My AC unit sits under an oak tree and it takes a lot of abuse in the winter. Would it be a good idea to put a cover on it during the winter?
https://www.coverstore.com/utility-covers/air-conditioner-covers/outdoor-air-conditioner-covers

Pocket Jam is an app for musicians and singers that want to practise or play along to music. It lets you adjust the pitch and tempo of a song, mark specific times in a song, and loop sections of a song
It has what I think is the best looping of any app I've tried - you can start slow, and increase the tempo by a small amount with every loop, until you reach the desired tempo
If you need to play outside of the app, you can also export the songs with your pitch and tempo adjustments
The UI is heavily inspired by Apple Music with a background themed using the album art. I focused a lot on making the UI simple and easy to understand. If you've used any similar apps with similar features to Pocket Jam, hopefully this UI should be a breath of fresh air
It supports playing songs from Files as well streaming with Apple Music - although streaming does not support pitch adjustments (I'd love to add it if Apple provides a way to do this) and exporting (this one should be clear why). It is not possible to support Spotify due to their incredibly restrictive licensing
Future things I'm thinking about is a live activity to make it easier to control from your home screen, as well as other music providers like SoundCloud
I'd love to know what you think, or if you have any more ideas!
The marketing page is over at https://jacobdoescode.com/pocket-jam
And the App Store link is https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pocket-jam/id1153284525

Hello all, this is a post inspired by u/Missile_Sandwich and their post: https://www.reddit.com/PrimarchGFs/comments/1d65l73/he_wont_last_long/ which gave me the idea of asking you all these questions in regards to the female Primarchs getting pregnant. So please feel free to pick one or multiple Primarchs and think of:

1. How would the Primarchs react to learning they are pregnant?
2. How would everyone else (Their Legion, The Emperor, Etc.) react to learning they are pregnant?
3. How bad would their mood swings/cravings be?
4. How long would it take the Apothecaries to heal their SOs hips?
5. How would they handle learning they are having more than one child, such as twins or triplets?
6. What kind of parent would they end up being to the child?

To start us off, I will give my own take on these in regards to Kassandra Kurze being the one pregnant.

1. Shock. Complete and utter dumbfounded shock as they wonder if their Vox devices are malfunctioning, or if something is wrong with their ears as they process the fact that Kassandra, The Night Haunter, is the first of their number to be with child.

They then feel something akin to respect to Kassandra's Beacon for the sheer balls it takes to do what they have done, though it is also mixed no small amount of pity as they realize just what form of hell said Beacon is going to endure not only over the course of her pregnancy, but also afterwards.
That is the moment they also realize that they will be Aunts, which makes them feel rather complicated feelings, namely a mixture of happiness at having a natural born niece or nephew along with the dread of just what form of hell a child born to Kassandra Kurze will raise over the course of their life.
A more detailed answer is:
Aurelia prays for the sake of the universe, she then decides that she will not let her sister be the only one pregnant as she sets off to make Slaanesh take notes on what she does to her Little Light.
Magna tries to scry into the future to see how fucked everyone is, she gives up eventually and decides that she will fortify the hell out of Prospero and then try and one up her sister.
Fulgrim...Fulgrim...Yeah she is not going to take that lying down. Her Muse is likely not going to be leaving her chambers for several weeks...or months as she also makes Slaanesh wonder how the hell she is not one of her Daemonettes.
She also paints a series of apocalyptic portraits inspired by the mental images that run through her mind when she wonders what her nieces/nephews will do, during the moments where she needs to let her Muse take a breather.
Freya, after she is done drinking herself into a stupor to try and forget the news along with her legion, the entire planet they are on joining in as they all try and wake up from what must surely be a nightmare, only to realize it is not a nightmare and that they are in fact in a timeline where the Night Haunter will have children.
She also decides that fuck it, she is not letting her sister be the only one to bring new additions to their family, something her Slayer is stuck helping her with as Freya shows just how feral she can be when it comes to intercourse in pursuit of breeding.
Atlanta...it is one of the few times the Nails seem to malfunction as she is able to feel genuine shock, unease, and a looming sense of horror at what may happen to the universe as she holds her Rose like a teddy bear to try and keep the nightmares away when she is not breaking both their hips and the bed.
The Twins are running around trying to make sure that their lover and them will be safe, failsafe after failsafe being prepared in case they need to vanish, all while taking turns with their own lover, not quite certain why they want a child, but knowing that they do.
Lion is busy making sure her Legion and their base are as prepared and fortified as possible, the training of both her Squire and her Legion is taken to a new level as they try to make ready for the approaching storm that a Mini Kassandra could bring.
Does she want a child of her own? Maybe, but that can take a back seat till she is certain that they will survive the coming storm.
Petra and her Assistant are currently building a planet sized fortress with the Iron Warriors, their shared horror uniting them in making the most fortified position in the galaxy as they layer trap after trap and wall after wall in the hopes of creating something to serve as their hiding place.
The Lady of Iron may feel jealous of her sister and have her own desire for a child now, but she wants a safe place to hide within first.
Sanguinia is happy for her sister, she is also stockpiling every singly slate and scroll she can find on psychology to make sure the child does not become like their mother, even as she tries to help Kassandra cope with the news.
She is torn between wanting a child of her own, and not doing so out of fear of them inheriting her curse and being condemned due to it, though said fear has not stopped her from taking her lover as much as she can.
Ferra has begun to build up a stockpile of power armor and weapons as she tries to make certain they can weather the storm, her Iron Heart having to reign her in and keep her from working herself to death as she designs dreadnought sized suits of armor to hide away with her lover within, any desire for a child pushed aside till she feels they are safe.
Cora has begun trying to find any form of stealth technology that can remove her and her Nightingale from the physical world, or at the very least the most well hidden planet that she can, so that they will have a safe place to hide away on.
Once she finds such a place, then she can try and have a child of her own, but that can wait for when they find a means of cloaking the entire planet.
Hestia has not left her forge since she heard the news, at first it was to make some gifts for her coming nieces/nephews, then, once they were done, it became a matter of creating the most powerful armor and arms that she can, her legion having joined in to make certain they will not be caught unprepared.
She has also been putting the Apothecaries through their paces due to how many times her Wyrmheart has had their spine and pelvis shattered.
Hathor has spent her time after learning the news dealing with the sheer influx of diplomats from various segmentums that have come to beg asylum and peace with the Imperium, her and Juno, along with their Consort and Centurion, having been so swamped with their work of ordering these seemingly unending additions they have had no time to even think of children of their own.
Morrigan and her Lily have begun contemplating ways of vanishing from the Imperium even as the Death Guard try and create some form of chemical that will repel miniature Kurze's, the intimacy between Morrigan and her Lily being more to deal with the stress than a desire for children, though she would not complain.
Alakhai has begun building the fastest ships she can conceive of, her legion pitching in to insure that if it comes to it they can hotfoot it from one end of the galaxy to another without the need for going through the warp.
Her Whirlwind has also been dealing with stress relief duty, along with the Primarch's growing desire for children of her own.
Regalia has begun making sure that the fortress of her Legions world will be genuinely impregnable, not even an ant shall be able to enter the walls of it without setting off enough alarms to wake half the galaxy, her lover having guided the legion to trap every single inch of it that they can as the labyrinthian fortress rises.
She can deal with any thought of children once she has made certain her home cannot be breached...and when she learns where they come from.

1. The Night Lords reaction is a mixture of awe, shock, and horror as they realize that by some form of Warp Fuckery there is a very real chance of there being multiple miniature versions of their mother running around the ship at one point in the near future.

They also have taken to saluting the Beacon every time they see them, along with having severely stepped up security around them in fear of what would happen should anything happen to them.
The Emperor and Malcador share the same reaction, they both pause in what they are doing and share a single look of genuine horror as they begin to make their own plans to try and mitigate the damage that is likely to occur.
The Four have ceased their squabbling and begun to fortify their domains, Nurgle has risen walls of miasma and plague that could melt flesh around his Garden even as he works to make more to act as a shield against the nightmare to come.
Slaanesh, between her notetaking, has begun to make certain that her rings cannot be breached, her daemons having been put to work erecting traps and fortifications wherever they can, along with seducing more and more to act as meat shields or offerings to keep the storm at bay.
Tzeentch has begun to make plan after plan to survive, his Impossible Fortress having grown more and more labyrinthian as he tries to see a future where he will survive the the potential nightmare to come, though such a thing seems dimmer and dimmer with each day.
Khorne has begun to ready his armies, his worlds are becoming more and more fortified as his daemons sharpen their fangs and claws and swords upon one another such that they will be able to meet the threat head on in what will likely be the most blood-soaked clash in history.
And in the dark, Malice has begun to plan and scheme...its laughter making the Four hurry in their efforts of fortifications.

1. Yes...Just yes. Kassandra switches from depressed sobbing and wailing over the slightest of things, to tearing apart her own Legion with her bare hands over that same matter, the Night Lords having since began to pray day and night that their legion survives the pregnancy.

As for her cravings...I will not elaborate, just know that it is going to be...interesting.

1. They nearly gave up. The Apothecaries of the Night Lords nearly gave up on trying to heal the Beacon before they realized that without them to help take the edge off of her stress and reign her in, their mother would likely slaughter most of the galaxy before the child arrives.

And so after several days, they manage to heal them and send them off as a sacrificial lamb with salutes and pats on their shoulder.

1. That is the moment that the Galaxy froze, as from the Ruinous Powers of the Four, to the Emperor, to the Aeldari seers, feel nothing but sheer terror as they all switch gears to panic mode, an unofficial truce forming as all try and fortify themselves.

The Night Lords have gone from being the most feared legion, to being the most pitied in the galaxy as all learn just how fucked they are, something that they genuinely agree with.

1. Helicopter parent on steroids. She will not let her child walk the same path as her, there will not be another Night Haunter, not so long as she draws breath, she will make certain that they never endure what she did on Nostromo, no matter the cost.

She will flay entire star systems to scare all others into horrified compliance, even as she spends her nights rubbing her stomach with tears in her eyes, whispering how she will always protect her child, and how they will never need to know fear so long as she lives.
That is what I have, how about all of you?

Looking for advice on how to run an upcoming encounter. My last session ended with my level 4 party deciding to engage her (they may have bitten off more than they can chew, but they're aware she will be strong so I won't be pulling punches). Allow me to set the scene:
The party are investigating the unexplained illness of an older noblewoman in the city, as the house's healer has been unable to identify her ailment and, though he successfully heals her daily, each morning she awakes deathly ill once more. He tells the party he has tried to keep watch overnight to observe the exact moment this change occurs, but each time he has found himself somehow unable to stay awake and has drifted into sleep for some brief time, only to wake and find he had missed the event and she was once more afflicted.
The party offers to observe her overnight themselves and give the healer a break, and they camp out in her room, with two party members keeping watch outside the house on the roof, one party member outside the room in the hallway, and four inside the room. They already suspect foul play, so they are all hiding as best they can.
Some time around 1:00am, a mist creeps across the floor in the hallway and twinkling lights appear before the rogue in the hallway, attempting first to charm her, then to put her to sleep - but her fey ancestry rendered her immune, and the mist slips past her and underneath the door into the room, where the party members inside are subjected to the same phenomenon, with all but one failing their saving throws. The one unaffected party member watches from his hiding spot as, from the mist, a human form emerges, now leaning over the sleeping noblewoman.
He recognizes her, as the party has encountered this woman twice before - once in the city, when she lifted a valuable magic item from the cleric's pocket, and again earlier today when, after the party was given the room for the evening, she knocked at the door asking to come in (knowing she would need an invitation for later), claiming the woman was her aunt and she wished to see her ailment for herself. After some back and forth, and persistent asking, the party finally granted her permission to enter, and she left satisfied shortly afterward.
The party knows she is a master thief who is connected with the city's thieves guild, and they know she is a member of the same house as the noblewoman. They do not know that she is a vampire, though there have been clues. Once they realize this, they will already have a pretty good idea of where her crypt should be, and she will almost certainly retreat there if the fight is going poorly for her.
The party consists of the following level 4 characters: 1 Ranger, 1 Cleric, 1 Barbarian, 1 Monk, and 3 Rogues (!?!)
As far as vampires go, I'm open to homebrewing a bit as I'm depicting vampires in this setting more in line with Bram Stoker's Dracula (ability to assume different forms, not killed by sunlight but can only access her supernatural powers at night, etc.) rather than the standard D&D vampires.
The encounter is beginning in close quarters (in the bedroom, with a vulnerable NPC on the bed), but she would likely take the fight outside to the courtyard if she felt she needed some breathing room, and she will certainly flee if she feels seriously threatened.
Any suggestions on what her general game plan should be in this encounter? The party has strategically avoided several previous potential combats with powerful NPCs so this will be their first combat against a significantly intelligent and wily foe, and even though it's a large party fighting a single target, I'd like it to feel very challenging.
Right now my general thoughts are that her objective will likely be to first focus down the Cleric as she is the party's main spellcaster, then the Ranger (to impede the party's ability to track her), then flee.

I took a week off of work and college had started their two-week break before the next semester. I took my chance and cleared my calendar and booked a trip to the town where my grandfather stayed while he was a journalist. The greyhound ride was a good time for me to figure out my approach, while the busy cityscape outside my window slowly faded into Southern African wilderness, nothing but trees and empty kilometers of road before I reached my stop, a homely town that seemed well connected to the rest despite the distance. It had been many years since my grandfather had set foot in this town, yet I could feel his influence. The roads were now cracked and showed their wear, shops and residences had been renovated and upgraded, looking more modern and slightly out of place.
The hotel my grandfather stayed at while on the investigation was now a more comfortable looking lodge, with a view over the rolling foothills of the Drakensberg and the surrounding cities, one of which I could see my home, vaguely. The sun had begun to set and I still needed to get my information from the residents. I unpacked my things after booking my room and set out, like a tourist with a pen and notebook in hand asking anyone what they may know. To no one’s surprise, they mostly looked at me like I was insane or a knock off Leon Schuster trying to get them to react in a funny way. I had almost given up completely until I sat near one of the social areas where they would light a fire and residents at the lodge would sit and relax while watching the sun go down. I was alone there and just sat drawing the distant landscape dreading the silence for the next week while I waited for the next bus to arrive and I’d return home. Two days passed in mainly silence.
That was until a man sat near me, dressed in weathered jeans and an old top with work boots covered in dust and dirt, his face obscured by a large hat covering his face, his hands in his pockets even as he sat but his arms almost looked skeleton like, his long white hair flowing from either side of his hat.
“Can I help you?” I asked, feeling like he was trying to get my attention.
“No, but I can help you. You cause quite a lot of noise, trying to get the people to talk about something that scares them.” He said, his voice didn’t come across as harsh, more like cautious. The first person who decided to talk to me in a casual manner since a couple days ago. He wanted to tell me what I wanted to know.
Without any hesitation I turned to the page I set aside for notes when the man chuckled.
“Something funny?” I asked.
“You’re going to need more pages than that.” He said, flicking his hat up slightly while he sat back and got comfortable.
“Trust me, this is all I need.” I said feeling like I had to tiptoe around the subject as to not let the opportunity slip, but I also felt overwhelmingly anxious, almost like someone else was watching us. I felt my gaze shift every so often over my shoulder trying to find the entity that was staring a hole through me, apart from a quiet street crossing and some pedestrians; nothing.
“Something there?” Asked the man, as I shook off the feeling. I started getting a bit annoyed by the short answers and questions.
“Just feel like-, never mind. If you’re ready to help give me some information, what should I call you?” I asked as the man took a moment.
“Call me ‘Farmhand’. Since it’ll sound better than my real name, you’ll find that out in time.” Said Farmhand as I wrote that down in my notebook and began phrasing the question in my mind as to get the proper answer. Furiously tapping my pen on the page.
“Just ask, I already know what you want to know.” He said, I looked up from the page, slightly irritated by the confidence.
“How can you be so sure, Farmhand?” I blurted.
“You aren’t the first person to go on this goose chase. The Lady in White is very particular in her targets.” Farmhand explained, I wrote down everything.
“What’s her story, like the true story; why does she haunt this stretch of road?” I asked. Farmhand chuckled.
“She doesn’t haunt, she’s simply looking for a lift.” He said in the distinct Afrikaans twang that so many white South Africans have, it’s by no means ominous, more of a conversation encouragement than anything else.
“A lift? To where?” I asked. I heard so many different types of tales, from her being hostile to men, a companion to young women and a bit of both to younger males. But the main part that stayed the same was that they were alone.
“Her matric dance, my seun.” Farmhand said, the only other person to call me ‘Seun’ was my dad, the Afrikaans for son.
“What exactly happened?” I asked, pen at the ready.
“The legend goes far back, but the main story that my pa always told me was that she was with her boyfriend in the car, they went along this road and broke down; one of the worst places to break down since around eight is when the busses shut down and the last train has departed from the station. She chose to try down the street, bearing in mind how dangerous that is these days, it was a little bit less so then.” Farmhand said as he took off his hat, keeping his gaze at the setting sun.
“How much less dangerous?” I asked.
“Snakes, though the venomous Boomslang doesn’t go out of its way to kill you, no Black Mamba’s live up here. No, we have jackals and caracals, they hunt in packs and pick you off in the dead of night.” Farmhand explained.
“Is that how it happened, how she died?” Farmhand chuckled lightly.
“Nope, she saw a car in the distance and flagged them down, asked them to help take her to town or help her boyfriend. The man took her up the road and when they started to approach where she had broken down, the boyfriend tried flagging them down. Her joy turned to terror as the stranger sped up and before the boyfriend knew it, the car had hit him. The last she saw of him was him tumbling down the hill among the trees.” Farmhand said. Placing his hat on his chest, closing his eyes and bowing his head. After a short silence, I asked:
“What happened next?”
“Well, the girl was hysterical, the car was still speeding up and she yelled at the man to stop, and kept pleading for him to let her go. Eventually the man had stopped, the girl got out and started calling to the boyfriend to see if he had somehow survived, as she did, the stranger hit her on the back of her head and had his way with her.” Farmhand said, provoking a sour taste in my mouth, a sheer sense of guilt welled up in my stomach.
“Now I understand why no one was willing to tell me the story.” I said, slightly defeated. The man put a hand on my knee like my grandfather used to and looked me in the eye. For the first time I noticed his wrinkled but kind face, he smiled.
“It’s not a story everyone can stomach. Come, let’s finish this so you can write your story.” Farmhand said as he sat back on the couch, a thought struck me; was I so obvious that he knew I was a journalist writing a story? Because I don’t remember ever disclosing the fact I was a journalist. Regardless, we continued.
“After the stranger- did the act, what happened?” I asked uneasily, feeling sick to my stomach.
“He put her in his car, and drove back to the spot where they broke down, but a half a kilometer away she woke up and he pushed her out of the car at high speed. She should’ve died there, but she crawled, half her body scratched, scraped and broken. She died slowly and alone. Before she died she heard her boyfriend calling for her.” Farmhand continued.
“Did he ever find her?”
There was silence, even the birds had stopped chirping and the street had gone quiet.
“No, I don’t believe he did. Whether or not he died looking is another story, but that’s not what you’re here for.” The Farmer said as he stood up, placed his hat on his head and began to walk off, before he passed me, he put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it.
“Promise me one thing; be careful. Can you do that for me, Alex?” Farmhand said before he patted me on the shoulder and walked off without waiting for my answer. I turned to confront him but he was gone, it couldn’t have been more than a second, but it was like he vanished into thin air. I was left confused and bewildered. The notes were real, the pen marks solid and clear. The events I was informed of felt vivid, yet the silence that fell around me felt otherworldly. I was feeling lost and exhausted before, now I was more awake than I had ever been.
Around eight that night, the sun had set and the mountain had cast a chilling shadow over the down I stayed, sleet had been reported near us and snow on the mountain. If I was going to get the answer I so desperately wanted, I was going to have to earn it. I walked to my car, steam cascading from my nostrils as the cold air turned frigid with even the slightest of breezes. I got in my car and drove to the first rest point along the mountain to gather some supplies: Some water and snacks, a couple of pre-charged battery packs for my recorder as I don’t want to stop every fifteen to twenty minutes to write down my experience. This would also prove if I was going insane or not, when asked by a couple of the staff at the store, I told them my intentions and they sounded interested for the first time. When I left I tested the packs and sure enough; fully charged and my recorder was clean and ready to be used.
I approached the entrance to the mountain pass that had been the setting for this ghost story that has latched on to me since childhood. No street lamps, no signs, yet the road itself was painted brightly and every so often a glowing marker was placed to ensure you knew when to turn and when to slow down. The threshold felt like a portal, the point where light didn’t reach and would not pass, even down to the road, where it was light, it looked traveled on, occupied and used; the mountain pass looked pristine; almost as if it hadn’t been touched for decades. As I looked beyond the pass, far below what was called the foothills of the Drakensberg, a large highway was built, the lights from the cars, the lamps and signs glowed for kilometers in the distance. After delaying for twenty minutes, I turned my car on, flicked on the high-beams and began my journey.
Every few minutes I would check my recorder, to make sure it was on and still functioning, it lay on the passenger seat in plain view, I could see some bright lights giving me the information if the screen was somehow obscured. It was a long while before anything happened. Maybe it was paranoia, maybe it was anxiety, whatever it was wouldn’t stop me from exploring this legend. Worst thing that could happen is I travel sixty kilometers and nothing happens and it turns out my grandfather was just trying to scare me. I turned again after a lengthy passage of time and I got my answer.
I don’t remember stopping, I don’t even think I saw anyone on the side of the road, maybe it was while I was looking at my recorder, but I felt a cold presence behind me.
“Do you know where you’re going?” Asked a voice, a quiet but feminine voice. A chill erupted throughout my body; a violent sense of panic coursed through my mind because I knew where the sound came from. It came from behind me. My hands began to shake but I dared not take my hands away from the wheel.
“Do you?” It asked again. The answer got caught in my throat, I found myself unable to speak.
“No, not really.” I managed though my voice felt hoarse.
“You seem to know what you want.” The voice said again, it sounded curious. I stayed silent, the road twisted and wound around the mountain in a chaotic and frantic fashion.
“Are you scared?” She asked again, the voice coming from next to me. I turned to look but a cold hand kept my eyes glued to the road.
“Keep your eyes on the road, enough people have died here.” She said, as my nerves calmed slightly.
“Who are you?” I asked, my eyes focused and the world around me much less than an echo.
“Why do you want to know?” She asked, sounding more like she was in a void, her voice had more of an echo than anything else.
“I want to know what happened here. The true story.” I said after taking a breath and gathering my nerves, the road seemed to calm down, from sharp uphill turns to moonlight sweeping curves that allowed my gaze to rest as the shadow of the trees passed us by.
“Can I trust you?” She asked, the question rang through my head as I remember what Farmhand said, how she trusted a stranger who took advantage of her.
“Yes. Yes you can.” I said after a while. The figure turned to me; I could feel her eyes scrutinize every inch of me.
“You’re not like him?” Her questions kept hammering into me, I felt a mix of fear and guilt, knowing who she was referring to.
“I won’t hurt you. I want to help.” I said after a while, gathering a fragile sense of courage as my hands shook furiously. The road seemed to twist and turn, harsh rising hills. Sharp corners told the tale of her many victims as my headlights passed by, the scrapes and dents of hard hits leading to a drop that seemed to have no end, not a single tree could be seen and the moonlight from high above could not pierce the dark veil that lingered joust over the edge of the road. After a while, she spoke again.
“Alright, I trust you.” She said as I allowed my eyes to wander, the figure relaxed in the passenger seat for a while, my recorder on the center console as I saw her blue skin, almost emitting a frozen chill as I saw her dress, torn and tattered, my stomach felt uneasy when I saw bruising and swelling near her inner thighs. Her hands crossed in her lap as I saw the scratches and what looked like deep cuts on her arms and exposed shoulders from the straps on her dress. I could not see much of her face as it seemed her face was bleeding.
“What happened that night?” I asked, concentrating on the road again. My passenger stayed quiet for a while, quietly shuddering and sniffing before she spoke again.
“I was happy, a man I loved decided I would be his date for the matric dance. We’d known each other since we were children. My best friend. We were driving along this road to get to the lodge, where the dance was being held.” Her voice sounded sourly-joyful, her hands didn’t move from her lap much, so as to not distract me with her hand movements.
“It was a while before town, the car started shaking. I thought the tire had blown, but smoke came from the front. We stopped nearby.” She pointed and I could see the flashing of hazard lights and the smell of smoke invaded my nostrils.
“I thought I’d get some help, he said he’d be fine and that I should hurry back. I walked for a while; it was a cold night still. I walked for, I don’t know how long. But I managed to get an old man to stop. He said he’d help; we just need to get my man and he’d sort out the car.” She said as the road began to crack and fall apart at the edge.
“Do you know what he did?” She asked me, I assumed it was a test to see if I was listening.
“He deceived you.” I answered. She nodded, looking down for a short while before continuing.
“He asked why I was alone on this road. I told him I wasn’t, that I was on my way to town with my man, and I told him about who he was, what he meant to me. I was overjoyed when I saw him, my joy turned to confusion, to horror as he sped up and ran him over. I saw his body roll into the trees, I thought for sure he was dead.” She pointed to the part of the road that had a piece of cloth swaying in the breeze, marking where her man was hit and last seen by her.
“After I witnessed my childhood innocence be ripped from me, he finally stopped, that butcher! I blacked out with a sharp pain, when next I woke, I couldn't feel my legs and my fingers were numb. Just before I said anything, he pushed me out of his car. I remember falling, the road was like ice, all I could do was crawl.” She said, her anger translating to the road shifting and breaking apart, turning violently uphill only for the sheer drops and sharp turns that threatened to throw me off the edge. I barely managed to keep the car on the road as the road shifted again, it was so silent that I could hear the tires screeching like a distant wail.
“I’ve searched for years, if he’d ever return, I’d make sure he never left like he left me.” She said as the note my grandfather left in his books, the man who was panicked and sketchy, had his autopsy reveal that he was of the elderly group. I felt a slight pang of guilt as I realized that the man who did this to her was probably dead for a while. I weathered her storm of rage as the stretch of road became calm, as did she.
“I’m sorry you suffered like that; I wish there was something I could do.” I said unconsciously. I felt her gaze soften to me; her rage calmed as she went back to her neutral position.
“He was called ‘Farmhand. Because he was trustworthy, kind and reliable..” My eyes widened as the realization crashed on my face: He lived.
“If you aren’t like how he was, then you don’t deserve to leave this road.” Her voice was harsh, the road began to fall apart, the cracks forming as parts fell away like they had been falling apart for years, though my body was fatigued, I kept the car on the road. As uncomfortable as the ride was, the road soon turned into dirt paths, completely unlit and unpredictable. It felt like hours before it returned to normal, albeit slowly, my hands still shook relentlessly. I understood her outrage. I couldn’t imagine the trauma she experienced, the sadness.
“If you would like, I can take you back to town.” I asked. In retrospect, that was a stupid question.
“I don’t know.” She replied, unsure and confused.
“No rush, we have time.” I said as I turned around and began my long drive back to town. The road swerved and waved calmly, completely different to the approach. I drove to the point where The Lady in White was last seen, after a while I parked my car near the spot and looked to my side. The woman wasn’t there. I looked at my watch and my recorder. The sun had begun to rise over the hills, the air was crisp and fresh, I stayed for a while to just take in the sight of a calm morning before turning my recorder off and driving back.
I returned to my hotel room and after placing everything on the desk, I fell onto my bed and fell asleep, my body was exhausted and my mind was fatigued beyond words. I fell into a dreamless sleep and woke up in the afternoon. Having something to eat I went over the events from last night, pen and paper at the ready, I prepared to hear myself talking to nothing and no one. The doubt set in before I even hit the play button, after a while of convincing myself that I have some concrete evidence, I pressed play. To my surprise, it sounded like there were two people in the car, me and a woman, although the woman’s voice was covered by static. I wrote down all I could, that is what you’re reading.
The next couple of days went by and nothing special happened, I kept to myself most of the time. While analyzing everything I captured. It all seemed like a dream, an incredibly vivid dream. The last note I made during this investigation was: if something like that exists here, surely more stories remain in this part of the world. As the trees faded into the distance as the bus trundled along the trail back, the forest retreating as I returned back to the concrete and steel, it wasn’t long before the questions I had before, followed me home.

First Previous Patreon Royal Road is up to chapter 30!
“FUCK YOU BOAR” Mark said triumphantly as he raised his arms up above his head in the shape of a V “Did you see that, Noah?” Mark looked to his cousin and noticed that he was struggling to prop himself up off the ground “Oh crap sorry, I got a bit too carried away there.”
“It’s fine, you did a great job. Now, let’s get out of here before the other two boars show up and decide to avenge their fallen comrade.” Noah began limping in the direction of the boar and put it away in his artifact. He couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t get a kill notification for that boar… “Hmmm?” in the corner of his vision, a bell icon suddenly materialized. It shook and enlarged as if it was ringing. He mentally pressed the ringing bell and out came a cascade of notifications.
Spell [Waterball] has leveled up!
Skill [Water Manipulation] has leveled up!
**Spell [Waterball] has leveled up!**
**Skill [Air Manipulation] has leveled up!**
**Skill [Mana Sense] has leveled up!**
**Skill [Analyze] has leveled up!**
**Spell [Fireball] has leveled up!**
**Spell [Air Bullet] has leveled up!**
**Spell [Air Bullet] has leveled up!**
You have killed Boar – lvl 3
**You have leveled up! You have 9 status points to spend!**
It was dizzying to see so many notifications so he swiped them all away intending to manage it all when they got back to their base. He started walking lamely towards the direction of the apartment building when Mark came and helped him walk.
“I can heal you while we trek through the forest.” Mark activated his skills, first, he cast his innate skill [Diagnosis] which halved all mana cost for healing skills while also identifying the specific problem, which in this case was a hairline fracture across the tibia, he then cast [Mend Wounds] and [Heal] in quick succession. Mark repeatedly cast his three skills over and over while they were walking until, a half hour later when Noah could finally walk well enough on his own
“Magic truly is miraculous. A fracture that should’ve taken a few weeks to heal on its own in the old world, healed in just half an hour.” Noah said admiringly “I told you you’d save my life one day, I just didn’t expect it to be this soon.”
“Yeah, yeah, you were right again mister right all the time. Now shush, I don’t want another random beast coming out of the tall grass while I’m almost out of mana.”
With that, Noah and Mark proceeded silently towards their destination. As they trudged along across the forest they heard a cacophony of animal noises, it was honestly kind of soothing but, just as they were relaxing, everything turned quiet. Wing flaps could be heard in the distance and they were just getting louder by the second. Noah looked up and he saw a small bird slowly getting larger and larger as his pupils dilated in distress and focus as he cast [Analyze] on the thing flying towards them with an extra 15 mana put into it to see its level.
**Wyvern - lvl ??**
“Crap” was all he could say as he heard and saw the Wyvern screech and swoop down.
“Noah, what are you doing?! Get down!” Mark hurriedly tackled Noah down to the ground and narrowly evaded the Wyvern’s sharp talons. That was when another, much louder screech was heard coming closer. They looked up again and couldn’t believe their eyes, a much larger bird-like beast the size of a commercial airplane dove down and ate the Wyvern in one gulp.
Noah and Mark curled themselves up into balls hoping, praying, that the massive bird-beast would hopefully think of them as too small and too insignificant to even count as a snack for it. Then, as if to mock them the beast flapped its wings toward them summoning strong gusts of wind enough to make them roll around, suddenly, the massive bird spoke but, not out loud, it was as if it was speaking straight into their minds.
“HAHAHA! YOU HUMANS ARE TRULY SUCH FUNNY LITTLE CREATURES. YOUR LIFE IS SAVED BY THE MAJESTIC ME AND STILL COWER IN FEAR”
The massive bird landed on the ground and proceeded to preen itself while speaking to them. Noah abruptly stood up and said “Um, hello Mr. Bird sir…” but before he could finish speaking, the bird screeched and laughed in their minds.
“ME? A MERE BIRD? HAHAHA. TRULY QUITE A FUNNY HUMAN. WHY DON’T YOU USE YOUR INNATE SKILL ON ME, THOUGH I DOUBT IT WILL GIVE YOU ANY INFORMATION WITH ITS PITIFULLY LOW LEVEL.”
“Analyze.”
Roc – lvl 9
Noah couldn’t believe his eyes. Didn’t Rocs only exist in mythology? How was there one standing and preening itself right in front of him?
“HAHAHA! YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR EXPRESSION RIGHT NOW”
“Ummm, Mr. Roc sir, thank you for saving us but, what can we do to repay the favor? Surely a Roc as majestic as you has everything it needs and whatever we could offer you, you could probably get with a simple snap of a finger, uhhh, a snap of a talon in your case”
Suddenly, the preening roc visibly shrunk then morphed into the shape of a human with a multicolored robe around him
“Oh, you are indeed right, you cannot do anything for me. I am only here because I find your little building here quite satisfactory for my new nest.”
“So, you’re telling us to get out of here?” Noah asked as his face turned white
“Oh no no no, this majestic me would not resort to taking the house of someone as insignificant like you. I am just saying hi to my new neighbors! I am moving into one of the rooms, and I am not asking you, I’m telling you.” The roc said threateningly
This was when Mark finally calmed down enough to say “So Mr. Roc sir, you’re telling us that you, someone who is leagues above us in strength and most probably level too…”
“Level? Oh, no, I’m still under level 10 actually but, yes, I am definitely way above you in strength thanks to my heritage as one of the mythological races. You see, all those myths and legends in your history have some truth in them, we’ve just been hiding among you because honestly speaking, humans make some really cool shit. I was an avid gamer myself so color me surprised when game like blue screens suddenly appeared in my vision.”
“I know right?! It’s all so exciting!” Noah beamed at the Roc turned human and asked “So Mr. Roc do you guys have classes too?”
“Please, just call me Talal and no, we don’t. I confirmed it with my fellow Rocs and other mythological creatures but we all only have race and levels as far as we know but, we do get massive increases to our stats per level. Unfortunately, we can’t pick where we put our stats unlike you humans. Anyway, enough talk, I’ll take the top floor and rooftop, you guys get all the other floors, but I will only say this once, since I am taking something from you, you will get one favor from me, otherwise I will not protect you nor will I involve myself with your lives”
Noah and Mark looked at each other and nodded. They were obviously the ones who came out on top of this deal with no obvious downsides, except maybe, living with someone that can pretty much just kill them with a sneeze, but that wasn’t going to happen right?... right?
While they were thinking of the potential downsides to this deal, Talal turned around and started heading towards the building. Noah and Mark hurriedly caught up to him and said “We were previously living on the top floor so it might be a little messy… Want us to clean it up for you?”
“You would do that for me? Oh, but I don’t like it when people are in my nest, I’ll do it myself.” Talal abruptly disappeared from where he was standing. At first, they thought that he could teleport but then they saw a colorful ball flying across the sky towards the apartment. They started running in order to catch up and a few minutes later arrived at the building just in time to see full on concrete slabs flying out of the top floor windows and falling onto the parking lot.
“Guess he’s renovating.” Noah said trying to lighten the mood as he noticed that Mark wasn’t really into the whole idea of living with a mythological creature “Come on Mark, look at the bright side, if he lives here, we probably won’t have to worry about waking up to random beasts knocking on our doors.”
“How’s that?”
“Don’t animals have territories and stuff? Like how wolves and dogs pee on their territory to mark it. Maybe he has something similar.”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right”
“Of course I’m right! Now let’s go set up on one of the lower floors. I am tired after having almost died so many times today. We also need to strategize how we’re gonna use all our abilities in order to survive, we can’t rely on that one favor from our new neighbor.”
With that, they started heading towards the building and went up the stairs to the ninth floor which they picked because it was only logical to live close to the powerful neighbor they found themselves with.
Noah filled a couple buckets with [Waterball] which they used to drink and wash themselves with, then, they went out to the parking lot and Noah took the boar carcass out of his artifact and said “So what do we do with this thing?”
“If memory serves me right, we need to bleed it out first. It makes the meat taste better and last longer.”
Noah looked at the 5 feet tall furry boar with the bald spot from when he threw a fireball at it and said “So do I just burn off the rest of the fur?”
“Yeah, that should be fine”
Noah went ahead and summoned a fireball and proceeded to carefully burn off every bit of fur. It took a few minutes and a bit of elbow grease to flip the whole boar around and burn the fur on the other side but they managed to do it. Then they took a kitchen knife and slit its throat, but there was one problem. “Where do we hang it?” Noah asked after unsummoning his fireball.
Mark looked at the now bald boar and said “We could get some rope and tie it to a ladder? No, the ladder probably can’t take that much weight.
Noah began thinking and then had an idea. “I know! I’ll just make something like an arch with earth manipulation and hang it from there!”
Noah walked a few meters away from the concrete floor of the parking lot and began manipulating the earth. It took all of his mana to just make it half way up his planned arch then he suddenly fell down panting.
“Noah! You okay?” Mark asked worriedly
“Uh, yeah. I think I just found out what happens when you use up all your mana.” Noah just laid there on the ground panting and holding his aching head. “I’m definitely not doing that ever again, I feel like shit.”
“You look like shit” they looked at each other and just laughed. They were not laughing because it was funny mind you, they were laughing at the absurdity of the situation. They were building an arch from which they’d hang a boar twice the size of old-world boars, all this they did with magic, real fucking magic. Not to mention that Mark healed an injury that would’ve taken weeks of healing.
Truly absurd indeed.
But all they could do was laugh and accept the situation because otherwise, they’d die and they'd die horribly.

