
Age 20+ Please and no server recruitments thanks!
Discord: Luerin#6071
IGN: Luerin Evandell
2023.06.07 02:08 DaddyDersch The VIX just closed at pre-covid levels… 6-6-23 SPY/ ES Futures, QQQ and VIX Daily Market Analysis
 | The fact the VIX unwound over 5% today and SPY held under a total $3 range is very impressive… Honestly the more I look at the daily chart the more this really does look like a possible repeat/ dejavu of May 19th to 24th… However, it will be very interesting to see if it actually plays out that way… submitted by DaddyDersch to Daytrading [link] [comments] SPY DAILY SUPPLY AND DEMAND https://preview.redd.it/r8v3fcbemh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=128bcb795e1db86911c30debd0803ae07e047063 I 100% fully expected to put a new supply in today however, we did not do that… which means we either are about to see a very imbalanced market (think establishing a new supply and closing over it) or we are setting up for an even bigger rejection and dump after this next supply is put in… The DMI is ready to wave down so I do favor bearishness and the indicator is as razor thin as it can be for not putting a new supply in… bulls really need to come out tomorrow and pump this if they hope to avoid a new supply… as of right now we have 429.68 and 422.04 as our two targets… SPY DAILY PRICE ACTION https://preview.redd.it/xn2p3hvemh4b1.png?width=961&format=png&auto=webp&s=76d9a02c901f3ed655b7bb9a18cfead17d52b762 We continue to remain in this black bull channel and have yet to once again touch the daily 8ema support… but SPY is now entering extreme bull momentum on both the daily and weekly timeframes which means things can really get out of hand here quickly… There does seem to be a nice rejection area right at 428.3 so the bulls definitely need a closure over that level tomorrow if they have any hopes of retesting 430… however, if we attempt to breakdown again tomorrow we should see 426.6 hold as strong support as that was todays support area… SPY DAILY LEVELS Supply- 429.68 -> 422.04 Demand- 414.55 Support- 426.6 -> 424.4 -> 422.1 Resistance-> 428.3 -> 429.6 -> 431.6 FUTURES DAILY SUPPLY AND DEMAND https://preview.redd.it/wd5xyicfmh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=9b077a16c911554d57cc5f33b2d074d89b4083ef Futures is also yet to put in a new supply and even with the next days candle open we are not threatening to do so… however, I am seeing some very concerning bearish indications popping up… however, the most concerning thing for anyone who wants to short this should be extreme daily and weekly bull momentum WITH low volatility… that is a potential major bull catalyst that could let this rip until those conditions change… 4312 and 4240 are the two current most major levels to watch. FUTURES DAILY PRICE ACTION https://preview.redd.it/lozktnrfmh4b1.png?width=927&format=png&auto=webp&s=cdcd9b3c8c252c079e5877976565ada0650dbdb2 I said I was bearish yesterday but I had two exceptions to why I was cautiously bearish (short term) the first was that futures has been known to immediately turn around and double bottom (which they did) AND we had not gotten a new demand (support) on the VIX yet… those two things with extreme momentum had me hesitant to commit to bearishness… Well the bulls ended up double bottoming AND bullishly engulfing… now outside of a immediately double top here off 4292… this really should lead to a bigger upside push back to the 4300 area… FUTURES DAILY LEVELS Supply- 4240 -> 4312 Demand- 4188 Support- 4280 -> 4260 -> 4230 Resistance- 4293 -> 4312 -> 4357 QQQ DAILY SUPPLY AND DEMAND https://preview.redd.it/cattoy7gmh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=4c8409af4d283026983db8bc76ff5738c2f488ac Now if you remember I was bearish on QQQ more than I was SPY… and I was very close to swinging puts EOD… I didn’t end up taking them but they would have printed a nice 20-30% depending on how quickly you could sell at open… Well todays the same story I am neutral to bullish on SPY/Futes, however, I find myself thinking that QQQ is far more bearish and the better short opportunity. IF you look we actually have turned yesterdays 354.95 into a really nice double top here with 3 back to back to back dojis… we did not quite reach the 352.8 supply to take that out… Now the oddity here is that we have very low volatility with extreme daily and weekly bull momentum and we have a daily DMI wave up… BUT we have not put in a new demand yet… What really needs to happen here…? Well for bulls they need to ideally take out 352.8 and push and close over 354.95 (but ideally over 357.09) which then would establish a new demand around 354.25… in doing this they would have an opportunity to push to 361.7 demand by the EOW. However, the bears really would like to see a breakdown here under 352.8 to take that supply out and a retest of the daily 8ema and if they can muster it up a drop to 347.93 demand. That would then allow the DMI to hopefully recycle to oversold, establish a new demand (support) and then give the boost off the daily 8 support to really propel this higher. QQQ DAILY LEVELS Supply- 352.8 -> 354.95 -> 357.09 Demand- 361.7 -> 347.93 VIX https://preview.redd.it/5jmzgjqgmh4b1.png?width=880&format=png&auto=webp&s=f68aee8d33e6e8adf46f560a38f0c776870b79db If you remember on Friday I posted this that showed the lowest close the VIX has had since pre-covid was 14.38… well in an incredible turn of events the bulls were able to close the VIX at 13.96 today… On February 14th the VIX closed at 13.68… the lowest close prior to that was January 23rd which closed at 12.98 January 17th closed at 12.1 November 26th 2019 closed at 11.54… There has not been a closure below 11.54 since October 2018…. (this is only about 18% from todays close). Now what if I told you the VIX had more room to fall? https://preview.redd.it/082bmw5hmh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=4ce7e34d7a88c4415c52d44d11a34f31a713feeb Now if you remember I have been watching the supply and demand on VIX and I officially broke it down chart wise yesterday for you guys to see more clearly… as of right now… the VIX has still not put in a new daily demand (support)… we at open today came very close, however, as of right now the ease of movement is the downside. The VIX with a momentum indicator applied to it shows that the daily chart is actually in extreme bear (downward) momentum and the weekly is very quickly coming in on extreme bear momentum too… Which means what? It means that the ease of momentum should remain to the downside. If you look at the yellow support line of the April 19th and May 1st support line… support sits at 13.45 for tomorrow… that could be a potential bounce line. That’s about another 4% drop tomorrow. However, that white bear channel that we have been in since May 24th has a support much lower at 12.35 for tomorrow… that would be about -12% from here… IF the bears can finally find any sort of support though we will look to break out of that white bear channel at 14.92 tomorrow… that is about 7% move up from here tomorrow. So what is the whole point of this? Well the point is that as long as the VIX is continuing to sell off SPY will be bullish to neutral and there will be a very hard time for bears to have any sort of movement down… but more importantly until the VIX finds a new demand (support) and breaks this bear channel… there will be no sustained movement to the downside. I remain short term neutral but longer term I am still bullish… I just don’t think there is enough here to really warrant us to flip bearish… Market clearly wants to unwind the VIX and go up.. no reason to fight the trend… https://preview.redd.it/016zohohmh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=f43e64e7b07969d80f7b7514548d430851259487 With that being said… the FG index is actually about to enter extreme greed… now that right there though along with the VIX hitting 52W (2+ year) lows is actually a reason to extreme a retrace soon… December 1st it hit 76 before it started to fall… February 1st it hi 82 before it started to fall… Those are the two highest levels the FG has hit in the last year really.. After December 1st SPY fell 8.5% over 15 trading days from peak to trough. After February 1st SPY fell 9% over 26 trading days from peak to trough… That is an average of 79 FG with a 8.75% drop over 20 days from peak to trough… That could mean if we see FG hit that 79 area by the EOW… we could be looking at roughly a 20 day drop of 8.75%... that could be if we are in that 430-440 area a drop to 392 to 401. DAILY TRADING LOG https://preview.redd.it/73e7be5imh4b1.png?width=597&format=png&auto=webp&s=0ad9fb9189b7a8e803b26bbb9a574410817817e4 Today was a pretty solid trading day really… I was able to really capitalize on that morning pump and extreme movement up and had a pretty great trading day right until the 2pm bottom… I ate every single bull and bear trap and stop loss hunt there was. It was brutal… definitely gave up a good amount of profits there. But overall was a great day of trading and so far a great week of profits. |
2023.06.07 02:06 DaddyDersch The VIX just closed at pre-covid levels… 6-6-23 SPY/ ES Futures, QQQ and VIX Daily Market Analysis
 | The fact the VIX unwound over 5% today and SPY held under a total $3 range is very impressive… Honestly the more I look at the daily chart the more this really does look like a possible repeat/ dejavu of May 19th to 24th… However, it will be very interesting to see if it actually plays out that way… submitted by DaddyDersch to wallstreetbets [link] [comments] SPY DAILY SUPPLY AND DEMAND https://preview.redd.it/b3baqli4mh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=8510026027b74824697e74f8a3af02773f0bc964 I 100% fully expected to put a new supply in today however, we did not do that… which means we either are about to see a very imbalanced market (think establishing a new supply and closing over it) or we are setting up for an even bigger rejection and dump after this next supply is put in… The DMI is ready to wave down so I do favor bearishness and the indicator is as razor thin as it can be for not putting a new supply in… bulls really need to come out tomorrow and pump this if they hope to avoid a new supply… as of right now we have 429.68 and 422.04 as our two targets… SPY DAILY PRICE ACTION https://preview.redd.it/361lniy4mh4b1.png?width=961&format=png&auto=webp&s=975cc363c343e138ac6cd81c4fa7d6b8474d3cdd We continue to remain in this black bull channel and have yet to once again touch the daily 8ema support… but SPY is now entering extreme bull momentum on both the daily and weekly timeframes which means things can really get out of hand here quickly… There does seem to be a nice rejection area right at 428.3 so the bulls definitely need a closure over that level tomorrow if they have any hopes of retesting 430… however, if we attempt to breakdown again tomorrow we should see 426.6 hold as strong support as that was todays support area… SPY DAILY LEVELS Supply- 429.68 -> 422.04 Demand- 414.55 Support- 426.6 -> 424.4 -> 422.1 Resistance-> 428.3 -> 429.6 -> 431.6 FUTURES DAILY SUPPLY AND DEMAND https://preview.redd.it/nbyimug5mh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=0e040564b8c2722e395fb48c24df98971c36a6e9 Futures is also yet to put in a new supply and even with the next days candle open we are not threatening to do so… however, I am seeing some very concerning bearish indications popping up… however, the most concerning thing for anyone who wants to short this should be extreme daily and weekly bull momentum WITH low volatility… that is a potential major bull catalyst that could let this rip until those conditions change… 4312 and 4240 are the two current most major levels to watch. FUTURES DAILY PRICE ACTION https://preview.redd.it/bmvim516mh4b1.png?width=927&format=png&auto=webp&s=1f91522397d29853340f0f4ef0c25a01ac6e8023 I said I was bearish yesterday but I had two exceptions to why I was cautiously bearish (short term) the first was that futures has been known to immediately turn around and double bottom (which they did) AND we had not gotten a new demand (support) on the VIX yet… those two things with extreme momentum had me hesitant to commit to bearishness… Well the bulls ended up double bottoming AND bullishly engulfing… now outside of a immediately double top here off 4292… this really should lead to a bigger upside push back to the 4300 area… FUTURES DAILY LEVELS Supply- 4240 -> 4312 Demand- 4188 Support- 4280 -> 4260 -> 4230 Resistance- 4293 -> 4312 -> 4357 QQQ DAILY SUPPLY AND DEMAND https://preview.redd.it/z9mar9i6mh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=d65b8c8d60d8bf3305faa2e4dc9c9ce89278a020 Now if you remember I was bearish on QQQ more than I was SPY… and I was very close to swinging puts EOD… I didn’t end up taking them but they would have printed a nice 20-30% depending on how quickly you could sell at open… Well todays the same story I am neutral to bullish on SPY/Futes, however, I find myself thinking that QQQ is far more bearish and the better short opportunity. IF you look we actually have turned yesterdays 354.95 into a really nice double top here with 3 back to back to back dojis… we did not quite reach the 352.8 supply to take that out… Now the oddity here is that we have very low volatility with extreme daily and weekly bull momentum and we have a daily DMI wave up… BUT we have not put in a new demand yet… What really needs to happen here…? Well for bulls they need to ideally take out 352.8 and push and close over 354.95 (but ideally over 357.09) which then would establish a new demand around 354.25… in doing this they would have an opportunity to push to 361.7 demand by the EOW. However, the bears really would like to see a breakdown here under 352.8 to take that supply out and a retest of the daily 8ema and if they can muster it up a drop to 347.93 demand. That would then allow the DMI to hopefully recycle to oversold, establish a new demand (support) and then give the boost off the daily 8 support to really propel this higher. QQQ DAILY LEVELS Supply- 352.8 -> 354.95 -> 357.09 Demand- 361.7 -> 347.93 VIX https://preview.redd.it/00lt6hz6mh4b1.png?width=880&format=png&auto=webp&s=6d466fe21ba0d75759daaf4d13764affbdf51157 