“What If” Minato was Half Uchiha - prompt from Dc Rulez
Major Changes: - Minato's mother wan an Uchiha - his surname is still Namekaze - Sharengan? Who knows? Cant make him too strong that he survives Obito+ Kurama or it becomes his manga! (but maybe we'll figure somethin' out ;P ) - He is Cousin’s With Mikoto Uchiha ( want an important relative into the clan )
Other changes not Minato related:
- Curse marks make the users emotions even more unstable, volatile, & controllable - Imma try and not make the timeline wonky.. 1 or 2 things may be though ( i did write this over a few days)
- Sorry to Sakura & her fans in Advance… this timeline isnt her story to tell. Read my last “What if,” if you want some strong Sakura love <3
- Apologies to Y'all too BC this one is LONG!!! worth the read IMO, i put some love into it.. skip to the end for al the Sharengan powers awoken if you just wanna see that much <3
Begin!!!
Act 1 - A Name’s Resonance
Most of his Adolescence is very similar, & the earliest we See of Minato is him already being a Jonin in 3rd War, He's still the Yellow flash. First Change of Outcome that we see is when he becomes Hokage there isn't a resentment among most of the Uchiha, there are still a few pure blood minded people that don't see him as one of them, but most do. Especially with him being directly related to the Wife of the Head of the Clan.
Kushina & Mikoto are close. Minato is an only child so he was close with his cousins as if they were siblings. & Mikoto & Kushina became close at family gatherings. Instead of Jaraiya Being Naruto’s Godfather, Mikoto is his Godmother. Minato is still Close to Jaraiya, nothing changes there. But between the man being out on missions all the time, & having 0 parental exp with kids. Yeah he's had teenage students, but that's the promise he makes with Minato, to train his kid one day.
Obito is just as mad at Minato as he was in the original, Them being related didn't matter, he was caught in a fueled rage by the loss of Rin + being gaslit to feeling abandoned when Minato didn't come back to save him, when Madara did.
Naruto is adopted by Mikoto as she's his god mother. Hiruzen cant stop this as it was literally Kushina’s will. (we’ll get back to this after politics)
When Minato Dies, the first to Mourn him are his Family. & Thus they aren't as heavily suspected as the traitors they were in OG timeline. An internal investigation is held to try and find out who was the one who took control of Kurama on the night he broke out, but no leads are never found, as Minato, the only one who came into contact with the Masked man (Obito) is now dead. & Obito left no tracks… this takes over a year before its dropped ( The Uchiha were segregated into their corner of the village while this investigation took place, & without results everyone kinda just ended up staying there. ) In this timeline Fugaku is on the Council as well as Hiashi Hyuga + Tobirama’s original pupils (the normal council). Something Fugaku convinced Minato to fight for, as 3 councilors was not enough and all too focused from a singular POV (all Tobirama’s students).
After a few years of Danzo casually increasing tension against the Uchiha, he used Kotoamatsukame (which he recently stole from Shisui), to effect the minds of the 2 OG councilors & Hiruzen. Fueling distrust & anger against the Uchiha. Digging at the scab that was kurama being clearly controlled by an Uchiha during the masked man’s attack. Segregation was no longer enough, he needed results! Kotoamatsukame Had yet to be found out by Hiashi Hyuga, as he’s not casually using Byakugan in meetings, But before Danzo can escalate things too far gone, Fugaku catches on to the direction things are going…
Instead of going down the route of a rebellion, a war he knows they’ll lose, Fugaku sees the night of Minato’s death being used to fuel the hatred of his people & puts himself forward as tribute as a trade for the loss of his once friend & family member Minato. So that the People may find peace knowing that the Uchiha aren't trying to cause an uprising.
As his Son Itachi had already Awoken his MS when he lost his best friend Shisui, Fugaku the morning of his execution, gives his eyes to be transplanted into Itachi. It was his final gift, so that his son wouldn't one day go blind. After Fugaku’s execution Hiashi notices that one of the councilors was under the effects of a genjutsu (Hiashi wasnt targeted for kotoamatsukame as it would be too easy in the Hyuga home for him to be noticed). Hiashi removes the genjutsu and checks the other council member as well as Hiruzen & removes it from them.
Danzo is confronted with his actions as it's apparent it was his doing. But he goes into a tirade about what they were taught from Tobirama, of the Risk Uchiha have always been since Madara, & always will be!
Hiruzen is extremely light on Danzo’s Punishment, by only removing him as the head of the Council, but not removing his control of the Anbu, as he understands Danzo’s Efficacy is necessary & not easily replaceable.. Instead, Hiruzen goes to itachi, who is already in the Root, & uses him to spy on & watch Danzo, to keep him in check. Hiruzen see’s Itachi’s Heart for what it is and is essentially raising him to be the Next Hokage, hoping that his heart will end up untainted like his prior 3 pupil’s were…
(( They make sure it isn't leaked or found out about Danzo having stolen a Sharengan, as they don't want a resonant backlash of civil war Danzo was trying to prevent, Hiashi having just lost his little brother trying to prevent a war over similar reasons, they decided it was a worthwhile secret ))
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REWIND
Naruto is raised in the same home as Sasuke. They're buddies but Sasuke is still way more attached to Itachi. Naruto whilst having a home he still feels like an outsider…. He looks hella different to every other kid in the uchiha district so he stands out, & it's not the kind of attention he wants… This eventually leads to him acting out (like in OG) so that he's at least being stared at & judged for something other than being different than everyone else. He’s completely unaware of Kurama at this point in his adolescence as Mikoto was finding the right way & time to break the news to him.. He does know who his parents are, him being adopted would’ve been an impossible lie to hide & she tells Naruto about Kurama when he begins ninja academy. (he understands how ppl treat him better now, but he doesn't resent Mikoto for it, because she's literally his momma. The one who loved him most & didn't treat him different from his brothers. )
Fugaku’s execution hurt a lot of people within the Uchiha clan, but most of them knew his actions were standing up for him in place of whoever it was that controlled Kurama so that everyone wouldn't be punished for their crime. But try explaining that to a young child (massacre happened when he was 7, but this is happening when he's significantly younger). Sasuke would grow up without a dad, & that would eventually break him. Knowing that his father was truly innocent. Fugaku being titled a hero wasn't enough. He needed more. He needed vengeance for his father. For the one who took his father from him..
these feelings came to a boil during the chunin exams when a curse mark was placed on him by orochimaru & his emotions became even less stable. (( Orochimaru may have had their pick of uchiha to body snatch in this timeline. But with Fugaku & itachi both having awoken powerful Mangekyo Sharengan, Orochimaru went for the weak link in the family with the most potential. They knew better than to target Itachi )) Sasuke hid his curse mark well, & Kakashi didn't relay it to Sasuke’s family, BC kakashi is the prince of bad decisions, & listed when Sasuke told him not to mention it ((he didn't know it was effecting Sasuke emotionally)). So his family didnt know.
Konoha Crush. In which Orochimaru was far more decisively defeated. Given Itachi’s presence. (( Orochimaru still locked Hiruzen into a 1v1 via sound 4’s barrier, thus killing him ))... Jaraiya still shows up & decides, “yeah no this shit ain't for me lets go get Tsunade”
Tsunade arc happens as normal, but when she returns to the village, she meets Itachi, Hiruzens secret aid, & upon getting to know him better realizes that he is a WAY better candidate for Hokage than herself. & only takes a temporary seat, while Itachi prepares for the role himself. With them Planning to seat him as Kage within the year. He was beyond his age in both power & wisdom, so him being 18 didn't bother her.
Sasuke Lashed out at learning the truth. Pissed that Itachi could accept his father dying for the comfort of some old shitty man, who WAS STILL in a position of power in konoha. Sasuke runs away from the conversation. Itachi choosing not to follow in order to give his lil brother some time to breathe & process what had just transpired. A decision he would greatly regret for the next 3 years. (( the emotions of this are what grow Sasuke’s sharengan into a 3 tomei ))
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Sasuke Ran & didn't stop until approached by the Sound 4, who bit into his seething hatred and anger. & convinced him to join them ( unlike OG, he just goes without contemplation, as if he went home to pack itachi would stop him ) & they leave in the cover of night.
Naruto & sakura are out just chilling after ramen or something & see this happen. They split up to go find help. Adults don't take their concern serious, especially Naruto (he's literally the town nuisance, they brush it off as a bad joke), So all they're able to scramble together is a small group of their friends. Shikimaru urges Sakura to go and find someone who will listen & potentially send backup.. She already found Tsunade, (her now sensei) but she was black out drunk. Sakura runs back into the village to find help whilst the boys go on to save sasuke. Still giving us the the greatness that was the Sasuke retrieval arc. (( only this time it happens at night ))
Sakura cant find Kakashi, or any of the other sensei she knew, as they’ve all been on back to back missions since the Konoha crush. She’s basically running the entirety of the night around the village to try and find help ((( this is the first time in the series we truly realize just how massive Konoha is, she's not slow, the city is just big & vast ))).
The Sasuke retrieval arc Happens as it did normally, only Sasuke’s rage isn't focused on Itachi, but on Danzo already… He doesn't want to kill Naruto, he's not as angry as Naruto is. As he’s not as lonely & isolated as he was in the OG timeline. But naruto is trying to take away from him the only path to vengeance his young mind can find. His corrupted emotions allow are too strong to seek another path…. As for the Suna trio, they happened to be in the area on a mission for Suna & thats why they get involved. When Sasuke Runs his chidori through Naruto’s chest leaving a hole, we see his sharengan flicker… something begins to happen, but can’t…
He’s sick with himself for just having killed his closest friend, & little brother, but he wouldn't just back off. He wouldn't leave him alone. He vents his anger towards his lil bro. That “how come he couldn't just leave him alone for once, why did he have to get involved in this too!”
he’s fully broken at this point.. He cant allow himself to feel anymore, it hurts too much. He cant handle the guilt of killing his lil bro. & he stumbles away into the forest as he falls into the beginning of his madness that would persist through the whole of the time-skip.. It's at this point the camera cuts back to Naruto, as Kurama’s healing factor kicks in & seals the hole on his chest. Sakura had finally found help, getting to the Uchiha’s villa she burst into Sasuke & Naruto’s home to find Itachi. Itachi given his rank had no problem gathering a small recovery cell to go save all the kids that ran recklessly into the night. Which they did. Choji & Neji were recovered and rapidly taken back to hospice in konoha.. & itachi made it all the way to where naruto was. Carrying his adopted lil bro a ways before Sasuke’s trail went cold. (someone came & picked him up).
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Act 2- a Son’s Inheritance
This is covering all the time-skip things and addressing a few things that changed not addressed already

• Obvs Kisame & Itachi don-t roll up on Konoha (maybe i’d just replace Itachi from a writers POV with a new Akatsuki member.. Theres gotta be 10 after all ;P )
  • This throws a wrench into the Akatsukis introduction thematically unfortunately
• Orochimaru, still joined Akatsuki, & became overwhelmed with options of whose body to take with Itachi not on the table… after meeting Pain, who they thought was just Yahiko, they tried their shot at his body.. At which point Orochimaru learned the true meaning of Pain xD … they were taken down with relative ease. But Orochimaru reincarnates from the curse mark of one of their test subjects, wishing they went for kisame’s body for it's potential with surviving the sage trial.
• Itachi doesnt get chakra sickness… I don't think we’re ever given a reason as to how or where he gets it, but having EMS, not having to spam a normal MS for the Akatsuki, & traveling less leads to him just not contracting/ developing whatever this chakra cancer was.
• A minor retcon is that Sasuke doesn't know Kurama gives Naruto a healing factor from fatal injuries… this would effect the Zabuza arc slightly but impact the weight of their fight in the Valley Significantly… thus him actually believing he killed his lil bro & leading to his psyche collapse
• Naruto still leaves to train with Jaraiya
• Sasuke pretty much gets Identic training from Orochimaru. though he masked all his emotions other than anger away, the curse mark still makes him hella volatile. To counter this he began using genjutsu+ his sharengan on himself to lessen the effects of the curse mark. Especially after the first time he felt okay with giving his body to orochimaru.
• Tsunade, though not staying as Hokage, remains in Konoha to lead an entire school for gennin shinobi to learn medical ninjutsu, as well as standard medical techniques for Non ninja & chakra capable.
  • Sakura not only trains here, but is directly Tsunade’s Pupil

Itachi searched high & low for his little bro, but was forced to give up on an active search & wait for leads when Tsunade decided it was time for his coronation as the official 5th Hokage. The first not in a direct line of succession.
His first act was to remove Danzo from the head of the Anbu, putting Kakashi in his place until he had an equally trustworthy person to place there instead. Danzo doesn't take kindly to this in the slightest, but knows he stands less than 0 chance against Itachi, even with the root at his back… & thus he, and a number of his trusted Root, up & leave Konoha, intent on still protecting his home from elsewhere in the land of fire.
A full replacement was found in one of the heads of the Hyuga clan. Being able to tell if anyone might have been under Danzo’s control was important.. & it was a good countermeasure to prevent future incidents as well.
ACT 3: Bonds not severed:
Shippuden: Kazekage rescue mission goes accordingly
Tenchi Bridge Changes DRASTICALLY!!!
Having gotten their first lead at finding out where Orochimaru & Sasuke have been hiding, & a means to kure them out with Sasori’s puppet/corpse. Itachi is ecstatic & puts together a mission to save his lil bro ((( Yamato isn't here as they don't need him to restrain Naruto so long as Itachi is present. But other than that swap the parties are identic. ))) They Capture Kabuto, & Itachi uses genjutsu to interrogate him & find the Lab the Orochimaru is hiding at. Orochimaru & Sasuke are already waiting outside, as the party tripped an alarm.
(( retcon, it's storming out, to make this cinematically way fucking cooler. Plus it's colliding like 3 arcs into 1 ))
As Sasuke’s eye’s meet Naruto’s his psyche snaps. Knowing full well that he killed Naruto, he begins screaming a rant of “YOU DARE WEAR HIS FACE” & similar absurdities, but he loses it all when he see’s Itachi wearing the cloak of the Hokage. “AND YOU WEAR THE ROBES OF THE MAN WHO KILLED OUR FATHER!!!”
Before either of them can react or try and talk sense into him. He releases his curse mark & dives at Naruto. Blitzing and removing him from the fray. Itachi shouts to sakura & Kakashi to go follow protect them, as his duty to his country comes before his duty as a brother he must stand & fight Orochimaru. (( who for the sake of this battle, has regained use of their arms, by some means like stealing the soul of another's arms, & attaching it to themselves))
Orochimaru is wearing some kind of visor over their eyes. So when Itachi tries to use Tsukoyomi on them, it fails to connect. He wastes no time bringing out his full Susanoo. The fight is not easy, with orochimaru being extremely fast & rapidly attacking they are keeping Itachi of the defensive.
Itatchi blocks a few jutsu with yadamir, before raising it once more to block a fireball coming his way. The fire is dispersed, but he feels a sharp pain in his chest. A sword had been thrown behind the fireball , piercing through the Yadamir, & then his chest, as it tore through ejecting out the back side of his Susanoo… The sword of Kusanagi, the sharpet blade known to man. Itachi was far more weary as the fight carried on, making sure not to carelessly just tank oncoming attacks. He needed to close in on his foe. Orochimaru summoned 3 great snakes only to learn the unstoppable force that is the Totsuka Blade, & the terror that it brings. The snakes were no more than a few seconds of distraction.
The fight Carried on for a bit, before orochimaru braking from Itachi’s blind spot tore into his Susanoo Running Kusanagi through his heart. Whispering into his ear, “You’re little brother is Mine lord 5th, no matter how hard you want other-” their words were cut off as they found themself in Itachi’s position Kusinagi through their own chest.
Itachi removed the visor from Orochimaru’s face refracting a burning Tsukoyomi into their eye’s. “You will die a thousand deaths before you lay a single finger on ANY of my family!” As the Totsuka blade pierced into the ribcage of the Susanoo & tore into Orochimaru, pulling their stunned body into the realm of drunken dreams before they even regained consciousness from Tsykoyomi. He grabs Kusanagi, sheathing at his side. He disperses his Susanoo, before chasing after his brothers & their former squad mates, holding his hand to his chest to begin minor healing, until he could get to Sakura.
(( what he used here is what i’m headcanoning as one of Fugaku’s MS abilities, when someone is hurt significantly the ability allows him to swap the position of himself & another person. & forcing them share the injury sustained together. As his was awoken seeing his best friend sacrifice themself for Fugaku’s survival… awoken through Guilt basically. ))
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Sasuke & Naruto’s Battle exploded quickly! Seeing his big bro without a sense of mind left to him hurt. It hurt so deeply Naruto also began to lose control of his emotions as 1, then 2, then 3, cumulating all the way to 4 of Kurama’s tails released.
When Sakura & Kakashi arrived, their goal was to try and separate & contain the two of them. A seemingly unattainable goal until The Lord Fifth arrived. They stood back trying to think of a solution, getting between the two was more than deadly, but as is these two were going to kill each other. A series of ranged Chidori based attacks were used & met in return with escalating biju blasts. When Naruto’s 4th Tail emerged Sasuke, while flying with his wings, raised his hand into the sky. Naruto forming a Rasengan that quickly transmuted into a Bijubomb.
Kakashi knew they had to interfere NOW! “SAKURA CATCH SASUKE!” He fired an earth Pillar from the ground beneath her feet. The flying construct exploding to splinters as she jumped, rocketing her way towards her lost friend.
Sasuke Dragged his clawed hand Towards the ground as a Dragon born of raw lightning charged it's way towards the ground. Sakura released her Mitotic seal to survived her dive through the Kirin, Tackling Sasuke from the air.
Naruto in his mindless state saw Kirin & didnt Care, Lowering his Biji Bomb to account for Sakura & Sasuke’s new trajectory. Firing the bomb just before Kirin landed on him. Kakashi was trying his damndest to focus his Kamui on the Biju Bomb, he haden't transported that level of energy before, and he mostly Succeeded. The Bomb was split in two, Rupturing what energy was left within it. The end of it still managing to lash out & Catch Sakura & Sasuke as they fell to the earth. Kakashi’s attention quickly turned towards Naruto, who in the midst of a crater laid fully unconscious, but still clearly breathing. He HAD to check on the other two. The Back of Sakura’s body armor had been completely torn through by the blast, & her scarred charred back was still managing to heal itself from Mitotic regeneration. She Clung onto an unconscious Sasuke to ensure he couldn't get away. To the point she had clearly broken both of his arms with just her grip. It was clear that Sakura took the majority of the blast to protect him from it, but it was still enough to burn him up a bit & steal his consciousness.
Itachi arrived at this point. Not expecting to have been resolved before he got there. “Mind sharing your medical expertise with you senpai Sakura.” She let go of Sasuke immediately when she saw the wound on his chest. Stablizing him fairly quickly… They walked away from the battlefield Sasuke on Itachi’s Shoulder & Naruto on Kakashi’s… when they passed where they stored Kabuto’s body, he had been released from his bindings & escaped.
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When they return to Konoha Itachi uses Tsukoyomi to keep Sasuke in a sleep until they can manage to break & remove the curse mark from his neck. It took Fuinjutsu experts, as well as Tsunade, shizune, & Sakura to find a means of removing it without forcing him to fight to the death. When the procedure begins they are in a room full of runes & literature that coat the floor & walls. As the procedure begins they run up Tsunade’s body & attach itself to her hand as she reaches into the curse mark, the runes transferring to sasuke’s neck surrounding his heavens curse mark. Sealing it in place as it tries to expand & take over his body & escape the focused assault at it's core. Tsunade begins to pull back out as a small white snake is ripped from within the mark on his neck, the mark fading as it fully leaves his body.
In Typical Orochimaru Fashion they erupt from within the small snake’s mouth Immediately Paralysed by Itachi’s Gaze. not enough time was given for them to bit onto Tsunade. He Raised Kusinagi to Orochimaru’s throat. “How many more times do i get to kill you before my promise is fulfilled.” Itachi unleashes Amaturasu onto them. Unable to even scream from the paralysis of Tsukoyomi they are stuck in.
Sasuke Awakes but a moment after the last of the snake is ash. Itachi Deeply embraces him before he can even understand where he is. “Welcome home brother… Your mind should be your own soon again. I'm sorry i couldn't protect you sooner.” Tears ran down his face from the joy of having gotten his little brother back. Sasuke’s eyes glowed bright red stars, taking in his surroundings & understanding what happened. He embraces his brother back.
Akatsuki Supression arc + Itachi Pursuit Arc:
Asuma dies, & Naruto begins training for their Getback. With rasenshurreken But Sasuke has a different Mission to go on. He’s going to go after Danzo.. His mind was clear & his own once more. He no longer needed to even mask to suppress or embrace anything.. But what he did need to do was avenge his father.
Preparing for his Mission, Sasuke was Aproached by Sakura, who wanted to join him, which he accepted. They take off shortly after & Go out on a journey to free some captives that were trapped under Orochimaru’s control. Building out Taka so that he has the means to take on Danzo. ( who in this timeline will be significantly harder to kill, as he has established a small village in the land of fire, with all the members of the Root who left with him ))
Shikimaru & Company get their Getback.
Tale of Jaraiya the Gallant:
Only change is that he reports his mission to Itachi, & the conversation he has with Tsunade happens over drinks the night before he leaves. Everything else is the same. (they had received intel on some of the Aatsuki members at the hideout where they found Sasuke, but nothing was written about Pain in that particular location).
Naruto Leaves for Sage training at the end of this which we get back to prior to the Pain Arc
Fated Battle between Brothers:
Needless to say this arc just doesnt happen. Instead we replace it with 2 things. 1 the arc where Sasuke & buffed Taka go into Danzo’s Village & execute every member of the root that remains…
& a replacement for Taka Vs Killer Bee. in which Obito, Diedara & Kisame Fight Killer B
(( yes he still joins akatsuki, he still wanted his stage for his art, just different influence ))
In the Fight Diedara fully dies, he Gloats about his C-0, refusing to die without using it. At which point Kisame has to be distracted from killer B To Sink Diedara so deep into the Sea they’re fighting next to, that all 4 of them don't die.
This gives B enough of a diversion & pull off a similar trick like he did with Sasuke & Tobi only receives a Piece of the 8 tails, & escape death himself.
UPROOTING Darkness:
Taka’s Infiltration of the Root Village Goes quiet unnervingly. They make it into the town, & no one seemed to be around. When Sasuke turned to ask Karin where everyone had gone to, as they checked before coming down to the townside. She was gone. The team was on the highest alert they could possibly be. Going through a few homes looking for any sign of the ninja that ‘should’ be here or Karin, but nothing. As they left the 3rd building & moved towards the 4th looking back, Sakura had also disappeared into the darkness.. “Enough of this.” Sasuke moved towards the center of the small town no longer desiring to play hide and go seek.
“You Uchiha always were the Bane of my existence. Ruining Every Last plan i had. All i wanted was to protect my home, but no, you had to take it from me!” Danzo came out of the shadows approaching the group, as a Ring of shinobi emerged from all sides. Fuu to one side, & Sakura emerging from the other side, her arm around Karin’s Neck. Torune coming from the shadows on the opposite side. Rinkaichu began to emerge coating his arms.
“So Boy, you can submit your life here & now, or your best friend takes your little Girlfriend’s Life. she’s got it in her, we’ve seen it first hand.” Sakura tightens her grasp on Karin’s neck as karin begins to gasp for any drop of air not coming through. “Suigetsu.. Don't let any of that fuckers beetles on anyone else, or we all die.” Sasuke whispered to he team before a flash of red light emanates from Sasuke’s position. The shrouds of shaddows behind the Root members fades instantly. “NOW!”
Sakura’s fist was Firmly planted in Danzo’s Jaw before he could even tell Kotoamatsukame’s grip on her was broken. Launching him through the nearest building.
Chains fired out of Karins back grappling and binding a number of the root. Tethering them to the earth.
Suigetsu took in all the snow from the ground to increase his size becoming a aquatic construct. Completely enveloping Torune & his Rinkaichu, becoming a living water Prison. “Sorry friend” Sasuke let out before charging a Chidori into the water & holding it there for a solid 10 seconds, the rest of Taka battering off members of the root trying to free Torune.
A wind blade echoed from above a building soaring directly towards Sasuke’s neck, only stopped & then bisected by the now drawn by Sasuke’s Kusinagi (( The Actual Kusinagi, I'm not just callin' any sword Sasuke holds Kusinagi )) “Thats a hel of a sword you have there Boy, what happened to the snake that used to wield it?” Danzo stepped forward, his head wrap no longer Hiding the Mangekyo Sharengan that he hid all these years.
“Not only did you Kill my father, but you dare steal that eye of all you could have… My brothers forgiveness knows no bounds, I would've stopped your breathing a decade ago if i were him. We all know he could’ve.” There was a moment of pause between the two of them. The chaos of an all out brawl surrounding them. Sasuke let out a little chuckle. “Not only did you steal out eye’s but you think you can use our techniques better than us!?”
“But i should be able to use it as much as I want now? Danzo muttered under his breathe.” Diving into the air unleashing a barrage of wind jutsu.
“You could use it a million times if you wanted. NO ONE will ever get in my head again!” sasuke merely Dodging the air blades, not even giving the effort to deflect the air blades & bullets.
Most of Danzo’s Root had fallen at this point, he began to realize things we’re getting Dire. 3 members blitzed Sasuke to try & give Danzo a 1 up on him, but even they fell to a single swing of the blade in his arm, bisecting both them & their weapons. It didn't even succeed in creating an opening as he still just dodged Danzo’s burst.
Danzo felt a Crack one moment & the next he was face down in the snow. He was so focussed on Sasuke, that Sakura found a moment to get behind & above him. She picked him up by the back of his skull. He quickly tried to form the handsign’s for a Jutsu, but before even the 3rd one Sasuke was up close and personal. Danzo lifted his hands to project a great wave to separate them… Only his hands weren't where they should be. He looked down in horror that his hands we’re removed & redding the snow below him. Sasuke plucked the sharengan from his eye socket “SHIT!” He thought to himself, he missed his chance to use Izanagi. Sasuke handed the eye to Sakura who placed it into a jar of liquid to protect it. “Danzo, for the Crime of treason, Conspiracy to murder a village elder & head of clan, as well as the execution of innocent men. I strip you of the Lord third & Fifth’s Pardons, & sentence you to the death you deserve.” He Ran his chidori into Danzo’s chest. After Sakura took a step back the Chidori blossom’d in a dozen different directions, with spearlike blades of lightning evicerating him from all directions within.
The crew took a moment to look around before Sasuke began to light the buildings aflame with Amaturasu, as to leave not a scratch of these wretches behind. “Karin please, help a guy out.” Suigetsu was crawling on the ground still very fried from Sasuke’s Chidori that Cooked Torune whilst inside of him. “Absolutely not! You are the last person that will ever bite me!” let lets out comedically as Taka makes it's way out of this makeshift Village, heading Home to Konoha.
Two fairly sized changes revealed this arc:

• Danzo’s Kotoamatsukame is further buffed but the Hashirama stem cells & he can just use it. Or it has a cost… He needed something without being able to Izanagi 9 times
• Sasuke’s MS abilities are Different! I wanted to Keep Amaturasu, i’m treating it like a Familial thing that all 3 of them get. But seeing as MS abilities reflections of how they awaken their MS in some way. He initially awoke his MS when he killed his lil bro (Naruto) back in the final valley… only it couldn't awaken bc of the Curse mark interfering… it reawoke when the Curse mark was removed & his mind finally knew clarity for the first time in 3 years. He finally had control of his emotions.
  • So his MS that replaces Kagatsuchi has the Ability to Remove any influence over every mind in it's Radius, even if it's his influence, & nullifies any and all genjutsu within the area as well.

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Pain Assault ARC:
Naruto’s Sage training Begins!
There's FAR TOO MUCH going on in this arc for me to try and choreograph it in one night… i would LITERALLY go crazy. So here’s the sparks notes.
- Kakashi Vs Deva still happens (too good to not)
- Tsunade doesn't just stick to support, though she's heavily in it, she also joins the Fight. ESPECIALLY since she's pissed that she lost Jaraiya to this MF… She Kills Both the Animal & Human Paths.
- Itachi Ends up Fighting The Preta Path first (which really effected him when it started consuming his Susanoo, Preta is backed up by the Asura & animal paths after they are revived by Naraka (them being killed in battle elsewhere) He manages to take them all down, only to be confronted by the Deva path. Which he holds off fairly decently until he gets tired of playing games & Uses the ALMIGHTY PUSH…
Different from OG, Itatchi dives underneath Pain when he does this & activates his Fullbody Susanoo & tries to use his Yadamir to catch any amount of the devastation that's about to happen. Hes rocketed at a hypersonic speed & Makes a central crater within the crater that consumes about half the City (Itachi ate about half the total force of the almight push) this obviously knocks Itachi the Fuck out.
In comes Naruto right on Cue, with the rest of the battle going similarly.
Sasuke returns from his Mission with Taka in a similar way that Might Guy does, only briefly sooner, catching sight of the almighty Push from Miles out. They begin rapid aid via Sakura Mass summoning Katsuyu & Karin refilling her chakra pool so she can summon more & heal more. Until Nagato Revives pretty much everyone.

• A change i didnt really script in but would have is (instead of the infamous sakura cry scene) you get one with Mikoto, who is trying to fight back one of Pains Many summons with a group, Watch Itachi Get rocketed down into the earth by Pain at Mach 2. This Awakens her MS!

5 KAGE SUMMIT:
PT 2 next post.. hit a Txt Limit
Hope you liked it & let me know what your fav parts were if you did!
- Lady Dawnlight <3

Teenage girl on a burner account here, may be disturbing content to some. My dad is a bum and was homeless for a few years living with his parents and got my mom to let him stay with us out of pity so he could get back on his feet and find a job. He has not made even 1% of progress in the past 2 years and has been living off the income of my mom who has 2 other kids. Before I explain further, he is a narcissist and manipulator. If anyone has ever been in a relationship with a narcissist, you will know how they ruin your life and make you feel like you're the crazy one. Since a little kid I've watched my dad and his behavior. He constantly belittles her to feed his huge ego, he insults her, rapes her at night which I have to hear, stalks her, controls her and isolates her from all her friends even though they're divorced. This is daily behavior from him and he does not know personal boundaries and I understand why my mom has outbursts on him because he started doing this to me since I was 12. He will push you to your limit and tell you you're insane for having a reaction. He will squeeze your wrists and hold you down to have a conversation with him and will snatch your phone in advance so you are helpless. He won't peacefully leave and claims tenants rights even though he does not pay a single penny. Back to my mom's outburst, today in the morning he took her phone and they had an argument about him not leaving. He strangled her but not hard enough to leave marks and my mom went ballistic on him and scratched him up really bad. She left the house for hours and came back when she had to pick us up from school and pack her things to leave because she'd rather live in her car than stay with him. As she was packing he whips out his phone and starts recording and showing his marks and essentially shit talking her, knowing she will react, which pushed her over her limit which I do not blame her for and she starts hitting him and screaming at him on camera saying she wants to kill him when he goes near her. And he victimizes himself in this video and goes over to my brother whos minding his business and says "It's friday buddy. I'm sorry for all this. Go play your games and enjoy your weekend you'll be okay I promise." which he has never done in his life, the sole purpose was for the video. That's just the kind of shit he pulls. My mom can't evict him because he threatens to get her fired from her job which 5 people rely on. Anything legally I can tell her to do? Or anything I can do? He's basically pushed my mom out of her own home. I live in California.