Waldo could feel the tension in his body. He hated breaches. He used to be a general in the armada. Waldo had not figured out exactly what happened but in a few weeks leadership had changed all across the galaxy. Waldo had sensed something was different and Waldo had changed his identity adding himself to a low level unit while he tried to figure out what had caused the change. However, his contracts slowly disappeared and he was having a hard time cultivating new ones. Waldo had heard the name Bastion a lot in the changeover and Jonah seemed to have fallen off his radar, which Waldo found very distressing. So now he was just a lower level grunt Waldo had to follow orders and keep his identity hidden. That meant he saw lots of action thus why he was on a breaching team. All the prep in the world never made him feel safe on a breach and they had no prep time for this one. Toby slammed the charge on the handle of the Iron door and deftly ran the blasting cord around the frame, in a single smooth motion. Waldo felt Juan tense in front of him as they prepped for entry after the blast. Waldo would be second in on this one having lost the coin toss. Not that he really minded due to the lack of information. Juan would be going right, Waldo had the left, and Brett would be going down the middle. Juan, Waldo, or Brett always led the breaching team; they were their units cowboys. At least, that is what they called themselves. Their lieutenant Frank called them his lovely ladies but everyone was a girl to Frank. Waldo didn’t care about it, Brett would get angry with Frank out of combat, and Juan only ever laughed over it. Waldo was pretty sure Brett was putting up a show as he had caught Brett offering to be a bottom to a guy at a bar three months ago, which had led to him swearing secrecy over it. Waldo found himself smiling as Frank started into it.
“Lovely ladies, Juanita, Betty, and Wilma. Tina is spreading her legs in three.” Frank said loud enough for the breaching team to hear as he raised his hand holding up three fingers starting a countdown to Waldo’s 4th breach of the day. As the door blasted in they moved smoothly forward like a well rehearsed dance. Juan moved through the door into a hallway with Waldo close on his tail. Waldo saw it a second too late as Juan had completely missed the tripwire. Waldo grabbed Juan a hair too slow as Juan’s foot hit the wire tripping whatever the trap was. Waldo felt the magic in the blast before he heard the tremendous roar. Waldo felt himself pushed back by Juan while trying to pull him. Waldo felt certain he had Juan’s pack firmly gripped as he fell back. Suddenly, there was nothing in his hands. The air felt cool and instead of the hot sun beating down he felt a warm glow off to his left.
Waldo rolled to his feet and spun, assessing the room, but everything was wrong. He had lifted his rifle up to sight as he spun but it was missing so instead in the middle of the spin he drew his side arm. However, as he finished his spin his arm fell loosely to his side. Waldo stood in the middle of three empty round tables. In what, he would call the common room of a themed bar or restaurant. He saw humanoid creatures standing near a long wooden bar with 4 patrons seated at it and another dozen or so scattered around the room with more on the two levels above him. Off to the side of a warm glow that Waldo realized there was a fireplace with a fire happily burning in it and there was a stage. Waldo would have loved to hear the music from the group on stage with their odd assortment of instruments but it was at this moment Waldo realized the blast had deafened him. Waldo felt certain no one would attack him, having noticed an odd assortment of humanoids. Waldo saw gnolls, tabaxi, and maybe lizardperson. Waldo holstered his side arm but in looking down he noticed a growing pool of blood at his feet and saw a piece of rebar sticking out of his arm. Waldo saw the enchantments engraved in the rebar and part of him said magic wasn’t real then something else said that humans were the only intelligent race. Waldo pushed those back knowing better. He had seen lots of races and humans were just one of them. Waldo felt more than one voice trying to take control and he pushed back, calming his mind. Waldo attempted to quiet his mind as he was flooded with memories and thoughts he did not recognize as he pushed against them he felt someone or something help him in quieting his mind.
Waldo had not noticed the pain of his injury because of how much adrenaline was pumping through him. Waldo examined the rebar seeing the blood running down his arm. Waldo estimated he had ten minutes before blood loss would start to impact him if it did not clot on its own. Waldo glanced around the room seeing a few gnolls who had noticed him but no one seemed to care and decided he could care for the wound. Waldo grabbed the quick releases on his backpacks shoulder straps letting his bag fall onto a table he positioned behind him. Waldo quickly turned to face the bag and flipped it over so he could easily access it. Waldo grabbed a strap on the pack and deftly released it. Wrapping the loose strap above where the rebar was sticking out of his arm. Waldo smoothly grabbed his folding knife, flicking it open and cutting the sleeve away. Waldo placed the sleeve on the table and checked to see if it was all there or a piece was missing. Waldo grimace realizing a piece of sleeve is probably in his muscle. Waldo flicked the knife closed and placed it next to the sleeve. Waldo pulled out a bottle of water, a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, a healing tonic, and a sealed bandage for once it was clean. Waldo was so focused on what he was doing at the table he had not noticed the small group that had gathered behind him.
“I don’t think he can hear us.” Strisk, a large drake, said, preparing to tap the strange human’s shoulder to get his attention.
“Really, Strisk. You don’t think the guy bleeding on the floor that I shouted at can hear us?” Lydia, the only human in the commons, asked angrily, placing her hands on her hips.
“I think he is going to pull that piece of metal out of his arm.” Kna, the gnollish innkeeper and owner of the establishment, said surprised. Watching Waldo’s back tense as he stretched his arm out to the table. Grabbing the rebar in his other hand.
“Sir! Don’t!” Lydia screamed as Waldo ripped the 4 inch piece of rebar stuck halfway in his arm out.
“Fuck!” Waldo yelled as the piece of metal came free. Waldo looked it over for cloth finding a small piece that he carefully removed from the end of the rebar and placed in the hole of the sleeve and frowning seeing there was still more. Waldo screamed as the onlookers watched him shove his fingers into the hole in skin.
“Strisk, help me stop him.” Lydia said. Grabbing Waldo’s arm. Strisk hesitated. A moment before grabbing Waldo’s other arm.
"Stop! There is more fabric in my arm!” Waldo screamed as the two strangers forced his arms apart. Waldo looked at the sleeve. Unsure if they could even understand him. The strangers released Waldo as he attacked the problem again.
“Aer, go get me water. I will clean this up once he is done” Lydia said, to a gnoll barmaid nearby, deciding to stay next to this stranger.
“I’ll get the mop and some rags to help.” Kna said not wanting to watch anymore and stepping away.
Waldo pulled out a piece of fabric and placed it in the sleeve. Smiling now that he could account for all of the sleeve. Waldo grabbed the water bottle using his teeth to remove the lid and poured it down his arm. Followed by the rubbing alcohol to which he could not help but scream again as it burned.
“That looks bad.” Strisk said, fingering a potion at his hip. Seeing Waldo was prepared to heal the slow way. Strisk was trying to decide whether or not to help the stranger out by giving him the healing potion he carried as a city guard.
Waldo was looking at the hole in his arm knowing it would take time to heal even with the help of the tonic. He estimated it would be a day or two. Waldo looked back at the lizard person standing behind him in armor. Waldo grimaced as he drank the healing tonic. Waldo looked at the only human girl in the commons. Waldo instantly recognized her but could see she did not recognize him. Waldo hated this feeling but took his time looking over her sandy blonde hair and the gentle curves of her face. Waldo let his eyes wander across her chest and down her legs to the floor even though there was not much to see since she wore a high neck dress that was rather plain. Waldo expected she worked here and was not one to take crap from the patrons. However, Waldo knew her face and her shape as just as he remembered her, he did not need her clothes off to tell this. Waldo turned back to the table and opened the bandage and applied it to his arm. “He took his time looking you over.” Strisk said, eying Lydia himself.
“At least, he seems to know not to touch.” Lydia said, without looking at Strisk. She had been rebuffing advances from him and other drakes like him since she took the job. She hated the drakes, which was not unreasonable as they had burned her home to the ground, killed her parents, her betrothed, and enslaved her for five years. Lydia had fled to the nearest city not under drake control once she was freed. Lydia knew that not all drakes are slavers but getting over somethings are easier than others.
“Do you think he can hear us?” Strisk asked, ignoring the jab not wanting to be thrown out by Kna again. Strisk still was fingering the healing potion not having decided on whether or not to offer it. The human seemed to be taking things to remedy his condition. Strisk stood over the two humans by about a foot when he extended to his full height at the moment he was hunched down a bit so he did not tower over them. Strisk thought he looked good this evening having cared for his bronze scales before coming to Kna’s inn. Waldo rolled up the sleeve and piece of rebar and placed it in his pack then pulled out a healing tonic with a dropper on it and a tin a bit larger than his hand slipping the tin into a pocket. Waldo used the dropper to put a few drops of his second healing tonic down each of his ears. Waldo knew it would take a minute for the tonic to kick in and heal enough damage to restore hearing. Waldo returned the spare tonic to the pack and turned around letting his eyes meet Lydia’s. Waldo thought he saw her eyeing him and she had a small smile on her face as their eyes met. Her face made various emotions flare inside him and it had to focus to stay in control feeling a bit like someone else was trying to take control. Waldo felt his hearing return as the sounds of the room washed over him.
“Hello.” Waldo said, smiling at the woman ignoring the large lizardperson or dragonkin. Waldo could not really tell but he knew getting it wrong would probably offend them.
“Hey, I am guardsmen Strisk.” Strisk said. Waldo glanced at the drake and then looked back at the woman. She crossed her arms and her smile turned to a frown. Waldo could not help but think crossing her arms only accentuated a certain feminine feature of her form.
“Any chance I could get your name?” Waldo asked, meeting the woman’s eyes.
“Lydia. Why are you bleeding on our floor and where did you come from?” Lydia asked, feeling her pulse raise with the way he was looking at her. Lydia had not been in the presence of a human male for ten years. Lydia had not been avoiding them there just weren’t many humans in the city she had fled to and she would not risk going back to drake territory as much as part of her wanted certain things, saving up to get off his continent had been her focus. Human also from what she had seen human men did not survive long under the abuse the drakes applied to there slaves in the nearby Xalas empire. “I am Waldo Winter.” Waldo introduced himself looking at Lydia. “As for why I am bleeding, I think it was an explosion of some kind. The shockwave knocked out my hearing. I am from Halcyon. I was in an outlying district at the time of the explosion and the wood in this room tells me I am not there anymore.” Waldo stated calmly.
“So you entered Protham via an unauthorized teleport?” Strisk asked, trying to sound official.
“One I did not initialize or agree to but yes. Are you going to arrest me?” Waldo asked.
“I will have to report it. I will let someone else decide if you should be arrested. Assuming you don’t cause additional trouble.” Strisk said.
“It is an honour to make your acquaintance Strisk. Thank you for not arresting me.” Waldo said, giving Strisk a smile before turning back to Lydia.
“Why were you caught in an explosion?” Strisk asked the strange human, smiling back at him since he was being respectful.
“Well that is a little difficult. I was entering a suspected criminal's residence just before finding myself standing in this lovely room.” Waldo said deciding to omit details since it would be simpler than explaining. “There was an explosion of some kind and then I was here. I have to assume the hunk of metal hit me before I appeared here somehow.”
“Sounds like a teleport spell gone wrong.” Lydia said, allowing herself a moment to look over Waldo since he was not causing trouble. She could see the muscles in his arm and thought she recognized his jawline but knew that could not be the case since she had no idea where Halcyon was.
“I wouldn’t know much about that. I can only hope my brothers are alright. Can one of you tell me where I am?” Waldo asked, masking his face, wondering if he had died. The blast had been strong enough to rupture his ears. Waldo was not sure he could have actually survived, even with Juan in front of him. Waldo expected he had died and this was some sort of reincarnation. Waldo knew he could not return home if the was an arrival on this planet as a child of Halcyon he had heard of this experience but this was his first time. As he thought about this he realized he did not want to go back even if he could. He had been in hiding and now he was probably well outside of the problems he had and doubted anyone hunting him would keep it up after death if he had died. If not then he was incredibly lucky he had landed in a place where he did not die instantly. Looking at Lydia something told him that someone powerful had intervened but Waldo could not imagine who. Jonah had abandoned him and Waldo could not think of another player with enough power to do anything who would also care about him.
“Spriggan Inn, in Protham.” Lydia said, looking carefully at Waldo. Aer walked over carrying a rag and pushing a bucket of steaming water. Kna walked over with a mop and an empty bucket to wring the mop out.
“Oh, thank you.” Waldo said, taking the mop from Kna and starting to clean up.
“Protham is nowhere special, Lydia. We are a weeks travel from Neakar City. Neakar is the district capital here and a port city.” Strisk said, looking at Lydia.
“You don’t have to do that.” Kna said, as Waldo deftly cleaned up the blood on the floor. “Just let him. He is probably in shock.” Strisk said, as they watched Waldo clean the floor easily.
“Just a bit.” Waldo said after a moment, having finished mopping and given the mop back to Kna. Waldo used one of the rages Aer had to clean the table his pack had been on ending by wiping the drying blood from his ears. Waldo looked down and realized he was a mess.
“How far did you travel?” Aer asked, frowning having heard the conversation.
“Far enough, those names mean nothing to me.” Waldo replied.
“So you are gonna need work.” Strisk half asked and half told Waldo.
“Seems like that would be wise.” Waldo said, placing the rag over the edge of the bucket holding the dirty water from Waldo’s cleaning efforts.
“Protham needs good city guards.” Strisk said, smiling. “I can get you an interview tomorrow. I will come by tomorrow morning and get you. If you are interested?”
“I’ll need some training on your laws, but sounds interesting to me.” Waldo said, sticking out his hand to Strisk. Strisk looked at it a moment then realized he was supposed to grab it and did with his clawed hand.
“Thanks, for your help Strisk.” Waldo said, firmly shaking Strisk’s hand.
“Sounds like you want a room for the night. Unless, Strisk is offering to pay. Do you have any money?” Kna asked, frowning at Strisk.
“You can put one night on my tab, Kna.” Strisk said.
“Only if you pay your tab off tonight.” Kna said, feeling a bit bad but knowing Strisk’s tab was getting out of hand.
“Do you accept silver?” Waldo asked, before Strisk could reply to Kna.
“Yes, take a seat and I will get my scales.” Kna said, having heard enough to know she was going to need to calculate an exchange.
“I am glad you happened to have some coin on you.” Strisk said, frowning at Kna’s back.
“Yeah, my dad was big into carrying certain things every day. Good thing, I listened to him cause I bet my country's paper money is worthless here.” Waldo said, pulling the tin out of his pocket and carefully opening to make sure it was the right one then closing it again.
“Well, your bag is probably worth quite a bit. I have never seen anything like it. Fine craftsmanship.” Aer said, examining his pack.
“I would rather not part with it if possible.” Waldo said sitting down at the table his bag had been on since he moved it to the floor beside the table in cleaning the table. Strisk sat down across from him as did Aer with Lydia sitting close and she was still looking at him.
“Lydia, you are being weird.” Aer said, quietly.
“Looks like Lydia wants to bed the man.” Strisk said, frowning at Lydia.
“Watch it, Strisk.” Lydia said to Strisk with an edge in her voice. “Waldo just reminds me of someone.” Lydia followed up with a softer tone.
“Good memories I hope. I think I’d like to get to know you.” Waldo responded, not looking away from Lydia. “You remind me of… Someone.”
“Well, be nice and maybe we can share some memories.” Lydia replied, not breaking his gaze. Waldo felt there were some additional implications in her words.
“Is there a price?” Waldo asked, before he could stop himself. Waldo was not entirely sure where the words had come from in saying them they just burst from his lips like someone else was running the show. The words had sent Lydia’s hand flying. Waldo easily caught it mid air. “I will take that as a no, which is nice. A woman with a price isn’t a woman worth having.” Waldo said, speaking again without being sure where the word came from. Waldo wondered if he was going mad but something told him he was not. Waldo edged closer to Lydia as he thought this and realized he seemed to be of multiple minds in this moment. Words and actions happening that he was not sure were all him. Aer and Strisk were watching in surprise. “Maybe I misinterpreted your words.”
“If you can pay for your room. I am willing to let the words go. Now if you would let me go.” Lydia responded, carefully feeling the strength in his arm and seeing the ease with which he caught her slap. She had used a skill to hit him, one that had landed on Strisks and other guardsmen when they got out of hand. She felt he could be dangerous and even though he had caught the slap and was easily holding her arm in place he was not hurting her. In fact once she relaxed, from making the slap, she realized how relaxed he was in stopping her slap. She saw him considering letting her go. She met his eyes letting her anger show at being held in place. Lydia realized how close he had come moving a little to block her slap and left him close enough she felt his breath on her face. Lydia realized she was breathing on him too and something in his eyes seemed to be enjoying the closeness they were sharing.
“I want a taste.” Waldo said, kissing her before she could react and sliding his hand along her back. Lydia wanted to struggle but part of her had been aching for this for years and she did not put up a fight. After a moment she found she was kissing him back for a moment and just as she was about to pull away. He did first. Waldo had been wanting to kiss her since he had laid eyes on her and at least this time he was sure that was him. “Well, that was… special.” Waldo felt a memory tug at him in the back of his mind. One of a girl that looked just like this woman.
“Maybe, for you.” Lydia said, trying to hide how much she enjoyed it. Waldo released her hand and turned looking for Kna. Waldo watched Kna approach with the scales. Waldo quickly opened the tin, pulling out a bundle of five carefully wrapped gold coins before closing it again and placing the tin back in a pocket.
Waldo unwrapped the coins asking “What exchange rate can you offer on these?” Aer gave a quiet gasp at the sight of them. Waldo feared he had made a mistake. As kna set the scales on the table.
“You have gold?” Strisk asked. Kna seemed unphased as Kna placed the coins on one side of the scale and started to carefully weigh them.
“Just a little. For an emergency.” Waldo responded.
“That should be enough to live here for a month.” Strisk stated, watching Kna carefully.
“You underestimate my rates. This will buy you three weeks.” Kna stated, as the scales balanced.
“What? That is highway robbery!” Strisk said.
“I have to take them to a blacksmith to get them minted in local coinage, they will need to be paid. Or I will have to take them to a money changer, who will also take a cut.” Kna stated.
“What would that include?” Waldo said, realizing his hand had wandered from his leg and found Lydia hand grabbing it tightly. Waldo felt Lydia tense as Waldo grabbed her hand but noticed she did not pull away from the sudden contact.
“A room, hot bath every day, standard laundry service, the common breakfast, and dinner daily with one pint of house ale. You will have to pay for lunch if you come here to eat.” Kna said, listing from memory the services she included in her standard room offering.
“Sounds good to me.” Waldo said smiling and looking out the window confirming it was dark. “I assume we are in the middle of dinner?” Waldo asked, hopefully.
“Yes.” Kna answered.
“May I take dinner in my room? I would like to wash myself before bed. It has been a surprising day.” Waldo asked Kna.
“Yes! I will grab you a plate and show you to your room.” Lydia said, releasing Waldo hand and standing. Waldo let her hand go as she stood. Kna at Lydia with what Waldo expected was motherly concern. As Lydia turned away to get the room key and a plate of food.
“Is there running water in the room?” Waldo asked Kna.
“Yes, but I cannot recommend using it for anything other than bathing.” Kna said.
“It is fine I can purify water. Can I get this filled with water?” Waldo asked, holding out a metal canteen.
“Yes. Aer go fill this and bring it back.” Kna said, handing the canteen to Aer who quickly walked off. “Leave Strisk. I would have a word alone with this man.” Kna growled at Strisk looking angrily. Strisk knew better than to argue with Kna when she gave him this look.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Waldo.” Strisk said standing to his whole sevenish feet of height stretching as he walked away. Waldo only now realized how small he was compared to Strisk.
“Indeed.” Waldo said to Strisk and turned back to Kna.
“I have never seen Lydia take to a man as she has to you. Have you cast a spell on her?” Kna asked Waldo. Waldo burst out laughing, taking a moment to control himself.
“I have no skill in that kind of magic. If you know how to test one for magic I would happily submit. I suspect I know why she has taken to me but there is nothing magical about it.” Waldo said, having gained control of the strange urge to laugh at magic.
“Why?” Kna asked, eyeing him coldly.
“Now why should I answer you?” Waldo asked. “What do you care for, of freed slaves? Or are you not her enslaver?” Kna drew back surprised.
“You said you knew nothing of this place?” Kna replied.
“I have never heard of this city in my life or this land, but I have eyes. Lydia is the only human here beside me. You are a gnoll and Strisk is one of the scaled people’s. I never been around any of them long enough to learn to tell them apart. Lydia clearly has some aversion to Strisk which seems to be unconscious on some level. That suggests it is not that she does not simply dislike him but something more than that. It is obvious to me that she does not belong here and would choose another home, but something prevents that. When I kissed her I ran my hand down her back. I felt the cursed marks of a whip. Is she a free woman or do you own her?” Waldo said, sliding his hand to the knife attached to his lower back.
“My people do not enslave others. She is free. I did not know she hated it here.” Kna said going from angry to crestfallen. “I did not know she had been a drake's slave.”
“You will say nothing of this. If you value your friendship with her. I did not say she hated it here. She works for you, which I expect is because you are not a drake and probably more than that. I get the sense she misses her people. How long has she been here?” Waldo replied, smoothing his voice.
“Several years.” Kna said, drifting in her own thoughts.
“If she hated you she would have left. You must make her feel safe in a dark place so she does not wander from your light.” Waldo said.
“All the more reason to not let her be abused.” Kna said, gauging Waldo.
“You misunderstand something. I will always respect Ma laska.” Waldo said, changing languages without thinking and looking to where Lydia stood talking to Aer as a memory flooded over him for a moment. Waldo felt the other part of him pushing forward for a moment. “Good help you have. Deftly slowing Lydia while we talk.”
“What is ma laska?” Kna asked. Waldo hesitated, surprised by Kna's words, then realized he had called Lydia by accident. Waldo knew what it meant somehow but decided he better not translate it directly.
“A woman’s right.” Waldo said, choosing a lie over the truth. “Or at least that is a close enough translation in this context.”
“So that is another language?” Kna asked.
“Yes, one from my a place long ago.” Waldo answered. “Have we not strayed topics at this point?”
“I think I have made myself clear and you have made yourself clear now.” Kna said, glancing at Aer and making a low growl. “I will let Lydia make herself clear as she chooses. Now that I do not think you will take something Lydia does not freely offer.”
“Have you accepted her as your cub?” Waldo asked, turning to look at Kna.
“I ha... “ Kna stopped herself, looking surprised at Waldo.
“I see it in your eyes, witness it in your fur, and hear it in your voice. She is a daughter in your house. Does she know or do you keep it a secret from all but those who know how to see?” Waldo asked, calmly moving past Kna’s surprise.
“You said.” Kna started to accuse trying to remember his words.
“I have not seen another race in so long. I cannot tell the scaled races apart. However, I ran with a pack for six years. I was a brother to a gnoll, and son to his parents. I sat at their table and went on their hunts. I sang the rights and washed in their bath. I was once an adopted son, which fills me with pride. If you are not a slaver then I would call you friend.” Waldo said quickly as Lydia approached. Just as he finished speaking he gave a quiet howl in the gnoll tongue he had learned many years ago living on the plains of Halcyon long before the war that had landed him here. Aer stopped mid-step and stared at Waldo as the gnolls in the room turned looking at the grimy human who had named himself to the room in gnollish. Kna openly stared surprised Waldo had been named and knew the proper introduction for himself in a public place. Lydia was confused as to her it appeared Waldo was growling threateningly at Kna. Suddenly, the room responded with a quite gnollish welcome that made Lydia jump. Aer gently placed her hand on Lydia’s shoulder.
“They are greeting Waldo in our tongue.” Aer explained to Lydia, seeing she did not know what was happening in the room.
“He speaks gnollish?” Lydia said surprised.
“I guess.” Aer said, pulling her hand back and moving forward again.
“Why did you not say something before?” Kna asked, Waldo as Lydia and Aer walked up. Aer set his canteen on the table.
“It was not the time. All things have a place and now was this things place.” Waldo responded.
“You are a strange human, but I am comforted and feel as if there is nothing to fear.” Kna said to Waldo then turned to Lydia. “Lydia, you may do as you will the rest of the night and I will not interfere.”
“Thank you. May we call this the end of my shift then.” Lydia asked, feeling a little excited. Aer turned moving around the room with the other staff in the inn.
“Away with you before I find a need for your aid in tending to my customers. Who I have ignored, too long.” Kna said quickly moving away to help her staff tend to tables. Waldo picked up his pack and canteen.
“Lead on, Ma laska.” Waldo said, nodding to Lydia.
“Ma laska?” Lydia questioned not saying it quite right.
“Sorry, my lady. Old habits.” Waldo said, lying again feeling unsure as to why he felt like he was fighting to stay in control. Lydia raised an eyebrow questioningly but led on. Waldo followed her up the stairs to the second floor and down a hallway lined with six doors. She stopped in front of the door and placed a brass coin over the lock which clicked and the door swung open. Led him into a good sided room with an all wood floor and completely open. A large bed was on one side of the room, a table with two chairs by the door. Space at the foot of the bed. There was space between the bed and a bathtub with a toilet near the back wall with a screen by the toilet and a sink between the tub and toilet. The room was lit by glowing stones fixed to the walls Waldo saw what appeared to be a control for the glowing stones by the door before the table and chairs. There were towels by the sink. Lydia set the plate on the table and the brass coin next to it. Waldo set his bag at the foot of the bed and started to strip away his body armor until he heard the door shut causing him to turn. Waldo smiled seeing Lyida had not left.
“Would you like help?” Lydia asked, slowly walking to him with a gaze that excited Waldo. The kiss he had stolen had aroused something in Lydia and the urges she had been pushing back had rushed forward.
“I can manage. I am just removing some outer layers. They are deceptively heavy.” Waldo responded.
“Please allow me. I want to.” Lydia said, stepping next to him quickly. Waldo allowed her to help him, carefully guiding her hands to the straps holding the armor in place and allowing their fingers to get tangled. “You seem to be intentionally making this difficult.” Lydia accused, after it took almost a full minute to unhook one strap.
“Does it bother you?” Waldo asked, playfully nudging her and Lydia realized he was enjoying the delay.
“Your food will get cold…” Lydia said, blushing as she started to enjoy the fumbling of their hands and his contact.
“Hot or cold it is still food. However, this moment... is all its own.” Waldo said, dragging out her helping him remove his outer layers, which took another five or more minutes. After which, they sat across from each other as he ate his dinner. Lydia studied him as he ate.
“Have we met before?” Lydia asked, feeling at ease in his presence.
“After a manner…I believe so but not for more than a lifetime.” Waldo responded. “Do you believe in reincarnation?”
“Reincarnation?” Lydia asked not being familiar with the word.
“My people believe when you die a piece of you, what we would call a soul, starts a new life.” Waldo explained.
“I am not much for religion. In my homeland, they said the gods are dead. The Drakes of Xalas seem to think there are gods and people have souls. Most of the gnolls of Grofeas say there are no gods but there is a temple to the gnoll god in Protham and I believe the high priestess is the wife of the city's guard captain.” Lydia replied.
“Xalas? Grofeas?” Waldo asked, suspecting these are countries.
“Neakar, a large city in the Xalas empire. It even has a palace for the emperor. I don’t think it is the capital of the Xalas empire but I might be wrong. The Grofeas plains are ruled by the gnoll tribes. There are not very many cities on the Grofeas plains and Xalas has tentative peace with the plains gnolls that largely control Grofeas. Protham is the first city in the Grofeas plains after leaving the Xalas empire. Mostly, the Drakes have mined the Grofeas plains of all they are interested in so they leave them alone.” Lydia explained.
“What is your home land called?” Waldo asked.
“Northumbria, but last I heard it fell to the drakes in the war. I was captured before the Northumbrian king fell. The Teaniel Empire is the last human hold out against the drakes and if it falls the drakes will effectively rule the continent of Atios. Not that they bother much with the Grofeas plains.” Lydia explained.
“Ah, so you stay because there is no easy human stronghold to flee to?” Waldo questioned.
“I am trying to save up to go to Ibrix but that is a long boat ride off after traveling to the only gnoll port city because I refuse to go back into the Xalas empire. Only problem is Grofeas port city is three hundred leagues to the south east of here. The roads are less than safe and each year there are only about three caravans that make the trek. If I were to cross alone it is unlikely I would make it. The cost of going from here to Ibrix are a little more than a year's wage working here.” Lydia explained sadly.
“How many humans reside in Protham?” Waldo asked.
“Twelve. All women. Eight are too old for the trek and two are too young to go alone.” Lydia said.
“All former slaves of the drakes I assume.” Waldo said.
“What?” Lydia said surprised.
“I worked interrogations. I learned to read what was left unspoken. You have nothing to fear from me. Slavery is the evilest form of commerce.” Waldo said, kneeling by his chair with his back to Lydia and bearing it. Lydia saw thin white scars from wounds that had healed and been reopened only to heal again over and over again. Lydia was speechless. After a moment Waldo covered himself and sat down facing her.
“How did you know?” Lydia questioned. Waldo slid his chair close to her so they were a breath apart. Lydia stared at him waiting for an answer when he kissed her. This time she felt his hand running down her back touching her hidden marks. Waldo pulled back from the kiss after a moment.
“Slavers tend to have the same tricks. They leave the same marks on one's body and some people's souls.” Waldo said quietly as he sat a breaths distance from Lydia’s face. The moment stretched as shared history passed between them and without a word spoken they had shared secrets too dark to udder in the quiet of the room then there was a roar of cheers from the commons breaking the spell that dark secrets of shared history had woven for a moment.
“I hope we can talk more.” Lydia said, after a moment now that the spell was broken. Lydia stood now that her head had cleared. Lydia was not sure what she would do if she stayed and questioned what she wanted.
“Will you stay?” Waldo asked, gently touching Lydia’s hand. Lydia did not pull away. Standing Lydia moved to the door. She intended to open the door and leave but she grabbed the night lock turning the knob. Waldo was not sure what he expected but he would not stop her from leaving. Waldo heard the door lock click into place, Lydia took a few steps toward the bath and moved her hair to one side exposing the ties along her back. Waldo stood and moved to her beginning to untie her dress. Once he was done. Lydia let the dress fall to the floor. Time stretched and shortened all at once and before he knew it exhaustion took them as they lay on the bed together. Lydia snuggled up to him and in a moment her breathing was even and gentle. Waldo knew she had fallen asleep in that moment of respite. Waldo watched her for a moment only to realize how tired he was and started to doze off but just as he heard a voice speak in his mind.
“Class gained Soldier, Level one. Skill gained, find allegiance.”
“Cancel! Reject!” Waldo whispered, angrily not wanting to wake Lydia.
“Class and level canceled.”
Waldo was fully awake now. Realizing he is on a game world, Waldo frowned. He considered this for a moment. Waldo had heard of these but never been on one. Now the injury made more sense. He had died on Halcyon. Waldo wondered if Jonah even cared that he had died. Waldo took a moment to consider the implications of being on a gaming world. There would be no intergalactic armada base here. Waldo knew the gaming worlds had been cut off, largely due to proximity. All the gaming worlds were the opposite side of the galaxy. The armada was still a thousand years of growth away. Waldo now knew with certainty there was no simple way back. As he considered this he realized there might be a way. Waldo thought about it for a few minutes as the idea grew in his mind and realized he truly did not want to go back. “I am a God.” Waldo thought to himself, Waldo felt something rush to the front of his mind, something that believed it or he was a god.
“Class gained God, level one. Skill gained, anoint worshiper. Quest assigned, claim domain.”
Waldo smiled, surprised it was that simple. Waldo considered trying to cancel it but part of him said if he was going to stay here he might as well be a god. Thinking he could do anything as a god. Another part said it was a bad idea and it would not be easy. Waldo wondered why he was feeling so conflicted about everything and why he did not feel like he was in perfect control. Then he wondered if the gods were dead on this world, would he be the only god around, and if so what domain he should claim. Waldo slowly drifted to sleep with these conflicting thoughts.

Welcome back to my running series of WWF PPV Reviews from a ‘blind’ perspective (I have no idea what’s going to happen; the results, the feuds or how good any of the matches will be). I have always heard stories of the attitude era and golden age but never watched it myself so I set myself to watching every single PPV event chronologically. I am also watching Wrestling Bios ‘reliving the war’ series to keep me updated inbetween the events with the feuds, and to get excited about upcoming matches.
Before I review the matches, based on the past few episodes of raw and last PPVs I’ll let you know, going into the event, which match I’m most excited for and which feud I’m most excited to see.
The card tonight isn’t particularly stacked, mid card and opener wise, but it’s gotta be dude love vs stone cold. They had by far the best match last PPV and it will be the same story again tonight guaranteed. Anything involving stone cold will have McMahon involved and that feud is the big draw right now. Feud and match wise that’s my most anticipated match.
WWF Over The Edge 1998 Match Ratings
LOD 2000 vs DOA 1.75/5
Double J vs Steve mofuggin Blackman 1.25/5
Marc Mero vs Sable N/A
Kaientai vs Bradshaw & Taka Michinoku 1.25/5
Farooq vs The Rock 0.75/5
Kane vs Vader 1.75/5
D-Generation X vs The Nation 2.5/5
Dude Love vs Stone Cold Steve Austin 5/5
The absolute nerve of the wwf here to book LOD and DOA two PPVs in a row… to be fair though the crowd actually really seemed into this match. LOD still have a little juice left in the tank but they are truly just openers here. DOA I really don’t enjoy their in ring ability. It was an okay match and really not too much to say here. There was a very big pop when LOD won though.
The Rock cuts a promo next and he’s got his own entrance music, although it’s nowhere near as good as his future theme it’s still great that he’s not got that NOD music anymore, he’s finally his own wrestler. He shit talks the crowd but Farooq comes to the ring to get something damage in early before their match later. Not an amazing promo or anything but it builds some hype for later on although this is thrown up in the air as rock is injured from a pile driver on top of a chair. I suppose this is to make rock over as a champion?
Austin cuts a promo and says “mr McMahons ass belongs to me”… okay Steve if you say so.
Double J is brought to the ring by Tennessee Lee with some crazy visuals behind him as he does his strut in the ring but there’s just no crowd reaction apart from a few boos which made me laugh. Steve mofuggin Blackman then makes his way to the ring and double J doesn’t know what he’s in for.
The crowd seemed to be more entertained by the Al Snow silliness on the outside of the ring and you can’t blame them, this match was very very slow. The interference from Tennessee Lee was kinda interesting but there weren’t really many good looking moves, one of Blackmans kicks looked good in the middle of the match though. Another just below average okay match.
Next we get to see who sable has picked to represent her for the match and she makes her way to the ring but gah dayam she looks great tonight. Let’s see if she can get herself out of this toxic relationship… by fighting Mero herself? Mero then pretends to care about sable and lets her pin him… but then the switcheroo and what a scumbag! He gets the pin on sable and sings her out of the stadium. I feel like they should’ve done a little more with this match… or at least the post match angle.
The next match is apparently a “bonus match”? What does that even mean… I know what it means they didn’t have the roster right now for a full ppv so they booked this match in the middle as filler. But to be fair I have really enjoyed the light heavyweight Japanese wrestling recently so let’s see what they can do.
I actually enjoyed seeing Bradshaw just demolish multiple people half his size and taka did well but something about this match I really didn’t enjoy. It didn’t really flow well it felt random there was no story the crowd wasn’t into it… just not really a great viewing experience. Bradshaw was out over kinda here as he demolished the opponents but his team still lost…? I don’t know. But this first half of the ppv has really not been good.
Farooq comes to the ring and the rocks music plays multiple times before sgt slaughter comes to the ring to tell us that the rock has to compete or he will be stripped of the belt. There’s a countdown and rock just about beats the count making his way to the ring with a brace around his neck. If this does anything it only puts the rock over even as a heel, proving he has the heart of a champion, whereas I’m pretty sure they did this to make you enjoy seeing the heel struggling. But this is the wrong way round… Farooq is baby face in this situation but he’s done the heel move and Rocky has done the baby face move. Confusing by the wwf as you route for Rocky in this situation.
Farooq starts off demolishing the rock on the outside but eventually rock makes a comeback and delivers the peoples elbow. Farooq to be fair to him has improved his in ring ability and he’s actually able to have a coherent 1v1 match now. I have no idea what happened in the middle of the match but there was a false 3 count or something? I don’t know what they were going for there but it came off very badly and just looked weird. The rock wins and gets a pop but Farooq once again is playing heel as he assaults Rocky with two piledrivers after the bell. This was just a bad match… the angle was weird the match was bad the roles were reversed I don’t know what the wwf was thinking with this one.
DX comes to the ring after the match ends to help Farooq out to a big pop and they’re clearly the biggest group in the wwf now.
We’ve got Kane vs Vader next and last time these two wrestled I really enjoyed their chemistry so I hope they can pull something good off here, this PPV really needs it as honestly it’s just been bad so far… really bad.
I don’t know what to think of this match. It was average but the slug fest was good in the middle of the match a couple of times, and vaders moonsault looked good even though it missed. The stipulation for the unmasking was an okay gimmick but since Kane won and Vader had to unmask… which we’ve seen multiple times before so it was a little pointless.
Oh man this ppv is REALLY bad so far I just don’t even have the motivation to properly dissect these matches. Vader was looking pretty slow, Kane wasn’t performing that’s well it just wasn’t that great and the crowd had no pops during the whole bout.
The whole next section was so weird… the king literally takes a hall of famers leg off and gets assaulted by a literal like 80 year old? I don’t know what on earth this was all about. I looked it up and apparently Vince was telling Lawler to do this but it just came off as mean spirited and cringe. Please DX, please do something fun and save this event.
DX is very over with the crowd as they do a little showboating and talk to the people in attendance which was good before the match. The nation then walk out to the rocks music for whatever reason.
The crowd was pretty disinterested, chanting boring at points in this match and you can’t blame them it’s been a very slow night with not a lot to get hyped about. This PPV has really shown how thin the roster can feel. We’ve had Edge promo videos recently so I’m very excited for him to come in and mix up the matches in the mid card.
I thought the match was well worked though it just dragged on a little bit too long. I thought Owen hart and Hunter looked great and it made it interesting when they were at each others throats in the match because of their feud continually going on. Road dog actually impressed me as well he took some great hits and looked clean in the ring. I really don’t enjoy The Nations reliance on rest holds, they always do it and in a 6 man tag team match during a ppv semi main event they just shouldn’t do it; tag in someone else and mix it up. The crowd did have one pop for the spiked piledrivers on top of the belt. But when the nation won the crowd absolutely went mild. They did okay and it was better than anything else we’ve seen tonight but that’s not really saying much.
If this main event doesn’t hit then this PPV I will class as an absolute STINKER!! It has to hit, with all the heat between McMahon and Austin at the moment it just has to be interesting at the very least.
I didn’t realise that pat jerry and McMahon were all involved as officials for this match all playing roles to screw over Austin. The odds are completely stacked against Austin. We get a brilliant promo video really hyping up this main event and okay I’m back alive now I have faith that this match will save the event from being a failure. I will note though they seriously need to improve the mid card matches.
It was a great idea to have the ring announcers read from cards, it portrays that they’re just bigging themselves up to levels they don’t deserve, a great small detail to put themselves over as the heel “team”. They all get a huge round of boos as they are announced and brought to the ring, I can’t wait for the Austin pop. People REALLY don’t like Vince here as he’s got drinks and trash being thrown at him in the ring. Dude love is up next as the corporate version of his character, and I think it’s a combo that works really well. THIS IS GREAT WWF MORE OF THIS!! I applaud them for stretching this out as long as possible this is the right type of hype and buildup that works well. The ring announcer pat did a great job introducing everyone to the ring and refusing to introduce stone cold. The glass shatters and the crowd loses it, everyone is ready for Austin to open a can of whoop ass on all these fools, and I’m excited for the first time during this ppv. ALL OF A SUDDEN UNDERTAKERS MUSIC PLAYS AND YES! YES YES! I’m so glad he’s involved in this ppv in some way I had no clue he was going to be here. He will act as a “protector of the peace” kind of character here and make sure no shenanigans goes down. Great work. Would’ve liked to see him actually wrestle though 😒.
The match is underway and after Vince breaks Austin off foley he flips McMahon off for a MASSIVE pop from the audience. They continue to wrestle and it’s just getting going when the crowd chants “Vince is gay”, brilliant. Austin then takes foleys teeth out and stamps on them, complete disrespect. Austin takes a great looking bump on the steel steps as they both make their way to the outside of the ring as undertaker looks on. Just him being there improves the match even more. Austin takes another hard bump from an Irish whip to the corner and foley is in control during the early goings of this match. The crowd is thunderous right now having the JR and Lawler needing to shout to be heard.
Austin is thrown over the Spanish commentator table (this always makes me laugh as it’s ALWAYS them that people get thrown into) and it’s announced that this is a NO DQ match. Just brilliant stuff. Austin gets back in control though just demolishing foley by throwing him into the timekeepers area, over the barrier and he plays to the crowd in the middle of the audience, this was an amazing visual. It’s so impressive how Austin can have these matches even with his neck injury and knee troubles that he’s had. It’s then announced that falls count anywhere and there’s just less and less regulation as we go on, this could get really chaotic and I’m all here for it!
Austin is thrown on top of a car hood and foleys laying in some damage but Austin hot shots foley into another car. They’re making use of the creative set getting on top of one of the cars but foley throws Austin face first across another of the cars. Foley sunset flips off a car to a close 2 and a half kick out. This back and forth is f***ing brilliant.
Austin’s been busted open as foley assaults him with a metal pipe but Austin comes back with a flurry of right hands. But foley once again counters hitting him with two suplexes on the concrete floor but still Austin manages to kick out. Foley goes to drop an elbow from the top of a car but Austin rolls out of the way. McMahon slow counts but foley kicks out and Vince is intimidated by undertaker watching on closely. They make their way back to the ring and foley has exposed the turnbuckle after brisco trips Austin up and foley gets a chance to lay in some damage again. Foley hits Austin with a clean looking running knee and throws him into the exposed turnbuckle again, to which foley locks in a chin hold and we get a shot reminiscent of WM13 with hart and Austin. Patterson hands foley a chair and he hits Austin with a massive shot to the back, and a DDT on top of the chair but Austin continues to kick out.
The crowd is electric for this match as Austin counters with a kick to the face while foley holds a chair up, Austin then hits the chair on the ropes hitting himself in the face which was really funny. Foley hits McMahon with a chair, Austin hits a stunner, another ref comes down, brisco drags him out, undertaker drags brisco out, he hits him with a choke slam, he hits Patterson with a choke slam, Austin with another stunner and Austin uses McMahons arm to count himself and retain the title.
I couldn’t even keep up with the ending to that match that was pure insanity! It’s a car wreck in and out of the ring as the undertaker and Austin share a respectful look at each other and Austin celebrates in the ring after overcoming the odds. The crowd absolutely loved that match and so did I. By far match of the night, BY FAR. They absolutely knocked it out of the park, pure entertainment from bell to bell including before the match even started with Patterson and brisco. This also sets up some other potential matches in the wwf off this main event as I’m assuming dude love won’t get another chance at the title. A fantastic main event that exceeded expectations for me.
Overall this event is not worth watching at all, except for the main event. The main event seriously saved this ppv from being a complete failure, the crowd were bored and disinterested and even booed and chanted boring during the semi main event. Skip absolutely everything and just watch the main event because it was really good. This should be a message to the wwf that the mid card is really lacking any proper star power and I’m assuming at some point this year they will bolster their roster to improve this.
Irrespective of the main event I can’t give this ppv over 2 as the mid card was so unbelievably weak.
Overall rating 2/5

