na inter last year aipoyindi eamcet sarigga rayaledhu ( college lo asalem ardhamkaledhu) inka long term thappa nadeggara inko option migala ledhu..thesukunnanu offline coachings chusa teachers nachaledhu so online aney decide ayyanu first 1 month sarigga ne vellindi..appudu break up.. asal reason kuda thelidhu ippativaraku..sep oct nov ilage gadichipoyindi roju tension padadam dhentlonu intrest rakapovadam mental health sarigga ledhu dec jan lo inka panic aipoyanu jee mains vasthundani appudu sarigga chadavaledhu asal chadavalanipinchaledhu em cheyyalo theliledhu mains aipoyindi sarigga rayledhu
mains results vachaka intlo thitlu nenu chala low ayyanu inka aa time ki exaust aipoyanu inkem chadavaledhu saturation point ki vachesanu nenem chadivna ardhamkakpodavam chadivindhe malli chadavuvuthuntey irritation ravadam chala try chesanu
inka eamcet idha kuda poyindi nenu key check chesukunnanu 43 marks asal em cheyyalo kuda theliedhu intlo adigithe bane rasa annanu..
nak ippudem cheyyalo thelidhu long term thesukunna tharuvatha kuda management quota lo join avtha ani ela cheppali( nenu middle class oppukuntaro ledho kuda donno) nakinko option ledhu next month srm exam undi kani appativaraku seats aipothay okavela srm rakpothe malli adhi o problem..relatives em anukuntaro emo chinna chupu chustaru...eamcet rank thelisthey em antaro ani bayam..asal enduku bathikiunnana anipisthundi nenu entha pedda failure even after sitting 1 year at home i couldnt do anything ippudu elago alaga loan thesukoni engineering join akkada em cheyagaluguthanu...

Trying my luck here. I'm a date to marry kind of guy 🙂 Hope you could be the one:
About Me 🙋‍♂️ (brief background): - Has a stable job (may times na demanding yung work but will always make time) - 6 ft tall - Normal BMI (but walang abs to manage expectations) but I'm trying to get fit - Musically Inclined (can sing you to sleep naks) - MCU fan and loves to watch movies and series (specially anime, kdrama, disney etc basta wag lang horror) - loyal (kahit sa mga crush ko noon, di ako naghahanap ng iba during those times lol 😂) - sobrang bait and understanding daw sabi ng friends - may pagka introvert nga lang bat willing ka sabayan sa energy mo - mahilig din me sa musicals - sunset lover - casual gamer - good listener - ngsb
Cons: Mainly overthinker (kaya kailangan ng assurance)
About you 🙋‍♀️: - age 26 [-2 or +3 is accepted] - Musically inclined din (hopefully you can sing para jamming) - catholic or christian as religion - understanding, mabait, honest and loyal - hopefully makuwento - sana oks lang sayo if may tatts ako (though 1 pa lang naman na minimal pero iniisip ko pa magdagdag lol) - hindi magulo utak at alam yung gusto - hindi friends sa ex and walang anak currently (sorry po sa single moms nirerespeto ko po kayo, its just a preference gusto ko sariling kid ko if ever) - hopefully same tayo ng mga trip sa buhay
If ikaw na to u may slide into my dms, amd kahit brief intro. Willing to exchange pics naman 😊

Hello. I just really need to vent out, and feel free to give me an advice but please do avoid "criticisms" because that is not what my troubled mind is needed right now. Sobrsng mahaba ito but if u could bear with me :)
I'd like to tell you about my Mama. Si mama siya lang yung napagtapos nina inay at itay (grandparents). Kaya guess what? Nakatatak na sa utak niya na tungkulin niyang tumulong sa mga kapatid nya dahil "siya lang ang may kakahayan." That she's the only one capable dahil sya lang ang may stable job. Si mama never siya nagmissed tuwing occassions -sa kanya lagi malalaking gastusin/ambag; she rents the place, pays for everyones accomodations, and/or foods. Wala kang maririnig na reklamo mula sa kanya. Why? Dahil sanay siya, and gusto niyang tumulong sa pamilya niya. Each and every "sahod" na marereceive nya lagi sya may bigay na material na bagay sa mga pamangkin and/or sa mga kapatid(8) niya (ages 30-50 na may kanya kanyang pamilya na din) especially sa youngest nila (30M)
Kaso lang.. Nastroke si Mama. Si mama na maingay, di na makapagsalita. Si mama na gala, di na maihakbang ung mga paa niya. Si mama na malakas kumain nangangayayat na. Hindi nya na manguya pagkain niya. Luckily I didn't have to stop schooling para maalagaan siya dahil kasagsagan ng online classes and asynchronous learning noon. I had to bathe and change her clothes/diapers right after magsagot, then feed her while having lunch myself tuwing break time namin of 30 mins. Never ako nandiri sa kanya, and I never will. But di ko maiwasang mag isip why I'm doing it. Ginagawa ko lang ba to as "utang na loob" kay Mama dahil ginawa niya rin para sa akin to nung bata ako? Or am I doing this out of my love for her? (Do tell me what you think about this din po)
Nastroke si Mama. Pero bat ganun? Ung mga kapatid niyang "tinulungan" niya di siya matulungan ngayon? Don't get me wrong. Hindi ko po nilalahat ung mga siblings niya. BUT some of them are. My tita (younger sister ni mama) bought her some fruits and kasama niya si inay, I saw them crying habang kausap si mama na nakangiti lang, then they prayed for her recovery habang hawak nila kamay ni mama. Now onto the main problem ko po. Dumalaw naman yung youngest bro ni Mama. Wala siyang dalang kahit ano. Ni hindi niya kinumusta si mama, tinitigan niya lang. Guess what? Binawasan niya pa yung mga dala ng bumisita kay mama that day. During her recovery, hindi muna nakakapagbigay ng "tulong" si Mama sa kanila. Hindi ko alam kung bawi ba to or what but after her recovery dumagsa bigla ang "may xtra k b dyan?" "pahingi nmn-" "bigyan mo nmn muna-" NI HINDI PA NAKAKALAKAD AT NAKAKAPAGSALITA NG TUWID SI MAMA.
Kaya naman si mama, bumalik na sa trabaho niya miski hindi pa siya fully recovered. Tinanggap siya ng supervisor nila magwork dahil he pitied her. San nalang kami dudukot ng pang kain and baon to go to school? Keri naman masustain ni ate and papa(stroke survivor din) ang pang araw araw namin, "paycheck to paycheck" kumbaga, kaso di matiis ni Mama na di tumulong sa kapatid niyang bunso na nakabuntis at need ngayon ng pera para sa pangsngsnak and pagpspakasal nya sa nabuntis niya.
Now after mamuhay ng paycheck to paycheck, thankfully unti unti n din nagrecover ang finances namin. Kahit 2 na sila mama and papa na need ng maintenance ngayon, at least they can go back to their normal lives na without being hindered "too much" ng physical disabilities nila. But nagulat kami dahil bigla nalang pumapayat na uli si mama and medj sumasakit ang ilang parts ng body nya, kaya binalik namin ang physical therapy niya every day, and ako namsn sng nagmamassage at night. Not until nslaman ko ns tinitipid nya psla sng maintenance niya. For what? PARA MAY MAITULONG SA YOUNGEST BRO NYA NA MAY SARILI NG TRABAHO PERO SA KANYA PA HUMIHINGI NG BAON. I also found out ns everyday na pala humihingi ng pang ulam ung pamilya nila ksy mama. KAYA PSLA SABAW LANG INUULAM NI MAMA SND DI NIYA KINAKAIN UNG MGA MEAT AND VEGGIES FOR HER, PARA AYUN SNG MAIBIGAY NIYA SA KSPATID NIYA. Pati pambaon ng anak nung girl (anak from ex bf) sa kanya din inihihingi. Ultimo pambayad sa mga clearance snd pampamedical nila kay mama sila humingi, tapos si msms di maksbili ng sarili niyang gsmot. How ironic diba?
Hanggang sa hindi na ako nakapagtimpi. Nung gsbing yon, nanghingi nanaman sils ng pang ulam at baon nila sa trabaho st bson na rin ng anak nila sa school bukod p ung meryenda nubg bunso nila (real anak nung bro ni mama). Kaya naman nung nabasa ko ung chat ns yun, dinala ko ung isang kalderong ulam na panghapunan dspat namin at saka ilang balot ng lava cake st dinala lahst yon sa bahay nila. Nagkataong wala ung kapatid nya at may bata kaya hindi ko nagswsng ilabas ung mga sama ng loob ko sa kanilang matagal kong kinimkim! At ang nasabi ko nalang ay "Last nyo na yan ha? Inaraw araw nyo na si Mama. Pati pambaon ng buong pamilya nyo kanya na. Maawa naman kayo please!" I know, ang anti climatic haha. Then lumabas ako and di mna ako umuwi dahil di ko mapigil luha ko sa galit. Then nspansin ni Inay dahil compound yung bahay nila snd narinig niya pala yung sigaw ko. Sino raw yung kaaway ko? Kaya nag open up ako sa kanya, thinking that she'll understand and help mama. But guess what? Sabi niya "Hayaan mo nalang kasi Mama mo ang may kayang tumulong eh" Nagpantig yung tenga ko. Saksi siya sa hirap ni mama nung nastroke sya. Matapos niya marinig mga pinaggagawa kay mama nung kapatid niya, ano? "Hayaan mo nalang-" ayun ang masasabi niya? Why did u shed tears nung nastroke sya? Was it because wala nang tutulong sa bunso niyo kapag hindi gumaling si mama? Paano naman si Mama? Si mama na panganay na mas kuba pa sayo dahil siya ang pinagpasan mo ng mga responsibilidad mo. Di ako nakaimik agad ...
"Inay. Anak mo rin si Mama-"
then biglang pumasok yung isa pang bro ni mama na puro online sabong at utang din kay mama. Pauwiin na daw ako. Chinat nya psla si mama nung nagpunta ko dun at nag iiyak. And pag uwi ko, ayun, nagpang abot nanaman kami.
Alam nyo ba, si mama ang nagpaaral sa bunso niysng kspatid. Kaso di sya nskatapos. Di siya nskatapos di dahil kinapos si mama, di siya nskatapos dahil nagbulakbol siya at naging tambay sa mga com shop. Pero binaliwala ni mama yung mga pinagpagursn niyang pera pang tuition nun. At dahil nga hilig nya sa comp shop, pinakiusapan ni mama yung kapatid ni papa para bigyan ng trsbaho yung kapatid niya na tungkol sa computer. Ksya nsman nagkatrabaho siya. Kaso ano? Hindi na pala pumapasok sa trabaho, kesyo may nsrsrsmdsmsng ganito ganyan, hanggsng ngayon sa bago niyag trabaho ayan lagi dshilsn. Samsntslsng si Mama na pipilay pilay maglakad sy nstitiis tumayo ng ilang oras para makapagtrabaho araw araw nang walang mintis? Tapos siya na walang kapansanan sipunin lang ay tetengga nslang buong araw at manghihingi ng kung anu ano kay Mama na nagsusumikap?
"Ako lang kasi ang nakatapos sa amin-" " Wala pa kasing suwerte yung kapatid ko nak-"
Gusto kong sabihin na wala talagang suwerte. Na yung pagtatapos niya? Pinagsikapan niya yun. Yung oportunidad niya makakuha ng magandang trsbaho? Nakuha niya yun kasi hinasa niya yung sarili niya at naghanda para dun. Gusto kong magalit kay Mama, pero naaawa ako kay mama. Akala ko binti ang problema, pero bakit pati sa mga mata niya may mali na? Hindi niya ba makita o nagbubulag bulagan siya sa mga pananamantalang ginagawa sa kanya ng sarili niyang kadugo?
Ang bait ni Mama... kaya nakakainis si Mama. Nakakainis makita siyang sinasamantala ng sarili niyang pamilya. Nakakainis na sa tuwing kinakausap at pinagsasabihsn namin siya tungkol dito sumasama ang loob niya. Nakakainis kasi di niya makita na kailangan niya unahin tulungan sarili niya bago ang iba. Nakakainis na kinampihan niya ang nanay niyang hinahayaan lang siya. Paano ko ipapaintindi sa kanya ang mga ito ng hindi sumasama ang loob niya? Nagiging kalaban bigla ang trato niya sa amin dahil pinipigilan namin siyang "tumulong" sa kapatid niya. Mahal ako ni Mama, at mahal na mahal ko siya. Pero bakit sa tuwing ito ang usapan ay nskakalimutan niyang anak niya ako at kami ang mga taong habang buhay ay nasa panig niya?

Hi guys. I just need some suggestions as to what new laptop that i can buy. my budget is not more than RM1800+-.
memang nak guna for work purposes only which is mainly banyak menaip and research jelah. also kalau boleh minta suggest laptop yg processor dia intel i3 and above. i dont mind any brand asalkan harga within budget
thank you very much for your kind help

Hi everyone. From what i know, drug based meds, and nootropics are kinda hard to get in our country, not to mention mahal gile. Ive read a lot on here about ppl stacking supplement to manage those symptoms, but sad that most of it susah nak dapat kat malaysia.
So im considering natural compound yg boleh beli without prescription, also kalau boleh with harga yg not too expensive.
Its been a week that ive been digging the internet for info on which supplement should i start taking, but akhirnya got overwhelmed dgn overflowing maklumat, mind got paralyzed and still cant decide anything.
Main goal is nak manage executive dysfunction, brain fog, so i can bertahan lama with a job, kalau tak, mcm sbelum ni ive been job hopping since 2019. Xmampu bertahan lama sbb very poor work ethic, stress management ke laut, disorganize as hell, motivation no where to be found, unable to start a task or unable to complete task, no in between. Those times yg i manage to bulldoze through pun because i depended heavily on caffeine. But then at the end, the side effects taken toll on me.
Im thinking maybe max i can buy 3-4 types. But confuse to choose. Few to name yg available online like shopee etc,, lions mane, rhodiola rosea, l theanine, l tyrosine, l taurine, creatine, saffron, omega 3, samE, mucuna, st john wort, bacopa, ashwaganda, and so many more.
Will anybody share experiences on this? Since i will start working again in a month of two, I really need advice which to choose and start consume. I think preferably yang tak take too long to show effect.
Very grateful for anyone's reply. Thankyou!