If you remember on Friday I posted this that showed the lowest close the VIX has had since pre-covid was 14.38… well in an incredible turn of events the bulls were able to close the VIX at 13.96 today… On February 14th the VIX closed at 13.68… the lowest close prior to that was January 23rd which closed at 12.98 January 17th closed at 12.1 November 26th 2019 closed at 11.54… There has not been a closure below 11.54 since October 2018…. (this is only about 18% from todays close). Now what if I told you the VIX had more room to fall? https://preview.redd.it/rp1452e7mh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=9102670e4804d9d82681edbbd888df8dba5e4034 Now if you remember I have been watching the supply and demand on VIX and I officially broke it down chart wise yesterday for you guys to see more clearly… as of right now… the VIX has still not put in a new daily demand (support)… we at open today came very close, however, as of right now the ease of movement is the downside. The VIX with a momentum indicator applied to it shows that the daily chart is actually in extreme bear (downward) momentum and the weekly is very quickly coming in on extreme bear momentum too… Which means what? It means that the ease of momentum should remain to the downside. If you look at the yellow support line of the April 19th and May 1st support line… support sits at 13.45 for tomorrow… that could be a potential bounce line. That’s about another 4% drop tomorrow. However, that white bear channel that we have been in since May 24th has a support much lower at 12.35 for tomorrow… that would be about -12% from here… IF the bears can finally find any sort of support though we will look to break out of that white bear channel at 14.92 tomorrow… that is about 7% move up from here tomorrow. So what is the whole point of this? Well the point is that as long as the VIX is continuing to sell off SPY will be bullish to neutral and there will be a very hard time for bears to have any sort of movement down… but more importantly until the VIX finds a new demand (support) and breaks this bear channel… there will be no sustained movement to the downside. I remain short term neutral but longer term I am still bullish… I just don’t think there is enough here to really warrant us to flip bearish… Market clearly wants to unwind the VIX and go up.. no reason to fight the trend… https://preview.redd.it/avmkcbv7mh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=1a1001f6e567efefee2adcf638857d8f462b16f2 With that being said… the FG index is actually about to enter extreme greed… now that right there though along with the VIX hitting 52W (2+ year) lows is actually a reason to extreme a retrace soon… December 1st it hit 76 before it started to fall… February 1st it hi 82 before it started to fall… Those are the two highest levels the FG has hit in the last year really.. After December 1st SPY fell 8.5% over 15 trading days from peak to trough. After February 1st SPY fell 9% over 26 trading days from peak to trough… That is an average of 79 FG with a 8.75% drop over 20 days from peak to trough… That could mean if we see FG hit that 79 area by the EOW… we could be looking at roughly a 20 day drop of 8.75%... that could be if we are in that 430-440 area a drop to 392 to 401. DAILY TRADING LOG https://preview.redd.it/brxhege8mh4b1.png?width=597&format=png&auto=webp&s=493db1938dc5ec106c516a0a229109a866c05039 Today was a pretty solid trading day really… I was able to really capitalize on that morning pump and extreme movement up and had a pretty great trading day right until the 2pm bottom… I ate every single bull and bear trap and stop loss hunt there was. It was brutal… definitely gave up a good amount of profits there. But overall was a great day of trading and so far a great week of profits. |
2023.06.07 02:05 DaddyDersch The VIX just closed at pre-covid levels… 6-6-23 SPY/ ES Futures, QQQ and VIX Daily Market Analysis
 | The fact the VIX unwound over 5% today and SPY held under a total $3 range is very impressive… Honestly the more I look at the daily chart the more this really does look like a possible repeat/ dejavu of May 19th to 24th… However, it will be very interesting to see if it actually plays out that way… submitted by DaddyDersch to u/DaddyDersch [link] [comments] SPY DAILY SUPPLY AND DEMAND https://preview.redd.it/y1lbi64ylh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=6ddd70d57f2490528852754ef31abc18117d1953 I 100% fully expected to put a new supply in today however, we did not do that… which means we either are about to see a very imbalanced market (think establishing a new supply and closing over it) or we are setting up for an even bigger rejection and dump after this next supply is put in… The DMI is ready to wave down so I do favor bearishness and the indicator is as razor thin as it can be for not putting a new supply in… bulls really need to come out tomorrow and pump this if they hope to avoid a new supply… as of right now we have 429.68 and 422.04 as our two targets… SPY DAILY PRICE ACTION https://preview.redd.it/3w11u5qylh4b1.png?width=961&format=png&auto=webp&s=1320228c469b9c2cd51adfd02270ab717f459d85 We continue to remain in this black bull channel and have yet to once again touch the daily 8ema support… but SPY is now entering extreme bull momentum on both the daily and weekly timeframes which means things can really get out of hand here quickly… There does seem to be a nice rejection area right at 428.3 so the bulls definitely need a closure over that level tomorrow if they have any hopes of retesting 430… however, if we attempt to breakdown again tomorrow we should see 426.6 hold as strong support as that was todays support area… SPY DAILY LEVELS Supply- 429.68 -> 422.04 Demand- 414.55 Support- 426.6 -> 424.4 -> 422.1 Resistance-> 428.3 -> 429.6 -> 431.6 FUTURES DAILY SUPPLY AND DEMAND https://preview.redd.it/dwn5p7azlh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f8fb190d7ac56dae284531dcc50ed8eba4795f4 Futures is also yet to put in a new supply and even with the next days candle open we are not threatening to do so… however, I am seeing some very concerning bearish indications popping up… however, the most concerning thing for anyone who wants to short this should be extreme daily and weekly bull momentum WITH low volatility… that is a potential major bull catalyst that could let this rip until those conditions change… 4312 and 4240 are the two current most major levels to watch. FUTURES DAILY PRICE ACTION https://preview.redd.it/r4za2xrzlh4b1.png?width=927&format=png&auto=webp&s=abc1eb7b5194c664f9e5c38d30eef162316216bf I said I was bearish yesterday but I had two exceptions to why I was cautiously bearish (short term) the first was that futures has been known to immediately turn around and double bottom (which they did) AND we had not gotten a new demand (support) on the VIX yet… those two things with extreme momentum had me hesitant to commit to bearishness… Well the bulls ended up double bottoming AND bullishly engulfing… now outside of a immediately double top here off 4292… this really should lead to a bigger upside push back to the 4300 area… FUTURES DAILY LEVELS Supply- 4240 -> 4312 Demand- 4188 Support- 4280 -> 4260 -> 4230 Resistance- 4293 -> 4312 -> 4357 QQQ DAILY SUPPLY AND DEMAND https://preview.redd.it/w7o28380mh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=db3ff0af78d81d574134fcfc913c341ede9d78db Now if you remember I was bearish on QQQ more than I was SPY… and I was very close to swinging puts EOD… I didn’t end up taking them but they would have printed a nice 20-30% depending on how quickly you could sell at open… Well todays the same story I am neutral to bullish on SPY/Futes, however, I find myself thinking that QQQ is far more bearish and the better short opportunity. IF you look we actually have turned yesterdays 354.95 into a really nice double top here with 3 back to back to back dojis… we did not quite reach the 352.8 supply to take that out… Now the oddity here is that we have very low volatility with extreme daily and weekly bull momentum and we have a daily DMI wave up… BUT we have not put in a new demand yet… What really needs to happen here…? Well for bulls they need to ideally take out 352.8 and push and close over 354.95 (but ideally over 357.09) which then would establish a new demand around 354.25… in doing this they would have an opportunity to push to 361.7 demand by the EOW. However, the bears really would like to see a breakdown here under 352.8 to take that supply out and a retest of the daily 8ema and if they can muster it up a drop to 347.93 demand. That would then allow the DMI to hopefully recycle to oversold, establish a new demand (support) and then give the boost off the daily 8 support to really propel this higher. QQQ DAILY LEVELS Supply- 352.8 -> 354.95 -> 357.09 Demand- 361.7 -> 347.93 VIX https://preview.redd.it/2szb1tr0mh4b1.png?width=880&format=png&auto=webp&s=aecb3b9a046967d00f747d68f0e0adc78cdce810 If you remember on Friday I posted this that showed the lowest close the VIX has had since pre-covid was 14.38… well in an incredible turn of events the bulls were able to close the VIX at 13.96 today… On February 14th the VIX closed at 13.68… the lowest close prior to that was January 23rd which closed at 12.98 January 17th closed at 12.1 November 26th 2019 closed at 11.54… There has not been a closure below 11.54 since October 2018…. (this is only about 18% from todays close). Now what if I told you the VIX had more room to fall? https://preview.redd.it/dkrv9281mh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=b16dccbe15f5fdb58f97240e765689b1842208fc Now if you remember I have been watching the supply and demand on VIX and I officially broke it down chart wise yesterday for you guys to see more clearly… as of right now… the VIX has still not put in a new daily demand (support)… we at open today came very close, however, as of right now the ease of movement is the downside. The VIX with a momentum indicator applied to it shows that the daily chart is actually in extreme bear (downward) momentum and the weekly is very quickly coming in on extreme bear momentum too… Which means what? It means that the ease of momentum should remain to the downside. If you look at the yellow support line of the April 19th and May 1st support line… support sits at 13.45 for tomorrow… that could be a potential bounce line. That’s about another 4% drop tomorrow. However, that white bear channel that we have been in since May 24th has a support much lower at 12.35 for tomorrow… that would be about -12% from here… IF the bears can finally find any sort of support though we will look to break out of that white bear channel at 14.92 tomorrow… that is about 7% move up from here tomorrow. So what is the whole point of this? Well the point is that as long as the VIX is continuing to sell off SPY will be bullish to neutral and there will be a very hard time for bears to have any sort of movement down… but more importantly until the VIX finds a new demand (support) and breaks this bear channel… there will be no sustained movement to the downside. I remain short term neutral but longer term I am still bullish… I just don’t think there is enough here to really warrant us to flip bearish… Market clearly wants to unwind the VIX and go up.. no reason to fight the trend… https://preview.redd.it/7g663es1mh4b1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=8db21434f77b2c6e77c2de2ca4e35ba6976dfb6a With that being said… the FG index is actually about to enter extreme greed… now that right there though along with the VIX hitting 52W (2+ year) lows is actually a reason to extreme a retrace soon… December 1st it hit 76 before it started to fall… February 1st it hi 82 before it started to fall… Those are the two highest levels the FG has hit in the last year really.. After December 1st SPY fell 8.5% over 15 trading days from peak to trough. After February 1st SPY fell 9% over 26 trading days from peak to trough… That is an average of 79 FG with a 8.75% drop over 20 days from peak to trough… That could mean if we see FG hit that 79 area by the EOW… we could be looking at roughly a 20 day drop of 8.75%... that could be if we are in that 430-440 area a drop to 392 to 401. DAILY TRADING LOG https://preview.redd.it/gbdcnf72mh4b1.png?width=597&format=png&auto=webp&s=703ca3b28bd9d35f0bd3510c88f7dc9b131a6e30 Today was a pretty solid trading day really… I was able to really capitalize on that morning pump and extreme movement up and had a pretty great trading day right until the 2pm bottom… I ate every single bull and bear trap and stop loss hunt there was. It was brutal… definitely gave up a good amount of profits there. But overall was a great day of trading and so far a great week of profits. |
2023.06.07 00:51 LizzyZoey Warning for NA players: about 4-5 hyper-aggressive pachys on NA-1, teaming with 5-6 equally aggressive tenos in the south/southeast region
My friends and I were growing carnos on NA-1, and we encountered these pachys that consistently came out of nowhere and started attacking us, singling out my one fully-grown friend. It started out with just 2 of them, then it became 3, and then it became like 4-5 full pachys literally hunting us down. They even teamed up with like 4-5, maybe even 6 Tenos to literally hunt us down. Before we all safe-logged(screw you pachys), me and the smaller carno we were with managed to kill 2 of the pachys at least. They encountered us about 3-4 times too, which, first time: ok fine please leave us be, second time: poor coincidence, third time: what? fourth time: okay you have to be hacking. That's literally the thought process I had each time we encountered them.
Tl;dr: 4-5 hyper-aggressive pachys(now about 2-3 b/c we killed 2 of them lol) on NA-1 hunted me(carno) and my two friends(also carno) down about 3-4 times, teaming with 5-6 equally aggressive tenos.
submitted by LizzyZoey to theisle [link] [comments]
Tl;dr: 4-5 hyper-aggressive pachys(now about 2-3 b/c we killed 2 of them lol) on NA-1 hunted me(carno) and my two friends(also carno) down about 3-4 times, teaming with 5-6 equally aggressive tenos.