I made a bingo card with some card name Predictions heading into Rising Sun. I'd be surprised if even one or two of these were right but hey why not! I don't have much for predictions outside of card names, no idea what the Prophecy mechanic will involve, but I'm hoping it's a card type rather than another landscape variety, maybe something that affects the clean up phase in preparing for the next turn. Anyway feel free to roast my predictions or post your own bingo card or other wild speculations!

I had this dream after waking up in the morning and just wanting to sleep some more today, therefore I forgot my night's dream, but I remember this one.
The dream started around the middle of its plot, I was walking with family and friends, it was very focused on making plans and stuff. I almost got hit by a large vehicle (I think it was a truck, but it could be a bus) because the light was green. The crosswalk where this happened exists in real life in my city, but later we went through streets and alleys that didn't.
It was during the evening and I had to go study for some exam, but I offered to go to my brother's eyes' condition check with the doctor for him. My aunt and my family went separate ways, and my friends had already left.
After walking through an alley I entered, through a door, a corridor, which had the style of a modern, 20th century hospital/school, white with benches, air conditioners, and some railing. I walked down through some stairs, and I had a wall in front of me, with a horizontal grid of translucent, square windows, which showed some blurry people and furniture. Under said wall there was a corridor which was very dark. Now, this is where the "uncomfortable" part happened.
The ceiling in that corridor was very low (due to the previously explained wall), so I felt pretty claustrophobic. I had to crawl through it until I saw the line for the doctor's office, and everyone was short. I asked them if I could jump to the beginning of the line, because I was much taller than them and I was feeling uncomfortable with the height. Luckily, they let me in.
I entered the office and the ceiling was slightly taller. There were some papers about my brother, pretty much incomprehensible, but they had some black circles. The doctor had a computer and a table, the office had a dim light (it's kinda hard to explain it exactly how I saw it, since dreams are often hard to describe visually, but you get the idea).
And the dream ended not much longer after that. The last part was really bad like I said, at least I didn't argue with anyone, because arguing in such difficult places would be horrible.
I already dreamt of this place in the past, but I came from a different place, instead of reaching this building from an alley in the street.

I recently got my first car, and while I won't be going on a road trip with it anytime soon (I'll need to do some city driving with it and check for problems), I've always thought that planning ahead is always a good idea. I've always found the US to be a fascinating place to explore with a car, it's so vast, and has many things to offer and see. Is it a good idea to do a road trip solo?
I live in Canada, and would enter the US through the border crossing near Champlain, New York. I have a list of places I would like to see, and it ranges from specific locations to broad areas, sorry if it's messy, I made it off the top of my head.
The list is as follows, in more or less the order I would like to visit:
-Plattsburgh, New York -Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home, Vermont -Cathedral Ledge, New Hampshire -Marginal Way, Maine -Melrose, Massachusetts -Cape Ann, Massachusetts -Provincetown, Massachusetts -Newport Car Museum, Rhode Island -Mystic Seaport Museum, Connecticut -Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania -Independence Hall, Pennsylvania -New York City, New York -Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia -Washington D.C., Virginia -National Museum of the US Air Force, Ohio -Stone Mountain, Georgia -Athens, Tennessee -Tarpon Springs, Florida -Cape Canaveral, Florida -Goldee’s Barbecue, Fort Worth, Texas -Kenton, Oklahoma -White Sands National Park, New Mexico -South Unit, North Dakota -Mount Rushmore, South Dakota -Glacier National Park, Montana -Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming -Grand Canyon, Arizona -Monument Valley, Arizona -Zion National Park, Utah -Yosemite National Park, California -Redwood Forest, California
Routes to drive:
-U.S. Route 50 -U.S Route 395
As you can see, I really like places with scenery and historical significance. You'll realize that there aren't many cities on this list, that's because I'm not particularly a fan of them, but I wouldn't mind visiting more population centers to see more interesting things. Any other recommendations and tips will be greatly appreciated.

Trelik paced in front of the bookshelf, its frame was smooth to the touch and was polished to where the wood it was made off could act as a mirror in some cases. But there was one issue with it, it lacked variety and interesting material. He had books from across the Federation but those had become harder and harder to get his paws on after the halt on trade. The only books available now were either the ones already on Venlil Prime or from the Humans.
He desperately wanted a human book or three to sit on his bookcase but there was a small issue with that... they were expensive. In normal times Trelik would have scoffed while trying to find a cheaper deal and if not he would defeatedly buy it, but the lack of trade had hit the economy hard and so funds had been getting a bit low for him as well.
He’d recently heard from some others on Bleat that apparently the government was offering to pay people to help house a human why the war raged. Most saw this as a dumb idea or thought the risk too big to take but the ones remaining were too desperate to pass up such an opportunity. Trelik fell in with the desperate crowd, he just had to get some of those human books and having a human helping him could make it easier.
A sound from the door alerted Trelik that someone had arrived, most likely his new human housemate. He’d signed and completed the forms almost a week ago and so had been waiting for news for a while.
Despite his best efforts his heart was pounding, he knew it was silly but something at the very back of his mind kept screeching that he should run or freeze or escape into one of his book, anything but open the door.
“Think of the money, how could you read a book made by humans if you are scared of them?” Trelik muttered to himself. It seemed to work, his steps became more confident and ordered and he swung open the door quickly before his mind had time to catch up with his actions.
The human before him was tall and thin, not unlike some of the trees that populated some of the outlying colony worlds. What little flesh Trelik could see was pale and near hairless, this was only around the wrists.
A pair of gloves covered their paws and a set of ‘clothes’ covered the rest while they seemed to have a bit of cloth covering their head with a mask covering the face. It was slightly unnerving to the Venlil, nothing told him how the human was feeling, no tail or ears gave away emotion.
Slowly the human put down its bags and reached down to grab a pad, as the figure scribbled something down Trilek noticed the name tag on the right side of its outfit. ‘Maxwell A.’ was written in such a way that it took the visual translator a few seconds to parse it.
Maxwell finished their scribbling and turned the pad around, a message was written that the visual translator could decipher. ‘You can just call me Max.’
It had been three days since Max had arrived in Trilek’s home, he was an odd sort compared to the humans he the Venlil had heard about. Most of the people that helped house the humans reported them as either being really energetic and wanting to explore everywhere or being near despondent to everything save the most determined of pestering.
Max however seemed to just sit in a corner and scribble stuff on his pad or cross his legs in a frankly uncomfortable looking position and stare at the pad for hours. Trilek assumed he was either writing something, idly scribbling or reading. He desperately hoped it would be the latter, if he had a human in his home that read almost as much as him, they might have access to some books that he could get his paws on. There was one small issue with this plan, Max hadn’t taken out any physical books and seem to be unwilling to separate from his pad.
A week had now passed and Trilek was starting to get irritated, he’d hoped to have his paws on one of the human books he’d heard about but neither Max nor the payment had helped. Max just sat in the corner of the library, Trilek couldn’t even tell if the human was asleep or not until it slowly lifted it’s head to check the time or look around the room.
The paycheck for helping house a human had taken longer than aticipated to arrive, and were smaller than he was promised. When questioned about this Trilek got the excuse of taxes removing a tenth of what was owed. Still money was money, but he was going to go crazy if he couldn’t get a new book or something to read soon.
The time had finally arrived, the human had left his pad and a pair of what seemed to be listening devices on the lunge of the office area. Trilek might not get a chance like this again, his body thrummed with nervous anticpation as he slipped the devices into his ears and quickly look for how to start whatever the human was listening to.
A small triangle was in the centre of a bar, a turning indicator with a number nearby faced both behing and in front of the symbol. Worse that could happen was he turned the pad off, so Trilek tapped at the arrow symbol, a voice flooded into his ears. It was even and filled with energy, it seemed to be rapidly reading something.
“’GOTREK!’ cried Felix, the monster’s hatchet landing a hair’s width beside his head, the smell of corruption and decay wafted from the rusted thing. Suddenly it came at him with a mouth filled with what seemed to hundreds of needle-like teeth, it’s breath a foul mixture of rotting fish and fresh blood.”
Trilek felt a cold terror settle in his stomach, a feeling like a claws was running up his spine informed him that every stand of wool on his body had stood on end.
“A mighty thunderclap sound of metal on bone broke Felix out of his terror, the head of the once-human thing thumped to the ground, a small river of black sludge pattered from where it’s neck had once been. The Slayer stood on it’s quilled back, his mighty axe in hand, Gotrek simply spat on the creature’s corpse and muttered about how he was hoping for something larger.”
A hand on his shoulder made Trilek lead almost a meter into the air, the human was behind him one of it’s paws gently placed on the Venlil’s shoulder. Somehow they were a reassuring presence, the lack of any detail save this simple gesture spoke more than Trilek could say. Maxwell had sat in the corner of the library for near an entire week and hardly interacted with anything but when he saw that Trilek had used his pad without consent he comforted him after the fact.
“Want to talk about it?” the voice was low and tinny, the Venlil looked at Maxwell as the human lowered himself into a sitting position. Trilek signed a simple ‘no’ with his tail, the human nodded and simply sat there with a hand on Trilek’s should as the other went about removing the listening devices and pad.
“Wh-why do you listen to that?” his voice was a shaking whisper, any mirth or confidence drained away by terror and the crash after the percieved danger had passed. Maxwell simply rubbed an aread of his mask with his hand.
“Because,” a sigh echoed slightly from the mask, “because I see it as a fun adventure between two comrades. Sure, there is danger and the reason they are engaging on their quests wouldn’t ring as very sensible but it allows me to live in a world of action and characters.”
They sat in silence for several minutes, his heart rate had returned to normal but all of Trilek’s limbs felt tired as if he’d run across the whole city without any breaks. Still, there was one question he wanted an answer to.
“Are all human books like that one?”
A barking sound quickly burst from the human before suddenly stopping, like a thunderclap in a storm.
“No, no, some are and they are my preferred reading material but I can see they wouldn’t be for you. Problem is though is that I can’t really speak on what novels outside of the genres I listen to are like or make any suggestions.” A pause followed this, as though some idea was brewing and Max was hesitant to say it. “There is another option, how desperate are you to listen to or read Human books?”
At the start of this whole day, by all the stars in the sky even an hour ago, Trilek would have excitedly shouted ‘I HAVE TO READ AT LEAST ONE!’ at the top of his lungs. But after listening to that passage, he wasn’t as sure anymore. Yet a small nugget of curiosity blazed in him, it couldn’t be quenched by ignoring it, so he might as well see what the human’s plan was.
“Kind of,” was his response.
“Then how about he start again, I’ll grab the first book of a serious I like and we can listen to it together.”
Original work belongs to u/Thirsha_42 and the original work can be read here: Tight Money

u/SpacePaladin15 is responsible for the creation of the NOP universe. u/JulianSkies is responsible for the creation of a metric fuckton of fics within that universe.
this story is my ficnapping entry for... uhhhh... *checks notes* old scabbard, the allergy, gremlins, game review: escape series, river wolves and meteors. it's probably not strictly necessary to read them to enjoy this ficnap? but you should do it anyway, because they are Very Excellent™.
////////////////////////// Barkeep's Log: Reunion ////// Wednesday, July 9th, 2138 8:16 PM, Brasilia Time //////////////////////////
Ah, the middle of the week. For most bars, it is a time of quiet, of minimal activity. Some scant few people might show up; either regulars who come every day, or those who seek to unwind with a quick drink or just get out of the house for a bit, but they don't often stay long. They get one or two cups, share the bare minimum of a chat, and then get on their merry way.
...But of course, that's just the way humans do things.
The countless aliens who have taken up residence in Sao Paulo since the fall of the Federation simply don't seem to care for our silly calendar. They come in whenever they please, week or weekend, midday or midnight, rain or shine. Sometimes they want to get blackout drunk, other times they just want a quick taste of home. Or, there's always the frequent visitor who's just here to get their fill of social contact. Those ones are perhaps my favorite. After the horrors of the Federation War, and taking refuge on Skalga, I certainly won't ever tire of seeing aliens and humans—total strangers to one another—start chatting and getting along, coexisting in peace and harmony, without anyone batting an eye.
Today, though... was not the typical rush of aliens and one or two human regulars. When the bell above the door jingled and a figure stepped in from the cool outside air, consider my surprise to see not a small fluffy thing with no clothes, but a tall, lanky human man, with a face I hadn't seen in months.
"Lucas," I jovially said. "Welcome. It's good to see you again."
He smiled bashfully and raised an arm in a silent wave, seeing a dozen heads turn to look at him. One head in particular turned much farther than the rest; a gaunt human woman, accompanied by a relaxed venlil—Bella Rivers and Taya, both of whom are... perhaps my most frequent guests. "Oh damn! And here I was starting to think you died in a car accident, Luc," Bella said, clearly surprised to see another human at this hour, letalone one who'd been absent for so long.
"Haha, no..." Lucas said, making a beeline for the bar. "Just been... er, busy, you know how it is. How've things been here?"
Bella cast a brief glance at me, asking a silent question, to which I gave a simple nod. "It's been great," she answered in my stead. "Every day feels like more people know about this place. I keep telling Keeps to start thinking about remodeling, get some more space in here before it starts turning into a moshpit every weekend."
Lucas let out a chuckle. "I almost can't believe you two come here so often that you can say that."
Taya leaned around Bella just enough to look Lucas in the eye. "Well no duh! Where else are we gonna go? Name one pub in this city besides The Crossroad that's licensed to sell alien food and drink, and always cares about dietary restrictions!"
Bella laughed. "Okay girl, you ain't gotta shill that hard."
"Nuh uh. I'm not drunk enough not to shill," the normally-reserved venlil droned. She most certainly was a little drunk...
"Speaking of," I cut in, turning to Lucas. "The usual?"
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You still remember my drink?"
"Of course."
He looked thoughtful for a moment, before smiling. "Yeah. I'd love that."
I wasted no time in gathering my tools and the requisite bottles and ingredients to put together his complicated order. To say I pride myself on remembering my patrons, their quirks, and their likes and dislikes... would be an understatement. What is a barkeep if not the central pillar of the establishment? It simply wouldn't do for me to be anything less than reliable.
"For real though," Bella said. "It's not just the food that keeps us here. Like yeah, I love being able to trust my food, but there's more to it. Just look around," she waved a hand out at the rest of the room, "Isn't it great, seeing so many different people, from so many different walks of life, all come together in one place? Back during the war, I... we never imagined we'd get to see something like this. And yet here we are, back on Earth, with God knows how many aliens just hangin' around, being chill, doing their things."
"Huh... yeah, I guess I can see it-- ah, thanks Keeps," Lucas said as I passed him his completed drink. "If you forget everything that's happened, it kinda does look like how everyone dreamed things would go before first contact."
Bella smiled wistfully, idly swirling her half-full drink with her straw. "I think it's amazing. All these different cultures and faces mashing together at once, just this giant melting pot of people and worldviews and everything."
"...Yeah. It really is incredible."
Bella's brows furrowed as Lucas wasted no time in taking a large swig of his drink. It seemed as if something was on his mind, and perhaps she could tell. "Hey... where have you been, these past few months?"
"I've... well," he put down his glass, staring at it almost disdainfully. And after I'd made it so perfectly for him, to boot. Rude. "I've actually been trying to uh, cut back on the drinking..."
Bella turned, glancing confusedly at Taya, who flicked her tail in equal uncertainty. "Really? But you've always been such a responsible drinker. I don't think I can even remember a single time you've ever caused trouble, or got sick or anything. Did something happen?"
"No, nothing like that. I just wanted... well, here, look at this," he said and produced his holopad, skillfully swiping to his photo album. In seconds, he pulled up a picture of himself alongside an alien with gray fur... and long, floppy, dog-like ears. A farsul. "This is Talon. He's been staying with me since the xenomed center got going full swing."
Taya recoiled at the sight, ears flattening in apparent anger before Bella turned and shot her a firm glare. The venlil immediately shrunk on herself, looking both apologetic, and yet still agitated.
"I'm doing it for him. He... um, let's just say he gets a little nervous," Lucas mumbled. He swiped to another picture, this time with Talon hanging off his arm like a monkey, tongue lolling out of his wide-open muzzle in obvious glee. "He's such a sweet little guy, like the brother I never had. But it wasn't good for him, to be dealing with me coming home drunk. He needs stability, consistency. I... was making him worry whether I'll be the same every time I walk through the door. So I promised him I'd stop."
Bella put a hand on Lucas' shoulder. "Well that's sweet of you. I can tell you care a lot."
Lucas frowned. "Of course I care. After the shit he got put through in those... fucking goddamn facilities."
A bubble of silence surrounded the trio as his words sunk in. Bella swirled her drink one last time before she took a huge swig. Lucas watched her for a moment before he grabbed his own near-full glass and downed the whole of it in one fell swoop.
"Hhh. So much for that," he grumbled as he glared down at his freshly emptied cup. Then his expression softened slightly, turning closer to remorse. "...Sorry. I didn't mean to fuck up the vibe. I uh, got some other pics of him if--"
"No, Lucas, it's okay," Taya suddenly said. "There's nothing wrong with being honest. Especially not in a place like this," she pointed one eye toward me, "ain't that right, Keeps?"
All I could offer in response was a curt nod.
Bella reached over and laid a hand on his shoulder. "If something's on your mind, then... c'mon, be straight with us."
Lucas sighed. "I wish there were more I could do for him," he bluntly said. "We've tried so many things to help him stay calm. Breathing exercises, fidget toys, music... but it's never enough. He still just can't function in public, or around new people, or... anywhere. Especially if I'm not there. And I don't know what to do anymore. I keep telling him to take as long as he needs, but I..." Lucas slouched over, holding his head in his hands, "I feel like every time takes a little longer."
"Um... Y'know..." Taya spoke up, as her ears twisted nervously. "It... sounds like, maybe, um... he... needs a friend?"
"I am his friend," Lucas deadpanned.
"N-no, I mean... oorgh, how do I say this?"
"I think what she's trying to say is... if you want a little help, Lucas, we'd be happy to be there for you. For him."
Lucas's brows furrowed for a moment before he seemed to grasp what she was saying, and his eyes went wide. "Really? But-" his eyes locked onto Taya, "but you're--"
Taya shook her head. "Don't say it. I... I know. I know what I am," she all but whispered. "But maybe I don't want to be like... this. Maybe I want to be better. After all, if I'd never tried to have an open mind about humans, I never would've met Bella!"
"Well... okay," Lucas said, as a small smile grew on his face. "Here. Lemme get your numbers, and I'll talk to him, and we'll get in touch?"
Bella nodded and presented her pad, as Taya did the same. "Yep! And hey, if he isn't up to meeting in person, maybe you can see if he wants to try just being... like, pen pals or something?"
"Hah. He's not a child, you know. But thanks. I really mean it."
"I know you mean it. We're glad to help."
The three of them tapped pads to exchange contacts, and with that, their fates became intertwined. Whatever may happen to them after today, I cannot know. A humble barkeeper such myself shan't be blessed with the absolutes of the future. Some may try to predict what is to come, but I believe the future is theirs to decide, that they may take whatever happens in their own hands and mold it to their will.
It is all I can hope that Bella and Taya will return and share with me the stories of their antics. Or, as unlikely as it seems, perhaps Lucas could bring Talon here, for them both to participate in this gathering of souls; for them to find joy among friends new and old; for the chance to walk the wondrous crossroads of life and love.
​
////////////////////////// Barkeep's Log: Scampering Menaces ////// Monday, July 14th, 2138 1:39 PM, Brasilia Time //////////////////////////
Monday. The day of loathing. Of rest and relaxation coming to an end. Of waking up early, getting ready for work, and repeating yet another week of monotony. Some would question my sanity, to open the bar at all on a Monday, letalone to do so at noon. But those foolish few simply haven't seen how excited aliens can be about something so mundane as lunch.
But alas, the lunch rush never persists forever, and just like always, I eventually found my beloved pub woefully empty. As it would likely stay for the rest of the afternoon, save for the occasional visitor with a more unusual schedule.
...Or, perhaps, should I be so lucky... a much more rare sight; a true oddity, who might seek to come here only during the dead hours.
And wouldn't you know, it was on this day that I was blessed with one such patron. Or... multiple patrons. A human and a trio... no, quartet of dossur. It was very much a challenge for me to keep track of the little sapient rodents as they skittered about, both on and literally around their human, but I was more than certain that there were definitely only four of them.
At first, I thought there were three dossur. But then one of them retreated into their human's apparently rather spacious hoodie, and a very distinctly different dossur came out. She looked... mangy, for lack of a polite term, with numerous patches of discolored and uneven fur, and what appeared to be a few healed scars. It was clear to me that she must have been through something horrible, and yet had been saved by the miracle of modern medicine.
The small group's incursion upon my shop was... relatively peaceful. They certainly had no qualms about using their outdoor voices, speaking loudly and freely about whatever came to mind, from plans for when they got home, to theorycrafting about potential vacations they could take, and even to the status of the Sapient Coalition as a whole. I, of course, had no right to begrudge them for being so noisy—they were the only ones in the bar, after all.
But everything changed when the front door swung open, the gentle dingle of the bell heralding the arrival of yet another rare antisocial patron.
To my surprise, this newcomer was another human. But not just any human, oh no, this was a very particular human. One who I could say might be somewhat of a regular, despite his tendency to avoid the busier hours. It was no trouble for me to recognize him from the slightest glance, as his unforgettable silver hair, and the red highlights within, matched gorgeously with his red scarf.
As he entered, a somewhat shorter than average venlil trailed close behind. He too wore a red scarf, though for a... different reason. A deeply personal reason, that neither he nor his human have ever seemed keen to share. And I, out of respect for them both, shan't pry.
With a brief, wary glance at the table of chaos, the two of them made their way toward the bar. They hardly made it more than a few steps before a painfully loud shriek, followed by three more of the same, damn near shattered every piece of glass in my bar.
"HUMY!!!!!" "OH MY GOD HI!!" "JOHN! LOOK!!" "Don't yell in my ear--" "Wait is it really-- IT IS! GUYS GET OUT HERE--"
And in a staggering instant... where I thought there were only four dossur, I was once again proven thoroughly WRONG. From within John's hoodie came not one, not two, but four more of the little bastards! There were eight of them! They all scampered up their poor handler's arms and stood on his head and shoulders, waving their whole bodies and jumping up and down, and being so very loud.
"HI HUMY!!!!!!!!" "HI!!!" "HIIIIII!!!!!!" "He's so tall..." "Is that VV?? HI VV!!" "WOW I didn't know his hair was really that white!"
Humy, while certainly shocked by the sudden attention, somehow managed to take it in stride. He raised a hand and waved back to the crowd of not-squirrels, the action shutting them up for only a moment before they started squealing even LOUDER in sheer excitement.
"Guys... Y'all oughta quiet down a bit," John said... or so I think. I frankly couldn't hear him over the orchestra of rodent insanity.
One particularly bold dossur—the one with the damaged fur—made her way down from the chaos table and practically sprinted to Humy's legs, before climbing him like a tree. He recoiled in surprise, but she kept going until she was leaning off the top of his head, staring straight into his eyes. The others went silent, waiting with bated breath for whatever might happen next.
...
"Hi."
The poor man, frazzled, startled, accosted-by-an-alien-squirrel, took a long moment before he figured out what to do about this situation. "Um. Hi."
Unfortunately, that was the wrong response.
"HE SAID HI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "I WANNA SAY HI TO HUMY!!" "THAT'S NOT FAIR, HOW COME SHE GETS--" "JOHN!!!" "Guys, pl--" "--TO SAY HI TO HIM?!?!!?!" "JOHN BRING US TO HIM OR DIE"
John abruptly slapped the table and stood up, nearly flinging half of his passengers in different directions as they panicked and clung to him for dear life. "I'm so sorry," he quickly said, "They're not usually like this. We'll just be going," he turned to me, making eye contact for an instant, "Cya later, Keeps."
"No, wait!" Humy said, just barely before the swarm could scream their collective dissent. "Please don't. I don't mind, I promise. All I ask is you quieten down a notch, is that okay?"
The dossur looked amongst each other; some of them drooped in shame, while others seemed to simply not grasp the relevance of the request. But in the end, it was John who spoke up first. "He's right, guys. Y'all need to tone it down. No more screaming."
"Okay?" "Sorry..." "Makes sense." "SURE!!--"
John immediately snatched up that particular troublemaker before stuffing him in his hoodie, never to be seen again.
"Ah... anyway..." Humy said, and gestured to the counter, where VV had already taken a seat during the commotion. John took the unspoken invitation, and the middle-aged man reunited with his friend as the dossur wrangler sat on his other side.
The swarm, of course, wasted no time in dismounting John and lining up right in front of poor Humy. Or, well, only two of them lined up. One crawled up onto his sleeve, two onto his shoulders, and the last simply kept climbing around, seemingly not intent on stopping ever. The seventh and eighth remained imprisoned in John's pocket and sprawled out atop Humy's head, respectively.
"Is Humy your real name?" "Why's your hair white?" "Your scarves are so cool!" "What's your favorite fruit?"
Humy burst out in a fit of chuckles, evidently amused by the dossur speaking over each other in their haste to treat him like a talking jungle gym. "Wow. John, right?" he turned to the other human, who gave a curt nod. "How do you live with this?"
"Very patiently," John deadpanned. "No one would ever believe me if I told them these little shits are highly trained Marines."
"Have you ever been on a cruise?" "What's your favorite game?" "If I gave you a strawberry, would you eat it?" "Are you two dating?" "Seriously, why's your hair white!?"
"Okay, okay, c'mon, one at a time! Why don't all of you line up right here in front of me, and I'll go down the line?"
"No." "...Nah." "It's comfy up here." "And it's boring down there!" "And your hair smells good..."
Humy sighed and shook his head, but his smile betrayed his mirth at the situation. "Fine... let's see... you, at the very top. What's your question?"
"Huh? Oh, uhhh-" the mangled one trailed off. She'd been rather quiet the whole time. "Hmm... what's your next video gonna be, and when's it gonna be out?"
"Ooh!" "Yeah!" "Yes yes yes tell us!" "Genius question, Fée!"
Humy, despite the dossurs' excitement, grimaced. "I'm sorry, you guys, but I can't answer that. I just can't leak upcoming content!"
"Auugh!" "Noo c'mon!" "What." "That's not fair!"
"But..." Humy cut them off, looking thoughtful. "Well... maybe I can tell you one thing. I might have something very, very special lined up soon. Do you all remember when I played that thafki game, Survivor? Well I--"
Humy jumped, startled as VV—who'd been totally quiet and unobtrusive the whole time—abruptly grabbed his sleeve and tugged it sharply. A sheepish expression spread across the human's face. "Oops! Can't spoil the surprise. Sorry! How 'bout we hear another question?"
The dossur pouted, looking dejected, disappointed and all-around displeased. But, with that, the seven tiny herbivores quickly moved on, and continued to pester Humy with evermore nonsense. Too much nonsense. Truly, veritably, too much.
It wasn't until hours later, around 4 PM, that both parties finally grew fatigued and split ways. In the wake of their madness, I could feel nothing but gratitude for the fact that, despite their behavior, the rodents hadn't made a mess of anything, nor skipped out on their tab. While they were loud, and excitable, and far too much enjoyed using poor Humy as a playground... they weren't hooligans. They were, in the end, people. Not just noisy squirrels.
With that in mind... perhaps, maybe, just maybe, next time they come in... I wouldn't be unwilling to greet them, to welcome them to this place of character and merriment; to welcome their uniqueness among the myriad faces that make themselves known; to invite them in as members, as friends, as we all tread upon the ever-exciting crossroads of greetings and farewells.
​
////////////////////////// Barkeep's Log: Mayflies ////// Friday, August 1st, 2138 9:05 PM, Brasilia Time //////////////////////////
Ah, the weekend. For a bar, it is the busiest time one could imagine. But for a bartender such as myself, it is so much more. The activity, the bustle, the countless different people coming together and simply being themselves. Just by merely being here, serving drinks and dinner to all who would want it, I am blessed with the wondrous opportunity to overhear talk and tales of peoples' lives—their homes, their hopes and dreams, their fears and regrets.
And today, of course, was no exception. Perchance, allow me to skip the lengthy preamble and get to the good stuff.
The moment an elderly, borderline decrepit old man entered the bar, he had my attention. Someone his age, coming somewhere like this, alone? The scenario piqued my curiosity.
He had a tired air to him, something between boredom, the general fatigue that comes with such advanced age and... if my keen eyes didn't deceive me, a touch of discomfort. As if he was out of his element in some way, not quite sure what to do with himself. He kept silent, bothering no one as he approached the counter and scanned one of the many QR codes plastered around the dining room.
His face stayed the same as he reviewed The Crossroads' prodigious menu, as though he was unimpressed with our unrivaled selection. But then, he paused, and something changed in his stance. His eyes flicked up and met mine, his expression suddenly lit ablaze, full of energy that wasn't there before. "Redtato tacos?" he curtly asked, sounding almost bewildered. His gaze dropped back down to the menu, to the other dishes on that same page. "Spice plates... cricket burgers," he looks back up at me, wearing a deranged grin, "even goddamn ichor ice cream? You're insane."
"Insane? Tell me you're new here without telling me," a new voice interjected. One of the other patrons—a thafki, who unlike her kin, had taken to wearing a black hoodie with the emblem of the United Nations—turned to us, appearing amused as she looked between me and the old man. "Wow, you're a perfect match for one another. Didn't think humans could get any older than ol' Barkeep here. What's someone as ancient as you doing here, new guy?"
"Hah. I like you, Blue," the man said as he took a seat beside the nosy and maybe slightly drunk alien.
"My name's not Blue. Call me Ayeli."
He held out a hand toward Ayeli. She glanced at it before shaking it without a second thought. "Ryusei," he said, before eyeing her beverage. "Tell you what, Barkeep, gimme one of whatever that is. And a refill for her, if she'll have it."
"Saltwine," I said, and reached beneath the counter to procure the bottle from which I'd poured Ayeli's first glass. I turned it back and forth in front of him, letting him read the translated label. "Be warned. This is a specialty item. It is not to most peoples' tastes, nor is it cheap."
"Pfft just do it. I've eaten rocks, you old coot."
The sheer brazenness of his words, the unwavering resolve in his eyes, and the utter lack of hesitation in his voice, took me truly off guard for the first time in a long, long while. "I'm not an old coot, you bumbling codger," I grumbled as I took a glass and filled it. Then, putting my professional facade back on just like nothing ever happened, I turned to Ayeli and hovered the bottle over her cup. She gave a thumbs up, and I poured.
Ryusei stared at me with a smug grin. "Pff. Looked in a mirror lately? Time ain't been good to you, friend. Look at all them gray hairs. Yeek."
"I can poison you in seventeen different ways," I deadpanned.
"As if I'd even be able to tell? There's nothing you can do to me that my body hasn't done at least twice already."
"Venlise alcohol. Not diluted."
"Now there'd be a challenge..." he murmured, before his attention drifted to his idle drink. He raised the glass to his lips and took a hearty sip, allowing the fluid—its texture, its flavor—to rest in his mouth before swallowing. "Mmh. Damn."
"You like it?" Ayeli asked.
"Y'know what? Yeah. Shit's weird in all the right ways. Hits your tongue like a pile of salt, but goes down smooth. No aftertaste, no burn, just a quick slap in the face and then it's gone."
Ayeli drummed her fingers on the counter before taking a long swig of her own drink. "Mmmhmm. That's how it is. How it's meant to be. I can't wait 'til someone figures out how to make this stuff for cheap."
"Speaking of. Ey Barkeep, put me down for one of them fucked up tacos. Let's see just how close a buncha earthlings can get to authentic Martian cuisine."
With a nod and several practiced movements, I had his request sent to the kitchen in seconds. I don't believe he saw me even touch the order pad with how fast I was.
"...Martian?" Ayeli asked. "Now hang on. That's... the red planet, no?"
"Mhm," The man let out a grunt of affirmation. "First planet humanity settled besides Earth. It's a dead, empty husk. Nothing but rocks and dust and solar radiation. I was born there."
"Huh. What're you doing here, then? There no bars on Mars?"
"...Classified."
"Oh. Yeah..."
Quiet spread between the two, Ayeli staring blankly into her own reflection within her glass. Ryusei's eyes slowly drifted toward her as his brow furrowed. "You... were a soldier, huh?"
Ayeli jolted, startled by the question. "Wh--? How... I mean, yeah. I guess I was. But how can you tell?"
"Eh. I've been there. Where you are now."
"...What?"
He took another sip. "You know how it is. Everything goes to shit. Then it gets better. Now everyone's pretending life is back to normal, and you have to pretend too. Even if you lost friends. Or family. Or... parts of yourself."
...
Ayeli frowned. "I... yeah. I guess."
"You guess?"
"It's... it's not that I've lost people. Or parts of myself," she said. "It's not even that I have to pretend that everything's back to normal."
Ryusei raised an eyebrow.
"All things considered, I've lost nothing. I joined the UN Marines, killed some lizards, and now I'm here. And I'm fine. Not even 'oh you're lying to yourself, you need a therapist' fine, but just... actually fine."
"Why's that, do you think?"
"I don't know. All my friends are so much worse off than me. They're all... fucked up, from everything. But I'm not. I just don't feel anything."
"I just... shouldn't I feel something?" she continued. "I've killed people. Drowned people. Slit throats. But whenever I think about it, there's just nothing. No guilt, no shame, no... no empathy."
"I understand," Ryusei breathed. Something behind his eyes changed, his tone becoming more... genuine. "You and I are alike, in a way."
"...Really?"
Ryusei swirled his drink before taking a quick sip. "When I was younger, I was part of something bigger than myself. It was dangerous as all hell—sixty percent fatality rate—but I was glad to be doing it. Glad to be playing my part. Happy to risk my life so someone else doesn't have to. But then it was over, and I got back to life like normal. I got my accolades, I took my damn awards, and I went home. And that was that."
"Except it wasn't," he continued. "I went home, and found out my family had ripped themselves apart. Half of em were obviously over the moons with pride, knowing I'd been there in the very front and came home a goddamn hero. But the rest... they had been scared. Terrified they'd never see me again. It was all they wanted for me to just come home and be safe."
"And... that's what got you?" Ayeli asked. Something in her voice was vulnerable, almost afraid. "The fact that you were ready to move on, but no one else was?"
Ryusei nodded. "I felt like a shithead not because I'd almost died a hundred times, but because I'd been the reason my parents got divorced."
Ayeli stared into nothing, dead silent for a long moment before she grabbed her drink and downed the remainder of it in one go. "F-fuck," she rasped. "It was supposed to go back to normal. We were supposed to have our happy ending. So why is everyone still like this? Why can't we just be okay now?"
"Because people need time, kid. You and I are the exceptions. You'll get your happy ending, you just... gotta wait. Gotta be there for them when they need you."
"How?"
"Whatever way you can. My little brother got hit the hardest by our parents' shitshow. He couldn't stand being around either of them. So I would drive him out to the middle of nowhere, and we'd just watch the universe go by. We'd count the stars, talk about how small we are, how it just keeps going, how empty it all is, yet still teeming with mystery. By the end of it, we'd both be feeling better... and then we'd do it again a week later when we felt like shit again. And on and on, for years."
"...We've already seen the stars though. How would that help?"
Ryusei slid his glass over to Ayeli, offering her the last few sips he had. "There are more things of beauty in this world than just the stars. Take it from me, old fart that I am—if you just take the time to look, you can find meaning anywhere. Even things you might take for granted."
Ayeli perked up, as if she'd realized something. "The ocean..."
"Something like that."
"It's... it's simple, it's mundane, it's so normal to us now that we can just go swimming whenever we like. But ten years ago, that would've been different. We... we did it. We changed it. For ourselves. We won."
"You hit the nail on the head, Blue. Tell all that to your pals. Really show them that it's over."
She looked down at the drink she'd been given, and lifted it to her lips to take a small sip. "An ocean of water, an ocean of stars... what difference does it make? Maybe you're right. Maybe we really are alike."
"Both have been around for millenia. And both will be there still, long after we're gone," Ryusei said. He looked down at his hands, an odd half-smile on his face. "Call me a sentimental old coot, but part of me still finds comfort in the stars. An infinite sea of beacons, shining in every direction for eternity. Always there, always waiting, no matter what."
"Mmm... y'know, it's funny. Our ancient ancestors probably each thought the same at one point or another. Wonder if any of 'em ever looked up in just the right place, at the right time... and looked straight at each other, even if they didn't know it."
"Heh. As much as I want to rain on your parade and say that's impossible... well, just look at the two of us, eh? The chance that we both would happen to be here, right now. Maybe it's not. The universe is pretty damn huge, and yet here we are."
Ayeli sat up straight in her seat, a determined look spreading across her face. "Yeah. I... I think I know what to do. How to help everyone else move on. Thanks for the drinks, 'Keep. And the chat, Ryusei."
"Yeah yeah. Go on, get outta here. Get back to your friends."
The thafki nodded and gave us both a smile, and then with one last wave goodbye, she made her way out of the establishment. Ryusei sighed and turned back to the bar, crossing his arms and slouching in that tired, past-our-prime way we both must know so well.
Before long, his plate of redtato tacos were brought out, and without another word, he got to work. He remained silent as he ate, but I could tell by the look on his face that he was satisfied.
"Alright... yeah, yeah you did good..." he said when there was nothing left to eat. "I'll remember this place. Think if I ever end up 'round here again, I might stop by."
"You'll always be welcome... until you call me old again. Then you might find something different in your cup than you ordered."
He laughed, grinning like a madman as he stood from his seat. "Bold of you to threaten me with a good time. Now I'm definitely coming back!"
With that, he paid for his meal and his and Ayeli's drinks, and just as suddenly as it all began, he was gone. The cycle of greetings and goodbyes played its part yet again, bringing us together and pulling us apart as if no time had passed at all.
But where his and Ayeli's presence left my bar, their imprints have not. In my memory, and theirs, lies the everlasting essence of our encounter. The feelings of meeting, of learning, of sharing ourselves—and above all else, the words they spoke. The sentiment has truly been burned into my recollection, never to be forgotten with how it touched my heart, my very soul.
How wondrous it is that two people so similar and yet so different could ever meet. The universe is vast—immeasurably so—and still they both happened to be in the right place at the right time for their lives to become intertwined. Is it coincidence? Is it fate? I can't possibly know. Such things are beyond my station. All I can say for certain is that it will happen again, and again, on an eternal cycle. So long as life itself persists, people will always be bound to find one another.
And that, I believe... is the true beauty of our crossroads of destiny.
//////////////////////////