Baki shoppepay dah lenyap, x dak option untuk refund kat steam, game yang baru beli tu x dak di library. Ada cara x untuk selesaikan problem ni... Baru ja nak main V rising :(

We did some research on various background and references on Ren's Chapter story and here's the summary.
2:06 Face covering man in car (originally I thought this is a scene from "Egg" but it's not.) It is very likely to be Joe has the same style of scarf can be seen in one of his photos with Joe he shared regularly.
2:08 Clip called "Ren's Jump" on YT. Private account
This is a very short film featuring Ren back falling into a bush for fun. Filmed early 2008 as he was still a teen. It's from an private account (or from the looks of it) hence we will not share the link here. He was still at Anglesey at this time of his life.
2:12 Ren obviously rapping
Ren is visibly rapping along with his peers. From his hair cut and aesthetics, this most likely at the Unicorn music/talent camp that he participated multiple times (or Bath Spa). He also first met Samuel Perry-Falvey at the camp. "Ain't no sunshine" is the first ever music video Sam filmed for Ren at the camp.
​
2:25 Ren singing and playing with guitar on stairs 2:25 Ren on trombone (there's a similar video about he on trombone on TTF FB pages)
These two are mostly like from his early Bath Spa University days/TTF days. Source not identified yet.
​
2:28 Ren and Charlie busking
Ren and his mate Charlie Fowler busking in the open. Video uploaded on Charlie's FB late 2009. Charlie Fowler is a career musician and the founding members with Ren of the short-lived band Trick the Fox (TTF), which was dissolved unfortunately due to Ren's health issue.
​
2:40 "We pray for peace" at Unicorn Voice Camp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqpK6uYsSiU
Fellow Renegade Susie Ro Music shared the exact clip on RB facebook group 10/31/23.
​
3:48 Movie "Human Traffic" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsK7szk2OnM
Ren sneak in one Star War reference here as this is one of his bar themes mentioned multiple times. (ex:"Han Solo, Han Duo, Han Trio, Han Quadro" bar in Love Music Part 3)
​
4:37 Cillian Murphy in 28 days later
Cillian Murphy, the newly minted Oscar best actor and the best Ren lookalike starred in this post-apocalyptic film. A younger and also in hospital gown Cillian Murphy just awake from coma in a post-apocalyptic world.
​
5:54 Movie "Raging Bull"
7:00 Movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
7:14 Movie "American Psycho"
​
13:55 itv news when he visited RNLI with his donation. News can be seen here:
https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2023/june/26/welsh-music-star-fundraiser-for-anglesey-rnli-crews-who-searched-for-best-friend
​
Chapter 2
​
0:59 movie scene (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
1:05 movie scene (Edward Norton suffered from Insomnia in movie Fight Club, one of Ren's favorite movies)
1:09 movie scene (requiem for a dream)
1:17 Year 2012, Ren, Charlie and the new recruited drummer Tom recording in the famous Sanctuary studio in London during his Trick the Fox days. The song they were recording is "Runaway", which is the song played at the end this chapter.
1:28 Another recording session for the song "Lost Boy" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-lfDYwtHPM)
2:04 Movie Fight Club again
2:10 Bruce Willis (God bless him) in movie 12 Monkeys. Ren likes dystopian novels and movies.
3:05 Movie Fight Club
3:23 We're still researching this source. He has a channel called Me vs Me and a FB page called Lyme 101 where he documented his every day life and thoughts about ME (but it's not from there) (update: confirmed this is one of his videos from his Lyme 101 FB page)
4:35 Family Guy (S10E15) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqaZnRAuBWw)
5:34 Busking at Bath with Charlie and Tom. Note this is a different Tom other than the TTF drummer Tom. This is from an audience channel who were there at the performance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HFa_J3MLGM
5:46 Busking session 6/5/21 at the corner of North and Ship street, Brighton City, UK. The famous "Red Suspender" set. Ren is jumping ahead of his own narrative timeline here. This and the next few frames of busking sessions are the busking performances with the band "The Big Push", which Ren joined and formed in Brighton much later. They mainly busked around Brighton city streets between year 2018-2022. The band posted a couple of clips from this busking set on their official Youtube channel. The one showed here, originally titled "The Big Push - I Shot the Sheriff/Road to Zion/Hip Hop" is still the highest viewed videos from the band channel (13M as of 2024/4)
5:48 The other famous session where Ren played bass guitar. One of the songs he sang in this video is "Trouble so High". Ren sampled the original Vera Hall singing and will be mixed into his next release "Troubles". (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbL7Frf6nJI)
5:52 Before UK went into lockdown dur to Covid in year 2020, the Big Push went on street for their final busking performance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC9KrhHBOw8) this is in front of the formally known as Trinity Church on Ship St, Brighton, UK, where they used to busk often.
5:57 Another busking session during Ren's brief "blonde" phase (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at9odgikigE). This is in front of Royal Theatre and another usual busking site.
7:04 movie The Shining. Scene from the movie can also be seen in Love Music Pt 3 music video.
​

dari lunch tadi sakit perut. salah makan kot. kentut kentut bau busuk gak so pergi la tandas tapi tak berak berak.
tk pe la boleh lepak jap main game tapi tak bleh nak focus sebab perut aku sakit sangat.

• yg tersakiti

There was a post yesterday by a medical professional talking about how the Quran shouldn't be advised as a cure for depression and someone in the comments saying that deen has been created as a a "hurdle" for mankind Astaghfirullah. This post is here to provide more context on the matter.
No medical professional will ever tell you that you shouldn't turn to your religion (usually the Quran in Pakistan Alhamdulillah) if that's what you find solace in. You should do yoga too if you find that helpful.
As a medical professional, there’s nothing wrong with reading the Quran with the intention of being cured (mentally or physically) but ofcourse it has to be supplemented with scientific treatment. The Hadith is to tie your camel first and then put your faith in Allah swt (al-Tirmidhi).
When it’s advised to read the Quran for depression, I don’t think it means that you just read it in a language that you don’t even understand. The same way hifz works. Ofcourse it’s great to hifz the Quran and there’s a great reward for it but how will you implement it/reap benefits when you don’t even know what you’re saying? Therefore, both the things go hand in hand.
Quran has not been sent down as a “hurdle” Astaghfirullah, it has been sent down as a blessing and a mercy (5:48) to ease the hurdles. There's a sweetness of Iman (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 16, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 43). It is a miracle. When it’s said to recite the Quran for depression, it means to not simply read it in Arabic but to read/listen to authentic tafsir. To approach it without any preconceived notions or assumptions and to approach it with the desire to understand it. The more you’ll do that, the more you’ll realize how what we practice in Pakistan is simply not religion. We nitpick, take things out of context and only use it as a weapon for personal gain. Don't simply listen to scholars who advocate for this traditional version of Islam that is practiced here. Please understand that our culture and our religion is almost as different as night and day. The difference is striking. Listen to scholars like NAK, Omer Suleiman, Mufti Menk and Belal Assad. Listen to every scholar you can and then decide for yourself rather than listening to a select few and the ones who only promote this traditional version/view of Islam.
The Quran is so full of love even when it talks about the punishments that it always has me crying at every verse. I want to understand more of it not only because it is interesting but mainly because its every verse is so overflowing with love that you won’t find that type of love anywhere else. I’ve been at a very low point in life emotionally. However, it is true that Quran makes you feel so loved and so full of hope that everything becomes easy to handle. You then understand that happiness is a choice and tawakkul really lowers your chances of falling into depression. If you are depressed, it reduces the severity.
This is not to say that Quran is a “substitute” for therapy. However, it is an excellent supplement.
Edit: While I’ve posted in favor of scientific and other methods both, people are asking for proof that Quran helps with depression. Many researches have proven that already. I’m linking a very recent one, conducted in Dec 2023. Also this one. These just came up first. There are several more.

Hari ni me and my future fiance pergi balakong nk jumpe ngn tokei supplier kain .. mainly cause my future fiance nak bukak bisnes jual jubah, niqab etc based on her design in hand. So kami pergi kat Balakong and then pergi la kat tempat supplier ni, kinda horrid to be honest. Pekerja bangla kerja mcm slaves je .. ade several people tido atas lantai , and the rest tgh menjahit with tons of fabric next to them .. kalau sialp sikit abis dieorg leh kena tanam hidup2 ngn fabric ats lantai. I dunno la , tgk tempat tu kesian kat depa tapi kami kept a straight face la sementara tokei tu dok melayan kami. The place is clean enough but the enviroment , like a fancy slave pen with each room/building ade overseer masing2. Ade yg kena tengking and kena makin of which kami leh dengar dari bilik sebelah .. really uncomfortable
The supplier also supply for well known brand for jubah etc
So kami balik dari tempat tu and I told my future fiance .. kite cari tempat yg humane la .. tak selera nk support tempat camtu.
So yeah tu jela benda yg menarik yg terjadi pada hari ini.

Abstract

In this post, I aim to introduce my take on the Transform synergy deck, affectionately dubbed "Transformers". We will cover card choices, tips for playing as/against the deck, and a deep dive into the minutia of each card interaction.

Introduction

I love Shady Spectacles. Possible more than oxygen. Played Shady Nakotak a ton after Spectacles was first released, had pretty good results, but the deck felt like it was missing something. Wingsgiving was that something, and Malmutation is the cherry on top. Theorycrafted a ton, played a ton of games on laddescrims to refine the list, this is what I ended up with. Took the deck to Aegis and 3-0'd the 3rd place match with it. For the stats nerds, currently I have a 69% WR over 90 games at the top of masters. Shoutout to faintHD whose Spectacles list first introduced me to this archetype. This deck is insane, and will test your knowledge of LoR interactions like no other. I genuinely think this is one of the strongest and most enjoyable decks for the current patch.
https://imgur.com/a/IhoCTnS

Acronyms

• Nakotak (NAK)
• Wingsgiving (WING)
• Shady Spectacles (SPEC)
• Malmutation (MAL)
• Curious Changelings (CHNG)

Playstyle

This is a combo deck through and through. You are looking to bide time and assemble specific cards to create overwhelming advantage. There are two main combos: NAK+SPEC and Vi+WING, and then several backup combos including: NAK+WING, NAK+MAL, WING+SPEC, and WING+MAL. Depending on your draw, you'll need to path towards one of these combos, but if given a choice of routes you'll want to adjust based on what interaction/pressure your opponent has.

• NAK+SPEC: You make multiple NAK that get progressively bigger until you win with either sheer impact or a set of huge elusives. This combo has the most variations, but the weakness is pretty constant. If the opponent can remove your NAK before you get priority to SPEC, your plan can fall apart. If this is likely, try to use lightning rods such as Norra and Skip to draw out removal, or wait for your opponent to overdevelop on their token, so you can develop NAK and then open with SPEC. Keep in mind you can hold up 3 unit mana to exert pressure in these spots.
• VI+WING: Transform Vi into a follower using WING. Since this is not an "exact copy" transform effect, Vi retains her power buff, and can easily become of a huge elusive or overwhelm. If you miss on those keywords, you can try again with your next chapters of WING. By turning Vi into a follower, you also make her eligible to be copied by SPEC, CHNG, and MAL. Even if Vi doesn't roll elusive off of WING, you can use Sumpworks Map to create a lethal attack.

Countering

• The single most important thing you can do is kill NAK/WING on sight, before giving priority. If you can't do this, you must always pretend that you can. Hold up mana for a strike, Soul Harvest, Howling Gale, whatever your answer is make them sweat for it.
• Playing explorers against this deck is very intense, since 3 options can all be extremely impactful in different scenarios. If playing the explorer blind, you should most often take Landmark destruction, since that will shut down the largest amount of the transform decks possible combos, and will stop them from getting any value out of a WING. If they have already developed a SPEC, then taking equipment destruction can be good, sometimes. You have to keep in mind that when you destroy SPEC, the unit will transform again, so if they still have another NAK on the board, and the original unit is an elusive, it may do more harm than good.
• If you have Soul Harvest or Death's Grasp, don't ever use it on Norra, and only use it on Skip if it gets you back another spell that kills NAK. It might be the right move if you have a lot more removal that hits NAK in hand, but even then you'll be making yourself softer to multiple NAK.
• If they have a SPEC developed, be super careful about killing that unit and sending it back to hand. Its often better to try to keep the equipment on the board so it cannot be reused. The exception to this is if killing the SPEC unit leaves them without any viable targets for SPEC.

Mulligan

NAK and WING are your champions, not Norra/Vi. If you don't have at least one of them, you should almost always ship back the full hand. Notable exceptions are if you are up against a super low interaction, high pressure deck (Hecarim or Annie/Jhin) you can keep MAL since its your best tool for closing the game before they can run you down. Vi is a trap, you never keep her unless you also have WING.
If you have a NAK, you want WING, SPEC, MAL if its resolvable, and Otterpus/Maryam. In games where NAK is vulnerable, you instead want Norra and Skip.
If you have WING, you want NAK, SPEC, Vi, and at least 1 body to play before WING.
Against decks with strikes, consider keeping Stress Defense if you have at least one NAK/WING.