2023.06.06 23:33 Actiaeon Um, thanks for letting me know.
 | submitted by Actiaeon to CrusaderKings [link] [comments] |
2023.06.06 22:25 JoshAsdvgi The Origins of Disease and Medicine
 | submitted by JoshAsdvgi to Native_Stories [link] [comments] The Origins of Disease and Medicine Long ago the humans and the animals got along fine. All the peoples, human and animal, could communicate with each other and were at peace. The animals of that long-ago time were much larger than the animals of today. Indeed, the animals of today are but shadows of those who once were. There came a time when we humans forgot our place and broke the harmony. We humans began to reproduce at an alarming rate, and we gave ourselves to the production of all sorts of weapons meant for the destruction of the animals: spears and atlatls, bows and arrows, blowguns and traps of all kinds. We began to hunt, not just for food, but simply for the fun of killing. We humans also killed many animals just by pure carelessness, never stopping to think of the results of our actions. Even as we walked from place to place, we were not careful where we stepped, so that many of the tiny many-legged and legless ones were crushed to death or maimed. Some humans went so far as to purposely kill little animals merely from a feeling of disgust or loathing, going out of their way to step on a bug or squash a harmless spider. It was clear that we humans believed ourselves to be the only ones who mattered in all of creation, and as we continued clearing land and building our cities; it looked as if there would soon be no more room for anyone else to live in the earth. The animals decided something had to be done about this human problem. The bears met separately from the other animals. The Great White Bear, presiding at the council asked, "What's the problem?" "It's these humans; they kill us indiscriminately." "How do they kill us?" "With bows and arrows." "Of what are their bows made?" "The bow of locust wood and the bowstring of our guts." The bears decided they would make bows of their own with which to kill the humans. They got some locust wood, and one of the bears sacrificed himself to give material for the bowstring. When the bow was finished and arrows were made, one of the bears stood up to shoot. He could pull the string, but releasing it was a problem. His long claws would get hung and throw him off target. The other bears, ducking his wild arrows, cried out, "Stop, stop. Something must be done. We'll cut your claws." After the bear's claws were cut, he could shoot a bow as well as any man. "Now the humans have had it!" all the bears said. "We will hunt them, as they have hunted us! All we have to do is cut our claws." "Wait!" said the Great White Bear. "How is it that we bears make our living?" "By climbing trees to get honey and by ripping open rotten logs to find insects and by digging in the earth for rodents and by catching fish." "How do we do all these things?" "With our long claws." The bears understood that if they cut their claws they could no longer make a living as bears and would starve to death. The idea to hunt the humans with bows and arrows was scrapped, and they never came up with another solution. All the other animals came together in a joint council to discuss the human problem. The Grubworm presided at the council. After all, it was his people, the little creeping and crawling peoples of the earth, who had suffered most from the actions of the humans. The animals all sat in a circle. The talking stick was passed, giving each an opportunity to speak. The Toad said, "Something must be done. These humans despise me. They are forever kicking me or throwing things at me, because they think I am ugly. Just look at all the bumps they've put on my back!" One of the little birds rose and said, "Although I'm too small to provide much meat, their little boys kill my people and roast us over the fire until our feathers and feet are burned off." One after the other, the animals spoke of atrocities committed by the humans. The only one with nothing to say against the humans was the little chipmunk, who was too small to be hunted for food and too quick to be stepped on. When he spoke in defense of the humans, the other animals jumped on him and gave him such a scratching down his back that the stripes are there to this day! Once it was established that something must be done about the humans in order to save the rest of creation, the floor was open for discussion of what to do. It was finally decided that each of the animal peoples would come up with at least one disease with which to inflict the humans, in order to kill most of them and to teach the rest some respect. Various animals attending the council agreed to come up with every sort of ailment from cancer to p.m.s. When the Grubworm heard this last one, he laughed so hard he fell over backwards and has been crawling around like that ever since. So, all the animals went their separate ways to meet in council, each with their own kind, to work out the details of what they would do. The deer met in council, with their chief, Little Deer, presiding. The deer understood the humans to be a pitiful and needy people who live only by the deaths of others. For this reason, the deer decided to allow the humans to continue killing some deer each year, but only what is needed for food, NEVER FOR SPORT. Furthermore, a human hunter, upon killing a deer, is required to show respect for the spirit of the deer by begging the deer's pardon and making a proper tobacco offering. And so, Little Deer, the chief and adawehi of all the deer will come. Swiftly and invisibly he will come to the place where the deer has died. Gently he will bend down over the blood. In a whisper, he will ask the spirit of the slain deer, "Did this hunter treat you with respect? Did he beg your pardon? Did he offer tobacco?" If the answer is, "Yes," all is well, and Little Deer will go on his way. But if the answer is, "No," Little Deer will track that hunter to his home. There, Little Deer will strike that hunter with rheumatism, that he may never hunt again! Word was sent to the human people, and we Cherokees have not forgotten this treaty with the deer. And so, many diseases came into the earth. Many people died. For awhile, it looked as though maybe no humans would survive in the earth. The great cities were forgotten and fell into ruin. The plant peoples who saw all of this, also elected to come together and meet in council. Deciding to take pity on us humans, each plant agreed to give of itself to provide medicine for at least one human disease or ailment. All we humans had to do was ask in a respectful way. |
2023.06.06 20:44 Klokinator The Cryopod to Hell 493: Glinch's Game
Author note: The Cryopod to Hell is a Reddit-exclusive story with over three years of editing and refining. As of this post, the total rewrite is 1,937,000+ words long! For more information, check out the link below:
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(Part 001)
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Two hundred and fifty miles. A long walk under normal circumstances, and certainly not a distance any person would trek if they didn't have to. Today, such a voyage feels ten times worse for Hell's elites, given the situation that begins to arise.
Yardrat leads the Mephisto Assault Force competently. As a vice-leader of the strongest Hell, he is no slouch when it comes to killing or commanding others. Despite having his spatial powers heavily suppressed, he still presents a lethal cocktail of destruction, able to dish out ridiculous levels of damage by turning his unstable spatial abilities into destructive attacks aimed at the weak points of Glinch's aberrants.
The problem is, as the assault force begins to push toward the center of the Stitched Wasteland, they meet far heavier resistance than they anticipated.
Originally, Auger planned to have the assault force move slowly, picking off enemies, one by one. But unexpectedly, Glinch decides not to play by the rules, and his minions begin deliberately approaching the demon elites in twos and threes.
At first, this horrifies Yardrat and the others, but they quickly realize the creatures Glinch sends aren't all merely the strongest aberrants he's ever made. Instead, they represent a diverse set of skills, strengths, and weaknesses tailored to the hunting party.
The first two monsters they fought were the Brute and the Snakedra. The next three end up being creatures that even the Dukes in the party can deal damage to, somewhat, but they end up forced to split into three groups to deal with these new enemies.
"Glinch, that bastard!" Emperor Fae yells. "He's toying with us!"
"He's treating us like an experiment." Yardrat says coldly, as he, Crow, and Fae take turns whaling on the strongest of the three monsters. "This is little more than a game in his eyes."
At the same time, Bael, Dagon, and ten Demon Dukes battle a slippery gelatin-like monster that breaks apart when struck and melts together, as if made of slime.
"Gross!" Bael moans. "It keeps stickin' to Big Bonk like glue!"
Dagon blasts it with corrosive chemicals, causing it to melt and reform. "It won't stay dead!"
The third monster ends up being a replicator-type entity, a mid-level elite on the weaker end of the Emperor spectrum that Nymph, Kristoff, Serena, and Melody have to battle with their own complement of Dukes.
Serena uses her powers lightly on the Dukes around her, boosting them to the bottom of the Emperor tier, temporarily upgrading their abilities without straining their bodies too heavily. She also sends Soul Webs to the minds of the others, linking their thoughts so they can better coordinate their attacks on the creature.
The multiplying monster boasts a ridiculous regenerative capability on par with Beelzebub, as well as the power to occasionally split its body in half, with the new form possessing the same level of strength as its original form.
In this battle, Kristoff's two Dukes end up shining the brightest. Vespera, the Duke of Gloom, and Rhesus, the Duke of Predation, both of them upgraded to the lowest level of the Emperor hierarchy by Serena's magic.
Vespera. A vicious and violent demoness with powers somewhat reminiscent of not only Kristoff's fallen wife, Fenrir, but certain abilities that echo those of the once-mighty Emperor Lucifer. Able to summon legions of darkness-imbued minions, as well as the ability to lock enemy minds within prisons of nightmares, the Duke of Gloom is a person Kristoff has high hopes for, especially if she manages to ascend to the rank of Emperor.
Her appearance is quite seductive. She wears skimpy robes that only technically shroud her skin from sight, though their semi-transparent nature leaves little to the imagination. Most notably, one of Vespera's defining traits is her utter lack of the red skin characterized by most demons. Hers is light blue, for she is actually a Satyr, one of the few that still survive to the modern era. Were someone to try and make a move on Vespera, they might find that despite being beautiful, she is a cruel and blackhearted woman who enjoys tormenting the minds of lesser beings.
As for Rhesus, he is a demon who focuses purely on the brutal nature of killing and slaughter. As the Duke of Predation, he combines the features of vampires and werewolves into one body, allowing himself to gain power by devouring the blood, skin, and bones of his enemies. His strength might not match up to that of Emperors Belial or Crow, but his ability to take a beating and continue enduring grants him longevity in battles that would leave any other Duke dead. He proved this by surviving the battle against the Cherubiim while the rest of the Third Hell's Dukes perished.
Rhesus wears a set of finely crafted demonstone armor, plated with a thin layer of silver to give it a metallic sheen. His glowing red eyes speak to the hunger in his heart, and the Slaughter Blade affixed to his right gauntlet ensures he is always ready to end the lives of those he hates. Much like Emperor Wolfram, Duke Rhesus has an animalistic werewolf-like appearance, but unlike Wolfram, he also sports vampiric fangs, demonstrating that he is the offspring of two different demonic subspecies. Every movement Rhesus makes speaks to his killing nature.
Vespera, temporarily evolved to the rank of Emperor, conjures dozens of shadowy monsters to attack and bind the bodies of the Replicator aberrant. She attacks the creature with a giant halberd made of pure darkness, keeping out of its range to slash and cut it while infecting its wounds with corrosive miasma.
Rhesus, on the other hand, brawls up close and personal, taking on the same role as Crow and Bael in the other two parties. When the Replicator beats and batters him with its club-like fists, Rhesus only grins maniacally, biting at its shoulders and hips to rip off its limbs. He greedily devours whole chunks of the chimera's body, swallowing them to boost his own strength in the smallest ways.
"Delicious!" Rhesus roars. "High quality food for this Emperor!"
The aberrant silently snaps its fist at Rhesus, battering his head and knocking him back half a step. He immediately returns the favor with a brutal punch to the monster's stomach, doubling it over while running his single gauntlet-blade through its gut.
"Nice hit! Here's my retort!"
Rhesus sweeps his arm to the right, and then the left, slicing the creature in half. He pounces on its severed body, ripping it apart with his teeth and claws, spraying blood everywhere. As he greedily devours the monster, two more copies replicate and lunge at him from both sides.
"Rhesus, you glutton. Pay attention." Vespera says with a frown. She aims her palm at one of the newly replicated copies and fires a shockwave of darkness at it, sending it flying backward. The creature hits the ground headfirst and spins, landing in a sprawled-out heap.
As for the other copy, Rhesus leaps and rams his fist into its chin, uppercutting it into the air while also shattering its jawbone.
"Not today!"
Emperor Melody finds that, unlike the Brute from earlier, she can actually deal heavy damage and even kill this replicating aberrant, but no matter how fast she does, the creature always manages to copy itself multiple times from its other living selves, defying every law of energy conservation.
BOOM! BOOM!
Melody sends dual shockwaves of concussive force into the bodies of two Replicators, making them shudder and freeze, while allowing other Emperors to land killing blows. Nymph swings a giant log of magically hardened wood at the head of one monster, crushing it into meat paste. Kristoff rams his fingers into the other one's heart and sucks its blood dry, leaving behind only a desiccated husk.
"How does it keep conjuring so many clones?" Kristoff asks, bewildered. "And each one is as strong as the others! Is this aberrant secretly a Wordsmith?!"
He doesn't receive an answer. None of the others know. However, as they fight on, they become more attuned to one another through Serena's Soul Web. They move more in unison and adjust their teamwork to kill the Replicators faster than they can duplicate themselves.
Eventually, Melody delivers the final blow on the last remaining duplicate, blowing its body apart with a grenade-like explosion of sound, causing viscous chunks to splatter her comrades. To their utter relief, after killing more than a hundred of the duplicating freaks, no others appear.
Kristoff's squad rushes over to help finish off the other two deviants in Yardrat and Bael's squads, only to arrive just in time for both to kill off their respective foes.
"Whew!!" Bael exclaims, doubling over and gasping for air, every inch of his Matriarch Armor drenched in blood. "Oh, Satan the Devil! That was- aahhh... I need a breather, woo!"
He isn't the only Emperor out of breath. Sweat lines the foreheads of every single elite, except for Serena, whose support duties kept her out of the direct line of fire. Yardrat's body shakes from exhaustion. Crow's biceps pulse fiercely with adrenaline-fueled blood. Vespera's bloodshot eyes tell a story regarding how much mana she's expended.
"We've only killed five monsters!" Nymph exclaims, her beautiful red skin glistening with sweat. She conjures a handful of leaves to daintily dab and dry herself off. "Just five! How could Glinch's minions be so powerful?"
Bael lifts his head. He looks toward the distant center of the Stitched Wasteland.
"Woo... ho-boy, not gonna lie, fellas. I don't know how many more of those I've got in me."
"We have to keep pressing on." Yardrat says through gritted teeth. "Can't you feel the slow thickening of mana in the air? Mephisto's time to ascend must be arriving soon!"
The other elites grimace. They look toward the center of the Stitched Wasteland, fearing they won't have energy to make it there, let alone ultimately kill Mephisto.