It has been over a week since I last left the apartment. I was meant to return to work the other day, but have been avoiding my boss’ calls. She’s out there now, watching me. I can see her through the window. She’ll leave soon, but then she’ll be back tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then the day after that. Same time. Same place. Always watching.
It started in the bathroom of a McDonald’s just down the road from where I work. It had been a long shift and I had to stay behind two hours as a coworker called in sick. My legs were tired from standing all day and my eyes were drooping from exhaustion.
I washed my hands at the sink. The mirror reflected my awful features. Bags under the eyes. Acne scarring on my face. I felt icky.
“What are you doing here?”
A woman called from behind me. I flicked my hands in the sink to quickly dry them as I turned to face her.
“Excuse me,” she continued, “What are you doing in here?”
In front of me was a 40 something year old woman. Blonde hair and wearing sunglasses indoors. She looked furious.
“Just washing my hands,” I said.
“You’re a man,” she said.
“I’m not…”
“What are you doing in the female bathroom you freak?” she raised her voice over mine.
“I’m just using the toilet...”
The woman pulled out her phone and, presumably, started recording me, “This pervert is in the ladies bathroom checking on women.”
I lifted my hand up to block my face from the camera and walked brusquely out into the restaurant. I could hear the woman’s heavy footfalls trail behind me.
“Look at this groomer walking off now he’s been called out,” she said.
I walked up to the front counter. No doubt she was there too. A member of staff was standing there putting an order together.
“Hey,” I leaned over, “Can you stop her?”
“Oh yeah! Call the cops! We’ll see what they have to say when they arrive!” she said behind me.
“Sorry ma’am?” the staff member said, “What’s going on here?”
“I don’t know,” I said, “I’m just trying to use the bathroom and she’s harassing me.”
“Go on! Call them! They’ll kick this freak out!”
“Ma’am,” the worker said to her, “I’m going to have to ask you to stop or leave.”
“Stop what?” she said, “I’m just calling out this pedophile so they’ll stop creeping on little girls!”
The worker sighed, “I’ll just call the cops.”
“Yeah, they’ll get this sicko out of here!” she said.
I sighed, “You know what, I’ll just go.”
“Are you sure, ma’am?” the worker said.
“Ma’am?” the woman said, “That’s a dude!”
“Yeah, I just needed the toilet anyway,” I said, “I don’t want to make a fuss.”
“Run away!” she said, “Run away like the freak you are!”
Apart from the shouting woman, the place was completely silent as every bystander watched the situation unfold. I pulled my hoodie over my head and walked out the building as fast as I could. She followed.
I walked across the McDonald’s parking lot over to the supermarket next to me where I parked my car. The entire time, the heckler followed me, her phone still up and recording. I tried to ignore her as she kept screaming absurd shit over and over.
It didn’t take long to make it back to the car. I jumped in and locked the door. The woman pulled the handle as soon as it clicked. Luckily, she was too slow. My hands choked the wheel as the adrenaline started to fade. I didn’t realize how fast my heart was beating until it began to slow. She stood outside the window still filming and shouting her obscenities as I got control of my breathing.
After a minute, I started the car and reversed out of the space. She followed still recording from the window. Once on the road, I put it into drive and sped out of the parking lot. I saw her standing in the rear view mirror, phone in hand. Still screaming.
A day later, the experience still left a mark on me. I dreamed about it overnight. Her face was vivid in my mind. All day I was filled with regret that I didn’t let the police take care of it and hopefully get the woman taken away. Everything I didn’t say to her floated in my head.
I noticed it first when I took my dog out for a walk. A banged up blue Chevrolet. Must have been from the 70s. The paint was peeling, replaced with rust. I didn’t get a good look in from across the street. The glare from the sun was too strong. But it left an impression on me. I’d never seen a vehicle so distinct on this street before.
Throughout the day, I kept looking out the window. The car was still there. Down the road. I couldn’t make out any features from the distance, but there was someone sitting in the driver’s seat. It was freaking me out. I closed all the blinds in my apartment and tried to put it out of my mind for the time being.
I was working the next day. It was at a cafe franchise in the same complex as the McDonald’s. Most of my shift was spent making coffee and wiping down tables. The same old shit every day. Customers ranged from okay to horrible. I was just happy to get a paycheck.
We closed later than most cafes at around 10pm, though we were usually out of there by 10:45pm. I noticed it when mopping the front of house. It wasn’t so easy to see in the dark of night, but there was a blue Chevrolet—same model, same rusted coat—in the parking lot just outside the store. Again, I couldn’t see the person sitting in the driver’s seat, so I wandered out back and checked the cameras. Also not good enough, even when zoomed in.
My coworker kept asking if I was okay. Even though he tried to hide it, he was clearly annoyed that I was slowing down the close for no reason. I got on with mopping, but kept my eye on the parking lot. By the time we got out, the car was gone.
It was back outside the apartment the next day. The car would arrive at around 10am and leave at 9pm. A few times throughout the day, it would leave and then come back an hour or so later. I could see the person sitting there for hours and hours. But I didn’t want to confront them out of fear of what they might do.
When I went in for my next shift, my coworkers were all staring at me. I greeted them with a good afternoon, but everyone returned it with a harsh glare. As I was stuffing my bag into a locker in the back office, the store phone began ringing. My other coworker in the back quickly shuffled out of there, ignoring the ringing. After a couple of seconds, it stopped.
I closed the locker and put the key into my trouser pocket. The phone began ringing again. No one from front came out back. It was company policy that the phone must be picked up, but I wasn’t to start my shift for another five minutes. I sat down at the office, and listened to it ring until it eventually stopped.
10 seconds hadn’t passed before the phone started to ring again. I picked it up. “No CallerID” was displayed on the screen.
“You’ve reached…”
“Who is this?” a woman’s voice commanded on the other end.
“This is…”
“Is this Amy?”
I was shocked into silence for a moment, “How do you know me?”
“What’s your real name?”
“What?”
“You need to stop playing dress up, it doesn’t suit you well.”
“Who is this?”
I looked at the monitor and saw the blue Chevrolet parked outside.
“Is that you following me?” I asked.
“Stop pretending to be a woman then I’ll leave you alone.”
She hung-up.
I watched the Chevrolet pull out of the space and exit the parking lot on the monitor. I didn’t see her again all day.
When I got home after closing, a notification appeared from Facebook Messenger. It was a random account—no photo, fake name—requesting to DM me. I opened their request:
"Hey,
You don’t know me, but I’ve been following this random page for a while. A handful of people are sharing your photos and private information around. Sorry you had to find out this way."
They attached screenshots of posts from this group. All of them had my photos, ripped from my Facebook and Instagram accounts, posted along with disparaging comments and personal information. One of the posts even shared my address and work place. Some screenshots of comments showed people taking glee in the idea of hurting me. All of them made fun of how I looked. Picking apart all my insecurities one-by-one.
He’s too tall
Look at those big hands
Why is he caked in makeup in every photo?
The anonymous account linked the group, but it was private.
I called in sick the next day and took everything I had seen to the police. I told a detective about the Chevrolet, the online posts, the woman in the McDonalds. Everything. I printed off the screenshots, I gave them the link to the account, I noted the reg number of the car. All the detective did was assure me everything was going to be okay and made a report. Although the lack of immediate action was concerning.
I got home two hours later. The car was parked up on the same spot it had occupied for days. I called the police then, wanting to make sure a tangible incident report was made, hopefully creating a paper trail if it ever escalated. However, before the cops could arrive, the car was gone. They somehow knew the police were coming. I made my report to the officers and they scolded me for wasting their time before driving off.
When I got into work the next day, my manager pulled me aside before I started my shift. He sat me down next to him in the office.
“We’ve been getting reports,” he said, “From employees here and head office of someone harassing everyone? And they keep naming you. I just want to make sure everything’s okay and know if I can do anything to help.”
“What?” I was taken aback, “What about the head office.”
“Well,” he said, “HR have been getting floods of calls from No CallerID numbers and emails spammed to them. It’s clear they’re getting put into spam databases and stuff. We’ve had to turn the phone off here because people keep calling at all hours of the day. Head office have made reports to the police but they’re still investigating and want to make sure we give you the proper support.”
My heart sank. Everyone in the store had heard the women’s rants. Even the middle management that know of me through the paperwork they receive. All of them know the embarrassing comments some random woman made about me. All of them knew I was being stalked.
The surveillance monitors were open on the desk. I looked up at them and saw the blue Chevrolet was in the parking lot. Something broke.
I got up and walked out the door. My manager called after me, though I can’t recall his words. There was a sizable chunk of concrete broken off the sidewalk just outside. I took it in my hand and made for the car.
I got a close look at the driver. The same blonde, 40 something woman that had harassed me in the McDonald’s. She saw me coming and immediately started the ignition and drove for the exit.
“Leave me the fuck alone!” I screamed.
I arced my hand. The concrete left my palm and flew towards the Chevrolet. It missed the roof by a few inches and kept flying until it hit a black BMW parked behind it. The concrete broke in half as it left a massive crack on the windscreen.
I fell to the floor. The emotions had finally hit me as the adrenaline wore off. I began crying and didn’t stop for an hour.
The police came. When the customer eventually came back to their car from the supermarket, he was pissed. Luckily the two officers were able to keep things relatively calm. My manager spoke for me as I sat in the cafe. The two officers came in and informed me that he wasn’t pressing charges so long as I covered the damages. Even though I had little money to my name, I agreed.
My manager then told me to take a couple days off and said he was there if I needed help. All my coworkers stared at me in complete shock as I left the cafe. None of them said a word.
I drove home by myself. Even though he needed it, I decided not to take my dog for a walk. I didn’t want to be outside by myself at that moment. Instead, I made a cup of coffee and sat by the window. The blue Chevrolet is parked down the street.
Always watching.

First. Previous.
‘Ri woke up in the hotel room to the sound and smell of cooking meat, as well as what she knew to be pancakes. Opening her eyes, she looked ‘down’ to see Kyle cooking on the small grill he packed with him in his subspace shadow, one of his near-silent air purifiers directly overhead, as he was using wood to cook with; the smell of fire-grilled meat was making her ravenous, and it was with a happy stretch that she sat up, Kyle turning to smile at her.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said as she smiled back, “Figured I’d make you breakfast-in-bed; we got dragon steak and eggs - chicken eggs - and I just got done with a bunch of dragon bacon. Pancakes were done a few minutes ago, and I’ve been letting the butter melt in; syrup’s over…” he looked around, spotting a metal container that looked somewhat like a drink pitcher. He set all of this down on a large tray, which he carried over to her, setting it down on the bed lengthwise between the two of them. He went back to the table he’d been working at to retrieve plates, flatware, and two glasses, floating a pitcher of what turned out to be gor’ahm juice, a sweet - yet slightly tart - berry that grew on verem’jiose, and also cost quite a bit, as it was difficult to get enough berries to mass produce, so it wasn’t ‘readily available’ outside of her homeworld.
All-in-all it was a rather enjoyable breakfast - whether or not he had any ‘professional’ training, Kyle sure did know how to cook. After they were done eating - and Kyle had moved their dishes over to the kitchenette their room came with - they took a shower, taking their time in the hot water, just enjoying each other’s presence. When they were done, they dressed in the robes that came with the room - they had gone with black all around - and went to sit together in the main room, putting on some soothing music as they sat together, tails and arms wrapped around each other. After a while of them just sitting there, Kyle stirred slightly.
“I, uh… I got a surprise for you.” He sounded a bit nervous as he said it, but she put that to the side; surely he was just hoping she’d like whatever it was. He smiled slightly, and said,
“Close your eyes.”
Doing as he asked, she shut her eyes, knowing full well that whatever he was ‘retrieving’ was in his subspace shadow, but she went along with the act. When he gave her the okay, she opened her eyes, and it seemed like her stomach dropped out from under her heart, and into oblivion; there in his hands was a thin, perfectly square - but not ‘cubed’ - black box. She looked up at him, unable to say anything, as he opened the lid, and she let out an involuntary gasp; it was difficult for her mind to process what she was seeing, as it appeared to be a round piece of the void cut out to look like a tiara. Or, at least it looked like the shape of one, seeing as she couldn’t really make out any details, though there obviously were details carved into it, as the little sparkles of what she knew to be black hole diamonds - she had seen the pendant Kyle had retrieved from the pirates - seemed to appear and disappear, depending on what angle she looked at it from. The big 8-point star in the middle - reminiscent of the shape their pupils took when observing peoples’ life-blood, and Gift - was always visible however, no matter the angle it was viewed from.
“I had to have Kay’Eighty sketch out the basic outline of where to cut to fit you,” he said, drawing her out of her stupor, “And I had the lead sehr’chtahb fit the diamonds on it, as part of the payment for bringing back the pendant, along with the diamonds themselves, of course. The actual tiara is made from the bone of the first dragon I killed, and I used the kath’loo’s Gift to turn the bone so black that it absorbs all light. I had to turn the bone behind the diamonds silver, because there’s only so much that refraction can do.” They both gave a little chuckle at that; finally, he pointed to the inside of the tiara.
“And here I put a strip of crysthril all the way around it,” she knew that he’d gotten the Gift from one of the sehr’chtahb before they’d left the planet, “Which you normally wouldn’t need, seeing as you’ve got a literal ton in your subspace; but this is different. While we can’t transfer our Gifts to anyone else, we can transfer them into the crysthril, and it stays enchanted with the Gift, no matter how much of it you use. It’s basically limited by your own power, and how much of each Gift was put into the crysthril. Right now, this has all the Gifts that I have right now, and I can always add more in later, when I get ‘em… So, will you wear it?”
The last part was said with a palpable level of nervousness, and she was unable to say anything at that moment. After a few seconds, she finally was able to nod her head yes, tears leaking down her face. Kyle’s face lit up in a wide grin, and she saw his eyes shimmer with unshed tears as he reached forward to grasp the tiara, showing her how to disconnect it at the sides. She leaned her head forward as he reached up to put it on for her, it fitting snugly not just around her head, but perfectly resting around her horns, so as not to be squeezing them, nor to be loose, and wobbly.
She reached forward, pulling him into a deep, passionate kiss, too happy to actually say anything; they sat there for a while, basking in their shared love, until she started getting a bit antsy. Kyle obviously noticed this, as he laughed, and said,
“Go look; I know you’re just dying to see it.”
After a smile, and a quick kiss, she ran into the bathroom, looking into the mirror, marveling at the dazzling headpiece that was now her’s. She sat there for a good few minutes, turning her head this way and that, admiring the craftsmanship Kyle had so lovingly put into it. It honestly looked like something a professional jeweler would be proud to call their own work, and she reveled in that fact as well. This was a testament to his love for her, and it was done through Kyle’s own handiwork; and where it wasn’t, it was small enough to excuse away, especially with having had the diamonds placed as payment for his actual work.
Eventually she was able to tear her eyes from the beautiful piece, and she returned to Kyle’s side, both of them grinning like children. After a few minutes of making out, and cuddling, Kyle insisted that they get dressed.
“I know you wanna show that off, and we can go look around the shops, see if there’s anything that we want. Then we can grab lunch somewhere, and later we can have dinner with your parents and ‘Lana. Tomorrow I’m gonna go back to the ship and get some brisket started up; Kohr’Sahr and the others’re gonna be here in a couple days, and I wanna have a party when we give them the news.”
“Do they know?” she asked.
“About me proposing? No,” he replied, “About everything else? I gave ‘em a brief rundown, but I didn’t go into too much detail. The suun’mahs representative got in touch with me yesterday: the broadcast is gonna come out later today, and anything that they need cleared up after that, I’m happy to be the one to tell ‘em… You’re sure you’re okay with them posting your general location to the public? I don’t want you to have to deal with any ‘fanclubs’ from back home.”
She smiled warmly at him, running her fingers through his hair.
“They’ll know that I’m taken, and that they have no chance; anyone who tries anything after that, no one will blame us for… teaching them a lesson. Besides, they already know not to bother me if they see me abroad; the secrecy was just an added measure.”
He bowed his head concedingly, as he got up, pulling her to her feet with him.
“Come on,” he said, giving her a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth, “Let’s get dressed.”
She got dressed in a simple black pleated skirt that came about ⅔ down her thigh, along with a teal button-up shirt. Kyle was wearing his black and red pants, with a silk purple shirt; he had decided to forgo his boots. Kyle applied a simple light layer of purple eye shadow, and simple black liner, with a reverse of that on his lips, having purple liner and black filler. She went with the same pattern, except she used a luscious red in place of her natural purple. Once they were ready, they were about to head out when she thought of something; she held out her hands, and pulled a certain large, flat box from her subspace shadow. Smiling, Kyle opened it, and gently removed the necklace he’d bought her the last time they were on this station. After he’d secured it in place, she dismissed the box, and they left the room arm-in-arm.
The payoff was near-automatic, as it only took as long as getting into the elevator before they encountered another person; this one turned out to be none other than the Captain, as the station leader had put the entire crew up in the station’s best hotels, save for a decent amount of the security, all of whom had gotten to leave the ship last time they were on this station. As soon as the doors opened, they saw her standing next to what appeared to be a golden drahk’mihn, with horns that protruded from his forehead, sweeping back over the top of his head, only to slightly curl upwards just as they reached the back of his head. He wore light blue shorts, and a matching vest, while the Captain wore her customary jacket; her eyes widened when she saw the two, going straight to the tiara on her head.
"By the Gods, man; do you do anything normal?"
"Define 'normal'," Kyle countered, which brought about a round of laughter.
“Were y’all gettin’ off?” Kyle asked, hooking his thumb over his shoulder; the Captain cleared her throat,
“Well, that’s really none of your business,” she replied, to more laughter, “But we can take another ride, either way.” She had barely taken her eyes off the tiara the entire time, much to ‘Ri’s delight. As Kyle pushed the button for the lobby, Golden asked how Kyle had made it, to which he obliged, occupying the time it took them to reach the ground floor; the Captain couldn’t keep her eyes off the headpiece the whole time, at which ‘Ri couldn’t help but smile with pride.
After they reached their floor, they bid the other two farewell, at which point the Captain seemed to remember herself, and gave a hasty - yet obviously sincere - congratulations to the two, which Golden echoed. After thanking the two, they disembarked the elevator, ‘Ri acutely aware that the Captain was still staring at the tiara, even without looking back at her.
The rest of the day passed in a similar manner, with the general crowd around them either going silent, or - less common, but still frequent enough to be noticeable - lightly gasping; all eyes were on her, which made her smile and cling to Kyle’s arm all the more. It was funny: she had never really cared about ‘tradition’, and had always simply wanted someone who saw her as her. Sure, there were several ‘high-born’ men who’d hunted dangerous beasts - even to a drahk’mihn - to turn into tiaras, all of them trying to ‘win her hand’. But none of that had ever mattered, no matter what they’d hunted, or whether they’d used their Gift, or not; none of them even knew who she was, so their efforts meant nothing, but whatever standing they could achieve by marrying ‘the girl who stopped the war’.
But here was Kyle, a man from another species entirely who saw her as a person, in a way that no non-insectoid ever had in her entire life. A man who’d had no problem whatsoever showing his anger at her - very much deserved, she had to admit; that was a rather rude wake-up call - before he really even knew her, not afraid to call her out on any toxic behavior she might display. And who had taken the fruit of his labors to produce a symbol of his commitment to her, fully embodying the true symbolism of the traditional way, not by simply trying to impress her by buying her affection, as the others had. And for the first time since she was a little girl, she felt a distinct pride in that tradition, and all the more love towards Kyle for it.
They didn’t really have any place in particular that they had in mind to visit, simply walking around, enjoying each other’s company, and the reactions of the various passersby. Among the obviously astonished expressions, there were quite a few jealous ones on a few of the women they passed by, which brought her no end of satisfaction; not that she had anything in particular against any of those women, it just felt good to have something that others wanted so badly. And though she doubted that many of them actually wanted her man - whom she still valued more than the headpiece he’d given her - what they wanted was a product of his work, and so either way - whether they knew it or not - it was him that they wanted; too bad for all of them that she’d gotten her claws in him first, and she was never letting him go of him again.
She had made sure of that, seeing as he could now issue orders to the Captain, and change protocol on a whim; she had also gotten him to give her authorization to take a shuttle planetside if she deemed it necessary, though he’d made her promise to exercise that authority only in cases of an actual emergency, and not for a small ‘threat’ that he could obviously handle. They had come to the agreement that the wild cats from Cheshire’s homeworld were the cutoff point: anything much bigger than those were enough to warrant her presence on the planet. She didn’t really like even that, but she had to agree that at that point it was almost insulting to his own abilities, especially since he had plenty of Gifts to help him out, including her own.
At one point, they were passing by a furniture shop when they spotted her parents and ‘Lana going in; it was her sister who noticed them, calling out,
“‘Ri, Kyle; hi!”
They both smiled and called back in greeting, waving as her parents turned around, their faces immediately breaking out in smiles as they saw the two of them; the looks on their faces - coupled with not a bit of surprise - told her that he’d already shown them the tiara, not that she minded. If he was going to show anyone before her - aside from those who helped him create it in the first place - she could accept her parents being the ones, and ‘Lana by extension.
They spent around an hour walking around the shop - Kyle having to encourage them to pick out the more ‘luxury’ goods - as her parents picked out a new mattress for their bed, along with a few comfortable chairs. They all went their separate ways, her and Kyle promising to meet up later for dinner together. As they had just come back from eating themselves, they went to do more shopping - Kyle reminding them not to worry about the price of anything - while she and Kyle went to go find somewhere to eat.
They decided on a unique shop setup, wherein there was an herbivore side, and a carnivore side; both were technically their own shops - separated by a wall, and everything - though there was no problem with an herbivore sitting with carnivore friends to go nextdoor to get a plate made, and bring it over, or vice versa. They decided on sitting in the carnivore section, and Kyle would go over to the herbivore side to get a bit of roughage for the both of them. After they had taken their seat - the keen’yhong waitress staring in awe at her tiara - Kyle excused himself to the shop next door; after he’d left her line of sight, she immediately got up and hurried to the restroom, eager to get another look at herself in the mirror.

Vohr’Sin - a light blue drahk’mihn with horns that curved back, down and around, so that the tips pointed forward, just under his ears - was having a bit of trouble, as the restaurant was currently too full to seat them.
“There’s nothing you can do for the drahk’mihn ambassador to the humans’ system?” he asked jokingly, “She should be on her way any minute.”
“Sorry, sir,” the black gah’rahtoe replied to him, his face showing genuine regret, “It’s the lunch rush, right now. You’re welcome to wait for someone to finish up, if you like.”
“No,” he responded, “She had to skip breakfast this morning to attend a virtual meeting, so I doubt she’ll be up to waiting… Well, thanks anyway.” As he turned to find somewhere else to eat, he nearly walked right into another person; it took him a moment to realize who it was.
“My apologies,” he said, “I should have been paying more attention to where I was going… Forgive me for bothering you, but aren’t you Ambassador Redding?”
The human was easily recognizable, the ‘scars’ across his face and the horns - which the Empress herself had expressed to his wife were not to be commented upon - that were in a very unique shape. Personally, he wasn’t too comfortable with the human getting a pass at imitating their race - especially Kah’Ri’s horns, of all people - but if the service that he’d provided to their race by coming up with the idea of how to find the slavers was enough for Empress Ella’Ven to excuse it, he had to accept it, as well. The man was carrying a tray with a few plates of vegetables on them, including two baked tass’guds.
“I am,” the human replied with a smile, “Sorry for eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation: if you like, you can come sit with me and my fiance; we’re out celebrating our engagement.”
“Oh,” he began sheepishly, “I really wouldn’t want to intrude…” but the human waved him off.
“I’m sure it’ll be no problem; you know how women like to show off their jewelry. It’s just us, so I’m sure it’ll be fine. Besides, I can answer any questions your wife may have about humans, and any social customs she might need to be aware of. Well, any that I know of, anyway.” He finished with a slight chuckle, and Vohr’Sin was torn between not wanting to intrude, but also not wanting to insult the Ambassador by refusing; it was at this time that his wife Vir’Ell walked up.
“I see you’ve met the human Ambassador, love.” He turned to see the yellow-tinted woman that he’d pledged his life to, wearing a light purple tube-top, and matching shorts. Her slender horns swept backward, ending halfway down the back of her head, pointing down.
“I’m Vir’Ell,” she said, directing her attention to the human after exchanging a kiss with Vohr’Sin, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you, as well,” he replied, “I was just telling your husband that y’all can join me an’ my fiance, if you like. We just got engaged this morning, and I’m sure she’d just love the chance to show off. Of course, I don’t wish to interrupt your own time, if you’d rather eat alone, but it seems that we took the last free table, here.”
“That sounds lovely,” she replied easily, lightly squeezing his tail with her own, “I look forward to meeting your betrothed.”
The human - Kyle, as he asked them to call him - led them inside, and over to an empty table, where they all took their seats.
“I’m sure she went to freshen up,” he said as they all sat down,
“So,” he continued as they all settled down, “I hear you’re on your way to Sol?”
“We are,” Vir’Ell replied brightly, “Several factors have come together to convince the Empress to send an envoy to your system; the two biggest factors being - of course - your own contribution to freeing those enslaved, but also from the fact that even through the outcasts of your society, it is entirely obvious that humans had nothing to do with the enslavement of our people. There are obviously other reasons - ones that she wishes to keep close to her wings - but she has decided that humans will be the first race to whom she will reach out a hand of open friendship. Obviously, this will have to be taken slowly, but we’re hopeful that this could open new avenues of trade and friendship that we’ve been so sorely missing all these years.”
“Well,” Kyle began, “I hope we can come together as peoples, especially since our introduction to the wider galaxy came about in quite similar circumstances.”
“Yes,” Vohr’Sin replied seriously, joining the conversation, “That is something that we - as separate races - can relate to, you more so than others, I’m sure. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to endure the mahn’ewe’s captivity, and I commend you on your mental fortitude to be able to make it through all of that relatively unscarred. I won’t claim to know how you’ve dealt with it since your escape, but the fact that you came out of it without any noticeable xenophobia is exemplary.”
“Yeah, well,” Kyle began a bit darkly, looking off to the side a bit as his mind wandered those detestable halls, “I’m kinda used to misfortune, and holding it against those who brought it on, specifically. As a matter of fact, the mahn’ewe look human enough that it doesn’t even translate the same when looking from even the drahk’mihn to them. And everyone else just looks like ‘humanoid animals’, or ‘insects’, so it’s less of a comparison to the mahn’ewe, and more so towards our own myths and legends. And I guess I can’t really complain about my lot in life, ‘cause if I hadn’t been abducted, it’s likely I never would’ve met my future wife… Who seems to finally be done admiring herself in the mirror.” This last part he raised his voice slightly, obviously addressing someone over Vir’Ell’s shoulder, who was on Vohr’Sin’s right side. Before they could turn to look, a surprisingly familiar voice rang out, the smile audible in her voice.
“Can’t you go anywhere without ingratiating yourself with whatever drahk’mihn may be in the vicinity?” Looking around at the woman who had just walked past them to sit next to Kyle, his heart seemed to stop in surprise, both at who was talking, as well as the tiara she was wearing; and looking at her now, he fully understood why the Empress had directed them to ignore Kyle's choice in horns. Kah’Ri Mih’Rell wrapped her tail around Kyle’s waist - even as he wrapped his around her - and even hooked her right wing on his right shoulder, a wide grin on her face. On her head was what appeared to be the void itself, elegantly wrapped around her head, twined gracefully over her horns so as to appear as if the void really had inserted itself onto her head.
“‘Ri,” Kyle began, obviously enjoying their reaction just as much as Kah’Ri was, “I’d like you to meet Vohr’Sin, and his wife Vir’Ell; they’re heading to Sol, as she’s been appointed the Ambassador to humanity.”
“Oh,” she replied, obviously surprised, “I honestly didn’t expect that, though I suppose Ella would have ample reason to reach out to humans, of all peoples.” Obviously it was common knowledge that the Empress had taken Kah’Ri in when she’d lost her own parents, but somehow it had never occurred to him to imagine anyone being ‘close’ enough to her to call her by a nickname.
“I’m sorry,” Vir’Ell cut in, “But that tiara is absolutely stunning.” Mixed in with the pleasure at such an extravagant praise, there was an obvious strain of pride in their faces as they both grinned, Kah’Ri leaning closer to Kyle.
“Thank you,” she replied, “He made it according to tradition.”
“You made that?!” he couldn’t help but exclaim, causing them to smile even wider, “From what? I recognize the black hole diamonds, but the material that the rest of it is made of…”
Kah’Ri gave Kyle a knowing look, and - still smiling - said,
“Show them.”
Kyle gave her a conceding nod of his head, and fiddled with the small monitor that was strapped to his wrist. Soon enough, a small hologram appeared on the table between them, depicting Kyle in a strange white tree, looking down at a - comparatively - giant red reptile of some kind. There was a seemingly one-sided conversation where he was obviously speaking with the razum’yilahn that was partially wrapped around his neck, the rest of their body disappearing beneath his shirt. They were still able to catch the gist of what they were saying, mainly that he couldn’t kill that creature until they were sure it wasn’t sapient, which would require them going into its mind.
What followed was an epic battle between man and beast, his uplifted canine companion joining the fight once it was clear that it was indeed a fight. And though it fended off any attacks the canine - Cheshire - threw its way, it seemed intent on finishing the one that had invaded its mind. It eventually had Kyle pinned on his back, both claws - and most of its weight - braced on the staff of the spear he wielded, while Cheshire continued to draw its attention. One such attempt resulted in the reptile shifting its mass, causing one of its paws to slip off the staff, producing what would obviously eventually become the tattoo across his face, though his eyes were destroyed beyond repair in the process.
He managed to catch the claw back on the staff again - obviously using the razum’yilahn’s eyes to operate - soon after which a shuttle appeared, its door open, and what looked like an automated weapon hanging out the side. It fired once, catching the reptile in its backside, and doing little more than making the beast angrier. As it hissed at the shuttle, the weapon fired again, and caught it in the throat, opening up a shallow cut, which Kyle wasted no time in exploiting. Bracing the staff between the arches in his boots, he reached down and drew another knife from his boot, and quickly used it to open the cut wider, rolling out from under the monster to avoid the spray of blood. As the hologram cut out, Kyle began speaking.
“I used the skull plate to grind out the tiara itself, though I had to use nanobots to carve out the clasp to hold the two pieces around her horns. The diamonds were a reward for returning a pendant to the ory’lagus who run the black hole mining company, and the sehr’chtahb who originally crafted the first black hole diamond shaped and set ‘em for me, and I used the Gift I took from the Kath’Loo who was holding her father to change the bone so that it absorbs all light; I also had to turn the bone behind the diamond - and every flake of diamond dust - to silver, to have some light reflect back.”
Vohr’Sin was quite taken aback by everything that had gone into making that tiara, and he was beginning to see possibly a bit of what Kah’Ri must have seen in him in the first place. He was only just realizing that Kyle hadn’t seemed phased to have seen a drahk’mihn; which now it was obvious as to why, but it should have been something that he noticed when they first met. Perhaps it was the horns, and his eyes, of course; another thing the Empress had instructed them to ignore. He was also acutely aware of how… desirable that course of events made him.
“Goddess, man,” he said, putting an exaggeratedly jealous arm around Vir’Ell’s waist, “Save some for the rest of us.” That got a good laugh out of the table, shortly after which their waitress showed up to take their orders. Luckily, they all knew what they wanted, and they were soon talking back and forth, sharing anecdotes from their home world, and asking questions about his. They learned a few things that weren’t easily discernible by simple study of their culture through text, or even video. Kah’Ri stayed quiet, mostly, letting them do all the talking about Verem’Jiose; probably since she had been - intentionally - absent from there for so long, it wasn’t like she would have any idea of more recent news, or trends.
All-in-all, it was an enjoyable lunch, with the time slipping by as they ate and talked the meal away. Towards the end of the meal, the women excused themselves to the restroom, and while they were gone, he took the chance to ask Kyle about the possibility of being allowed to hunt one of those lizards himself, as Kyle had informed them that he owned that planet.
“Well,” he began after a bit of thought, “If you do hunt one, you’ll firstly have to do it without your Gift,” that took him by surprise, but Kyle didn’t stop there, “You also have to fight without any kind of ‘modern’ weapon. Which is mostly just saying that you can’t use guns, though nanoblades are not only acceptable, but also needed. And I’ll even make sure that you’re supplied with some mithril to use, as well. And just so you know: not only will you have a guide with you at all times to make sure you stick to the rules I set out, but they can see if you use your Gift.”
He flexed his eyes for a moment, having already explained how they worked - as far as he knew, anyway - to them earlier, when they revealed that that was why Kah’Ri’s eyes were red, instead of purple.
“I understand,” he replied seriously, “I wouldn’t want to disrespect your world.” Kyle nodded once, saying,
“Well then, I think we can work something out. If y’all’re gonna be here for a couple days, I might be able to get in touch with someone who can set up a way to get you there ‘n back.”
“That would be most appreciated.” As Kyle nodded his acceptance of his thanks, an idea came to his mind.
“You know,” he started in a conspirator's tone, “Before we left home, I managed to get my claws on a crate of krav’ashah wine; it’s a ‘luxury’ berry on Verem’Jiose, as it’s hard to farm, and doesn’t produce a very high yield, even when done correctly; aged twenty years. I would be willing to gift a couple bottles to the two of you, in celebration of your engagement.”
Kyle smiled knowingly, and replied with,
“Well, that would also be much appreciated; I’d definitely owe you a lot… You know, the ory’lagus gave me a lot of extra diamonds, not just enough for ‘Ri to make my circlet. Once you get the piece you wanna make for Vir’Ell, I can shape and set a decent-sized one for you.”
“I think we have an understanding,” he said, smiling.
“As do I,” Kyle replied, a smile of his own on his face.
Their other halves came back shortly after that, and after they all said their goodbyes - he had insisted on paying for the meal - he made his way back to the ship with Vir’Ell, already planning the shape of the new tiara he would be carving for her. And while the one he had bought her would always be special to him - a simple golden band, with a blue diamond in the center of her forehead - he wanted to make this one even better; perhaps he could find a way to incorporate her old one…
[Next.] Patreon