Ok, so this might be longer than you would like to read but, I am beyond confused, any help would be appreciated.
I was a PVD 2020, 2021, and I was hired in 2022, but put at wrong center but had my orientation an the right center? While I was working there in 2020 and 2021, I kept meticulous records, I have every paper I received in the morning that had my route and as I was loading I wrote down what kind of package or envelope went where and of I didn't have a package I didn't mark it, also what time I was where, I started taking pictures after I was accused of taking a package to the wrong place, when I was working on the other side of town.
I went to my orientation and I was there with 4-5 others for orientation and we were all sent away, we were told they're not doing hiring that way last year and that we need to get in touch with HR.
I contacted HR and they said to go back to the center?
Not long after that a different center contacted me asking why I didn't show up for my first day?
Over a month ago, I applied for the seasonal PVD position and it said that I can not move forward with my application, so I contacted recruitment and they told me that I need to go to the center and talk with them because there are discrepancies on my file?
I went to the center 2 weeks ago and spoke with a supervisor and he said he would check and get back to me, but he never did.
I went back to the center Monday and spoke to a different supervisor and a supervisor who was the one who trained me before and they went to the office to see what was going on with my file.
A different supervisor came out and was extremely rude, he started yelling at me and said that I was a bad employee and wasn't doing my job and they were never going to hire me again, it took everything in me not to cry.
I started to ask about my OT pay from before and was told to leave.
I have over 50 hrs of OT that I wasn't paid for and I brought it up with a supervisor last year and when I first noticed it and he said that he would look into it and get back to me and never did.
While I was at work in 2021 my ex-bf was trying to get back with me and being very abusive, I accidentally ran into him in a store when I went to use the restroom and he followed me to my car and proceeded to grab my phone and brake it then grab me and throw me around the parking lot, one of the employees seen this and called the police he grabbed my phone that he already broke and ran away. I had to wear a knee brace for 2 months after.
Later that day after I spoke with the police, I asked to move to a different route because my ex-bf was homeless and hanging out in the area where my route was and I was denied repeatedly even though I had to adjust my route to avoid him and kept getting talked to from the supervisor about deviating from my route and doing my route backwards to avoid my ex-bf.
I finally got my route moved about a month later.
I don't understand why, if I was such a bad employee I was hired last year and then put in the wrong center and was assaulted by my ex-bf and forced to stay on the same route. Then was hired last year and now I get yelled and don't get my OT pay or anything?
It's unbelievable how much they've gotten away with doing....
Can someone please give me some suggestions on where I should go from here? I seriously need help...

Ok, so this might be longer than you would like to read but, I am beyond confused, any help would be appreciated.
I was a PVD 2020, 2021, and I was hired in 2022, but put at wrong center but had my orientation an the right center? While I was working there in 2020 and 2021, I kept meticulous records, I have every paper I received in the morning that had my route and as I was loading I wrote down what kind of package or envelope went where and of I didn't have a package I didn't mark it, also what time I was where, I started taking pictures after I was accused of taking a package to the wrong place, when I was working on the other side of town.
I went to my orientation and I was there with 4-5 others for orientation and we were all sent away, we were told they're not doing hiring that way last year and that we need to get in touch with HR.
I contacted HR and they said to go back to the center?
Not long after that a different center contacted me asking why I didn't show up for my first day?
Over a month ago, I applied for the seasonal PVD position and it said that I can not move forward with my application, so I contacted recruitment and they told me that I need to go to the center and talk with them because there are discrepancies on my file?
I went to the center 2 weeks ago and spoke with a supervisor and he said he would check and get back to me, but he never did.
I went back to the center Monday and spoke to a different supervisor and a supervisor who was the one who trained me before and they went to the office to see what was going on with my file.
A different supervisor came out and was extremely rude, he started yelling at me and said that I was a bad employee and wasn't doing my job and they were never going to hire me again, it took everything in me not to cry.
I started to ask about my OT pay from before and was told to leave.
I have over 50 hrs of OT that I wasn't paid for and I brought it up with a supervisor last year and when I first noticed it and he said that he would look into it and get back to me and never did.
While I was at work in 2021 my ex-bf was trying to get back with me and being very abusive, I accidentally ran into him in a store when I went to use the restroom and he followed me to my car and proceeded to grab my phone and brake it then grab me and throw me around the parking lot, one of the employees seen this and called the police he grabbed my phone that he already broke and ran away. I had to wear a knee brace for 2 months after.
Later that day after I spoke with the police, I asked to move to a different route because my ex-bf was homeless and hanging out in the area where my route was and I was denied repeatedly even though I had to adjust my route to avoid him and kept getting talked to from the supervisor about deviating from my route and doing my route backwards to avoid my ex-bf.
I finally got my route moved about a month later.
I don't understand why, if I was such a bad employee I was hired last year and then put in the wrong center and was assaulted by my ex-bf and forced to stay on the same route. Then was hired last year and now I get yelled and don't get my OT pay or anything?
It's unbelievable how much they've gotten away with doing....
Can someone please give me some suggestions on where I should go from here? I seriously need help...

Ok, so this might be longer than you would like to read but, I am beyond confused, any help would be appreciated.
I was a PVD 2020, 2021, and I was hired in 2022, but put at wrong center but had my orientation an the right center? While I was working there in 2020 and 2021, I kept meticulous records, I have every paper I received in the morning that had my route and as I was loading I wrote down what kind of package or envelope went where and of I didn't have a package I didn't mark it, also what time I was where, I started taking pictures after I was accused of taking a package to the wrong place, when I was working on the other side of town.
I went to my orientation and I was there with 4-5 others for orientation and we were all sent away, we were told they're not doing hiring that way last year and that we need to get in touch with HR.
I contacted HR and they said to go back to the center?
Not long after that a different center contacted me asking why I didn't show up for my first day?
Over a month ago, I applied for the seasonal PVD position and it said that I can not move forward with my application, so I contacted recruitment and they told me that I need to go to the center and talk with them because there are discrepancies on my file?
I went to the center 2 weeks ago and spoke with a supervisor and he said he would check and get back to me, but he never did.
I went back to the center Monday and spoke to a different supervisor and a supervisor who was the one who trained me before and they went to the office to see what was going on with my file.
A different supervisor came out and was extremely rude, he started yelling at me and said that I was a bad employee and wasn't doing my job and they were never going to hire me again, it took everything in me not to cry.
I started to ask about my OT pay from before and was told to leave.
I have over 50 hrs of OT that I wasn't paid for and I brought it up with a supervisor last year and when I first noticed it and he said that he would look into it and get back to me and never did.
While I was at work in 2021 my ex-bf was trying to get back with me and being very abusive, I accidentally ran into him in a store when I went to use the restroom and he followed me to my car and proceeded to grab my phone and brake it then grab me and throw me around the parking lot, one of the employees seen this and called the police he grabbed my phone that he already broke and ran away. I had to wear a knee brace for 2 months after.
Later that day after I spoke with the police, I asked to move to a different route because my ex-bf was homeless and hanging out in the area where my route was and I was denied repeatedly even though I had to adjust my route to avoid him and kept getting talked to from the supervisor about deviating from my route and doing my route backwards to avoid my ex-bf.
I finally got my route moved about a month later.
I don't understand why, if I was such a bad employee I was hired last year and then put in the wrong center and was assaulted by my ex-bf and forced to stay on the same route. Then was hired last year and now I get yelled and don't get my OT pay or anything?
It's unbelievable how much they've gotten away with doing....
Can someone please give me some suggestions on where I should go from here? I seriously need help

In the competitive realm of staffing, achieving pinnacle status is a testament to excellence, innovation, and client satisfaction. The top staffing companies in the USA stand out not just for their size but for their commitment to delivering exceptional services. Let's delve into the key hallmarks that distinguish these industry leaders.
Client-Centric Approach
Strategic Collaboration:
Top staffing companies prioritize strategic collaboration with clients. Understanding their unique needs, company culture, and long-term goals allows for tailored staffing solutions that contribute to client success.
Transparent Communication:
Transparency is a cornerstone of client relationships. Clear communication, regular updates, and proactive problem-solving foster trust and long-term partnerships.
Specialized Expertise and Industry Knowledge
Niche Specialization:
The pinnacle staffing firms often specialize in niche industries. This expertise allows them to precisely match candidates with the specific skill sets and requirements of clients in sectors such as IT, healthcare, finance, and more.
Market Insight:
Staying abreast of industry trends and market dynamics is a hallmark of top staffing companies. This insight enables them to provide valuable guidance to clients and candidates alike.
Technological Innovation
AI-Driven Recruitment:
Leveraging artificial intelligence in the recruitment process streamlines candidate matching. Advanced algorithms analyze resumes, ensuring a more accurate and efficient selection process.
Automation for Efficiency:
Pinnacle staffing companies embrace automation in routine tasks, such as resume screening and administrative processes. This not only enhances efficiency but also allows recruiters to focus on strategic aspects of talent acquisition.
Diverse Talent Acquisition Strategies
Proactive Talent Pipelining:
Rather than reactive hiring, top staffing firms proactively build talent pipelines. This continuous talent scouting ensures a ready pool of qualified candidates, reducing time-to-fill metrics.
Innovative Recruitment Campaigns:
Creative and targeted recruitment campaigns set pinnacle staffing companies apart. These campaigns resonate with both active and passive candidates, showcasing the firm's unique culture and opportunities.
Employee-Centric Culture
Investment in Employee Development:
The best staffing companies prioritize the professional development of their internal teams. Continuous training, mentorship programs, and educational opportunities contribute to a skilled and motivated workforce.
Inclusive Workplace Practices:
Pinnacle staffing firms foster an inclusive workplace culture. Embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion not only strengthens internal teams but also attracts a diverse range of candidates.
Conclusion:
In the competitive landscape of staffing in the USA, reaching the pinnacle is a journey marked by commitment, innovation, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. The hallmarks of top staffing companies extend beyond successful placements; they embody a client-centric ethos, specialized expertise, technological prowess, diverse talent acquisition strategies, and a culture that nurtures both employees and clients.
As the industry continues to evolve, these hallmarks will guide top staffing companies in navigating challenges, adapting to changing dynamics, and shaping the future of talent acquisition in the USA. The pinnacle is not just a destination; it's a commitment to continuous growth, innovation, and exceeding the expectations of clients and candidates alike

Hello everyone! Been a while since I wrote one of these, but lately the motivation took me again to write laborious effortposts about P4 :p
You can read this same post on my SMT blog if you prefer that format; I write a lot of shorter form opinion stuff on there, feel free to follow/reblog, it helps and gives me serotonin :)
You can find the previous analyses I wrote here: Yosuke, Chie, Rise, Naoto, Kanji
​
Today we are discussing the adoptive father and small-town police detective, Ryotaro Dojima. Dojima fulfills the role of caretaker for the protagonist in Inaba, and he spends most of the game doing his best to look for the culprit of the murders, to protect his town and his daughter Nanako. He's rough around the edges, a little old-fashioned and a little nosy, but he's at heart a good dude who loves his daughter and tends to see the best in others, including his bumbling partner Adachi.
I wanted to talk about Dojima, because I feel like I almost never see anyone talk about him even though his social link is, to me, a highlight, and because a lot of what I do see discussed about him is along the lines of "oh he's is a bad father who prioritises work over his daughter" (thank you for that joseph anderson). Which is in part true, but also kind of a myopic analysis that misses all the interesting depths of the character in my opinion.
As always, I'll be going through the ranks of his Social Link in order. However, this SL is kind of meant to be read alongside Nanako's, so I will be making references to those when relevant.
​

 Rank 1 

Noting that he has not had the opportunity to talk to Yu since he came, Dojima struggles to come up with a conversation. After some platitudes, the subject turns to Yu's friends, quickly souring the mood as Dojima rakes him over the coals for his peculiar choice of associates. Nanako intervenes to defend Yu, and she's promptly sent to be by a regretful Dojima. He lets the conversation go with a final heed: stay out of danger.

This first scene, as they always do, establishes the current state of Dojima and Yu's relationship.
Dojima is clearly willing to try and communicate, but also very out of his depth. He seems to struggle to relate to the kind of interests that a high school boy could have. As we will learn later, this is a bit of a front; he is also unwilling to open up or to allow himself to get attached too easily, which can hardly motivate him to try relating to Yu much more.
When Dojima is uncomfortable, his mind turns to work, and this is no exception; he has not failed to notice his nephew's suspicious activity and intends to get to the bottom of it.
This scene also re-establishes that Dojima actually is terrible at saying no to Nanako. As soon as she expresses the tiniest amount of disapproval, he starts stumbling over his words and is visibly ashamed of what he is doing; as we will see, he is actually rather aware of his failures as a parent, and that shame permeates most of his interactions with his daughter.
Even though Dojima responds very negatively to Yu if he attempts to evade the question about school ("If you have something to say, you say it straight out. That's how we do things in this house.") he is quick to use subtext and loud omissions to get to his point: "I'm not saying who you can and can't hang out with, but... You know what I am talking about, right?". It's more than a little hypocritical of him to ask for honestly when so much of what ails the household is his incapacity to open up.
However, he is crucially not an unfair father figure, and recognises the wit in hearing his words thrown back at him. Honesty and cutting, but sincere remarks will remain one of the main ways in which Yu actually manages to get through to him.
​
Onto a small detail to overanalyse: in this rank, Dojima describes his job as being about "eliminating the random element" and "looking only at the facts". I think this is a very interesting counterpoint to Naoto's conception of detective work; she puts a much stronger emphasis on deduction and mysteries ("The original reason I wanted to be a detective... It was because mysteries intrigued me...", describing herself as a "master of deduction").
This seems to me to be a difference wrought by maturity. We've seen it in her episode: Naoto's notions about detective work are strongly inspired by detective fiction, and she aspires to be a detective just like those in her favorite whodunnits. Consequently, she extends the principles and tropes of that fiction to reality - in excess; actual detective work is not a Holmes or Poirot novel and contains remarkably little deduction and mystery.
Dojima, by contrast, has more experience, and is in particular intimately acquainted with cases in which logic and deduction are of little use, as we will see. That seniority is what influences his more down-to-earth view of his work.
It is curious that there are two different detective protagonists in this game; the general setup for a whodunnit only calls for one. I will talk more about why I believe this writing choice was made in the conclusion.
"Just don't get yourself involved in anything dangerous": indeed, as we will come to understand, Dojima conceives his role as that of a protector, and his primary concern over Yu's involvement in the murders is that he might be putting himself in harm's way; a worry eventually substantiated by the threat letters.
​

 Rank 2 

Another conversation that starts much like an interrogation as Dojima again struggles to relate to Yu - he catches himself this time. He shrugs off being asked about himself, claiming there's nothing interesting about his life, but notes that he is glad to have Yu around and sees him more like a young brother than a son. Yu makes a quippy remark, everyone laughs, the home is jolly, and Dojima heads off to finish some work.

Some very gradual breaking of the ice between Yu and his uncle. Eloquence requirements (hee) ho!
Even though Dojima concludes by talking about how Yu feels like a brother to him, his approach remains distant and more than a little accusatory - far too stern a dynamic for siblings.He is equally reluctant to talk about himself; again, partially because he sucks at that, as a lot of dads do, but also as part of a deliberate effort to keep his distance from others. This also explains why he would prefer to see Yu as a "young brother" rather than a son; we will see he already views himself as undeserving and unworthy of the title of "father" with respect to Nanako, and so he is intentionally steering well clear of that dynamic with Yu.
I find it somewhat sweet that he is nonetheless worried about the example he sets for Yu; if prompted to talk about clubs, he stammers and accidentally reveals he used to cut class before trying to save face. It's part of a wider rebellious streak young Ryotaro is frequently shown to have had, alongside his motorcycle antics. The contrast between his rabble-rouser younger self and his role as an authority figure - both within the family and as a police officer - subtly highlights his maturity and the work he's done on himself throughout his life.
I don't know how you could possibly not have realised it at this point in the game, but this rank also serves to reiterate that Dojima's work is an overpowering presence in his life. It informs the way he tries to approach Yu as well as being "the only thing he talks about" according to Nanako - which seems to be a fair assessment considering how in both skits so far, he has fallen back on it to avoid the thrill of small conversation.
​

 Rank 3 

A third interrogation session - this one dangerously close to the topic of the TV world - is interrupted by Nanako again. This time however, she is not upset that Dojima is interrogating Yu, but instead jealous of the attention he is receiving. Dojima claims he always talks with her, pained and not convinced by his own words, and Nanako is quick to protest: "When is always?" She is sent to bed again, this time after a promise that they will spend time together soon. Dojima is shaken, and attempts to explain himself; he left her upbringing to Chisato and doesn't know how to approach Nanako, but is also "not fit to be her family". He remarks there is more to family than blood relation, and, catching himself, heads to bed.

The basic structure of this scene is one that has already been seen many times in the main plotline: Nanako is eager to spend time with her father, but he makes up some excuse to push her away.
This time, his excuse is particularly shitty; "I'm busy" he responds if called out by Yu, busy enough to avoid Nanako but clearly free enough to grill Yu on what he's doing at the Junes electronics department. It is clearly Nanako herself he is running away from, as opposed to attending to any responsibility.
Still, this scene does serve to show that Dojima is absolutely not happy with the situation himself, a nuance that is not necessarily obvious til then. The narration tags heavily focus on his bitterness in particular, and the odd line out "Plus... I'm not fit to be her family..." is the first hint at the tremendous self-loathing and guilt he carries around.
His explanation as to why he struggles to connect with Nanako is maybe not a lie, but it is certainly not the whole truth. This is a bit of a recurring pattern in these scenes, and it shows both how much Dojima struggles to open up, and that he is himself unable to truly make sense of his emotions.
Dojima's point of view that blood relation does not a family make is one that is crucial to the overarching theme of the game. In this instance, he is using it to pass judgement on himself: while he does share Nanako's blood, he believes there is something fundamentally wrong with him that prevents him from seeing himself as her legitimate father. This is also an important theme from Nanako's own SL, in which she rejects Dojima as "not her real father" since she is convinced he doesn't actually love her.
If I had to hazard a guess, what he believes to be missing to well and truly be her family is commitment; a commitment to taking active part in Nanako's life, no matter what happens to her; a commitment to putting his own issues aside to focus on her; a commitment to her happiness as his priority.
However, he does apply this reasoning with Yu and Adachi as well; while they may not be (directly) related, he grows to treat the both of them as his own. It is too little, too late for Adachi, but this attitude still touches the rookie and humanises him.
​

 Rank 4 

It's a merry evening and Dojima is making coffee for everyone as they prepare to watch TV together. Making coffee is his only job around the house, he explains, embarassed; a habit he picked up at the request of his deceased wife. "This is the only promise I can really keep these days", he jives.
The mood drops off a cliff when news of a death in a traffic accident comes on TV. Dojima asks Nanako to turn off the TV and disappears. "It's because mom died in a traffic accident", Nanako explains, and she dejectedly remarks that he never talks about it.

This rank is interesting in that it shows Dojima in an unusually chipper mood. He openly references his wife on two occasions; if Yu asks for coffee with cream only, and when he explains that she was the one who got him into the habit of making coffee. This is doubly interesting considering rank 10 reveals that the cup Yu is currently using is indeed Chisato's old cup. However, he still avoids mentioning her by name - and, of course, reality comes down hard on him when he sees the news about an accident on TV.
I like this a lot; it's very realistic for a grieving person to still have days where their burden seems lighter, only for it to all come crashing down when by chance an exposed wound is cut into again. Dojima is human, and he has better days than others, and on some of those better days... something reminds him of her, and he is pushed underwater again.
​
I like the dynamic that is implied to have existed between Chisato and Ryotaro. A lot of players comment on his rather old-fashioned and maybe slightly sexist ideas about housework, since only Nanako is ever shown doing any chores. But this conflicts with other depictions of Dojima; notably, an evening conversation with Naoto reveals he was the only cop in the department to genuinely stick up for her and back her up against the top brass. He is not shown to have any biases or unpleasant ideas elsewhere.
What is suggested is that Chisato was well aware of Dojima's limitations and of his dedication to his job, and that, far from being expected to take on all the housework, she only agreed to do so under the condition that he makes the coffee.
The coffee is, of course, symbolic. No one is under any illusion that pouring water over desiccated powder is an equivalent effort to the rest of the work that goes into keeping a house running (though Dojima's pride over how good he is at doing that is very endearing). What it does achieve is force Ryotaro to take part in family activity; as we see from Nanako's excitement, drinking coffee together after a meal is a keystone family bonding time for the Dojimas. Since the promise specifies that "no one else can do it", it is essentially a claim to some of his time and attention, which would otherwise easily slip into more work.
I also love this. It's a very subtle piece of writing that gives us a lot of insight into Chisato and her lingering presence in the Dojima home through an otherwise innocuous detail. Lovely!
His comment regarding keeping promises is another instance of Dojima being painfully aware - and unambiguously ashamed - of his inadequate parenting of Nanako, an idea that is clearly intrusive even on days when his pain is duller. Of course, the "promises he cannot keep" are all those he makes to spend time with her that slip under.
The end of the scene touches a little bit on Nanako's own grief and trauma related to her mother, but I don't want to say too much about it, considering it is only a background element in this social link, and is gone in much more depth in her own. She doesn't understand why Dojima never talks about Chisato, and to a child, this suggests that he simply did not love her.
​

 Rank 5 

Dojima is working from home, looking for a newspaper article related to an old case that he cannot let go - "ever", he adds with rare dramatic flair. Nanako enters the room, complaining about feeling ill. Dojima is taken by surprise and reacts with hints of panic, but he is interrupted by a phone call that requires his immediate attention; he leaves, giving Yu instructions on where to find medicine.
Hours later, an exhausted and frustrated Dojima comes home. He snaps at Yu aggressively, but realises his mistake and apologises, and he heads to sleep.

This rank is, in my opinion, the one that really looks the worst for Dojima and shows in the most accusatory light how badly he is fucking up at this parenting thing. He is obviously panicking, which you should never do in front of a kid when they are relying on you as an adult for help; he asks Nanako a question that she is obviously in no state to answer; he confuses and misremembers a previous situation similar to this one; he is unprepared for what should be a fairly common occurence and fails to keep his cool in a crucial moment. And to top it all off, he leaves her like this to go gallivanting off at work, which is apparently more important to him than his daughter's health. 0/10
He is indecisive, affected, weak-willed and cowardly. It's a pathetic display. He has kept himself so distant from his own family that when the time comes, when they really need him, he is not there. This scene genuinely gives credence to his idea that he is "unfit to be her family".
Again, he is aware of this, which is partly why he is so upset when he comes home. Note the consistent effort to show him as reasonable and not tyrannical even in his worst moments; his harsh and aggressive demeanor is nuanced by immediate regret.
Narratively, this scene shows an abrupt return to an untenable situation after the slightly more mellow rank 4, to well and truly establish that whatever trauma Dojima has is at genuine risk of cleaving his family apart. The shortness of the scene emphasizes its intensity and status as the moment when shit really hits the fan. This is indeed the last rank from this SL that has an eloquence check; it's important from a narrative perspective that the next few scenes come after each other more quickly.
By involving Yu directly in Dojima's bad life decisions, it also establishes a situation in which he has the right to demand for things to be explained...
​

 Rank 6 

Prompted by Yu, Dojima explains the newspaper article was about the hit and run accident that killed his wife. He refuses to elaborate: "There's nothing more I can say about it in this house", but a gutsy response from Yu motivates him to open up.
Chisato was killed as she went to pick up Nanako from the nursery. There were no witnesses, there are no leads, no suspects. The trail is cold. Dojima blames himself for that, and he has no courage to mention it to Nanako. He reaffirms his ambition to catch the perp at the cost of his private life, and claims Nanako will understand when she's older. Grieving, he asks for some time alone.

...which is why this is the backstory scene. As a consequence of the need for immediate action called by rank 5, this rank 6 is finally the one to deliver the full scoop on Dojima's layer cake of trauma. He puts up a feeble attempt to keep everything to himself again, but the situation cannot last and he caves in to the type of honesty and guts he is consistenly displayed to respect.
Thus far, Dojima's self-loathing mostly concerned his absence from Nanako's life and his poor display of fatherhood, but here we also get the extra detail that he sees his inability to catch the killer as a professional failure - a deep wound considering the pride Dojima puts in his work.
​
The accident itself is unremarkable in its mundaneness. A speeding car runs over a civilian, no one sees it, the guy runs away, Chisato is gone. It's a dead case. Thousands of deaths like this one happen everyday IRL and these cases invariably get buried and forgotten and eventually closed without having ever moved forward. This is the grim reality of detective work. Dojima is confronted with a case that matters to him more than any other ever will, a case so important that he is fully willing to throw the rest of his life away just to see it through... and it is entirely hopeless. It is very important for it to be so, so Dojima's quest for revenge is not portrayed as anything but foolish.
​
Dojima has not taken the first step in moving past Chisato's death. It's a wound that has not even started healing - even years later (probably? the timeline is not super clear), simply seeing a car crash in the news sends him back down to the bottom.
He doesn't even want to let this wound heal, because the only way forward would be to accept his powerlessness, to accept that he will never have an outlet for "this sick feeling", and he is not strong enough to do so. So he feverishly throws himself into the pursuit, hoping that Nanako will understand when she's older why her dad was not there for her.
Of course it's pretty clear that Nanako doesn't get it at all. She's a child, and all she sees is that her father consistently chooses his job over her, breaks his promises to her, and is never home. Nanako doesn't realise that Dojima is obsessed by his wife's death; in her rank 7, she questions whether he's forgotten about her, since there are not traces of her left at home. Her father's decision is never portrayed as anything but intensely harmful to the both of them.
Dojima is aware of this, and he clearly doesn't believe himself when he claims she will understand later; it's something that he "has to tell himself", because otherwise, everything comes crashing down.
​
Final bit: Chisato died in a car crash, and I always assumed that was partly why Dojima is reluctant to let Yu get a motorcycle license. He is not controlling enough of someone who he views as "a young brother" to outright disallow him from getting one, but I am sure the risk of an accident is weighing heavily on him.
​

 Rank 7 

Another evening promised to be spent with Nanako is interrupted by a work call. Nanako is quick to give up on her hopes, but this time however, with a little push from Yu, Dojima honors his word, and he spends a sweet moment reading to Nanako.
Afterwards, he explains to Yu that the call was about some tests he had run relating to Chisato's death, but he reiterates that the case is cold and there is very little hope any lead will be found.
Disheartened and emotional, he admits he is scared: scared he will never catch the perpetrator, that he will never "have an outlet for this sick feeling", scared of the way his face is "pushed down into reality" everytime he looks at Nanako. He finally remarks he will not be able to remain like this forever, and that he needs to face himself.

This scene is the clear pivotal moment in this social link's narrative. It presents a very similar scenario to ranks 3 and 5; a promise to Nanako is interrupted by a phone call related to Dojima's investigation into Chisato's death. This time however, again with a little push from Yu, he chooses to put his daughter over his obsession and honors his word.
​
This scene subtly recontextualises every other scene in which Dojima abandons his family for work-related purposes. The implication is that many times he's done so, it was related to his investigation into Chisato's death in some way; in fact he is never shown working at home on anything unrelated to her. In the rank 5, he immediately questions his caller if he is being asked to come by "Ichihara-san", and we learn here that this Ichihara is the person with whom he is working on this one case. It's a minute difference, but it is crucial; what takes precedence over Nanako in Dojima's mind is not "work", it is specifically finding the culprit in this one case. That's not to say he isn't kind of a workaholic anyway, but his tendency is worsened exponentially when it comes to Chisato. Though again, in what feels like a pattern, this justification is partially hiding a deeper motive; I truly don't think work or finding the man who killed his wife are his only priorities. Instead, here is what I believe to be the single most aspect to understand about Dojima's character: that he is scared.
Fear is the single driving factor that makes everything about him fall into place. He is not not just throwing himself into a hopeless chase because it's his job to catch criminals, or because he cannot accept it as a detective. He is simply scared of what would happen if he did not throw his private life away.
He refuses to spend time with Nanako even when he is free- see the rank 3 skit - because he fears her. So far it might seem like she is simply collateral damage in Dojima's relentless pursuit, but in fact, her presence itself is another trigger making him confront that he will never see Chisato again.
He stays away from his own house as much as he can, because he fears what is there. He fears having his head pushed into the dirt again by all the little traces and signs of Chisato left in his space. And he fears letting anyone into his heart again, because that would mean he could get hurt this badly again. Work is both an outlet for his feelings of helplessness and also a way to avoid facing those feelings. I can't help but gush about how cleverly these aspects are interwoven together.
​
A small note; I find it terribly sad how, at the first sight of conflict, Nanako immediately resigns herself and tells Dojima it's OK to go to work. It goes a long way towards showing how used she is to being shoved aside.
​

 Rank 8 

Dojima is approached by Yu as he is looking at a car catalogue for some clue. He remarks to Yu that he feels Nanako has been growing up quickly, and that he feels left behind. He adds that since Yu's arrival, their house has once again become a home - a "warm place" where a family lives together, as opposed to a big box.
He admits he's wanted this life back more than anything, but had also been running away from it - "because you're a coward", interjects Yu, to which the detective playfully agrees.
He concludes by noting that Yu brought him and Nanako closer together, and that it will now be up to him to "draw the line". They spend the rest of the evening drinking and conversing together.