Matchups

• Ephemerals: Favorable, with the Shurima version being ever more favorable. Prioritize MAL or any other fast and fragile combo. They generally have 0-1 ways to disrupt you at fast, so try to setup a huge swing on t5/t6. This will often involve letting yourself drop down to extremely low HP, but as long as you aren't dead to Mark of the Isles, it's okay, since MAL will let you survive Dragon Ambush most of the time.
• Lux Boost: Favorable, gets a bit worse if they are running Vex package. Be careful about taking Gloom on your important units, since Rising Light can then pick of those units later. Similar to Ephemerals, they pressure fast but have little to no interaction. Once your units are towering over theirs it's a wrap.
• Lillia/Frel: Favorable, they generally just aren't fast enough, and even if their units get huge they will still die to impact. MAL is a trap here, since they have Blooming Bud and sometimes recalls as well to disrupt you.
• Poro King: Highly Favorable, once again not fast enough, not enough interaction. You have to be mindful about Howling Gale and Thermo, and not play NAK when he could die to them, but they often produce an opening when trying to develop King which you can use to blow them up.
• Dragons: Bad, but you have tools. Challengers and strikes can be used to prevent you from ever having an opening to safely develop a combo. Generally need to draw out a strike with Norra/Skip, and then use hand info from Skip/Pranks to find a somewhat reasonable time to develop. If you can go NAK -> SPEC while holding up Stress, that can also be a winning line.
• Morde/Lillia: Bad, they have lots of efficient answers for NAK, easy ways to answer MAL, decent enough pressure and ways to stall.
• Liss/Voli and Ashe/Vex: Very Bad, both have the efficient removal alongside the unconditional removal. They will easily answer all of your threats and even if they don't they will have freeze to stall things out.

There are of course a ton more matchups, but these are the ones I feel are most relevant right now. If you have questions about anything else feel free to comment and I can give my notes.

Card Choices

There are a ton of different ways to build this deck, with a huge number of flex slots and viable alternatives. I've tried a tweaked using a ton of cards but the current list is what I feel to be the best version in a competitive environment. The core is NAK, SPEC, MAL, CHNG, WING, Vi, but pretty much everything else has alternatives. I'll highlight what I think the most promising alternatives are, and why I didn't choose them.

1. The full portal package. We want to stall, and we need lots of bodies to transform into our abominations. Portals offer a very card efficient way to create these bodies. Most of the portal cards are solid options, especially Junk Construct as an alternative to Conchologist. Portalpalooza/Portal Scholar are a bit too mana inefficient to make the cut, and Tea Maker competes with an already bloated 3 cost spot.
2. More predicts. We are a combo deck, so we want specific cards, predict is the best way to assemble all of our pieces consistently. In a meta that was a bit slower, and has more midrange, I would run more Time Tricks. Augmented Clockling is a bit inefficient, but if it was slow enough I could even see a few of those creep in. However if the opponent is copying Shark Chariot over and over you can't afford to have two predicts in your hand.
3. Discreet Invitation. We are a transform synergy deck. This card gives another body and automatically transforms it. It also offers a way to get double transforms by targeting something that has SPEC on it. It can also offer an alternate wincon by allowing us to copy huge enemy followers and them gives them elusive or make more copies. It's has some really high highs, but ultimately I cut this card because Shady Character is mana inefficient and the most fragile out of all the transform options. If your opponent can deal with a 1/3 at fast, your entire 5 mana investment goes down the drain. I feel it adds more losing scenarios than winning ones.
4. Thermo/Howling/Mystic. These cards are PnZ's best tools for exploiting weakness in enemy gameplans. However as a combo deck we have to be more concerned with our own plan. Thus our generically strong cards need to leave a body to sacrifice to SPEC/MAL.
5. Eager Apprentice. Similar to Otterpus and Maryam, Apprentice offers a way to get an extremely mana efficient body that opens up the turn 3 NAK+SPEC line. However, unlike Otterpus, it puts us down a card, and unlike Maryam, it doesn't net us mana or allow us to filter our deck. We have enough copies of this effect already.
6. The full discard package. We have a Jury Rig in the deck because of how potent burst units are as SPEC/WING targets. With most discard cards, we would be able to some of the most efficient bodies in the game and allow them to come out at burst speed. My original version for this patch actually was a full discard list, with Boom Baboon and Chompers. If Zaunite Urchin was still in standard, I probably would commit to this package over the Maryam/Norra/Conch/Otterpus low end. But it isn't, so you're left playing much less efficient cards in order to enable your discard synergies, and then you also have another dimension along which you need your cards to line up, without being able to prioritize them in mulligan. Ultimately I was left thinking "I drew the wrong half of my deck" too often when using these cards.
7. Monstrous Eruption. In addition to being a defensive spell, you can also grow your small elusives then copy them for a huge swing. It's not bad, but is outshined by Stress Defense in pretty much every single way.
8. Scavenged Camocloaker. Compared to Sumpworks map, it offers a much more potent buff to be copying with SPEC/CHNG, one that has tons of value even when applied to small units. For a long time I only used this card instead of Sumpworks Map, since its value is so much greater for only 1 mana more. I switched over because the line: Pass/2 drop/WING/CHNG/Vi leaves you with only 2 spell mana on turn 5, so if you have Map you can often lethal your opponent immediately, while Camocloaker leaves you depressed. Similarly Pass/2 drop/NAK/Map/MAL is a viable that uses up your mana exactly. It's probably correct to have some split of Map and Cloak though, thinking about it know I'll switch to 2 Map/1 Cloak.
9. Wallop. Good stall tool, but doesn't have the same synergies that Stress Defense and Jury Rig do.
10. Puzzling Signposts. This card can help you find moments where you can start developing your engine, especially by using it to defend NAK on the opponents token before going into SPEC on your own. It also has the added bonus of being able to destroy SPEC at fast speed, giving you access to a fast speed transform effect. It's a good effect that the deck really wants, but it costs too much.
11. Sump Monument. If Ephemerals continues to eat up meta share, but this card in the deck and laugh maniacally.
12. GnaGnar followers. Too hard to proc.

Interactions

This are ordered by importance/simplicity.

• NAK+SPEC: The basic case, where the cloned NAK gets to see both itself and the original, and becomes a 4/6. This notion of "How many NAK are seen" is easy to understand here, and is an important building block for understanding the composed interactions.
• NAK+CHNG: When you have NAK, and some other unit triggers CHNG, the unit gets NAK buffs first, then the CHNG copies it and transforms again, gaining double NAK triggers. Once again this is a simple case for "How many times does this unit transform".
• NAK+SPEC+CHNG: When playing SPEC turning a unit into NAK and triggering CHNG, make sure CHNG is to the right of the unit becoming NAK. This will make sure the CHNG sees the new unit becoming NAK
• Skip+SPEC/MAL: If Skip is exact copied into another unit, the capture card is lost to the ether. This combined with the fact that he will become elusive when unequipped makes him the ideal SPEC target.
• SPEC+Darkin Staff: When you have multiple equipment, you can use them to juggle SPEC and proc NAK over and over again. Using Staff to unequip SPEC will also transform the unit back to its original form, which can be extremely important if it has elusive or overwhelm.
• SPEC+CHNG/MAL: When unit A (no SPEC) transforms into unit B (SPEC transforming it into unit C), what will happen is unit A briefly becomes unit C, before the next check of its effect where it learns it is not equipped with SPEC and then transform back into unit B. Importantly, this will proc NAK twice.
• SPEC+SPEC+Darkin Staff: When you use SPEC to copy another SPEC unit, it also copies the original unit. Thus if you then unequip the second unit, it will not go back to what it originally was, but rather what the first unit originally was.
• Vi+WING: Vi does not lose her power buff when transformed into a follower. She can also then be copied by SPEC, CHNG, and MAL.
• Sumpworks Map+WING: The elusive grant is not lost when transformed through WING, which can allow you to copy it onto CHNG.
• WING edge cases: Some units have amazing interactions with WINGS. Aurora Hallunatis will create an extra 4/2 when selected. Big Game Tycoon will double its own power when selected, and this buff will be retained if it is transformed further using WING. Buffs gained from Augment/Fated will be retained.
• NAK+MAL: The units will transform in order, from left to right. If you have a regular NAK, the outcome will be 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 NAK triggers from left to right.
• NAK+MAL+CHNG: However if one of your units is a CHNG, make sure it is not the leftmost unit, because the CHNG trigger will override MAL, it will also happen before the rest of the transforms. Thus if you MAL on NAK with CHNG on the right, you can get a board which is 2, 4, 5, 6, and then the CHNG at 5. Which will always be 2 more triggers than if you put CHNG on the left.
• NAK+SPEC+MAL: Assuming you have a unit transformed into NAK with SPEC, and are casting MAL on that. Each unit will transform into NAK, then they will all transform back into the base unit. Both of these will happen in waves from left to right. However, the NAK triggers also happen at the same time as the units are turning back into their original forms, thus on the transform back into the original unit, each unit will only see the original NAK, and the one temp NAK to the right of it, if it exists. This means that casting MAL on a 4/6 SPEC/NAK will create a board with impact: 6, 7, 8, 9, 9, along with the SPEC/NAK. If you have any more CHNG or NAK when casting MAL, just use the eye. In general keep NAK to the right and CHNG to the right of those. I literally played against AI, recorded it, and watched it in slow motion to figure out what was going on.
• CHNG+CHNG: Dark magic. Keeping them on the right is generally correct, but having two of these leads to the most absurd interactions. I've done some testing but still don't understand it completely. The SPEC+SPEC+NAK+CHNG+CHNG interaction and its permutations is an open question.

Probabilities

In general, you are more likely to hit Overwhelm or Elusive with higher cost units, but the notable exception is 7 cost is actually less likely than 6 costs, since General of the Sands is kind of a fake Overwhelm to get off WING. Additionally, the 9 costs are generally worse than the 8 costs, except you have a 1/3 shot of grabbing Gorlith and instawinning the game. Lastly the 10 costs are hot garbage, except Atakhan and Heisho, so if either could win you the game, it could be worth to roll that cost.

• 6 cost: 49 options, 7 have elusive or overwhelm, ~38% chance you see at least one. ~6.1% chance of seeing one specific option.
• 7 cost: 24 options, 4 have elusive or overwhelm, ~43.7% chance you see at least one, however one of those is 0 power so ~34.29% chance of seeing at least one of the others. 12.5% chance of seeing one specific option.
• 8 cost: 26 options, 5 have overwhelm, ~48.8% chance you see at least one. ~11.5% chance of seeing one specific option.
• 9 cost: 9 options, 2 have overwhelm or are Gorlith, ~58.3% chance you see at least one. ~33.3% chance of seeing one specific option.
• 10 cost: 8 options, 2 have overwhelm, ~64.3% chance you see at least one. 37.5% chance of seeing one specific option.

TL;DR: Transform is an insane deck on the new patch, Vi has a busted interaction with Wingsgiving.
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It is a fact that we all know that our world of chemical manufacturing is evolving so much that Suparna Chemicals stands as a beacon of innovation and excellence in this competitive market. With a rich heritage of providing high-quality products and solutions in various industries, Suparna Chemicals has earned a reputation for its commitment to quality, consistency, and customer satisfaction thereby growing day by day.
Our core offerings include Potassium Methoxide in Methanol, Catalysts in Pharma API, Agrochemicals, Ketonic Resins, Potassium Methoxide Powder, Sodium Potassium Alloy NAK, and Sodium Ethoxide.
In this blog we are going to explore in detail the history of Suparna Chemicals, its core values, key offerings, and the driving force behind its success.
A History of Excellence
Suparna Chemicals Ltd has been on a journey since 1970 to make its high standards known to all. The R&D facility has been recognized since 1988 by the Ministry of Science and Technology (Department of Science and Industrial Research), Government of India. Since its inception, the company has remained steadfast in its commitment to providing exceptional products and services that meet the evolving needs of its customers and since then All plants have been certified for ISO 9001: 2015. With a focus on continuous improvement innovation and responsibility, that's why Suparna Chemicals has achieved significant big records and received accolades for its contributions to the industry mainly due to quality service and customer satisfaction.
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At the heart of Suparna Chemicals success is a set of core values that guide its operations and decision-making processes and continues to achieve many feats only through this. Integrity, Quality, Innovation and Customer Satisfaction are our core objectives By upholding these values in every aspect of its business Suparna Chemicals has earned the trust and loyalty of its customers, employees and stakeholders.
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It is worth noting that Suparna Chemicals continues to provide quality products and solutions to meet the needs of its customers and offers a range of offers. With everything from specialty chemicals to custom formulations, each product is meticulously designed to deliver superior performance then reliability and value. Some of the key benefits are below.
1 Potassium Methoxide in Methanol Manufacturer: At Suparna Chemicals is a leading manufacturer of Potassium Methoxide in Methanol known for its high purity and stability. This important chemical is used in various industrial processes including pharmaceutical synthesis and chemical manufacturing and many people benefit from our quality service
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5 Potassium Methoxide Powder Manufacturer: At Suparna Chemicals offers high-quality potassium methoxide powder, suitable for various chemical reactions and catalyst production.
6 Sodium Potassium Alloy NAK Manufacturer: Suparna Chemicals manufactures Sodium Potassium Alloy NAK, a versatile material used in battery manufacturing and metallurgy and in this process, we have always given priority to quality.
7 Sodium Ethoxide in Ethanol Manufacturer: We manufacture sodium ethoxide from ethanol, an important raw material used in organic synthesis and pharmaceutical manufacturing, and in this application, we offer meticulous attention to quality from a small process to a large operation.
Commitment To Quality And Consistency
First all are understand that quality and sustainability are integral to Suparna Chemical's operations. At Suparna Chemicals adheres to strict quality control measures and industry standards to ensure that its products meet the highest quality specifications and conducts various tests. And Also, Suparna Chemicals is committed to reducing its footprint by adopting environmentally friendly manufacturing practices and investing in sustainable technologies.
Customer-Centric Approach
Suparna Chemicals places a strong emphasis on customer satisfaction and feels that the satisfaction of the validators is their total achievement. At Suparna Chemicals dedicated team works closely with clients to understand their unique needs and deliver tailored solutions that meet or exceed their expectations so that clients benefit. Be it providing technical assistance, conducting on-site evaluations, or providing customized formulations, Suparna Chemicals is ready to go to any lengths and lengths to ensure the success of its customers.
Embracing Innovation and Technology
You should also understand that innovation is at the core of Suparna Chemicals' ethos. Then we are continuously invests in research and development to stay ahead of market trends and technological advancements and for this we constantly research and innovate new products. By embracing innovation and technology, we always aim to provide continuous improvement and Advanced solutions to address the evolving needs of our customers.
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We believe in the power of partnerships and collaborations so the company collaborates with industry leaders then research institutes and academic institutions to foster innovative knowledge sharing and industry best practices thereby ensuring a journey into the future. By building strong partnerships then Suparna Chemicals aims to create value for its customers and contribute to the advancement of the chemical manufacturing industry.
Looking Towards The Future
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Conclusion
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Since the unpleasantness surrounding the main organization, I was sad that I wouldn't get my certificate for winning camp this month. Thankfully, my wonderful wife made one up for me and I wanted to share it with others who value the certs as much as I do.
Here is a png version of the certificate.
And here is a high quality PDF version.
To all participants, I hope your camp went well and keep up the great work!
Edit: Quick warning, my wife says there's no bleed or margin, so if you do want to get this printed, that's something you might have to look out for. I don't know what any of that means, but it sounds important.