As soon as Alan said that, he had drawn out the sword "Omnolight". "You shall fall." said The Master Of Zombies. "We will see." said Alan. Then, with that, the battle between Alan and the Master of Zombies had begun. Little did the Master of Zombies know, that the four mercenaries were behind him. Quotor had noticed the mercenaries. "Sire." said Quotor, "Look behind you!".At that moment, the four mercenaries attacked the Master Of Zombies. The Master Of Zombies had drawn out another sword, and is now fighting with two swords. "You shall not stop me." said the Master Of Zombies. As soon as he said that, The Master of Zombies had used his double slice attack on the mercenaries. He then followed it with Dark Blade Storm. That combination was so powerful, that it had fatally wounded Scycortus and Zor'Cortox. "Scycoryus! Zor'Cortox!" exclaimed Atorusk. "Master of Zombies!" Roared Korzon, "I shall see you pay for this!". At that moment, Korzon had charged at the Master Of Zombies. "Oh, you think you can stop me." said The Master Of Zombies, "Well, take a look at this.". At that moment, The Master Of Zombies had summoned the Battleship. "By the gods!" said Kalzortus. "How shall we stop it." said one of the Orc Warriors. "I shall do this." said Aizortun, "Omega Storm!". At that moment, Aizortun had used his Omega Storm attack. "My God!" Exclaimed Aizortun, "It has no effect.". "I'll handle this." said Scaltokas, as he motioned for the griffen riders. "Griffen Riders." said Scaltokas, "Take out the gun turrets on the deck.". "Yes, sir." said the lead Griffen rider. All the While, Alan and the Master of Zombies were fighting.
Both were beginning to sustain damage. "Let's take this somewhere." said the Master Of Zombies, "Where your allies won't help you.". At that moment, Both Alan and the Master Of Zombies were warped onto the Battleship. Outside, on the field, Xeintox had directed some of the Artillery crews to fire upon the Battleship. On-board the Airship, Captain Mortenson had commanded the warriors at the gunners posts to keep firing upon the advancing forces. Slowly, but surely, the Undead forces were overcoming the armies of Zorakhor. Tirus was trying to take on the Battle Knight. She was at a disadvantage. Little did she know, that she will be getting help, in the form of the Ogre Gretack. "Tirus!" said Gretack, "Hold on. I'm on my way.". All the while, Gretack was charging through the hordes of undead creatures. As he was doing so, Gretack was tossing zombies out of his way. The Battle Knight had turned to attempt to block Gretack. Gretack had come crashing in, and sent the Battle Knight flying. "That's for messing with my friend." said Gretack. Meanwhile, back onboard the Battleship, Alan and the Master Of Zombies were fighting all over the ship. Both warriors had sustained a moderate amount of damage.
"You shall fall!" said the Master Of Zombies. "You shall not stop me." said Alan, "This is for all the people you have harmed, with your dark power!". At that moment, Alan had charged at the Master of Zombies. "You pitiful human." said the Master Of Zombies, "What makes you think you can stop me?". "One thing you don't have." said Alan, "A human spirit.". At that moment, Alan had used a overhead slice move on the Master Of Zombies. Alan had followed up with a series of moves. The Battle between Alan and the Master Of Zombies had gone all over the place. Meanwhile, outside the battleship, Aizortun and Khalox's forces had managed to get past the Battleship's defences, but not without heavy casualties. Khalox had come face to face with the Battle Knight. "So." said Khalox, "we meet at last. Finally, i shall have what is rightfully mine.". "Not likely." said the Battle Knight. At that moment, the fight over the power of the Battle Knight had begun.
What The Battle Knight doesn't know, is that Khalox has a plan to separate him from the armor. "You shall not beat me." said the Battle Knight, "No one has ever beaten me.". "Oh." said Khalox, "And what about Joseph Barker?". "Arrgh!" exclaimed the Battle Knight as he charged at Khalox. "Fool." Khalox said to himself, "You fell right into my plan.". "Alright boys." Khalox said to his minions, "Attack!". At that moment, Khalox's minions had attacked the Battle Knight. "Soon." said Khalox, "The power shall be mine.". Meanwhile, back on the Battleship, Alan and the Master Of Zombies had battled their way throughout most of the ship. Just then, Necro-Oracle had contacted Alan. "Alan." said Necro-Oracle, "go to the engine room.". "For what reason?" asked Alan. "If you want to disable the Battleship." said Necro-Oracle, "Target the reactors.". "If you insist." said Alan. At that moment, Alan had attempted to start on his way to the engine room. Alan was stopped by the Master Of Zombies. "You shall not get to the Engine room." said the Master Of Zombies. "We shall see." said Alan. "Where is the engine room, Necro-Oracle?" asked Alan. "The Engine room is at the stern section of the battleship." said Necro-Oracle, "it is on deck 12.". As soon as Necro-Oracle said that, Alan had started on his way to the engine room. The Master Of Zombies had given chase.
Meanwhile, outside the battleship, the army of Zorakhor had managed to fight back against the undead forces. "We have them on the run." said Rotusor. "We may have a chance to win." said Kalzortus. Just then, Vor'Tosus, Commander-In-Chief of the Kor'Drakk forces had contacted Kalortus. "Kaltortus." said Vor'Tosus, "Reinforcements are on their way.". "Excellent." said Kalzortus, "We shall win.". All the while, Khalox and the Battle Knight were fighting. The Battle Knight was on the losing end of the fight. "I shall not let you win." said the Battle Knight, as he charged at Khalox. "Darkness Blast!!" exclaimed Khalox, as he used his Darkness Blast attack. That attack had killed the Battle Knight. "Forgive me, Master Of Zombies." said The Battle Knight, "For i have failed you.". As soon as he said his final words, The Battle Knight, also known as Sir Malcom Herbert, had died. The Battle Knight's armor and the Skull Sword had begun to disappear. "Now's my chance." said Khalox. That was where Khalox had taken the Battle Knight's Armor and Skull Sword. At that moment, the reinforcements that Vor'Tosus had said, had arrived. "Finally." said Captain Zordash, "We're winning.". Meanwhile, on the Battleship, Alan and the Master Of Zombies had already made it down 9 decks. "You shall not win." said the Master Of Zombies.
All the while, Alan was forcing him towards the engine room. "What makes you think you can stop me?" said the Master Of Zombies, "For i have the powers of all those whom i have possessed over the centuries.". "Apparently." said Alan, "You still retain the darkness of your origin.". All the while, the Kor'Drakk forces and the armies of Zorakhor were winning. The Kor'Drakk forces had consisted of several fighters and 2 destroyers. That was where Alex Johnson had encountered Aizortun. “At Long Last." said Alex, "We meet.". "Indeed, Old Friend." said Aizortun, "All Forces, Attack!". At that moment, Alex and Aizortun had started fighting each other. All the while, Alan and the Master Of Zombies were making their way to the engine room. Alan was forcing the Master Of Zombies towards the engine room. Alan's armor had sustained severe damage. At that moment, Necro-Oracle had contacted Alan. "Alan." said Necro-Oracle, "What in the Realms is taking so long?". "I'm trying." said Alan, "The Master Of Zombies is stopping me.". All the while, Alan was forcing the Master Of Zombies down the corridors, all the way to the engine room.
Meanwhile, outside the Battleship, The battle between Alex Johnson and Aizortun was under way. The effects of the spells had affected both sides. All of a sudden, the undead's battleship had opened fire on the mercenaries's ship, using the remaining weapons systems. "Arrgh!" said Captain Mortenson, "We've been hit!". "Wait a minute." said Captain Zordash, "i have a idea.". "What would that be?" asked Captain Mortenson. "The 'Dragon Fire' still has all of its missiles intact." said Captain Zordash. "Oh, you plan on taking down the battleship, using the missiles." said Captain Mortenson, "There's just one problem with that.". "What do you mean?" asked Captain Zordash. "When the Undead Armies had made their way to Castle Diroctor." said Captain Mortenson, "They had examined the ship.". "Fortunately." said Captain Zordash, "The Orc mages and the Arch Mage Alex Johnson had used a spell of cloaking to hide the remaining weapons. Also, there was the electronic counter-measures that countered the battleship's scans.". "That might be crazy enough to work." said Captain Mortenson, "But there's one thing i'm worried about.". "What's that?" asked Captain Zordash. "Alan's onboard the Battleship." said Captain Mortenson. “I have a feeling he'll survive." said Captain Zordash.
"Sir." said the Helmsman, "Incoming enemy fire.". "Evasive maneuvers." said Captain Mortenson. "Aye, sir." said the Helmsman. Meanwhile, on the Battleship, Alan and the Master Of Zombies had made it to the corridor outside of the engine room. "Finally." said Alan, "We'll see about winning.". "Not Likely." said the Master Of Zombies. After he said that, The Master Of Zombies had knocked Alan right into the engine room. Just then, Captain Zordash and Joseph had contacted Alan. "Alan." said Captain Zordash, "You've better hurry, for a missile strike is about to occur.". "Alan." said Joseph, "Get the parts.". "I don't have enough time." said Alan. "Then get out of here." said Joseph. "I'll do it." Said Alan. As soon as he said that, Alan had taken off the heavily damaged armor's top section. "So." said The Master Of Zombies, "The Final battle has begun.". "Indeed, it has." said Alan, "Let's bring it on.". At that moment, the final battle has begun. The battle was fierce, with both sides taking damage. "You shall not win." said the Master Of Zombies. "We'll see about that." said Alan. At that moment, Alan had seen a crucial part of the engine. All the while, the ship that the mercenaries had operated had sustained heavy damage. "Sir." said the Helmsman, "We're about to make a emergency landing.".
At that moment, Captain Zordash had completed the missile launch sequence. "10 minutes to launch." the ship's computer said. "Excellent." said Captain Zordash. After he said that, Captain Zordash had contacted Alan to tell him about the missile strike that is about to happen. "Thanks for the update." said Alan. At that moment, Alan had turned to face the Master Of Zombies. "Alright, you rotting pile of flesh." said Alan, "Let's bring it on.". At that moment, the battle had begun. Soon enough, the action had heated up. Both sides had sustained heavy damage. Alan had managed to fire some shots at the main reactor. "You Fool!" said the Master of Zombies, "You'll kill us both!". "What in the realms are you talking about?" asked Alan. "Ha!" said the Master Of Zombies, "You don't know about my human persona.". "What the..." said Alan. "My human persona was that of a Grave Robber named Ken Williams." said the Master Of Zombies. "Ha!" said Alan, "In case you didn't notice, your human persona would have died, because he can't handle the power.". "Arrgh!" said the Master Of Zombies. At that moment, The Master Of Zombies had charged at Alan. Alan had just managed to dodge his attack. The battle was getting fierce, with both warriors having to dig down deep within themselves, in order to keep on going.
"I can't let him win." Alan said to himself, "If he does, All will be lost. I can't let that happen. Too many people have died.". At that moment, Alan had charged at the Master Of Zombies, and delivered a series of well-placed sword slices and shotgun blasts. That resulted in the Master Of Zombies being worn down enough to fall in battle. Just then, the Gate Master had contacted Alan. "Alan." said the Gate Master, "You must not lose control over your emotions.". "I'm trying." said Alan, "But there is a missile strike that's about to happen in less than 10 minutes.". "Then you must hurry." said the Gate Master, "Also, i have some bad news. Captain Zordash had fallen prey to Necro-Oracle's Fire Blast. He has died.". "Oh Great!" said Alan, "How much time is left?". "6 minutes, 55 seconds." said the Gate Master. "Tell Officer Morgan to intercept me." said Alan, "When i complete this mission.". "I'll do that." said the Gate Master. At that moment, Alan had continued the fight. "Update: 6 minutes, 27 seconds." the ship's computer said. "I must hurry." said Alan.
As soon as he said that, He had unleashed a series of attacks. "For Octiviox!" Alan said as he attacked the Master Of Zombies. That resulted in the Master Of Zombies falling back towards the reactor. The Attacks proved to be fatal. "You shall not survive." said the Master Of Zombies, with his final breath, "Even though you have beaten me, you shall go down with this ship.". "Not likely." said Alan. As soon as Alan said that, he delivered the final blow. At that moment, Joseph had contacted Alan. "Alan." said Joseph, "What's your status?". "I'm in the engine room." said Alan, "The Master Of Zombies has fallen. There's 6 minutes and 27 seconds left to a missile launch.". "You have better hurry up." said Joseph. "I'm on my way out." said Alan. At that moment, Officer Morgan had contacted Alan. "So." said Officer Morgan, "You want me to intercept you.". "Indeed." said Alan, "We've better hurry. We have less than 6 minutes before a missile strike hits this ship.". "I'm on my way." said Officer Morgan.
That was where Officer Morgan had headed to the ship. But first, Officer Morgan had to contend with the hordes of the undead. All the while, the clock was ticking for the missile strike. "5 minutes, 39 seconds." the ship's computer said. "Officer Morgan." said Alan, "You've better hurry it up.". Soon enough, after 4 minutes had passed, Officer Morgan had managed to find a clear spot to lift off, in order to intercept Alan. All the while, Khalox, the new Battle Knight, and his forces had retreated. The remaining 2 Generals had switched sides to Necro-Oracle's side. "update: 45 seconds remaining." the ship's computer said to Alan. "Officer Morgan." said Alan, "You've better hurry it up.". Just then, Officer Morgan had arrived. "Alan." said Officer Morgan, "Did you call for a lift?". "Of Course." said Alan, "Let's get a move on.". As soon as Alan said that, the two had escaped through the section of the battleship that Officer Morgan's mech suit had entered in. Seconds later, the missile strike had hit the battleship.
"Phew!" said Alan, "We only made it out with seconds to spare.". “Indeed." said Officer Morgan, "Take a look at the battlefield.". "Well, i'll be." said Alan, "The Enemy forces are retreating.". “Not only that." said Officer Morgan, "We've won.". As they were speaking, the two had seen the remaining undead forces surrendering to the warriors of Zorakhor and the Kor'Drakk Reinforcements. As soon as Officer Morgan and Alan had landed, Necro-Oracle had called over to Alan. "Excellent Work, Alan." said Necro-Oracle, "You have beaten the Master Of Zombies.". "Yeah." said Korzon, "Peace has come to this realm.". "Yes." said Alan, "But at the cost of many lives.". "It is sad, that these beings have died." said Kalzortus. "Guys." said Officer Morgan, "The Battleship's about to crash.". Just then, the warriors had headed for cover to avoid the effects of the crash. Moments later, the ship had crashed. "Is everyone alright?" asked Officer Morgan. "Apparently so." said Gretack. "Then, in that case." said Clint, "Lets celebrate this victory.". “Perhaps." said Alan. After he said that, the warriors of Zorakhor had left to rebuild their lands, but not before taking a moment to remember their fallen comrades.
"Alan." said Necro-Oracle, "We shall see each other soon.". "Indeed." said Alan. That was where the heroes had made it back to Castle Diroctor. "You know something, Adam." said Alan, "This castle is the very spot where our adventure had begun.". "You're right, Alan." Said Officer Morgan, "It's also the place where we met Broktar.". "Not to mention Sir Dante Morgan." said Alan, "Also Ortonk, King Anderson, and the rest of the inhabitants.". "It's a shame that it is now in ruins." said Officer Morgan. "Not to worry." said Kalzortus, "I know of someone who can help in its reconstruction.". "I'm surprised that Telzor didn't try to swing his axe at Dante." said Gretack. Just then, Joseph had contacted Alan. "Alan." said Joseph, "I just want to congratulate you on the mission.". "I'm sorry i didn't get to retrieve the parts." said Alan. At that moment, the heroes had seen the sky darken with the clouds. The clouds had formed the image of the Master Of Zombies. "I shall return one day." said the Master Of Zombies, "Remember this day, hero.".
That was where the clouds had moved away, and the skies brightened. "That was weird." said Alan. "What do you think he meant by 'hero'?" asked Officer Morgan. "I'm not sure." said Alan. "I doubt that this is the last time we'll ever see the Master Of Zombies." said Alex. "If i may add something." said Caleb, "he called Alan 'hero', because he had defended the realm against his evil.". "In that case." said Officer Morgan, "He should have a heroic name.". "In that case." said Alan, "My heroic name shall be 'Warrior Omega'.". "Excellent choice." said Alex. At that moment, the Gate Master had contacted Alan. "Congratulations on the success of your mission." said the Gate Master, "Now i have a plan.". "What would that be, Gate Master?" asked Alan. "It is a way to contact you." said the Gate Master, "Even if you're in other dimensions. By the way, i heard you have a new heroic name.". "Indeed." said Alan, "It is 'Warrior Omega'.". "Most impressive." said the Gate Master. "Well." said Alan, as he checked his watch, "I've better get back to Earth. I have a delivery to complete.". "Could you stay a little longer?" asked Tirus. "Oh, alright." said Alan.
At that moment, the heroes had gone to Chior, for the victory celebration. At the Celebration, there was some unexpected guests, in the form of Necro-Oracle, now known as Arkos Darkblade, and the three former generals of the undead forces. Atorusk and Korzon were there. During the celebration, Alan had managed to have some pictures taken of his new friends. On that day, the realm was at peace, for the time.
The End
Epilogue:
Alan - He had made sure on his promise to Optotorix. After he had buried Optotorix, he had returned to Earth. He had caught up with his work.
Tlowtox Ironhammer - He helps Alan install a new communications device, so that the Gate Master can contact him.
Lieutenant Gotarus - He becomes Captain of the cruiser "Dragon Fire". He also helps to build a outpost in Octiviox, which later expands to be a town.
Kalzortus - He and Broktar had teamed up, and started adventuring through the realms. He regularly keeps in contact with Kar'Gorto.
Tirus - She had travelled to Earth with Alan.
Princess Heather Anderson - She becomes Queen Anderson. She also begins her reign. She also marries her long time boyfriend, Jesse Taltoros.
Gretack - He returns to his post, at the bridge into Chior. His friend, Fortox, had left for the Dimension of the Dead.
Necro-Oracle/Arkos Darkblade - He had departed from Octiviox after the downfall of the Master Of Zombies. No-one knows his whereabouts.
Khalox Wolfclaw/The New Battle Knight - After becoming the new Battle Knight, Khalox and his minions had formed their own empire, located in Zoxtus 7.
Sir Dante Morgan - After the battle, he and Telzor had settled the grudge between them, which has lasted for 11 years.
Aizortun - After the battle, he and Scaltokas had continued to evade the bounty hunters.
Officer Morgan - After the battle, he had returned to Earth. He was promoted to Lieutenant. He had managed to hold onto the Mech Suit.
King Clint Orons - After the battle, diplomatic relations had started between the Barbarian Tribes and the Realm of Zorakhor.
The Orc clan leaders - After the battle, diplomatic relations had started between the clans and the Realm of Zorakhor.
Rotusor - After the battle, he and Zektus had teamed up and had helped the Realm of Zorakhor expand its boundaries. They had teamed up with a Clartoxian Navigator.
Atorusk and Korzon - After the battle, the two mercenaries had left Octiviox with Necro-Oracle. They have also buried their fallen comrades, Scycortus and Zor'Cortox.
Arross - After the battle, Arross had signed a alliance with Queen Anderson.
The Master of Zombies - After the battle, he, In spirit form, has been seen in the shadows, waiting for his time to get his revenge.
Captain Mortenson - After the battle, he and his crew had been hired to find and capture Khalox Wolfclaw.
Joseph Stukov - He still keeps in contact with Alan. He also had continued training recruits.
Alex Johnson - After the battle, he went back to the tower to train new students. He becomes a loyal advisor on Queen Anderson's court.
Caleb Raynor - After the battle, he became a great warrior. He also becomes a student of Alex Johnson. Although very few people had expected him to do such actions, he had managed to progress in his training.