This scene continues where the last left off in showing the transition in Dojima's mindset - from obsessing over his wife's death to finally laying those demons to rest. He feels "left behind", because while Nanako has been growing up and becoming a better, kinder, stronger person each day, he has remained stuck in the past, incapable of moving forward.
His searching through car catalogues is an obvious sign that he is still letting Chisato's murder take up too much room in his life, but his intent to fix this is now clear, and we just need to see the follow-through.
I like the contrast between Dojima "wanting a to get a home back more than anything" yet his admission that he had "forgotten what it felt like". It's another interesting paradox that feels rather true to how people experience loss.
There is honestly surprisingly little in this scene; it feels to me like it mostly repeats rank 7, to make his growth slower and more believable. I can hardly be upset at that, considering how rich in subtext and interesting character details every other scene is. But I am kind of curious if this means I missed any important characterization in this one...?
​

 Rank 9 

A preoccupied Dojima asks Yu to call Nanako for a surprise he had planned: a cake to eat together to mark the day they become a "real family". Nanako is confused, but happy, and she falls asleep after a pleasant evening.
Dojima explains this is the first step he felt he needed to take to "draw the line", to let Nanako know how much she matters to him. He reiterates that she reminds him more and more of Chisato, and shamefully confesses it'd been hard for him to even look at her. Choked with guilt, he even admits he might have come close to believing that Nanako was partially responsible for Chisato's death at some point, but that she also saved him inumerable times "just by being there".
He explains that he was terrified of letting others into his heart, to have a family again, only to lose it once more, prompting his avoidant behaviour. Regretful of the time he lost, he resolves to never lose anything important to him again: "That crap all ends today".

Dojima's desire to draw the line and have a little event to commemorate "becoming a real family" is a direct callback to what he said in rank 3: "There is more to being a family than just blood relations". Back then, it was a self-loathing fueled jab at himself, for his intentional, but disgraceful absence from Nanako's life.
In turn, this event signifies his willingness to put his trauma aside, move past it, and genuinely play the role of a father to her: he "cannot make her wait any longer". This scene also ties into Nanako's SL rather well, since if you are doing their links at about the same pace, it also serves as an answer to Nanako's worries in rank 7 - the one in which she runs away from home yelling "you're not my real dad!".
We mentioned in rank 7 that Nanako herself was somewhat of a demon for Dojima, and this is once again stated here; it was "hard for him to even look at her" without being reminded of Chisato. There's even some subtext in the very next line that suggests that at his lowest, he may have found himself partially blaming Nanako for Chisato's death: "Chisato died because she went to pick up Nanako...". His expression makes it rather clear it is something he finds deeply shameful. But we cannot control our thoughts. Absolutely love this; it's stomach-churning to read, because those feelings are so... well, so awful, but it is also nuanced and gripping.
In another instance of those deliciously tragic paradoxical feelings, this fear and rejection of Nanako is juxtaposed with her "saving him" an inumerable number of times by being there. The implication here is pretty scary: Nanako is (or was) the anchor that kept Dojima relatively safe and functional, and had she not been there, his already self-destructive chase after Chisato's murderer would probably have taken him to his end.
Fear shows up again here, as Dojima offers us this beautiful 2-line summary of what it takes me 500 lines to say: "I've been scared this whole time. That's why I used revenge as an excuse to not spend time with her..."
He is likely exaggerating a bit, and I don't think we're meant to entirely discard every other stated motivation in his pursuit of the perp in previous ranks. But again, this is a recurring pattern: he struggles to understand the emotional mess he is in himself, and so his attempts at explanations sometimes seem to contradict themselves. Dojima is somewhat emotionally stunted and has a very hard time making sense of his own feelings.
​
Dojima is resolute in his oath to never let the situation happen again: " I'm not going to lose the things that are important to me... Never again."
This is, of course, delightfully ironic, since Nanako is kidnapped shortly afterwards. The ending in which Nanako dies for good doesn't dwell on this, but I always found it particularly chilling to think about what happens to Dojima from then on. It is a nightmare scenario for him. I think it's safe to say losing her as well would finish breaking him.
Side note, I adore how fretful he is about making SURE the cake thing goes right. It's so sweet to see him try so hard to make the event a special memory for Nanako.
​
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(I exceeded the character limit really hard so rank 10 and conclusion are going into a comment LOOL)
​

Hello BabyBumps family,
Today, I have regained energy and spare time to share our experience with you. We have followed BabyBumps family throughout my wife's pregnancy journey. Your experiences and stories had inspired and motivated her to fight through this. Sorry for quick writing and sloppy english. I am on crunch of time as baby might get awake anytime now.
A little bit of introduction before I get started. My wife is 30yo and I am 33yo. We did love marriage during pandemic. We focused on our careers and housing for first 2 years and prepared a nest for our future little one. During the midst of 2022, we became serious about baby. There were many failed attempts. Everytime we used to try, we would carry very high hopes. Things were gloomy and sad as we kept trying and failing. Around the sunset time of 2022, we both got Covid and went through rough patch. We were out sick for a week. Our motivation was tossed a bit as we had been trying for baby for half a year but no luck. Around last two weeks of December 2022, my wife went to use the washroom and noticed her period was delayed from expected time. She randomly tried the pregnancy test kit and it came POSITIVE. She came rushing into my room. I was in a meeting and she was jumping with excitement and took me to washroom. She closed the door and requested to maintain a silence for some time. I guess, she wanted to check how I would react in this suspense? Then, she pulled out the pregnancy test kit swab from the back and asked me, can you please check this? I looked at it and I told her I see a solid line. She asked again, can you please look again? Do you see anything? I reaffirmed and said yes I see a line. She shouted, YOU ARE GOING TO BECOME A DAD. I was in tears at this moment. I did not register this for almost next half-and -hour. I went back to the meeting and her words kept repeating in my mind. Meeting ended and I rushed to her and hugged her. We both started crying wth joy. We were shocked and surprised that it is finally happening. Around the evening, I went out for grocery shopping and my mindset had totally shifted. I started looking at people with new perspective. It was a unique feeling. It felt like from this very moment, life is going to restart and I am going to witness a new life get raised in front of me.
From last week of December 2022 onwards, our life started to see huge changes. Everyone in our families started to see and interact with us from a newer perspective. Our family talks were not about us anymore. It was all around the new baby. Anytime we went out, we always think about the baby. During grocery shoppings, walks, malls, travelling, we never missed discussing about baby. My mother started to share her feelings on how she is going to make dresses for baby. She asked to buy her knitting set so she can start early. My in-laws, siblings and extended familues were absorbing emotions on how they are moving into a new role now. For all these years, we felt young. We never cared much about our health in future. We were risk takers, huge on financial independence, not understanding the value of time and all. With this baby in picture, we started planning on eating healthy, thinking about our future, how we will plan baby's education, housing and all sort of things. These ideas never crossed our minds before.
Comes January 1 2023, me and my wife were eager to go to a doctor. We did not have a family doctor yet. We started researching and oh boy, we faced the horror of current situation with healthcare. There were no availability for family doctor around my place and things were looking gloomy as no one was accepting new patients. We decided to go to walk-in clinic. We went to walk-in clinic in the morning and saw a doctor on the call that day. I remember this moment. When my wife up to the front-desk, she mentioned she is pregnant and want to see a doctor. The nurse took her aside. She asked her a lot of questions. She offered her support. We took seat and waiting for 15-20 minutes. I remember seeing an old lady there. She continuously poked us and kept asking us what time is it every 10 minutes. We shared our experience with her and she was so happy and congratulated us. She started sharing her experiences. She was so lovely and kind. My wife's name gets called out and we went in. We met the doctor and she was so kind and warm. During this visit, she just did most of the talking only. She extended congratulations to us and encouraged us to focus on diet, asked us to be careful during exercise, no heavy lifting. She mentioned you guys are little ahead of time for appointment as it is too early to carry out any checkup. She started a file for my wife and measured weight and all vitals. Wife's weight was under the range and she insisted us to focus on healthy diet as it is better to keep your weight within average range. Doctor recommended her to start taking pre-natal supplement right away. Wife had already started that after she saw positive results on the pregnancy test swab. My wife had done some research on best OB doctors around the area. She had picked one she really liked and asked the doctor if she can be recommended to her. To our surprise, that OB doctor was no longer practicing. We also mentioned to doctor that we do not have a family doctor. Can we please apply to be on the waitlist with her? She urged we call back to clinic and ask for her. It was a short visit. We exited and rushed straight to front-desk. Receptonist mentioned that wait time is around 4 months. We felt a bit unhappy about this.
This is around the time where wife stared doing shopping for the baby. She went on Kijiji, Cragislist and other sites to find good deals for preparation of baby. At this time, we both knew, she can company me during this. Later on, shwe would be full-time with baby so she wanted to buy majority of things she wished she must have when baby arrives. We were driving around neightbourhoods this time picking good deals like bassinet, used baby clothes etc.
We came back home and started focusing more on improving diet and weight of wife. I started focusing on buying more organic items. Around after a week's time, we get a call from same doctor's receptionist. She asked my wife how she is doing. She asked if she has felt any discomfort or occurrence in the past week. She mentioned that my wife's application for family doctor has been expedited and accepted. We were so excited. Receptonist booked next appointment on the spot. From that point onwards, we started visiting the doctor every month. Time comes for the next appointment, and doctor saw her. This time, she did the blood-pressure check, vital checks and also asked a lot of questions to check her history. There were few vaccines she wanted to recommend but they will be given post pregnancy only. From this point onwards, our visits to doctors became frequent. During one appointment, wife was asked to go through lab tests. She got her blood work done. Weight kept on staying around below average line despite our efforts on maximizing her daily diet. Around third visit, I would say this is around later half of second month, we came across our very first complication. Wife started throwing up randomly after every meal. I would prepare a meal for her, she would take it fine. Then, after an hour or two, she would vomit. To my surprise, she would start to feel normal after every vomit episode and start to feel hungry. This complication posed a real challenge on getting her above doctor's recommended average weight mark. Things kept on going like this for a week. At one point, it felt too overhwelming and we raised this issue in our next doctor's appointment. She suggested if wife can eat tums. Tums can help her relieve acid and she can likely feel better. We give it a shot. At first few instance, wife felt like it worked. We did not see vomiting feeling for 2-3 days. After 3 days, it came back again. She started throwing up again after every meal. This time, we booked the appointment again with doctor. This time, she prescribed her strong medication. Wife needed to take this medication after every meal. The effects of this medication kicked in after 6 hours later. Things started to come under control. One problem occured with this, she started feeling sleepy after every dose. With each dose, she would eat meal and then went to sleep for 4-5 hours. In a day, she was doing continuous napping. She felt irritated with this. She wanted to travel outdoor, walk around and do things. This medication forced her to stay on bed for longer times. On one side, things were good as she was talking rest and her vomiting urges went away. On the other side, she was spending way too much in room and it started affecting her mood. There were weeks where she tried to cheat and skipped the medication altogether. As soon as she skipped one dose, vomiting came back after every meal. This occurence kept on going back and forth throughtout the pregnancy. Around this time, we experienced ultra sound scans as well. We remember the first ultrasound where we were shown the tiny blob and it was our baby on the screen. Wife got to experience baby's heartbeat sounds and she was very emotional.
Around third month, family doctor referred wife to OB doctor. She mentioned from this time onwards, OB doctor will keep a track of everything and you can come back to me after labor. This time, we booked our first meeting with OB doctor and she was so lovely and warm. She was the wife throughout the pregnancy journey. We would go there every month. At home, it was a hot topic on if it is a boy or a girl. Consensus was that my in-laws and my family had declared, it is a girl because they believed if mother throws up a lot during pregnancy, it is a clear sign on a baby girl. For us, we also personally wanted a baby girl. We were noobs on this as we did not know about these beliefs and we could not argue with our family on whether it is a myth or gimmick. We were okay with their chats. It was entertaining always. During this time, we had a longer and extended ultrasound. Usually, during all ultra-sound checks, I was asked to wait in lobby and wife will go inside. This one was a special and different. I waited in the lobby for an hour and I was like, is she okay? She did not text or call for an hour. After an hour, a nurse came over and asked me to follow her. I went into this ultra-sound room and there was my wife so happy and chatting with nurse throughout. Nurse asked it took time because we need to track baby from all angles and trying to take images of the baby and baby is jumping around and kicking. She then went ahead and asked if you guys want to know the gender of baby. We were prepared. I will share the gender in the last. I want to keep the secret ongoing and keep you hooked.
We went home and our focus was all on getting wife improve her weight. Weight was still falling around the below-average mark and it was giving headaches and concerns all nights. There were random blips where wife would vomit and I would know she has skipped medication. I started taking her out to places so she could enjoy and get distracted from all health related issues she is facing. It was getting emotionally challenging and tough during this time. OB doctor's visit kept on ongoing every month. Visits lasted 5-10 minutes each time. Around 5-6 months, I don't remember the exact time due to lack of sleep baby has caused for the past few days. Wife experienced first baby kick. We were excited and pumped. I remember she started crying at that moment. She said it felt weird but also so poweful that there is a tiny little life getting developed inside her. Over time, these kicks became regular process and became more and more aggressive and sensational. There were times where wife grabbed me and asked me to sit next to her and notice the skin move during kick. At one occasion, I started noticing it myself. It was an experience of its own. There were moments wife also started feeling baby's hiccups. Around this time, we started seeing positive results on wife's weight. It started rising significantly each week. In matter of weeks, she crossed the above average weight mark needed as per height.
Around 8-9 months, our OB's visits became more frequent. We remember during the delivery month, it went from every month to two weeks, then from two weeks to every other week. Time was coming close and we were both prepared and unprepared at the same time. I am going to go 2x speed here because I can see baby has started crying upstairs and I need to be out of her soon. Around last week, OB visit was special. This time, instead of usual talking, she insisted wife to lay down on patient bed, and she wanted to check her for any bacterial infection that can cause any concerns for labor. She took a swab and got the samples. It was quick. OB and nurse also asked wife if she wants, they can try to accelarate the labor process early by massaging the area down. Wife insisted she would wait for one more week. I guess wife wanted to hit the 40 week mark as some sort of milestone achievement. Receptionist gave us a file that we had filled we weeks back about hospital's paperwork. This file set had information about birthing suite, hospital floor plan, contacts etc. She said keep the numbers handy all the time. You will need to use them very soon. She insisted me to take a quick tour of hospital so I know how to get there instant when moment comes.
All right, we come home. Next day, wife started experiencing severe contractions as she was laying on bed taking rest. We started a timer and started to notice the patterns. Contractions were coming every 10-15 minutes apart. Wife mentioned it is unbearable. After half and hour, it started to fade away. I insisted we call the hospital. We called and went to the hospital. At the time, we first have to go through the front-desk on birthing suite again. They had all of her data already so it was quick within 10-15 minutes. Please make sure you have all necessary information handy like health card, insurance information etc. After that, they took us to a room where there were 4 beds side to side. We were only ones there at the time. Nurse comes in and checks here. She put so many things on her arm to monitor her and baby. Wife felt overwhelming and concerned a bit of what is going on. We could see a machine where a number was showing up that showed her heart rate and baby's heart rate. We could see another screen where we saw spikes. These were contractions as they were coming and going. Each contraction, spikes goes up and then fades away. During this time, she experienced few severe contractions. She was crying and yelling. I was next to her but she was in lot of pain. On-call doctor comes in and she checks her. This is the first time, she asked us that she needs to check her down there and she will be gentle. As she checked, wife shaked heavily as she yelled out loud in pain. She shouted, please be gentle. Please be gentle. It was a horrific experience for few moments. Doctors said no worries, it is fine, she will try her best to be gentle. After 2-3 mintes, doctor was done and she said wife is 3cm dialated. I was excited but super scared at this time looking at how wife was doing. She was crying. She kept on saying to doctor to please be gentle. Labor officialy started and we were adviced to go home and come back again. After an hour, we were discharged and we came home. Wife was horrified by the experience. I took her for a walk around the neightborhood to distract her mind from the episode. Around 2am next morning, she started crying in pain, I knew it is the time. She could not move. She was sitting on the toilet, crying in pain. I tried my best to slowly get her up, dressed her quickly and get to the car. We threw all our bags in and rushed. We were admitted right away. Wife was constant state of agnoy and she was admitted immediately. Nurse checked her, and she yelled in pain again during checkup, she was 5.5cm dialated. She was moved to a labor room immediately. She urged to get on Epidural as she was in agony. Specialist came in an hour and it was hell of a time during this one hour. After epidural, intensity of her pain went down. Doctors kept on checking her throughtout the day. Luckily, her OB was on the call same day. wife felt happy to see her. Around late afternoon, OB checked her again and she was 10cm dialated. After 30 minutes, labor process started. 4 nurses came in and were in ready position. She was asked to push every contraction. She tried very contraction and well all in. We kept on trying for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, OB switched to different plan and decided to use vaccum. Before using vaccum, senior staff doctor advised to do tears to create more opening. These were third-degree tears and after that, OB went for vaccum. After 2 more pushes, it was finally the moment when junior arrived to the world. IT WAS A BOY. HE LOOKED BEAUTIFUL. HE FILLED THE ROOM WIH TEARS AND LAUGHS AND POSITIVE VIBES. After this, wife went throught stitches and it was really bad. We stayed at hospital for 3 days. On the second day, wife was notified that her blood cell count is dropping and needs to go on blood transfusion. She opted for IVF iron. It was a really slow and tense recovery. For few days, we remained at hospital so doctors could track wife's situation. After 5 days, we were discharged. Wife is slowing on the recovering phase.
At the same time, I am fighting for sleep. It has been a tough week so far but it is all worth it. Thanks BabyBumps for your continued support during our pregnancy journey. I will sign off for now as I have to check on junior. He is such a cutie, adorable little human.

In the fast-paced realm of professional staffing, the ability to adapt and respond swiftly to dynamic industry landscapes is paramount. The concept of strategic agility is emerging as a key differentiator for staffing solutions, reshaping how companies navigate challenges and seize opportunities. Let's delve into the intricate dynamics of strategic agility in the context of professional staffing.
Decoding Strategic Agility
Introduction to Strategic Agility:
Strategic agility is not merely about reacting quickly; it's a proactive approach to foreseeing changes and positioning staffing solutions for success. It involves the seamless integration of flexibility, innovation, and foresight into the fabric of operations.
Navigating Industry Shifts:
Professional Staffing solutions with strategic agility are adept at navigating industry shifts, whether spurred by technological advancements, economic fluctuations, or changes in workforce preferences.
Responsive Talent Acquisition Strategies
Dynamic Skill Set Mapping:
Agile staffing solutions continuously assess and update their skill set mapping strategies. This involves staying attuned to emerging skills and aligning recruitment efforts with evolving industry demands.
Proactive Talent Pipelining:
Rather than waiting for specific roles to open, agile staffing solutions proactively build talent pipelines. This ensures a ready pool of qualified candidates, reducing time-to-fill metrics.
Technology Integration for Efficiency
AI-Driven Predictive Analytics:
Strategic agility involves harnessing AI-driven predictive analytics to anticipate talent trends. This empowers staffing solutions to make data-backed decisions and pivot their strategies accordingly.
Automation for Operational Efficiency:
Embracing automation in routine tasks enhances operational efficiency. Agile professional staffing solutions automate processes like resume screening and candidate communications, allowing recruiters to focus on strategic aspects.
Scalable and Adaptable Solutions
Scalable Recruitment Models:
Agile staffing solutions adopt scalable recruitment models. Whether scaling up to meet sudden demands or downsizing during lulls, this flexibility ensures optimal resource utilization.
Adaptability to Remote Work Trends:
With the rise of remote work, strategic agility involves adapting to this trend. Staffing solutions deploy virtual workforce solutions, expanding talent pools and meeting the evolving expectations of the modern workforce.
Collaborative Client Relationships
Proactive Client Collaboration:
Rather than reacting to client needs, agile staffing solutions proactively collaborate with clients. This involves understanding their long-term goals and aligning staffing strategies to contribute to their success.
Agile Contract Negotiations:
Strategic agility extends to contract negotiations. Agile staffing solutions are adept at crafting flexible contracts that can adapt to changing circumstances without compromising client satisfaction.
Conclusion:
In the realm of professional staffing solutions, strategic agility is the catalyst for sustained success. It's about mastering the delicate dance of anticipation, adaptability, and innovation. Those who unravel the dynamics of strategic agility not only navigate industry complexities with finesse but also emerge as leaders in an ever-evolving landscape.
As staffing solutions continue to redefine their approaches, strategic agility becomes the cornerstone of resilience and prosperity. It's not just a response to change; it's a proactive stance that ensures professional staffing solutions are not just keeping up with the future; they are shaping it.

Packing up her wings, Gabriella had agreed to meet me in a safe spot. The terms were that only we would show up and our weapons would be kept away, the cool evening breeze tickling my cheek. Leaping off the ledge, feathers drifted in the air as I took off. Salem trailed after me in the shadows, a quiet rage burning in my eyes. Seeking the debris of the school where we first met, the twinkling ice caught my eyes. Landing gracefully in the center, Gabriella began to pace back and forth. Salem popped up behind me, a snarl curling on my lips. His presence threatened this meeting, the ground crunching as he stepped out in front of me. A shadowy darkness enveloped the school, Gabriella turning to leave.
“I am here because your last mistake was my mother!” He barked hotly, Gabriella bowing her head in shame. “You will talk to me as well.” Letting out a huff, her ragged clothes hung off of her body. Running her hand through her oily locks, my heart shattered for her. Her next words confirmed my biggest fears, her dirty hands tugging at the rags.
“The angels rejected me, some crazy angel taking my new position. She was my friend, and no she isn’t Lilth. It was Serenity who released her and Thorn. Then she made my face the image of the operation with the promise of releasing my father.” She wept tiredly, her tears hitting the shadowy floor. “I was doing anything to get my father released. You can’t hate me for that.” Walking up to her, surprise rounded her eyes at my sisterly embrace. Her ribs pressed into my stomach, her body trembling in my arms. Pulling the wings from their case, she cried out as I fused them to her back. Taking a step back, they opened with her brightening smile. Getting on her knees, scarlet colored my cheeks.
“I can only repay you with this.” She laughed lightly, her wet eyes meeting mine. “I vow to serve you as my master.” An inky snowflake appeared on her neck, Salem relaxing enough to unfold his arms. The rules of such a bond were simple, the most important one being that anyone under my wings couldn’t kill me. Helping her to her feet, a whistling noise had us all looking up. A single claw pierced the top of his bubble, a vampire and werewolf hybrid landing in front of us. Trembling behind me, her weakened state left her without powers. The shadows receded into Salem’s body, a soft thud had me watching him pass out. Turning back towards Gabriella, I cut my palm. Offering her my palm, my blood would heal her.
“Drink up and take him out of here.” I ordered with a bright smile, her head tilting back. Pouring the pooled blood into her mouth, a golden glow blinded us both. The light died down, her cuts and bruises were all gone. Scooping up Salem, regret dimmed her eyes as she took off into the sky. Raising my ice blades, everything about this guy was supercharged. The hem of my ivory leather dress fluttered by my knees, tears welling up in my eyes. Wanting to scream into the sky, all of this mess had a migraine throbbing to life. A little help from Samson would be nice, his wolf skills evening my chances enough for me to kill this monster. Fresh blood soaked his light gray skin, his dark fur looking ever darker with the matted blood. Ruby eyes glittered at me, giant fangs causing dread to bubble in my gut. Charging at me, a wall of ice did little as his body smashed into mine. Bones creaked upon his muscular body, his strength making it worse. Coughing up blood, the impact had burst one of my organs. Kicking him off of me, another bounded in to help out in the fight. Cursing under my breath, my chances of surviving now began to dissolve in front of me. Popping to my feet, the woods would be my friend. Jumping onto the ground, three more came out of the trees. Gripping my blade tighter, ice crept out from underneath my boots. Slamming my heel on the ice, shards bounced off of their skin. Lilith went all out on them, my only option would be to put them in some sort of cage. Something felt off, the ground giving out underneath me. Crashing into the dusty remains of my old city, panic drained the color from my face at the hole closing up. Sprinting through the ash, their claws whistled by my head. Dodging what I could, a single swipe tore up my side. Inky blood stained the ash, my boots crunching forward. Skidding into an ally, an open window caught my eyes. Pulling myself through, the way it slammed shut had me wincing. Coughing up more blood, healing would be out of the question with how fast the damage happened. Pressing my palm against the wall, one foot of ice devoured the walls. Sliding down the mess I created, my wrists rested on my knees. Listening to them smash into the building, I didn’t have long. Shifting through my boot, a box of silver bullets met the tip of my finger. Tucking my blades into their case, my ice wouldn’t do any damage with these guys. Selecting the vials of dead man’s blood, a jar glittered just out of my view. Filling up the jar, a cloud of my breath floated in the air as I dumped the bullets. Killing them would be a first step, the next challenge being getting my ass back home. The blood nearly froze as I loaded the bullets into their holes. Positioning myself in the shadows, I counted my chances. Six, I only had six. Waiting for my ice shatter, my foot waited to kick up a cloud of ash. The first one burst through, one kick had a cloud obscuring my movement. Popping up behind his head, one tug of the trigger shattered his skull. The silver and dead man’s blood did their work, pop after pop having them crash to my feet. Melting into a thick liquid, the inky blood splattered on my face didn’t matter. Stepping over the mess, monsters were heading towards the noise. The noise had always been the gun’s fatal weakness, swords being my go to. Kicking off the ground, shrill roars and shrieks rang out as I flew in the direction to the only safe place I knew. Clutching my side, my vision blurred. Unable to stay awake, the hot air hit my cheek until a rough darkness stole me away.
Jerking awake, decaying walls surrounded me. Mamba was nursing a crackling fire, his kind gaze falling on me. Scanning my environment, we seemed to be in an abandoned warehouse. Tossing me a couple of granola bars, my hand rested on the fresh gauze around my torso. Running his hand through his hair, a new fear rounded my eyes. Pointing up to the neon dome throbbing over us, a tired smile dimmed my features.
“You really should be more careful. You are lucky that I can go back and forth.” He joked blissfully, eating a rat that he caught. “Salem told me to pick you up when he sensed where you fell. Did you kill those monsters?” Struggling to sit up, my body screamed in protest. Shaking his head, his slender hand helped me get into an uncomfortable position. What did he do to me?
“I would lay as still as possible. My venom is currently destroying that bastard’s poison. Don’t worry I have an antidote.” He assured me with a bright smile, a fever burning on my cheeks. “I can’t heal but I can get you to Gabriel after this. Tell you what, I want to take you out to get a milkshake after the antidote. You will need the calories. Some people can’t handle my venom.” Setting the bars aside, nausea wracked my body. Holding a bucket underneath my mouth, black sludge poured from my mouth. Rubbing my back, a clammy sweat drenched my skin. Finishing up, a needle shimmered in his hand. Jamming it into my thigh, another bout of vomit was making its way up. Chunks hit the bottom, the neon green vomit alarming me. Wiping my forehead, a dull ache throbbed in my stomach. Helping me to my feet, he scooped up the granola bars.
“Thank you.” I huffed with my real smile, his shoulders shrugging. “I mean it.” Placing me on this back, he carried me out to Samson’s truck. An eager Samson clutched me close to his chest, his tears hitting the top of my head. Cupping my face, his busted expression melted my heart.
“Ask for help next time!” He roared thunderously, Salem appearing out of the shadows in the corner of the truck. “You had us scared to death.” Another pang jolted my body, a golden light glittered in the light. Turning back to Samson, my words held a lot of weight.
“I need you to drive.” I choked out, another pang rattling my body. “I can’t heal properly because of how fast I sustained my wounds. Do you have those special bullets I made?” Dropping them onto my lap, I climbed into the bed. Leaning on the top, my shaking hands loaded the holy oil dipped bullets. Salem joined my side as the engine roared to life. Holding me by my waist, horror rounded his eyes at the inky blood coating his fingers. Pecking his cheek, he needed to do something for me.
“I need you to reload the gun for me. We have at least a dozen heading our way.” I barked between coughing fits, onyx liquid painting the truck's rear window. “Did I make myself clear!” Holding another round of bullets, the angels zoomed closer. Aiming for the closest one’s heart, flames devouring the metal. Sinking into his heart,golden ash snowed around us. Unleashing the whole round, half of them remained. Our home was like a beacon in the distance, Salem reloading for me. Aiming and shooting, each pop resulted in a snow of golden glitter.
“Speed up or we won’t make it!” I shouted over the pops of another round, noticing he didn’t have any more bullets. Twenty more angels were heading our way, the gun jamming. Cursing under my breath, the wound to my side prevented me from flying. A thick blizzard whistled to life, ice creeping up the trees. Passing the gun to Salem, he protested the moment I brandished my blades. Scraping my blades together, thousands of ice blades appeared over my head. Blood poured from my nose and eyes, this spell was going to take it out of me.
“Blizzard of blades, aim high for the heavens!” I wheezed darkly, coughing up more blood. “Kill whoever gets in the way!” Changing direction towards the sky, my loving gaze fell to a shivering Salem. His next job would be important, my words not helping him out in the slightest.
“I need you to block the sky with your shadows the moment I release them.” I laughed lightly, my body taking a hit from a golden arrow. “Time to show the world the light in the shadows.” One spin in my palms released the unholy rain of blades on our attackers. Sinking to my knees, my wound began to bleed profusely, my blades hitting the truck bed. Releasing his shadows, silent tears stained his cheeks. A darkness came over the area, lights flickering to life. Everything doubled in my vision, my own powers caused me to shiver. Ice shards bounced off the surface, all of my wraith destroying the angels in the sky. Retracting his shadows, golden ash mixed with the snow. Squealing into the protective dome, the one thing I did was curl into a ball. Salem scooped me up, his boots pounding upstairs to Gabriel’s room. Wincing in agony, his eyes noticed the inky blood staining the floor.
“Help, please help!” He begged with wet eyes, my vision blurring. Taking me from his arms, Gabriel laid me down. Hovering his hands over me, a golden light blinded me. The light died down, a nasty scar meeting the tip of my fingers. How much uglier could I get?
Swinging my feet over the edge of the bed, I had to check on my new recruit. Smoothing out what was left of my outfit, protests fell on deaf ears as I began to find Gabriella. Not finding her in the house at all, a glint blinded me. A dejected Gabriella sat on the roof, watching the snow drift around her. Climbing onto the roof, her wet eyes fell on me.
“You should have killed me.” She sighed with exhaustion, her fingernails digging into the top of her hands. “I did so many bad things. I can’t even face my father.” A quiet alarm widened my eyes, her body shivering. Excusing myself for a minute, I came back with a pile of blankets. Draping the blankets over her shoulders, surprise rounded my eyes at her yanking me into her arms. Refusing to let me go, her tears soaked the top of my head.
“I couldn’t kill you because your father wanted you alive. Sorry about your wings.” I apologized sincerely, my head resting on her chest. “You should talk to him. He looked so sad when I mentioned killing you. The moment I saw that I knew that I couldn’t. How about we stop your little enemy and Lilith together?” Refusing to look at me, shame dimmed her eyes. Getting on my knees, her guilt was something she would have to work through on her own. Cupping her face, her frightened gaze fell on me. Understanding it, my powers were scary to even the strongest people.
“I can’t be here. I should g-” She protested, every one of her breaths growing shorter. Clutching her close to my chest, her heart was beating a mile a minute. Holding her until she sobbed, her wet eyes met mine. Wiping away her tears, her body trembled with extreme anxiety. My heart broke for her, my mind racing though what I could do to make it better.
“I wouldn’t want you anywhere else.” I assured her with my real smile, her hands cupping mine. “Redemption is hard but the last thing is you dying on me. I look forward to a powerful friendship.” Kissing the top of her head, her body collapsed into my arms. Snores echoed in the air, a quiet rage burning in my eyes at the scars lining her skin. Wrapping her body in the blankets, I tossed her over my shoulder. Leaping off the roof, a cloud of snow obscured my landing. Walking into the house, the others watched as I got the fire going. My blizzard would rage for a couple of days, an apologetic smile twitching on my lips. Laying her by the fire, Salem rushed in with Flyx. Laying Gabriella by the fire, my finger tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear. Rising to my feet, the others gathered around in the doorway.
“We will treat her as family. She was working under somebody else. For now we have two problems to fix. Lilith will be the primary target. She creates monsters stronger than we have ever seen. If you see her, retreat immediately and call me. If you don’t believe me, one of her pets did this.” I spoke quietly enough not to wake up our new family member, apprehension burning in her eyes. “She vowed her loyalty to me so she can’t kill any of us. Get over that freaking fear. Gabriel, let’s make her favorite meal.” Kissing Flyx on the way to the kitchen, Salem put up a little protest. Following us into the kitchen, he rocked our son back and forth. Slamming his palm on the counter, his impatience couldn’t be contained anymore.
“I don’t get you! She did all that shit to you and you forgive her like that!” He roared thunderously, a shadow knocking a glass to the floor. Watching it shatter did little to change anything, Gabriel bowing his head. Chopping up vegetables as I focused on the pork loin, his chest huffing up and down.
“I did it to save her from Lilith!” I returned viciously, violent sobs wracking my body. “For months I watched her abuse you while I toiled away on a way to imprison her with that idiot cutting the vegetables on my damn heels! I worked so hard for you and it was for nothing! I fell in love from the moment I met you. Did I not work next to you to keep you a bit safer!” The knife slipped, a large cut lining my palm. Wrapping a towel around it, his expression softened. Having suffered alongside him, our victory felt like salt in my wound.
“I know that. I fell in love with you the day you walked in to save me.” He admitted lovingly, holding my towel for me. “I remember those nights together. They were the first nights your light bathed me in your warmth. What I picked up that day is that you would do anything for your family, including dying. You don’t realize how much we all love you. If you left us, we would all fall apart.” Clutching me close to his chest, his arm slid down to the angry claw marks.
“I couldn’t protect you. How can I be the man you d-” He began, my passionate kiss on his lips stopped his downward spiral. Scarlet painted our cheeks, our wedding rings glistening in the light. Basking in our bliss, my cut had healed. Washing my blood off of the meat, I went back to work on dinner. Praying for a brighter future for my new sister, hope glistened in my eyes.