"Let's take a five-minute breather." Kristoff suggests, recovering from his exertion a bit faster thanks to the vitality of his blood. "But keep on your guard. It's clear Glinch isn't going to make things easy for us."
The other elites nod. Nobody sits down, but they all stand in place, steadying their breathing and borrowing leaves from Nymph to dry their sweaty bodies off. Even Bael temporarily removes his armor to dab himself dry.
One demon is the exception, though.
Now reverted back to his Duke form, Rhesus greedily bites and chews at the corpses of Glinch's fallen monsters. He hungrily rips them apart like a wolf that hasn't eaten meat in ten years. Some of the more squeamish demons curl up their lips in disgust, while Vespera and Kristoff appear unmoved. They've long grown used to his ways.
Suddenly, Rhesus looks at Bael.
"Hey!"
Bael looks back at him. "What?"
Rhesus points to the corpse of the slime-creature Bael helped kill. "You gonna eat that?"
Bael slowly shakes his head. He nudges it toward Rhesus with his foot, then takes a step back. "Nah, bro. Uh, help yourself. I'm................... full."
"Great!" Rhesus yells, rushing over to chew and slurp up the slimey remains of the once-human-shaped creature Bael ultimately helped slay.
"Some fellas..." Bael murmurs, looking away.
As Rhesus takes these precious five minutes to ravenously devour Glinch's subordinates, Yardrat suddenly looks up in the sky. "Bloody hell! How long has that been there?!"
The others, except Rhesus, follow his gaze.
"What the-?!" Bael exclaims.
"What is it?" Melody asks.
Serena, unable to make out anything but a glowing mass of mana, blinks her unseeing eyes. "A physical description would be nice."
Nymph rests her hand on Serena's shoulder. "It's an... egg. A flesh-colored egg."
"By flesh-colored, you mean...?"
"Sorry. Demon-flesh-colored. Red." Nymph clarifies.
The egg hovers in the sky for only five seconds before suddenly rushing downward toward the demon elites. They quickly raise their fists and weapons, ready for battle, as it crashes into the dirt a hundred meters away.
The egg cracks open. Its shell explodes into fragments, spilling a disgusting green liquid all over the dirt, the stench of which makes many of the elites want to puke.
"Oh, that's awful!" Bael whines, before reactivating his Matriarch Armor so he won't have to suffer the foul odor.
As a cloud of thick green gas evaporates, a bipedal creature steps out of the crumbled egg's remains. Its sleek, moist body makes it resemble a fish. Its mottled green skin makes it appear as if it were born of the forest, a soil-based life-form coated in viscous fluids.
But strangely, its faceless head makes it feel... alien.
Upon seeing this new threat, one demon loses all their color.
Emperor Melody's pupils shrink to pinpricks. A cold chill sweeps across her skin as she immediately takes a step back. "No... no, no, no..."
The other Emperor glance at her in confusion, then back at the monster.
"What is it, Melody?" Kristoff asks quietly, as the creature remains standing in the distance, not yet moving toward them.
"P-P-Pla... Plague..." Melody whispers, a lump in her throat making it hard for her to speak. "That's- that's a- a- K-K-Kuh-Kolvax...ian..."
The temperature around the elites seems to plummet ten degrees. They look at the monster in horror.
"No.. Glinch wouldn't..." Yardrat whispers. "He'd never go this far..."
As the Emperors and Dukes remain standing, uncertain of what to do, the creature's head changes.
Its faceless facade morphs. A line spreads across the middle, where its nose would normally be. The Emperors become unsettled as a giant mouth begins to materialize, filled with shark-like teeth.
"Not....... Quite....." The 'Kolvaxian' says.
The voice that escapes the creature's mouth causes Yardrat to frown. He recognizes it immediately.
"Glinch? Is that you?"
The monster doesn't speak for several seconds.
When it does, it only utters one slow, halting word.
"........Yes."
"What is this?" Yardrat asks. "Did you... did YOU create the Kolvaxians?!"
The monster slightly cocks its head.
"No."
A pause.
"Pale. Imitation." It says.
"Imitation?" Yardrat repeats. "You're trying to copy the Kolvaxians? Why?!"
The creature once again remains motionless for several seconds. Emperor Serena frowns. She detects a faint microburst of mana rising from the ground, entering the monster's body.
"Because." The monster says, its voice still very much an eerie copy of Glinch's voice. "Curiosity."
It pauses.
"Must... Investigate. Many... Mysteries."
"Are you protecting Mephisto?" Yardrat asks. "Don't you see? If you let him ascend, he'll kill you! He's an enemy to all demonkind!"
The fake Kolvaxian 'smiles', its creepy, wide mouth curving up at the far corners.
"Enemy. Demons. Yes. Me? No. Insurance."
Abruptly, the Kolvax-clone leans forward, and a look of pain spreads over its face. Before the other demons can figure out what's going on, the creature makes a strange motion with its stomach.
"Gurr... gurrk... BLERK!"
It vomits green liquid all over the ground, and a hundred tiny marbles filled with mana land amidst the vomit, all of them glowing red visible to the naked eye.
The monster returns to its standing position, that same creepy smile on its face.
"Here. Present."
"What?" Kristoff asks, looking at those marbles of mana.
"Present." The Kolvax-clone says. "For. You."
"Whoaaa," Bael says, "you don't expect us to... eat those. Do you?"
"Beneficial." Glinch says. "Healing. Restoration."
"You're out of your mind." Serena says, narrowing her eyes. "You're mad, Glinch."
"No." Glinch says. "Not... Mad. Curious. Survive. Face... Me. Become... Stronger. Mephisto... Hungers."
The demons watch, stone-faced, as the pseudo-Kolvaxian begins to descend into the dirt, allowing the decrepit soil of the Stitched Wasteland to swallow it whole. It melts into the dirt in the same way as the Kolvaxians have always done, causing Melody's shivering to intensify.
"...can't just be a copy...." Melody mumbles, her shrunken pupils gazing in horror at the facsimile of the creatures that tore her Hell apart.
When it vanishes, all of the Emperors become quiet. Yardrat cautiously approaches the mana-infused pellets, then scoops them all up in his hands and walks back to the others.
Yardrat glances at the faces of the other demons. He holds the pills up, allowing them to look at the blood-colored beads of highly condensed mana.
"Well?" Yardrat asks. "Thoughts?"
Rhesus, having finished devouring the blood, skin, and bones of Glinch's monsters, cracks his neck. "I don't know what those are. I'll pass."
"Serena?" Yardrat asks, looking at the Emperor of Soul Whispers.
"These pills are not harmful." Serena says, though her expression appears grim. "In fact, they're highly beneficial. They will restore our mana reserves and replenish our fighting capabilities quickly. There is no harm in taking one."
Despite the confidence in her statement, nobody moves to grab a single pill.
"The problem being?" Yardrat asks, still gazing at Serena.
"It should be obvious." Serena says, pressing her teeth together tightly. "Think of the message this sends us. Glinch doesn't take us seriously as a threat. He's worried we'll be defeated and die to his minions too easily. He wants us to fight in our optimal condition."
Kristoff sniffs the pellets. "There's more. These are infused with the blood of powerful monsters. They don't smell familiar to me. I bet Glinch obtained the blood through his Volgrim connections. The blood likely comes from exobeasts on Psion hunting worlds."
"Even I can guess what that means." Bael says. "These pills won't just bring us back to peak condition. They'll make us stronger."
"Especially the Dukes." Serena points out. "Glinch is... fattening us up."
"The fact he can create pills capable of uplifting demons is a statement in and of itself." Dagon says coldly. "It means he possesses an ability not unlike the Wordsmith's Belial Booster. He can create pills that will uplift lesser demons."
"This much should be expected." Kristoff retorts. "We've seen the strength of his minions. Pound for pound, each one is far stronger than any of us individual Emperors. He must have discovered a way to condense energy into these pills. If he wanted, he could... build an army."
"There's another player in the game." Yardrat mutters, glancing toward the center of the Stitched Wasteland. "He wants to compete with Auger."
"And Gorn." Serena says, glaring at Yardrat.
"Not so fast." Nymph says. "Aren't you guys forgetting? If Mephisto ascends, neither Auger nor Gorn will have the power to contend with him. In a galaxy where a Demon Deity reigns, Emperors will become mere minions. Glinch isn't telling us he wants to raise an army of loyal minions. He's never given a damn about ruling our people."
The other elites lower their heads, grimacing as they realize what she's saying.
"We're just... food." Vespera says quietly. "He intends to raise me and the other Dukes to Emperor... so Mephisto can... eat us."
As the elites stand around, no longer sure of what to do, Bael scratches his head.
"Welp! If you can't beat 'em, beat 'em off, that's what I always say! Gimme one of those pills!"
He snatches a a pill out of Yardrat's hand before the Emperor of the Void can react.
"Wait, Bael, we haven't determined-!" Yardrat starts to say, too slow to stop Bael.
"Nom!"
Bael casually removes his armor once again, pops the pill in his mouth, and swallows it. A second later, his demonic energy condenses, his fatigued body restores back to its pristine state, and his muscles bulge beneath his clothes.
"WOO! OH YEAH, BABY! That's that GOOD SHIT!"
A fire ignites in Bael's eyes. He roars to the sky and pumps his muscles, while steam pours from his nose.
"Oh MAN! WHOA! I could fight a bat! I could kick a dog! I feel AMAZING! You guys have GOTTA pop one of those bad boys!!"
Bael begins dancing around, full of hype. As he has the time of his life, the other demons frown.
"Is it just me, or..." Dagon mutters.
"Yeah." Yardrat says. "His breasts did get bigger."
Vespera blinks. "Give me a pill."
"Emperors first!" Fae exclaims.
While those two hastily grab themselves a pill, the other Emperors only decide to take theirs after seeing the effects of the pills on their comrades.
Emperor Serena glances at the spot where Glinch's fake Kolvaxian disappeared into the dirt.
This isn't a game. She thinks silently. We're balancing on the edge of a knife. One wrong move, and we'll fall to our doom.
....................................................
Artwork for Vespera!
Artwork for Rhesus!
submitted by Klokinator to HFY [link] [comments]
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(Previous Part)
(Part 001)
...
Two hundred and fifty miles. A long walk under normal circumstances, and certainly not a distance any person would trek if they didn't have to. Today, such a voyage feels ten times worse for Hell's elites, given the situation that begins to arise.
Yardrat leads the Mephisto Assault Force competently. As a vice-leader of the strongest Hell, he is no slouch when it comes to killing or commanding others. Despite having his spatial powers heavily suppressed, he still presents a lethal cocktail of destruction, able to dish out ridiculous levels of damage by turning his unstable spatial abilities into destructive attacks aimed at the weak points of Glinch's aberrants.
The problem is, as the assault force begins to push toward the center of the Stitched Wasteland, they meet far heavier resistance than they anticipated.
Originally, Auger planned to have the assault force move slowly, picking off enemies, one by one. But unexpectedly, Glinch decides not to play by the rules, and his minions begin deliberately approaching the demon elites in twos and threes.
At first, this horrifies Yardrat and the others, but they quickly realize the creatures Glinch sends aren't all merely the strongest aberrants he's ever made. Instead, they represent a diverse set of skills, strengths, and weaknesses tailored to the hunting party.
The first two monsters they fought were the Brute and the Snakedra. The next three end up being creatures that even the Dukes in the party can deal damage to, somewhat, but they end up forced to split into three groups to deal with these new enemies.
"Glinch, that bastard!" Emperor Fae yells. "He's toying with us!"
"He's treating us like an experiment." Yardrat says coldly, as he, Crow, and Fae take turns whaling on the strongest of the three monsters. "This is little more than a game in his eyes."
At the same time, Bael, Dagon, and ten Demon Dukes battle a slippery gelatin-like monster that breaks apart when struck and melts together, as if made of slime.
"Gross!" Bael moans. "It keeps stickin' to Big Bonk like glue!"
Dagon blasts it with corrosive chemicals, causing it to melt and reform. "It won't stay dead!"
The third monster ends up being a replicator-type entity, a mid-level elite on the weaker end of the Emperor spectrum that Nymph, Kristoff, Serena, and Melody have to battle with their own complement of Dukes.
Serena uses her powers lightly on the Dukes around her, boosting them to the bottom of the Emperor tier, temporarily upgrading their abilities without straining their bodies too heavily. She also sends Soul Webs to the minds of the others, linking their thoughts so they can better coordinate their attacks on the creature.
The multiplying monster boasts a ridiculous regenerative capability on par with Beelzebub, as well as the power to occasionally split its body in half, with the new form possessing the same level of strength as its original form.
In this battle, Kristoff's two Dukes end up shining the brightest. Vespera, the Duke of Gloom, and Rhesus, the Duke of Predation, both of them upgraded to the lowest level of the Emperor hierarchy by Serena's magic.
Vespera. A vicious and violent demoness with powers somewhat reminiscent of not only Kristoff's fallen wife, Fenrir, but certain abilities that echo those of the once-mighty Emperor Lucifer. Able to summon legions of darkness-imbued minions, as well as the ability to lock enemy minds within prisons of nightmares, the Duke of Gloom is a person Kristoff has high hopes for, especially if she manages to ascend to the rank of Emperor.