"Gate Master." said Broktar, "We found that the Undead Forces had already installed the two stolen parts on the flying Battleship.". "yes." said The Gate Master, "i also know that the Biker Gang, The 'Fire Griffens' had already made it into Undead Territory.". "The 'Fire Griffens'!" said Alan, "I can't believe this! They're here.". "Not to worry." said The Gate Master, "i have a feeling they will have their hands full.". "What do you mean?" asked Alan. "The Bikers are about to be Overwhelmed." said the Gate Master. "You think that's good?" said Broktar. "They'll come back as undead." said Kalzortus, "If they Die.". “Kalzortus is right." said Optotorix. "Not to mention." said Tirus, "Officer Morgan is missing in action.". "Yeah." said Alan, " Officer Morgan ended up on a transport ship.". "Yes." said The Gate Master, "I know about that.". "What are we going to do about it?" asked Alan. "First of all." said the Gate Master, "You heroes must find the Sword 'Omnolight'.". "We already know about that part." said Optotorix. "Apparently so." said the Gate Master, "if you must know, the location of the sword is in Or...". Before the Gate Master could finish the sentence, a group of undead forces arrived. Among the group was Air Commander Zoutoxas.
"Alright, heroes." Zoutoxas said, with a slight growl in his voice, "Come out and surrender. We will not harm you.". "Not Likely." said Optotorix. As soon as Optotorix said that, he headed towards the door. "hold it, Optotorix." said Zektus, "I have a plan.". "What would that be?" asked Broktar. "It is a psychic diversion plan." said Zektus. "Psychic Diversion." said Kalzortus, "i have witnessed that very maneuver several centuries ago.". "Where was that, Kalzortus?" asked Rotusor. "It was on the planet of Pertox." said Kalzortus, "it was when the Rebel forces had been trapped in a outpost.". "Yes indeed, Kalzortus." said Zektus, "i had learned that maneuver from a Pertoxian Mercenary.". "Whatever happened to their peoples?" asked Optotorix. "Unfortunately." said Kalzortus, "Their people were destroyed by a neighbouring civilization.". "What was that civilization?" asked Rotusor. "The civilization in question, is the Luperoids." said Kalzortus, "they are a race of humanoid wolves. Their single purpose is to fight and conquer anything and everything.".
"Yes." said Zektus, "Whatever they can't conquer, they destroy completely.". "How Tragic." said Tirus. "So, what's the plan?" asked Alan. "First, i shall create an illusion of us supposedly surrendering." said Zektus, "That is where Tlowtox activates the defences.". "I see." said Alan, "We would get the element of surprise.". That was where Tlowtox went over to the controls for the defences. "Defences are ready." said Tlowtox, "Awaiting new commands.". "On my mark." said Zektus. As soon as Zektus said that, he focused his psychic energy in creating the illusions. After he did that, the illusions started on their way out of the base. "Hmm." said Zoutoxas, "This seems too easy.". That was where Zoutoxas motioned for a couple of undead soldiers to examine the situation. "Oh Great!" said Alan, "They're going to figure out the plan.". "Not if i have anything to say about it." said Optotorix. As soon as Optotorix said that, he charged right out the door. "Hot-headed Orc." said Broktar, "He's gonna get killed.".
"Huh." said Zoutoxas, "It's a trick.". "Tlowtox, let them have it full force." said Zektus. "You got it." said Tlowtox. That was where Tlowtox pressed the button to activate the base's defences. All the while, at the bridges, not far from Castle Diroctor, a group of Human, Orc, and Kor'Drakk warriors had set up defences there. Meanwhile, at Castle Diroctor, The Mercenary Captain Douglas Mortenson had arrived. "Ah, King Anderson." said Captain Mortenson. As he was saying this, he stuck out his hand. His right hand had been augmented with a cybernetic hand. "Ah, Captain Mortenson." said King Anderson, “It is good to see you.". "Aye." said Ortonk, "It's a shame you have that Cybernetic hand.". "At least it's helpful." said Captain Mortenson. "It's a good thing you have arrived." said Princess Heather Anderson. "Yeah." said the Orc Warrior, "We need all the allies we could get.". "Indeed." said Clint Anasazi, "ever since i heard of this situation, i was sure we would have a mission in this dimension.".
"So, King Anderson." said Captain Mortenson, "How is it with the planning?". "All the Defences at the bridges had been placed." said King Anderson. "Aye." said Ortonk, "Nobody will be able to get past these defences.". "I just hope you're right." said Alex. At that moment, A Human Soldier and a Kor'Drakk Warrior had entered the Courtyard. "Comrades." said the Kor'Drakk warrior, "all of the main defences have been placed.". "excellent." said King Anderson. "What sort of defences?" asked Ortonk. "Let's see." said the Kor'Drakk Warrior, "The Orcs have offered their Griontor riding warriors.". "not only that." said the human soldier, "but the defences also include the defensive gun emplacements that both the Orc And Kor'Drakk allies offered.". "Is that so." said Alex. "Yeah." said the Orc Warrior, "I heard that the Barbarian Tribe had raised their defences just north of their base.". Meanwhile, at the bridges, the warriors had set up the remaining parts of the defences. That was where one of the warriors on the watch tower had noticed something in the distance. "wait a minute." said The Warrior, "it looks like there's a fight going on over in a area not far from the Remains of the Keep.". "The Keep?" said another warrior, "I have better use the viewscope.". As soon as the warrior said that, he used the viewscope. "Well." said the other warrior, "What is it that you see?".
"Apparently, you're right." said the warrior, "There is a fight.". That is where Sir Dante Morgan had arrived on the scene. "Sir." said the first warrior, "There seems to be a fight going on, not far from the remains of the Keep.". "Are you able to see anyone recognizable?" asked Sir Dante. “I could only make out one individual." said the first warrior, "He seems to be wearing what seems to be robotic armor.". "Robotic Armor?" said Dante, "That sounds like Tlowtox Ironhammer the goblin.". "Tlowtox?" said the warrior. "Yes." said Dante, "I knew him for years.". "Is that so?" said an Orc Warrior, as he was sharpening his Battle-axe. "You listen here." Dante Said to the Orc Warrior, "You better hold your tongue if you know what's good for you.". "Why Should i?" said the Orc, as he stood up and grabbed his Battle-axe in his right hand. At that moment, Sir Dante Morgan and the Orc Warrior started circling each around, with both of them facing each other, with their weapons ready. Just then, A Kor'Drakk warrior had stepped in to stop the fight. "Hold it, both of you." the Kor'Drakk Warrior said, "We're on the same side.".
"Bah!" said the Orc, "I have no time for this! Let Me at him!". "Hot-headed Orc!" said the Kor'Drakk Warrior, "Can't you see. Any moment now, we could have untold numbers of undead soldiers on our doorstep.". "Your Point?" said the Orc Warrior. "I can't believe this!" said the Kor'Drakk warrior, "Don't you get my point. Our mission is to defend this pivotal spot.". "Bah!" said the Orc Warrior, "Why do i even bother with this foolish talk.". That was where the Orc Warrior started to head towards the bridge. "That's it!" said the Orc Warrior, "I'm out of here!". "Hold it, Chaldor." said Targonus. "What is it, Targonus?" asked Chaldor. "I just want to say." said Targonus, "Is that you are making a big mistake by going.". "What do you mean?" asked Chaldor. "If you go out there." said Targonus, "There's no telling if you would have a fateful encounter with the Undead. Not only that, there's no telling what sort of dark forces are also at work, in addition to the Undead.". Just Then, a Dwarf and a Elf had arrived at the defences. "Halt!" said one of the warriors on the watch tower, "Who goes there?". "We are warriors from the town of Ormrus." said the Dwarf Warrior. "Ormrus?" said Dante, "It's about time they responded. It's already late afternoon.".
"What did you expect?" said the Dwarf Warrior, "it's not easy being me.". "Not only that." said the Elf, "But we ran into some undead troops along the way.". "Aye." Said the Dwarf, "But we took care of them easily.". "Let's get to business." said Dante. That was where Dante escorted the Dwarf and the Elf into the Castle. Meanwhile, at Tlowtox's Base, The undead forces retreated from the area. "That was easy." said Alan. "But they will be back in force." said Zektus. "Yes." said Kalzortus, "I have a feeling we shall soon see the undead forces converge on the castle.". "By the way." said Alan, "The Gate Master said something about a town that starts with the letters 'OR'.".
"That sounds like the mountain town of Ormrus." said Rotusor. "Ormrus?" said Tirus, "That town resides to the north of the area.". "Then let's get going." said Alan. "Indeed." said Tlowtox, "But before we go, There is someone i like you to meet.". At that moment, a figure entered the room. "By The Gods!" said Kalzortus, "It cannot be.". "Who are you talking about?" asked Alan. "A Feldrakk Warrior is here." said Kalzortus. "Feldrakk?" said Alan. "Yes. Feldrakks are a hybrid race of Feliaxars and Kor'Drakk." said Kalzortus, "They are very rarely seen.". "What are the Feliaxars?" asked Alan. "Feliaxars are a race of humanoid Felines." said Kalzortus, "They are known for their cleverness.". "Not only that." said Zektus, "But they have developed psionic powers. They have a capitalistic government.". "yes." said the Feldrakk, "Very perceptive. You must know about our advanced transportation.". "Yes, indeed." said Kalzortus, "I have heard of the technology.". "i have one such piece of technology here." said Tlowtox, "It's on the Launch pad.".
"What do you mean?" asked Alan. "It is a Feldrakk Cosmo Fighter." said Tlowtox, "I was working on this vehicle before you guys even arrived here.". "Yes." said the Feldrakk Warrior, "Even though Tlowtox didn't have all the regular components that are compatible with such a vehicle.". "This should be interesting." said Broktar. That was where the heroes went to the launch pad. Meanwhile, at the Fort of the Dead, The Master Of Zombies was addressing the troops. "We shall conquer all the realms." said the Master Of Zombies, "None shall stand before our might.". All the while, Necro-Oracle was waiting in the shadows. "Soon." said Necro-Oracle, "I shall have my revenge.". At that moment, Quotor entered the area. "Arkos... i mean Necro-Oracle." said Quotor, "i have found the location of the Sword called 'Omnolight'.". "Excellent." said Necro-Oracle, "Are the mercenaries in place?". "Yes, Necro-Oracle." said Quotor, "What's the next part?". "Hold that thought, Quotor." said Necro-Oracle, "I'm needed.". That was where Necro-Oracle stepped to the podium.
“My Comrades." said Necro-Oracle, "The Time is upon us. We shall finally cover the realm in darkness.". At that moment, All of the undead Troops at the fort started getting riled up. "Most Excellent." said The Master Of Zombies, "All of the troops are ready.". "Yes." said Necro-Oracle, "Soon, I shall rule this realm.". "What was that, Necro-Oracle?" said the Master Of Zombies. "Nothing, sire." said Necro-Oracle. That was where Necro-Oracle went into the Fort's main room. That was where Quotor met with Necro-Oracle. "Sir." said Quotor, "The Mercenaries are on hold in the viewscreen in your quarters.". "Excellent." said Necro-Oracle. At that moment, The "Fire Griffens" biker gang had arrived at the Fort. "What's This?" said the Master Of Zombies. "There seems to be a biker gang outside the fort." said the Battle Knight. "Let them in." said the Master Of Zombies. "But Sir." said the Battle Knight. “I said Let them in." said The Master Of Zombies. "If you insist." said the Battle Knight. That was where the Battle Knight went to the gates. All the while, Necro-Oracle was dealing with the Mercenaries. Each of the Mercenaries were from a different group of people.
One Mercenary is a Croctarion, one Mercenary is a Karteor, One is a Clartoxian, and one is a Terzonicor. "sir." said the Croctarion Mercenary, "What is it that you need us for?". "It is because i have a plan of revenge." said Necro-Oracle. All the while, in the main section of the Fort, the Bikers were fighting the Undead Troops. Their fight was a losing one, however. "Greg." said David, "what are we going to do?". "We keep fighting, for one thing." said Caleb. As he was speaking, he slammed a couple of zombie's heads together. Meanwhile, the heroes had gotten into the area of the Town Of Ormrus. That was where one of the Sentries had noticed the Cosmo Fighter was in the Area. At that moment, the Sentry notified the Mayor of the town. As soon as Mayor Jackson got the news, he went over to the communications post. "Unidentified Aircraft." said Mayor Jackson, "Identify yourself. You are in Ormrusian Air-Space.". "This is Cosmo Fighter Alpha 27." said The Feldrakk Warrior, "We are here to retrieve the Sword 'Omnolight'.". "Omnolight, eh." said Mayor Jackson, "not Likely.". "Why Not?" asked the Feldrakk Warrior. "Yeah." said Broktar, "Why can't we get the sword?".
"I would have to agree with Broktar." said Rotusor. "Rotusor?" said Mayor Jackson, "Is that you?". “Of Course." said Rotusor. "I didn't expect to see you here." said Mayor Jackson. "So." said Rotusor, "I would like to say, on behalf of the heroes, we request clearance to land.". "For a Friend." said Mayor Jackson, "Clearance to land is allowed.". "Excellent." said Rotusor. That was where the heroes proceeded to land in the town of Ormrus. Meanwhile, in the Town of Chior, Aross had prepared a team to go to Castle Diroctor. That was where Gretack had entered the room. "Sir." said Gretack, "There's a messenger here to see you.". "Send the Messenger in." said Aross. Meanwhile, at Castle Diroctor, The crew of the Kor'Drakk Cruiser "Dragon Fire" had arrived.
"Lieutenant Gotarus." said Captain Zordash, "Tell me again why we should trust these humans.". "Do not let the fact that a Space Pirate Crew consisting of humans whom destroyed our homeplanet, stop a new era from dawning." said Lieutenant Gotarus. That was where the Mercenary Captain Douglas Mortenson had approached Captain Zordash. "Greetings Comrades." said Captain Mortenson, "I am Captain Douglas Mortenson.". "A human!" Said Captain Zordash, as he reached for his Plasma Sabre, "I should have known better.". "Hold it Captain." Said Lieutenant Gotarus. "Like Lieutenant Gotarus said." said Sergeant Dorgarus, "Lets not do anything we'll regret.". "If you insist." said Captain Zordash, as he sheathed his Plasma Sabre.
Meanwhile, back at Ormrus, the heroes had landed at the Launch/Landing Pad. The Heroes had also been introduced to the Governing Council. "So." said Mayor Jackson, "You say one of your teammates is in enemy territory.". "Yes." said Kalzortus, "Hopefully Officer Morgan will come back alive.". "Indeed." said Tirus. Meanwhile, at the Fort of the Dead, Officer Morgan found himself in the Fort. "Alright." Officer Morgan said to himself, "Where am i?". That was where Officer Morgan turned to face a figure whom had just entered the area where Officer Morgan was at.
That figure is none other than Necro-Oracle. "Wait a minute." said Officer Morgan, "You're Necro-Oracle.". "Indeed i am." said Necro-Oracle. That was where Officer Morgan attempted to charge at Necro-Oracle, but was tossed against the wall. "Alright Necro-Oracle." Officer Morgan said as he was getting back up, "You won't get any information from me.". "That's not why i'm here." said Necro-Oracle. "Why is it that you are here?" asked Officer Morgan. "Believe it or not." said Necro-Oracle, "We are, in a way, on the same side.". "what do you mean?" asked Officer Morgan. "You don't know about my history." said Necro-Oracle, "I was once a Dark Elf known as Arkos Darkblade.".
"Oh really now." said Officer Morgan, "What is your involvement with the Master Of Zombies?". "I was killed by the Master Of Zombies." said Necro-Oracle, "soon i found myself alive once more. It was by forces outside of most people's understanding that resurrected me.". "Oh Really now." said Officer Morgan, "What is my role in this matter?". "You have stumbled on our plans." said Necro-Oracle, "I cannot allow you to leave. On the other hand, i might need you to help in my plans of revenge.". That was where the Master Of Zombies entered the Room. "Necro-Oracle." Said the Master Of Zombies, "The Battleship is ready to launch.". "Excellent." said Necro-Oracle, “I shall be with you very shortly.".
That was where Necro-Oracle proceeded to escort Officer Morgan into the cells in the Fort. All the While, He Secretly handed Officer Morgan Two Keys. "What are these for?" asked Officer Morgan. "You'll soon find out." said Necro-Oracle, "But for now, Keep quiet.". As Necro-Oracle and Officer Morgan Were heading to the cells, The Master Of Zombies had started heading to the battleship. "Hmm." The Master Of Zombies said to himself, "Necro-Oracle is acting strange.". Just then, a Necro-Guard had arrived in the area. "Sire." said the Necro-Guard, "i have some good news and some bad news.". "What do you mean?" asked the Master Of Zombies. "It's about the biker gang." said the Necro-Guard, "we were able to zombify 19 of the 20 bikers.". "Is that so." said the Master Of Zombies. "Not only that." said the Necro-Guard, "The remaining biker, the one whom the bikers call Caleb Raynor, has escaped.".
"let him go." said The Master Of Zombies, "He is of no concern to us.". "If you insist." said the Necro-Guard. Meanwhile, back in Ormrus, the Heroes were lead to The Tomb of The Knight Lord Joseph Barker. "From this point on." said Mayor Jackson, "You shall not get any help until you get the sword.". "Oh great." said Alan. "Look on the bright side." said Broktar, "It could be worse.". "Even after all this time." said Kalzortus, "Your sense of humor has not changed.". "Very funny comrade." said Broktar, "Let's get going.". "Hold It." said Mayor Jackson, "Only one of you may enter the tomb.".
"What in the realms are you talking about?" asked Broktar. "Yeah." said Optotorix, "Broktar's Right.". "According to what the Knight Lord Joseph Barker had said 175 years ago." said Mayor Jackson, "Only one person can go through the Tomb to prove themselves worthy to wield the Sword 'Omnolight'.". "I shall be the person to enter the tomb." said Alan. "Hold It Alan." said Kalzortus, "do you think it's a good idea to enter the tomb?". "I would have to agree with Kalzortus." said Zektus, "Someone else should enter the tomb.". "In case you didn't notice." said Tirus, "Alan is one of the Destined Warriors.". "If that is true." said Mayor Jackson, "He should enter the tomb.". "Excellent." said Optotorix, "Then it's settled.". "Oh Great!" Said Alan, "you guys are getting carried away with the situation.". That was where all of the heroes except for Alan, looked over at Alan. "Oh Great!" said Alan, "Oh Well, If you insist.". That was where Alan proceeded into the Tomb. "I just hope he makes it out alright." said Tirus. "I sense you have feelings for him, don't you." said The Feldrakk Warrior. "It's just that." said Tirus, "i haven't seen a human like him before.".
"Indeed." said Kalzortus, "Alan is a unusual person. but he may be the best hope for this realm.". "yes." said Zektus, "i would say so.". Meanwhile, in the Tomb, Alan had started on his path. "This should be interesting." Alan said to himself. As he was walking, Alan had noticed some footsteps on the path. "I have better be ready for anything." said Alan. At that moment, Alan stepped on a floor panel. That floor panel activated a dart trap. Alan had managed to deflect the dart, using the metal plate armor. "That was close." said Alan, "i've better be more careful from now on.". After he said that, Alan proceeded farther into the tomb. All the while, events were unfolding outside the Tomb. "This should be interesting." said Kalzortus. That was where one of the Sentries spotted a Aircraft in the distance. That Aircraft was piloted by the Croctarion Mercenary. The Karteoran Mercenary, The Clartoxion Mercenary, And the Terzonicoran Mercenary were with him. "Comrade Korzon." said The Karteoran Mercenary, "The location Necro-Oracle told us is coming up.". "Indeed, Atorusk." said Korzon. "Korzon." said Scycortus The Clartoxion Mercenary, "Did you notice something strange about Necro-Oracle?".
"I didn't notice a thing." said Korzon, "Why did you ask?”. "It's just that i had this weird feeling about Necro-Oracle." Said Scycortus. "I would have to agree with Scycortus." said Atorusk. That was where Atorusk turned to face Zor'Cortox. "Comrade." said Atorusk, "What seems to be the matter?". "it's just that." said Zor'Cortox, "My Girlfriend had written to me just yesterday, before we went to this dimension.". "Oh." said Atorusk, "I'm quite surprised to see that you have a girlfriend.". "Yeah." said Scycortus, "I agree with Atorusk.". "Guys." said Korzon, "We are at the location. Prepare to land.". "Right." said Atorusk.
That was where the aircraft landed outside the wall. "Korzon." said Atorusk, “Would you do the honors?". "It will be my favor." growled Korzon. As soon as Korzon said that, he charged right at the wall. "Warriors." said The Sentry, "Counterattack!". The warriors started the counterattack. Their counterattack proved to have little effect at all against Korzon. "By the Gods!" One of the warriors said, "The creature doesn't seem to be going down.". At that moment, Korzon had reached the gates of the wall. "Excellent." said Atorusk, "Any moment now, the wall shall fall.". "Atorusk." said Zor'Cortox, "Shall we join in with Korzon?".
"indeed." said Atorusk. All the while, the heroes, except for Alan, had been alerted to the presence of the Mercenaries. Little did they realize that the Mercenaries had a Zorhyno with them. "Is it time to unleash the Zorhyno?" said Zor'Cortox. "Indeed it is." said Atorusk. As soon as Atorusk said that, he went over and unlocked the cell that held the Zorhyno. "By the Gods!" said one of the Warriors, "A Zorhyno!". "Korzon." said Atorusk, "Fall Back.". "Understood." said Korzon. "I can't believe this!" said Zektus, "A Zorhyno!". "Indeed." said Rotusor. "I shall stop this, myself." Said Zektus.
As soon as Zektus said that, he had climbed the wall, and focused his psionic energy and bring it upon the Zorhyno. Meanwhile, in the Tomb, Alan had made it well into the tomb. "Hmm." said Alan, "That was interesting.". Just then, several skeletons had arisen from the ground. "Oh Great!" said Alan. As soon as Alan said that, he loaded another couple of shells into the shotgun. At that moment, the skeletons charged at Alan. Alan had managed to dodge out of the way. Alan had returned fire against the skeletons. All of a sudden, the skeletons had fallen to the ground. "That was easy." said Alan.
At that moment, the Skeletons had reassembled to do battle once more. All the while, Alan noticed a map fall out of a section of a utility belt that one of the skeletons had with them. "What's this?" said Alan, "There seems to be a map there.". As soon as Alan said that, he went to pick up the map, only to be hit in the face by one of the skeletons. That resulted in Alan getting tossed back several feet. Alan had also lost the shotgun in the process. "Oh Great!" said Alan, "Alright, you pile of bones. Let's bring it on.". All the while, Alan had gotten back up, and went for his chainsaw. Just then, Joseph had contacted Alan. "Alan." said Joseph, "What's your status?". "Do you mind?" said Alan, "I'm Busy.". "What do you mean?" asked Joseph. "First of all." said Alan, "I'm in the Tomb of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker.". "Apparently so." said Joseph, "Where are the Allies?". "All of the Allies, except for Officer Morgan, are in the town." said Alan, "Officer Morgan is in Undead Territory.". "Is That so?" said Joseph. All the while, Alan was fighting the skeletons. Meanwhile, at The Fort Of the Dead, Officer Morgan had gotten out of the cell. "That was easy." said Officer Morgan. Just then, a zombie had seen Officer Morgan.
"Hold it right there." said the Zombie. "Not likely." said Officer Morgan. As soon as he said that, he went for his guns. The Zombie had also gone for his weapon. But the Zombie was too late, for Officer Morgan had gotten to his guns. "Alright, you rotting piece of flesh." said Officer Morgan, "Let's bring it on.". "For the Glory of the Master Of Zombies." said the Zombie. That was where the Zombie charged At Officer Morgan, only to be severely wounded. "It should be easy now." said Officer Morgan. "Not likely." said the Zombie. As soon as the Zombie said that, he head-butted Officer Morgan. "Not a wise idea." said Officer Morgan. That was where Officer Morgan went at the Zombie, with both guns blazing. Meanwhile, in the Tomb of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker, Alan had managed to defeat the skeletons. He had also picked up the map. All the while, Joseph had been in contact with him. "Alan." said Joseph, "You better get to your mission objective.". "Whatever, Joseph." said Alan, "All i know is that the two pieces of technology already have been placed in the Battleship.".
That was where Alan started going towards the paths. One of the two paths leads to the inner sanctum, and the other leads to a crushing wall type trap room. "Hmm." Alan said to himself, "I wonder what's on the map.". As he was speaking, Alan Unrolled the map. The map showed the inner layout of the Tomb. "This should be interesting." said Alan, as he was approaching the split path. As soon as he approached the path, he heard something from outside the Tomb. Little did Alan know that the Battleship of the Undead Forces had arrived in the area, along with several hundred Undead troops.
Meanwhile, on the Battleship, The Master of Zombies, Necro-Oracle, and the Four generals were on the bridge. "My comrades." said The Master Of Zombies, "Today is a dawn of a new era.". "Bah!" said the Battle Knight, "This is too easy. I should be down there fighting the Enemies.". "Not to worry." said Quotor, "I have a feeling we'll be facing the entire group of heroes soon enough.". At that moment, a undead Soldier had entered the bridge. "Necro-Oracle." said the Undead Soldier, “The Mercenaries you have hired are down there.". "Mercenaries?" said the Master Of Zombies. "Yes, my lord." said Necro-Oracle, "I hired four mercenaries to fight for the undead forces.".
"Is that so?" said the Master Of Zombies. At that moment, the Undead Forces had smashed through the rear walls. All the while, Alan had made it by several traps in the tomb. As he was going down the path, Alan had examined the amount of ammo and gas remaining. "Oh great!" said Alan, "both the ammo and gas are getting low.". Just then, he spotted a small gas canister and a box of shells. "Talk about good timing." Alan said to himself. That was where Alan went over to pick up the canister and box. It was at that moment, that Alan felt a weird feeling. "Man, That was weird." Alan said to himself.
All of a sudden, Alan found himself face to face with the Spirit of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker. "Oh great!" said Alan, "Now i'm seeing things!". "Do not jump to conclusions." Joseph's Spirit said, "I am the Knight Lord Joseph Barker.". "Oh really now." said Alan, "If you're Joseph Barker, Why are you still alive?". "I'm not alive." Joseph's Spirit said, "I am only a spirit now. I had temporarily returned from the Dimension of the Dead to tell you something important.". "Oh yeah." said Alan, "What's so important that you had to return from the dead?". "It is because of one main thing." Joseph's Spirit said, "For if you fail in your mission, the Undead shall reign over this realm. Not only that, they will march on to other dimensions. All will be lost.".
"I can't believe this!" said Alan, "If what you say is true, i shall continue with my mission.". "Then It's agreed." Joseph's Spirit said, "I shall lead the way.". That was where Alan and the Spirit Of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker went to the main section of the tomb, Where Joseph's coffin was laid. All the while, the heroes and the residents of Ormrus were battling the Undead Forces and the Mercenaries. All of a sudden, the sound of motorcycle engines sounded in the distance. The sounds came from the "Fire Griffens'" Motorcycles. The "Fire Griffens" had been resurrected as a gang of Undead Bikers. "Guys." said the Undead Version of Greg Anderson, "Lets get these humans.".
Little did the Undead Bikers Realize that their former partner, Caleb Raynor is in the area. "Hmm" said Caleb Raynor, "This is serious, indeed.". That was where Kalzortus had noticed That Caleb was in the area. "This is interesting." said Kalzortus, "There seems to be a human in the area that the Undead haven't gotten to, yet.". At that moment, a zombie charged at Kalzortus. Kalzortus had managed to block the incoming attack. That was where Kalzortus had decided to use his special attack; the "Berserker" attack. Kalzortus had started slicing through the Undead Troops. All the while, Alan had made it to the location where the Knight Lord Joseph Barker's coffin is located at. "Finally." said Alan, "I'm Here.".
"Yes, Indeed." Said The Spirit of Joseph Barker, "Now, for the final part. You must retrieve my sword from the coffin.". That was where Alan went over to the coffin. Little did he know that Necro-Oracle had been aware of Alan's Mission. Necro-Oracle was using a spell to awaken the body of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker. Alan had opened the coffin in the tomb. "huh!" Alan Gasped as he seen the remains of the Knight Lord. "Heh, Heh." said Joseph's Spirit, "I guess you haven't seen a corpse before.". "Not Really." said Alan, "It's just that, it's been a while that i have seen a corpse that stayed in one place.". At That moment, the remains of the Knight Lord started moving. "By God!" Said Joseph Barker, “My Remains are alive once more.". That was where Joseph's remains went at Alan. "Alan!" said Joseph's Spirit, "Watch out!". "I'm Way ahead of it." said Alan, as he dodged the reanimated corpse's attack. All of a sudden, the reanimated corpse turned around and attempted to thrust his sword at Alan. "Yikes!" said Alan, as he was moving out of the way. Alan had attempted to mount a counterattack, but had been stopped by the reanimated corpse. "How am i going to stop this corpse?" said Alan.
"Try aiming for the mid-section of the armor." said Joseph's spirit, "On the left side, to be precise.". "Right." said Alan. Once he said that, he aimed for the weakspot, with the chainsaw. Little did Alan know that Necro-Oracle had boosted the Armor of the reanimated corpse. At that moment, sparks started flying when Alan's Chainsaw hit the reanimated corpse's armor. All of a sudden, the reanimated corpse grabbed ahold of the chainsaw, and crushed it. "Oh great!" said Alan. That was where Alan switched to using his shotgun. The Reanimated Corpse had knocked the shotgun out of Alan's hands. Alan then switches to using his fists. The reanimated corpse had managed to block each punch. "Oh great!" said Alan, "What do i do now?". "I'm afraid you're on your own." said Joseph's Spirit. "This is just great!" said Alan. Meanwhile, on board the Battleship, the Four Generals had started on their way to Castle Diroctor. They were accompanied by several detachments of troops. "I don't know why we even bother going to Castle Diroctor." said the Battle Knight, "When the Battle is in Ormrus.". "First of All." said Quotor, "It is our next target, After Ormrus.”. “hey guys." said Fortox, "It seems that Ghoultor is headed to the same place as us.".
"What do you mean, Fortox?" asked Quotor. "I mean, he had already made it to 'Shock Ranger' Territory." said Fortox. "yes." said Zoutoxas, "I see him now.". That was where Zoutoxas used his viewscope to view the situation in "Shock Ranger" territory. The events that unfolded in "Shock Ranger" territory, had proved to be a pivotal situation. The "Shock Rangers" had managed to beat Ghoultor, but not without sustaining major damage. "All forces, retreat!" said Xeintox, "Fall back to the bridge defences.". "Aye, sir." said the Artillery Captain. That was where the remaining members of the "Shock Rangers" clan had retreated to the defences.
The remaining members included 2 Artillery Crews, both consisting of 5 members, 6 Griontor riding warriors, 4 Orc Warriors, the Artillery Captain, and Xeintox. Meanwhile, at the bridge defences, one of The Warriors had spotted the Orc Warriors heading towards the location. "Sir Morgan!" said the Warrior, "The Orcs are headed this way, and they're not alone.". "All warriors." said Sir Dante Morgan, "Prepare to fire, on my mark.". "Yes, Sir." said the Warriors. At that moment, the four Generals had arrived in the immediate area. All of a sudden, Telzor and his clan had arrived along with Deronix and some troops from both the Barbarian Tribe Base, and the Town of Chior.
"About time." said Chaldor. "I would have to agree with that." said Targonus. "All forces." said Deronix, "Move to position and help the warriors at the bridge.". "Hold it, comrade." said Telzor, "I thought our objective was to intercept Ghoultor and the Generals.". "Indeed it is." said Deronix, "But we also must make sure to help the warriors at the bridge.". "If you insist." said Telzor, "Orc Warriors, you're with me. Let's ride to stop the Generals and Ghoultor.". "Right." said Deronix, "The rest of you are with me. Let's help the Warriors at the bridge.". Little did they know that the battleship is headed their way.
Meanwhile, back at the Tomb of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker, Alan had narrowly managed to get the Sword "Omnolight". "Phew!" said Alan, “Finally, after all this time, i had won the fight.". "Excellent work." said Joseph's Spirit, "Now you must hurry.". “what do you mean?" asked Alan. "Your allies are in danger." said Joseph's Spirit, "The undead are headed to Castle Diroctor. Not only that, Necro-Oracle has hired Four Mercenaries.". "Mercenaries?" said Alan. Just then, Joseph had contacted Alan. "Alan." said Joseph, "What's Your status?".
"I have some good news and some bad news." said Alan. "Why do i have a feeling it's involving the Allies?" Said Joseph. "The Good news is that i had retrieved the Sword 'Omnolight'." said Alan, "The bad news is that the Battleship is headed towards Castle Diroctor.". "What Else?" asked Joseph. "Necro-Oracle had hired four Mercenaries." said Alan. "This is just great!" said Joseph. "Now You must Hurry." said Joseph's Spirit, "The Spirits tell me that your comrades have just been warped aboard the Battleship.". “What else do the spirits tell you?" asked Alan.
"It seems that Necro-Oracle is about to betray the Master Of Zombies." said Joseph's Spirit, "They also tell me that the Biker gang called the 'Fire Griffens' had lost 19 of their members to the forces of darkness.". "Only 19?" said Alan, "Last time i checked, there were 20 bikers. Whom is the remaining Biker?". "The only remaining Biker is Caleb Raynor." said Joseph's Spirit. "This Should be interesting" said Alan. That was where Alan had started to head out of the tomb. All the while, the heroes, except for Alan and Officer Morgan, had found themselves in a cell onboard the Battleship. "Oh Great!" Said Optotorix, "Where are we now!". "Apparently." said Kalzortus, "We are onboard the Battleship.". That was where Necro-Oracle had appeared. "By the Gods!" said Rotusor, "Necro-Oracle!". "Indeed, i am Necro-Oracle." said Necro-Oracle, "I suppose you are wondering why i am here.". "Not Really, You Rotting Piece of..." Said Tirus. "Tirus!!" Said Kalzortus, "Enough!!". “Excellent." said Necro-Oracle, "You heroes are wondering why you haven't already been turned into zombies.".
“Indeed." said Zektus. "I am not actually part of the forces of Darkness." said Necro-Oracle, "I am, in Fact, a Dark Elf called Arkos Darkblade.". "Arkos Darkblade." said Rotusor, "that name sounds familiar.". "By the Gods!" said Optotorix, “Arkos Darkblade is a Dark Elf whom came to Octiviox from some other dimension.". "How Perceptive." Said Necro-Oracle, "I was once Arkos Darkblade. But that was a long time ago.". "What do you mean?" asked Kalzortus. "When i Was Arkos Darkblade." said Necro-Oracle, "I was killed by the Master Of Zombies.". "When was that?" asked Kalzortus. "That was several thousand years ago." said Necro-Oracle. At that moment, a Necro-Guard had entered the room. "Sir." said The Necro-Guard, "The ship is in range of the bridge defenses.". "Excellent." said Necro-Oracle. That was whee Necro-Oracle turned to face the heroes. "I shall return for you later." Necro-Oracle said to the heroes. That was where Necro-Oracle had secretly handed Zektus the keycard that would open the cell.
"What in the Realms was that all about?" asked Broktar. "Quiet, Lizardman." said Necro-Oracle, "you will ruin the secret.". "Sir." said The Necro-Guard, "What are you doing, trying to help the heroes?". That was where Necro-Oracle tossed a fire ball at the Necro-Guard. The Necro-Guard had been reduced to a pile of burnt, Undead flesh. "Now's your chance!" said Necro-Oracle, "I shall stop the undead forces here.". "Understood, comrade." said Optotorix. That was where Zektus had used the keycard on the keyport for the Cell.
Little did they know, that the Master of Zombies was watching them, via a camera located in the ceiling. "Hmm." The Master Of Zombies said to himself, "It seems that Arkos Darkblade is still alive.". Meanwhile, at the Fort Of The Dead, Officer Morgan had passed by several corridors and rooms. Officer Morgan had also gotten by several of the Undead Forces best soldiers, The Necro-Guards. It was at that moment, which Officer Morgan had made it to a seemingly nondescript building. "This was the building Necro-Oracle had told me about." said Officer Morgan. That was where Officer Morgan had picked the Keys out of his pocket. "This must be the key for the building." said Officer Morgan.
As soon as he said that, he put the key into the keyhole. All the while, in another dimension, The Gate Master was watching the events unfold. "It looks like Officer Morgan will be getting some new weaponry." said the Gate Master. As he was saying that, he switched over to another viewscreen. That viewscreen showed the events at the castle. Meanwhile, at the Caste, King Anderson had ordered the moving of the peoples in the castle to a safer location. At that moment, the four generals had showed up at the castle's wall, via a warp spell cast by Quotor.
"Finally." said Zoutoxas, "We're inside.". As soon as Zoutoxas said that, the four generals had started attacking the inhabitants of the castle. All of a sudden, Telzor came into the castle. Sir Dante Morgan came in from the Armory. At that moment, The two had seen each other. "Morgan!!" Telzor roared, as he charged at Sir Morgan. All the while, the four generals were rampaging through the castle. That was where Ortonk had charged at the Generals. "Ortonk, Wait." said King Anderson. All of a sudden, Quotor had used his Razor Slash attack on King Anderson. "Augghh!" exclaimed King Anderson, as he fell to the ground. That was where Ortonk had rushed over to King Anderson.