Koncham serious answers ivvadaniki TRY cheyandi bondhas
Me 23M she 22F
I love her and she loves me
Naa life lo missing puzzle piece laga anipichedi
Prathi chinna vishayam cheppedi
Office lo vaadu matladadu, vidu propose chesaadu, Evadiko nenante istam antaa, frnds ayyaru, adi idi ani. Nak avasaram ledu amma thalli i trust u ani cheppe vadni She used to say ledu ledu nuvv adigav ani cheppaledu Na responsibility cheppadam, mana iddari madhya trust undali,
Main ilanti vishayllo lies cheppakodadu Ani buildup ichedii
Nen tega feel ayye vadni ammo manchi papa dorikindi naaku ani
CUT CHESTHEY
Lies meeda lies
Anavasaramaina vishayalakii cheppedi
Aa abaddalu bayata or padinappudu galeez ga kanabadthai and chaala dooram veltai
Iroju kooda incident jarigindi alantidee
Heavily summarised version entante
Inthakamundu hyd bustand lo digi room ki cab lo vellina anindi Naaku aroju edoh gut feeling Chala sarlu coming days lo kooda adiga nijam ga cab lone vellava ani Aamey avnu cab lone ani anedi Nen assal doubt padey type eh kaadu aa vishayam tanaki kooda telsu But past lies and gut feeling valla adagalianipinchedi malli malli
Today kalisam had great time Malli aa topic vachindi accidental ga Pedddah godava jarigindii Nen anna ippudu history choosthe aa date ki cab untada undada ani Last ki cheppindi avnu aaroju cab lo vellaledu ani Enduku abaddaalu cheppav mari ante no answer After half hour aaroju auto lo vella antundii Abddam cheppalsina avasaram entante cheppdam ledu
Naakaithe nammali ani leduu bondhas That hurts me more
Chala sarlu erripukai poya aamey lies valla
Inthakamundu kooda jarigaai ilanti lies vi Appudu mostly kopam undedi
But idk why irojuu matram full sad feeling Aame vellipointarvaata oka kaali chettu kinda koorchunna Eye lo nundi water vachestaa unnai full gaa
Naa life lo appudeppudo chinnappud ma nanna marks takkuva vachai ani savadengaadu adey last Nak gurthunnantavaraku tarvaata edavaledu
Chala situations vachai but edupu raledu eppudu
Ma nanna oka situation lo nannu kopam ga "em chethakaani nakodaka chethakani matalu matladoddu" annadu that was one of the most hurtful moments appudu kooda edpu raledu Inka life lo nen edavalen emo le ani anukunevadni
But iroju full ga edcha baaga hurt ayya bondhas Why do i deserve this anipichindii
Oka ammai kosam inthaga edustanu ani asalu eppudu anukoleduu
I dont even understand thanu enduku anthala lies cheptundo
Eyroju nen control kooda cheyalani try cheyaledu Deniki no cheppaleduu Full free ga ne untundii But enduku anthala chepppalsina avasaram
Pilla manchide bondhas
Pilla love kooda real ane cheppagalanu
Nakkuda chala istam 1 Vadalaali anipinchadam ledu 2 But also enni sarlu erripuk avtaav ra anipisthundi

I go 1st . Fucked up thing my ex did was when me and our friends hanging out at my ex's house 1 night, then she told me she wanna go out buy some groceries (9pm) then came back at 3am+ and she brought a man with her (who I later found out it was her ex) and they went inside the bedroom.
Me and my friends were dumbfounded ..like benda tu soo spontan and shocking that my brain cannot process it. I decided to bla with our friends, then next morning die call merayu2 mintak maaf and nk get back .. like bruh whut?? Ang depan aku and our friends leh bawak jantan and bawak masuk bilik , imagine belakang aku die buat ape en, then she pleaded she didnt do anything ..
I replied "buto pak ang tak buat ape2 , awat angpa main monopoly je ke dlm bilik tu? ke die main monopoly dalam poen ang?!" I'm paraphrasing but something like that la i replied.
End of story.
P.S : Zaman budak2 baru nak up so agak jahil la.. jgn kecam pls ..now sudah isanf kthxbye