Her appearance is quite seductive. She wears skimpy robes that only technically shroud her skin from sight, though their semi-transparent nature leaves little to the imagination. Most notably, one of Vespera's defining traits is her utter lack of the red skin characterized by most demons. Hers is light blue, for she is actually a Satyr, one of the few that still survive to the modern era. Were someone to try and make a move on Vespera, they might find that despite being beautiful, she is a cruel and blackhearted woman who enjoys tormenting the minds of lesser beings.
As for Rhesus, he is a demon who focuses purely on the brutal nature of killing and slaughter. As the Duke of Predation, he combines the features of vampires and werewolves into one body, allowing himself to gain power by devouring the blood, skin, and bones of his enemies. His strength might not match up to that of Emperors Belial or Crow, but his ability to take a beating and continue enduring grants him longevity in battles that would leave any other Duke dead. He proved this by surviving the battle against the Cherubiim while the rest of the Third Hell's Dukes perished.
Rhesus wears a set of finely crafted demonstone armor, plated with a thin layer of silver to give it a metallic sheen. His glowing red eyes speak to the hunger in his heart, and the Slaughter Blade affixed to his right gauntlet ensures he is always ready to end the lives of those he hates. Much like Emperor Wolfram, Duke Rhesus has an animalistic werewolf-like appearance, but unlike Wolfram, he also sports vampiric fangs, demonstrating that he is the offspring of two different demonic subspecies. Every movement Rhesus makes speaks to his killing nature.
Vespera, temporarily evolved to the rank of Emperor, conjures dozens of shadowy monsters to attack and bind the bodies of the Replicator aberrant. She attacks the creature with a giant halberd made of pure darkness, keeping out of its range to slash and cut it while infecting its wounds with corrosive miasma.
Rhesus, on the other hand, brawls up close and personal, taking on the same role as Crow and Bael in the other two parties. When the Replicator beats and batters him with its club-like fists, Rhesus only grins maniacally, biting at its shoulders and hips to rip off its limbs. He greedily devours whole chunks of the chimera's body, swallowing them to boost his own strength in the smallest ways.
"Delicious!" Rhesus roars. "High quality food for this Emperor!"
The aberrant silently snaps its fist at Rhesus, battering his head and knocking him back half a step. He immediately returns the favor with a brutal punch to the monster's stomach, doubling it over while running his single gauntlet-blade through its gut.
"Nice hit! Here's my retort!"
Rhesus sweeps his arm to the right, and then the left, slicing the creature in half. He pounces on its severed body, ripping it apart with his teeth and claws, spraying blood everywhere. As he greedily devours the monster, two more copies replicate and lunge at him from both sides.
"Rhesus, you glutton. Pay attention." Vespera says with a frown. She aims her palm at one of the newly replicated copies and fires a shockwave of darkness at it, sending it flying backward. The creature hits the ground headfirst and spins, landing in a sprawled-out heap.
As for the other copy, Rhesus leaps and rams his fist into its chin, uppercutting it into the air while also shattering its jawbone.
"Not today!"
Emperor Melody finds that, unlike the Brute from earlier, she can actually deal heavy damage and even kill this replicating aberrant, but no matter how fast she does, the creature always manages to copy itself multiple times from its other living selves, defying every law of energy conservation.
BOOM! BOOM!
Melody sends dual shockwaves of concussive force into the bodies of two Replicators, making them shudder and freeze, while allowing other Emperors to land killing blows. Nymph swings a giant log of magically hardened wood at the head of one monster, crushing it into meat paste. Kristoff rams his fingers into the other one's heart and sucks its blood dry, leaving behind only a desiccated husk.
"How does it keep conjuring so many clones?" Kristoff asks, bewildered. "And each one is as strong as the others! Is this aberrant secretly a Wordsmith?!"
He doesn't receive an answer. None of the others know. However, as they fight on, they become more attuned to one another through Serena's Soul Web. They move more in unison and adjust their teamwork to kill the Replicators faster than they can duplicate themselves.
Eventually, Melody delivers the final blow on the last remaining duplicate, blowing its body apart with a grenade-like explosion of sound, causing viscous chunks to splatter her comrades. To their utter relief, after killing more than a hundred of the duplicating freaks, no others appear.
Kristoff's squad rushes over to help finish off the other two deviants in Yardrat and Bael's squads, only to arrive just in time for both to kill off their respective foes.
"Whew!!" Bael exclaims, doubling over and gasping for air, every inch of his Matriarch Armor drenched in blood. "Oh, Satan the Devil! That was- aahhh... I need a breather, woo!"
He isn't the only Emperor out of breath. Sweat lines the foreheads of every single elite, except for Serena, whose support duties kept her out of the direct line of fire. Yardrat's body shakes from exhaustion. Crow's biceps pulse fiercely with adrenaline-fueled blood. Vespera's bloodshot eyes tell a story regarding how much mana she's expended.
"We've only killed five monsters!" Nymph exclaims, her beautiful red skin glistening with sweat. She conjures a handful of leaves to daintily dab and dry herself off. "Just five! How could Glinch's minions be so powerful?"
Bael lifts his head. He looks toward the distant center of the Stitched Wasteland.
"Woo... ho-boy, not gonna lie, fellas. I don't know how many more of those I've got in me."
"We have to keep pressing on." Yardrat says through gritted teeth. "Can't you feel the slow thickening of mana in the air? Mephisto's time to ascend must be arriving soon!"
The other elites grimace. They look toward the center of the Stitched Wasteland, fearing they won't have energy to make it there, let alone ultimately kill Mephisto.
"Let's take a five-minute breather." Kristoff suggests, recovering from his exertion a bit faster thanks to the vitality of his blood. "But keep on your guard. It's clear Glinch isn't going to make things easy for us."
The other elites nod. Nobody sits down, but they all stand in place, steadying their breathing and borrowing leaves from Nymph to dry their sweaty bodies off. Even Bael temporarily removes his armor to dab himself dry.
One demon is the exception, though.
Now reverted back to his Duke form, Rhesus greedily bites and chews at the corpses of Glinch's fallen monsters. He hungrily rips them apart like a wolf that hasn't eaten meat in ten years. Some of the more squeamish demons curl up their lips in disgust, while Vespera and Kristoff appear unmoved. They've long grown used to his ways.
Suddenly, Rhesus looks at Bael.
"Hey!"
Bael looks back at him. "What?"
Rhesus points to the corpse of the slime-creature Bael helped kill. "You gonna eat that?"
Bael slowly shakes his head. He nudges it toward Rhesus with his foot, then takes a step back. "Nah, bro. Uh, help yourself. I'm................... full."
"Great!" Rhesus yells, rushing over to chew and slurp up the slimey remains of the once-human-shaped creature Bael ultimately helped slay.
"Some fellas..." Bael murmurs, looking away.
As Rhesus takes these precious five minutes to ravenously devour Glinch's subordinates, Yardrat suddenly looks up in the sky. "Bloody hell! How long has that been there?!"
The others, except Rhesus, follow his gaze.
"What the-?!" Bael exclaims.
"What is it?" Melody asks.
Serena, unable to make out anything but a glowing mass of mana, blinks her unseeing eyes. "A physical description would be nice."
Nymph rests her hand on Serena's shoulder. "It's an... egg. A flesh-colored egg."
"By flesh-colored, you mean...?"
"Sorry. Demon-flesh-colored. Red." Nymph clarifies.
The egg hovers in the sky for only five seconds before suddenly rushing downward toward the demon elites. They quickly raise their fists and weapons, ready for battle, as it crashes into the dirt a hundred meters away.
The egg cracks open. Its shell explodes into fragments, spilling a disgusting green liquid all over the dirt, the stench of which makes many of the elites want to puke.
"Oh, that's awful!" Bael whines, before reactivating his Matriarch Armor so he won't have to suffer the foul odor.
As a cloud of thick green gas evaporates, a bipedal creature steps out of the crumbled egg's remains. Its sleek, moist body makes it resemble a fish. Its mottled green skin makes it appear as if it were born of the forest, a soil-based life-form coated in viscous fluids.
But strangely, its faceless head makes it feel... alien.
Upon seeing this new threat, one demon loses all their color.
Emperor Melody's pupils shrink to pinpricks. A cold chill sweeps across her skin as she immediately takes a step back. "No... no, no, no..."
The other Emperor glance at her in confusion, then back at the monster.
"What is it, Melody?" Kristoff asks quietly, as the creature remains standing in the distance, not yet moving toward them.
"P-P-Pla... Plague..." Melody whispers, a lump in her throat making it hard for her to speak. "That's- that's a- a- K-K-Kuh-Kolvax...ian..."
The temperature around the elites seems to plummet ten degrees. They look at the monster in horror.
"No.. Glinch wouldn't..." Yardrat whispers. "He'd never go this far..."
As the Emperors and Dukes remain standing, uncertain of what to do, the creature's head changes.
Its faceless facade morphs. A line spreads across the middle, where its nose would normally be. The Emperors become unsettled as a giant mouth begins to materialize, filled with shark-like teeth.
"Not....... Quite....." The 'Kolvaxian' says.
The voice that escapes the creature's mouth causes Yardrat to frown. He recognizes it immediately.
"Glinch? Is that you?"
The monster doesn't speak for several seconds.
When it does, it only utters one slow, halting word.
"........Yes."
"What is this?" Yardrat asks. "Did you... did YOU create the Kolvaxians?!"
The monster slightly cocks its head.
"No."
A pause.
"Pale. Imitation." It says.
"Imitation?" Yardrat repeats. "You're trying to copy the Kolvaxians? Why?!"
The creature once again remains motionless for several seconds. Emperor Serena frowns. She detects a faint microburst of mana rising from the ground, entering the monster's body.
"Because." The monster says, its voice still very much an eerie copy of Glinch's voice. "Curiosity."
It pauses.
"Must... Investigate. Many... Mysteries."
"Are you protecting Mephisto?" Yardrat asks. "Don't you see? If you let him ascend, he'll kill you! He's an enemy to all demonkind!"
The fake Kolvaxian 'smiles', its creepy, wide mouth curving up at the far corners.
"Enemy. Demons. Yes. Me? No. Insurance."
Abruptly, the Kolvax-clone leans forward, and a look of pain spreads over its face. Before the other demons can figure out what's going on, the creature makes a strange motion with its stomach.
"Gurr... gurrk... BLERK!"
It vomits green liquid all over the ground, and a hundred tiny marbles filled with mana land amidst the vomit, all of them glowing red visible to the naked eye.
The monster returns to its standing position, that same creepy smile on its face.
"Here. Present."
"What?" Kristoff asks, looking at those marbles of mana.
"Present." The Kolvax-clone says. "For. You."
"Whoaaa," Bael says, "you don't expect us to... eat those. Do you?"
"Beneficial." Glinch says. "Healing. Restoration."
"You're out of your mind." Serena says, narrowing her eyes. "You're mad, Glinch."
"No." Glinch says. "Not... Mad. Curious. Survive. Face... Me. Become... Stronger. Mephisto... Hungers."
The demons watch, stone-faced, as the pseudo-Kolvaxian begins to descend into the dirt, allowing the decrepit soil of the Stitched Wasteland to swallow it whole. It melts into the dirt in the same way as the Kolvaxians have always done, causing Melody's shivering to intensify.
"...can't just be a copy...." Melody mumbles, her shrunken pupils gazing in horror at the facsimile of the creatures that tore her Hell apart.
When it vanishes, all of the Emperors become quiet. Yardrat cautiously approaches the mana-infused pellets, then scoops them all up in his hands and walks back to the others.
Yardrat glances at the faces of the other demons. He holds the pills up, allowing them to look at the blood-colored beads of highly condensed mana.
"Well?" Yardrat asks. "Thoughts?"
Rhesus, having finished devouring the blood, skin, and bones of Glinch's monsters, cracks his neck. "I don't know what those are. I'll pass."
"Serena?" Yardrat asks, looking at the Emperor of Soul Whispers.
"These pills are not harmful." Serena says, though her expression appears grim. "In fact, they're highly beneficial. They will restore our mana reserves and replenish our fighting capabilities quickly. There is no harm in taking one."
Despite the confidence in her statement, nobody moves to grab a single pill.
"The problem being?" Yardrat asks, still gazing at Serena.
"It should be obvious." Serena says, pressing her teeth together tightly. "Think of the message this sends us. Glinch doesn't take us seriously as a threat. He's worried we'll be defeated and die to his minions too easily. He wants us to fight in our optimal condition."
Kristoff sniffs the pellets. "There's more. These are infused with the blood of powerful monsters. They don't smell familiar to me. I bet Glinch obtained the blood through his Volgrim connections. The blood likely comes from exobeasts on Psion hunting worlds."
"Even I can guess what that means." Bael says. "These pills won't just bring us back to peak condition. They'll make us stronger."
"Especially the Dukes." Serena points out. "Glinch is... fattening us up."
"The fact he can create pills capable of uplifting demons is a statement in and of itself." Dagon says coldly. "It means he possesses an ability not unlike the Wordsmith's Belial Booster. He can create pills that will uplift lesser demons."