Hello there,
Update 6.2 is scheduled to release in the coming week and here is an overview of everything that’s new as part of this update.
We’ve summarized the biggest changes for you here:

• MCS-880, G428, VHX weapon balance changes.
• Suppressors & Subsonic Ammo balance changes.
• Air vehicle aiming improvements such as computed impact points, aligned crosshairs for all air vehicle cameras, and HUD aim indicators.

Thank you for continued feedback which helps us to make further changes and improvements for you.
Learn more here:
//The Battlefield Team
Protocol Established…
A band of misfits, spurred on by the Penguins been crafting an interesting treat as we approach the end of the year!
Expect to see new ways to play, new cosmetic rewards and a mischievous mode in the coming weeks.
Stay Informed
Follow us on the ~BattlefieldComm~ Twitter account to stay informed on the roll out of our updates. You can also follow along with our tracking of ~Known Issues~ and further game changes we’re making via our ~Battlefield forums~.
Tune in
Check out the ~Inside Battlefield Podcast~ if you’d like to listen to the team talking about the new content.
​

Areas of Focus

Weapon Balance Pass
With Update 6.2 we are deploying a series of Weapon Balance changes and improvements based on your requests and in line with the overall game intent of these weapons. Take a look at some of the specific changes below and more broader changes within our changelog!
​
MCS-880 Rebalance
With the recent introduction of a pure Close Quarters map in Redacted, player feedback highlighted that the MCS-880 was performing beyond expectations, and we agreed. This was particularly creating unfair instances of one-hit-kills at longer ranges. Going forward, OHK’s will no longer be possible over 25 meters with the MCS-880 and it will be rarer to do so between 20 to 25 meters. Additionally, the #4 Buckshot (Ammo Type) performed the strongest at almost all ranges with Update 6.0, this will now be reduced to its intended short-range role.
​
G428
The G428’s role is to be a close-range DMR, as such we are reducing the Standard Issue Ammo 2-hit kill range from 40 meters to 20 meters. We’re also including a new 4-hit kill range over 125 meters. These changes will readjust this weapon into its close range, as intended.
You will also see further changes such as High Power ammo remaining viable at longer ranges, and more broader changes to recoil, accuracy and more to bring this weapon in line with other DMRs.
​
VHX
The VHX-D3 has received mixed feedback with some of you being for or against its damage output. While we will continue to monitor and tweak this weapon, we have decreased its starting accuracy and increased its dispersion build-up in response to players feeling it is packing too much of a punch.
​
Suppressor Minimap Stealth & Subsonic Ammo
Update 6.2 will also include changes to Suppressors, Subsonic Ammo and their beneficial intent of Minimap Stealth. While also factoring in the combined benefits of these two components being used at the same time. Check out our changelog further down in the Update Notes to discover more.
We’ll continue to react to feedback and to monitor both of these aspects of gunplay, our intention is to promote as much variety in weapons and builds as possible and we’ll continue to work on that goal.
Looking more broadly, we’ll continue to look for opportunities to improve both Shotgun, Suppressor and Subsonic Gunplay, and you can continue to expect more improvements in these areas in the future.
​

Air Vehicle Impact Improvements

Throughout recent months we have heard players request further improvements when it comes to vehicle aiming and crosshair alignment. With Update 6.2, the Vehicles Team will be rolling out computed impact points that take into consideration several factors such as Vehicle Velocity, Angular Velocity, Gravity and Drag to draw an accurate impact point of up to 300m.
Additionally we’ve also aligned the Vehicle Crosshair on all cameras that are available on Air Vehicles with this point, ensuring that player crosshairs are as accurate as they can be.
This feature will behave as a reliable impact point on vehicles with one weapon such as on Jets, however Air Vehicles that feature two weapons under their wings like the MD540 Nightbird will perform slightly different. We will therefore calculate the distance on both weapons and draw the average of both as the impact point so the actual weapons depending on your distance to target could still hit the sides of this center point but players will now be able to anticipate and read this.
​

Air Vehicle HUD Improvements

A common request from our air aficionados is for improvements to be made that would allow for an improved state of communication between Gunner and Pilot. The Vehicle Team have been working on bringing a featurean feature from previous titles into Battlefield 2042 where the HUD will now feature aim indicators which will highlight the direction of aim for the Gunner and Pilot.
As a Gunner, this should now help orient yourself in respect to the direction that the Pilot is heading in, and it will also allow for the Pilot to understand what your current priorities are when it comes to engaging with ground targets.
​

Changelog

AI, Soldier and General Improvements

• Player Cosmetics are now sorted by Equipped, Default, Unlocked and then any remaining items within the Collection screens.
• Fixed an issue where some Vehicle Loadouts would not correctly apply ingame.
• You will now be able to alter the color identifier for Armor via Options / Display / HUD General / Colorblind / Custom list.
• Fixed an issue that prevented AI from using the zipline near the oil rig on Irreversible.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the recoil reduction bonus to not apply when in crouch and prone with some weapons

Maps and Modes

• Fixed an issue on Redacted where some ladders had appeared as scalable, while the intent was for them to be the opposite.
• The Penguins have ensured us that the EOD Bot will no longer fall through the metal grids on Redacted.
• Fixed the high contrast on the cliffs placed on Spearhead. They're back to their natural beauty.
• Escalators on Kaleidoscope now have structural integrity back - you should not be able to see through walls anymore.
• Some walls on Redacted have also regained its structural integrity. Projectiles are not able to pass through it and into US HQ anymore.
• Provided further instruction manuals to AI Soldiers, resulting in them no longer getting stuck on walls within Redacted.
• Fixed spelling in the Codex. It's "Namaqualand".
• RU HQ doesn't offer protection anymore over the stones next to it on Arica Harbor.
• No more sneaky placement of the insertion beacon near C sector on Redacted.
• We have decided that moving platform on Spearhead can't kill you anymore.

Gadgets & Specialists

• Fixed an issue that could cause players to automatically switch from Grenade to Primary weapon when exiting a vehicle.
• Ammunition and Health Pouch icons should now be easier to see.
• Fixed an issue where certain gadgets would trigger an ammunition warning where it was not applicable.
• You will no longer benefit from minimap stealth when shooting with underbarrel launchers whilst having a suppressor equipped.

Vehicles

• Air Vehicles will now benefit from computed impact points on select weaponry, this will result in further improvements to vehicle aiming and crosshair alignment.
• Improved audio mixing for air vehicles.
• Fixed an issue causing prone players to take reduced damage from vehicle blast damage.
• Helicopter and Jet anti-vehicle missiles now have the same 800m range.
• Aligned crosshair with impact point on all cameras for air vehicles.
• Fixed several TOR Tank visual issues during matches and within the loadout screen.
• Fixed an issue that caused Concussion Grenades to not correctly apply to open seat vehicles.
• Reduced the 30mm tracer visual intensity on Attack Helicopters.
• 35mm canon and Wildcat will now correctly eject both casings when fired.
• Fixed the camera snap into the vehicle when colliding into certain objects at high speed.
• Fixed the M1A2 in Portal not taking turret systemic damage.
• BMD-3 in Portal will now correctly display health and vehicle icons.
• Lowered elevator response time on jets, it should now be easier to pitch correct when flying and making micro adjustments.
• Updated sticky input on jets when flying using a mouse.
  • Dev note: This might take some getting used to. try it out and let us know how you feel.
• Fixed an issue causing Hack and EMP effects to not properly apply on civilian vehicles.
• The Repair Tool will now work slower on vehicles with systemic damage.
• Fixed an issue with the TOW guided mechanic where missiles would fly towards objects behind obstacles leading to inaccurate shooting.
• Updated missile spawning from weapons.
  • Dev comment: This should lead to a more seamless, tight and connected experience.
• All aircraft missiles will now fire in a single shot pattern rather than full auto.

Weapons

• Fixed the description of the Spook Y Suppressor.
• Fixed stats for Factory Mounts underbarrel.
• Fixed Type 88's Foregrip's hip fire Accuracy penalty sometimes not having the right effect.
• Fixed some animation issues on L9CZ sights while shooting.
• Fixed minor issues in sound effects when using muzzle brakes on L9CZ.
• Fixed incorrect descriptions for Suppressors in Portal weapons.
• Fixed an issue where receiving melee damage could cause a reload action to be stopped.
• Bipod is now visible in the PKP-BP's weapon icon.
• MCS-880 crosshair now better displays the different pellet spread angles depending on equipped buckshot ammo type.

Subsonic Ammo

• Increased subsonic magazine capacity for MP90 from 21 to 25 bullets.
• Increased subsonic magazine capacity for K30 from 21 to 30 bullets.

Suppressor Minimap Stealth

• Light Suppressors will now benefit from Minimap Stealth from 30 meters and below.
• Light Suppressors + Subsonic will now benefit from Minimap Stealth from 15 meters and below.
• Heavy Suppressors will now benefit from Minimap Stealth from 15 meters and below.
• Heavy Suppressors + Subsonic will now benefit from full Minimap Stealth when firing.

Suppressors

• Updated Muzzle Flash Visibility Reduction stat for some barrel attachments

PB Heavy Suppressor

• Damage multiplier has changed from 0.85x to 0.9x
• Bullet velocity multiplier has changed from 0.8x to 0.85x

Type 4 Heavy Suppressor

• Damage multiplier has changed from 0.9x to 0.95x
• Damage multiplier has changed from 0.75x to 0.8x

Box Suppressor

• Bullet Velocity has received a slight increase

Buckshot Ammo

• Updated the ammunition type description to better reflect their gameplay effects.

G428

• Standard Issue ammo: 2-hit kill range reduced from 40m to 20m. New 4-hit to kill distance over 125m.
• High Power ammo: 2-hit range reduced from 50m to 40m.
• Increased vertical and horizontal recoil.
• Slightly decreased stability effect when firing bursts in full auto.
• Increased maximum dispersion during full auto by 15%.
• Increased dispersion per shot in both single and full auto by 7%.
• Slowed ADS speed slightly.
• Tweaked animation settings to match the increased recoil.

VHX-D3

• Decreased initial standing accuracy
• Increased dispersion per shot

AP Grenade launcher ammo increased from 1-2

• This change affects AK24, LCMG, SFAR-M, SVK

RPK-74M

• Corrected the amount of ammunition shown for the extended magazine size in the collection screen.
• Fixed an issue where the mesh of some muzzle attachments:

LMG

• Corrected the amount of ammunition shown for the extended magazine size in the collection screen.

Commando Knife

• Fixed an issue that caused the animation after a melee attack to not work properly.

AEK-971

• Fixed an issue causing the Flash Suppressor to sometimes overlap with other attachments.

MP412 Rex

• Fixed an issue with the swapping animation when equipping the MP412 Rex.

M240B

• The extended magazine in the plus menu is now equipped by default.

SWS-10

• Fixed sound effect issue when using PB Heavy Surpressor.

12M Auto

• Fixed shell ejection when using Flechette Ammunition.

XM8 Prototype

• Fixed M320 Buck Crosshair Size for Bad Company 2's XM8 Protoype

MTAR-21

• Fixed incorrectly placed muzzle smoke visual when using PB Heavy Suppressor.

AC-42

• Fixed ejected casing textures when using subsonic ammunition.

AS-Val

• Fixed an issue where an iron sight mesh was showing unintendedly when using some scopes.

Super 500

• Damage and dispersion tweaked to provide more consistent and higher damage over 10m, but lower chance to get a OHK.

GEW-46

• Damage over 100m changed from 22 to 20 per bullet.

Ghostmaker R10

• Updated Minimap Stealth stat, and added suppressed icon.

NVK-S22

• Icon for #01 buckshot has been updated.

^{NO WEAPON, MILITARY VEHICLE OR GEAR MANUFACTURER IS AFFILIATED WITH OR HAS SPONSORED OR ENDORSED THIS GAME.
This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible.}

We are out of beta! With this release, welcome to the first release version of Kaiserreich for Hearts of Iron 4 - version 1.0, 'The Empire Strikes Back'!
The KR4 team has come a very long way, from the release of Alpha 0.1 in December 2016, (seven years ago to the day, to be exact) to Beta 0.10 'Blood on the Yangtze' in December 2019. And we're out of beta, we're releasing on time!
Who would have thought that when the first version of Kaiserreich for Hearts of Iron 2 was released in December 2005, we would still be continuing this legacy 18 years later?
This update includes the Germany rework, a comprehensive re-imagining of the country at the very heart of the mod. To mark the occasion, we have also included some other smaller, but notable, changes for other countries, to help bring their current content closer in line with their eventual reworks - as while version 1.0 is a milestone, progress continues on other projects, and this is the first of several major reworks in the pipeline. As rewarding as putting all of this content together is, with all the research, design, coding, artwork, writing and testing that goes with it, it would not be possible or worthwhile without you, the players and wider members of the community. Thank you for staying with us over the past few years, as without you all, it would not have been possible to assemble this team that has been a pleasure to work with.
Now and always, we hope you enjoy playing Kaiserreich!
- The KR4 team

Changes

Notable Additions

• Replaced the parties and party leaders of the Union of Britain, Commune of France, Ireland and Russia to be in closer alignment with their upcoming respective reworks, while retaining their current content.
• The American Union State’s Huey Long now starts as NatPop, which can change to AutDem after the Second American Civil War. An additional AutDem path led by Martin Dies Jr has also been added.
• Updated the starting flag for the Commune of France, which can be modified via event.
• Finland now starts as a German puppet.
• Fully revamped the Socialist Republic of Italy, with new political, economic and military content.
• Replaced Hermann von Göring as leader of Mittelafrika, with Karl Ritter, and altered much of its political content.
• Russia can now turn socialist in the opening event chain, instead of through a civil war.
• Implemented a conditional surrender that can occur when Russia is losing to Germany.
• Updated and revised the ideology descriptions to standardise their length and applicability.

Reworked Focus Trees

• German Empire

New Focus Trees

• Puppet Germany

Revamped Focus Trees

• Socialist Republic of Italy

Tweaked Focus Trees

• American Union State (Updated the old AutDem political focus branch, and added an additional one)
• Finland (economic and military focus branches, updated effects in political focus branches)
• Commune of France (minor adjustments to account for the German rework and party changes)
• Russia (added new air and army branches, and other adjustments to account for new starting situation)
• Kingdom of Two Sicilies (updated reunification focus branch)

New Events

• Added multiple new flavour events regarding the new American Union State content.
• Added an event for the Commune of France regarding their national flag.
• Added several political events for Mittelafrika.
• Added new specific events for Poland, Russia and Ukraine regarding the Germany rework.

New Decisions

• Added decisions for Lombardy, the Papal States and Venice to unite Italy.
• Added a decision for Lombardy to join the Moscow Accord.
• Added decisions for the Papal States to join the Entente, Reichspakt and Donau-Adriabund.
• Added decisions for socialist Russia to attack unaligned Estonia, Finland and Latvia before the Weltkrieg.
• Added decisions for Venice to claim the old Venetian-controlled lands of Albania, Crete, Cyprus, and the Ionian islands.

New Custom Country Paths

• Albanian Foreign Policy (expanded current options)
• American Union State (expanded current options)
• Burmese Foreign Policy (expanded current options)
• Union of Britain (expanded current options)
• Cuban Foreign Policy (expanded current options)
• Finnish Foreign Policy (expanded current options)
• Commune of France (expanded current options)
• Commune of France’s Flag
• Germany
• Germany’s Black Monday minigame
• Socialist Republic of Italy (expanded current options)
• Lombardy (expanded current options)
• Lombardian Foreign Policy (expanded current options)
• The Unification of Libya
• Kingdom of Two Sicilies unification

GFX

• New portraits
  • American Union State: Martin Dies Jr., Robert Elkington Wood
  • Bulgaria: Nikola Nakov
  • Congo: Jean Bolikango, Jean Félix-Tchicaya, Paul Panda Farnana M'Fumu, Daniel Kanza Kinsona, André Grenard Matswa
  • Croatia: Vladimir Ćopić
  • East Prussia: Erich Wollenberg
  • Commune of France: Adrien Marquet
  • Germany: Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, Max Bauer, Rupprecht von Bayern (civilian), Werner von Blomberg, Fedor von Bock, Heinz Guderian, Franz Halder, Theodor Heuss, Erich Hoepner, Karl Jarres, Joseph Joos, Ewald von Kleist, Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin, Erich Koch-Weser, Roland Köster, Wilhelm von Leeb, Karl Liebknecht, Wilhelm List, Günther Lütjens, Erich von Manstein, Hasso von Manteuffel, Carlo Mierendorff, Hermann Müller, Wilhelm III (civilian & military), Wilhelm IV (civilian), Walter von Reichenau, Siegfried von Roedern, Bernhard Rogge, Gerd von Rundstedt, Kurt von Schleicher, Eugen von Schobert, Kurt Student, Ernst Volckheim, Erwin von Witzleben, Maximilian von Weichs
  • Ireland: William O’Brien
  • Socialist Republic of Italy: Enrico Caviglia, Giuseppe Giulietti, Emilio Lussu, Alberto Meschi, Pietro Nenni
  • Kenya: Ewart Scott Grogan, Jomo Kenyatta, Harry Thuku
  • Latvia: Jānis Kurelis, Jēkabs Peterss
  • Mittelafrika: Adolf von Duisburg, Fritz Kolbe, Ernst-Felix Krüder, Hermann Meyer-Rabingen, Karl Ritter
  • New England: Frances Perkins
  • New Zealand: Robert Campbell Begg
  • Panama: Manuel Pino
  • Peru: Gustavo Adolfo Jiménez Saldías
  • Qing: Tang Xiangming
  • Romania: Leonard Mociulschi
  • Russia: Iosib Dzhugashvili, Leonid Govorov, Filipp Ivanov, Mikhail Khanzin, Aleksandra Kollontai, Nikolai Kuznetsov, Gordey Levchenko, Mikhail Levitov, Vladimir Manstein, Sergey Markov, Kirill Meretskov, Aleksandr Nemits, Maria Spiridonova, Yakov Sverdlov, Vladimir Vitkovsky, Grigory Zinoviev
  • Slovenia: Lovro Klemenčič
  • Tshuapa Clique: Justin Kokolo
• New advisor portraits
  • American Union State: Lawrence Dennis, Hamilton Stuyvestant Fish, Earl Long, Robert Rice Reynolds, Frank Byron Rowlett, Jacob Thorkelson, Burton Kendall Wheeler
  • Bharatiya Commune: Sarojini Naidu
  • Canada: Harry Farnham Germain Letson
  • Combined Syndicates of America: John Benjamin Anderson, Reverend Major Jealous Divine, James Edmond Fechet, Alexander Goldberger, Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr, William Francis Murphy, Marc Andrew Mitscher, Norman Scott, Harold Maskell Ware, Donald Wilson
  • Commune of France: Vincent Auriol, Henri Barbé, Marcel Déat, Georges Guynemer, Adrien Marquet, Pierre Monatte
  • Germany: Konrad Adenauer, Adolf von Batocki-Friebe, Johannes Bell, Erich von Bonin, Otto Braun, Ferdinand von Bredow, Wilhelm Canaris, Herbert von Dirksen, Albert von Einstein, Lothar Erdmann, Anton Fehr, Günther Gereke, Otto Grotewohl, Ulrich von Hassell, Oskar Hergt, Rudolf Hilferding, Otto Hugo, Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin, Günther von Kluge, Theodor Leipart, Hermann von Lüninck, Rudolf Wissell & Wichard von Moellendorff, Hermann Müller, the Hofgeismar Circle, Waldemar Pabst, the Reichskanzler In Prussia, Hans-Joachim von Rohr, Fritz Schäffer, Hans Schlange-Schöningen, Carl Schmitt, Rudolf Schwander, Carl Severing, Martin Spahn, Eduard Stadtler, Adam Stegerwald, Joachim von Stülpnagel, Siegfried von Roedern, Fritz Tarnow, Adolf von Trotha, Carl Ulitzka, Kuno von Westarp, Georg Wetzell, Tilo von Wilmowsky, August Winnig, Hans Zehrer
  • Socialist Republic of Italy: Alceste de Ambris, Ilio Baroni, Michele Bianchi, Nicola Bombacci, Amadeo Bordiga, Armando Borghi, Bruno Buozzi, Tullio Cianetti, Gaetano Crocco, Enrico Fermi, Ada Gobetti, Antonio Gramsci, Achille Grandi, Luigi Longo, Emilio Lussu, Ugo Macchieraldo, Sabato Martelli Castaldi, Amedeo Mecozzi, Benito Mussolini, Pietro Nenni, Umberto Nobile, Italo Piccagli, Vladimiro Pini, Alfredo Pizzoni, Bruno Pontecorvo, Luigi Razza, Giuseppe Romita, Carlo Rosselli, Giuseppe Saragat, Attilio Sassi, Oscar Sinigaglia, Altiero Spinelli, Angelo Tasca, Palmiro Togliatti, Olindo Vernocchi
  • Mittelafrika: Helmuth Felmy
  • New England: Harold Buckley Willis, Vannevar Bush
  • Pacific States of America: William Henry Rupertus, Holland McTyeire Smith, George Orson Wells, Herbert Osborn Yardley
  • Russia: Boris Bakhmetev, Nikolay Bukharin, Ilya Fondaminsky, Klavdiy Foss, Vasily Glazunov, Sergey Goriunov, Lev Kafenhaus, Lev Kamenev, Aleksandr Kazakov, Aleksandr Kerensky, Vasily Kharlamov, Aleksandra Kollontai, Nikolay Kondratyev, Igor Kurchatov, Timofei Kutsevalov, Aleksandr Liverovsky, Vsevolod Marchenko, Nikolay Markov, Aleksandr Novikov, Sergey Obolensky, Yevgeni Preobrazhensky, Karl Radek, Aleksandr Rodzyanko, Aleksey Rykov, Martemyan Ryutin, Aleksandr Samoylo, Patriarch Sergius, Aleksandr Shlyapnikov, Ivar Smilga, Ivan Smirnov, Maria Spiridonova, Grigory Sokolnikov, Pyotr Sokolov, Yakov Sverdlov, Vyacheslav Tkachov, Mikhail Tomsky, Konstantin Vershinin, Gerasim Vdovenko, Aleksandr Voznesensky, Boris Vysheslavtsev, Mikhail Yangel, Nikolai Yezhov, Grigory Zinoviev
  • Sardinia: Giovanni Battista Melis
  • United States of America: Sam Rayburn, John Rockefeller Jr, Charles Andrew Willoughby
• Tweaked advisor portraits
  • American Union State: Frank Maxwell Andrews, Hugo Lafayette Black, Charles Edward Coughlin, Elizabeth Eloise Kirkpatrick Dilling, Henry Ford, James Guthrie Harbord, Fred Chase Koch, Curtis Emerson Lemay, Charles Lindbergh, Dewitt Clinton Ramsey, Archibald Bulloch Roosevelt, Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith, Francis Everett Townsend, Otto Paul Weyland, Robert Elkington Wood
  • Union of Britain: Oswald Mosley
  • Combined Syndicates of America: Ralph Johnson Bunche, Bessie Coleman, James Renshaw Cox, James William Ford, Ernest Miller Hemingway, Meyer London, John Henry Manley, Harry Dexter White
  • Commune of France: Maryse Bastié, Jacques Duclos, Suzanne Girault, Alfred Heurtaux, Jacques Francois Jannekeyn, Jacques Sadoul, Joseph Vuillemin
  • Ireland: Seán T. O’Kelly
  • New England: Dean Acheson, Clarence Lionel Adcock, Ray Atherton, Roger Babson, Francis Biddle, Charles Bohlen, WEB du Bois, Allen Dulles, John Foster Dulles, Learned Hand, Harold Huston George, Harold Lee George, Charles Evans Hughes Sr, Joseph Kennedy Sr, George Mead, Jay Pierrepont Moffat, Henry Morgenthau Jr, George Murray, Earle Partridge, Laurence Steinhardt, Richmond Turner, Sinclair Weeks, Charles Yost
  • Pacific States of America: Leland Merritt Ford, William Frederick Friedman, Harold Leclair Ickes, Hugh Samuel Johnson, Ng Poon Chew, Harvey Arthur Van Norman, John Whiteside Parsons, Earl Warren
  • United States of America: Cordell Hull, Hjalmar Petersen, Robert Ferdinand Wagner, Walter Francis White
• Replaced a generic European leader portrait.
• Added new flags for Cameroon, East Africa, the Commune of France, the Socialist Republic of Italy, Germany, Kivu, Lombardy, Mittelafrika and Tanzania.
• Added new national focus icons for Germany and Lombardy, and updated previous national focus icons to account for Germany's change of flag.
• Added new national spirit icons for Germany, Libya, Lombardy, Syria and updated previous national focus icons to account for Germany's change of flag.
• Added new news event pictures for the Commune of France and Ireland.
• Added new event pictures of Germany and the Socialist Republic of Italy.
• Added a unique icon for Assault battalions.
• Updated multiple national focus icons involving flags.
• Added a new Austria-Hungary themed loading screen from Kaiser Cat Cinema.
• Updated the quality of a Japan-themed loading screen.
• Removed two deprecated loading screens.

Music Mod

• Added and improved several track titles transliterations for Russia.
• Added "Bernhardseck Polka", "Heut' Geh' Ma a Bissel Aus" (Today We're Going Out), "Im Schellenkönig" (I Am The Bell King), "Wildenauer Sängermarsch" (Singers' March of Wildenau) and "Zwischen Donau und Rhein" (Between the Danube and the Rhine) for Switzerland.
• Removed “Ikhav Kozak za Dunaj” (The Cossack Rode beyond the Danube) and "Marsh Budyonnogo" (Red Cavalry) for Russia.
• “Taiseiyokusan’nouta” (Song of the Taisei Tyori) will now only play for NatPop Japan

Mapping

• Added Garoua as a victory point in Adamawa.
• Redrew the “Ardennes” state, and renamed it to “Verviers”, updating its population and that of neighbouring states.
• Updated Cyrenaica’s borders, taking into account changes that occurred in the 1920s in our timeline that would not have taken place in the Kaiserreich timeline.
• Updated Mittelafrika’s rail network.
• Redrew the state of “Tuva” in Mongolia to be more accurate to the Tannu Uriankhai’s borders.
• Fixed the position of Czestochowa.