Welcome to The Oblivion Cycle universe, a vast setting spanning all of time and space and so much more. While many stories may shed perspective on this grand cosmic vista, there are also tales of adventure and sacrifice, romance and terror, grimdark corruption and scientific progress. To become immersed in the setting is to let the chaos of creativity flow through you, to let go of what is probable to discover what’s possible. I have created TOC for one reason, to inspire and entertain any who will listen. So please feel free to join me on this great adventure as I push the boundaries of what is possible and expand the limits of our creativity together. For more information on the setting and its lore there is a subreddit for TOC at TheOblivionCycle and a Discord server dedicated to it here [​​https://discord.gg/uGsYHfdjYf ] called ‘The Oblivion Cycle Community Server’. I hope you find the following story entertaining and once more, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.
E1:P1 + E2:P1 + Previous + Next +
_____________________________________
Continued From E2:P2
Lion smiled as he fired another burst from his AKSF-101Y model assault gun. The recoil from the weapon pressed it back into his shoulder, the sensation was as familiar to him as his own heart beating at this point. The assault on these stupid police was going well, much better than he had been expecting.
He had grown up on the streets of Cheenha’s old inner city. The harsh nature of survival in such a place made him a desirable candidate to employ in the Pit Vipers combat squads.
He looked around, the enclosed office space they had chosen to set up their beachhead in was in shambles now. They had pushed over the desks and cabinets to make a rudimentary barricade to take cover behind. His comrades were all in cover behind the toppled furniture as he was. They periodically leaned out to take shots at the cowering police officers and other randoms that had been caught unawares by their lightning assault.
It had gone extraordinarily to plan so far. They were holding ground, providing a distraction while the other groups worked around the flanks and rear of the trapped officers. In fact, he thought he could just see the movement of something on his left. The corridor was one of the prime locations they had been told to take by Tekk’nak.
While he didn’t know exactly the purpose of their attack, he knew that the powers that had orchestrated it were not to be trifled with. If they had asked for the city to be brought low, then by all means they would find a way to make it happen such was their power and influence.
He stalked around a nearby overturned filing cabinet. The archaic paper files scattering from the toppled furniture as he sighted along the barrel of his gun towards the holdouts. Before he could fire again he heard a tremendous crack and snapped his head to the right as he saw something flash in the corner of his vision. He looked just in time to see Peter’s corpse flung back against the pillar behind him hard enough to crack the dark grey carbcrete. Flakes of the stuff raining down on their broken corpse as the room seemed to fill with a deadly calm.
The sheltering police had stopped firing for a brief moment, as had his own men. Many of them looking at the faintly glowing blue trail that had intersected the man with wide eyes. That looked like hypervelocity ammunition, and not one from any of his backup. Deep dark, that wasn’t a good sign. That meant that the police had control of at least one of the nearby armouries.
He leapt to the side as the fine scales under his chin itched, a sure sign that they were about to get hit with some manner of ill luck or other danger. It was well that he did so, a bright blue flash cutting through the filing cabinet right where he had been sitting only a moment before. The projectile pierced through his cover and then smashed through the wall behind him without so much as slowing down.
“Hypervelocity gun!” Another of his troops shouted loudly.
That was bad. They were not nearly equipped to counter such heavy weapons. What were they doing with the thing anyways, hadn’t Ombera reported that she had taken the nearby armoury? Lion pulled up his wrist worn assistant and made an attempt to contact her.
The line rang for a solid ten seconds, no contact. “Drek!” He swore loudly and then popped off a few shots back towards the hunkering bluecoats. Now wasn’t the time for them to be interrupted by some hero with a high powered rifle, he took a minute peek over the top of his cover towards where the shots had come from. It looked innocuous enough, nothing immediately standing out to him.. ‘Wait! What was that?’ He thought frantically as a huge black coated figure seemed to blend from the shadows briefly in between the flickering alarm lights.
Lion wanted to get a better look at them, but they moved too fast for him to get a clear picture. Far faster than anything of that size and apparent mass should have been able too. With a shudder he saw the gleam of a single cybernetic eye under the brim of a large hat. The sight sending a ripple of unease down his spine for some reason. It was as if some manner of eldritch entity had stepped straight from his nightmares and into the real world. A hulking figure cloaked in shadow that glared at the world through a single baleful green eye.
He shivered a little as he jerked back into cover. But he wasn’t about to let something like a little self doubt and fear get in the way of his mission, not for what they had been offered in return. He stood and yelled as loud as he could, his gurgling scream of anger causing the figure to halt. He fired his assault rifle at the thing, laughing savagely as it was struck multiple times across the chest and legs. It went down to one knee and for the barest of moments he allowed himself to hope that he had hurt the monstar.
He hadn't though he realised as it stood back to its feet a moment later, not even close.
The dark figure raised its huge gauss rifle and shouted its own challenge in return. Lion only had a second to glimpse a craggy and scarred face masked by a terrible rictus of pain and misery before the weapon fired and his head was turned into a fine mist that drifted over the surrounding area like a morning dew made of pale purple fluid.
**********
Balinski depressed the trigger on the GR74F-8, the weapon slamming into his shoulder with tremendous force. His cybernetics whined slightly as they compensated for recoil that would likely have disabled a regular human twice over, the bright blue streak of ionised air stabbing out seemingly instantly to take the head clean off the criminal that had just succeeded in pouring what felt like an entire magazine into his chest. He grunted as he moved back into cover. That had hurt, but scratch one more criminal.
He looked back towards the way he had come, Siyel was creeping up towards him with Caesar watching her flank. As they reached him he nodded to both of them and then asked, “I can’t get a bead on the other ones. There are at least four more, maybe six. It’s hard to tell with all the crossfire coming in.”
She crept around his side, pressing close to his chest as she leaned out around the corner to take a look. The tips of her large swept-back horns making her a bit more conspicuous than she might have otherwise been as they sat right under his chin. After a moment she darted back as a flurry of shots were lobbed in their direction and she pressed her back to the wall next to him. Balinski nodded to her, “It’s a little hot out there at the moment, like I said.”
She frowned, the look on her face somewhere between annoyance and rage. “These fathersuckers think they can just waltz in here and kill my officers, my family? Balinski, what do you need?” She asked almost desperately, and he could very well feel her pain. He had felt the same soul crushing agony as his own brothers in arms had been slain that dark fateful night years ago.
He looked around, pointing to a nearby wall he asked, “What is the composition of these walls?”
She looked a bit confused but responded quickly, “They are mostly just carbcrete and laminate. What are you..” Balinski nodded and waved a hand, effectively cutting her off mid sentence before pulling out his ThunderEagle and reloading it.
He had to eject the spent casings one at a time and replace them, and he did so with practiced ease. Replacing the ball ammunition with some of his very limited supply of HEDF rounds, the explosive projectiles were designed to detonate inside the target for maximum effect. He reupholstered the hand cannon then placed the gauss rifle down against the opposite wall and rolled his shoulders, his cybernetics sending him positive feedback signals.
SIyel stood back as he looked at her and smiled, “I'm giving us another angle of attack.” He shoulder charged the wall, hoping that she was right or this was going to hurt like a mother…
Balinski crashed through the wall in an explosion of dust and fragments of dark grey carbcrete, the shattered masonry scattering all across the room like a bomb had gone off. Balinski picked himself up from the floor amid a tangle of cracked and splintered wood from the innocent desk he had obliterated on entry. Siyel and Caesar popped through the wall after him a few seconds later, the former waving a hand in front of her face as she coughed.
“Well, that was certainly one way to make an entrance. I'm taking this out of your payroll by the way.” She said with a stern look, he wasn’t sure if she was joking or not though. Her face had the hint of a smile but it was mitigated by the hard look in her eyes as she stared at him from the jagged man-shaped hole in the wall.
He shrugged as he stood to his feet and stepped out into the hall briefly to grab the gauss rifle. Making his way back into the room he gave her a light pat on the shoulder as he stepped past, “If you feel inclined to do so, then by all means. In the meantime, I am going to waste these bastards.” He set the gauss gun down again. It was far too heavy and unwieldy for close range assault, and he wanted to get right into the thick of things.
He peeked out through a nearby window that showed the firefight. He counted five more bad guys, the two he had killed were still lying where they had fallen, the other insurgents still firing at the officers that were sheltering in the jumble of toppled office furniture. He needed to move on them fast, he could probably take out two or three with his revolver before they realised what was happening.
He turned to Siyel, “Hey, If I set that gauss rifle on the desk do you think you can aim it effectively?”
Siyel shrugged. “Maybe, I have no idea. The recoil is still going to be pretty spicy, but I think I can get away with it if I turn down the power setting a little.” She seemed reasonably confident and so he hefted the heavy yeown designed weapon onto a nearby desk, the false-wood furniture groaning slightly under its bulk as he shifted its position to be more optimal.
He nodded at his handiwork. “Alright, wait till I make my move and then do what you can.” He looked towards Caesar, the cyberhound had been awfully quiet and so now he waved to her. “Alright Caesar, you are coming with me. When we get out there I want you to watch yourself, these guys are heavily armed and armoured. So please, don't do anything rash.” She gave him a quiet bark and a headbutt to let him know she was going to be fine and he scrubbed her fluffy head affectionately. “Good girl. Okay, get ready, Siyel?” He nodded to the police commander.
She gave him a ready gesture, her tail flicking behind her nervously in opposition to her stoic features. Balinski steeled himself. He wasn't afraid, not really. The way he saw it he should have died in the fire and death that had claimed all his brothers in arms back on Zaphron-IV, the fact that he was still alive as this ghost of metal and pain was still a mystery to him. Why had he been spared?
Balinski didn't really consider himself much of a religious person, sure he said a chant to Lady Luck on occasion and liked to participate in the yearly festival of giving. But what did he actually believe? He wasn't sure he had the answer to that, not right this moment anyways. Caesar seemed to detect his hesitation and pawed his thigh, her small whine telling him all he needed to hear. She cared about him, she needed him. That was enough for him.
Balinski crouched low and crept under the window until he had reached the door to the office space beyond. He took a deep breath and shouted, “Do it now!” Before he kicked the door as hard as he could.
The result was an explosion of splinters that showered the nearest gunman causing them to flinch away from him as he raised his ThunderEagle and fired on another one of the criminals. The HEDF round pierced the slaaveth’s side and detonated in their chest cavity, a spray of purplish blood jetting from the wound as they jerked unnaturally and crumpled like a sack of flour dropped down a flight of stairs. Caesar took advantage of the first thug’s distraction to leap upon them, grabbing their right arm in her powerful cyber-enhanced titansteel jaws. With a simple squeeze she had snapped every bone in their arm causing them to screech and drop their weapon as they flailed impotently to detach the fifty-kilogram cyberhound.
Balinski kicked their legs out from under them as he rushed by, allowing Caesar to get to work mauling their armoured rig. He ignored the screams and fired his weapon again, this time taking another of the gangsters in the upper torso. The bullet failed to penetrate their armour but still detonated, this sprayed a fan of deadly shrapnel that hit them under their scaled chin and pierced their throat. They clutched their gullet as they stumbled, their gun dropped as all their will to fight drained from them like the lifeblood that gushed from between their clawed fingers.
They were already as good as dead and so Balinski drew a bead on his next target, a tall Slaaveth armed with some manner of large calibre weapon. It turned out to be a shotgun loaded with slugs as he took two directly to the chest. He grunted in pain as the power of the shots stopped him dead in his tracks, damn that had hurt.
Balinski dove forwards and to the left as the man crouched and fired once more, one of the rounds close enough to tug at the brim of his hat as he hit the floor hard. The breath was driven from his remaining biological lung as he fired, the high explosive round hitting the slaaveth woman directly in one of her pitch black eyes. Her head snapped back before the round detonated and pretty much turned her head into soup, the remains of it dribbling down her chest rig as the very dead invader slammed to the ground bonelessly.
He turned just in time to dodge a series of automatic gunfire from the last remaining one, but he tripped over a piece of broken debris and swore loudly as he went down hard again. The man strode around the nearby pillar with murder in his soulless black eyes. His gun raised and Balinski once more prayed for a miracle. He shook his head in disbelief as a bright blue streak hit the man in the shoulder, the hypervelocity slug tearing through armour and bone alike as the last of the thugs was sent to the abyss without so much as a sound. The harsh crack of the gauss rifle lingering in the deafening silence that now filled the smoke and dust filled office.
Balinski rolled over and pushed himself to his hands and knees, he was tired and sore. His back and chest were bruised under his heavy armour and at least one of the shots to his legs earlier had dented his knee servo. It didn't seem to be hampering his mobility at all, but he didn't like the look of it, he would need to get it repaired as soon as he had the chance.
Caesar trotted over to him happily, her muzzle dripping gore as her fluffy tail wagged happily. He shook his head, “You are one crazy mutt, you know that girl?” She dipped her head and then stiffened, her triangular head suddenly alert as the sound of approaching footsteps was heard.
Balinski found himself under the barrels of no less than seven service weapons as the once embattled officers had moved in to see what had taken out their opposition. He raised his hands as one of them spoke. Their uniform marked them out as a police sergeant Juur’nek, rank O-5. By the haggard look of the human, they had been having a rough time of it. The look on his face made it clear to Balinski that he was completely through playing around.
Before Balinski had time to plead his case another voice called out, it was Siyel. “Stand down Sergeant!” the man glanced her way and went paler than he already was.
He lowered his gun and stuttered, “Commander Siyel! We had been told that you were missing in action. Oh, it’s good to see you alright. What are you doing with this.. Man?” He seemed to be especially wary of Balinski, which he understood. He was a stranger, not an officer clearly and wearing dark clothing not exactly reminiscent of what one might consider a hero.
Siyel walked right up to balinski’s side and gestured at him, “This is Balinski, he’s employed by me personally as a void warden and consultant. And right now he is the reason I am alive, so I would ask that you treat him with the same measure of respect you would show for any fellow officer.” The way she jumped to his defense once more spiked a strange flutter in his chest. He pushed the feeling back down, it wasn’t the time to start thinking about such things.
Instead he just nodded to Siyel and spoke confidently to the officers, their beleaguered looking faces gaining a bit of hope as he pointed at the dead gunmen. “They are nothing but petty criminals. Highly trained and well armed as they may be, they die just like any other scumbag when you start poking holes in them.”
He watched the various officers perk up at his comment. Sure it wasn’t a rousing speech by any means, but he had told them exactly what they had needed to hear at that moment. The goal wasn’t just to survive the onslaught, but it was to take back their honor and their home from these interlopers. Balinski looked at Siyel, “Where do we need to go now?”
She answered quickly, “Communications center. We need to find out the true extent of this invasion. And then we need to nip it in the bud.” She turned to Sergeant Juur’nek, “Sergeant, I need you to take a squad and reinforce the interrogation wing. The armoury on the way should be open, use passcode nine-eight-charlie-tango-five to bypass the locks that aren't open.” The scruffy human officer nodded and then started to shout instructions to some of the assembled officers.
Balinski and Siyel started to move out when the man shouted for them to wait. “Hey, take Terry and Ulinis with you, they have special training in data analysis in case you need them.” The two officers in question stepped forwards.
Terry was a human woman with cropped black hair carrying a battered MR-12 that looked like it had been through more than just a warzone. Ulinis was different, a young razah’vool in a form fitting navy blue jumpsuit and carrying a Colt 3011. The pair walked to them and Siyel gave them both a nod before turning to Juur’nek and waving.
“Thanks again, safe journey be upon you friend, till we meet again on the other side of hel!” She shouted a traditional farewell to the man, he waved and the two groups split.
It seemed as though they now had two additional members to their little posse, they gave Balinski a bit of space and Ulinis kept casting curious eye glances at Caesar. The young razah’vool man’s strange alien body plan meant that she could not turn her head. Her eight eyes were spaced around the circumference of her wide and mushroom shaped head though and Balinski knew she could see better than him in all likelihood, even with his cybernetics.
He heard the razah’vool male speak quietly to Terry, their accent a little muddled through their lipless mouth at the top of their head. “Who do you think is behind it?”
Balinski heard Terry mutter in reply, “I don’t care who it was. They are all criminals and need to be eradicated like the vermin they are.” The acid in the woman’s tone surprised him a little. They must have lost somebody close to them due to the rampant crime in the city, maybe even due to today’s assault.
He made a mental note to keep the two on a short leash, anger was all well and good until it made someone act stupid to get revenge. He shook his head, he was one to talk. He had fallen into that trap on more occasions than he cared to admit to himself.
The four of them moved along the hallways in a loose group, it wouldn't do to fall victim to a single grenade or other fragmentation ordinance should one happen to be triggered. Balinski was the leading point, Caesar at his side with her nose in the air. He looked both directions at the next hallway intersection and then turned to look at Siyel, she had one hand gripping the handle of her weapon so hard her skin was turning a shade of magenta.
“Which way to the operation room or whatever it was?” He nodded towards the three way choice. It wasn’t behind them, that was all he knew. He followed Siyel’s direction as she gestured to the left and they trotted down the hall. Only a few dozen meters further and he thought he could hear more gunfire in the distance, but it was nearly impossible to tell which direction it came from in the precincts warren-like halls.
They continued walking and eventually turned another corner to a much larger hallway. The ceilings were a good four meters tall and the walls almost five apart. It looked big enough for vehicles to travel along, and indeed that may well have been the case at some point in its past. But the periodic doorways and lack of floor reinforcement made him assume that those days were long behind them.
Siyel pointed to another offshoot of the hall, a Y bend where the path split. “It should be just down the left hand corridor. I hope there are no more fathersucking gangsters down there.” He heard her mutter under her breath as he stepped towards the left.
Once more she had that same fury in her tone as he had noticed earlier. Not for the first time he wondered what had happened in her past to make her hate criminals as much as she did. He hated them too, for their selfishness and lack of empathy towards others, yes. But she seemed to harbor some much deeper personal hatred, the kind of hatred that burns deep in one’s bones and is impossible to extinguish. Her people were generally seen by many as cold and dispassionate, but nothing could be further from the truth.
He knew that feeling of deep bone freezing anger all too well, he desperately wanted to find those responsible for the death of his entire squad. He had suspicions that there had been foul play involved, and not just from the rebels. But without definitive proof he had been ignored, and so he had opted to retire from the military life. At least for a few weeks.
He looked at the gun in his hands and could feel the bruises on his back and chest stinging still. Here he was anyways, right back into the thick of it. The killing, the blood. His chest tightened as he thought about it, but Caesar let out a comforting whine he steadied himself. No, now was not the time to succumb to his own weakness. He would go and do the duty for which he had been commanded, regardless of his personal hangups.
The left hall was dark and dusty, he noticed as they reached it. The lights flickering as if damaged, lines of dust drifting from the cracked ceiling tiles and rubble strewn all across the floor. He paused, suddenly wary. Turning to Terry and the other he said, “Terry, take the left. Siyel and Ulinis stay behind us. Caesar, do you smell anything?”
Caesar lifted her snout and snuffled the air. She seemed to have a problem with the dust though and sneezed violently before growling in apparent annoyance. Alright, it seemed they were going to do this the old fashioned way. Balinski motioned for them to move up slowly, he raised the gauss rifle up into a low ready position. His cybernetics made holding the heavy gun as easy as breathing.
He slowed again as he heard something, Caesar’s advanced hearing picked it up too as he noticed her head cock to the side, her ears perking up as if trying to make out the voices echoing faintly from up ahead. As they crept ever closer to the sound the others started to hear it too. First Ulinis with her sensitive receptor tendrils that hung from under the mantle of her head. Next Siyel and Terry seemed to pick it up too, and by then Balinsky was starting to be able to make it out.
Before he could determine if it was a friend of foe Caesar gave a happy woof and rushed ahead. He cursed and made a grab for her, what the shit was she doing? She was going to get them all killed acting like that. He glanced at the others before swearing again and rushing after Caesar, all thoughts of stealth forgotten as he chased after his wayward friend.
She rounded the corner into the room before he was able to catch up and he tensed as he came skidding around the corner, his gun up and ready to lay waste to anyone that dared to harm her. He froze instead, the figure inside leveling a truly impressive array of weaponry back at him with her ten arms.
“I thought I recognised this one. Hello Balinski, good to see you in one piece in this shitstorm.” Daryon said, her antennae raising in her species equivalent of a smile. The large vinarfel replaced the myriad of weapons back into the many pockets of her specialist armour as she turned back to the surveillance computers. Or what was left of the computers anyways.
The array of communications equipment sparked and fizzed, smoke rising from torn cables and cracked view screens as he watched in dismay. It was clear that somebody had shot the place up, the bodies of two officers had been laid in one corner of the room neatly. Their dignified poses are entirely different from the ungainly heap of corpses in the other corner. It seemed that Daryon had not taken the room bloodlessly, though from the state of her dead opponents they had never expected the pure speed, strength and lightning fast reactions of a properly trained vinarfelien special task force operator.
He had seen her in combat once before, and he wasn’t sure that he could take her without some manner of fair warning, if at all. She was over three hundred kilograms of armoured muscles and short stabbing legs after all. He shook his head, putting thoughts of combat out of his mind as he approached her, weapon lowered but not fully put away. “What happened in here, Daryon?”
He asked as neutrally as he could, the alien woman didn't seem to have a detailed explanation for him as she shrugged. “Bad guys tried to kill me so I killed them first.”
He was about to ask what she meant more specifically, but about that point Siyel and the others skidded around the corner. They had their own weapons drawn and ready to lay down the hurt but Balinski threw up his arms and shouted that it was alright. Siyel motioned for Terry and Ulinis to be calm and then strode into the room with an expression of muted disgust on her face.
“More officers dead. I will find out who is responsible for this..” Balinski heard her mutter as she passed him. She walked gracefully to Daryon who saluted her crisply with two arms. “Officer Daryon, report!”
Siyel’s tone was clear and stern, leaving no room at all for misinterpretation. Daryoun seemed to hesitate, her head not moving but giving the impression she was glancing around the room. Balinski could see her pseudo-pupils looking at him, but it was simply a trick of the light on her compound eyes. “I was getting ready to head to the wreck room for some downtime when I heard a commotion from down the hall. I went to investigate and then heard gunshots, by the time I had gotten here they had already executed the two..” She made a multi-armed gesture to the dead officers.
Siyel nodded and made a motion for her to continue as Terry and Ulinis approached the sabotaged equipment. Daryon nodded, her antennae dropping in what was most likely disgust or sadness, “Well, I took care of the invaders. They seemed to be trained cannon fodder. I don't think this was the same crack team that managed to bust into the precinct, more likely this was simply the hired muscle doing damage and trying to slow down our response time.”
He looked at the large insectoid’s blue eyes, it was hard to tell vinarfelien emotions. But from the tone of her voice and the way her antennae were lowered almost flat down her uniformed back, he had to assume that she was being honest. And what reason did he have to doubt her in the first place? She had been by his side the entire time they had taken on Slake’s operation. No, he trusted her. He had too.
Balinski stepped towards the pair and asked, “How are you holding up Daryon?”
The woman seemed to perk up immediately as he approached, her faceplates opening in surprise to reveal the underlying pink flesh of her jawless mouth. She spoke, the plates moving slightly as she responded quickly, “Oh I am fine.. thanks for asking, Balinski.” Her antennae fluttered slightly as she said it, enough that he noticed.
Siyel pointed to Terry and Ulinis. “Daryon, I assume by the fact you were still here that you were attempting to fix the surveillance equipment?” The large colorful insectoid gave a thumbs up and replied in the affirmative. Siyel continued, glancing at Balinski. “Okay, you stay and help Officer Terry and Officer Ulinis get the station back up and running as best you can. Balinski and I are going to try and make it to the main breech.”
The big woman once more made an affirmative gesture and scuttled her way over to the other two officers. Siyel let out a breath and turned to face him, her eyes lined and her posture a little weary. “Okay Balinski, we need to move out. I want to know what’s happening as soon as possible.”
Balinski looked back towards the other officers and then nodded. “They will be fine with Daryon to keep an eye on the situation. Alright, but let me take point again. Caesar, stay with Siyel no matter what.” Caesar, who till this point had been slinking around the dead bodies of the criminals, ran over and gave him a stubborn growl. Siyel gave the pup an apologetic look as Balinski reiterated, “No matter what. You got me?” He stared at her till she gave a little doggy eye roll and he smiled.
He stood straight and drew his ThunderEagle with a free hand. He slung the GR74F-8 across his back as he reloaded the handcannon. “Let's head out, we have to find out what’s going on.”
Continued in E2:P4
==End of Transmission==