"Alert, level 2." said the ship's computer. "Computer, where are the hostiles?" asked Captain Zordash. "Hostiles located ahead of ship, and to the left side." said the ship's computer. Just then, the ship was hit by several rockets. "all crew, prepare for defense." said Captain Zordash. "Sir" said Lieutenant Gotarus. "Yes, Lieutenant Gotarus." said Captain Zordash. "I have some bad news." said Lieutenant Gotarus. "What is it?" asked Captain Zordash. "Our Armor Walkers are Off-line. also they're beyond repair." Said Lieutenant Gotarus. "this is just great." said Captain Zordash. Just then, several more rockets had hit the ship. "Helmsman" said Captain Zordash, "Prepare Autocannons.". "Yes, sir." said Helmsman Mecator. Meanwhile, at the Arch Mage's tower, Alan, Officer Morgan, and Broktar had arrived in the main room.
"Ah, you must be the people my apprentice told me about." said Alex. At that moment, Broktar noticed something in the distance. "First of all, i would like to introduce myself." said Alex Johnson, "i am Alex Johnson. You three have already met my Apprentice, Lucas Sorbo.". "I am Tirus, Ranger Of the Town Of Chior." Said Tirus. "A Elf, I should have known." said Broktar, "I sensed her energy level when we were on the seventh floor.". "Actually, i'm a Half-Elf." said Tirus. "What do you mean by that, Broktar?" asked Alan. "My People, The Lizard Creatures, have a history with the Elves." said Broktar. "Yeah, Elves have a history with the Lizard Creatures." said Tirus. As soon as Tirus said that, she went for her Bow And Arrow, and aimed it at Broktar. That was where Broktar had aimed his weapon mount at Tirus. "Hold it." said Alan, "We're supposed to be on the same side.". "Sir." said Lucas, "There seems to be a disturbance in Orc Territory.”. "What is the disturbance?" asked Broktar. "apparently, the Shock Rangers are raiding a ship of some sort." replied Lucas. "Then we must do something about it." said Officer Morgan. "Yes, i agree, but you should be careful." said Alex. "What do you mean?" asked Officer Morgan. "The Shock Rangers are a dangerous clan. Their warriors ride upon creatures called Griontors." said Alex, "They also have weaponry from other dimensions.".
"Other dimensions?" Said Officer Morgan. "Yes, but we should go there to help out any survivors." said Alan. "It's agreed then." said Alex, "Tirus will show you the way.". As soon as Alex said that, Broktar, Alan, Officer Morgan, and Tirus had gone back down to the first floor, After Alex Convinced Tirus to go with the team. "I can't believe this." said Tirus. "What's that?" asked Alan. "It's Being stuck with a creature, such as Broktar." said Tirus. "Hey, just because Lizard Creatures and Elves have a history of being enemies, that doesn't stop our two peoples from reconciling our differences." said Broktar. Just then, Joseph had contacted Alan, via the comm-link. "Alan." said Joseph, "What's your status?". "We've just started our trip." said Alan, "But we have been informed about a disturbance in Orc Territory.". "Yeah, and the Clan that resides in the territory is the Shock Rangers." said Officer Morgan. "Shock Rangers." said Joseph. "Yes, Shock Rangers." Said Broktar, "We Must get a move on.".
"Yes, then you better get there." said Joseph, "I will contact you once you're in position.". Once Joseph said that, he ended the transmission. "Hey, i just realized something." said Broktar. "What's that?" asked Officer Morgan. "We don't have any mode of transportation." replied Broktar. "That's right." said Officer Morgan, "We couldn't use the police car, because it's in the Earth Dimension.". "So is my truck." said Alan. "I know of someone who can help." said Tirus. "Who's that?" asked Alan. "Rotusor the Rat-Man." Replied Tirus. "Rotusor?" asked Officer Morgan. "Yes, Rotusor lives in a encampment to the south of the Castle." said Tirus, "I'll go talk to Rotusor.". "We'll meet you on the way." said Alan. "I will accompany Tirus on her way to Rotusor's place." said Officer Morgan. "Alright, Officer Morgan." said Alan, "We'll start to head to the area where the disturbance is located in.".
As soon as Alan said that, he and Broktar started on their way. "Tirus, what is area where the Orc Territory is located in?" asked Alan. "it's Directly to the north." said Tirus, "go past the bridges and keep going north until you find two cliffs.". "is that where the boarders of the begin?" asked Broktar. "not quite, it starts a couple of meters off from it." said Tirus, "there is a sign stating that it is Orc Teritory.". "i understand." said Alan. That was where Alan and Broktar had started on the way to the Orc Territory. "Tirus, who is this Rotusor whom you speak of?" Asked Officer Mogan. "He's a good friend of Mine." replied Tirus, "he had helped my hometown from being invaded by Orcs.". Little did Tirus and Officer Morgan know that the Ghoul K'Dartok was following them.
"General Quotor." said K'Dartok, "i have something to tell you.". "What would that be?" Asked Quotor. "Apparently, the Half-Elf Ranger Tirus is getting involved." said K'Dortok, "and now Tirus and the human known as Officer Morgan are going to the base of the Rat-man Rotusor.". "this is most serious." said Quotor, "i'll send a squad of zombies in to deal with the human known as Officer Morgan and the Ranger Tirus.". "what shall i do, General Quotor." said K'Dortok. "Hold your position." said Quotor. At that moment, a squad of zombies had entered the main room of the Keep, where Quotor was located in. That was where the Captain of the Squad came Forward. "Sir, Captain Ghoulax reporting for duty, sir." said Captain Ghoulax. "finally, the troops i sent for have arrived." said Quotor, "i have a mission for you and your troops.". "what is it, sir?" asked Captain Ghoulax. "it seems that a group of warriors have started a quest to stop the Master Of Zombies." said Quotor, "so far, two of the warriors are headed to the base of the Rat-Man Rotusor. I want you to make sure they don't get any farther in their quest.".
"understood, sir." said Captain Ghoulax. At that moment, Quotor had moved into position to warp the troops into the Area. Meanwhile, outside of Rotusor's base, Tirus and Officer Morgan had made it to Rotusor's place. That was where Rotusor had noticed Tirus and Officer Morgan. "well, i'll be." Rotusor said To himself. That was where Rotusor went over to the Front door and opened it. "Rotusor." said Tirus as soon as she saw Rotusor. "ah, Tirus." said Rotusor, "it's been a long time.". "It sure has been a long time." said Tirus. At that moment, a squad of zombies had appeared in the area. "By the Gods." said Rotusor. "Finally, the targets." said Captain Ghoulax, "Alright Troops, surround and attack.". "Yes, sir." said the zombie troops, as they moved into position. "Oh, great." exclaimed Officer Morgan, "how did they get here?". "Apparently it's the work of General Quotor." said Rotusor. "Quotor?" said Officer Morgan, "who's that?". Just then, a zombie tried to jump at Rotusor. Fortunately, Rotusor managed to dodge the attack. Officer Morgan had unholstered both of his guns and aimed both at the Zombies.
"if i remember Correctly." said Officer Morgan, "to stop a zombie, aim for the head.". "where did you learn that?" asked Tirus. "That was from watching Zombie Movies." replied Officer Morgan. That was where most of the Zombies had surrounded Officer Morgan. "This should be good." said One of the Zombies. All of a sudden, The zombies had charged at Officer Morgan, Tirus, and Rotusor. "Bang!", "bang!". Shots rang out as several Zombies fell. Several Zombies had tried to gang up on Tirus. "Tirus, Watch Out!!" exclaimed Officer Morgan. just then, a zombie managed to injure Tirus. "Yaah!!" Tirus exclaimed as she fell to the ground. "Now for the Human and the Rat-man." said Captain Ghoulax. "how dare you harm a friend of mine." said Rotusor. As soon as he said that, Rotusor had charged at the remaining Zombies. "Rotusor, wait!" said Tirus. But before Rotusor could react, he was hit with a arrow from one of the Zombies.
"yaargh!!" Rotusor exclaimed when the arrow had pierced his shoulder. That was where Officer Morgan had moved into position. "trying to be the hero, eh, human." said Captain Ghoulax, "Zombies, attack.". Just then, the zombies had charged Officer Morgan. Officer Morgan had started charging at the zombies, with both guns blazing. "This is for harming Rotusor and Tirus." said Officer Morgan. While that was going on, K'Dortok was watching from a distance. "This is most interesting." K'Dortok said to himself, "the human seems to be quite a fighter.". Meanwhile, Broktar and Alan had crossed the bridge leading north into Orc Territory. "You're probably wondering how i had gotten these cybernetics." said Broktar. "How did you get those cybernetics?" asked Alan. "It was in the late 19th century, in your home realm of Earth." said Broktar, "when i had entered the realm by accident. the location i landed in, was England.".
"19th century England?" Alan Said, curiously. "i know it sounds strange." said Broktar, "during that time, i had encountered a time-travelling Mad Bomber.". “A time Travelling Mad Bomber." said Alan. "Yes, during the encounter, one of his bombs went off." said Broktar, "i tried to move it out of the way, but it went off, and it cost me my arm.". "how did you get the cybernetics?" asked Alan. "that was with the help of a alien warrior whom had arrived there centuries before." said Broktar, "ever since the incident, i didn't see the Mad Bomber ever again.". Just then, Broktar had seen something in the distance. "Computer." said Broktar, "access long range visual scan.". “Accessing long range scan." Broktar's computer Replied. "What on Earth is that?" said Alan.
That was where the Recon Patrol, lead by Sergeant Dorgarus had moved into position. "wait a minute." said Sergeant Dorgarus. "apparently there are two individuals in the distance." said Kalzortus. That was where Kalzortus had checked the viewscope. "Are you able to tell who, or what they are?" asked Dorgarus. "there is a human and a lizardman." replied Kalzortus. "a human and a Lizardman?" asked Kar'Gorto. "yes, young warrior, a human and a lizardman." said Kalzortus. "how were you able to recognize that there is a lizardman with the human?" Asked Dorgarus. "i have seen many different kinds of life forms throughout my life." said Kalzortus, "i have witnessed these lizard creatures, and some of the events in their civilization.".
"what events?" asked one of the members of the Recon Patrol. "one such event happened during the battles in the sister realm of this realm." said Kalzortus, "it was when a sacred object that the Elves had deep respect for, had been stolen.”. "what Happened next?" asked Kar'Gorto. "the Elves had suspected the Lizard Creatures of being the culprits." said Kalzortus, "it was later revealed that a clan Of Orcs had stolen the object known as the Vase Of Light.". "Why would the Orcs steal the Vase Of Light?" asked Dorgarus. Just then, Alan And Broktar came closer to the Recon Patrol. "Well, I'll Be." Broktar said, "it's a patrol of Kor'Drakk Warriors.". "Kor'Drakk?" said Alan. "yes, it just so happens that a member of their people had helped me get these Cybernetics." said Broktar.
Just then, Kalzortus came forth from the Recon Patrol. “Wait a minute." said Kalzortus, "is that you, Broktar?". "Kalzortus?" said Broktar. "Well, i'll be." said Kalzortus, "it is you.". That was where Broktar and Kalzortus came forward, and started acting like old friends, which, in fact, they are. Alan was standing there, with a rather confused look. So were the other members of the Recon Patrol. "it's sure been a long time." Broktar said to Kalzortus. “Yeah, it's been 500 years." said Kalzortus. "500 years?" Alan Asked, curiously. "yes, young human." said Kalzortus, "500 years ago, i had met a young Lizardman by the name Of Broktar.". "yes, it was during a time of conflict between my people and the Elves." said Broktar, "the Events took place in a dimension that just so happens to be the sister realm of this realm.".
"hey, wait a minute." said Alan, "Broktar, when you told me the events in which you got your cybernetics. The events you said, took place in the late 19th century, in England.”. "Yes, what about it?" asked Broktar. "How were you able to arrive in England during the Late 19th century?" asked Alan. At that moment, Captain Zordash had contacted the Recon Patrol. "Sergeant Dorgarus." said Captain Zordash. "yes, Captain." said Sergeant Dorgarus. "There's a situation here at the ship." said Captain Zordash. "The Orcs must be near." said Broktar. "how would you know, Lizardman?" said Captain Zordash. "we were told by Tirus the Ranger." said Broktar. "we were on our way to the site of a crashed object in Orc Territory." said Alan.
"the Object you are referring to, is our ship." said Dorgarus, "how dare you insult the Kor'Drakk cruiser 'Dragon Fire', the glory of the Kor'Drakk Armada.". Just then, Dorgarus had attempted to strike down Alan for the perceived insult. "stand Down, Dorgarus." said Kalzortus. "What do you mean, Kalzortus?" said Dorgarus. "you're letting pride cloud your judgement." said Kalzortus, "you must learn to control your emotions.". "if you insist." said Dorgarus. After Dorgarus said that, she started heading back to the cruiser. "i must apologize on Dorgarus's behalf, and on behalf of our patrol." said Kalzortus, "Dorgarus tends to get riled up whenever someone insults the Kor'Drakk, its People, Army, or its Technology, or even the home planet.".
"we've better get a move on, if we are to be of any help." said Alan. "That's Right." said Broktar. "why don't you hop on-board." said Kalzortus. "On-Board?" said Broktar. "yes, on-board the Drakkus 7." said Kalzortus. The Drakkus 7 is a 4-wheeled recon vehicle. Its features include a cloaking device. "i just hope we can get there in time to be of any help." said Alan. That was where Alan, Broktar, And Kalzortus started to make their way to the Kor'Drakk cruiser. Meanwhile, at Rotusor's place, the zombies were shot down by Officer Morgan. "you won't be able to stop the Master Of Zombies." said Captain Ghoulax. As he was saying that, he looked over at Tirus and Rotusor. Then he looked back at Officer Morgan. That was where he started moving towards Officer Morgan.
"it seems your friends are in a bad position." said Captain Ghoulax, "you shall not proceed any farther.". As he was moving closer, Captain Ghoulax had reached for his battle-axe. "The Master Of Zombies shall thank me for eliminating these so-called 'heroes'." said Captain Ghoulax. "you won't stop us." Said Officer Morgan, as he was reloading his guns. "alright you rotting piece of flesh." Officer Morgan said under his breath, "just a moment longer.". That was where Captain Ghoulax has started to quicken his pace. At that moment, Tirus had managed to toss an arrow in Captain Ghoulax's path. The Arrow that Tirus tossed, had crossed the path of Captain Ghoulax. At that moment, Captain Ghoulax had tripped over the arrow. "Arrgh." Captain Ghoulax said, as he fell to the ground. "now's your chance, Officer Morgan." Tirus said to Officer Morgan. that was where Officer Morgan had gotten into position. "Alright, you rotting piece of flesh." said Officer Morgan, "get up.".
As he saying this, he aimed both of his guns directly at Captain Ghoulax's head. "human, why do you even bother with this talk?" Captain Ghoulax said to Officer Morgan. Once he said that, Captain Ghoulax went for his Battle-Axe. "Don't even bother trying to get your axe." said Officer Morgan. While Officer Morgan was dealing with Captain Ghoulax, the Ghoul K'Dortok was moving closer to the scene. "i must help Captain Ghoulax." said K'Dortok. Just then, the archers whom were stationed at the south wall of the castle had come back from the armory. "wait a minute." said one of the archers. "what is it, Greg?" another one of the archers asked Greg, "it looks like a ghoul is fighting Officer Morgan." said Greg, "not only that, it looks like a Half-Elf and the Rat-Man Rotusor are in the area. It looks like they're injured.".
"We've better do something to help them." said one of the archers. Just then, the Knight Dante Morgan had come onto the Wall. "What's going on?" asked Dante. "it Seems that there is a situation going on just outside Rotusor's place." said Greg. "i shall get a squad of troops ready." said Dante. Just then, one of the archers had noticed the Ghoul K'Dortok. "hey guys." the Archer said, "there seems to be a ghoul here.". At that moment, K'Dortok had noticed the Archers at the wall. "Oh, Great." said K'Dortok, "hey, Captain Ghoulax, you've better hurry up and finish off the Human, the Half-Elf, and the Rat-Man.". "yeah, yeah." said Captain Ghoulax, "i'm on it.". After he said that, he went for his secondary weapon, which is a short sword.
"hold it right there." said Officer Morgan. "You won't stop me from completing my mission." said Captain Ghoulax. As soon as he said that, he charged at Officer Morgan. "for the Glory of the Master Of Zombies." Captain Ghoulax exclaimed as he charged at Officer Morgan. "watch out!" exclaimed Tirus. Just then, Officer Morgan had managed to dodge out of the way of Captain Ghoulax's charge. "huh." said Captain Ghoulax, "how are you still able to move?". Little did Officer Morgan, Tirus, and Rotusor realize that Captain Ghoulax isn't the only undead creature in the area.
All of a sudden, K'Dortok had started charging towards the area where Officer Morgan, Tirus, Rotusor, and Captain Ghoulax are located in. All the while, the archers were firing at K'Dortok. Just then, K'Dortok had turned to face the Archers and the barrage of arrows. K'Dortok then took a Blade Disc from his belt and tossed it at the archers. The Blade Disc is a circular disc weapon with a curved blade on each section. "incoming Projectile!!" exclaimed one of the archers. As soon as the archer said that, the archers had put up their shields, in a attempt to block the Blade Disc. But it was too late, the Blade Disc had managed to hit its target, as it sliced through several of the Archers' Armor.
"auggh!!" exclaimed the injured Archers as they fell to the floor, next to the outer edge of the wall. "someone get the healer up here." said Greg Myers. That was where one of the archers had started on his way to get help. Meanwhile, at the site of the crashed Kor'Drakk cruiser, Kalzortus had joined with the rest of the crew. All of a sudden, one of the Orcs had targeted Kalzortus. "this should be good." The Orc Said, as he loaded a missile launcher. "Helmsman." said Captain Zordash, "What's the status?". "i'm getting several incoming projectiles." said Helmsman Mecator, "they're coming in from Starboard Side.".
Just then, several rockets hit the cruiser right below the Autocannons on the starboard side. "ka-boom!!" the rockets hit directly at the shields, which rocks the ship. "Chief Engineer Jor'Dorus." said Captain Zordash, "how are you and the crew doing on the engine repair?". "Warp coils are nearly repaired." Replied Jor'Dorus. At that moment, Kalzortus had contacted Captain Zordash. "sir." said Kalzortus, "recon Patrol Alpha reporting in.". "Kalzortus, what's your status?" asked Captain Zordash. "Apparently, this realm has many different cultures." said Kalzortus. "Cultures?" asked Captain Zordash, "What kinds?". "there is a medieval type of area to the south of this area." said Kalzortus. At that moment, several Orc warriors came charging at the recon patrol, Alan, and Broktar. "For the glory of the clans!!" one of the Orc Warriors exclaimed. "warning: incoming hostiles", Broktar's computer said. "i suggest we defend ourselves." said Broktar, as he was getting into defensive position.
"Kor'Drakk Warriors, begin defensive maneuvers." said Sergeant Dorgarus. As the Kor'Drakk Warriors were getting into defensive position, Xeintox had motioned for his Gatling cannon artillery crews. "Alright, Comrades." said Xeintox, "move into position.". "yes, sir." said the Artillery Crew Captain. That was where Broktar had noticed that the Artillery crew was moving towards the rear of the cruiser. "guys." said Broktar, "there seems to be a artillery crew headed towards the rear of the ship.". "oh, great." said Dorgarus, "if they make it to that part, they'll be able to knock out the external propulsion system.". "aren't there any shields in that area, or at least some way of defense in that area." said Alan. "There's only a couple of chain guns and an energy shield protecting the external propulsion system." said Dorgarus. "i'll help defend the position." said Kar'Gorto. Little did the Kor'Drakk crew, the Recon Patrol, Alan, Broktar, and the Orcs realize that the Battle Knight Was Watching the situation. "Most Impressive." The Battle Knight said to himself, "these Orcs have some powerful weapons.". Just then, Quotor had contacted the Battle Knight.
"Battle Knight, What is your position and status?" Asked Quotor. "I'm Outside the site of a c rashed Alien ship." said the Battle Knight. "Crashed Alien ship?" asked Quotor. "yes, a alien ship." said the Battle Knight, "I'm not waiting.". As soon as the Battle Knight said that, he had unsheathed the Skull Sword, and started charging towards the site. That was where one of the Orc Warriors had noticed that the Battle Knight was charging towards the site. "sir." said the Orc, "the Battle Knight is approaching.". "Prepare defensive maneuvers." said Xeintox. That was where two Artillery crews moved into position, Along with a squad of Orc Warriors, both on Griontors and on foot. "all troops, fire upon the Battle Knight." said the Artillery Crew Captain. That was where every troop in the defensive position started firing at the Battle Knight.
"pow", "Pow". Each of the shots from the Artillery cannons had hit the Battle Knight. However, the Gatling cannons had no effect on the Battle Knight and his armor. "that can't be possible." said one of the Orcs. "this guy isn't going down." said another Orc. That was where several rocket launcher wielding Orcs moved into position and fired upon the Battle Knight. "That should do it." said the Artillery Captain. All of a sudden, the Orcs had started to see a shadow emerge from the shadowy Smoke. It was that of the Battle Knight. "is there anything that he can do to stop him." said one of the Orcs. "Look guys." said another Orc, "it looks like most of the Battle Knight's armor is heavily damaged.".
The Battle Knight's Armor had sustained heavy damage, including his helmet. "hey guys." said one of the Orcs, "we might have a chance of beating this guy.". All of a sudden, one of the Orcs had seen the Battle Knight Start to recover his armor. The Battle Knight's Armor is created from Dark Powers. It can recover itself, using the Dark Powers. As the Battle Knight's Armor was repairing itself, he looked down at his tunic. He had remembered that there was a cut on the tunic, right over his chest. "it's been years." the Battle Knight Said to himself, "that i faced Joseph Barker.". The events that the Battle Knight is referring to, happened many, many years ago. It was when the Battle Knight had battled the Knight Lord Joseph Barker. The Battle had left the Battle Knight with a scar on his chest.
That was where Quotor had managed to contact The Battle Knight. "Battle Knight." said Quotor, "return to base immediately.". "Not until i finish what i have started." said the Battle Knight. "Get Back here immediately." said Quotor, "the Master Of Zombies is expecting you here at the Undead Keep.". "the Master Of Zombies is there?" said the Battle Knight. "the Master Of Zombies is there?" said the Battle Knight. "yes, and he's waiting for you." said Quotor. "If you insist." said The Battle Knight. That was where the Battle Knight had faced the Orcs, Broktar, The Crew of the "Dragon Fire" and Alan.
"Until Next Time." said the Battle Knight. Once he said that, he started to head towards the Undead Keep. "Who was that?" Asked Alan. "i haven't the slightest." said Kalzortus, "Even in all my years. i have seen hundreds of worlds and hundreds of people. Never before have i seen a being such as him.". That was whee the Orcs had turned to face the crew of the Kor'Drakk cruiser, Alan, And Broktar. "All Warriors." said Dorgarus, "Prepare to defend the ship at all costs.". Once Dorgarus said that, she and the Warriors had readied their weapons. All of a sudden, an Orc Warrior came forth from the clan. "All Warriors, Hold your fire." said Xeintox. "What on Earth?" said Alan. At that moment, Joseph had contacted Alan, Via the Comm-link. "Alan." said Joseph, "What's your status?".
"Officer Morgan and i had arrived in Octiviox." said Alan, "i am currently at the site of an crash landed alien cruiser.". "interesting." said Joseph, "what else had happened? Were you able to find the creature that stole the parts?". "i haven't found him yet." said Alan, "but i have a idea where he might be at.". "Oh, Really now." said Joseph, "where would that be?". "Well, when the Knight was talking to the Dark Being, The Dark Being said something about an Undead Keep." said Alan. "an Undead Keep?" asked Joseph. "i haven't the slightest what that is." said Alan. Just then, the Orc Warrior had reached the Kor'Drakk Cruiser. "What On Earth?" said Alan. "On behalf of Captain Xeintox, Leader of the Shock Rangers clan, and on..." said the Orc Warrior. But before the Orc Warrior could finish the sentence, Broktar had grabbed him by the throat, and started to lift him into the air.
"Alright you slimy...." said Broktar. "Hold it, Broktar." said Alan, "let the Warrior speak.". "If you insist." said Broktar, as he put the Warrior back on the ground. "Continue with what you are saying." said Alan. "As i was saying." said the Orc, "On Behalf of Captain Xeintox and the Shock Rangers, Captain Xeintox wishes to apologize for any inconvenience the situation has caused.". “Apologize." said Broktar, "for What? Trying to raid this ship.". As Broktar was saying this, he aimed his weapon mount at the Orc Warrior. "Apparently, there is something more to this situation that what it appears to be." Said Kalzortus. Meanwhile, in another Dimension, The Gate Master had seen the recent events. "It is time." said the Gate Master, "That i meet Alan in person.". That was where the Gate Master Realized that if he was to leave the portals unwatched, creatures from all dimensions could cause chaos.
"Hmm, how shall i meet Alan." said the Gate Master, "without leaving the Portals unwatched.". Meanwhile, at the Kor'Drakk cruiser, The Orc Warrior had sent a message from Xeintox, Leader of the "Shock Rangers" clan to Captain Zordash of the Cruiser "Dragon Fire". "I still don't trust these Orcs." said Broktar. "After witnessing the events in your homerealm, i couldn't really blame you." said Kalzortus, "Maybe you should let them have a chance to prove themselves.". "Maybe you're right." said Broktar, "Who knows. Maybe they might prove to be worthy allies.". That was where Captain Zordash had contacted Dorgarus. "Dorgarus, What is your status?" asked Captain Zordash. "It seems that the Orcs have stopped the attack." said Dorgarus, “and the Clan leader has sent one of his warriors to negotiate a possible alliance.".
"Allow them to enter the Ship." said Captain Zordash. "But, Sir." said Dorgarus, "they just attacked our ship.”. “they may be able to prove themselves." said Kalzortus. "i would have to agree with Kalzortus." said Kar'Gorto. "Then it's agreed." said Captain Zordash, "escort the warriors inside.". That was where Xeintox, leader of the "Shock Rangers" clan came forth from the Orc Clan. "so, your leader has decided to accept my proposal." said Xeintox. "Why, you Slimy..." said Broktar. "Hold it, Broktar." said Alan. "it seems your lizardman friend is a bit of a hothead." said Xeintox. After Xeintox said that, he started to head towards the Kor'Drakk Cruiser.
Meanwhile, in the Town Of Chior, Aross was having a meeting in the main room of the Town Hall with his advisors. "sir." said one of the Advisors, "we must improve our defenses if we are to stand a chance against the forces of the undead.". "by the way." said another one of the Advisors, "how is your sister?". "the last i heard from her." said Aross, "was that she was headed to the Arch Mage's Tower. I haven't heard from her since then.". Just then, Gretack the Ogre had entered the scene. "Gretack." said Aross, "What in the Realms are you doing here? You're supposed to be guarding the Bridge.". "One of the Advisors told me to see you." said Gretack, "I had also made sure that the bridge is still being watched.".
Meanwhile, at Rotusor's base, Captain Ghoulax and K'Dortok had retreated from the base. "that was unusual." said Officer Morgan. That was where Sir Dante Morgan had arrived on the scene with the healer with him. "Ah, Comrade." said Sir Morgan, "i have heard so much about you.". "How on Earth do you know about me?" asked Officer Morgan, "i have only just arrived here not too long ago.". "Never mind that." said Sir Morgan, "lets get you guys healed up.". That was where the Healer had proceeded to heal Officer Morgan, Tirus, and Rotusor. Meanwhile, back at the Kor'Drakk Cruiser, Xeintox had been escorted to the Ready Room section of the Cruiser. "So what you're Saying." said Captain Zordash, "is that, if we were to join forces with you, we would get the help of great warriors.". "Basically." said Xeintox, "not only that, my warriors know more about this land then even your recon patrol, or even your Probes could tell.".
"How dare you insult our people?!" exclaimed Sergeant Dorgarus. "Dorgarus, You're doing it again." said Kalzortus, "You're letting your pride cloud your judgment.". "Ha hah." said Xeintox, "it seems i have riled up one of your troops.". "The boss tends to do that." said one of the Orc Warriors. "Yes, apparently so." said Kalzortus. Just then, Joseph had contacted Alan. "Alan." said Joseph, "What's your status?". "i'm inside the Kor'Drakk cruiser." said Alan, "the Orcs have stopped fighting against the Kor'Drakk.". "the Orcs have stopped fighting." said Joseph, curiously. "they're going over a proposal for an alliance." said Alan. Meanwhile, at the Desert Base Of The Barbarian Tribe, the council had assembled. That was where Clint Orons, King of the Tribe, had stepped forward. "Comrades." Clint Orons said, "It is time for all of the tribes to unite, and stand against the oncoming Forces Of Darkness.". "Sire." said Deronix. "Yes, Deronix." Said Clint. "There seems to be a messenger waiting outside the borders." said Deronix. "Allow them to enter." said Clint. That was where Deronix went to the Outer Gates, and informed the messenger to come see the King in person. Meanwhile, at the Kor'Drakk Cruiser, The Kor'Drakk Captain Zordash, and the Orc Warrior Xeintox had signed the Aliiance. "This shall mark the beginning of a new era." said Xeintox. "Sir." said Mecator, "Kor'Drakk High Command is contacting this ship.". "Bring it on screen." said Captain Zordash.
That was where the vid-screen in the ready room came on-line. The Kor'Drakk Commander-In-Chief, Vor'Tosus had contacted the crew. "Captain Zordash." said Commander-In-Chief Vor'Tosus. "Commander Vor'Tosus." said Captain Zordash, "I was thinking of contacting you.". "i have some bad news." said Vor'Tosus. "what would that be?" asked Captain Zordash. "Our Homeplanet, Dracronus, was destroyed." said Vor'Tosus. "By the Gods." said Captain Zordash, "When did this happen?". “It was a hour ago." said Vor'Tosus. "How Could this happen?" said Gotarus, "who has done such a thing?". "It was the Slortaxons." said Vor'Tosus, "Not only that, but a pirate crew.". "A Pirate crew?" Said Kar'Gorto. "This is a dark day, indeed." said Kalzortus. "What is the pirate crew?" asked Kar'Gorto. "The Crew is comprised entirely of humans." said Vor'Tosus, "their captain is Amadeus Ironside. The ship's name is 'Gatronus'.".
"Humans." said Captain Zordash, "I should have known better.". "Captain." said Kalzortus, "Don't let your distrust of humans prevent a new era from dawning.". "Apparently humans had been responsible for this situation." said Captain Zordash, "i say we deal with the Humans.". "I wouldn't be so certain about the humans." said Kalzortus, "Not all humans are bad.". "Name a example." said Captain Zordash. "One such example is the human whom is with us." said Kalzortus. "What is his name?" asked Captain Zordash. "I actually didn't get to ask his name." said Kalzortus. "That was bright." said Broktar. "Apparently, you still haven't lost your comments." said Kalzortus. That was where Alan had stepped forward.
"Human, What is your name?" asked Captain Zordash. "It is Alan Arthur Stukov." Replied Alan. “Stukov?" said Captain Zordash, "How interesting.". "Sir." said Kalzortus, "We should start to rebuild our homeworld.". "That's a good idea." said Vor'Tosus. "Hey, Wait a minute." said Alan. "What's that?" asked Kalzortus. "Vor'Tosus's Voice Sounds familiar." replied Alan. "What do you mean?" asked Gotarus. "Ah, so you recognize my voice." said Vor'Tosus, "Maybe this might help.". As soon as Vor'Tosus said that, he started to transform. "What on Earth?" said Alan, as he watched Vor'Tosus transform into a human form. That was where Vor'Tosus had fully Transformed into a human form. "So, do you recognize me now." said Vor'Tosus. "What on Earth?" said Alan, "You Couldn't possibly be my teacher.". "Indeed i was." Replied Vor'Tosus. "What do you mean, Vor'Tosus?" asked Kar'Gorto.
"I was once a teacher at a school on the Planet Of Earth." said Vor'Tosus, "It was there, where i had taught history to a young Alan Stukov.". "Is that so." said Captain Zordash, "Apparently you seem to trust humans too much.". "Captain Zordash." said Vor'Tosus, "it seems you haven't lost your distrust of humans.". "I might have figured you would say so." said Captain Zordash. "Now then." said Vor'Tosus, "Let's Get a move on.". "For What reason?" Asked Kalzortus. "Apparently the patrol has been interrupted." said Vor'Tosus. "Yes, we were getting to that." said Kalzortus. "Kalzortus is right." said Dorgarus, "but we were side-tracked when we inadvertently entered a wormhole, and entered into this dimension.".
"Not only that." said Kar'Gorto, "we had encountered a clan of Orcs.". "yes, and also the ship had suffered moderate damage around the ship." said Captain Zordash, "we were doing the repairs when the orcs had attacked.". “yes." said Vor'Tosus, "well, you've better get a move on.". "There's one last thing." said Kalzortus, "there's the matter Of the Master Of Zombies.". "The Master Of Zombies?" asked Vor'Tosus. "yes, the Master Of Zombies." said Captain Zordash, "All we know is that he is a dark being.". "Apparently so." Said Vor'Tosus, "if you wish, you can remain in that dimension.". "We may need reinforcements." said Gotarus. "We shall see what we can do." said Vor'Tosus, "When he have supplies for you, we shall warp it to you.". "What about troops?" asked Dorgarus. "unfortunately, we can't spare any troops at the moment." said Vor'Tosus. "Why is that?" asked Dorgarus. "For one thing." said Vor'Tosus, "most of the troops were killed in the battle against the Slortaxons and the Pirate crew.". "Of course, this realm may make a suitable location for a outpost." said Gotarus. "you may be right." said Vor'Tosus. "then we shall send you the data for the Alliance." said Captain Zordash. "It shall be done." said Vor'Tosus, "When we have available supplies and troops, we shall warp them to you directly.". Just then, A Kor'Drakk Warrior had entered the room where Vor'Tosus was located in.
"Sir." said the Kor'Drakk Warrior. "Yes, Comrade." said Vor'Tosus. "All of the Repairs have been completed." said the Warrior. "Most Excellent." said Vor'Tosus. Meanwhile, at Castle Diroctor, King Anderson's Daughter, Heather Anderson, had arrived at the castle. "Finally, you have arrived." said Ortonk, "i was starting to get worried about you.". "how have you been?" asked Heather. "I have been great." said Ortonk, "although these events have been a bit stressing, not only on me, but on the other residents of the castle.". At that moment, Sir Dante Morgan had entered the area. “M'Lady." said Sir Morgan, "it is good to see you.". "it is good to see you, too." said Heather. At that moment, King Anderson had entered the Area. "Father." said Heather, as she headed towards King Anderson. "It is good to see you." said King Anderson, "How was it with your Uncle and Cousin?". "It was excellent." Said Heather, "Duke Arthur sends his regards.". "Sire." said one of the Archers.
"Yes, what is it?" asked King Anderson. "The Heroes haven't returned from the object in the distance." said the Archer. That was where Officer Morgan, Tirus, and Rotusor had started on their way to the Crash-landed Kor'Drakk Cruiser. "I'll Come along." said Dante. "It's much better that you stay here, at the Castle." said Tirus. "then allow us to help by sending troops." said Sir Morgan. "That won't be necessary." said Officer Morgan. That was where the trio continued on their way. That was where Alex Johnson had arrived at the Castle. "Greetings, Alex." said King Anderson. "Greetings, King Anderson." said Alex Johnson. "Any news of the Heroes?" asked King Anderson.
"I haven't heard from Alan and Broktar." said Alex, "Or even Tirus and Officer Morgan. I have sent a messenger to the Barbarian Tribe.". “Excellent." said King Andrson, "Do you really think the Barbarians would be a worthy ally?". "Of Course." said Alex Johnson, "The Barbarians are Strong Warriors.". Meanwhile, at the crash site of the Kor'Drakk Cruiser, the orcs have left the ship. "I'm surprised." said Kalzortus. "What do you mean?" asked Gotarus. "I mean I'm surprised that this situation hadn't gotten any worse than it was." said Kalzortus. "whatever makes you say that?" said Broktar. "when i was in Artiox, i had encountered a clan of Orcs." said Kalzortus, "i had found those Orcs to be a bit Brutish.". "Is that so." said Broktar. "Of Course, Orcs can also make great Allies." said Kalzortus, "Even though Orcs can be a bit brutish.". "Oh, Really Now.” said Kar'Gorto. "Let's get going." said Dorgarus. Meanwhile, at the Undead Keep, The Battle Knight had arrived at the Keep. Quotor was waiting at the gate for him. "What in the Dark Realms were you trying to do?" asked Quotor. "Whatever do you mean?" said the Battle Knight. "You know what i mean." said Quotor, as he looked at the Battle Knight with one eyebrow raised. That was where Ghoultor had appeared at the gate. "Ah, Ghoultor." said Quotor, "About time you have gotten here.". "The Master Of Zombies wants to see both of you, Immediately." Said Ghoultor. "Is that so." said Quotor. "yes, indeed." said Ghoultor. That was where Ghoultor, Quotor, and the Battle Knight went into the Undead Keep.