Other Changes

• North America
  
  • Expanded the length of several flavour events of participants in the American Civil War.
  • Added Robert Elkington Wood as a general for the American Union State.
  • Updated the political advisor roster for the American Union State
  • Reworded the description of Canada’s “Bastion of the Old Order” national spirit.
  • Added the theorist HFG Letson to Canada, who replaces the role formerly played by JFC Fuller.
  • The Combined Syndicates’ “Good Syndicalist Soldier” will now recreate the Third Internationale faction, if it has been disbanded.
  • Renamed the Pacific States of America’s “Medicare” national focus to the less anachronistic “Healthcare Expansion”.
  • Renamed several of the United States’ “War Plans”.
  • The United States’ “General Electric” designer now gives a direct naval speed boost.
  • The “Business of Neutrality” national spirit now allows more volunteers to be sent.
• Central America & the Caribbean
  
  • Cuba can now choose New England as an American alliance option.
• South America
  
  • Chile will declare war if it refuses to return Patagonian lands, instead of getting a wargoal.
  • Buffed Ecuador’s “Technocratic Rule” national spirit.
  • Added Gustavo Adolfo Jiménez Saldías as a General for Peru.
  • The election of syndicalists in Venezuela can now result in a coup by New England, should the latter be pursuing the Monroe Doctrine.
• Western & Southern Europe
  
  • Added regnal numbers to the monarchs of Belgium and its splinters.
  • Removed the political power gain for other countries getting Belgium’s event about Tintin.
  • Removed the political power loss that Belgium’s petitions give to Germany.
  • SocCon Flanders will now stay in the Reichspakt if the Netherlands turn socialist.
  • Increased the priority the Union of Britain’s AI gives to building naval bombers.
  • The Commune of France’s “Creation of the International Avant-Garde” news event will now only fire for socialist countries.
  • The Italian Republic and the Kingdom of Two Sicilies will now receive more volunteers from AI-controlled Reichspakt countries.
  • Updated multiple Italian Military Industrial Organisations and companies.
  • Improved the effect of multiple national foci for Lombardy, the Papal States and Venice.
  • Sardinia can no longer unite Italy before they finish their political focus branch.
  • Carlist Spain and socialist Spain now join factions via national focus effect, rather than by a redundant decision.
  • Increased the frequency in which the Kingdom of Two Sicilies forms the Italian Confederation.
  • The Kingdom of Two Sicilies’ Confederation can now claim states on behalf of its puppets.
  • The Kingdom of Two Sicilies can now target Lombardy and Venice in their decision to call for aid against the Socialist Republic of Italy.
  • Replaced the Kingdom of Two Sicilies’ “Agusta” with “IMAM”, as an aircraft designer.
• Central & Northern Europe
  
  • Added a regnal number to Austria-Hungary’s Emperor Otto.
  • Made Denmark’s economic deal with Germany more likely to proceed favourably.
  • Tweaked the AI to only refuse the Copenhagen Conference after May 1939.
  • Finland is now much less likely to cede Karelia.
  • Austria no longer needs to pay political power to unite with Germany.
  • A successful Copenhagen Conference now interrupts the Commune of France and Russia’s national foci to start the Weltkrieg.
  • Heinz Guderian will now return to Germany when the Weltkrieg starts, if Poland is controlled by the AI.
  • Decreased how likely the Commune of France and Russia are to partition Germany, when they have the option of not doing so.
  • Standardised the political power gain associated with Norway’s trade deals.
  • Decreased how frequently the Nordic Federation will form, by increasing how frequently democratic Norway adopts Armed Neutrality, joins the Entente, or refutes the Treaty of Stockholm, unless the host of the Treaty is a human player.
  • Added Lovro Klemenčič as Totalist leader for Slovenia, and gave him a description.
  • Added party names for Slovenia.
  • Switzerland now cancels all embargoes upon embracing neutrality.
• Eastern & Southeast Europe
  
  • Greece now peaces out with any non-neighbour enemies upon having a civil war.
  • Romania’s “Old Entente Ties” national focus now removes Romania from the Moscow Accord or Reichspakt, if they are in it.
  • Romania is now much less likely to cede Bessarabia.
  • Added Nikolai Kuznetsov and Aleksandr Nemits as admirals for Russia.
  • Added Grigory Zinoviev as a Totalist leader for Russia.
  • Disabled the “Prepare a Collaboration Government” mission on Russia.
  • Serbia now gains access to all of Illyria’s former advisors upon forming Yugoslavia.
  • Nerfed the effects of Ukraine’s “Expanded Trade”, “Factionalism”, “Industrialisation” and “Reinvigorated Workforce” national spirits.
  • Nerfed the effects of Ukraine’s “An Organic Workforce”, “Bring the Army in Line” and “Immortal Will of the Ukrainian Nation” national foci.
  • Nerfed the political power and stability effects in several Ukrainian events.
  • Rebalanced several Ukrainian military national spirits.
  • Decreased the amount of political power gained from Ukraine’s BASF event for Germany.
  • Nerfed the trait of Ukraine’s potential Military High Command member Ivan Cherniakhovsky.
  • AutDem, PatAut or NatPop Ukraine can no longer get all of Galicia in the “Issue of Lemberg” event.
  • Ukraine’s liberal hetmanate can no longer form the Small Pact.
  • Made the United Baltic Dutchy’s Forest Brothers minigame more difficult for the player.
  • Oststaaten will now not have nationalist or socialist revolts if they have joined the Small Pact.
  • Decreased the amount of political power given from White Ruthenia’s “White Ruthenia Contracts German Company” event for Germany.
• Africa
  
  • Added Joseph Bile as Totalist/Syndicalist/RadSoc leader for Cameroon.
  • The Senussi events will now only fire for the French Republic, and not any other controller of the relevant states.
  • Adjusted the cost of coring French Africa, where more populous/resource rich states now cost more, while more isolated states cost less.
  • Added André Grenard Matswa, Jean Félix-Tchicaya, Paul Panda Farnana M'Fumu, Jean Bolikango and Daniel Kanza Kinsona as Totalist/Syndicalist/RadSoc, SocDem, SocLib/MarLib, SocCon and AutDem leaders for Congo, respectively.
  • Added Jomo Kenyatta, Harry Thuku and Ewart Scott Grogan as SocDem, SocLib and SocCon leaders for Kenya, respectively.
  • Renamed the Kivu Clique to Kivu, or Kivu Regime, depending on circumstances, and updated its map colour.
  • Updated the effect of Kivu and Tshuapa becoming independent of Mittelafrika.
  • Added Helmtuh Felmy as a Chief of Air and member of the Military High Command for Mittelafrika.
  • Added Ernst-Felix Krüder as an Admiral, Chief of Navy and member of the Military High Command for Mittelafrika.
  • Added Adolf von Duisburg, Adolf Heusinger and Hermann Meyer-Rabingen as Generals for Mittelafrika.
  • Removed Richard Wenig as a General for Mittelafrika.
  • Removed Franz Ritter von Epp, both von Görings and Theodor von Hassel as leaders in Mittelafrika.
  • Removed Oskar von Preußen from Mittelafrika.
  • Updated Ludwig Bockholt and Ernst Udet’s advisor traits for Mittelafrika.
  • Added Fritz Kolbe as a potential leader for Mittelafrika.
  • Tweaked the reward of Mittelafrika’s “A War Economy” national focus.
  • Renamed a few Mittelafrikan national focus titles and altered some of their descriptions.
  • Altered the effects of multiple Mittelafrikan political events.
  • Decreased Mittelafrika’s starting stability and increased its starting war support.
  • Removed the party popularity change given by Mittelafrika’s “The Skull of Chief Mkwawa” event firing for Germany.
  • Removed several opium-related events and national spirits for Mittelafrika, Germany and Japan.
  • Mittelafrika’s Heinrich Kirchheim is now a General rather than Field Marshal.
  • Decreased the amount of political power given by Südwestafrika’s events for Germany.
  • Mittalafrikan food exports now give political power to Germany, rather than support equipment.
• Caucasus & Middle-East
  
  • Assyria can now be played by starting the game as Canada.
  • Armenia now starts the game embargoing Azerbaijan.
  • Armenia can now be played by starting the game as Persia.
  • Azerbaijan can now immediately join the Reichspakt if Russia is socialist.
  • Egypt can no longer declare war on the French Republic if neither side controls Libya, and shifted the position of the relevant national focus on Egypt’s focus tree.
  • Georgia will never renounce the Treaty of Poti if Russia is socialist.
  • Updated Georgian plane names.
  • Reduced the initial conscription laws for Jabal Shammar and Saudi Arabia, and added national spirits to compensate for it.
  • Upgraded the Transjordan state from being a Wasteland.
  • Updated the party names and starting party popularities for Yemen.
• East Asia
  
  • All Chinese splinters now use a common "Chinese Domestic Arms Industry" for their Military Industrial Organisation, with decisions to integrate key arsenals as they pursue unification.
  • Chinese splinters that start offensive wars against majors can now form the Chinese United Front if they are badly losing.
  • Fengtian’s “From Beijing to the Begonia Leaf” national focus can now be completed if Beijing is held for 90 days.
  • Updated the text for Japan’s news event regarding the Fate of the Imperial Family, should Hirohito have abdicated.
  • Removed the “Izumo Class” coastal defence ship from Japan.
  • Tweaked the starting divisions of the League of Eight Provinces, with changing some division templates used, increasing starting division experience, and decreasing division equipment.
  • The Legation Cities now lose their British commanders upon going to war with the Entente.
  • Rebalanced multiple Left Kuomintang military national spirits.
  • Nerfed the number of special technologies that the Left Kuomintang can get access to in a given game.
  • Nerfed the Left Kuomintang’s “Raise Nationalist Militia” decision so that it creates irregular infantry rather than standard infantry.
  • The Left Kuomintang’s Dai Anlan and Chiang Wei-Kuo will now gain the effect of the focus they are recruited in.
  • Hu Zongnan's Coup in the Left Kuomintang is now more appropriately named the Third National Revolution, rather than the Second.
  • Renamed the Left Kuomintang’s “Scavenge the Beiyang Fleet” national focus to “Salvage the Beiyang Fleet”.
  • Completion of the Left Kuomintang’s “The Third Repatriated Congress” national focus will now trigger "Qí Zhèng Piāopiāo” (Fluttering Flag) to play.
  • Mongolia can no longer use decisions to declare war on Chinese splinters, if it has joined the Moscow Accord.
  • Added Tang Xiangming as a commander for Qing.
  • Added support artillery to Qing’s “Manchu Imperial Guard” division template.
  • Qing now starts with three “German Trained” divisions, using a new division template.
  • Removed the event in the League Collapse War where Qing can declare an early war against Shandong.
  • Buffed Shanxi’s Northwestern Industrial Company and Taiyuan Electric Light Company.
  • Added the Yanchang Petroleum Corporation as an industrial concern for Shanxi.
• South Asia & Oceania
  
  • Bhutan's Reformists now have access to a Chief of Army.
  • Added Tawang to Bhutan’s requirements to form the Druk Empire.
  • Added a timed negative national spirit to Bhutan, which is given after they form the Druk Empire.
  • Tweaked the effects of several of Bhutan’s national foci and spirits.
  • Added more endonyms for Insulindia.
• Miscellaneous
  
  • Slightly brightened the RadSoc ideology colour to make it easier to differentiate from other ideologies.
  • Tweaked multiple World Tension change effects.
  • Added Clement Attlee, Carl Schmitt and Kurt Tucholsky loading screen quotes.
  • Removed Aleksandr Kerensky and Hermann von Göring loading screen quotes.
  • Updated several national focus icons for Albania, Austria, Colombia, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Mittelafrika, Morocco, Norway, Persia, Portugal, Russia and Sweden.
  • Added a path guide for Mittelafrika.
  • All collaboration government missions now only give 30-35% compliance.
  • Shifted the AI priorities to make more Tactical Bombers.
  • Improved the AI logic in building radars.
  • Renamed the “Guerilla Officer” trait to “Light Infantry Officer”, to avoid confusion with the “Guerilla Fighter” trait.
  • Adjusted the AI logic in its hiring of political advisors, Chiefs of Army/Navy/Air Force and Theorists, depending on their traits and the situation of the country in general.
  • Embargoes are now cleared where appropriate upon annexation or joining factions.

Fixes

• North America
  
  • Fixed the mobilisation decision for American Civil War participants being visible without an available law level.
  • Fixed American statehood events firing more than once.
  • Fixed Canada trying to attack the Combined Syndicates when too weak.
  • Fixed the United States’ giving socialists access to non-socialist Military Industrial Organisations.
  • Fixed the United States’ navy being described as designed by “The Great Depression”.
• Central America & the Caribbean
  
  • Fixed several broken Centralamerican plane designs.
  • Fixed non-socialist Haiti being in the Internationale.
  • Fixed Puerto Rico being guaranteed by puppet Canada.
• South America
  
  • Fixed Peru’s text referring to NatPop Gabriele D’Annunzio.
• Western & Southern Europe
  
  • Fixed Belgium declaring war on Reichspakt-aligned Netherlands.
  • Fixed the French Empire’s Napoleon losing his leader trait upon a different party being elected.
  • Fixed Italian splinters claiming allied lands mid-war.
  • Fixed the Italian Republic attacking the Kingdom of Two Sicilies and Papal States instead of peacefully reuniting, when they have compatible leadership.
  • Fixed the Reijnders coup in the Netherlands firing two events for the Netherlands to join the Reichspakt.
  • Fixed Duarte being King of puppet Portugal if he is killed by the CNT.
  • Fixed Portugal’s intro text describing them as having an “economic economy”.
  • Fixed Sardinia completing the “The Constituent Assembly” national focus twice.
  • Fixed authoritarians releasing SocDem Wales as a puppet.
• Central & Northern Europe
  
  • Fixed AutDem Finland not getting access to the Nordic Council national spirits.
  • Fixed Galicia & Lodomeria getting the decision to join Poland too early in Austria’s Military Occupation path.
  • Fixed Germany getting Poland’s event response in the event about the death of King August.
  • Fixed the effects of Hungary’s “Apollo Refinery” and “Orion Electronics”.
  • Fixed Norway joining the Nordic Council when set to join the Entente in the game rules.
  • Fixed NatPop Poland getting decisions to ally with countries that are puppets.
  • Fixed von Kries being the leader of non-German puppet Poland.
  • Fixed the effect of Poland’s “The First of the Slavs” not working with PatAut Poland.
  • Fixed Poland’s King August not abdicating in favour of his son Alexander.
  • Fixed Republican Poland being referred to as a monarchy when being un-puppeted by Germany after the Second Weltkrieg.
  • Fixed Poland not being released with Galicia.
  • Fixed Poland building railways in states not controlled by their owners.
  • Fixed the effect of Sweden’s “HMS Karl XII” national focus.
• Eastern & Southeast Europe
  
  • Fixed the “Fate of Belarus” annexation mission preventing further annexation missions from firing.
  • Fixed Bulgaria dragging Austria into a war with the Ottoman Empire.
  • Fixed being able to offer Macedonia to a Bulgaria at war.
  • Fixed Serbia adding Bulgaria to the Moscow Accord without asking Russia.
  • Fixed NatPop Ukraine reaching out to the Austrians, despite them no longer existing.
  • Fixed Ukraine starting without a Close Air Support air wing, if the “By Blood Alone” DLC is not active.
  • Fixed the generals sent by the United Baltic Duchy’s military missions staying abroad if that country revolts.
• Africa
  
  • Fixed the French Republic giving all of its colonies to the United Kingdom if the former restores the latter.
  • Fixed the French Republic’s 4-yearly legislative events not accounting for a Napoleonic restoration.
  • Fixed Liberia keeping the “German Bailout” national spirit after becoming the puppet of another country.
  • Fixed the effect of Natal’s “Form the Natal Bomber Division” national focus.
• Caucasus & Middle-East
  
  • Fixed socialist countries keeping the Suez Canal.
  • Fixed the regnal number of King Giorgi of Georgia.
  • Fixed the annexation events for Batumi and Karabakh for Russia.
  • Fixed the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem not being annexed if Egypt chose to invade immediately.
  • Fixed the Ottomans’ Abdülmecid II being referred to as the oldest son in his description.
  • Fixed the Ottomans not releasing Egypt as the Khedivate.
  • Fixed the Ottomans not joining the Edirne Accords.
• East Asia
  
  • Fixed Chinese governments that are formed through fallback decisions being unable to form alliances, locking them out of wargoals.
  • Fixed Japan’s Maizuru dockyard being built in the wrong state.
  • Fixed Japan not seizing Hawaii even if America accepts their ultimatum.
  • Fixed puppet Japan keeping the SocDem party name “Taisei Yokusankai”.
  • Fixed puppet democratic Japan not getting elections.
  • Fixed the name lists for the Left Kuomintang’s Brigades and “Committees Own” being swapped.
  • Fixed the Left Kuomintang spawning trains despite not having the relevant technology.
  • Fixed Manchuria’s national focus tree not being resent upon re-annexation.
  • Fixed Shandong not being annexed by Manchu-led Qing upon completion of the “Return to the Source” national focus.
  • Fixed Shanxi’s game rule to align with Qing.
  • Fixed Shanxi’s “Expel German Investors” decision being available when Qing has been defeated.
  • Fixed being able to give Transamur to Russia, despite also Siberia existing.
• South Asia & Oceania
  
  • Fixed the Dominion of India being overly cautious in declaring war on the Bharatiya Commune.
  • Fixed RadSoc Siam not following the Bharatiya Commune into the Internationale.
  • Fixed RadSoc Siam having a generic leader.
• Miscellaneous
  
  • Fixed several effects of attempting to obtain airframes from countries without a valid design.
  • Fixed multiple countries trying to join or rejoin factions after already capitulating.
  • Fixed ideology opinion modifiers sometimes not applying correctly.

We hope you enjoy playing Kaiserreich as much as we did making it!
- The KR4 Team: Alpinia, Arvidus, Augenis, Blackfalcon501, Blackleaf, Carmain, Cazadorian, Chazem, Chiang Kai-shrek, Chiron29, Cody, Conchobhar, DuoDex, El Daddy, falling_robin, Fedex, Flamefang, Gaboemi, Hamfast, hildagrim, Ido, Igor050301, JazzyHugh, Jeankedezeehond, Jonny BL, Kano, katieluka, Kennedy, kergely, KFateweaver, Klyntar King, Krčo, lehmannmo, Luwofe, Matoro, McOmghall, MrMano, ~mw~ // miwaco, NukeGaming, Pelmen, PPsyrius, Purple Jinjo, RagnoStrangeros, Rnk, Shiroe, Shōta, Sonny O’Cad, SuperGreenBeans, suzuha, The Alpha Dog, The Irredentista, The Italian Jojo, Vidyaország, and Zimbabwe Salt Co.