(2022) Incantation
It takes the first basic principle of Buddhism and morphs it into this beautiful, disgusting, depressing and frightening montage of horror and trauma.
(2021) The Medium
It was a somber scene before the credits rolled, that made the movie for me. It's super emotionally intelligent and elevates everything above and beyond the fear and shock factor.
(2020) Spontaneous
Even though it's heavy on romance for my personal tastes, within a genre-blending film, it's just too sweet not to love. But in stark contrast, it's also, basically as violent as you can get.
(2019) Swallow
I think the set-up itself is so unsettlingly raw and conducive to the worst of the subject matter but that intensity is needed to drive the message home.
(2018) The Wolf House
The visuals and practical effects are a monumental feat in and of itself, but the way it made me feel, was otherworldly.
(2017) Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil
It’s a weird mix of The Cemetery Man, Pan’s Labyrinth, Little Nicky and Jigoku.
(2016) Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl
It’s a genuinely chilling myopic exhibition of seduction. A.D. Calvo didn’t use every trick in the book but the one he used, he absolutely perfected.
(2015) The Lure
It felt like David Cronenberg and Wes Anderson were just plowing each other for an hour and a half.
(2014) The Incident
Bleak doesn’t even begin to describe this film. It’s pure nihilism, screamed loudly into the universe.
(2013) Jug Face
Perplexing little backwoods horror.
(2012) The Conspiracy
Most of all this film managed to take a dive off the deep end into something really ridiculous that ended up feeling powerful, exciting and scary. It reminded me a lot of Kill List in that sense.
(2011) Guilty of Romance
Especially for fans of ultra-sexual, graphic, Japanese horror but I’d recommend this to anyone. Sono’s visual direction is much more eclectic than his older films and it’s really entertaining.
(2010) Dream Home
Someone was upset over my Fender Bender review and asked me what I consider to be a good slasher. This right here is a good slasher.
(2009) The Forbidden Door
The films creepy atmosphere and general strangeness did plenty to keep me engaged while blinding me from what was really going on.
(2008) Surveillance
It’s a dark and twisted tale that runs you around in circles as you try to figure out who the actual killer is. Like her (Jennifer Lynch) father’s work, this film is largely character driven and relies on some fantastic unstructured narrative.
(2007) Hansel & Gretel
It’s a fantasy that’s woven with sorrow, while also genuinely chilling in a Twilight Zone-esque way.
(2006) Satan
This isn’t for weak stomachs or the faint of heart. It truthfully pushes the limits for what’s even acceptable for a horror film.
(2005) Strange Circus
Strange Circus fills all my horror holes of morbid depravity and in a miraculously graceful fashion.
(2004) Dumplings
Things to note with this would be the graphic scenes which are done out in slower deliberation and add a lot to the gross-out factor. I still really enjoyed Dumplings and anyone who was curious about Three Extremes should check this out.
(2003) Willard
The saga of Willard and Ben finally gets the treatment it deserves with Willard. It’s darkly whimsical, fluid, and engaging. Not to mention, a legendary performance by Crispin Glover.
(2002) In My Skin
If you’ve ever had extreme anxiety, OCD or episodes of self harm; this movie is going to effect you more. The shots are cringe inducing without relying heavily on a gore gross-out effect. The effects that are used however, are extremely well done.
(2001) Trouble Every Day
The lead actor Vincent Gallo apparently broke up with his girlfriend the day before this movie started shooting. If that’s not true, then his performance is even more impressive because it’s wrought with genuine heartache.
(2000) The Gift
You’d think Tarantino put together this cast list with how much amazing star power there is. It’s popular, just not discussed in horror communities, as a strange Raimi film.
(1999) Nang Nak
An earlier adaptation of the same ghost story told in Pee Mak, Nang Nak forgoes all comedy and delivers a rich and moving ghost story.
(1998)** Phantasm IV: Oblivion**
There’s a ton of backstory, time travel and all-in-all, it’s potentially the most ambitious movie of the series. Where all other franchises dove straight into the trash, Oblivion excelled gracefully.
(1997) Cure
If you haven’t seen a Kurosawa film, you really need to experience his gut-wrenching depressive atmosphere firsthand.
(1996) Ebola Syndrome
Holy shit this movie rocks. I’ve never been so entertained watching a man run around raping people and infecting everyone with Ebola.
(1995) The Eternal Evil of Asia
I’ve reviewed several of these now and if this is the Chinese version of a b-movie, they may be leading the revolution.
(1994) Cemetery Man
Soavi crafts these absolutely absurd scenarios that are obviously tongue-in-cheek but done so in such a bold and creative fashion.
(1993) The Untold Story
It’s a crime film that chugs along as most do, except it delightfully derails into pure horror carnage.
(1992) Split Second
It’s goofy, problematic at times but I ultimately enjoyed it quite a bit. The finale is fucking awesome and makes it hard to leave with a negative impression.
(1991) Highway to Hell
This is an absolutely awesome 90’s horror movie. It has cameos from the entire Stiller family, even fucking Gilbert Gottfried. You also have Chad Lowe, who I truthfully didn’t even know existed.
(1990) Der Todesking
While often wavering between the blunt, literal message and depressive expressionism, Der Todesking manages to feel all too real. It’s one of the best arthouse style horror films I’ve seen to date.
(1989) The Woman in Black
It just might be the creepiest made-for-TV movie…ever made.
(1988) Men Behind the Sun
Unit 731 during WW2, I’m not going to delve into it further, you can Wikipedia it.
(1987) The Believers
The entire runtime is a wild ride dude. It gets a bit absurd at certain points but the cult aspects are awesome.
(1986) In a Glass Cage
Nothing like an intense few hours of Nazi inspired child rape to get you through the work week. At its heart, I believe this film to be a revenge horror but its disturbing content makes a lot of the themes hard to distinguish.
(1984) Sole Survivor
I’m going to keep this one simple. It’s Final Destination with zombies, set in the 80’s.
(1983) The Boxer’s Omen
I seriously don’t even know where to begin with one. It’s just a fucking crazy, psychedelic, black magic filled, religious, pseudo kung-fu fucking pile of weirdness. It’s an absolute 80’s meltdown of practical effects that range from completely silly to extravagantly revolting.
(1982) Cat People
I love the original film to death but I couldn’t be more satisfied with the direction this pseudo-remake went in. It’s less of a psychological thriller and more of an erotic, body-horror fever dream.
(1981) Nightmare
This is a pretty nice little 80’s slasher, definitely subsequent in quality to the 80’s greats but something that does seem to feel memorable.
(1980) Hex
Hex is just as chaotic as you’d expect from the same director who did A Boxer’s Omen but it’s almost elegant and hypnotic.
(1979) Driller Killer
If you’re up for some dirty, violent arthouse horror then definitely give this one a shot.
(1978) The Shout
The Shout masquerades as a quick pitched horror idea but really, this film is a horrific, non-linear rabbit hole for psychotic delusion and crisis of identity.
(1977) The Uncanny
I wouldn’t say any of the segments blew me away, but they all surprised me in one way or another.
(1976) God Told Me To
Larry Cohen takes all this religious subtlety and blows it all up for the finale into a very Cronenberg style conclusion.
(1975) Footprints on the Moon
You might think you're getting into some dated, cheesy, sci-fi material but what it transitions to is a psychedelic, fever dream.
(1974) Vampyres
In terms of what to expect from erotic, 1970’s vampire movies; in general, at least? Well, don’t expect much. This is a rare breed. It’s a film that makes Dennis’ idea from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia about a full-penetration, Dolph Lundgren crime fighting movie seem almost plausible.
(1973) Messiah of Evil
This had a very similar vibe to Let's Scare Jessica to Death, in that the strong aspects of the film almost seem accidental. Like the dreamy, trippy, disjointed feeling of it could be less intentional and more just poor writing. Nevertheless, it's an interesting and unique film.
(1972) Morgiana
Super Psychedelic and visually appeasing. Morgiana is a fantastic intro in Czech horror.
(1971) The Third Part of the Night
A decade before Zulawski made Possession, he made the third Part of the Night. I can understand the divisiveness of his films, but the genius nature of the former was emerging when I watched this one and it was fascinating to see.
(1970) Valerie and her Week of Wonders
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is a memorable Czech surrealist horror film that weaves in an out of easily dissected symbolism, as well as pure fantasy.
(1969) Horrors of Malformed Men
The plot is so incredibly convoluted that it makes it so fucking difficult to just tell people why this film is so amazing.
(1968) Kuroneko
This is definitely one of the more existential ghost films out there, really tackling themes of death, love, sacrifice and suffering to grand extents.
(1967) *Violated Angels * It’s a tough watch for sure and a tougher film to find value in. You’re thrust into this sexploitation movie that seems murderously cruel and void of meaning. Somehow by the end of it though, it just felt like a much deserved, intimate view of a real crime.
(1965) The Skull
It’s well-produced, for the period. Peter Cushing provides the foundation, and it can be a pretty thrilling film.
(1964)** Lady in a Cage**
I think this movie captures such a helpless nature well. I was invested from start to finish and I loved the writing.
(1963) Matango
Ishiro Honda is a legend and I’m glad I finally got around to watching this one. I absolutely loved the story, the characters, the pacing and just the atmospheric nature of the entire film.
(1961) Night Tide
There are some flash images at one point that are straight up shocking for the time period and actually remind me a lot of (1981) Possession. To say this movie reignited my passion for 60's horror is an understatement.
(1960) The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales
I seriously loved this movie. It's so darkly funny, well-acted and almost unnecessarily well-filmed. I loved the low, uncomfortable close-ups during the nefarious scenes.
(1957) The Incredible Shrinking Man
The film itself is absolutely wonderful and it's mind-blowing how well the effects hold up today.
(1955) Dementia
Despite have no dialogue, the audio is actually really haunting, with this soundtrack that mostly consists of Yoko Ono-style wailing.
(1953) It Came from Outer Space
1950's sci-fi really has the odds stacked up against it in terms of aging well and that makes me appreciate this film so much more.
(1952) The White Reindeer
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Finnish horror film before, but this was great. It’s super mellow but builds into this atmospheric horror-fantasy.
(1949) The Queen of Spades
Dickinson managed to capture the both literally figuratively cold vibe of imperialistic Russia and I think that’s one of the main components that makes it stand out to me.
(1947) Fireworks
It's simply a homoerotic fever dream and I'm here for it.
(1946)** The Spiral Staircase**
This film is such an excellent murder mystery in the same vein as Hitchcock. It’s super atmospheric and the effects work are fantastic (for the most part).
(1945) The Picture of Dorian Gray
I just love the atmosphere and overall paranoid nature of this film. Some quotable lines seem almost comical in today's climate.
(1944) The Curse of the Cat People
This is more of a spiritual successor than a true sequel, despite the title. Very different filmmakers who had a passion for the original created a psychological horror film that was more akin to a cosmic Christmas story.
(1943) The Seventh Victim
The Seventh Victim is a short but sweet little atmospheric, cult-based horror.
(1941)** Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde**
As with any Jekyll and Hyde film, it all really hinges on the performance of the two and Spencer Tracy fucking killed this role. The first scene with him as Hyde in the bar was super creepy and also pleasantly rape-y. Is that weird to say?
(1940) The Invisible Man Returns
A young Vincent Price plays our perp this time and he’s excellent as always. It’s not paced exactly as intensely as the original, but I enjoyed the steady decent into madness.
(1939) The Hunchback of Notre Dame
I’ve seen quite a few iterations of this story dating back to the silent film era and I can confidently say that this is the definitive version. Charles Laughton is Quasimodo.
(1937) Song at Midnight
Overall, it’s not the easiest watch but I enjoyed it and I also believe it’s China’s first horror film, which is huge.
(1936) The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead is an interesting blend of gangster drama and supernatural horror that works better than one might expect.
(1935) Mark of the Vampire
This is such a clever twist on Tod Browning's own formula and bringing back Bela Lugosi for this role was smart and effective. It actually almost feels like an incredibly early example of meta-horror in some respects.
(1933) Mystery of the Wax Museum
This film is so incredibly interesting. It's really a fantastic, twisted seed of a horror idea that clearly made some simplistic sense at the time as a Universal horror clone. But there was obviously enough perverse interest to inspire remakes throughout the next century.
(1932) Murders in the Rue Morgue
Frankenstein meets King Kong.
(1931) Drácula
Carlos Villarias performance is wild; calculated through consistency but initially seemingly enigmatic.
(1929) Seven Footprints to Satan
This film is fucking insane. It’s a super surrealist spiral through satanic-based situations. It’s indescribable.
(1928) The Fall of the House of Usher
This is a seriously memorable and expressionistic silent film. It's wonderfully shot and a great interpretation of Poe's work.
(1927) The Unknown
This isn’t necessarily directly related but it’s Tod Browning’s initial dip into circus themed horror. As most people know, he would go on to make Freaks, an incredible film. It was very interesting to watch this sort of precursor.
(1926) Faust
This might just be the most remarkable looking silent film I’ve ever seen. The first 30-minutes reignited my passion for movies that I had pre-covid depression. I have no idea how Murnau managed to top Nosferatu but here we are. This is peak German expressionism, up there with The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
(1924) Waxworks
Absolutely massively underrated silent film. It's probably one of the earliest, if not the earliest anthology horror film ever made.
(1923) Warning Shadows
The film really evolves into one of the earliest examples of a movie within a movie (or a play within a movie in this case), which has become a really niche, yet effective way of cinematic storytelling.