"This much should be expected." Kristoff retorts. "We've seen the strength of his minions. Pound for pound, each one is far stronger than any of us individual Emperors. He must have discovered a way to condense energy into these pills. If he wanted, he could... build an army."
"There's another player in the game." Yardrat mutters, glancing toward the center of the Stitched Wasteland. "He wants to compete with Auger."
"And Gorn." Serena says, glaring at Yardrat.
"Not so fast." Nymph says. "Aren't you guys forgetting? If Mephisto ascends, neither Auger nor Gorn will have the power to contend with him. In a galaxy where a Demon Deity reigns, Emperors will become mere minions. Glinch isn't telling us he wants to raise an army of loyal minions. He's never given a damn about ruling our people."
The other elites lower their heads, grimacing as they realize what she's saying.
"We're just... food." Vespera says quietly. "He intends to raise me and the other Dukes to Emperor... so Mephisto can... eat us."
As the elites stand around, no longer sure of what to do, Bael scratches his head.
"Welp! If you can't beat 'em, beat 'em off, that's what I always say! Gimme one of those pills!"
He snatches a a pill out of Yardrat's hand before the Emperor of the Void can react.
"Wait, Bael, we haven't determined-!" Yardrat starts to say, too slow to stop Bael.
"Nom!"
Bael casually removes his armor once again, pops the pill in his mouth, and swallows it. A second later, his demonic energy condenses, his fatigued body restores back to its pristine state, and his muscles bulge beneath his clothes.
"WOO! OH YEAH, BABY! That's that GOOD SHIT!"
A fire ignites in Bael's eyes. He roars to the sky and pumps his muscles, while steam pours from his nose.
"Oh MAN! WHOA! I could fight a bat! I could kick a dog! I feel AMAZING! You guys have GOTTA pop one of those bad boys!!"
Bael begins dancing around, full of hype. As he has the time of his life, the other demons frown.
"Is it just me, or..." Dagon mutters.
"Yeah." Yardrat says. "His breasts did get bigger."
Vespera blinks. "Give me a pill."
"Emperors first!" Fae exclaims.
While those two hastily grab themselves a pill, the other Emperors only decide to take theirs after seeing the effects of the pills on their comrades.
Emperor Serena glances at the spot where Glinch's fake Kolvaxian disappeared into the dirt.
This isn't a game. She thinks silently. We're balancing on the edge of a knife. One wrong move, and we'll fall to our doom.
....................................................
Artwork for Vespera!
Artwork for Rhesus!
2023.06.06 20:44 Klokinator Cryopod Refresh 493: Glinch's Game
Two hundred and fifty miles. A long walk under normal circumstances, and certainly not a distance any person would trek if they didn't have to. Today, such a voyage feels ten times worse for Hell's elites, given the situation that begins to arise.
Yardrat leads the Mephisto Assault Force competently. As a vice-leader of the strongest Hell, he is no slouch when it comes to killing or commanding others. Despite having his spatial powers heavily suppressed, he still presents a lethal cocktail of destruction, able to dish out ridiculous levels of damage by turning his unstable spatial abilities into destructive attacks aimed at the weak points of Glinch's aberrants.
The problem is, as the assault force begins to push toward the center of the Stitched Wasteland, they meet far heavier resistance than they anticipated.
Originally, Auger planned to have the assault force move slowly, picking off enemies, one by one. But unexpectedly, Glinch decides not to play by the rules, and his minions begin deliberately approaching the demon elites in twos and threes.
At first, this horrifies Yardrat and the others, but they quickly realize the creatures Glinch sends aren't all merely the strongest aberrants he's ever made. Instead, they represent a diverse set of skills, strengths, and weaknesses tailored to the hunting party.
The first two monsters they fought were the Brute and the Snakedra. The next three end up being creatures that even the Dukes in the party can deal damage to, somewhat, but they end up forced to split into three groups to deal with these new enemies.
"Glinch, that bastard!" Emperor Fae yells. "He's toying with us!"
"He's treating us like an experiment." Yardrat says coldly, as he, Crow, and Fae take turns whaling on the strongest of the three monsters. "This is little more than a game in his eyes."
At the same time, Bael, Dagon, and ten Demon Dukes battle a slippery gelatin-like monster that breaks apart when struck and melts together, as if made of slime.
"Gross!" Bael moans. "It keeps stickin' to Big Bonk like glue!"
Dagon blasts it with corrosive chemicals, causing it to melt and reform. "It won't stay dead!"
The third monster ends up being a replicator-type entity, a mid-level elite on the weaker end of the Emperor spectrum that Nymph, Kristoff, Serena, and Melody have to battle with their own complement of Dukes.
Serena uses her powers lightly on the Dukes around her, boosting them to the bottom of the Emperor tier, temporarily upgrading their abilities without straining their bodies too heavily. She also sends Soul Webs to the minds of the others, linking their thoughts so they can better coordinate their attacks on the creature.
The multiplying monster boasts a ridiculous regenerative capability on par with Beelzebub, as well as the power to occasionally split its body in half, with the new form possessing the same level of strength as its original form.
In this battle, Kristoff's two Dukes end up shining the brightest. Vespera, the Duke of Gloom, and Rhesus, the Duke of Predation, both of them upgraded to the lowest level of the Emperor hierarchy by Serena's magic.
Vespera. A vicious and violent demoness with powers somewhat reminiscent of not only Kristoff's fallen wife, Fenrir, but certain abilities that echo those of the once-mighty Emperor Lucifer. Able to summon legions of darkness-imbued minions, as well as the ability to lock enemy minds within prisons of nightmares, the Duke of Gloom is a person Kristoff has high hopes for, especially if she manages to ascend to the rank of Emperor.
Her appearance is quite seductive. She wears skimpy robes that only technically shroud her skin from sight, though their semi-transparent nature leaves little to the imagination. Most notably, one of Vespera's defining traits is her utter lack of the red skin characterized by most demons. Hers is light blue, for she is actually a Satyr, one of the few that still survive to the modern era. Were someone to try and make a move on Vespera, they might find that despite being beautiful, she is a cruel and blackhearted woman who enjoys tormenting the minds of lesser beings.
As for Rhesus, he is a demon who focuses purely on the brutal nature of killing and slaughter. As the Duke of Predation, he combines the features of vampires and werewolves into one body, allowing himself to gain power by devouring the blood, skin, and bones of his enemies. His strength might not match up to that of Emperors Belial or Crow, but his ability to take a beating and continue enduring grants him longevity in battles that would leave any other Duke dead. He proved this by surviving the battle against the Cherubiim while the rest of the Third Hell's Dukes perished.
Rhesus wears a set of finely crafted demonstone armor, plated with a thin layer of silver to give it a metallic sheen. His glowing red eyes speak to the hunger in his heart, and the Slaughter Blade affixed to his right gauntlet ensures he is always ready to end the lives of those he hates. Much like Emperor Wolfram, Duke Rhesus has an animalistic werewolf-like appearance, but unlike Wolfram, he also sports vampiric fangs, demonstrating that he is the offspring of two different demonic subspecies. Every movement Rhesus makes speaks to his killing nature.
Vespera, temporarily evolved to the rank of Emperor, conjures dozens of shadowy monsters to attack and bind the bodies of the Replicator aberrant. She attacks the creature with a giant halberd made of pure darkness, keeping out of its range to slash and cut it while infecting its wounds with corrosive miasma.
Rhesus, on the other hand, brawls up close and personal, taking on the same role as Crow and Bael in the other two parties. When the Replicator beats and batters him with its club-like fists, Rhesus only grins maniacally, biting at its shoulders and hips to rip off its limbs. He greedily devours whole chunks of the chimera's body, swallowing them to boost his own strength in the smallest ways.
"Delicious!" Rhesus roars. "High quality food for this Emperor!"
The aberrant silently snaps its fist at Rhesus, battering his head and knocking him back half a step. He immediately returns the favor with a brutal punch to the monster's stomach, doubling it over while running his single gauntlet-blade through its gut.
"Nice hit! Here's my retort!"
Rhesus sweeps his arm to the right, and then the left, slicing the creature in half. He pounces on its severed body, ripping it apart with his teeth and claws, spraying blood everywhere. As he greedily devours the monster, two more copies replicate and lunge at him from both sides.
"Rhesus, you glutton. Pay attention." Vespera says with a frown. She aims her palm at one of the newly replicated copies and fires a shockwave of darkness at it, sending it flying backward. The creature hits the ground headfirst and spins, landing in a sprawled-out heap.
As for the other copy, Rhesus leaps and rams his fist into its chin, uppercutting it into the air while also shattering its jawbone.
"Not today!"
Emperor Melody finds that, unlike the Brute from earlier, she can actually deal heavy damage and even kill this replicating aberrant, but no matter how fast she does, the creature always manages to copy itself multiple times from its other living selves, defying every law of energy conservation.
BOOM! BOOM!
Melody sends dual shockwaves of concussive force into the bodies of two Replicators, making them shudder and freeze, while allowing other Emperors to land killing blows. Nymph swings a giant log of magically hardened wood at the head of one monster, crushing it into meat paste. Kristoff rams his fingers into the other one's heart and sucks its blood dry, leaving behind only a desiccated husk.
"How does it keep conjuring so many clones?" Kristoff asks, bewildered. "And each one is as strong as the others! Is this aberrant secretly a Wordsmith?!"
He doesn't receive an answer. None of the others know. However, as they fight on, they become more attuned to one another through Serena's Soul Web. They move more in unison and adjust their teamwork to kill the Replicators faster than they can duplicate themselves.
Eventually, Melody delivers the final blow on the last remaining duplicate, blowing its body apart with a grenade-like explosion of sound, causing viscous chunks to splatter her comrades. To their utter relief, after killing more than a hundred of the duplicating freaks, no others appear.
Kristoff's squad rushes over to help finish off the other two deviants in Yardrat and Bael's squads, only to arrive just in time for both to kill off their respective foes.
"Whew!!" Bael exclaims, doubling over and gasping for air, every inch of his Matriarch Armor drenched in blood. "Oh, Satan the Devil! That was- aahhh... I need a breather, woo!"
He isn't the only Emperor out of breath. Sweat lines the foreheads of every single elite, except for Serena, whose support duties kept her out of the direct line of fire. Yardrat's body shakes from exhaustion. Crow's biceps pulse fiercely with adrenaline-fueled blood. Vespera's bloodshot eyes tell a story regarding how much mana she's expended.
"We've only killed five monsters!" Nymph exclaims, her beautiful red skin glistening with sweat. She conjures a handful of leaves to daintily dab and dry herself off. "Just five! How could Glinch's minions be so powerful?"
Bael lifts his head. He looks toward the distant center of the Stitched Wasteland.
"Woo... ho-boy, not gonna lie, fellas. I don't know how many more of those I've got in me."
"We have to keep pressing on." Yardrat says through gritted teeth. "Can't you feel the slow thickening of mana in the air? Mephisto's time to ascend must be arriving soon!"
The other elites grimace. They look toward the center of the Stitched Wasteland, fearing they won't have energy to make it there, let alone ultimately kill Mephisto.
"Let's take a five-minute breather." Kristoff suggests, recovering from his exertion a bit faster thanks to the vitality of his blood. "But keep on your guard. It's clear Glinch isn't going to make things easy for us."
The other elites nod. Nobody sits down, but they all stand in place, steadying their breathing and borrowing leaves from Nymph to dry their sweaty bodies off. Even Bael temporarily removes his armor to dab himself dry.
One demon is the exception, though.
Now reverted back to his Duke form, Rhesus greedily bites and chews at the corpses of Glinch's fallen monsters. He hungrily rips them apart like a wolf that hasn't eaten meat in ten years. Some of the more squeamish demons curl up their lips in disgust, while Vespera and Kristoff appear unmoved. They've long grown used to his ways.
Suddenly, Rhesus looks at Bael.
"Hey!"
Bael looks back at him. "What?"
Rhesus points to the corpse of the slime-creature Bael helped kill. "You gonna eat that?"
Bael slowly shakes his head. He nudges it toward Rhesus with his foot, then takes a step back. "Nah, bro. Uh, help yourself. I'm................... full."
"Great!" Rhesus yells, rushing over to chew and slurp up the slimey remains of the once-human-shaped creature Bael ultimately helped slay.
"Some fellas..." Bael murmurs, looking away.
As Rhesus takes these precious five minutes to ravenously devour Glinch's subordinates, Yardrat suddenly looks up in the sky. "Bloody hell! How long has that been there?!"
The others, except Rhesus, follow his gaze.
"What the-?!" Bael exclaims.
"What is it?" Melody asks.
Serena, unable to make out anything but a glowing mass of mana, blinks her unseeing eyes. "A physical description would be nice."
Nymph rests her hand on Serena's shoulder. "It's an... egg. A flesh-colored egg."
"By flesh-colored, you mean...?"
"Sorry. Demon-flesh-colored. Red." Nymph clarifies.
The egg hovers in the sky for only five seconds before suddenly rushing downward toward the demon elites. They quickly raise their fists and weapons, ready for battle, as it crashes into the dirt a hundred meters away.
The egg cracks open. Its shell explodes into fragments, spilling a disgusting green liquid all over the dirt, the stench of which makes many of the elites want to puke.