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The silence was deafening. People just stared at Samuel, who stood with no care in the world that he was the centre of attention. He was looking straight at Thi’shia, measuring her up… and clearly not being impressed by what he saw. This however, was lost on a Shil’vati, who scoffed.
“You can’t be serious,” Thi’shia looked at Tomura with a bemused smile. “You want to send this petty little boy to fight in a duel against a real woman?”
Tomura didn’t bother to answer. For a while Samuel was all fun and games for most of a time… When someone questioned his ability to beat the ever loving shit out of people, he got angry. What happened next was hard to describe. Even for the people who witnessed it personally. Samuel seemed to turn faster than the eye could track and almost teleported right in front of a Shil’vati, his eyes burning with murderous intent.
“What in the hell did you just bloody say about me, you micro-tits bitch?” This opening line shocked everyone present. “I will have you know that I was awarded the Medal of Courage and was recognised as one of the best Sayeret operatives of Israel Defence Forces. I’ve been involved in numerous counter-terrorist operations and have over 100 confirmed kills” this statement made people gasp in disbelief. “I am trained in desert warfare, and I am the top CQC expert among United Nations guard units. You are NOTHING to me, but just another overconfident, delusional cunt!” Samuel answered, almost spitting fire from his mouth.
Thi’shia stood there. Unable to speak for well over 4 seconds. Before her face turned blue with rage. “YOU DARE?!” She shouted, trying to be intimidating.
“I do bitch!” Samuel didn’t let her continue. “I ain’t a diplomat. You won’t get any buttering up from me. My boss? Sir Tomura here? He is nice. His job is to make friends… that’s not my job. My job is to kill enough of those people who want to be the opposite of our friends, to the point that all people that don’t want to be our friends are too scared to be our enemies, and stay neutral instead,” he raised an index finger and pointed at her face. “And if you didn’t notice, you purple personification of a bag of bricks, is that I am alive. And all those that didn’t want to be my friends, are fucking dead. So either accept the bloody duel or turn around, go back to your embassy… and then go fuck yourself with a live grenade.”
On that last remark, something seemed to crack within Shil’vati ambassador. All burning rage was transformed into freezing fury within a second. She would end them. This was written on her face. She was done being diplomat.
“I appoint my own representative in the duel by proxy. Le’lia Zan’tos. Ex-member of her Imperial Majesty Death Heads Commandos,” she announced loud and proud.
One of her guards stepped forward and Tomura felt a chill crawling up his spine.
This was a predator.
Everyone could see how dangerous she was. She wasn’t taller than her boss, but she was all muscle. The skin that was visible, not that there was much of it clear to see, had a lot of micro-scars. Ones that were tended to and were hard to spot, for as long as she wasn’t the centre of the attention. Now she was, and they were impossible to ignore. She walked closer, eyeing Samuel with deadly intent. Being almost completely silent. How something, so big, could be so quiet. She was the total opposite of her boss. When Thi’shi was a roaring storm, Le’lia was a silent blade. A soldier and a killer. One that wore her experience on her skin and in the dark depths of her eyes.
Samuel, however, didn’t seem too bothered by the scars or her cold eyes. He looked her over and whistled.
“Good lord, what do they feed you with?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “I know about beating your ass, but damn darling, there is a lot of ass to beat on you.”
Tomura facepalmed, just as the sound of hundreds of jaws hitting the ground echoed throughout the room. The deadly Death Heads Commando that was menacing Samuel just a second ago, blushed.
“What?” She asked in a quiet voice.
“Ey. I’m just saying that, as the old saying goes: the bigger they are, the harder they fall, but you girl have proper security cushions,” he winked checking her out once again. “Both in front and in the back!” He whistles again. “They will prove helpful when I put you on your ass in the duel.”
Le’lia blushed even more, her boss watching the entire exchange dumbfounded, Tomura groaning.
“Are you flirting or making threats?” Le’lia asked, trying to comprehend what was going on.
Samuel looked her in the eyes, staying silent for a few long seconds.
“Yes,” he finally answered.
“That doesn’t answer my goddess damn question!” Le’lia raised her voice, clearly confused.
“Why can’t I do both?” Samuel shot back. “It’s your boss I want to beat to bloody pulp for being an insufferable cunt. I ain’t blaming a soldier for being a soldier,” he shrugged his shoulders. “So, I will beat your ass, cuz that’s my job. Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the same ass, as a man.”
At that a loud chuckle resounded through the building, all eyes turning. It was lady Deniva herself who seemed not only amused by the entire scene… but also somewhat satisfied. She was looking straight at Samuel. Not with desire or lust. She was a woman of power. She satisfied those urges long ago.
No.
She was looking at him, like a commander looks at a promising soldier. Like how a veteran can appreciate the strength of the other veteran. She gave him a slightest incline of her head, one he returned with a grin.
The dictator of the Commonwealth cleared her throat.
“It seems it is decided then. There will be a duel by proxy, with Samuel Carlin representing Hideioshi Tomura and the United Nations against Le’lia Zan’tos, representing Melondi Thi’shia and Shil’vati Imperium,” she announced loudly.
Shil’vati ambassador actually looked at her surprised.
“You can’t seriously think that putting a male against a Death Heads commando isn’t some kind of-” she started.
“The terms were accepted and proxy chosen, ambassador,” Deniva’s voice was colder than winter itself. “Unless you want to back off and accept the meaning of automatic defeat, I suggest you remain silent.”
Melondi shut her mouth, her mouth curling into a cruel smile, her eyes gleaming with spite. Neras Deniva turned to look at Tomura. “As the side that was challenged, you have a right to choose weapons that will be used in a duel,” she declared.
Tomura turned to look at Samuel, who gave him a predatory smile.
“Are you sure?” Tomura asked, turning his eyes to Le’lia. “If she really was a Death Head, she might be the most dangerous opponent you ever faced.”
“Yeah. I am certain,” Samuel nodded his head. “Everyone here needs to learn something. This is the best way to do so.”
People looked at each other confused. Dorias furrowed her brow, mimicking everyone else. Everyone else but Shana, who sighed loudly and shook her head. “This is going to be messy,” she whispered just before Tomura announced his choice.
“No weapons. Hand-to-hand combat only.”
A murmur of surprise passed through the crowd. Thi’shia gawking before laughing loudly.
“You are digging your own grave, barbarian,” she spat.
“Keep on talking, and maybe you will find out how much I don’t care about your worthless opinion,” Samuel shot back. “Choose time bitch. We don’t have all night.”
“You little-!” Thi’shia was about to say something, but held her tongue. “I want this duel to happen, TONIGHT!” She shouted.
At that Neras Deniva nodded her head and raised her hand. This gesture alone commanding absolute silence.
“The terms were heard and accepted. To ensure that the duel will go accordingly to our traditions, I mark the Western Garden as the location of the duel. Samuel Carlin will enter from the northern entrance, Le’lia Zan’tos from the southern. The duel will begin in 20 minutes,” she announced loudly to all present. “Is this acceptable to both sides?” She asked looking at both diplomats. Thi’shia nodded her head and Tomura did the same. “Very well. I shall await you in the Western Garden.”
Dictator of the Commonwealth turned around and walked away, crowd parting before her. Tomura turned his attention to the Shil’vati. Thi’shia was giving him a cruel smile.
“You will learn to respect your superiors soon enough, primitive,” she snarled.
“You will learn to bear the shame of your arrogance,” Tomura answered before turning toward Dorias. “Can you lead us towards the northern entrance?”
Dorias stood stupefied for a moment, clearly needing time to fully comprehend what just happened. Tomura didn’t need to repeat himself, however, as she shook herself out of the shock and nodded her head. As they walked, the crowd parted before them letting them pass uncontested.
“You are insane,” Dorias muttered quietly as she intentionally took a more obscure and silent path through the palace. “Death Heads Commandos are about as close to a super soldier that Imperium ever created. As far as we know she has augmentations that could rip Samuel in half.
“No she doesn’t,” Dorias was surprised when Shana answered her worries. “We did our research. She doesn’t have any military grade augmentations. Not anymore.”
“How could you possibly know that?” Dorias asked furrowing her brow.
“I sent one of my colleagues to the Moonlight district. With a few proper questions and offers to give access to some interesting cultural material from Earth, we gathered quite a lot of valuable data,” Tomura answered.
The granddaughter of the dictator stared at him in shock, her eyes growing wide.
“You bought information on the personal staff of the Imperial Ambassador… with porn?” She asked in a disbelieving voice.
“Wonders of the galaxy, know no bounds,” Samuel chuckled to himself, stretching as they continued to walk.
“How come you are so calm about this?” Dorias asked, expecting everything but this casual reaction to a duel that could end with critical injury.
Tomura laughed at that and shook his head, Shana joining him in the act. Samuel just smiled from ear to ear. Which, of course - agitated Dorias to no bounds.
“Why are you laughing?!” She demanded.
Tomura looked her in the eyes with a calming smile “and who do you think came up with the entire duel idea?”
Dorias stared at him for a few moments, before stopping in her tracks as realisation hit her. Humans and Spruskibe passing her by, as if she wasn’t there. She turned her eyes at Samuel.
“You want this duel?” There was disbelief in her voice.
“To beat the ever loving shit out of people that want to subjugate my species and my people?” He turned to face her, not slowing down. “Of course, I want to beat them beforehand. Those purple cunts need to get a clear message from Humanity: we aren’t an easy target. Beating a Death Head is a good way to send this message.”
Dorias shook her head and walked faster than before, doing her best to catch up. “You want to intentionally fight a Death Head commando?!”
“And ex-Death Head and one that was discharged sooner than most of her kind?” He asked back. “50-50 on that one. She seems like a fine woman. But this is kinda beyond my personal preference in women.”
“The fact that even now you keep thinking with your crotch is amazing,” Tomura muttered under his breath.
“Well, you know what they say. There is nothing better than good fuck after a good fight, and nothing better like a good fight after good fuck,” Samuel shot back with a wide grin.
“I’m quite certain no-one ever said that,” Hide said with a shake of his head. “But let’s cut the jokes. This is a serious duel. Commonwealth traditions regarding duels are quite old, aren’t they?” He Asked turning to Dorias.
Kolari nodded her head, allowing the bizarre words of Samuel to pass by and ignore them.
“Yes. Tradition of duels is as close to sacred as it could be. Although we do our best to keep duels non-lethal,” She answered. “The concept that some conflicts must be resolved through controlled violence isn’t alien to us.”
“If I’m not mistaken, interrupting a duel is a capital offence,” Shana added.
“Indeed it is. Interrupting a duel and especially attacking a victor of a duel is considered as one of the highe-” Dorias didn’t finish the sentence as another part of Human plan clicked. “OH NO! Don’t tell me!” She looked back at Tomura with pleading eyes.
Human diplomat just shrugged his shoulders.
“I told you we did our research,” he said with a smile.
“That’s… if what I think you want to happen, will happen… that’s so malicious!” She tried to protest.
“No. It’s efficient,” Tomura shot back, his voice cold. His eyes turning into cold steel. “Don’t forget we are talking about the fate of my species here… and I did tell you… looks can be so deceiving.”
The echo of the same words, which she heard during their interview hit Dorias like a hammer. She heard so much about those Humans. She saw how they operate… and yet she kept underestimating them. It was hubris of a woman that made her look down on a male… the same flaw Thi’shia possessed. One she will have to pay for.
“Don’t worry,” suddenly the words of Tomura ripped her out of her thoughts. “We aren’t your enemies.”
And when Dorias looked into the eyes of Samuel and Tomura… she was really happy they weren’t. She swallowed loudly and pointed at the door on their left.
“That’s the door,” she said quietly.
Tomura smiled and nodded his head, before turning to Samuel. “Are you ready?”
“Since we entered the palace,” Samuel cracked his knuckles letting out a satisfied breath through his nose. “I’m going to give them a show they will not forget!”
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
There was something beautiful in the sound of crowds gathering around the garden.
The anticipation. The fear. Sound of people betting for his victory or defeat.
He looked over a garden. A stone garden, with few plants and flowers breaking through sand and rock. An intentionally harsh environment was kept within the hexagon to show off the beauty of the most sturdy of plants. The environment reminded him of his home.
Distant land of Israel. One he spewed a lot of blood for.
…both of the mad and cruel… and innocent.
Yahweh in his glory, declared to his children that: Thou shall not murder.
And Semuel was a murderer. A killer. A sinner.
He didn’t honour his mother and father, he joined the military against their wishes.
He committed adultery more times than he could count. He was loyal only to blade and blood… nothing else.
He stole from the bodies of the dead. Taking trophies.
And he coveted many things of his neighbours.
He was a sinner. One that was too weak to repent.
He was doomed. Hell awaited him. That he knew.
He smiled as he rose from his seat, taking off his elegant jacket, leaving him only in white underskirt. Blue star of David tattooed on his right arm. The burning skull of the damned on the left.
Whispers stopped, as he stepped into the garden. Hundreds of eyes focused on him and his opponent.
This Le’lia… she was big and strong. A real soldier he knew. But there was a critical difference between them.
Her gods were ready to forgive her. To bring her salvation for her duty. She had things to live for.
He didn’t. He didn’t have anything to live for, for a very long time. There was nothing.
And that was good. For a man that has nothing, can still give his life. A man who cared not for the future, could achieve everything in the present.
He let out a calming breath, steadying the fire within him… preparing to let it go and fuel his fury, when battle will be joined.
The purple skinned commando stopped exactly 8 meters from him. Her elegant uniform was replaced with a flexible black suit that would look well in a BDSM video. Her face was fierce and gold in her eyes was so hot it almost seemed to melt.
Previous embarrassment was gone. She was focused. He was the enemy. And she had to defeat him.
“I, Le’lia Zan’tos, representing her royal highness Khalista Tasoo, shall defeat you in this duel,” she proclaimed loudly. “In Hele’s name and with her mark upon my soul, I shall show you why one shouldn’t challenge the might of the Imperium!”
Part of the crowd murmured in fear, some cheered… but all fell silent, as they heard Samuel chuckle. All eyes were now focused on him.
He took a deep breath and spoke.
“As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and bindings dropped from his hands,” he spoke with beautiful intonation… in High Shil, shocking the Death Head before him. “Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men,” he changed his footing, preparing for the duel. “The Samson said, ‘With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men’,” he met the eyes of his opponent. “My name is Samuel Carlin… representing Earth and Humanity defiance in face of all foes… may your gods have mercy upon you, Le’lia Zan’tos of the Death Heads Commandos… For I shall not.”
There was no cheating as he stayed finished. Only dead silence.
He didn’t miss how few drop of sweat formed on Shil’vati forehead. She wasn’t half as dense as her boss. He knew her instincts were screaming at her, just like his were screaming at him.
They were both top predators. Beasts in the flesh of civilized beings. Types of monsters that rarely fought against one another, for one simple reason.
When one reached their level of skill and experience… there were few things that could bring their end. In fact, there were usually only two things that could:
Folly… and one of their own kind.
Neras Deniva, standing in the alcove high above the garden, raised her hands, getting everyone’s attention as her voice boomed over them.
“The duel is about to commence. Are both sides ready?” She asked.
“Ready,” Samuel answered first, without a note of hesitation in his tone.
“Ready,” Le’lia gave the same answer.
“Two sides will fight bare handed, with no limitations on what moves they can utilise. Duel will end, when either side surrenders, is knocked unconscious or dies. Does anyone object to those rules?” There was no sound of opposition or protest. “Very well. Begin!”
Le’lia rushed forward, her eyes focused on her target. She intended to finish this duel quickly.
Good.
He didn’t want to lose too much time on this than he needed, either.
To the surprise of all, he countercharged, his face unreadable. His eyes filled with cold fire.
The Commando didn’t slow down. Ready to take head on.
In the last second, Samuel dropped low, sliding on the ground, using his own and his opponent's momentum as a weapon. Le’lia wasn’t dumb, she jumped, trying to avoid his attempt to undercut her, only to feel his hand grabbing her ankle.
Their speeds almost cancelled each other out, but Le’lia had greater mass and speed, so she dragged Samuel back. However, she lost her balance, and Samuel was already safe on the ground.
She fell down to the ground, extending her hands and stopping her fall, not allowing herself to hit the ground hard enough to be disoriented. The opponent was faster than her however, and so, Le’lia found herself on the ground, her enemy locking her leg with his own body, straining his muscles with the intention of breaking her ankle.
A realization hit her like a cold wave.
Samuel knew that his chances of bringing her down in one decisive move were slim. So he didn’t try to do so.
He would break her ability to fight, piece by piece. Cut after cut, until she won’t be able to stand.
The ankle was the first target with a simple reasoning behind it.
On a battlefield, those who couldn’t move were already as good as dead.
Le’lia reacted quickly, her well-trained mind going into an overdrive as she twisted her body, trying to shake Samuel off. But the bastardy barbarian clung on tightly. Like a blood sucking leech to its victim's body.
By Hele’s tears! He was strong. She could feel the muscles of her ankle straining against his might and slowly failing. She had to act fast, and so, she kicked him. Samuel grunted, but didn’t let go. His hold of her ankle grew by a millisecond. She kicked two more times, but Samuel twisted his body out of the way the best he could, each kick being less effective than the last.
Le’lia twisted again, now laying on her back, and then reached towards Samuel, sitting up, raising a fist and bringing it down on the exposed knee. The punch connected and Samuel grunted, but again, he wasn’t letting go. She punched two more times, before Samuel loosened his grip and kicked her in the crotch… something which was far more painful than she would openly admit.
But in her pain, she felt her opponent's grip loosening, and so she managed to wrangle herself free, quickly making some space between them and standing up, before she let off a hiss of pain.
He got her good.
The ankle wasn’t broken, but it wasn’t doing well. She couldn’t put too much weight on her right leg.
Her opponent on the other way, despite her punches and bruises, seemed doing relatively fine.
Oh, he was in pain, that much was clear, but he wasn’t out of the fight.
Not even close.
Samuel knew that well and smiled at her. The placid face gone, replaced with a feral grin of a beast. One that made her heart skip a beat in fear.
This wasn’t what Thi’shia described - she thought. - They were supposed to be a weak species dominated by males… there was nothing weak about the creature before her.
Samuel let out an animalistic growl, adrenaline coursing through his veins allowing him to ignore the damage to his knee. Giving him clarity of the world around him and his purpose.
He was a killing machine.
He was the Son of David… and a female, purple version of Goliath stood before him.
And just like the king of old, he would bring her down!
He started circling his prey. She was wounded, but not incapacitated. Strength was on her side, as was mass and size. He had speed, stamina, and toughness, on his.
He will have to weaken her more than he already did.
“What are you waiting for?! Show this barbarian what Death Heads are made of!” Voice of the furious Shil’vati ambassador rang out through the garden.
Samuel’s smile grew, as he noticed the change of posture on his opponent.
Yes. The greatest weakness they possessed was their obedience. Even this commando couldn’t refuse orders from her superior. Not even when she knew it would bring her no advantage in the fight.
A weakness he would exploit.
She rushed at him, trying to close the distance, but he jumped back. She rushed again and he again, avoided her all together. He noticed how her frown was growing on her forehead. Her ankle hurt.
But he wouldn’t give her rest.
“Are you sure you are a Death Heads Commando and not a mindless Turox?” He asked with a laughter of a professional killer in his throat. “You flail around, not getting close to hurting me. You are no warrior. No soldier. You are a slow minded, heavy beast of burden. Just like all Shil’vati,” he growled.
The Death Heads face remained focused. She ignored the taunt, like he knew she would. But Samuel wasn’t taunting her.
“You disgusting primitive!” Thi’shia growled. “You are a coward, fleeing before our might! Not being able to face us!”
Samuel laughed in response, “why should I give you a swift end, when I can play with your pathetic toy soldier?” He asked in response. “She is already naught but prey,” he dodged the sudden charge, laughing at his enemy’s inability to reach him. “I shall prolong this moment of your defeat for as long as I please.”
He could hear how the ambassador grit her teeth, before turning towards her puppet and giving her a new command.
“End him!” She ordered. “Kill him!”
The stand of the commando changed and Samuel knew that this time he wouldn’t be able to dodge. So he did the next best thing, he braced for impact and prepared to counterattack. He almost didn’t see her move. She was far faster than before. As if, she ignored all her pain for a precious second before lunging at him with unprecedented speed.
This wasn’t natural. That much he knew.
Imperials were known to augment their special forces. Death Heads especially. He was certain some hidden augmentation within Le’lia’s body gave her a cocktail of drugs, allowing them to break the barriers of Shil’vati physique.
But he didn’t care in the slightest.
He predicted that move. And whatever false flame she poured into her veins, his fire was true and wouldn’t be put out by this mockery.
He took the hit hard, feeling at least one rib breaking from the impact as Shil’vati pushed him to the ground. Adrenaline screaming in his ears, he smiled wide, as he locked his legs around Le’lia torso the moment they hit the ground.
She extended her arms and grabbed him by the throat, standing up and raising up, tightening her grip more and more.
Crude, but effective tactic.
Air was what warriors needed to fight.
But Samuel wasn’t just any warrior. He was ex-Israeli Special forces… and in a fight with no rules, Le’lia just gave him the perfect opening.
He spread his arms in both directions and then brought them like two hammers, striking Le’lia ears.
Once.
Nothing.
Twice.
Nothing.
Thrice.
Nothing at all.
Samuel would curse, if he wasn’t slowly running out of air. Of course, the Death Heads would have augmentations in their ears, which would stop them from being knocked out by such a classic move.
Shil’vati were blunt - not idiots.
Samuel decided that it was time to change tactics. As such, he put his hands around Le’lias temple, placed each of his thumb over both of her eyes and before she could as much as realise what he was about to do - he pushed.
A sickening pop echoed through the garden a second before, Le’lia let him go with a scream of pain as she grabbed her now empty eye socket. Samuel fell to the ground hard, but quickly stood up.
He took only the right eye, and he didn’t have much time before Commando would regain her composure.
He rushed her, aiming at her legs. His attack was successful, and the disoriented Shil’vati fell to the ground with a loud thump, still clutching her bleeding face. Samuel didn’t give her a moment to recover.
He grabbed her left leg, kept it straight, and then delivered a brutal strike to her kneecap.
A sickening crunch could be heard, as the kneecap gave away and Le’lia’s leg bent in the wrong direction.
Le’lia roared in pain. Trying to stop the pain and regain control over herself. She swung at Samuel, battering him away with one move. Samuel spit blood from his mouth, feeling how that one hit split his lip and dislodged at least one of his teeth.
He rolled and stood up, looking back at Shil’vati. She was on all fours, struggling to get up. Her face was covered in blue blood. Her leg twisted and broken.
Samuel didn’t wait, he rushed her from her right, where she didn’t have an eye to spot him. The sound of her own heart in her ears, Le’lia turned in the direction of the incoming threat in the very last second, only to come face to face, or rather face to boot - as Samuel kicked her right in the nose, breaking it on the spot.
She rolled on the ground, with the momentum of the kick.
Her brain ricocheted from one side of her skull to another. She was in pain. She could barely see and barely hear, and now she could feel blood flowing down her nose into her throat. She was hurt before, any commando was.
But to be hit this hard by something so small, felt unimaginable to her. Well, maybe not unimaginable, because she was very much in pain right now!
A drug, a cocktail in her veins, was wreaking havoc on her mind.
It was too strong.
Or maybe it was the fact that it was years since this augmentation activated, and her body simply wasn’t as well-prepared to use those drugs as in the past. She didn’t know, and she didn’t have time to guess.
Her opponent jumped on top of her and started plummeting her with his fists. She tried to defend herself. To cover her head, but with one eye turned into bloody paste, her depth of perception was way off and with drugs overwhelming her mind, she couldn’t focus on anything.
She was hit multiple times. She felt as one of her tusks broke away.
She punched back, launching Samuel off her chest.
The strength enhancing drug was still working, even though it was wearing off.
Her body was betraying her. In every way possible.
Her vision was blurred, she could hear only her own heart. Her leg was useless and she felt blood in her mouth.
She rolled on her stomach, trying to rise.
That was the moment when Samuel jumped at her again, this time on her back, forcing her head into the sand with his left hand, when he used his right to continually punch her right ear.
One, two, three, four, five - he just kept going, without slowing down.
With her head kept in place, her brain was forcibly juggled between the sides of her skull. She roared into the sand, placing both hands on the ground and pushing. Raising up despite the broken leg and weight on her back, she pushed with all her might, falling on her back, with Samuel beneath her.
She twisted around, ignoring how he tried to keep her in place with his legs around her torso. She smiled and raised her fists. Now it was her time to pummel this barbarian into the dirt.
She started punching, and Samuel reacted quickly, raising his arms and protecting his head as the avalanche fell down upon him. His arms felt as if they were about to break, but he kept his guard up. Until Le’lia grabbed his right arm and forcibly pulled it to the side before delivering a devastating strike with her left.
Samuel screamed in pain as his right arm popped out of the socket. He gritted his teeth, curling up his right leg and kicking Le’lia in the chest, pushing her off him, before he scrambled onto his own feet.
Exhausted and bloodied.
To his own disbelief, Le’lia managed to stand up. Or what could be recognised as standing up, despite a broken leg. She was still going.
“Ain’t ya big, tough girl?” Samuel spat blood at the sand, looking down at his now unresponsive right arm.
“Too big for you to handle,” Shil’vati said back, spitting blue blood on the floor. “Surrender and you might get out of here with your life intact.”
Samuel smiled at that, walking over to the nearest tree.
“Yeah. No. The only way I leave this bloody garden is as a winner… or I won’t leave at all,” he answered.
Le’lia didn’t answer, she simply started slowly walking in his direction with clear intention on her face. Samuel knew he had to hurry. He positioned his arm and then slammed into the tree.
Nothing. Le’lia was coming close.
Second time. Still not working. She was really close.
Third time. Nothing. She was here. She grabbed him and punched him in the face. He could hear his teeth ring from that punch.
She raised her fist again, and Samuel got an idea. She punched, and he placed his arm in the path of the strike. He cried out and fell to his knees, clutching his right arm.
Le’lia spit blue blood at his feet.
“Should have surrendered, when you had a chance,” she growled, preparing to end him.
He answered with a devastating right hook into her chin, sending her into the ground and dark embrace of unconsciousness at the same time.
“MY ARM IS BACK!” He roared in victory, raising his right fist into the air.
The crowd erupted with cheering, seeing Human still standing and Shil’vati out cold on the ground. This was his victory.
But nothing is as simple as it seems.
“You insolent beast!” Thi’shia entered the garden, brandishing her ceremonial sword from her hip. “Incompetent idiots all around me! Curse you and curse their weakness! I shall kill you myself!” She roared, rushing at him to the shocked gasps from the crowd.
Samuel turned to face her, but he knew he had little chance to fight back. Le’lia knew how to fight, and he had no way of dodging the incoming blade.
Despite this, he smiled from ear to ear.
If he gets a chance to punch this bitch in the face as his last dying act, he would die a happy man. He changed his stance, ready for one last fight when a deafening crack, like a thunder, but quieter, more directed and hotter echoed through the garden.
Thi’shia stopped in her tracks, raising a blade that was now cut in half. The new end of the blade glowing hot red.
Within a single second, two dozen Commonwealth soldiers entered the garden surrounding the Imperial Ambassador. All guns aimed at her… all fingers on a trigger.
“Wha-” Thi’shia started when a new voice boomed from above.
“AMBASADOR MELONDI THI’SHIA!” Neras Deniva boomed from her alcove, a pistol in her right hand, barely still glowing red from a shot she just took. “You just broke sacred rules of a duel of the Commonwealth. Your actions are of the highest type of crime. For that, you shall be banished from the Commonwealth - never to return.”
“What?!” Thi’shia protested. “I am THE ambassador! You can’t-”
“I can and I just did! You are to leave the system within a single rotation, overwise your immunity as ambassador will be considered null. You will be arrested and sentenced for your crimes!” the Dictator of the Commonwealth roared. “With the sentence of DEATH by firing squad being very much an option in case of such a wretched break of sacred rules!”
Thi’shia turned pale, finally realising her mistake. She dropped her blade and tried to speak, but Neras cut her off once again.
“You will speak no further. You just showed the entire Commonwealth and all who will see the recording of this duel, that word of your Imperium is worth nothing at all,” she smeared. “Guards! Take her away! Escort her to the embassy and ensure that she won’t leave its confines, unless she intends to reach the spaceport itself,” she turned her eyes at two warriors. “Ensure that lady Zan’tos is given proper care. She kept her honour and word,” she turned towards Tomura who was half way towards Samuel, when the guards entered the garden. “Sir Tomura.”
“Yes lady Deniva?” Human diplomat turned to face her.
“Meet me in the presidential office alongside your delegation. I believe it’s time to discuss Commonwealth official support for Humanity!” This declaration was welcomed with cheers.
“Of course lady Deniva,” Tomura bowed, hiding his smirk of victory.
That was when Samuel coughed a cloud of blood and started falling only to be caught by one of the guards. He groaned.
“Ah… hey,” he said weakly. “Not to alarm anyone… but I think one of my lungs is punctured… so medical care would be very much appreciated.”
Lady Deniva reacted first, “Call for a medical shuttle. Get both of them to Tirlone Hospital, at the double!” She shouted, and her people moved to obey.
Samuel smiled, enjoying the sensation of being held by the green, concerned guard.
“Hey… you will be fine,” she said with a reassuring smile.
Samuel coughed blood once again, giving her a crimson smile and a nod. “Of course I will… I am Samuel motherfucking Carlin.”
__ __ __ __ __
Tomura released a breath of relief, as information came to his data-pad. Samuel was stable, even though he was hurt badly. Punctured lung, four broken ribs, internal bleeding, breaking of three teeth and even a small skull fracture.
All that - and they said he will be fine.
“It’s almost frightening how advanced their medicine is,” he muttered to himself before turning to Voigt, who stood behind him with a smile. “I must say… it went better than expected.”
“That it did,” the old man agreed, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You did a great job. Fay’s trust in you wasn’t misplaced.”
“Thank you sir,” Tomura gave him a bow of respect. “Although, I do feel that Samuel deserves a rise.”
“HA! That he does, and I will make sure he will,” Voigt assured with a wide smile, before turning towards the imposing doors to the presidential office. “Now, then, I believe it is time for us to harvest the achievements of our labour.”
The UN delegation moved towards the door, which opened wide as if in welcome.
Another ally joined Humanity’s cause. Dozens of UN delegations achieved the same results among the stars. Some failed miserably, despite the best efforts.
The question remains:
Will this be enough?