AI will reshape the business world — here's where it's hitting first: Chart of the Week
There seems to be little doubt that artificial intelligence’s transformative power will change the world significantly — but it isn’t going to do it all at once, and it looks to be coming for the ad business first.
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This week, Google (GOOG) announced a chip that could rival Nvidia’s (NVDA) tech. And in chorus, Meta (META) also announced a chip of its own, giving both of these companies vertical integration to accomplish their objectives.
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You know what they are.
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As Bank of America’s Justin Post wrote in a research note on the move, Meta’s main AI benefits are getting people to use the product more, with better video recommendations to increase ad spend via better ads that are better measured.
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In April 2024, this is the vanguard of AI.
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Much has been made about where our physics PhDs go after they graduate. As Zachary Quinto's rocket-scientist-turned-banking-analyst character in Margin Call explained to his boss’s boss: "The money here is considerably more attractive."
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Big Tech has long since taken the economic pole position from other industries (like banking) with higher profits, pay, and prestige. Look at the "Magnificent Seven" and it’s not hard to see how they can pay for both top talent and as much R&D as the talent can handle. Just look at their AI investment in our Chart of the Week.
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People have mused that if Allen Ginsberg had lived past 1997, he might have said something like, “I saw the best minds of my generation were employed by Google to sell programmatic advertising.” Or, as early Facebook investor Peter Thiel put it in 2013, “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.” If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
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But past the “kids these days” anguish of our forebears — who put people on the moon, laid telecommunications cables across oceans, and made medical breakthroughs — is the simple fact that the cutting edge of tech is often happening at companies that are trying to serve you more personalized advertising in line with your interests.
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Whether Meta has the ambition to spread its cutting-edge AI technology across the industry remains to be seen. But as Mark Zuckerberg once described his business, “Senator, we run ads.”
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For Google, the journey from the core product of ad sales (Search and Gmail) to cloud computing will be an interesting one. Ditto for Microsoft, whose OpenAI ChatGPT alliance could be considered a marketing tool for its computers.
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All of this goes into a theory we’ve written about in these pages. Last year, Myles Udland wrote that we’re thinking either too small or too big about AI. And it’s hard because the technology will thread a needle through a specific industry before it expands across the economy.
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As another Bank of America analyst, Alkesh Shah, wrote this week, “Investors frequently overestimate the magnitude of tech disruption in the near-term and underestimate it over the longer-term.”

Welcome to The Oblivion Cycle universe, a vast setting spanning all of time and space and so much more. While many stories may shed perspective on this grand cosmic vista, there are also tales of adventure and sacrifice, romance and terror, grimdark corruption and scientific progress. To become immersed in the setting is to let the chaos of creativity flow through you, to let go of what is probable to discover what’s possible. I have created TOC for one reason, to inspire and entertain any who will listen. So please feel free to join me on this great adventure as I push the boundaries of what is possible and expand the limits of our creativity together. For more information on the setting and its lore there is a subreddit for TOC at TheOblivionCycle and a Discord server dedicated to it here [​​https://discord.gg/uGsYHfdjYf ] called ‘The Oblivion Cycle Community Server’. I hope you find the following story entertaining and once more, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