The Adventures Of Warrior Omega
By Ryan Baker
Date: May 16, 2000
Location: South Eastern Part Of The U.S.
It was a normal day In May, when Alan Arthur Stukov, trucker for the company "Aconor Trucking Ltd." was on a delivery. Alan was on his way down to Florida. Meanwhile, at a army base, not far from Florida, Alan's brother, Joseph Stukov, had just finished a training exercise with some new recruits.
"Excellent Work, Soldiers." said Joseph. Just as Joseph said that, Sergeant Caleb Anderson had entered the scene. That was where Joseph Stood at Attention and Saluted Sergeant Anderson. "At Ease, Joseph." Said Sergeant Anderson. "Sir, I hadn't expected you to be on the field. I thought you still had work to do at the barracks?" Said Joseph. "I had Just finished that work you are referring to." said Sergeant Anderson, "Next on my list was a inspection of the Training exercises. By the way, how is your brother?".
"He's Doing Alright sir." Said Joseph, "He said he was on a delivery to a diner, not far from here. As for the training exercises, We've just completed the first part.". "Excellent, were there any problems?" Said Sergeant Anderson. While Sergeant Anderson and Joseph were going Over the inspection, Alan Stukov had just passed the Florida State Border, on the way into Florida. While Alan Was driving, he had the radio on. One particular song was "Puttin' the Dark Back into the night" By Sawyer Brown. Alan was singing along with the Song. That was where Bobby Raynor, a friend of Alan, and a fellow truck driver, came over the C.B. Radio. "Hiya Alan." Said Bobby. "Bobby, Is that You?" Asked Alan. "Of Course it's me, Alan." replied Bobby. "I didn't recognize you there for a moment.” said Alan, "How have you been all this time?".
"I'm doing great." replied Bobby. As Bobby and Alan were talking, Alan noticed someone in the distance. "I wonder whom the Person is?" Alan Said to himself, "It's Probably an illusion.". Meanwhile, in the distance, the person was going over his mission statement. "This should be interesting." The person said to himself, "The boss shall be pleased once the mission is completed.". As soon as the person said that, he started watching and waiting for when the coast is clear. Little did the person realize that there was a biker gang headed his way.
"Alright guys, the diner's not far off." said the leader of the biker gang. The Biker gang leader was a leader whom seemed to have a ruthless side to him, but on the other hand, a bit honourable. The gang he leads is a rough and tumble bunch. Meanwhile, Alan had just entered the area where the diner was located at. That was where he had seen Bobby Raynor at the parking lot of the diner "Diner of the Clouds". "Hi Alan." replied Bobby. "Hi Bobby." said Alan as he parked his truck and had gotten out of the truck. "Just let me go see the owner for a moment. I'll tell her i'm here." said Alan. "I'll come with you.” said Bobby. Meanwhile, the biker gang had just passed the Florida state border. That was where the lead biker had noticed a person in the distance. That person was the same person Alan had seen earlier. "Hey guys." said the lead biker, "It looks like we have a new target to rough up.". That was where the biker gang moved towards the person. Then one of the bikers had tossed a chain at the person. That was where one end of the chain had wrapped around the person.
"What matter of magic is this?" said the person. As soon as the person said that, he fell to the ground as the biker wielding the chain sped up. As a result, The person started to slide along the ground, getting dragged by the biker. Little did the bikers realize that the person isn't who he seems. All of a sudden, the person had managed to free himself from the chain. Just then, one of the bikers notices that the person had freed himself from the chain. "Hey Guys, it looks like our target is out of the chains." said the biker. As soon as the biker said that, he and the rest of the bikers turned right around and face the person. "You shall not stop me from completing my mission." said the person, "For The Glory Of The Master Of Zombies.". "The Master Of Zombies?" said the Gang Leader. "What do you say guys?" asked one of the Bikers. "I say we take this guy down." Said another biker, "What about you, boss?". "you're Right." said Greg Anderson, the biker gang leader.
That was where the gang had surrounded the person. "Alright, Bring it on." Said the person. That was where the person got into a defensive stance. Meanwhile, at Castle Diroctor, in the Dimension of Octiviox, King Eduardo Anderson had called for His Councillers. "Sire, State the reason why you have called for us." said John Taylors. "I have called you because of a major event." Said King Anderson. "What would that be, sire?" Asked John Taylors. "The Reawakening of the Master of Zombies." replied King Anderson. "The Reawakening, sire?" Said another Councilor. "Yes, the Reawakening." Said King Anderson, "It was 175 years ago this very month, when the Master of Zombies had attempted to plunge this realm into darkness. It was only with the help of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker and his sword, called the 'Omnolight', that stopped the Master Of Zombies and his minions of Darkness.". Meanwhile, back in Florida, The Biker Gang had managed to do some damage to the person. That was where on of the bikers had knocked the person down.
As soon as the person fell down, part of his mask was torn off, revealing his actual form underneath his mask. "What on Earth!?" Said one of the bikers, as he had noticed the torn piece of the person's mask. "I Guess you humans have figured out my secret." Said the person. "What Secret?" Asked Greg. "i am not from this realm." said the person. As Soon as the person said that, he took off his mask. "What the..." said one of the bikers as they witnessed the person transform into his actual form. As the Person Transformed, he also changed sizes. "Let's get him guys." said another biker. As soon as the biker said that, the gang attempted to rush at the person. Little did the gang realize that the person, in his actual form, is much stronger. That was where the person had finally transformed into his actual form. His Actual form is that of an undead creature. His entire body is covered in decayed flesh, and has a arch in the back. There are several sword slices in his body. He is a hulking Creature, standing over seven feet in height.
That was where one of the bikers had attempted to attack the creature. All of a sudden, the creature raised his hand. "Alright, i will see you pay for trying to mess with me." said the creature, "but first, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ghoultor.". "What do you say boys?" one of the bikers said. "Leave 'im to me" Another biker said. The biker is named Caleb Raynor. "Caleb, What do you have planned?" asked Greg. "I'm planning on taking him down with my power." said Caleb. "Alright Then, Show him that no one messes with the Fire Griffens." Said Greg.
That was where Caleb picks up several pieces of equipment from his motorcycle's side pack. The Equipment included a shotgun, a chain, and a Brass knuckle. As soon as Caleb picked up his gear, he started walking towards Ghoultor. "This Is Gonna be Fun." Caleb Said as he walked towards Ghoultor. As Caleb Walked towards Ghoultor, he equipped the brass knuckle on his right hand. Meanwhile, at the diner, "Diner Of The Clouds", Alan And Bobby were going over old times. That was where Officer Adam Morgan had entered the diner. Officer Morgan was a "Take Charge" kind of person. He had his regular equipment with him. All of a sudden, a call came over the radio in Officer Morgan's police Car. "I'll Be Right Back." Said Officer Morgan, as he headed towards the Police Car. That was where Officer Morgan had Picked up the comm-link in the police car. "Calling all available Officers." the voice from the other end said, "there's a fight going in the vicinity of the local military base.". "I'm on my way." said Officer Morgan. That was where the biker gang and Ghoultor had managed to take the fight even closer to where the diner was located at. Meanwhile, back at the diner, Alan had just started unloading his delivery.
Just then, Bobby had noticed something in the distance. It was the biker gang and Ghoultor fighting in the distance. As the Gang was fighting Ghoultor, Ghoultor had managed to toss several of the Gang Members. Just Then, Officer Morgan had arrived at the scene. "What The..." Officer Morgan said to himself. That was where Officer Morgan had called in for back-up. After Officer Morgan did that, he tried to break up the fight. "Alright, Break it up, all of you." Said Officer Morgan. That was where Ghoultor had turned to face Officer Morgan. "Good Thing i called for Back-up, before stepping out of the Car." Officer Morgan said to himself, "I just hope they can arrive in time.".
Just Then, Ghoultor had charged at Officer Morgan. Officer Morgan immediately moved out of the way. At that moment, Ghoultor came crashing into the police Car. "Alright, whoever you are, You're not going to mess with me." said Officer Morgan, "You're Going Down.". Meanwhile, in the Dimension of Octiviox, a spy had just entered Castle Diroctor. "Ah lad, you're here." said Ortonk Poreon, "How have you been?". "I've Been Better, but i have some dire news to tell the king." Replied Angus Davidson. "What do you mean?" asked Ortonk.
"It would seem that the Master Of Zombies's minions are trying to construct a giant battleship of some sort." replied Angus. "This is most Dire." said Ortonk, "the King Must Know about this.". "Fortunately, i had managed to acquire a copy of the plans, and had seen that the battleship is incomplete. They still need two more parts." said Angus. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Ghoultor has just started to head for his Objective, which was located in the military base. Both Officer Morgan and the biker gang had given chase to Ghoultor, as he was heading to the part of the base where the Objective of his mission is located at. At That moment, one of the Soldiers at the base had noticed the situation on that side of the base. "What On Earth?" The Soldier said to himself. At That moment, Corporal Mel Barker had entered the scene. "Soldier, What's Going On?" asked Corporal Barker. "I'm not sure, but it looks like some sort of decayed creature being chased by a biker gang and a police officer." Replied the Soldier.
"We've better do something about this." said the Soldier. As soon as the Soldier said that, the soldier and Corporal Barker had called for other soldiers to come and help in the chase. Meanwhile, in the Dimension Of Octiviox, at the Tomb of the Master Of Zombies, the Master Of Zombies had arisen from his Tomb. "Has it been 175 years already?" the Master of Zombies said to himself. That was where the Master Of Zombies looked around his surroundings. Just then, he went over to a mirror. His Reflection showed a creature that had suffered hundreds of years of decay. His Skin had turned grey-green in colour. His Eyes had sunken back into their Sockets. "Hmm, it seems that the objects in this tomb had sustained quite some wear." said the Master Of Zombies, "This must mean that the Knight Lord Joseph Barker is long Gone.". After he said that, the Master of Zombies went over and picked up his sword and shield, only to find that time had deteriorated the sword and shield. "Well, i have better get some new equipment." said the Master Of Zombies. As soon as the Master Of Zombies said that, he headed out to the entrance of the tomb. Little did the Master Of Zombies realize that a spy was outside the tomb, in the Graveyard of Darkness.
The Graveyard of Darkness is a dark, and almost Desolate place. Most Of the gravestones have fallen apart. The Spy is Loyal to King Anderson. The Spy was located partway between the centre of the Graveyard and the entrance. At that moment, the Spy had seen the Master Of Zombies. "By the Elder Beast God." the spy said, under his breath, "I Must tell the King about this.". All of a sudden, a Shadow Phantom had appeared behind the spy. That was where the spy turned to face the Shadow Phantom. Then the Shadow Phantom had raised his sickle. The Spy had attempted to block the sickle as it came down upon him. "Yaargh!!" Exclaimed the Spy as he fell to the ground. Then, with his last bit of Strength, he had written a message.
That message was "King Anderson, there is bad news. The Master Of Zombies has arisen from his tomb. I suspect he is going to join up with his legions of the undead. A suggested plan of action is to prepare the defenses. Unfortunately, i might not be able to help. Next Time you see me, i might be one of the undead. Please Tell my brother i still care about him.". As soon as the spy completed the message, he had attached the message to a carrying case on the homing pigeon he had carried with him. Meanwhile, at the military base, Ghoultor had made it to the mission objective. "Excellent." said Ghoultor, "The Master Of Zombies will be pleased.".
At that moment, Ghoultor had grabbed the objects he was sent to acquire. The objects were a computer system and hover tech circuits. Just then, Officer Morgan, the biker gang, and the soldiers had blocked the entrance to the building. "You won't capture me." Ghoultor sneers. At that moment, the soldiers aimed their rifles at Ghoultor. "You think your puny weapons can affect me." Sneers Ghoultor, as he was preparing to charge at the soldiers, the biker gang, and Officer Morgan. "Soldiers, prepare to fire on my mark." said Corporal Barker. At that moment, Ghoultor had charged at the group blocking his way. Meanwhile, at the diner, Bobby had noticed the incident at the base. At that moment, Bobby went to his truck and picked up a pair of binoculars. "What on Earth?" said Bobby, "Alan, you have better see this.". "What are you talking about?" Asked Alan. "Apparently, there's some sort of situation going on at the base." replied Bobby. "Wait a minute." said Alan, "My Brother is stationed at the base.". At that moment, Ghoultor had made it over to the other side of the road.
That was where Alan and Bobby had gone closer to investigate. Little did either of them realize that the situation is far more dangerous, because of the plans being put into motion, and Ghoultor's undead powers. While the situation was happening, in another dimension, a robed individual was watching the events unfold. "this is most dire." the individual said to himself. At that moment, Broktar, a Cyborg Lizardman had entered the room. "Sire, you have called for me." said Broktar. "Yes indeed, Broktar." replied the individual, "It seems that there is a major disturbance in the dimension of Octiviox.". "Is it the Master Of Zombies?" asked Broktar. "I'm Afraid so, Broktar." replied the Individual.
"Hmm, this is most dire, indeed." said Broktar, as he moved his cybernetically enhanced left arm. "Broktar." said the Individual. "Yes, Gate Master." said Broktar. "i want you to go into the dimension of Octiviox." said the Gate Master. "For what reason, Gate Master." asked Broktar. "I want you to intercept an individual whom will be entering that dimension very shortly." replied the Gate Master. "Whom is the individual that you want me to intercept?" asked Broktar. "The Individual in question is Alan Stukov." Replied the Gate Master. Meanwhile, near the base, Ghoultor had made it to the designated sector where he will enter a portal leading to the dimension of Octiviox. "i shall complete the mission." Ghoultor said to himself. At that moment, Ghoultor was surrounded by the soldiers, the gang, and Officer Morgan. "You humans shall not capture me!!!" Ghoultor said.
As soon as he said that, Ghoultor had opened a dimensional portal into Octiviox. "Soldiers, don't let him get away." Corporal Barker said to the soldiers. Just then, the back-up Officer Morgan radioed in earlier, had arrived. "What on Earth is that creature?" Officer James Sorbo said, when he arrived at the scene. "i haven't the slightest what the creature is, but we better not let him get away with the gear he's holding." Officer Diana Joelson said. At that moment, a giant came through the Portal. "Sir" said the Giant, "the Master Of Zombies is awaiting your arrival back in Octiviox.". "I'll be there right away." said Ghoultor. As soon as Ghoultor said that, he tossed a smoke bomb to cover his tracks. "soldiers, fire upon the target." Corporal Barker said the soldiers. "take him down." Officer Morgan said. But the soldiers and the cops were too late in stopping Ghoultor and the Giant from entering the portal.
"Oh, Great." said Officer Morgan, "They're Gone.". At that moment, Alan Stukov and Bobby Raynor had arrived at the scene. "What's going on?" asked Alan. "Apparently, the creature had escaped into some other dimension." replied Officer Morgan. "It looked like the creature was carrying two devices. What were the two devices?" asked Bobby. Meanwhile, in the Karnoxus sector of space, a Kor'drakk cruiser was continuing their patrol. "Computer, access database." said the Captain. The Captain is Captain Zordash, captain of the cruiser, "Dragon Fire.". Zordash is distrustful of humans. "Sir." said one of the crew members. "Yes, Helmsman Mecator." said Captain Zordash. "There seems to be a wormhole several light years in front of the Cruiser." said Helmsman Mecator.
At that moment, the ship started experiencing technical problems. little did the crew realize that they would be on a trip to the dimension of Octiviox. Meanwhile, on Earth, Alan had talked to his brother, Joseph. "Joseph, what are the capabilities of the objects that the creature had stolen?" Asked Alan. "Not much, on their own." replied Joseph, "but when they are connected to a vehicle, it could be dangerous.". "then allow me to help in retrieving the objects." said Alan. "That could be risky." said Joseph, "Do You really want to help in the situation?". "Of Course, Joseph." said Alan. "Hey Alan, i just thought of something." said Bobby. "What is that?" asked Alan. "You might be gone a long time. Shouldn't you at least call your boss, and tell him you won't be in for a while." replied Bobby. "That's right, Bobby." said Alan, "i have better do so.". As soon as Alan said that, he went back to his truck and picked up his cell phone and phoned his boss. "Mr. Jackson" said Alan. "Yes Alan, what can i do for you?" said Mr. Jackson. "i will not be in for the next while. I'm not sure how long." said Alan. "For What reason, Alan?" asked Mr. Jackson. "It is a major situation. Apparently there was a robbery at the military base here in Florida." said Alan. "Wait a minute, isn't your brother stationed at the base." said Mr. Jackson. "Yes, Joseph is stationed at the base." said Alan.
"Alright then, i'll get one of the other truckers to cover your loads." said Mr. Jackson. At that moment, Alan and Mr. Jackson had finished up the conversation. Alan went over to Joseph. "Then it's agreed." said Joseph. After Joseph said that, he and the other Soldiers prepared to retrieve the Gate Portal Generator. "Alan" Bobby said. "Yes, Bobby." Said Alan. "I just wanted to wish you luck on this mission." said Bobby, "and i would like to say that I will volunteer for this mission.". "But Bobby, what about your fiance?" asked Alan. "Oh yeah, that's right." said Bobby, "Julie and i were planning on going out tonight. thanks for reminding me.".
Meanwhile, in the dimension of Octiviox, Telzor and his clan, the Shadow Wolves were in the main building of the clan's encampment. At that moment, an Orc Warrior had just entered the building. "Sir, i have some major news." said the Orc Warrior. "What news is that?" asked Telzor. "Our Scouts had found some evidence of the awakening of the undead." said the Orc Warrior. "This is major, indeed." Telzor said, Grimly, "then this would mean the Master Of Zombies had arisen from his tomb.". Meanwhile, back on Earth, the Gate Portal Generator was put into position. Little did the soldiers, the Police, Alan, and Bobby realize that the biker gang was still around the area. All of a sudden, Greg had gone over to Officer Morgan. "Adam." Said Greg, "This isn't over between us.".
At that moment, Greg had motioned for the other bikers. "We will see each other soon." said Greg. After he said that, Greg got on his motorcycle and started to drive away. "All Bikers, let's roll." said Greg. "Alan." Said Joseph. "Yes, Joseph." Said Alan. "The Portal Generator is up and ready." Said Joseph. "what dimension is the portal generator set to?" Asked Alan. "It seems to be a dimension called Octiviox." replied Joseph. "Octiviox?" said Alan. "Apparently it's a dimension of magic and fantasy." said Joseph. After Joseph said that, Alan started moving towards the portal. "Wait a minute, Alan." said Joseph. "What is it, Joseph?" Asked Alan. "You should have some equipment." Said Joseph, "Just in case you get in trouble.".
As soon as Joseph said that, he went and retrieved some equipment for Alan. One such piece of equipment was some armor. Another piece of equipment was a comm-link communicator. "Alan, i just want to wish you good luck." Said Officer Morgan. Just then, Joseph had returned with to the site. "Alan, here is the equipment that you will be working with." said Joseph, as he presented the equipment. "First, is the visor helmet. It has several visor modes, which includes night vision mode." said Joseph. As Joseph was presenting the equipment, Greg Anderson and the other members of the "Fire Griffens" had turned around and started to head towards the portal. At that moment, a cloaked person came into the area. "Wait a minute." said one of the bikers. "What is it?" asked another biker. "There Seems to be a cloaked figure behind us." said the biker. Just then, the bikers had turned to face the person. "Alright, whoever you are, explain yourself." said Greg. "I am the Dark Mage known as Aizortun." said Aizortun, "I have come here to Earth to request your services.".
"Services, For What?" Said Caleb. “Yeah, Caleb's Right. What do you want us to do?" said David Joelson. As Soon as David said that, he and several other bikers started to surround Aizortun. "Hold it guys. let him explain his situation." Said Greg. "Thank You." said Aizortun, "i come from a dimension called Octiviox. It is a realm of magic and fantasy. At this time, a dark being called the Master Of Zombies has arisen from his tomb.". "Hold it." said David, "For all we know, Aizortun could actually be this 'Master Of Zombies'.". "Wait a minute." Said Caleb, "Didn't Ghoultor mention his name when we encountered him earlier.". "Yeah, that's right, Caleb." Said Duane Jackson.
"As i was saying." said Aizortun, "The Master Of Zombies had tried to conquer the dimensions several times. However, he has been stopped by many heroes. The Most recent hero in history was the Knight Lord Joseph Barker.". "How are we involved in this situation?" asked Greg. "I have come here to request that you bikers help in defending Octiviox from the darkness that is known as the Master Of Zombies." Said Aizortun. While Aizortun and the bikers were talking, the portal generator had been set for the coordinates of Octiviox. "the coordinates have been set. You're ready to go." said Joseph. That was when Alan headed towards the Portal. "One last thing, Alan." Said Joseph. "What's that?" asked Alan. "Good Luck." Said Joseph.
As soon as Joseph said that, Officer Morgan came over to the portal area. "Alan, I'm Coming along." said Officer Morgan. "Well, I'm Surprised." said Alan, "i didn't know you were the adventurous type.”. "Knock it off, will you." said Officer Morgan. "Why would you want to join me on this mission." asked Alan. "First of all, he had stolen those two parts." said Officer Morgan, "second, he had wrecked my Police Car.". Meanwhile, in the dimension of Octiviox, at the Orc Encampment, Telzor and the leaders of the other Orc Clans were discussing a course of action. "The best course of action is a direct assault on the Undead Keep." said Telzor. As Telzor was speaking, he rolled out a map of the Undead Keep, and started putting symbols to show the plan. "That sounds like a good plan." Said G'tekor, leader of the Crimson Tigers clan, "but from what my scouts have informed me about the situation, the Master of Zombies had acquired various pieces of technology from other dimensions.".
"What do you mean, G'tekor?" asked Raiztor, leader of the Atorton Clan. "For one thing." said G'tekor, "My scouts report that there are several gun emplacements at the front of the Keep. These guns are operated by a team of two zombies each.". "What if we were to send one of our faster troops in and have them move between the gun emplacements, so that they would hit each other instead of us." said Raiztor, "Would That Work?". "It Sounds Risky." Replied G'tekor, "But it might Work.". Meanwhile, back on Earth, Alan And Adam had entered the portal, after they had talked about the situation. "This Should Be interesting." said Alan. "What do you mean, Alan?" asked Officer Morgan. "we would be entering an unknown dimension." said Alan. Little did Alan and Officer Morgan realize that Aizortun the Dark Mage had warped the Biker gang and himself to the dimension of Octiviox. Meanwhile, in The dimension Of Octiviox, At Castle Diroctor, King Anderson had contacted his advisors. At that moment, The homing Pigeon had flown through a open window. That was where one of the soldiers went over and picked up the pigeon and retrieved the message.
"Sire." said the soldier, "i have some bad news.". "What has happened?" asked King Anderson. "The Spy whom was stationed at the Graveyard of Darkness has died." said the soldier. "What else does the message say?" asked King Anderson. "Apparently the Master Of Zombies has awakened from his tomb." said the Soldier. "That does it." said King Anderson, as he rose from his throne, "we must take action.". At that moment, outside in the main part of Castle Diroctor, Alan And Officer Morgan had arrived through the portal. "Hmm, Most impressive." said Alan. Just then, Joseph had contacted Alan via the comm-link communicator. "Ah, Alan." Said Joseph, "It seems that you have finally arrived in Octiviox.”. "Yeah, and this device actually works." said Alan, "Joseph, where exactly are we in this dimension?". "You and Officer Morgan are located in Castle Diroctor." Said Joseph. "Any idea whom the ruler of the castle is." Asked Alan. "I have a feeling that we'll soon find out." said Joseph, "but from what i know, his name is King Eduardo Anderson.". At that moment, King Anderson had arrived at the courtyard. "What is all this commotion about?" asked King Anderson. "Greetings, your Highness." said Alan, "I am Alan Stukov, and he is Officer Adam Morgan.". "We're here to....” said Officer Morgan.
But before Officer Morgan could even finish the sentence, he and Alan were surrounded by the King's Soldiers. Just then, Ortonk Poreon had arrived at the scene. "Sire, What's going on?" asked Ortonk. "it seems that two intruders were found trespassing on the grounds of this kingdom." said King Anderson. "intruders?" asked Ortonk. "Yes, intruders." said King Anderson, "And they must be dealt with immediately.". "Wait a minute." said Ortonk, "I think I have seen these two so-called 'intruders' before.". "What do you mean, Ortonk?" asked one of the soldiers. "I remember seeing two individuals pictured in a book at the Arch Mage's Tower." said Ortonk, "The text was in a form of Orcish language, but it said that the two individuals would be the heroes that will help in stopping the Master Of Zombies.". At that moment, the sound of gunfire had sounded outside the walls of the castle. All of a sudden, Officer Morgan had charged at several of the King's Soldiers. "hold it right there, intruder." said one of the soldiers. "Wait, he might be able to help." said Ortonk. That was where the soldiers had moved out of the way, so that Officer Morgan could get past them.
Once he got past the soldiers, Officer Morgan ran up the stairs to the top of the wall. As soon as Officer Morgan had reached the top of the wall, he saw where the gunfire was coming from. It was coming from the weapon mounted on Broktar's Cybernetic Left Arm. "Hold Your Fire." said Officer Morgan. "We couldn't possibly do that." said one of the Archers. "what do you mean?" asked Officer Morgan. "the Creature fired at us first." said one of the Archers. "Yeah, we were only defending ourselves." said another archer. "I am here for the human known as Alan Stukov." said Broktar. "What is your reason?" asked Officer Morgan. "i am here on a mission for the Gate Master." said Broktar. "Who is this Gate Master you are talking about?" asked Officer Morgan. "He is the Master Of the Gate Portals." replied Broktar.
"Let the person in." said one of King Anderson's Advisors. "Do you really think it's a good idea?" asked another one of the Advisors. "of course." replied the advisor, "the Gate Master is a highly regarded person, especially in my homeland.”. Meanwhile, in the Karnaxus sector, the Kor'Drakk crew of the ship "Dragon Fire" had entered the wormhole. "Computer, what is the coordinates?" Captain Zordash had asked the ship's computer. "Unable to access interstellar location circuit system file." the ship's computer replied. "This is just great." said Captain Zordash. "Sir, it seems that a opening to the wormhole is just ahead of us." said Helmsman Mecator. "Chief Engineer Jor'Dorus." said Captain Zordash, "What is the situation in engineering?". "Captain." said Jor'Dorus, "The engines are still functioning. But, Warp coils are malfunctioning.". "what's the status on the teleporter device?" asked Captain Zordash. "i'll patch you right into the teleporter room, sir." said Jor'Dorus.
At That moment, the ship had entered through the opening in the Wormhole. "Sir, there seems that land is coming into view." said Helmsman Mecator. "Land?" said Captain Zordash, "Helmsman, prepare for evasive Maneuvers.". Meanwhile, at the castle, Broktar had explained the situation to Alan, Officer Morgan, and the residents of Castle Diroctor. "So, what you're telling us." said Alan, "is that the Master of Zombies is planning to take over this realm.". "Why doesn't the Gate Master just come in and Battle the Master Of Zombies in person?" asked Officer Morgan. "For One main Reason." said Broktar, "if he were to leave the Gate Portals unwatched, creatures from other worlds and dimensions could cause havoc among the worlds.". At that moment, one of the archers stationed at the top of the castle wall had seen something in the distance. That something is, in fact, the Kor'Drakk cruiser "Dragon Fire.".
"Wait a minute." the archer said to himself, "It looks like the object is about to land in a short time.". As soon as the Archer said that, he took out a telescope and aimed it in the direction where the object is about to land in. "What on Earth?" said the Archer. "What is it, Jean?" asked one of the archers. "it seems that the object is about to land in Orc territory." said Jean, "to be more precise, territory controlled by the 'Shock Rangers' Clan.". "What is the first act of business?" asked Alan. "we should definitely prepare defenses around the castle." said John Taylors. "Aye, and we should also send a team of warriors to stop the Master Of Zombies." said Ortonk, "not only that, but we should also find some allies whom are willing to help.".
"Yes, that definitely sounds like a plan." said King Anderson, “but we should also acquire the sword called 'Omnolight'.". "Omnolight?" asked Alan. "Yes, it's the sword that the Knight Lord Joseph Barker used 175 years ago this month to defeat the Master Of Zombies." Said King Anderson. "We must get going, if we are to stand a chance." said Officer Morgan. "If it must be, so be it." said King Anderson, "but before you go, you should have this.". As soon as King Anderson said that, he handed Alan a map of the land. "Your first destination should be the Arch Mage's Tower." said King Anderson, "The Arch Mage, Alex Johnson, is a friend of mine. He would be a worthy ally in this mission.". Meanwhile, in a village located to the north-west area, not far from a entrance to the Queen of the Witches's hideout, Aizortun the Dark Mage was going over the plan with the "Fire Griffens" biker gang. At that moment, a minotaur had arrived in the area. "Ah, Scaltokas." said Aizortun, “Finally you have arrived.".
"Comrade." said Scaltokas, "i am surprised you haven't been captured by now.". "What do you mean by that?" asked Greg. "I mean that there are some bounty hunters after Aizortun." replied Scaltokas. "why are the bounty hunters after him?" asked Caleb. "It was during the final battles of the Territory Wars between the Orc clans lead by Telzor, leader of the 'Shadow Wolf' Clan, and the human forces." replied Scaltokas, "that Aizortun had betrayed the human forces.". "Yes, but i had escaped just before the orc clans were repelled from Castle Diroctor." said Aizortun. "How did you meet the Orc clans?" asked Caleb. "I haven't met the leader of the Orc Forces personally." said Aizortun, "but i had met Xeintox, leader of the 'Shock Rangers' Clan. In fact i had helped them gain some new weaponry, some of which are from Earth.".
While Scaltokas was talking to Aizortuns the Dark Mage and the biker gang, just north of the village, and a little way to the East, the Kor'Drakk cruiser had just crash landed. "Helmsman." said Captain Zordash, "What is the status?". "Most of the systems are still functioning." said Helmsman Mecator, "But they have sustained a serious amount of damage.". "Is the shield generator still operational?" asked Captain Zordash. "Shield generator is still functional, and so is the weapons systems." replied Helmsman Mecator. Just then, Sergeant Dorgarus had entered the bridge. "Sir." said Dorgarus, "Permission to scout out this sector.". "Acknowledged, Sergeant Dorgarus." said Captain Zordash. As soon as Captain Zordash said that, he had contacted Lieutenant Gotarus.
Meanwhile, near Castle Diroctor, Alan And Officer Morgan had checked the map. "Ah, so this must where the Arch Mage's tower is located." said Alan. "I find it odd that you humans would try and find allies, when it would be much easier to go straight into the main base, and take on the Master Of Zombies in direct battle." said Broktar. "That may seem easier, Broktar." said Officer Morgan, "But Remember, he has a army at his command.". "Not only that." said Alan, "But from what King Anderson had told us, he has a flying Battleship.". "what makes you so certain that your chances at victory will be better with any allies?" asked Broktar. "you just wait and see, Broktar." Said Officer Morgan, "We will win this battle.".
Little did they Realize that they were being spied upon by a Ghoul. "Hmm, humans are about." said the Ghoul, "i must tell the Master Of Zombies.". As soon as he said that, the ghoul had tapped once on a button on his comm-link. Immediately, the comm-link had contacted the forces at the Undead Keep. At that moment, Quotor the Wraith had seen that the communications console had been accessed. That was where Quotor went over and accessed the Communication console. "General Quotor." said the Ghoul, "Ghoul Agent K'Dortok reporting in.". "What is your status?" asked Quotor. "There are two humans and a cyborg lizardman headed to the Arch Mage's Tower." Said K'Dortok. "Excellent." said Quotor, "Follow those humans and the lizardman.". After Quotor said that, he went over to the main section of the Undead Keep. It was there, that he met the other leaders of the Undead Forces. "Ah, General Quotor." said the Battle Knight, "It is good to see you.".
"Battle Knight." said Quotor, "I'm quite surprised you haven't already attempted to attack Castle Diroctor.". "Arrgh!!" Exclaimed the Battle Knight as he went off in a blind rage. "Ooh, that's a wise move." said Fortox. "Why am i not surprised, Fortox." said Quotor. Just then, Zoutoxas the Dark Troll had entered the scene. "Ah, Air Commander Zoutoxas." said Quotor, “How are you?". "Excellent." replied Zoutoxas, "Fortox, what is the status of your troops' mission to find and destroy the tomb of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker?". "My forces are searching for it as we speak." said Fortox. Meanwhile, Alan, Officer Morgan, and Broktar had arrived at the Arch Mage's Tower. "Hmm, I'm Rather surprised." said Alan. "Why is that, Human?" said Broktar. "I was expecting something more magical." replied Alan. "Yeah, After All." said Officer Morgan, "This is supposed to be a realm of magic and fantasy.".
After Officer Morgan said that, he went over to the door and used the door knocker. Meanwhile, inside the Arch Mage's Tower, Alex Johnson was going over his spellbooks. "Hmm, there doesn't seem to be any information on the object that you had said, Tirus." said Alex. Just then, Alex's Apprentice had entered the main room. "Sir" said the Apprentice, "There are two people and a lizardman outside the Tower.". "What do they look like?" asked Alex. "The two people are dressed in unusual clothing, those not found in this realm." said the apprentice, "The Lizardman, however, seems to have metallic parts connected to organic flesh.". "That seems to be a similar description to that of the heroes of legend." said Alex, "Allow them in.". "Yes, sir." said the Apprentice, as he was heading towards the main door. Meanwhile, at the door of the Arch Mage's Tower, Alan, Officer Morgan, and Broktar were waiting outside the place. Just then, the Apprentice had arrived at the main door. "The Arch Mage will see you now." said the Apprentice, as he opened the door. "It's about time." said Broktar. "Who is this Arch Mage?" asked Alan.
"The Arch Mage is Alex Johnson." said the Apprentice, "He is quite Powerful.". "Just how high does this tower extend to?" Asked Broktar, "My servo joints are about to malfunction.". "it's only 10 floors." replied the Apprentice. "that doesn't seem to long, does it, eh Broktar." Alan said to Broktar. "Ha, you humans may laugh, but you don't know what it is like to have cybernetics replacing any limb that is lost." said Broktar. Meanwhile, in the main room of the Arch Mage's Tower, Alex had brought the Book of Legends over to the table. "Why did you bring the book over to the table?" asked Tirus. "It is to check up on the legend of the heroes." replied Alex. Just then, the Apprentice had arrived in the main room, ahead of Broktar, Alan, And Officer Morgan.
"Sir" said the Apprentice, "the people in question are on their way.". "Excellent." said The Arch Mage. Meanwhile, at the Crash site of the downed Kor'Drakk ship, the crew were working on the repairs. "Chief Engineer Jor'Dorus." said Captain Zordash, "What is the status of the repairs?". Just then, the ship was hit by a outside force. "Alert." the ship's computer said, "Unidentified hostiles located in area.". "Computer, where was the ship hit?" asked Captain Zordash. "Middle section of port side." said the ship's computer. Outside the ship, two Orc Warriors, riding on Griontors had moved into postion. That was after one of the warriors had fired a rocket at the ship. "Sire." said one of the Orc warriors. "Yes, Comrade" said Xeintox. "We have started phase one of the raid." said the Orc Warrior. "Excellent." said Xeintox, "Prepare to move to phase two.".

There is one particular commentary about the conduct of the war in the current Russo-Ukraine war since 2022 that surprised and mystified me for a while and it is how both sides struggle to scale their brigade’s attacks beyond the level of a company or so. This is particularly surprising since in 2014, the 95^th Airmobile Brigade conducted a large, 3-week-long mechanised raid – Zabrodskyi’s Great Raid of 2014, which was described as “the longest armored raid in military history”. A bit of a tangent but Zabrodskyi became a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, in 2019 and on March 2023, “The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) terminated the powers of the MP from "European Solidarity" Mykhailo Zabrodskyi.”. Apparently, he “is planned to be appointed the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhny”. In another tangent, the Marine Corps Gazette article about his raid spelt his name the “Russian” way (Mikhail Zubrowski) while currently, English-language articles that mentioned him used the “Ukrainian” spelling: Mykhailo Zabrodskyi.
Anyway, in the daily thread, I had a comment about an old (2003) US Army Engineering article on conducting Combined Arms Breach (CAB). The article described the common mistakes in CAB made by US Brigades at the National Training Center (NTC). Among it, the first and simplest mistake that most units made were that they failed to mass at the breach point:

Success or failure can often be predicted at the line of departure (LD) based on this fact alone. In fact, most brigade combat team attacks will effectively mass no more than one company team at the point of penetration.

At the time, I thought that this was a common mistake made by “new” brigade commanders and staff (“new” with the assumption of the great churn and turn over of personnel in and out of positions) and the problems of Ukrainian brigades were typical. There is an alternative explanation for the current practice and that is the drones, apparent persistent ISR and increased weapons lethality and proliferation of said weapons led to the fact that only a company at a time can be massed for an attack. Upon reading the piece more carefully and looking for detailed report of Ukrainian brigade-level attacks, I realised that:
1) The nature of the error (not massing more than a company) was different
2) It was not the case (at least in the case examined) that increased ISR and weapons lethality prevented the massing of more than a company.
First, the nature of the error made by American brigades at NTC. Note that this conclusion is my conclusion, based on my understanding of how a brigade would conduct an attack and the article (which is an excellent article and you really should read it for a better understanding of effect CAB). I don’t have access to NTC’s database on past engagements nor experience participating in such event. For the latter, the people who did participated prior to the article publication (2003) must be at least 50 years old. Why and how is mass important, the article stated:

The standard for mass is articulated clearly in FM 3-34.2:
Breaching is conducted by rapidly applying concentrated efforts at a point to reduce the obstacle and penetrate the defense.

• Massed combat power is directed against the enemy’s weakness.
  
• The location selected for breaching depends largely on weakness in the enemy’s defense, where its covering fires are minimized.
  
• If friendly forces cannot find a natural weakness, they create one by fixing the majority of the enemy force and isolating a small portion of it for attack.
  

So, related to error in massing, here are the relevant mistakes:

Wherever we penetrate the enemy, we must ensure that the remainder of the OPFOR remains fixed. We do this with fires, close air support, maneuver, and scatterable mines. We must do this, however, without violating the principle of mass. The OPFOR has great success in the offense, fixing its Blue Force (BLUEFOR) enemy with motorized rifle companies and scatterable mines. The OPFOR does so without significantly reducing its ability to mass at the point of penetration. All too often, BLUEFOR units commit battalion task forces to this task—often one-third to two-thirds of their total BCT combat power.

Note: the OPFOR unit at NTC is the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, which roleplay a Soviet Motor Rifle Regiment. Typically, one BCT rotates through the NTC at a time so apparently, “right” means a brigade should not expend more than a couple companies fixing the majority of another brigade outside of the breach. Typical BLUFOR mistake was to use one to two battalions for this task. This error, however, tells us that US brigades did put more than a company to the overall fight; just at the wrong places. So what happened and why? First, how many breach lanes can or should a brigade attempt?
Breaching doctrine basically requires one engineer platoon (with attachments) to execute one lane. There is also a requirement for redundancy— typically 50 percent. In a maneuver task force supported by an engineer company, most of that company is required at the breach. Develop
A brigade typically has 3 or so each of MICLICs, dozers, and rollers. The US Marines’ CAB during Operation Desert Storm experienced 30% failures of the MICLIC to detonate the line charge. Rollers and dozers had to press on clearing mines by themselves and engineers proceeded on foot to attach detonators to the line charges. Some others probed for mines manually, located and removed the mines by hands. With 30% failure and 50% redundancy requirement, a brigade could pretty much only attempt a single breach.
In a stereotypical attack-defend scenario of two brigades, the defending brigade puts the recon/cavalry screen out to screen the front. This screen allows the line and engineer units behind them to put in the defences, obstacles, fighting positions, and mines. Conversely, the attacker put out a recon screen of its own to locate the enemy screen, possibly collapse said screen, then press on to locate the obstacles, whether there are bypasses, and if there is no bypass available, the intel on the obstacles to enable the brigade commands to decide and plan for the breach. I suspect what happened with the American brigades at NTC was that the brigade puts the screen forward, located OPFOR screen, collapse said screen (which should be relatively easy since a US armored cavalry battalion of a heavy brigade are very heavily armed with M1 tanks, M2 and M3 Bradleys, and organic SPGs while a Motor Rifle Regiment recon units are much worse armed: typically BMPs and BRDMs). Then the recon battalion plus the two line battalions behind it makes contact with OPFOR main defensive obstacles. Here are other mistakes noted at NTC:

- Observers fail to provide detailed obstacle intelligence.
- Units fail to interdict enemy engineer defensive preparations.
- Maneuver forces “stumble” into obstacles.

This is what “right” looks like:

TTP: Kill the enemy engineers. Enemy engineers will die. Kill them. Position observers early to detect and disrupt the enemy’s defensive preparations. Target bulldozers, caches of construction material and ammunition, engineer soldiers and equipment, and all obstacle emplacement activity. The enemy’s ability to disrupt our attacking formations and reduce our momentum is directly related to his ability to successfully emplace his obstacles. He knows he cannot defeat the BLUEFOR in a direct-fire battle without his battlefield shapers. Deny him this advantage. Mine emplacement now is a low- risk, high-payoff mission. We must reverse this, making it a high-risk mission for enemy soldiers to employ mines. When an enemy soldier gets the mission to emplace mines, he must tremble with the thought of his impending destruction. TTP: Find the obstacles. This cannot be just an engineer reconnaissance task. This is something on which we must focus combat observation lasing teams (COLTs), Stryker vehicles, brigade and task force scouts, unmanned aerial vehicles, the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS), and any other available “lookers.” Find the obstacles to confirm or deny the enemy COA. Confirm the proposed point of breach or penetration. Consider layering reconnaissance assets by sending in initial forces to identify obstacles, with subsequent forces to obtain (before committing breaching forces) precise information such as— - Obstacle location and type. - Gaps and bypasses. - Specific minefield composition, which may dictate what breach assets to use and in what sequence. - Soil conditions, which may indicate suitability for plowing.
We do not have the technology to detect buried mines and many other low-cost, low-technology explosive devices. Therefore we must compensate for this with TTP, task organization, and focused reconnaissance. To be successful, we must focus all available lookers to let us detect mining activity and enemy obstacles before they are emplaced.

My conclusion is that the attacking brigade likely got their recon and first echelon battalions “fixed” on the defenders’ obstacles. Once the location of the breach has been decided, the brigade commander may opt for a hasty or a more deliberate breach. A hasty breach/attack assumes a hasty defence and prioritise speed (who doesn’t want speed in maneuver warfare?). A more deliberate breach that masses more forces will require a lot of redirection of units laterally to reach the Line of Departure (LD). This is quite hard on the battlefield. For the most fundamental reasons: soldiers are twitchy and great efforts are required so that units don’t shoot their colleagues accidentally.

TTP: Plan for traffic control. Get the military police into the fight. Traffic control is a traditional task for military police but one they rarely execute at NTC.

The brigades may have found shifting units too difficult or they were under time pressure to accomplish the breach and decided on a hasty breach with the units already at the chosen point. That translates to one to two companies. Predictably, it failed and the brigade was out of mechanised breaching options.
Another error:

TTP: Avoid the frontal attack. While our doctrine indicates that the frontal attack is the least desirable form of maneuver, it is the one most frequently seen at NTC. Find a flank and mass on it. Exploit a weakness or create one. Isolate the point of penetration. BLUEFOR units rarely if ever surprise the enemy but rather “telegraph” their intentions long before the LD. Find a way to tell a deceptive story without losing the ability to mass effects at the BFT. It’s no easy task but one the OPFOR routinely executes. Use obscuration during preparations and movement to, through, and beyond the LD to make it difficult for the enemy to determine friendly intentions.

The stereotypically Soviet and much derided frontal attacks is also everyone’s default behaviour.
Reading some more of Kofman’s writings and followed the citations on the specific claim that Ukrainian brigades often only send out one company led me to this report by Walting, which I read previously but I skipped over the important part that should have told me precisely the conduct of the Ukrainian brigades. I recently read it again and found the answer between page 7 and 14 on the battles for Novodarivka and Rivnopil.

The series of tactical actions is chosen because it is representative of wider trends, and informative as to how Russian forces manage different tactical challenges, and the various approaches employed by Ukrainian troops. The overview is based on accounts of the operations by participants, captured documents from Russian command posts, open-source material including satellite imagery of the engagements, and a review of non-public videos of the relevant tactical actions.

One should very well read carefully the description of the battle. It’s just 7 pages. The Russian defensive positions consisted of one company each in Novodarivka, Rivnopil and the gap in-between for a total of 3 companies or one battalion. A Territorial Defence Force brigade has been in contact and for the offensive, a mechanised and line brigade were sent in for reinforcement. The breakthrough were to be spearheaded by the mechanised brigade.

After identifying the points for the breach, the offensive started early in the morning of 4 June. Two UR-77 Meteorit charges were fired across the narrowest part of the minefield, blowing two 6-metre-wide channels from the treeline to the north to the edge of Novodarivka. A company column of MRAPs led by a pair of tanks committed to the first breach. “A pair of Russian tanks unmasked and fired on the columns. The Ukrainian tanks fired back at a range of around 800 metres. Nevertheless, the vehicles in the column were knocked out in succession” Basically, this pair of tanks shot up the entire column and was only after being knocked out by SPG-9 recoilless guns.
A second company was then committed to the other breach lane and two more Russian tanks emerged, moved towards the column and firing. “Via UAV feeds, the command post watched the emergence of the enemy, and fires were brought down to try and disrupt the action. Exposed, the breaching company attempted to accelerate through the breach, but deviated from course. All vehicles in the company were then immobilised by mine strike in succession. Russian fires then began to range on the column.”
To the credits of the MRAPs, about many of the dismounts survived and while some retreated, about a platoon’s worth from each company reached the edge of Novodarivka. A third company was committed, with dismounts moving along the breach using the destroyed vehicles for cover or dead grounds to advance. The close combat required to clear Novodarivka took a week. All in all, the brigade attack committed three companies of a battalion and managed to get a company-plus worth of dismounts into close combat in the settlement against a company’s worth of Russian forces
The TDF brigade led the attack on the Russian company in front of Rivnopil. They were reinforced by two tanks and an artillery battery from a neighbouring brigade. The brigade conducted a masterful three-pronged attack by two tanks (a Russian platoon-minus equivalent or half a Western tank platoon) and two infantry platoons.

The tanks, moving in and out of cover, engaged the Russian firing positions to draw the attention of and suppress the defenders. Shortly thereafter, artillery strikes on the fighting positions were combined with the delivery of smoke in front of the tanks. The tanks worked forwards, giving the impression that smoke was being used to cover the advance of infantry.

While the tanks fixed the attention of the defence, a platoon multiple of Ukrainian assault troops moved along the treeline to the east of the Russian fighting positions. From there, it began to lay down suppressing fire and advance in pairs. The action drew the attention of the defence, which now recognised a clear tactical play, with a fixing action to its front, and a major assault about to be launched against its flank. The Russian unit began to reposition to prepare for this attack and attempted to win the firefight to the east. Reinforcing the perception that it was about to be assaulted, the Ukrainian artillery then delivered a heavy salvo against the positions, signposting an imminent assault. The assault when it came did not materialise as the Russian defenders had envisaged. Instead, a platoon of assault troops, having infiltrated forwards along the western flank of the position then advanced rapidly, reaching the defensive positions that had been thinned out in anticipation of the assault to the east. Disorientated and fearing encirclement, the Russian troops began to withdraw towards Rivnopil, abandoning their communications equipment, and leaving five troops behind who were taken prisoner.
This attack was successful but only managed to get a platoon into the close against a company out of nearly a company’s worth of troops. About one-third of each attack managed to get in the close and at Novodarivka the COF was even while at the front edge of Rivnopil, the COF was unfavourable but the shock of being approached from unexpected direction made the Russians retreat. Still, the capture of both settlements took 2 weeks with the rate of advance approximately 700-1200 metres every three days, so you end up with about 400 m/day If you pull out ATP 5-0.2-1, Staff Reference Guide Volume I Unclassified Resources and look at Brigades and below rates of opposed advance ,the rate of advance against prepared defences and intense resistance (1:1 COF), in severely restricted terrains by dismounted troops, is about 0.1 km/hr. It works out to be pretty consistent with the observed rates of advance, assuming 4 hours of fighting/day and indeed about one Ukrainian company versus one Russian company in the close.
Let’s back up and remind ourselves that in this sector, there were three Ukrainian brigades versus 3 Russian companies in the first line. The two reinforcing Ukrainian brigades should be at relatively full strength and those two alone potentially had a 6:1 COF, assuming all can be committed to the fight. Adding the TDF brigade and the overall COF may perhaps be 6-9:1. Leaving 30-50% as reserves as still the overall COF for the first strikes should be at least 3:1 or 4:1, for “heavy” to “medium resistance” with a rate of advance of 0.3 – 0.5 km/h. These two settlements were part of a small salient which there were three parallel axes of advance, with two other ones. Approximately one Russian division was at this salient overall, and in the three brigade's sector there were possibly two more battalions behind Novodarivka and Rivnopil.
The actions at Novodarivka and Rivnopil as described by Walting weakened some of the arguments and reasons given for the Ukrainian Offensive achieving much less than it was hoped:
- “Russian minefields of greater depths, density, and triple stacked mines”. “Ukraine did not have sufficient MICLICs or other engineering vehicles”. The two UR-77 worked perfectly, none was taken out, and they created two lanes. Effectively, one BN had the breaching asset of an entire brigade.
- “Russian persistent ISR, drones, air superiority and helicopters”. "Ukraine cannot suppress Russian drones, helicopters, fighters, and bombers. Breaching is impossible when these Russian air assets are still breathing down the necks of Ukrainians.” During the attack on Novodarivka, one company column was shot up by a pair of tanks. Another column reacted to the appearance of another pair of tanks by speeding up, veering off the cleared lanes and into the minefield. It’s true that Ukraine could not suppress Russian forces, but it was the two tank platoon-minus that blew them up.
- “drones and how dangerous they are”. Note that despite all the talks about how dangerous drones are and how good they are at spotting tanks, four Russian tanks had been able to be effectively hidden and caused havoc among the attackers.
- “Attackers could not mass because of drones and ISR”. Russian fires did rain down on the attackers, but it was along the cleared lanes in the views of ground observers. The argument that drones and ISR are preventing brigades from sending more than a company at a time is somewhat weakened by the fact that the area allowed for the mech brigade to mass three companies, but the TDF brigade only send a company-minus group. The latter used their units well, though.
- “Western tactics doesn’t work”. Well, Ukrainian brigade allegedly trained in the West didn’t make it work. American brigades with officers trained through American system didn’t make it work at NTC. American regiment roleplaying a Russian motor rifle regiment employing Soviet tactics made it work (at NTC). Russian Army not using Soviet-era tactics (they were on the hybrid warfare thing and BTG, etc … back in 2022) couldn’t make it work in 2022. Americans made it work during Operation Desert Storm.
So most of what mystified me about the way Ukrainian brigade employed the forces have been answered. This issue is probably different from the American brigade’s issues of massing more than a company at the breach point. The brigade at Novodarivka was apparently stacking three battalions in a column, and three companies in a battalion in a column and feed one at a time towards a company-sized defence. What remains unclear for me in the first clash at Novodarivka was “who shot the SPG-9 that knocked out the pair of Russian tanks from the flank?”. Apparently, the two leading tanks in the column was ineffective at suppressing the Russian tanks. Were the SPG-9s part of the troops in MRAPs moving along the breach or were they part of an anti-tank unit overwatching the Russian positions from a support position to either side of the lane?
Finally, on the use of obscuration smoke:

Only 3% of Ukrainian artillery-fire missions are smoke missions. As demonstrated during the assault on the company position north of Rivnopil, smoke can be extremely useful in confusing the enemy ground force and obscuring assault actions. But smoke also has the effect of obscuring the view from UAVs which higher Ukrainian echelons and command posts use to coordinate activity and conduct combat management. Commanders persistently prioritise maintaining their own understanding of the battlefield over laying down smoke and concealing their personnel’s movements. Given the criticality of rapid application of artillery to support movement, this prioritisation is understandable, but it also reflects limitations in the ability of the brigade to trust tactical commanders to execute actions when not directed by high headquarters with greater situational awareness.

From the Seven habits:

Of the breach fundamentals—SOSRA—the most challenging may be obscuration. Mechanical smokers (wheeled or tracked smoke generators) rarely create the conditions necessary to allow maneuver formations to get into position to breach. Units rarely identify triggers to transition from artillery-delivered smoke to mechanical smoke and even to hand-emplaced smoke (smoke pots). This is one of the most critical components of the breaching operation that needs synchronization and rehearsal.

TTP: Expend all ammunition. Most units identify appropriate targets and triggers for artillery-delivered smoke. Fewer use mechanical smokers during the approach to the obstacle or at the breach. Very rarely do units employ smoke pots and smoke grenades at the breach—perhaps because it adds to what already is a complicated menu of tasks. Units fail to do so at their own peril. Assume someone is watching and use every available asset to create the necessary conditions for committing soldiers to and through the breach.
Finally, the Engineer article opines that a CAB operation is one that should be planned in details and well-rehearsed prior to execution. CAB is an “Orchestrated Ballet of Farm Implements”