First
Previous
Next
_ _
The silence was deafening. People just stared at Samuel, who stood with no care in the world that he was the centre of attention. He was looking straight at Thi’shia, measuring her up… and clearly not being impressed by what he saw. This however, was lost on a Shil’vati, who scoffed.
“You can’t be serious,” Thi’shia looked at Tomura with a bemused smile. “You want to send this petty little boy to fight in a duel against a real woman?”
Tomura didn’t bother to answer. For a while Samuel was all fun and games for most of a time… When someone questioned his ability to beat the ever loving shit out of people, he got angry. What happened next was hard to describe. Even for the people who witnessed it personally. Samuel seemed to turn faster than the eye could track and almost teleported right in front of a Shil’vati, his eyes burning with murderous intent.
“What in the hell did you just bloody say about me, you micro-tits bitch?” This opening line shocked everyone present. “I will have you know that I was awarded the Medal of Courage and was recognised as one of the best Sayeret operatives of Israel Defence Forces. I’ve been involved in numerous counter-terrorist operations and have over 100 confirmed kills” this statement made people gasp in disbelief. “I am trained in desert warfare, and I am the top CQC expert among United Nations guard units. You are NOTHING to me, but just another overconfident, delusional cunt!” Samuel answered, almost spitting fire from his mouth.
Thi’shia stood there. Unable to speak for well over 4 seconds. Before her face turned blue with rage. “YOU DARE?!” She shouted, trying to be intimidating.
“I do bitch!” Samuel didn’t let her continue. “I ain’t a diplomat. You won’t get any buttering up from me. My boss? Sir Tomura here? He is nice. His job is to make friends… that’s not my job. My job is to kill enough of those people who want to be the opposite of our friends, to the point that all people that don’t want to be our friends are too scared to be our enemies, and stay neutral instead,” he raised an index finger and pointed at her face. “And if you didn’t notice, you purple personification of a bag of bricks, is that I am alive. And all those that didn’t want to be my friends, are fucking dead. So either accept the bloody duel or turn around, go back to your embassy… and then go fuck yourself with a live grenade.”
On that last remark, something seemed to crack within Shil’vati ambassador. All burning rage was transformed into freezing fury within a second. She would end them. This was written on her face. She was done being diplomat.
“I appoint my own representative in the duel by proxy. Le’lia Zan’tos. Ex-member of her Imperial Majesty Death Heads Commandos,” she announced loud and proud.
One of her guards stepped forward and Tomura felt a chill crawling up his spine.
This was a predator.
Everyone could see how dangerous she was. She wasn’t taller than her boss, but she was all muscle. The skin that was visible, not that there was much of it clear to see, had a lot of micro-scars. Ones that were tended to and were hard to spot, for as long as she wasn’t the centre of the attention. Now she was, and they were impossible to ignore. She walked closer, eyeing Samuel with deadly intent. Being almost completely silent. How something, so big, could be so quiet. She was the total opposite of her boss. When Thi’shi was a roaring storm, Le’lia was a silent blade. A soldier and a killer. One that wore her experience on her skin and in the dark depths of her eyes.
Samuel, however, didn’t seem too bothered by the scars or her cold eyes. He looked her over and whistled.
“Good lord, what do they feed you with?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “I know about beating your ass, but damn darling, there is a lot of ass to beat on you.”
Tomura facepalmed, just as the sound of hundreds of jaws hitting the ground echoed throughout the room. The deadly Death Heads Commando that was menacing Samuel just a second ago, blushed.
“What?” She asked in a quiet voice.
“Ey. I’m just saying that, as the old saying goes: the bigger they are, the harder they fall, but you girl have proper security cushions,” he winked checking her out once again. “Both in front and in the back!” He whistles again. “They will prove helpful when I put you on your ass in the duel.”
Le’lia blushed even more, her boss watching the entire exchange dumbfounded, Tomura groaning.
“Are you flirting or making threats?” Le’lia asked, trying to comprehend what was going on.
Samuel looked her in the eyes, staying silent for a few long seconds.
“Yes,” he finally answered.
“That doesn’t answer my goddess damn question!” Le’lia raised her voice, clearly confused.
“Why can’t I do both?” Samuel shot back. “It’s your boss I want to beat to bloody pulp for being an insufferable cunt. I ain’t blaming a soldier for being a soldier,” he shrugged his shoulders. “So, I will beat your ass, cuz that’s my job. Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the same ass, as a man.”
At that a loud chuckle resounded through the building, all eyes turning. It was lady Deniva herself who seemed not only amused by the entire scene… but also somewhat satisfied. She was looking straight at Samuel. Not with desire or lust. She was a woman of power. She satisfied those urges long ago.
No.
She was looking at him, like a commander looks at a promising soldier. Like how a veteran can appreciate the strength of the other veteran. She gave him a slightest incline of her head, one he returned with a grin.
The dictator of the Commonwealth cleared her throat.
“It seems it is decided then. There will be a duel by proxy, with Samuel Carlin representing Hideioshi Tomura and the United Nations against Le’lia Zan’tos, representing Melondi Thi’shia and Shil’vati Imperium,” she announced loudly.
Shil’vati ambassador actually looked at her surprised.
“You can’t seriously think that putting a male against a Death Heads commando isn’t some kind of-” she started.
“The terms were accepted and proxy chosen, ambassador,” Deniva’s voice was colder than winter itself. “Unless you want to back off and accept the meaning of automatic defeat, I suggest you remain silent.”
Melondi shut her mouth, her mouth curling into a cruel smile, her eyes gleaming with spite. Neras Deniva turned to look at Tomura. “As the side that was challenged, you have a right to choose weapons that will be used in a duel,” she declared.
Tomura turned to look at Samuel, who gave him a predatory smile.
“Are you sure?” Tomura asked, turning his eyes to Le’lia. “If she really was a Death Head, she might be the most dangerous opponent you ever faced.”
“Yeah. I am certain,” Samuel nodded his head. “Everyone here needs to learn something. This is the best way to do so.”
People looked at each other confused. Dorias furrowed her brow, mimicking everyone else. Everyone else but Shana, who sighed loudly and shook her head. “This is going to be messy,” she whispered just before Tomura announced his choice.
“No weapons. Hand-to-hand combat only.”
A murmur of surprise passed through the crowd. Thi’shia gawking before laughing loudly.
“You are digging your own grave, barbarian,” she spat.
“Keep on talking, and maybe you will find out how much I don’t care about your worthless opinion,” Samuel shot back. “Choose time bitch. We don’t have all night.”
“You little-!” Thi’shia was about to say something, but held her tongue. “I want this duel to happen, TONIGHT!” She shouted.
At that Neras Deniva nodded her head and raised her hand. This gesture alone commanding absolute silence.
“The terms were heard and accepted. To ensure that the duel will go accordingly to our traditions, I mark the Western Garden as the location of the duel. Samuel Carlin will enter from the northern entrance, Le’lia Zan’tos from the southern. The duel will begin in 20 minutes,” she announced loudly to all present. “Is this acceptable to both sides?” She asked looking at both diplomats. Thi’shia nodded her head and Tomura did the same. “Very well. I shall await you in the Western Garden.”
Dictator of the Commonwealth turned around and walked away, crowd parting before her. Tomura turned his attention to the Shil’vati. Thi’shia was giving him a cruel smile.
“You will learn to respect your superiors soon enough, primitive,” she snarled.
“You will learn to bear the shame of your arrogance,” Tomura answered before turning toward Dorias. “Can you lead us towards the northern entrance?”
Dorias stood stupefied for a moment, clearly needing time to fully comprehend what just happened. Tomura didn’t need to repeat himself, however, as she shook herself out of the shock and nodded her head. As they walked, the crowd parted before them letting them pass uncontested.
“You are insane,” Dorias muttered quietly as she intentionally took a more obscure and silent path through the palace. “Death Heads Commandos are about as close to a super soldier that Imperium ever created. As far as we know she has augmentations that could rip Samuel in half.
“No she doesn’t,” Dorias was surprised when Shana answered her worries. “We did our research. She doesn’t have any military grade augmentations. Not anymore.”
“How could you possibly know that?” Dorias asked furrowing her brow.
“I sent one of my colleagues to the Moonlight district. With a few proper questions and offers to give access to some interesting cultural material from Earth, we gathered quite a lot of valuable data,” Tomura answered.
The granddaughter of the dictator stared at him in shock, her eyes growing wide.
“You bought information on the personal staff of the Imperial Ambassador… with porn?” She asked in a disbelieving voice.
“Wonders of the galaxy, know no bounds,” Samuel chuckled to himself, stretching as they continued to walk.
“How come you are so calm about this?” Dorias asked, expecting everything but this casual reaction to a duel that could end with critical injury.
Tomura laughed at that and shook his head, Shana joining him in the act. Samuel just smiled from ear to ear. Which, of course - agitated Dorias to no bounds.
“Why are you laughing?!” She demanded.
Tomura looked her in the eyes with a calming smile “and who do you think came up with the entire duel idea?”
Dorias stared at him for a few moments, before stopping in her tracks as realisation hit her. Humans and Spruskibe passing her by, as if she wasn’t there. She turned her eyes at Samuel.
“You want this duel?” There was disbelief in her voice.
“To beat the ever loving shit out of people that want to subjugate my species and my people?” He turned to face her, not slowing down. “Of course, I want to beat them beforehand. Those purple cunts need to get a clear message from Humanity: we aren’t an easy target. Beating a Death Head is a good way to send this message.”
Dorias shook her head and walked faster than before, doing her best to catch up. “You want to intentionally fight a Death Head commando?!”
“And ex-Death Head and one that was discharged sooner than most of her kind?” He asked back. “50-50 on that one. She seems like a fine woman. But this is kinda beyond my personal preference in women.”
“The fact that even now you keep thinking with your crotch is amazing,” Tomura muttered under his breath.
“Well, you know what they say. There is nothing better than good fuck after a good fight, and nothing better like a good fight after good fuck,” Samuel shot back with a wide grin.
“I’m quite certain no-one ever said that,” Hide said with a shake of his head. “But let’s cut the jokes. This is a serious duel. Commonwealth traditions regarding duels are quite old, aren’t they?” He Asked turning to Dorias.
Kolari nodded her head, allowing the bizarre words of Samuel to pass by and ignore them.
“Yes. Tradition of duels is as close to sacred as it could be. Although we do our best to keep duels non-lethal,” She answered. “The concept that some conflicts must be resolved through controlled violence isn’t alien to us.”
“If I’m not mistaken, interrupting a duel is a capital offence,” Shana added.
“Indeed it is. Interrupting a duel and especially attacking a victor of a duel is considered as one of the highe-” Dorias didn’t finish the sentence as another part of Human plan clicked. “OH NO! Don’t tell me!” She looked back at Tomura with pleading eyes.
Human diplomat just shrugged his shoulders.
“I told you we did our research,” he said with a smile.
“That’s… if what I think you want to happen, will happen… that’s so malicious!” She tried to protest.
“No. It’s efficient,” Tomura shot back, his voice cold. His eyes turning into cold steel. “Don’t forget we are talking about the fate of my species here… and I did tell you… looks can be so deceiving.”
The echo of the same words, which she heard during their interview hit Dorias like a hammer. She heard so much about those Humans. She saw how they operate… and yet she kept underestimating them. It was hubris of a woman that made her look down on a male… the same flaw Thi’shia possessed. One she will have to pay for.
“Don’t worry,” suddenly the words of Tomura ripped her out of her thoughts. “We aren’t your enemies.”
And when Dorias looked into the eyes of Samuel and Tomura… she was really happy they weren’t. She swallowed loudly and pointed at the door on their left.
“That’s the door,” she said quietly.
Tomura smiled and nodded his head, before turning to Samuel. “Are you ready?”
“Since we entered the palace,” Samuel cracked his knuckles letting out a satisfied breath through his nose. “I’m going to give them a show they will not forget!”
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
There was something beautiful in the sound of crowds gathering around the garden.
The anticipation. The fear. Sound of people betting for his victory or defeat.
He looked over a garden. A stone garden, with few plants and flowers breaking through sand and rock. An intentionally harsh environment was kept within the hexagon to show off the beauty of the most sturdy of plants. The environment reminded him of his home.
Distant land of Israel. One he spewed a lot of blood for.
…both of the mad and cruel… and innocent.
Yahweh in his glory, declared to his children that: Thou shall not murder.
And Semuel was a murderer. A killer. A sinner.
He didn’t honour his mother and father, he joined the military against their wishes.
He committed adultery more times than he could count. He was loyal only to blade and blood… nothing else.
He stole from the bodies of the dead. Taking trophies.
And he coveted many things of his neighbours.
He was a sinner. One that was too weak to repent.
He was doomed. Hell awaited him. That he knew.
He smiled as he rose from his seat, taking off his elegant jacket, leaving him only in white underskirt. Blue star of David tattooed on his right arm. The burning skull of the damned on the left.
Whispers stopped, as he stepped into the garden. Hundreds of eyes focused on him and his opponent.
This Le’lia… she was big and strong. A real soldier he knew. But there was a critical difference between them.
Her gods were ready to forgive her. To bring her salvation for her duty. She had things to live for.
He didn’t. He didn’t have anything to live for, for a very long time. There was nothing.
And that was good. For a man that has nothing, can still give his life. A man who cared not for the future, could achieve everything in the present.
He let out a calming breath, steadying the fire within him… preparing to let it go and fuel his fury, when battle will be joined.
The purple skinned commando stopped exactly 8 meters from him. Her elegant uniform was replaced with a flexible black suit that would look well in a BDSM video. Her face was fierce and gold in her eyes was so hot it almost seemed to melt.
Previous embarrassment was gone. She was focused. He was the enemy. And she had to defeat him.
“I, Le’lia Zan’tos, representing her royal highness Khalista Tasoo, shall defeat you in this duel,” she proclaimed loudly. “In Hele’s name and with her mark upon my soul, I shall show you why one shouldn’t challenge the might of the Imperium!”
Part of the crowd murmured in fear, some cheered… but all fell silent, as they heard Samuel chuckle. All eyes were now focused on him.
He took a deep breath and spoke.
“As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and bindings dropped from his hands,” he spoke with beautiful intonation… in High Shil, shocking the Death Head before him. “Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men,” he changed his footing, preparing for the duel. “The Samson said, ‘With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men’,” he met the eyes of his opponent. “My name is Samuel Carlin… representing Earth and Humanity defiance in face of all foes… may your gods have mercy upon you, Le’lia Zan’tos of the Death Heads Commandos… For I shall not.”
There was no cheating as he stayed finished. Only dead silence.
He didn’t miss how few drop of sweat formed on Shil’vati forehead. She wasn’t half as dense as her boss. He knew her instincts were screaming at her, just like his were screaming at him.
They were both top predators. Beasts in the flesh of civilized beings. Types of monsters that rarely fought against one another, for one simple reason.
When one reached their level of skill and experience… there were few things that could bring their end. In fact, there were usually only two things that could:
Folly… and one of their own kind.
Neras Deniva, standing in the alcove high above the garden, raised her hands, getting everyone’s attention as her voice boomed over them.
“The duel is about to commence. Are both sides ready?” She asked.
“Ready,” Samuel answered first, without a note of hesitation in his tone.
“Ready,” Le’lia gave the same answer.
“Two sides will fight bare handed, with no limitations on what moves they can utilise. Duel will end, when either side surrenders, is knocked unconscious or dies. Does anyone object to those rules?” There was no sound of opposition or protest. “Very well. Begin!”
Le’lia rushed forward, her eyes focused on her target. She intended to finish this duel quickly.
Good.
He didn’t want to lose too much time on this than he needed, either.
To the surprise of all, he countercharged, his face unreadable. His eyes filled with cold fire.
The Commando didn’t slow down. Ready to take head on.
In the last second, Samuel dropped low, sliding on the ground, using his own and his opponent's momentum as a weapon. Le’lia wasn’t dumb, she jumped, trying to avoid his attempt to undercut her, only to feel his hand grabbing her ankle.
Their speeds almost cancelled each other out, but Le’lia had greater mass and speed, so she dragged Samuel back. However, she lost her balance, and Samuel was already safe on the ground.
She fell down to the ground, extending her hands and stopping her fall, not allowing herself to hit the ground hard enough to be disoriented. The opponent was faster than her however, and so, Le’lia found herself on the ground, her enemy locking her leg with his own body, straining his muscles with the intention of breaking her ankle.
A realization hit her like a cold wave.
Samuel knew that his chances of bringing her down in one decisive move were slim. So he didn’t try to do so.
He would break her ability to fight, piece by piece. Cut after cut, until she won’t be able to stand.
The ankle was the first target with a simple reasoning behind it.
On a battlefield, those who couldn’t move were already as good as dead.
Le’lia reacted quickly, her well-trained mind going into an overdrive as she twisted her body, trying to shake Samuel off. But the bastardy barbarian clung on tightly. Like a blood sucking leech to its victim's body.
By Hele’s tears! He was strong. She could feel the muscles of her ankle straining against his might and slowly failing. She had to act fast, and so, she kicked him. Samuel grunted, but didn’t let go. His hold of her ankle grew by a millisecond. She kicked two more times, but Samuel twisted his body out of the way the best he could, each kick being less effective than the last.
Le’lia twisted again, now laying on her back, and then reached towards Samuel, sitting up, raising a fist and bringing it down on the exposed knee. The punch connected and Samuel grunted, but again, he wasn’t letting go. She punched two more times, before Samuel loosened his grip and kicked her in the crotch… something which was far more painful than she would openly admit.
But in her pain, she felt her opponent's grip loosening, and so she managed to wrangle herself free, quickly making some space between them and standing up, before she let off a hiss of pain.
He got her good.
The ankle wasn’t broken, but it wasn’t doing well. She couldn’t put too much weight on her right leg.
Her opponent on the other way, despite her punches and bruises, seemed doing relatively fine.
Oh, he was in pain, that much was clear, but he wasn’t out of the fight.
Not even close.
Samuel knew that well and smiled at her. The placid face gone, replaced with a feral grin of a beast. One that made her heart skip a beat in fear.
This wasn’t what Thi’shia described - she thought. - They were supposed to be a weak species dominated by males… there was nothing weak about the creature before her.
Samuel let out an animalistic growl, adrenaline coursing through his veins allowing him to ignore the damage to his knee. Giving him clarity of the world around him and his purpose.
He was a killing machine.
He was the Son of David… and a female, purple version of Goliath stood before him.
And just like the king of old, he would bring her down!
He started circling his prey. She was wounded, but not incapacitated. Strength was on her side, as was mass and size. He had speed, stamina, and toughness, on his.
He will have to weaken her more than he already did.
“What are you waiting for?! Show this barbarian what Death Heads are made of!” Voice of the furious Shil’vati ambassador rang out through the garden.
Samuel’s smile grew, as he noticed the change of posture on his opponent.
Yes. The greatest weakness they possessed was their obedience. Even this commando couldn’t refuse orders from her superior. Not even when she knew it would bring her no advantage in the fight.
A weakness he would exploit.
She rushed at him, trying to close the distance, but he jumped back. She rushed again and he again, avoided her all together. He noticed how her frown was growing on her forehead. Her ankle hurt.
But he wouldn’t give her rest.
“Are you sure you are a Death Heads Commando and not a mindless Turox?” He asked with a laughter of a professional killer in his throat. “You flail around, not getting close to hurting me. You are no warrior. No soldier. You are a slow minded, heavy beast of burden. Just like all Shil’vati,” he growled.
The Death Heads face remained focused. She ignored the taunt, like he knew she would. But Samuel wasn’t taunting her.
“You disgusting primitive!” Thi’shia growled. “You are a coward, fleeing before our might! Not being able to face us!”
Samuel laughed in response, “why should I give you a swift end, when I can play with your pathetic toy soldier?” He asked in response. “She is already naught but prey,” he dodged the sudden charge, laughing at his enemy’s inability to reach him. “I shall prolong this moment of your defeat for as long as I please.”
He could hear how the ambassador grit her teeth, before turning towards her puppet and giving her a new command.
“End him!” She ordered. “Kill him!”
The stand of the commando changed and Samuel knew that this time he wouldn’t be able to dodge. So he did the next best thing, he braced for impact and prepared to counterattack. He almost didn’t see her move. She was far faster than before. As if, she ignored all her pain for a precious second before lunging at him with unprecedented speed.
This wasn’t natural. That much he knew.
Imperials were known to augment their special forces. Death Heads especially. He was certain some hidden augmentation within Le’lia’s body gave her a cocktail of drugs, allowing them to break the barriers of Shil’vati physique.
But he didn’t care in the slightest.
He predicted that move. And whatever false flame she poured into her veins, his fire was true and wouldn’t be put out by this mockery.
He took the hit hard, feeling at least one rib breaking from the impact as Shil’vati pushed him to the ground. Adrenaline screaming in his ears, he smiled wide, as he locked his legs around Le’lia torso the moment they hit the ground.
She extended her arms and grabbed him by the throat, standing up and raising up, tightening her grip more and more.
Crude, but effective tactic.
Air was what warriors needed to fight.
But Samuel wasn’t just any warrior. He was ex-Israeli Special forces… and in a fight with no rules, Le’lia just gave him the perfect opening.
He spread his arms in both directions and then brought them like two hammers, striking Le’lia ears.
Once.
Nothing.
Twice.
Nothing.
Thrice.
Nothing at all.
Samuel would curse, if he wasn’t slowly running out of air. Of course, the Death Heads would have augmentations in their ears, which would stop them from being knocked out by such a classic move.
Shil’vati were blunt - not idiots.
Samuel decided that it was time to change tactics. As such, he put his hands around Le’lias temple, placed each of his thumb over both of her eyes and before she could as much as realise what he was about to do - he pushed.
A sickening pop echoed through the garden a second before, Le’lia let him go with a scream of pain as she grabbed her now empty eye socket. Samuel fell to the ground hard, but quickly stood up.
He took only the right eye, and he didn’t have much time before Commando would regain her composure.
He rushed her, aiming at her legs. His attack was successful, and the disoriented Shil’vati fell to the ground with a loud thump, still clutching her bleeding face. Samuel didn’t give her a moment to recover.
He grabbed her left leg, kept it straight, and then delivered a brutal strike to her kneecap.
A sickening crunch could be heard, as the kneecap gave away and Le’lia’s leg bent in the wrong direction.
Le’lia roared in pain. Trying to stop the pain and regain control over herself. She swung at Samuel, battering him away with one move. Samuel spit blood from his mouth, feeling how that one hit split his lip and dislodged at least one of his teeth.
He rolled and stood up, looking back at Shil’vati. She was on all fours, struggling to get up. Her face was covered in blue blood. Her leg twisted and broken.
Samuel didn’t wait, he rushed her from her right, where she didn’t have an eye to spot him. The sound of her own heart in her ears, Le’lia turned in the direction of the incoming threat in the very last second, only to come face to face, or rather face to boot - as Samuel kicked her right in the nose, breaking it on the spot.
She rolled on the ground, with the momentum of the kick.
Her brain ricocheted from one side of her skull to another. She was in pain. She could barely see and barely hear, and now she could feel blood flowing down her nose into her throat. She was hurt before, any commando was.
But to be hit this hard by something so small, felt unimaginable to her. Well, maybe not unimaginable, because she was very much in pain right now!
A drug, a cocktail in her veins, was wreaking havoc on her mind.
It was too strong.
Or maybe it was the fact that it was years since this augmentation activated, and her body simply wasn’t as well-prepared to use those drugs as in the past. She didn’t know, and she didn’t have time to guess.
Her opponent jumped on top of her and started plummeting her with his fists. She tried to defend herself. To cover her head, but with one eye turned into bloody paste, her depth of perception was way off and with drugs overwhelming her mind, she couldn’t focus on anything.
She was hit multiple times. She felt as one of her tusks broke away.
She punched back, launching Samuel off her chest.
The strength enhancing drug was still working, even though it was wearing off.
Her body was betraying her. In every way possible.
Her vision was blurred, she could hear only her own heart. Her leg was useless and she felt blood in her mouth.
She rolled on her stomach, trying to rise.
That was the moment when Samuel jumped at her again, this time on her back, forcing her head into the sand with his left hand, when he used his right to continually punch her right ear.
One, two, three, four, five - he just kept going, without slowing down.
With her head kept in place, her brain was forcibly juggled between the sides of her skull. She roared into the sand, placing both hands on the ground and pushing. Raising up despite the broken leg and weight on her back, she pushed with all her might, falling on her back, with Samuel beneath her.
She twisted around, ignoring how he tried to keep her in place with his legs around her torso. She smiled and raised her fists. Now it was her time to pummel this barbarian into the dirt.
She started punching, and Samuel reacted quickly, raising his arms and protecting his head as the avalanche fell down upon him. His arms felt as if they were about to break, but he kept his guard up. Until Le’lia grabbed his right arm and forcibly pulled it to the side before delivering a devastating strike with her left.
Samuel screamed in pain as his right arm popped out of the socket. He gritted his teeth, curling up his right leg and kicking Le’lia in the chest, pushing her off him, before he scrambled onto his own feet.
Exhausted and bloodied.
To his own disbelief, Le’lia managed to stand up. Or what could be recognised as standing up, despite a broken leg. She was still going.
“Ain’t ya big, tough girl?” Samuel spat blood at the sand, looking down at his now unresponsive right arm.
“Too big for you to handle,” Shil’vati said back, spitting blue blood on the floor. “Surrender and you might get out of here with your life intact.”
Samuel smiled at that, walking over to the nearest tree.
“Yeah. No. The only way I leave this bloody garden is as a winner… or I won’t leave at all,” he answered.
Le’lia didn’t answer, she simply started slowly walking in his direction with clear intention on her face. Samuel knew he had to hurry. He positioned his arm and then slammed into the tree.
Nothing. Le’lia was coming close.
Second time. Still not working. She was really close.
Third time. Nothing. She was here. She grabbed him and punched him in the face. He could hear his teeth ring from that punch.
She raised her fist again, and Samuel got an idea. She punched, and he placed his arm in the path of the strike. He cried out and fell to his knees, clutching his right arm.
Le’lia spit blue blood at his feet.
“Should have surrendered, when you had a chance,” she growled, preparing to end him.
He answered with a devastating right hook into her chin, sending her into the ground and dark embrace of unconsciousness at the same time.
“MY ARM IS BACK!” He roared in victory, raising his right fist into the air.
The crowd erupted with cheering, seeing Human still standing and Shil’vati out cold on the ground. This was his victory.
But nothing is as simple as it seems.
“You insolent beast!” Thi’shia entered the garden, brandishing her ceremonial sword from her hip. “Incompetent idiots all around me! Curse you and curse their weakness! I shall kill you myself!” She roared, rushing at him to the shocked gasps from the crowd.
Samuel turned to face her, but he knew he had little chance to fight back. Le’lia knew how to fight, and he had no way of dodging the incoming blade.
Despite this, he smiled from ear to ear.
If he gets a chance to punch this bitch in the face as his last dying act, he would die a happy man. He changed his stance, ready for one last fight when a deafening crack, like a thunder, but quieter, more directed and hotter echoed through the garden.
Thi’shia stopped in her tracks, raising a blade that was now cut in half. The new end of the blade glowing hot red.
Within a single second, two dozen Commonwealth soldiers entered the garden surrounding the Imperial Ambassador. All guns aimed at her… all fingers on a trigger.
“Wha-” Thi’shia started when a new voice boomed from above.
“AMBASADOR MELONDI THI’SHIA!” Neras Deniva boomed from her alcove, a pistol in her right hand, barely still glowing red from a shot she just took. “You just broke sacred rules of a duel of the Commonwealth. Your actions are of the highest type of crime. For that, you shall be banished from the Commonwealth - never to return.”
“What?!” Thi’shia protested. “I am THE ambassador! You can’t-”
“I can and I just did! You are to leave the system within a single rotation, overwise your immunity as ambassador will be considered null. You will be arrested and sentenced for your crimes!” the Dictator of the Commonwealth roared. “With the sentence of DEATH by firing squad being very much an option in case of such a wretched break of sacred rules!”
Thi’shia turned pale, finally realising her mistake. She dropped her blade and tried to speak, but Neras cut her off once again.
“You will speak no further. You just showed the entire Commonwealth and all who will see the recording of this duel, that word of your Imperium is worth nothing at all,” she smeared. “Guards! Take her away! Escort her to the embassy and ensure that she won’t leave its confines, unless she intends to reach the spaceport itself,” she turned her eyes at two warriors. “Ensure that lady Zan’tos is given proper care. She kept her honour and word,” she turned towards Tomura who was half way towards Samuel, when the guards entered the garden. “Sir Tomura.”
“Yes lady Deniva?” Human diplomat turned to face her.
“Meet me in the presidential office alongside your delegation. I believe it’s time to discuss Commonwealth official support for Humanity!” This declaration was welcomed with cheers.
“Of course lady Deniva,” Tomura bowed, hiding his smirk of victory.
That was when Samuel coughed a cloud of blood and started falling only to be caught by one of the guards. He groaned.
“Ah… hey,” he said weakly. “Not to alarm anyone… but I think one of my lungs is punctured… so medical care would be very much appreciated.”
Lady Deniva reacted first, “Call for a medical shuttle. Get both of them to Tirlone Hospital, at the double!” She shouted, and her people moved to obey.
Samuel smiled, enjoying the sensation of being held by the green, concerned guard.
“Hey… you will be fine,” she said with a reassuring smile.
Samuel coughed blood once again, giving her a crimson smile and a nod. “Of course I will… I am Samuel motherfucking Carlin.”
__ __ __ __ __
Tomura released a breath of relief, as information came to his data-pad. Samuel was stable, even though he was hurt badly. Punctured lung, four broken ribs, internal bleeding, breaking of three teeth and even a small skull fracture.
All that - and they said he will be fine.
“It’s almost frightening how advanced their medicine is,” he muttered to himself before turning to Voigt, who stood behind him with a smile. “I must say… it went better than expected.”
“That it did,” the old man agreed, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You did a great job. Fay’s trust in you wasn’t misplaced.”
“Thank you sir,” Tomura gave him a bow of respect. “Although, I do feel that Samuel deserves a rise.”
“HA! That he does, and I will make sure he will,” Voigt assured with a wide smile, before turning towards the imposing doors to the presidential office. “Now, then, I believe it is time for us to harvest the achievements of our labour.”
The UN delegation moved towards the door, which opened wide as if in welcome.
Another ally joined Humanity’s cause. Dozens of UN delegations achieved the same results among the stars. Some failed miserably, despite the best efforts.
The question remains:
Will this be enough?

"Time is now falling apart as we speak. The Vault Crusaders have now cased massive time ruptures across Athena, bringing back past locations in heavily altered forms, all while also bringing back the Meteor that once destroyed Dusty Depot and unearthing the Zero Point from below Loot Lake. Willow and I must now find a way into the Crazy Place and take the fight to the Vault Crusaders. Their manipulation of the timeline for their timeless prophecy will come to a screeching end." Over at Dusty Diner, the Order of the Vault meet up with both Jones and Jekyll, as they're all standing near a chalkboard. Jones speaks up, as he begins drawing something. "Alright. So it would appear that our mission is now in jeopardy. These 'Vault Crusaders' appear to have the time machine and have began altering the timeline in extreme ways, sometimes more than once. Slone just reported several distortions in the present, followed by the flow of time constantly changing back and forth." Jekyll then continues for Jones, as he continues drawing stuff on the chalkboard. "As it happens, every change that happens here on Athena will have a destructive effect on the future. We're still unsure as to where the time machine has ended up. Whether it would be in some stronghold within the island, or somewhere else entirely." Ableton walks forward and speaks to both Jones and Jekyll. "According to Lorenzo, who now unfortunately has aligned himself with the Vault Crusaders, they appear to have the time machine held in an area, known to them as the Crazy Place. The Crazy Place is a pseudo cognition, presumably where their leader is, located under where the Athena Vault Site would be. Since it's likely that Astrea is in there, getting the time machine back won't be easy." Willow then continues for Rinzler, as she also walks forward. "We'll see about scaring them out of messing with time and getting the time machine back." Some more rumbling quakes across Athena, as a distant Rift is heard. The presumed sound of a siren is heard, as Noir speaks up. "Sounds like that was near Tilted Towers. We should head there and investigate. Maybe see if that can be used as a way to get to this 'Crazy Place' that you mentioned." With the plan set, Ableton, Willow, Noir, Sleet, and Mothmando all head to Tilted Towers to investigate the anomaly. Jones faces Jekyll and speaks, as the Vault Guardians leave for Tilted. "They better get the time machine back. I'm not sure how many more time ruptures Athena can take." During the trip to Tilted Towers, the Vault Guardians are ambushed by a group of Loopers. One of the Recruit Loopers aims at Ableton with his Pump Shotgun, as Ableton dodges the attack and counters with a hard kick. Willow loots a Pistol from a nearby shed, as she fires upon one of the other Loopers, taking them out. A Fishstick Looper tries to whack Willow in the head with his Stop Axe, only for Willow to unsheathe her knife from her scabbard and cut up the Fishstick Looper. The ambush ends in a victory for the Order of the Vault, as Ableton faces Willow. "Geez... These Loopers are getting on our nerves. Let's get to Tilted and see what the damage is this time." Willow nods in agreement, as the Vault Guardians continue onward. Once they reach Tilted Towers, there are a few impact craters scattering the streets, and some buildings have been blasted apart. Whatever happened in the area must've involved lots of explosives. Sleet looks around and speaks. "Woah... You'd never normally see Tilted this destroyed, unless you're one of those Loopers who'd want to flatten the entire place." Willow faces Sleet and responds to him. "Some people just want to watch the Loop burn." Ableton looks around and notices some purple feathers on the ground near the No Sweat Insurance building. He faces the Vault Guardians and speaks. "Dark feathers. Something tells me that the mysterious Cuddle Team Raven-like... whatever her name was is in the area." After Ableton gets done explaining, the past Vault Guardians arrive, as Fishdrift, Omegarok, Tarana, and Past Dominion all arrive at Tilted Towers and examines the damages. Past Dominion looks around and speaks. "No doubt that this was the work of those 'Vault Crusaders' Monty described. They have to be around here." Fishdrift notices both Ableton and Willow and runs toward them. He then yells, signalling the other past Vault Guardians of their presence. "These future Vault Guardians are here! Maybe they have an idea as to who did this!" Tarana, Omegarok and Past Dominion all follow Fishdrift over to Ableton and Willow. Ableton faces Fishdrift and speaks. "You happened to see any suspicious activity around here? We were alerted to the sound of a Rift and a siren. There's some presumed Vault Crusader activity here, possibly an incursion sent by Vikora." Willow faces Fishdrift and continues for Ableton. "We just got here and already noticed the damages. Whoever caused this must still be here." Past Dominion walks towards the Vault Guardians and speaks. "We should search around the area. The enemies should still be here, provided that they didn't leave after the incursion." The Order of the Vault splits up and begins searching for the Vault Crusaders. The past Vault Guardians enters into one of the apartments, as they noticed that there was a small outpost set up there, presumably by the Vault Crusaders. Ableton and Willow enter the No Sweat Insurance building, as they begin hearing some talking throughout the building. They sneak around the building, as they begin noticing claw marks all over the walls. Once Ableton and Willow enter the second floor, they now notice some ice cream splattered all over the walls, with some banana peels piled on top of a table. As they get near the third floor, they hear both Raven Team Leader and Lil' Split talking with someone. "Alright. Now that this 'X-Lord' has been converted to the Crusaders, we have what we need to fortify and defend the Crazy Place from those Vault Guardians. Vikora doesn't want them getting to the time machine." From behind cover, Rinzler faces Willow and speaks. "Alright. On my signal, we're gonna have to take them out." Willow nods, as Ableton counts down with his fingers. Once he reaches zero, both him and Willow burst out of cover and confront both Raven Team Leader and Lil' Split. Willow yells out, as she realizes what the Crusaders are doing. "Stop corrupting Vault Guardians you don't know anything about, freaks." Raven Team Leader grabs Willow by her neck and answers her. "And we're supposed to listen to some punks who dress like losers?" Raven Team Leader then closes her grip, slowly digging her claws into Willow's neck. Willow kicks Raven Team Leader in the stomach, causing her to let go of Willow. Lil' Split faces X-Lord and yells, as he prepares to leave. "Get the cuddly bae over here. You'll finish off those pathetic runts." X-Lord pulls out his Fang Saws and gets Raven Team Leader away from the fight. Before she leaves with Lil' Split, Raven Team Leader quickly summons her Talisman. "Show them your dark love, Nightbear!" Raven Team Leader summons Nightbear, bringing forth a darkened T.E.D.D.Y. that immediately takes aim at Rinzler and Willow. X-Lord rushes the two with his Fang Saws and yells. "CRACK THE RIBCAGE TO GET THE GOODIES!" With both a converted Vault Guardian and a Talisman-linked T.E.D.D.Y. opposing them, Ableton and Willow start desperately looking around for any weapons they could use. On the ground near a window is an SMG. Ableton grabs the SMG and tries to burst down X-Lord with it. Now enraged by Rinzler's attack, X-Lord grabs one of his Fang Saws and slashes Ableton's arm off. He then yells out in anger at Ableton. "I'M GONNA RAM MY FIST DOWN YOUR THROAT!" Willow grabs the SMG Rinzler dropped and strikes X-Lord in the head with the stock. She then follows up the first hit with a swift kick to the chest, knocking X-Lord into the wall. X-Lord stumbles around and begins murmuring, while banging one of his Fang Saws on his helmet. "Gah... Somebody open me up and put out the fire in my belly. Put it out with KNIVES and BULLETS and STRANGLING or I will eat your nephews." Ableton gets up and knocks X-Lord out the window of the No Sweat Insurance building with his severed arm, as Willow faces him. She speaks up, as Nightbear's roars are faintly heard. "We still have that darkened T.E.D.D.Y. to deal with! Let's take it out together!" Both Ableton and Willow confront Nightbear with some weapons they managed to loot. Nightbear opens fire on Willow, as she dodges the incoming volley of bullets that tears up the walls. Nightbear turns around and continues aiming at Willow, as a voice erupts from the darkened T.E.D.D.Y. "Nightbear attack!" Ableton faces Willow and directs her attention to the Talisman situated above Nightbear. "We must shatter Raven Team Leader's Talisman. It should make this T.E.D.D.Y. disappear and force it into cooldown." Once they begin setting up their plan, Willow begins trying to distract Nightbear and buy Ableton time to begin shooting at the Talisman. The Talisman begins to crack, as Nightbear turns around and faces Rinzler. It starts firing at him, as it begins speaking. "You are not a bear!" As Nightbear fires at Ableton, Willow climbs up onto it and smashes the Talisman with her fist. Nightbear disappears, as it speaks one last time. "I'll always be your bear..." Rinzler runs to the window he knocked X-Lord out of earlier and notices a trail of blood. The trail appears to lead into the apartment block across from the No Sweat Insurance building. Ableton faces Willow and speaks up. "Something tells me that he might lead us to the Crazy Place." The other Vault Guardians enter into the No Sweat Insurance building and notice some battle damage around the area. Fishdrift walks forward and speaks. "We heard some gunfire here. Were the Vault Crusaders here?" Willow turns to Fishdrift and answers him. "They're plotting something big. They just taken another Vault Guardians and converted them. One with a spiked helmet." Past Dominion processes what he's heard, as he responds to Willow. "X-Lord! One of Blacklight's Specialized Husk Execution Squad members. What do these Vault Crusaders want with him?" Ableton faces Past Dominion and answers him. "I don't know, but it appears that he might lead us to the Crazy Place. It should be where Vikora has the time machine set up. If we can get there, we should be able to retrieve the time machine without any opposition and get it back to Jones." Some explosions are heard near Dusty Diner, as Sleet faces Ableton and Willow. "There's a raid happening over at Dusty Diner! Jones' rocket is under threat!" Ableton faces Sleet and speaks up. "Dominion will assist us with getting to the Crazy Place. All of you should head to Dusty Diner and help defend the rocket. We can't let the Vault Crusaders destroy it." All the Vault Guardians and past Vault Guardians quickly run for Dusty Diner, as Past Dominion turns to both Ableton and Willow. "Where do we start with this mysterious 'Crazy Place' search?" Willow points out the window, down into the alleyway where the blood trail starts. "X-Lord must've landed here and began running for the apartment complex across from here. My guess is that there's a room within the building that can lead us to the Crazy Place." Ableton faces Willow and Past Dominion and speaks. "Then we should get a move on. Time is running out, and we still have to get the time machine to Jones." The three Vault Guardians jump out the window and begin following the blood trail left by X-Lord. Once they enter the apartment, they notice loads of crates around the area. Clearly the Vault Crusaders must've been setting up for something. The three Vault Guardians head up the stairs, following the blood trail. During the walk up the stairs, Ableton manages to reattach his arm to his body without issue. They reach an apartment room, with some ripped up police tape and the door broken open. The Vault Guardians enter into the room, as they notice a large circular stone slab in the far end of the room, with small speakers surrounding parts of the room. On one of the tables is a gramophone. Ableton faces Willow and speaks to her. "A gramophone. Why does this ring so many red flags?" Rinzler starts up the gramophone, as a righteous melody begins echoing throughout the room. A Rift begins forming within the confines of the stone slab. Past Dominion looks at the Rift and comments. "What exactly is going on here?" The Rift fully opens, as the Crazy Place can be seen within the shards. Ableton faces Willow and Past Dominion and speaks. "Alright. There's our way in. Great spot for an ambush, as well. Be ready once we enter inside." The three Vault Guardians enter the Rift, as they are all taken into the Crazy Place. It would appear that the layout of the Crazy Place has changed since the last time Ableton and Willow were there. Willow looks around, noticing large buildings crushed into the cave walls and electricity sparking everywhere in the area. Willow turns to Ableton and speaks. "Definitely related to Jittershock. We should move carefully. Too many angry souls roaming this place as it is." They begin exploring the Crazy Place, as Past Dominion spots someone near the walls of the cave connecting to Xander's corner of the Crazy Place. He notices the viking clothes on the body, as he turns it around. It appears to be Past Thora, but her heart has been ripped out of her body. Past Dominion comments on the body. "Vault Guardian Thora... Syd has got to her already." Both Ableton and Willow group up with Past Dominion, as Ableton reacts to Thora's body. "Yikes! How many Vault Guardians are the Crusaders gonna kill to change the timeline?" Willow looks around, as she notices the time machine... hooked up to a device that allows Astrea to create the time distortions in the first place. From behind, Ableton is knocked to the ground by a sweeping kick from Vikora. Willow and Past Dominion help Rinzler back up, as Vikora speaks up. "How did you manage to get into the Crazy Place again? Did Camille forget about closing the gateway?" Ableton turns to Vikora and answers her. "No, but you stupidly set up shop with a gateway and had nobody protect it. We followed X-Lord here, but it seems that he isn't with you." Vikora pulls out her Woven Shadowblade and answers Ableton. "X-Lord just left. He needed a jar of Slurp Juice and he just left to help in our raid. Once we get rid of your rocket, there will be nothing that will stop Astrea from awakening her timeless prophecy." Past Dominion walks forward and pulls out his SCAR to oppose Vikora. "I don't know what the hell is going on at this point. All I know is that there is no way we're letting that crap happen, shadow girl." Willow pulls out the SMG from earlier and yells at Vikora. "This is for all those time distortions you caused to this island!" Ableton's skin melts off, revealing his burning skull. He then yells, as the Vault Guardians prepare for battle. "It's Showtime!" The Order of the Vault rush into battle, as Vikora begins soloing the three Vault Guardians. She begins violently swinging the Woven Shadowblade at Willow, attempting to slice her apart, until Rinzler tries to attack Vikora from behind. Vikora kicks Ableton away, as she continues attacking Willow, until Past Dominion hooks Vikora with the chains on his arm and yells. "Get over here!" Past Dominion pulls Vikora towards him and uppercuts her. Vikora summons her Talisman, Timeslip, as it rewinds the past five seconds she experienced, allowing Vikora to surprise attack Past Dominion from behind. Ableton and Willow group up with Past Dominion, as they think of something. They eye the time machine, as Ableton comes up with a plan. "Alright. One of us will need to run over and detach the time machine from that device. We then have to roll it over to one of those gateways and book it outta here, all while stalling Vikora so we can do this." Past Dominion faces Rinzler and responds to him. "I'll volunteer to get the time machine." Past Dominion runs for the time machine, as Ableton reacts. "Leave Vikora to me and Willow!" The two Vault Guardians then double-team against Vikora, while Past Dominion begins detaching the time machine. Ableton grabs a Rocket Launcher out of a nearby crate and fires it at Vikora, knocking her back and crashing her through some rocks. She immediately catches onto what Past Dominion is doing and yells. "Necalli! I need some help over here!" From behind, both Ableton and Willow are knocked down by a few strikes of the Oasis Wind by Xander Necalli. He then looks at Past Dominion and throws one of the blades at him, only to miss by a small margin. He then looks at Past Dominion and reacts. "To be fair, amigo. That was supposed to hit you." Past Dominion hooks Xander with his chains and pulls him in. He then follows up with a straight kick, knocking Xander back. Ableton faces Xander and speaks. "How exactly can you condone time distortion? And why do you seek to even rewrite history?" Xander responds to Rinzler, as he knocks him into Willow. "How could I deprive the Loop of their favorite Mexican gladiator?" Willow helps Ableton up and responds to Xander. "You answered our question with another question. That didn't explain anything to us." Past Dominion detaches the time machine and begins rolling it to a nearby gateway, as Ableton speaks. "Well... Off to fix your time shenanigans." Vikora begins running towards the Vault Guardians, only for them to exit through Hybrid's gateway. Vikora faces Xander with distress and speaks. "This could be a problem..." Astrea's voice screeches through the Crazy Place, as she gives Vikora and Xander their instructions. "Follow them. If they get the time machine to that rocket, this could allow Infinity to reset the timeline. And I cannot allow that." Vikora responds, as a purple fog sweeps up both her and Xander. "It will be done, Astrea..." Upon returning to the island, within the tunnel leading into Tomato Temple, Ableton Rinzler, Willow, and Past Dominion have secured the time machine. They begin rolling the time machine over to Dusty Diner, as they still hear the sounds of fighting between the Vault Guardians and Vault Crusaders. Once they reach Dusty Diner, Jones meets them outside. "Great! You got the time machine back! We gotta hook it up to the rocket!" Ableton and Willow help Jones hook the time machine onto a crane, as Jekyll begins lifting the time machine up onto the rocket. Jones then gets up onto the rocket and begins securing the time machine to it. After a few minutes, Jones speaks up. "Time machine secured! Operation Big Bang is almost ready!" Ableton yells out at Jones with relief. "Perfect!" But it would seem that the celebration was cut short, as a purple fog rolls in, bringing forth Vikora and Xander Necalli. The two group up with the rest of the Vault Crusaders, as Ableton reacts. "Not perfect!" Vikora eyes Rinzler and Willow with rage, as her eyes begin glowing purple. "You're dead for this, Vault Guardians!" To be continued... in The Big Bang. Looks like our plan to secure the time machine for Jones has made the Vault Crusaders very angry. But it won't matter. If Jones can complete our mission, we might be able to undo all the destruction the Vault Crusaders have caused. This looks like a job for me and Willow, so everybody just follow us.