"Oh, that's awful!" Bael whines, before reactivating his Matriarch Armor so he won't have to suffer the foul odor.
As a cloud of thick green gas evaporates, a bipedal creature steps out of the crumbled egg's remains. Its sleek, moist body makes it resemble a fish. Its mottled green skin makes it appear as if it were born of the forest, a soil-based life-form coated in viscous fluids.
But strangely, its faceless head makes it feel... alien.
Upon seeing this new threat, one demon loses all their color.
Emperor Melody's pupils shrink to pinpricks. A cold chill sweeps across her skin as she immediately takes a step back. "No... no, no, no..."
The other Emperor glance at her in confusion, then back at the monster.
"What is it, Melody?" Kristoff asks quietly, as the creature remains standing in the distance, not yet moving toward them.
"P-P-Pla... Plague..." Melody whispers, a lump in her throat making it hard for her to speak. "That's- that's a- a- K-K-Kuh-Kolvax...ian..."
The temperature around the elites seems to plummet ten degrees. They look at the monster in horror.
"No.. Glinch wouldn't..." Yardrat whispers. "He'd never go this far..."
As the Emperors and Dukes remain standing, uncertain of what to do, the creature's head changes.
Its faceless facade morphs. A line spreads across the middle, where its nose would normally be. The Emperors become unsettled as a giant mouth begins to materialize, filled with shark-like teeth.
"Not....... Quite....." The 'Kolvaxian' says.
The voice that escapes the creature's mouth causes Yardrat to frown. He recognizes it immediately.
"Glinch? Is that you?"
The monster doesn't speak for several seconds.
When it does, it only utters one slow, halting word.
"........Yes."
"What is this?" Yardrat asks. "Did you... did YOU create the Kolvaxians?!"
The monster slightly cocks its head.
"No."
A pause.
"Pale. Imitation." It says.
"Imitation?" Yardrat repeats. "You're trying to copy the Kolvaxians? Why?!"
The creature once again remains motionless for several seconds. Emperor Serena frowns. She detects a faint microburst of mana rising from the ground, entering the monster's body.
"Because." The monster says, its voice still very much an eerie copy of Glinch's voice. "Curiosity."
It pauses.
"Must... Investigate. Many... Mysteries."
"Are you protecting Mephisto?" Yardrat asks. "Don't you see? If you let him ascend, he'll kill you! He's an enemy to all demonkind!"
The fake Kolvaxian 'smiles', its creepy, wide mouth curving up at the far corners.
"Enemy. Demons. Yes. Me? No. Insurance."
Abruptly, the Kolvax-clone leans forward, and a look of pain spreads over its face. Before the other demons can figure out what's going on, the creature makes a strange motion with its stomach.
"Gurr... gurrk... BLERK!"
It vomits green liquid all over the ground, and a hundred tiny marbles filled with mana land amidst the vomit, all of them glowing red visible to the naked eye.
The monster returns to its standing position, that same creepy smile on its face.
"Here. Present."
"What?" Kristoff asks, looking at those marbles of mana.
"Present." The Kolvax-clone says. "For. You."
"Whoaaa," Bael says, "you don't expect us to... eat those. Do you?"
"Beneficial." Glinch says. "Healing. Restoration."
"You're out of your mind." Serena says, narrowing her eyes. "You're mad, Glinch."
"No." Glinch says. "Not... Mad. Curious. Survive. Face... Me. Become... Stronger. Mephisto... Hungers."
The demons watch, stone-faced, as the pseudo-Kolvaxian begins to descend into the dirt, allowing the decrepit soil of the Stitched Wasteland to swallow it whole. It melts into the dirt in the same way as the Kolvaxians have always done, causing Melody's shivering to intensify.
"...can't just be a copy...." Melody mumbles, her shrunken pupils gazing in horror at the facsimile of the creatures that tore her Hell apart.
When it vanishes, all of the Emperors become quiet. Yardrat cautiously approaches the mana-infused pellets, then scoops them all up in his hands and walks back to the others.
Yardrat glances at the faces of the other demons. He holds the pills up, allowing them to look at the blood-colored beads of highly condensed mana.
"Well?" Yardrat asks. "Thoughts?"
Rhesus, having finished devouring the blood, skin, and bones of Glinch's monsters, cracks his neck. "I don't know what those are. I'll pass."
"Serena?" Yardrat asks, looking at the Emperor of Soul Whispers.
"These pills are not harmful." Serena says, though her expression appears grim. "In fact, they're highly beneficial. They will restore our mana reserves and replenish our fighting capabilities quickly. There is no harm in taking one."
Despite the confidence in her statement, nobody moves to grab a single pill.
"The problem being?" Yardrat asks, still gazing at Serena.
"It should be obvious." Serena says, pressing her teeth together tightly. "Think of the message this sends us. Glinch doesn't take us seriously as a threat. He's worried we'll be defeated and die to his minions too easily. He wants us to fight in our optimal condition."
Kristoff sniffs the pellets. "There's more. These are infused with the blood of powerful monsters. They don't smell familiar to me. I bet Glinch obtained the blood through his Volgrim connections. The blood likely comes from exobeasts on Psion hunting worlds."
"Even I can guess what that means." Bael says. "These pills won't just bring us back to peak condition. They'll make us stronger."
"Especially the Dukes." Serena points out. "Glinch is... fattening us up."
"The fact he can create pills capable of uplifting demons is a statement in and of itself." Dagon says coldly. "It means he possesses an ability not unlike the Wordsmith's Belial Booster. He can create pills that will uplift lesser demons."
"This much should be expected." Kristoff retorts. "We've seen the strength of his minions. Pound for pound, each one is far stronger than any of us individual Emperors. He must have discovered a way to condense energy into these pills. If he wanted, he could... build an army."
"There's another player in the game." Yardrat mutters, glancing toward the center of the Stitched Wasteland. "He wants to compete with Auger."
"And Gorn." Serena says, glaring at Yardrat.
"Not so fast." Nymph says. "Aren't you guys forgetting? If Mephisto ascends, neither Auger nor Gorn will have the power to contend with him. In a galaxy where a Demon Deity reigns, Emperors will become mere minions. Glinch isn't telling us he wants to raise an army of loyal minions. He's never given a damn about ruling our people."
The other elites lower their heads, grimacing as they realize what she's saying.
"We're just... food." Vespera says quietly. "He intends to raise me and the other Dukes to Emperor... so Mephisto can... eat us."
As the elites stand around, no longer sure of what to do, Bael scratches his head.
"Welp! If you can't beat 'em, beat 'em off, that's what I always say! Gimme one of those pills!"
He snatches a a pill out of Yardrat's hand before the Emperor of the Void can react.
"Wait, Bael, we haven't determined-!" Yardrat starts to say, too slow to stop Bael.
"Nom!"
Bael casually removes his armor once again, pops the pill in his mouth, and swallows it. A second later, his demonic energy condenses, his fatigued body restores back to its pristine state, and his muscles bulge beneath his clothes.
"WOO! OH YEAH, BABY! That's that GOOD SHIT!"
A fire ignites in Bael's eyes. He roars to the sky and pumps his muscles, while steam pours from his nose.
"Oh MAN! WHOA! I could fight a bat! I could kick a dog! I feel AMAZING! You guys have GOTTA pop one of those bad boys!!"
Bael begins dancing around, full of hype. As he has the time of his life, the other demons frown.
"Is it just me, or..." Dagon mutters.
"Yeah." Yardrat says. "His breasts did get bigger."
Vespera blinks. "Give me a pill."
"Emperors first!" Fae exclaims.
While those two hastily grab themselves a pill, the other Emperors only decide to take theirs after seeing the effects of the pills on their comrades.
Emperor Serena glances at the spot where Glinch's fake Kolvaxian disappeared into the dirt.
This isn't a game. She thinks silently. We're balancing on the edge of a knife. One wrong move, and we'll fall to our doom.
....................................................
Artwork for Vespera!
Artwork for Rhesus!
submitted by Klokinator to TheCryopodToHell [link] [comments]
Yardrat leads the Mephisto Assault Force competently. As a vice-leader of the strongest Hell, he is no slouch when it comes to killing or commanding others. Despite having his spatial powers heavily suppressed, he still presents a lethal cocktail of destruction, able to dish out ridiculous levels of damage by turning his unstable spatial abilities into destructive attacks aimed at the weak points of Glinch's aberrants.
The problem is, as the assault force begins to push toward the center of the Stitched Wasteland, they meet far heavier resistance than they anticipated.
Originally, Auger planned to have the assault force move slowly, picking off enemies, one by one. But unexpectedly, Glinch decides not to play by the rules, and his minions begin deliberately approaching the demon elites in twos and threes.
At first, this horrifies Yardrat and the others, but they quickly realize the creatures Glinch sends aren't all merely the strongest aberrants he's ever made. Instead, they represent a diverse set of skills, strengths, and weaknesses tailored to the hunting party.
The first two monsters they fought were the Brute and the Snakedra. The next three end up being creatures that even the Dukes in the party can deal damage to, somewhat, but they end up forced to split into three groups to deal with these new enemies.
"Glinch, that bastard!" Emperor Fae yells. "He's toying with us!"
"He's treating us like an experiment." Yardrat says coldly, as he, Crow, and Fae take turns whaling on the strongest of the three monsters. "This is little more than a game in his eyes."
At the same time, Bael, Dagon, and ten Demon Dukes battle a slippery gelatin-like monster that breaks apart when struck and melts together, as if made of slime.
"Gross!" Bael moans. "It keeps stickin' to Big Bonk like glue!"
Dagon blasts it with corrosive chemicals, causing it to melt and reform. "It won't stay dead!"
The third monster ends up being a replicator-type entity, a mid-level elite on the weaker end of the Emperor spectrum that Nymph, Kristoff, Serena, and Melody have to battle with their own complement of Dukes.
Serena uses her powers lightly on the Dukes around her, boosting them to the bottom of the Emperor tier, temporarily upgrading their abilities without straining their bodies too heavily. She also sends Soul Webs to the minds of the others, linking their thoughts so they can better coordinate their attacks on the creature.
The multiplying monster boasts a ridiculous regenerative capability on par with Beelzebub, as well as the power to occasionally split its body in half, with the new form possessing the same level of strength as its original form.
In this battle, Kristoff's two Dukes end up shining the brightest. Vespera, the Duke of Gloom, and Rhesus, the Duke of Predation, both of them upgraded to the lowest level of the Emperor hierarchy by Serena's magic.
Vespera. A vicious and violent demoness with powers somewhat reminiscent of not only Kristoff's fallen wife, Fenrir, but certain abilities that echo those of the once-mighty Emperor Lucifer. Able to summon legions of darkness-imbued minions, as well as the ability to lock enemy minds within prisons of nightmares, the Duke of Gloom is a person Kristoff has high hopes for, especially if she manages to ascend to the rank of Emperor.
Her appearance is quite seductive. She wears skimpy robes that only technically shroud her skin from sight, though their semi-transparent nature leaves little to the imagination. Most notably, one of Vespera's defining traits is her utter lack of the red skin characterized by most demons. Hers is light blue, for she is actually a Satyr, one of the few that still survive to the modern era. Were someone to try and make a move on Vespera, they might find that despite being beautiful, she is a cruel and blackhearted woman who enjoys tormenting the minds of lesser beings.
As for Rhesus, he is a demon who focuses purely on the brutal nature of killing and slaughter. As the Duke of Predation, he combines the features of vampires and werewolves into one body, allowing himself to gain power by devouring the blood, skin, and bones of his enemies. His strength might not match up to that of Emperors Belial or Crow, but his ability to take a beating and continue enduring grants him longevity in battles that would leave any other Duke dead. He proved this by surviving the battle against the Cherubiim while the rest of the Third Hell's Dukes perished.
Rhesus wears a set of finely crafted demonstone armor, plated with a thin layer of silver to give it a metallic sheen. His glowing red eyes speak to the hunger in his heart, and the Slaughter Blade affixed to his right gauntlet ensures he is always ready to end the lives of those he hates. Much like Emperor Wolfram, Duke Rhesus has an animalistic werewolf-like appearance, but unlike Wolfram, he also sports vampiric fangs, demonstrating that he is the offspring of two different demonic subspecies. Every movement Rhesus makes speaks to his killing nature.
Vespera, temporarily evolved to the rank of Emperor, conjures dozens of shadowy monsters to attack and bind the bodies of the Replicator aberrant. She attacks the creature with a giant halberd made of pure darkness, keeping out of its range to slash and cut it while infecting its wounds with corrosive miasma.
Rhesus, on the other hand, brawls up close and personal, taking on the same role as Crow and Bael in the other two parties. When the Replicator beats and batters him with its club-like fists, Rhesus only grins maniacally, biting at its shoulders and hips to rip off its limbs. He greedily devours whole chunks of the chimera's body, swallowing them to boost his own strength in the smallest ways.
"Delicious!" Rhesus roars. "High quality food for this Emperor!"
The aberrant silently snaps its fist at Rhesus, battering his head and knocking him back half a step. He immediately returns the favor with a brutal punch to the monster's stomach, doubling it over while running his single gauntlet-blade through its gut.