• Episode 1: Part 1 + Episode 2: Part 1 + Next Part

____________________________________________________
Continued From E2:P1
Officer Daggum sat behind the front security checkpoint for the main entrance to the main precinct. He sighed heavily as another group of young, fresh faced, officers waltzed by, their steps quick and sure and their postures strong. For the ten-thousandth time he cursed the ancestors of the man that had stabbed him in the spine almost a decade ago. Sure they were busy rotting in a Cheenha maximum security prison complex, but did that make his leg work again?
He shook his head sadly, the other nearby officers sparing him singular glances before deciding he wasn't a character of interest. All he wanted was to feel useful again, needed even. But so far all he had been doing is light work, the kind of thing they gave elderly near-retirees.
He wasn't nearly that old damnit! He sat up a little straighter, the righteous indignation giving him the energy he was otherwise lacking. In his new and slightly more aware state he chanced to look out through the front entrance.
Outside the main doors he saw a pair of people in dark clothes heave a large box onto the front steps. The first thing he noticed was their attire, their faces were covered in black masks that hid their identities from scrutiny. Sure, that wasn’t exactly illegal, but right in front of the main police precinct for the district? Yes, that was indeed suspicious.
Officer Daggum started to stand as the pair ran away, the large box still sitting in front of the main entrance some distance away. Several nearby pedestrians and officers were now starting to notice the activity. He grabbed his cane and stood, he only took a single step towards the door when there was a bright flash and a wall of force slammed him to the ground. His vision blacked out for a second as his head had a brief boxing match with the floor.
He came too on the ground, a shrill ringing in his ears. He coughed harshly as dust filled his eyes and mouth, he shifted, pushing himself up onto his hands and knees as rubble fell from the ceiling above him. The man crawled painfully towards the corner of the front desk, cracks evident in its resin frame from heavy impacts upon its face.
What had just happened? An explosion? Likely some manner of anti-unity extremist attack, if the face-masked villains on the front steps were any indicator.
As he dragged himself shakily to his knees his hearing started to come back. The ringing silence subsequently was replaced with screams and cries of pain from other injured people. What kind of people were responsible for this?
Officer Daggum looked around, the front of the building was in shambles. The entire entrance way was blown away, only a gaping hole where there had been glazmite windows and the security checkpoint. He checked his waist for his service pistol, but it wasn’t there. He looked around frantically for a moment but it must have been lost in the blast. How could he have lost it?
Instead of worrying about it he reached for his cane, the carbon fiber tube was undamaged by the explosion and he used it to drag himself to his feet and hobble towards his station. Maybe if his computer was still operational he could trigger an alert.
As he moved towards it he heard a commotion from behind him. The sound of automatic gunfire and laser blasts seemed to follow him and he turned his head. As he looked back his eyes widened, there were more than two of them it seemed. In fact, an entire cadre of heavily armed people stormed through the breach in the front of the building, firing their weapons indiscriminately into anything that moved.
Officer Daggum lurched towards his computer as he saw a pair of younger officers cut down execution style. Their bodies were sundered by the heavy fire as their killers marched into the building proper, the clank of armour and weapons almost as loud as the gunfire itself. He counted at least two dozen of them so far, all of them moving with the precision of trained killers. No movements wasted and all angles covered by their weapons.
They hadn’t seen him yet, but a cold sinking realisation gripped his heart like an iron fist. He was going to die here. At least he could go down fighting.
Daggum reached his console and slapped the emergency alert button, making sure to ender the three digit code for gunmen in the building. He then opened the drawer on the right side of the small workstation area, reaching inside for the standard police issue IAC Port-20 ten-millimeter pistol he kept in case of emergencies just like this. The weapon felt a little heavy in his out of practice hands but he put the sight on target and pulled the trigger.
He had set it for burst fire, and as the five round burst impacted the nearest invader a savage grin crossed his face when they went down hard. Almost before he could comprehend it a barrage of fire returned his direction and he croaked in pain as something hot hit him in the arm. There was a terrific cracking sound and he felt something wet splash across his face as he was slammed into the wall behind him.
He groaned and tried to wipe his face with his right hand, but nothing happened. He looked down and was horrified to see a partially cauterised stump where his forearm had been a second before. He must have been hit by a beam weapon, a laser would not have done as much damage and a standard firearm would not have cauterised the wound in that manner.
These thoughts and more flashed through his mind just as the pain began to set in. It was as if his entire right side had been plunged into ice, the numbness setting in as his body went into shock. Even the adrenaline that coursed through his body was not nearly enough to keep him going.
He looked around for his weapon but saw it was nowhere to be found, probably on a surprise vacation with his right hand. He cursed loudly as he heard footsteps. A trio of faces loomed over the counter and pointed weapons at him, Daggum closed his eyes and waited for death.
Before it happened though a deep voice called out loudly, “Wait!”
The thugs seemed to grow a little disappointed and pulled back. Another set of footsteps approached and presently a new figure emerged into Daggum’s greying vision. It was the thug he had shot, the man took off his armoured face mask and spat a wad of blood onto the floor. He was bleeding from what looked like a graze on his temple and he moved painfully, likely bruising from the gunfire that had been stopped by his armour.
The human looked at him cruelly. “This one is mine. You all know the mission, get to it. We need to be in and out before this hive gets alerted and collapses on top of us.” the other masked faces nodded or saluted in unison before hurriedly departing. Shouts and the clamour of armoured boots receded into the distance as Daggum watched the man climb over the countertop slowly and painfully.
He landed heavily and cursed, blood dripping from a wound in his shoulder where at least one of Daggum’s bullets had found its mark. The man crouched low by his side and drew a plain looking knife from a sheath on his arm. The handle looked to be made of some sort of bone inlaid with small gold vine-like patterns. He pointed it at Daggum and asked him, “Do you know what the most painful thing a man can experience is?”
Daggum wanted to tell the man to go and fornicate with a grinskal, but he lacked the breath to utter the words properly. Instead it came out as, “Guuhho… fffuuffcck..” The man just smiled. A cold smile that didn't seem to reach his lifeless looking eyes.
The dead-eyed man shook his head and gave Daggum a few gentle slaps on the cheek. “Stay with me now, I didn’t say you could leave yet did I?”
Daggum wanted to punch the smug man right in his grinning mouth. But his arms no longer responded to his commands and he realised with a sense of profound calm that his neck must be broken. The fact he was still conscious was a miracle in and of itself. So instead of trying it he simply gave the man the best stink eye that he could manage. ‘Yeah, take that you arrogant bastard.’ He thought to himself tiredly as the man frowned in anger at his continued defiance.
The black clothed human stood and delivered a savage kick to Daggum’s chest. There was a cracking sound as something broke, but Daggum didn't feel it. In fact he couldn't feel anything, that cold numbness had overtaken him completely. His mind slowly dipping lower and lower into that frozen sea of nothingness as his vision narrowed.
The man seemed to be speaking again as he flashed that damn knife, but Daggum’s ears couldn't hear, his eyes wouldn't see. He let out a long slow breath as he accepted his fate, and then darkness fell over his mind like a cloak and swallowed him whole.
**********
Tekk’nak kicked the corpse in front of him one more time for good measure.
“Damned asshole. You just had to go and die huh?” He sheathed his grandfather’s knife and hopped back over the damaged countertop. “Unbelievable! The fucking nerve of these..” He stopped and winced as his shoulder twinged.
The armoured man checked his shoulder again and swore once more under his breath. “Damnit.”
He pulled out a small device from his belt, it looked like a cross between an assistant and a lon-range communicator. In reality it was both, but with the added benefit of being encrypted in a manner that made its signal virtually untraceable.
The line buzzed for a few moments before a modulated voice answered his call. “Yes? Is it done already?”
Tekk’nak shook his head out of habi even though his client could not see him directly. “Not yet, but it will be. I am calling to tell you that the deal might be a bit more expensive than we originally discussed.”
He grinned as the voice retorted angrily, the modulator fizzing as it stopped working for a single moment. “This is unacceptable! You get the job done, and quickly. Then and only then will I be willing to discuss payment changes and options with you.” The voice paused. “I was told you were the best, was I misled?”
This caused Tekk’nak to clench his jaw. The pain in his shoulder now completely forgotten in the face of the voice’s implied insult. He spoke in a dangerously calm manner, his tone making it clear to the impudent voice that their candor should reflect their respect. “I would warn you that insults to me and mine are insults to my Mistress as well. And I don’t think you need to be warned what she thinks of those that disrespect her.”
The voice backpedaled, but only a little. “I understand, but I also am paying an exorbitant amount for this assassination. So get it done, or I will tell your Mistress myself that you have failed.” Tekk’nak growled and ended the call with a furious jab of the button.
He breathed in and out several times, attempting to calm himself before replacing the device in his pocket. Oh yes, he would have words with the headMistress about the voice’s words alright. They might be a big important individual where they were from, but down in the dirt and shit and blood there was a different code. Honor and loyalty were more important when all one had was the clothes on their back.
He turned and looked at the dead police officer he had been wanting to kill. No, this mission was not personal. But it did feel a little more than business, something about the atmosphere maybe? They had never directly hit a police precinct or station before, and the progress they made pretty much guaranteed that they would all be shot on sight if their identities came out. But that was alright, the things he had done already guaranteed him a place in the deepest crevasse of the eternal afterlife.
It was of no importance to him what happened after this life. Not when his Mistress was counting on him now. He needed to join his conscripts, they were good soldiers but they lacked any real leadership skills. No creativity or advanced tactics. He smiled as he strode further into the precinct, he felt powerful. To strike directly at the enemy’s heart, now that was truly what he had been made to do.
Tekk’nak hefted his rifle and walked further into the police station, dark purpose guiding his measured steps. He had himplets to slaughter.
**********
Balinski slammed the interrogation room’s door open, startling the two Havoc troopers that had been standing watch outside.
The leader of the troop, a burly human female in powered armour, rushed through the far door thay led to the hall outside. “Commander Siyel! Are you alright?!” The concern in her voice was genuine, Siyel must have chosen her troop specifically for this task.
“Yes, I’m fine, Tanya. What’s the situation? That felt like an explosion.” Siyel put an arm out, using Balinski’s sturdy frame to steady herself.
Tanya’s troopers moved alongside them as they walked towards the hallway. Balinski looked behind him and called loudly, “Caesar, here!”
Like a torpedo made of steel and wrath, Caesar blasted out of the other room and to his side. Her hackles raised and her body posture intensely alert for any signs of potential danger. Balinski put a hand on her head, giving her a quick scrub and muttering, “Keep your nose alert for danger, ok girl?” She woofed, the small sound making him smile.
Siyel gave him a hard look, “We need to move. Tanya, leave half of your troop here to cover Slake. I don’t care if this is an unrelated incident, we cannot lose him. Under no circumstances is he allowed to leave that interrogation room.” The woman nodded and donned her helmet. The faint crackle of static telling him that she was using a secure channel to her troops.
Presently several of the troopers peeled off to go and take up defensive positions outside the interrogation room. Their weapons unholstered and ready for action. Tanya herself unslung a large Malcolm cannon, the revolving ordinance launcher capable of devastating fire in close quarters.
Tanya looked at Siyel and Balinski and asked, “Are you armed?”
Siyel shook her head. “I put my rifle back up in the armoury when we got back. Balinski probably has that handcannon of his though..” She glanced at him and he pulled his ThunderEagle out of his shoulder holster with a nod.
Tanya shook her helmeted head, her range of motion remarkably preserved despite the heavy armour she wore. “That isn’t going to cut it. If there is an emergency then you are going to need actual weapons.
They stepped out into the long hallway and Balinski immediately noticed the lack of activity. No officers roamed the hall, no alarms blared.
He turned to look at Siyel, “How do we even know there is an emergency…” As if to spite him, the lights concealed up by the ceiling flashed to life and a low pulsing tone signaled that there were armed intruders in the building. “Well. That does it.”
Tanya seemed to chuckle for a second before motioning them to follow, but Balinski took point alongside her. “What are you doing? Get behind me!” She shouted as they made their way down the hall.
He shook his head, his wide brimmed hat shielding him from the glaring alarm lights. “Negative. I am here to protect and serve, just like you.”
She was silent for a minute before muttering something that didn't quite make it through her external speakers properly. “Who even are you?”
He gave her a quick nod as they rounded a corner into a wider main hallway. “Balinski Katars, a pleasure to meet you.”
Before she could respond Caesar barked a warning and he whipped his gun up into a ready position. Gunfire roared at them from farther down the hall and the inaccurate shots ricocheted dangerously off walls and floor alike. Several of the shots striking his armoured chest and legs.
“They are in the armoury, we need to prevent them from accessing heavier weapons!” Siyel shouted.
Balinski knew what he had to do, he looked at Tanya and gestured forwards. “You feel like blocking for me?”
She nodded and as one they charged. Balinski was three steps behind the woman, he had to duck slightly to hide his bulk behind her shorter frame, but as the sound of ricocheting bullets filled the hall he was glad for the cover. They made the gap in less than ten seconds, the time felt stretched though. His adrenaline picked up, and with his vastly reduced biological mass it hit him like a hammerblow.
Time slowed from his perspective, his cybernetics doing calculations in his mind to map out optimal trajectories and put him into the best possible position to storm the room. He lined up as Tanya slammed into the doorframe, deforming it in the process as she tried to come to an immediate stop in her heavy armour.
As a flurry of shots were directed at her, Balinski used her body as a backstop to angle himself into the room. He entered at a low sideways angle, pistol fully extended as he searched for targets. He saw at least five armed insurgents, two of which were in the open.
The room was full of lockers, many of them sealed and closed. It was behind several of these that the attackers were hiding. Balinski fired his huge revolver. The first .50 caliber bullet flew from its barrel in a cloud of fire and smoke to hit one of the thugs square in the chest. The impact of the bullet was enough to knock them from their feet and send them crashing into the shelving unit behind them, ammo containers and weapon attachments scattering all around their crumpled body.
He lined up the gun on the other exposed criminal he saw and fired at their unarmoured neck. The slaaveth catching the round right under their chin. The large caliber round punched through their scaled flesh like it was paper maché and tore a hole through them large enough to see through, bright purplish blood splashed the walls as they clutched their ruined throat and fell choking to their knees.
Balinski used the opening to dive into the cover of a nearby locker as Tanya struggled free from the crumpled door frame and charged into the room. She fired her smoothbore ordnance launcher two times, something clattering off the far wall before emitting a hissing sound. He peeked, she had fired smoke grenades. Likely just some manner of obscuring gas but still potentially an issue for him. He covered his mouth with a sleeve from his jacket and looked around, testing the air. Tanya rushed around the leftmost corner as he did so, the woman slinging her gun and drawing a truly wicked looking vibro-sickle. The blade began to oscillate at a very high frequency, the blade turning ethereal in appearance as a deadly hum filled the room.
Balinski leaned out from cover as the enraged woman drove two of the thugs from cover. He pumped a shot into the back of the first one’s knee. The mask wearing slaaveth going down with a sharp shriek of pain. He holstered his revolver with practiced ease as he stood, its three round capacity now spent. As he charged he extended the twenty-five centimeter blade that was hidden in his cybernetic forearm.
Tanya slashed her vibro-sickle across the other invader’s chest. The blade slicing clean through the soft layers of their body armour and shaving off a smattering of flakes from the underlying hardened steel plate. The slaaveth female recoiled, a curse on her lips as she snapped her jule2000 laser rifle up and let off a series of close range shots directly into the power armoured woman’s breastplate. The impacts leaving smouldering, charred craters in the otherwise pristine navy grey metal.
Fortune was on her side however, for as she was knocked back the slaaveth woman stumbled over the still thrashing body of her comrade. She went down in a heap right as Tanya regained her footing.
Balinski didn’t get to see what happened next as he was charging into combat too. He rounded the room from the opposite side, catching the remaining gangster with their back turned. Before the masked figure even had time to turn around, Balinski rammed all twenty-five centimeters of cold titansteel between their shoulders. Neatly severing their spine and trachea and dropping them gurgling to the floor without another sound.
He was about to move to Tanya’s aid through the hazy air but was stopped by something hitting him directly in the middle of his back. He was knocked forwards half a step as he was hit two more times. He could smell the scent of burning ranx leather, his heavy overcoat suffering as his back plate blocked the shots.
He used the imparted momentum to throw himself into a forwards slide as another trio of searing red beams stabbed through the space he had only just occupied. He only had a second to react. He spotted one of the smoke grenades, the small cylinder still emitting a trickle of vapor. Balinski grabbed it and with a single fluid motion whipped it up and towards his pursuer as he rolled over onto his back.
His aim was a bit off, the canister bouncing off their left shoulder. But it was enough to throw the thug’s aim. They fired high, one of the shots just missing Balinski’s shoulder. He felt the heat of it on his cheek, curls of smoke rising from the crisped leather of his jacket.
He tried to move, to rise to his feet and charge the man. But he just didn't have the time. He could see in that instant that the man was bringing the barrel of his weapon back to bear, the adrenaline coursing through his blood making time seem to move slower. Barring some manner of miracle he was a dead man.
His miracle came, a divine bolt of grey furred fury that flew through the air like a hunter killer missile directly into the laser rifle wielding insurgent. It was Caesar, her fighting blood up at the sight of her best friend in peril. The man screamed for a second, the sound cut brutally short as Caesar clamped her vise-like cybernetic jaws on the man’s throat and shook.
The snap of their neck sounded as loud as a gunshot, the life draining from their eyes almost immediately as Caesar continued to savage their corpse. All at once tearing the slaaveth’s head clean from their body in a spray of heliotrope gore. She opened her maw, the severed head dropping to the floor as she let out a triumphant howl.
Balinski climbed to his feet quickly and motioned for Caesar to heel, she responded immediately. They rushed to the other side of the armoury to see Tanya finishing off the previously wounded slaaveth, the sickle tearing their entire throat out with a single swipe. She stood and deactivated the blade, her breathing heavy enough to reverberate through her helmet speakers.
She nodded towards him, her armour dinged and scarred but still in near full fighting condition. She walked towards him and held out a gauntleted hand, “I am sorry I doubted you Balinski. You really hold your own. Military?” She asked, her question more implied than spoken.
Balinski nodded. “Yeah, ex-ground pounder. Retired as you can tell. Saw combat at Zaphron-IV before I.. got out.” He saw her body posture change almost instantly as he said it.
She paused, her hand flying to her helmet as if in surprise. “Wait, you are that Balinski.. the martyr of Complex-82?” He instantly regretted his words as she seemed to recognise him. She took a step back as the sound of heavy footsteps entered the room. “Holy Luck, I.. wow.”
He just waved a hand, trying not to cut her off rudely. “It’s fine, don’t even worry about it.”
She shook her head, the glowing eyes of her helmet fixated on him. “You are a legend though, you survived against all those odds, I remember when the holonet announced that you were still alive. What you went through..” This time he did cut her off.
“I don’t really want to talk about it..” He said it firmly, not trying to be impolite but not wanting the conversation to continue. She seemed to want to say more but stopped as she saw the pained look on his face. Eventually they would all ask what it was like, what had happened. He felt his chest tightening as the memories flooded his mind, too much.. It was always too damn much.
He heard Caesar whine as his head seemed to split like an overripe melon, the pain as intense as it was sudden. He fell to a single knee, the impact of his cybernetic joint actually cracking the tile flooring under himself as his mind descended once more into that old madness. Crazed images flashed through his mind accompanied by sights and smells that all stank of death and pain.
A butcher’s saw, dirty red linens stained with arterial blood. The scent of gangrenous rotted flesh and necrotised tissue. The pain of a cauterized wound with no anesthetic. Faster and faster the images flashed till something else intruded on this hell. It was a sound, familiar and soothing. A noise from his childhood, one that seemed to combat the fire and death. It was a subtle sound, like that of a plane far overhead in the sky or an air conditioning unit in another room.
Balinski grasped onto the noise and allowed it to yank him out of his nightmare. It was Caesar, the dog having sensed the onset of a PTSD attack and moved to comfort him. She was nestled under his torso and arm, using her strong back and legs to support him as he sat partially slumped against the back row of lockers.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. He looked up with slightly blurry vision and saw with a pang of shock that Siyel was crouched next to him. She had a concerned look on her face and stood once she saw he was awake.
She hefted a long barreled rifle in her hands and gestured towards him, “Are you alright? You took some hits there, Tanya was afraid you had been injured.” Her tail twitched behind her, held slightly aloft as she gave him a pointed look.
He raised a hand and used the wall to help himself to his feet, groaning as he did so. “No, I’m fine. We need to get moving, these guys have already infiltrated this far into the building. Who knows where they may have gotten to.”
Siyel shook her horned head slowly. “It’s worse than that. We have over a dozen reports of officers down. At least three dozen confirmed insurgents have infiltrated the building working in small groups. The one we took down here was missing a man, they may have been injured in the initial assault.”
Balinski nodded, not exactly surprised but still a little wary of the situation as a whole. It was nearly inconceivable to him that the station had been attacked in the first place, and to come so close on the heels of Slake’s capture? No, the events were definitely related to each other.
He looked around the room fully expecting to see Tanya and her Havocs. But they were alone. “Where did the other’s go?” He asked her curiously.
She motioned for him to get moving and replied quickly, “I sent them ahead. Here, grab a gun. We are going to need them I am sure.”
Balinski frowned at her response. She should have left him behind as she was a high ranking police official, and part of him wanted to say it. But the larger part of him was a bit more interested in why she had chosen to stay with him. He walked along the side of the room, trying to avoid the blood and bodies that lay sprawled out on the floor.
Siyel led him to a large opened locker, this one full of high powered weapons. He saw MR-12s and LMR v.17s as well as a few rupulse carbines and beamers. But the weapon that stood out immediately to him was a slightly modified GR74F-8 heavy gauss rifle. He reached out and hefted it, the heavy weapon felt comfortable in his cybernetic hands. The weight both familiar and strange, reminding him of the heavy weapons he used to wield as a ground pounder.
He set the weapon aside, grabbing a few spare power cells and some boxes of slugs before he turned to Siyel, a large smile on his otherwise craggy features. “Oh, I think this will do nicely.”
She gave him a knowing look, one black eyebrow raised. “Yeah? I figured you would grab the biggest one available. Ok, come on. We need to get to the nearest control center, I sent Tanya out ahead to help evacuate the building. The alarm should have given most others ample time to either armour up or get out, so be ready for anything.” She gave him a second to digest her words before she dipped away, her movements as graceful as those of a dancer.
He followed the nerivith woman, their progress halting at the door to the hall as Balinski threw out an arm. “I’m taking point.”
Siyel cocked her head and responded gruffly, “You have no power to tell me what to do Balinski.” She looked like she wanted to say more but he cut her off with a head shake. His cybernetics whined slightly as he shrugged.
“You are absolutely right, Siyel.” He made a gesture towards the hallway. “After you then if you feel the need to be unnecessarily overzealous.”
She frowned and then hefted her weapon, using it to gesture towards the hall. “Fine, but I would appreciate you not making determinations without at least asking for what I think.” He chuckled.
Siyel let him lead the way, Balinski gesturing for Caesar to stay back too. He looked around quickly, searching for any hint of danger or terrorists. He saw none. He waved the all clear and the trio crept along the hallway in the direction they had been traveling before.
He paused as in the distance an exchange of gunfire was heard. The noises careening along the walls, carried farther than would have normally been possible when the station was full of people.
Balinski led the two down the hall slowly, but not so slow that they might get caught out in the open. As they reached the end of the hall and turned he heard another burst of what sounded like automatic gunfire. Closer this time and more prolonged. It might be a gunfight between the insurgents and surviving officers. He glanced at Siyel, the unspoken question on his lips. She just nodded to him and checked her weapon.
If anything was to happen to Siyel, Balinski wouldn't be able to forgive himself. So just before they reached the next corner where the sounds were strongest he held out a hand for her to slow. He gave her a glance, “Please be careful, Siyel.”
The pink skinned woman nodded, her raven hair held back in that tight ponytail. “And you as well, Balinski. I have your six.” He nodded, and with a deep breath he broke from cover with a shout of fury.
Continued in E2:P3
==End of transmission==