"Nice hit! Here's my retort!"
Rhesus sweeps his arm to the right, and then the left, slicing the creature in half. He pounces on its severed body, ripping it apart with his teeth and claws, spraying blood everywhere. As he greedily devours the monster, two more copies replicate and lunge at him from both sides.
"Rhesus, you glutton. Pay attention." Vespera says with a frown. She aims her palm at one of the newly replicated copies and fires a shockwave of darkness at it, sending it flying backward. The creature hits the ground headfirst and spins, landing in a sprawled-out heap.
As for the other copy, Rhesus leaps and rams his fist into its chin, uppercutting it into the air while also shattering its jawbone.
"Not today!"
Emperor Melody finds that, unlike the Brute from earlier, she can actually deal heavy damage and even kill this replicating aberrant, but no matter how fast she does, the creature always manages to copy itself multiple times from its other living selves, defying every law of energy conservation.
BOOM! BOOM!
Melody sends dual shockwaves of concussive force into the bodies of two Replicators, making them shudder and freeze, while allowing other Emperors to land killing blows. Nymph swings a giant log of magically hardened wood at the head of one monster, crushing it into meat paste. Kristoff rams his fingers into the other one's heart and sucks its blood dry, leaving behind only a desiccated husk.
"How does it keep conjuring so many clones?" Kristoff asks, bewildered. "And each one is as strong as the others! Is this aberrant secretly a Wordsmith?!"
He doesn't receive an answer. None of the others know. However, as they fight on, they become more attuned to one another through Serena's Soul Web. They move more in unison and adjust their teamwork to kill the Replicators faster than they can duplicate themselves.
Eventually, Melody delivers the final blow on the last remaining duplicate, blowing its body apart with a grenade-like explosion of sound, causing viscous chunks to splatter her comrades. To their utter relief, after killing more than a hundred of the duplicating freaks, no others appear.
Kristoff's squad rushes over to help finish off the other two deviants in Yardrat and Bael's squads, only to arrive just in time for both to kill off their respective foes.
"Whew!!" Bael exclaims, doubling over and gasping for air, every inch of his Matriarch Armor drenched in blood. "Oh, Satan the Devil! That was- aahhh... I need a breather, woo!"
He isn't the only Emperor out of breath. Sweat lines the foreheads of every single elite, except for Serena, whose support duties kept her out of the direct line of fire. Yardrat's body shakes from exhaustion. Crow's biceps pulse fiercely with adrenaline-fueled blood. Vespera's bloodshot eyes tell a story regarding how much mana she's expended.
"We've only killed five monsters!" Nymph exclaims, her beautiful red skin glistening with sweat. She conjures a handful of leaves to daintily dab and dry herself off. "Just five! How could Glinch's minions be so powerful?"
Bael lifts his head. He looks toward the distant center of the Stitched Wasteland.
"Woo... ho-boy, not gonna lie, fellas. I don't know how many more of those I've got in me."
"We have to keep pressing on." Yardrat says through gritted teeth. "Can't you feel the slow thickening of mana in the air? Mephisto's time to ascend must be arriving soon!"
The other elites grimace. They look toward the center of the Stitched Wasteland, fearing they won't have energy to make it there, let alone ultimately kill Mephisto.
"Let's take a five-minute breather." Kristoff suggests, recovering from his exertion a bit faster thanks to the vitality of his blood. "But keep on your guard. It's clear Glinch isn't going to make things easy for us."
The other elites nod. Nobody sits down, but they all stand in place, steadying their breathing and borrowing leaves from Nymph to dry their sweaty bodies off. Even Bael temporarily removes his armor to dab himself dry.
One demon is the exception, though.
Now reverted back to his Duke form, Rhesus greedily bites and chews at the corpses of Glinch's fallen monsters. He hungrily rips them apart like a wolf that hasn't eaten meat in ten years. Some of the more squeamish demons curl up their lips in disgust, while Vespera and Kristoff appear unmoved. They've long grown used to his ways.
Suddenly, Rhesus looks at Bael.
"Hey!"
Bael looks back at him. "What?"
Rhesus points to the corpse of the slime-creature Bael helped kill. "You gonna eat that?"
Bael slowly shakes his head. He nudges it toward Rhesus with his foot, then takes a step back. "Nah, bro. Uh, help yourself. I'm................... full."
"Great!" Rhesus yells, rushing over to chew and slurp up the slimey remains of the once-human-shaped creature Bael ultimately helped slay.
"Some fellas..." Bael murmurs, looking away.
As Rhesus takes these precious five minutes to ravenously devour Glinch's subordinates, Yardrat suddenly looks up in the sky. "Bloody hell! How long has that been there?!"
The others, except Rhesus, follow his gaze.
"What the-?!" Bael exclaims.
"What is it?" Melody asks.
Serena, unable to make out anything but a glowing mass of mana, blinks her unseeing eyes. "A physical description would be nice."
Nymph rests her hand on Serena's shoulder. "It's an... egg. A flesh-colored egg."
"By flesh-colored, you mean...?"
"Sorry. Demon-flesh-colored. Red." Nymph clarifies.
The egg hovers in the sky for only five seconds before suddenly rushing downward toward the demon elites. They quickly raise their fists and weapons, ready for battle, as it crashes into the dirt a hundred meters away.
The egg cracks open. Its shell explodes into fragments, spilling a disgusting green liquid all over the dirt, the stench of which makes many of the elites want to puke.
"Oh, that's awful!" Bael whines, before reactivating his Matriarch Armor so he won't have to suffer the foul odor.
As a cloud of thick green gas evaporates, a bipedal creature steps out of the crumbled egg's remains. Its sleek, moist body makes it resemble a fish. Its mottled green skin makes it appear as if it were born of the forest, a soil-based life-form coated in viscous fluids.
But strangely, its faceless head makes it feel... alien.
Upon seeing this new threat, one demon loses all their color.
Emperor Melody's pupils shrink to pinpricks. A cold chill sweeps across her skin as she immediately takes a step back. "No... no, no, no..."
The other Emperor glance at her in confusion, then back at the monster.
"What is it, Melody?" Kristoff asks quietly, as the creature remains standing in the distance, not yet moving toward them.
"P-P-Pla... Plague..." Melody whispers, a lump in her throat making it hard for her to speak. "That's- that's a- a- K-K-Kuh-Kolvax...ian..."
The temperature around the elites seems to plummet ten degrees. They look at the monster in horror.
"No.. Glinch wouldn't..." Yardrat whispers. "He'd never go this far..."
As the Emperors and Dukes remain standing, uncertain of what to do, the creature's head changes.
Its faceless facade morphs. A line spreads across the middle, where its nose would normally be. The Emperors become unsettled as a giant mouth begins to materialize, filled with shark-like teeth.
"Not....... Quite....." The 'Kolvaxian' says.
The voice that escapes the creature's mouth causes Yardrat to frown. He recognizes it immediately.
"Glinch? Is that you?"
The monster doesn't speak for several seconds.
When it does, it only utters one slow, halting word.
"........Yes."
"What is this?" Yardrat asks. "Did you... did YOU create the Kolvaxians?!"
The monster slightly cocks its head.
"No."
A pause.
"Pale. Imitation." It says.
"Imitation?" Yardrat repeats. "You're trying to copy the Kolvaxians? Why?!"
The creature once again remains motionless for several seconds. Emperor Serena frowns. She detects a faint microburst of mana rising from the ground, entering the monster's body.
"Because." The monster says, its voice still very much an eerie copy of Glinch's voice. "Curiosity."
It pauses.
"Must... Investigate. Many... Mysteries."
"Are you protecting Mephisto?" Yardrat asks. "Don't you see? If you let him ascend, he'll kill you! He's an enemy to all demonkind!"
The fake Kolvaxian 'smiles', its creepy, wide mouth curving up at the far corners.
"Enemy. Demons. Yes. Me? No. Insurance."
Abruptly, the Kolvax-clone leans forward, and a look of pain spreads over its face. Before the other demons can figure out what's going on, the creature makes a strange motion with its stomach.
"Gurr... gurrk... BLERK!"
It vomits green liquid all over the ground, and a hundred tiny marbles filled with mana land amidst the vomit, all of them glowing red visible to the naked eye.
The monster returns to its standing position, that same creepy smile on its face.
"Here. Present."
"What?" Kristoff asks, looking at those marbles of mana.
"Present." The Kolvax-clone says. "For. You."
"Whoaaa," Bael says, "you don't expect us to... eat those. Do you?"
"Beneficial." Glinch says. "Healing. Restoration."
"You're out of your mind." Serena says, narrowing her eyes. "You're mad, Glinch."
"No." Glinch says. "Not... Mad. Curious. Survive. Face... Me. Become... Stronger. Mephisto... Hungers."
The demons watch, stone-faced, as the pseudo-Kolvaxian begins to descend into the dirt, allowing the decrepit soil of the Stitched Wasteland to swallow it whole. It melts into the dirt in the same way as the Kolvaxians have always done, causing Melody's shivering to intensify.
"...can't just be a copy...." Melody mumbles, her shrunken pupils gazing in horror at the facsimile of the creatures that tore her Hell apart.
When it vanishes, all of the Emperors become quiet. Yardrat cautiously approaches the mana-infused pellets, then scoops them all up in his hands and walks back to the others.
Yardrat glances at the faces of the other demons. He holds the pills up, allowing them to look at the blood-colored beads of highly condensed mana.
"Well?" Yardrat asks. "Thoughts?"
Rhesus, having finished devouring the blood, skin, and bones of Glinch's monsters, cracks his neck. "I don't know what those are. I'll pass."
"Serena?" Yardrat asks, looking at the Emperor of Soul Whispers.
"These pills are not harmful." Serena says, though her expression appears grim. "In fact, they're highly beneficial. They will restore our mana reserves and replenish our fighting capabilities quickly. There is no harm in taking one."
Despite the confidence in her statement, nobody moves to grab a single pill.
"The problem being?" Yardrat asks, still gazing at Serena.
"It should be obvious." Serena says, pressing her teeth together tightly. "Think of the message this sends us. Glinch doesn't take us seriously as a threat. He's worried we'll be defeated and die to his minions too easily. He wants us to fight in our optimal condition."
Kristoff sniffs the pellets. "There's more. These are infused with the blood of powerful monsters. They don't smell familiar to me. I bet Glinch obtained the blood through his Volgrim connections. The blood likely comes from exobeasts on Psion hunting worlds."
"Even I can guess what that means." Bael says. "These pills won't just bring us back to peak condition. They'll make us stronger."
"Especially the Dukes." Serena points out. "Glinch is... fattening us up."
"The fact he can create pills capable of uplifting demons is a statement in and of itself." Dagon says coldly. "It means he possesses an ability not unlike the Wordsmith's Belial Booster. He can create pills that will uplift lesser demons."
"This much should be expected." Kristoff retorts. "We've seen the strength of his minions. Pound for pound, each one is far stronger than any of us individual Emperors. He must have discovered a way to condense energy into these pills. If he wanted, he could... build an army."
"There's another player in the game." Yardrat mutters, glancing toward the center of the Stitched Wasteland. "He wants to compete with Auger."
"And Gorn." Serena says, glaring at Yardrat.
"Not so fast." Nymph says. "Aren't you guys forgetting? If Mephisto ascends, neither Auger nor Gorn will have the power to contend with him. In a galaxy where a Demon Deity reigns, Emperors will become mere minions. Glinch isn't telling us he wants to raise an army of loyal minions. He's never given a damn about ruling our people."
The other elites lower their heads, grimacing as they realize what she's saying.
"We're just... food." Vespera says quietly. "He intends to raise me and the other Dukes to Emperor... so Mephisto can... eat us."
As the elites stand around, no longer sure of what to do, Bael scratches his head.
"Welp! If you can't beat 'em, beat 'em off, that's what I always say! Gimme one of those pills!"
He snatches a a pill out of Yardrat's hand before the Emperor of the Void can react.
"Wait, Bael, we haven't determined-!" Yardrat starts to say, too slow to stop Bael.
"Nom!"
Bael casually removes his armor once again, pops the pill in his mouth, and swallows it. A second later, his demonic energy condenses, his fatigued body restores back to its pristine state, and his muscles bulge beneath his clothes.
"WOO! OH YEAH, BABY! That's that GOOD SHIT!"
A fire ignites in Bael's eyes. He roars to the sky and pumps his muscles, while steam pours from his nose.
"Oh MAN! WHOA! I could fight a bat! I could kick a dog! I feel AMAZING! You guys have GOTTA pop one of those bad boys!!"
Bael begins dancing around, full of hype. As he has the time of his life, the other demons frown.
"Is it just me, or..." Dagon mutters.
"Yeah." Yardrat says. "His breasts did get bigger."
Vespera blinks. "Give me a pill."
"Emperors first!" Fae exclaims.
While those two hastily grab themselves a pill, the other Emperors only decide to take theirs after seeing the effects of the pills on their comrades.
Emperor Serena glances at the spot where Glinch's fake Kolvaxian disappeared into the dirt.
This isn't a game. She thinks silently. We're balancing on the edge of a knife. One wrong move, and we'll fall to our doom.
....................................................
Artwork for Vespera!
Artwork for Rhesus!