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Synopsis:
Juliette Contzen is a lazy, good-for-nothing princess. Overshadowed by her siblings, she's left with little to do but nap, read … and occasionally cut the falling raindrops with her sword. Spotted one day by an astonished adventurer, he insists on grading Juliette's swordsmanship, then promptly has a mental breakdown at the result.
Soon after, Juliette is given the news that her kingdom is on the brink of bankruptcy. At threat of being married off, the lazy princess vows to do whatever it takes to maintain her current lifestyle, and taking matters into her own hands, escapes in the middle of the night in order to restore her kingdom's finances.
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Copious Ohohohohos.
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Chapter 167: The Edge Of The Kingdom
My mother’s maids were becoming increasingly fearless.
As the only members of the Royal Villa’s staff to be immune from my finger of firing, they obeyed my mother’s commands without fail.
Ordinarily, this was a good thing. Obedience and loyalty were the two most important features of any servant, followed closely by the flexibility of their backs. But this was problematic when it came into contention with my need to sleep.
Once again, I was awoken to the brutish sight of sunlight pouring in through my windows.
Now, however, it was even more relentless. A pure ray of dawn unbeholden to any curtains. The assault was devastating.
That they’d go so far as to do away with my curtains altogether was simply overbearing. And yet it couldn’t be anything less than this. Even as I held my duvet as a shield, little could stop the sunlight as unyielding as my need for a bath.
One which clearly wasn’t being run.
I took in the scent. Something not lavender and therefore acceptable. It was earthy and pungent. Almost like a horse after a brisk trample over a farmer’s crops. And then I realised the truth was far worse than that.
It was the perfume of the peasantry.
And it was pervading not into my cherished bedroom, but into my inn room, joining the unremitting sunlight as it poured through the open window.
And that meant … the fog no longer remained!
I sat up, both the weight of my insomnia and the duvet suddenly brushed aside.
It wasn’t the odour seeping in which caused me to be snapped from my haze, nor the crashing laughter breaking all sense of etiquette from the floor below.
No, it was my sense of anticipation.
I turned to the window. The glare met my eyes, and yet I scarcely winced as I peered at the ugly facade of an opposite building unmasked in the glaring daylight.
And then I heard it.
The melody of industry.
Carts with ramshackle wheels bearing weights far above their limits. The clinking of ores shaking within crates. The sighing of yesterday’s merchants lost in utter confusion and misery, their voices thin as their margins as trinkets failed to be sold.
I broke into a smile as I pictured the disconsolate expressions.
Ohoho … ohohoho … ohohohohohohohoho!
The shadow which covered Stermondt now gave way to a light cast solely by my presence! And within it, no entrepreneurs existed to hawk their weeds plucked from the roadside! Those that remained stood out like blemishes beneath the unyielding daylight, every pore as unmasked as the uselessness of their toys!
All I could hear was the sweet waltz of sweat and toil, arm in arm as peasants danced in the name of my kingdom … and their ballroom was our mines!
“Ohohhohohohohohohoho!!”
Highly satisfied, I turned to view my loyal handmaiden, ready to shake her from her slumber so she could join me in my waking delight.
To my surprise, neither a line of dribbling saliva nor a clockwork doll met me.
Only an empty space of unmade bed as strewn as a battlefield. Yet another thing she’d need to learn. Tucking in bed sheets so tightly that they ignored comfort for impracticality was a hallmark of a good maid. And as a handmaiden, Coppelia needed to be the finest of them. If I could enter a bed she’d made in less than 7 minutes, then she’d need to repeat the process from scratch.
“Morning! How’d you sleep?”
But maybe not now.
Coppelia was busy with her stretches. And she was doing them upside down.
Looking up, I witnessed a smile burning more harshly than any sunlight. Both her arms and legs formed a clockwork canopy between the ceiling beams as she positioned herself like a cat waiting to pounce.
I blinked at her. Then rubbed my eyes.
I waited several moments before answering. Even so, I wasn’t sure within my daze if I was perhaps the one on the ceiling and Coppelia was on the floor.
“... Coppelia, by any chance, are you preparing to land upon an intruder coming to assassinate me?”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing.”
“Oh. Excellent. You may continue, then.”
“Well, I’m also stretching.”
“Yes, well, so long as you don’t strain yourself. I need you prepared at all times. It’d be truly awful if you were to experience a cramp while a vixen disguised as a maid tries to murder me.”
Coppelia’s eyes sparkled with interest. An unusual reaction to news of her princess being targeted. But I suppose she enjoyed being kept busy.
“Oooh, does that happen often?”
“Thankfully not.”
“Aww.”
“Twice a year, perhaps.”
“I mean, that does sound like a lot?”
“Not compared to before. Assassins disguised as maids stopped being vogue years ago. Even so, the nobility are known for nothing if not their lack of creativity. Expect to have to throw a maid through a window at least semi-regularly.”
“Got it~ throw every maid out of every window!”
I reacted with customary horror. If she was going to be out every maid, then she was going to be picking them up afterwards as well. Especially when they landed on my petunias.
“No, not every maid. And certainly not my mother’s. Only the assassins. Even if there’s little difference between them when they wake me in the mornings.”
“Exactly. You can never be too careful.”
“You certainly can. I’ve little wish to experience being hurled out of bed the next they wake me up. Fortunately, it’s a simple affair to discern a genuine maid from a hired assassin. Merely note their knees. Do they tremble, buckling under the weight of fear as they worry if the pot of tea they hold will be the one to spill and spell the hunger of their sick younger siblings waiting at home? If not, assassins. Only they do not fear the result of a botched tea service.”
“... It’s that bit which really gets to you, isn’t it?”
“A disgrace. Even if the assassinations don’t succeed, the death of my patience does. The lack of propriety is abominable. All that training and none of it towards holding a teapot. Tea must be poured perpendicular in height to the cup into the direct centre with no spillages or splashes. What’s the point of lacing my vanilla chamomile with shade of nightbloom if they can’t even offer it correctly?”
“Amateurs. They should burst out from cakes instead.”
“Please no. There’d be no saving the texture afterwards.”
Coppelia wore a look which plainly said she’d still eat it regardless.
“That’s awful. Almost as wasteful as missing the last of the cinnamon rolls from the bakery outside. I can smell the last ones vanishing.”
I turned towards the window once again.
Of all the whiffs inviting me beneath the sunlight over my kingdom, a cinnamon scent wasn’t one of them.
“I can discern only the odour of peasants. How do you reconcile your superior sense of smell with the aroma of the unwashed masses?”
“By thinking happy thoughts.” Coppelia clapped her hands together, using only her legs to stay aloft. “Like a dragon suddenly stomping down on them while their children cry out in fear and terror, lost between fleeing and rescuing their parents.”
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
I’d almost forgotten the somewhat vigorous nature of Coppelia’s disregard towards my subjects. And while this was only a respectable attitude to have as my royal retainer, there was a time and a place.
Indeed, until a town or village rose up in revolution, a dragon attack really wasn’t necessary. Merely trundling through their fields, barns and livelihoods with a royal carriage was enough to instil a reminder of the grim gulf in status between us.
Still, I couldn’t fault her for her enthusiasm. Ensuring the people knew their place was an important task in securing the monarchy, after all.
If only all threats against us could be removed in similarly elegant fashion.
If only.
Because as I removed myself from the Winter Queen’s bed, I did so with my gaze set upon the window. Somewhere beyond the horizon marred by the worst architecture my kingdom had to offer, an unknown foe threatened the very sovereignty of my realm.
This I would not allow!
“Coppelia,” I said, nodding seriously as I returned to my loyal handmaiden. She now remained balanced with a single hand and foot. “The time has come for us to make for our next destination.”
“Got it~ which bakery did you want?”
“Hm? No, that’s not what I … there’s more than one choice?”
“There’s two. One has the last of the cinnamon rolls, but the other has a special discount on hazelnut croissants if purchased with jars of marmalade.”
“I see. Then the answer is clear. No compromise. We shall visit both. And then afterwards, we’ll make our way to the edge of the kingdom … to where the longest shadow falls.”
Coppelia met my declaration with a tilt of her head.
“You mean here?”
“Excuse me?”
“This is the edge of your kingdom. And these mountains don’t get any bigger. This is where the longest shadows fall.”
“No, Coppelia. We’ve already dealt with the ones here.”
“Oh, okay.”
“I refer to our border with the Grand Duchy of Granholtz. And the shadow cast by the White Citadel. One which looms ever upon our mightiest bulwark.”
“Ooooh~ and that would be …”
“The Loerstadt Gate.”
“The Lowerthing Gate!”
I nodded.
Already, I knew this to be the most daunting of obstacles remaining. The last wound left to fester amidst a checklist of calamities my father had voiced during that shocking day in the dining room. Even now, I could close my eyes and see the worry sketched upon his face as he wondered how he was going to toss away a 14 layer cake he clearly didn’t enjoy and I certainly wasn’t going to eat.
Yet if those who manned our north-eastern border could stand firm, then so could I.
The Loerstadt Gate.
The border fortification with the Grand Duchy of Granholtz.
It was more than a walled bastion. It was the defence against the schemes and twisting webs of the Grand Duchess. Always in the eyes of the White Citadel, the Loerstadt Gate was the first and greatest line of defence against the ambitions of one of the continent’s great powers.
Were it not for those who studiously faced the Grand Duchess’s searching gaze, she would see nought but the open fields ripe for taking, the verdant hillsides fit for scouring and the heavily taxed villages … well, no, they couldn’t be taxed any further. In fact, she’d probably lower them.
But regardless!
I, Juliette Contzen, 3rd Princess to the Kingdom of Tirea, would not have my subjects under the yoke of her progressive taxation policies!
Her–or whoever she sent to test our will to defend our way of life.
“My father spoke of skirmishes in our eastern borders. Beyond this, I’ve little knowledge of what is occurring. But no matter. Any incursions against our sovereignty will be met with the full width of my boot and the length of my scowl.”
“Ooooh …”
Sparkles lit up in Coppelia’s eyes.
Sparkles and not a look of ready tactfulness as we treaded the delicate border between our two realms.
Somewhat foreboding, yes … but it was an enthusiastic response.
And that’s all that mattered!
Indeed, our wills were as steeled as those brave souls who defended the edge of my kingdom. And I was heartened by the fact that neither I nor my loyal handmaiden would approach them with anything less than full spirit!
Especially as it was Tristan who commanded them.
I smiled at once.
My admiration for him was always high. He diligently commanded the garrison while far from the amenities he as the second prince was owed. Yet to be the shield of the kingdom was a weight as burdensome as it was noble. And I couldn’t help but wonder at how heavy such a responsibility was upon his shoulders.
One which I would readily relieve.
“This sounds really fun,” said Coppelia, nodding profusely. “But I have a question. If soldiers are attacking your kingdom, isn’t that a big thing?”
“If soldiers were attacking my kingdom, then we would know as fleeing peasants flooded the streets beneath this window. No, it is nothing so obvious. It is far more insidious. But whatever schemes are occurring, I know without doubt that Granholtz is not uninvolved. We must be wary. Only our superior intelligence and famed cunning can see us through against a foe as sly as a viper in a pit.”
Coppelia pumped her fist before her.
“Uwaaah~ we’re gonna overturn so much furniture!”
“Absolutely not! We’re not overturning furniture this time! I mean it!”
“Massive explosions! Screaming peasants! Strong arm diplomacy!”
I pursed my lips.
A part of me wished to instantly refute her expectations.
And yet one, maybe two precedents now existed which suggested some of my disputes were not solved entirely in keeping with the soft touch I as a princess was expected to use.
… Even so!
“Coppelia, we’re not barbarians or maddened mages. Yes, I concede that in past days–”
“Hours.”
“–hours, things have exploded and furniture overturned. But we absolutely cannot make this the expectation. No, this time, I intend to mete out unrelenting punishment with both grace and dignity, as befits my royal status.”
I swept past Coppelia’s stretching form as I made for the door. She gently landed behind me, her excitement practically radiating behind me.
“Got it!~ and what does that mean?”
I paused, then gave it a moment’s thought.
A number of scenarios ran through my mind. None involving explosions. Or furniture overturning. Or screaming.
But no matter how they began, they all ended in the same manner. With my foes staring up at me, their faces blanketed by the shadow of my boot.
For what was more elegant than the footsteps of a princess?
And so I turned, hand raised to my lips as I barely covered my smile.
“Ohohoho … I shall leave that open to interpretation.”
​
~~~
​
Random trivia!
Glossary of ranks:
F rank: Little to no experience. Brand new recruits and common bandits.
E rank: Trained but lacks practical combat experience (or vice versa). Majority of soldiers, adventurers and armed combatants.
D rank: Highly trained, seasoned in battle or both. Knights and veteran adventurers.
C rank: Expert in their chosen field. Capable of instructing others. Often regarded as the highest achievable goal for the majority of people.
B rank: Masters of their craft. Able to perform techniques and feats beyond the strength and speed of even the most talented individuals.
A rank: The pride of a nation. Able to single-handedly turn the tide of battles.S rank: Legendary warriors capable of bringing down a kingdom.
Rank assignments are often arbitrary and wholly subjective. Some organisations exist which formally regulate ranks amongst their own members, such as the Adventurer's Guild. The Adventurer's Guild, as the original inventors of the ranking system (The Oldest Ladder), is considered the golden standard for rank evaluation.
Weapon masters and famed individuals may also assign ranks at their leisure. Some may choose to entirely self-evaluate. The worth of a rank is often decided by the reputation of the individual or organisation which gave it. Rank misidentification often occurs. Outright rank deception (knowingly pretending to be more powerful) can also occur, but comes with the peril of being caught, pointed at and bullied for the rest of your life.
Thanks for reading! And don't forget to join my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead!
You can also check out the Discord for fun and pictures!
​
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Book 1
First / Previous / Next
-----------------------------
"... so if I were to set this up as an object instead, I could reuse it and pass it around much more easily?" Oprin asked as she looked at the computer code in front of her.
"Precisely," Daniel smiled. "While object oriented programming is a bit on the legacy side, it's handy for simpler applications where auto generated code isn't the best idea."
"Uh huh. And what about newer and more efficient stuff?"
"That will come later. You need to understand the basics before tackling the advanced stuff," he explained. "Besides, programming isn't the focus of the course you've chosen. I'm only teaching you this so you can make your own basic scripts to make your life easier."
"I think I might want to do a programming course now," Oprin admitted.
"Once you've completed this one, then a proper programming course will be on the table," he assured her. "I'll be honest, that will probably be sooner than you'd expect. You've gone through five months of course material in just under two months."
"So you're padding my lessons out now, are you?"
"It's hard to stay ahead with you," he chuckled. "Ah, with all the other work in the Spectre, I've just not quite had the time to make sure I understand your next material enough to confidently teach it."
"The Captain seems much more prepared, and she has more to do than you, Sir," Oprin pointed out. "Respectfully, Sir."
"That's because there's a lot less to teach about Gating past the starting point. It's more about the feeling and experience that you get from observing her work."
"I suppose that is true, Sir," Oprin admitted.
"Speaking of which, I think it's about time for you to get back on the bridge and start your next lesson, right?" he pointed out. "The Captain did make sure to use this time wisely to catch up on the training you've missed out on during the joint exercises with the Phantom."
"Alright, thank you for your time, Sir," Oprin told him as she got up and left the ready room.
Daniel smiled to himself as he wrote up a quick lesson summary, proud of her rapid progress. He looked out of the artificial window, watching space outside disappear as they jumped to warp, only for it to reappear seconds later as they appeared above Saiya's moon. He quickly stretched himself out, and left the ready room, heading onto the bridge where he found both Milla and Oprin interfaced with their chairs, so he quietly sat down in his own chair so he didn't distract them.
"Ok, Asten, data looks good. When you're ready, make the jump," Milla instructed.
"Ok," Oprin simply replied, concentrating.
Daniel looked forwards, expecting a portal to open up in front of the ship, but only saw the stars ahead of them. He waited a few moments, and then looked up at the clock, watching as the minutes ticked by. After what was an almost 15 minute wait, a large faintly purple portal opened up in front of the ship, holding almost as stable as Milla's.
"Well done, Asten. A little large, but more than adequate. Hold it for me please," Milla requested.
"Of course, Captain," Oprin replied, opening her eyes and smiling at her work, though remaining mostly focussed on the interface.
"Moving test drone into position," Milla announced as she ordered a drone with a heavy frame that mimicked the shape mass of the Spectre in front of them. "... Readings are stable and within acceptable parameters. Are you ready for a load test?"
"I am, Captain," Oprin told her.
"Very well. Sending the drone through… now," Milla stated, inputting the command.
Everyone watched with bated breath as the drone slowly travelled forwards, slipping through the portal to the other side of the system. The portal wavered ever so slightly upon first contact, but remained firm as the drone travelled through. Once the drone had made it to the other side, everyone relaxed, but the portal remained open.
"Very good, Asten! How do you feel?" Milla asked.
"Good. I feel good. Much easier than the simulations," Oprin replied.
"That's because I really pushed you. A frigate is nothing compared to a light cruiser after all," Milla explained. "So, how does the portal feel?"
"Very stable and there's still tonnes of mana in reserve. I think I could keep this open for maybe another hour before I would start to worry about stability," Oprin told her.
"I agree. I really like this portal. Want to get your promotion?"
"Wait, really!?" Oprin exclaimed, her excitement not even influencing the portal.
"Really. Hannah'rah, take us through, half speed," Milla ordered.
"Aye, Captain," Hannah'rah replied, edging the ship forwards.
There was a moment of silence as everyone began to wonder if Oprin would protest, but when she said nothing, they all looked forward and watched as the bow touched the portal, not causing the slight waver the drone did. As more and more of the ship passed through, Daniel watched as the bridge passed through, washing over them as they appeared on the other side of the system. Once the rear of the ship was clear, everyone on the bridge began to applaud, causing the other four members of crew to enter the bridge to see what was going on.
"Well done, Sub-Gater Asten!" Milla congratulated her, passing her a pair of new rank slides that featured a single chevron over a circle. "I'll arrange your official promotion ceremony soon, but that's all I need to field promote you."
"Thank you for believing in me and providing me with the opportunity, Captain," Oprin replied as she accepted her slides and put them on. "And thank you everyone for supporting me all this time."
"You're welcome, Sub-Gater," Daniel replied for everyone. "Keep up the amazing work, and you'll be a fully fledged Gater in no time at all!"
"Thank you!" Oprin exclaimed, not sure what else to say.
"So, back to the station to celebrate?" Doctor Satilla asked.
"Not quite yet, we want to do a test fire of experiment 5, prove it's still working," Milla explained.
"Shall we get that out of the way quickly then?" Daniel suggested.
"I think we should. Hannah'rah, set a course for HAWC test site 3-"
"Captain, urgent message coming from Navy High Command over QE comms, authenticity confirmed," Affinity stated a second before it was forced on screen.
"Attention all ships of the UPC Navy, report to your posts immediately. The UPC is under attack. I repeat, the UPC is under attack. Make sure you're prepared for operations immediately," a man's voice alerted them, repeating again seconds after it finished.
"Yellow alert. Get us back to Harwood, now!" Milla ordered, dismissing the message.
"Aye, Captain," Hannah'rah replied through clenched teeth, quickly warping the ship back to the station where dozens of other ships began to appear through portals.
"Attention all CDG ships, this is Admiral Baker. A rapid response has been initiated. As of three minutes ago, an unidentified fleet appeared near the minor colony of Skengvarten. The fleet consists of an estimated 1,500 ships of various classes, all of unknown design. They are not pirates, and initial analysis matches the themes of the captured alien frigate from the recent raid on the pirates. Weapons fire has started to be exchanged as I say this as local defence forces engaged their vanguard to protect fleeing civilian ships. Most of the primary response fleets are being dispatched as we speak, and our non-essential ships will be dispatched to support. We know they have the technological advantage, so stay on your toes, hooves, and talons. Report to your superiors for further instructions," the CDG's lead Admiral announced.
"Phantom, Spectre, do you copy?" Admiral McKinsey asked
"Phantom copies," Captain Hannes replied.
"Spectre copies," Milla added.
"Good. For the most part, your orders are to support the CDG fleet. You are authorised to use all force you deem necessary. Your experiments are still classified, so don't expect orders on when to use them, they're entirely at your discretion. I suggest you remain cloaked and act as assassins, but you should adapt with the flow of the battle. Good luck, and come home safe," Admiral McKinsey told them.
"We will, Sir," the two Captains replied.
"Alright, everyone, it looks like it's time to really show the fleet what we can do," Milla told the crew, raising her eyebrow as a battleship undocked from the station. "Looks like the Deities have worked around their promises to help as well. We don't know exactly what we're going to be facing, but if they only readied a single battleship, we can win. Now, form up, and prepare for battle!"
As the Spectre brought all of her weapons and systems online, she quickly transferred some mana from the station's surplus to top her stores up, and then warped into position with the rest of the assembling fleet around the nearby moon. Less than five minutes later, the order to jump was given, and the roughly 200 ships all opened up their portals, quickly slipping through to find themselves above the moon of the colony.
As the sensor data poured in, the first and most obvious thing was that the colony's planetary shield was taking a heavy beating, but it refused to break. The next thing everyone noticed with the seven groups of ships: five Navy groups, one hostile group, and one mixed group where the local security was currently engaged with a number of hostile fast attack craft, defending the civilian ships as they fled for the local gate. The main hostile group seemed to be a well rounded fleet that was holding a tight formation around a single massive ship in the centre, which was firing a large energy weapon at the colony, battering its shields. It was hard to get any solid readings on them however, due to their electronic warfare efforts. The Navy groups, excluding the CDG's group, were also well rounded fleets, albeit with a focus on smaller ships, and were all rapidly moving in to engage the main body, with the battlecruisers and the odd battleship firing off FTL artillery to whittle down the enemy force before contact.
"Attention CDG ships, this is Rear Admiral Kerten'sekt," the Spectre's comms blared to life. "Battle group A will move in with the main force to try to relieve the planet. Battle group B will move in to assist local security, protecting civilians and the station. Unassigned ships will move into battle group C. Battle group C should use their initiative as you all have non-standard combat capabilities."
"Alright everyone, we're going to use our cloak to get a better look at their main formation, provide information to the fleet, and look for openings. Stealth is our strongest weapon, so we won't waste it for a few more bullets in the masses," Milla told her crew. "Hannah'rah, take us to the other side of their fleet. Maintain a long range until we can better ascertain their detection capabilities. Nermeng, inform the Phantom of what we're doing."
"... They copy. They're going to assist with the civilians," he replied.
"Understood," Milla told him as they jumped to warp, appearing on the other side of the hostile fleet where their sensor readings were nearly perfect. "That's what I'm talking about. Feed it back to the fleet."
"Captain, they'll detect our transmission as it's way too much data for QE comms," Affinity warned her.
"Belay that order," Milla quickly commanded. "Are there any satellites we can bounce the signal off of?"
"There are. The colony's multi-purpose satellites are still active, albeit with quite a few destroyed from the bombardment that battleship is unleashing," Lieutenant Nermeng advised her.
"We'll bounce the signal off of those then. Affinity, can you generate the right requests?" Milla asked.
"Already working on it," she replied. "... Ok, they're ready."
"Begin transmission," Milla ordered.
"Transmitting," Lieutenant Nermeng told her.
"... Fleet acknowledges the transmission," Affinity advised everyone.
"Let's see if they put it to good use," Daniel commented, reviewing his EWar suite to see if he could find anything useful.
The two fleets finally began to meet, and torrents of bullets, missiles, and lasers began to fly, impacting ships on both sides. The Navy fleet was much larger in size, but quickly found themselves outgunned, and were forced to spread out over a wider area and to make room for evasive manoeuvres. The hostile fleet on the other hand held a tight formation, slowly rotating the outer ships with the inner ships as their shields wore down.
Swarms of UPC drones were disgorged from their carriers, warping in close to the hostile fleet and slipping through the outer shell where they were much more difficult to take down, preying on the worn down ships that had just rotated inside with little resistance as the enemy tried to avoid friendly fire. The clear sensor data the Spectre was getting revealed that there were losses on both sides, with slightly more on the Navy's side, but they had almost double the ships. At the current rate, the Navy would win, but it would be significantly crippled, causing Daniel to curl up his fist in frustration and search through his suite to see if there was anything he could do from their advantageous position.
"Heads up, the hostile fleet is changing their formation slightly," Lieutenant Nermeng warned them.
"How so?" Daniel asked, looking up at the display, watching as the ships on the far side of the formation began to spread out as more and more of them moved to reinforce the main front. "Captain, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I think I am," she smiled. "Ready torpedo tube 1 for launch. Affinity, work out the best firing solution on that battleship. Work with their sensors being twice as good as our best."
"Copy that, Captain. No solution as of yet. One expected in 30 seconds if movement continues as projected," Affinity told her, displaying a green line on screen, with a red section where it passed close to a couple of hostile ships. "If we fire now, it has a 18% chance of being intercepted. In 21 seconds, it will be 0.5%."
"Understood. Hannah'rah, prepare to fire," Milla ordered.
"Gonna be a lot of dead assholes if this experimental torpedo works," Hannah'rah replied, opening the torpedo tube and lining the ship up.
"Fire on Affinity's mark," Milla commanded.
"Optimal window in, 8… 7… 6…."
Daniel felt his heart pounding in his chest as he held his breath.
"5… 4… 3… 2… 1… NOW!"
A single cloaked torpedo slid out of its launch tube, invisible to the enemy's sensors, which began a stealthy low warp towards its target reaching it in a matter of seconds. As it hit the weak gravitational field of the enemy ships, it shut down its warp drive to prevent a detectable collapse, and silently slipped past the ships in the outer formation flying true until it impacted the shield of the battleship, breaking apart. Its payload continued forward however, carrying on with its momentum as the incorporeal cloud of magically contained mana and antimana bubbles drifted through the ship's shields and hull, coming to a stop close to the centre of the ship. The containment spell suddenly contracted, forcing all the mana and antimana into a tiny space where it all reacted, forming a giant unstable mana crystal inside the ship, piercing through dozens of decks and disabling sections of the ship.
The warhead wasn't done however, as a second cloud of pure antimana was forced into the crystal, converting it into pure explosive energy. The battleship suddenly fragmented into multiple pieces, all of which flew out at high velocity and slammed into the cluster of ships surrounding it, destroying many others. That wasn't all though, as the containment on its antimatter supply failed, allowing it to react to all the matter around it, which caused a second, slightly smaller explosion to send even more of the ship's fragments into its own fleet, crippling and destroying even more ships.
With the assault on the colony over, and a significant chunk of the fleet destroyed, along with the confusion and panic, the hostile fleet suddenly turned tails and ran, making for their entrance into the system where they all began to leave with their unique method of FTL. Not all were so lucky however, as the UPC's fleets began to intercept and capture all they could managing to snag a large number of different ship classes for study, many of which still had their crews on board.
"That was a bit more effective than I expected," Milla told everyone. "Well done everyone, I'm proud of you. Before we celebrate though, there's a lot of escape pods and loose personnel out there that need immediate rescue. Power sensors to full and let's save every life we can."
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First / Previous / Next

Clinically social anxiety is:
DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria with Diagnostic Features: - Marked fear or anxiety about one or more social situations in which the individual is exposed to possible scrutiny by others. - The individual fears that he or she will act in a way or show anxiety symptoms that will be negatively evaluated (i.e., will be humiliating or embarrassing: will lead to rejection or offend others). - The social situations almost always provoke fear or anxiety. - The social situations are avoided. - The fear or anxiety is out of proportion to the actual threat posed by the social situation and to the sociocultural context.
If we look for a common pattern here - it is inability to withstand someone thinking badly of us. That is Self-referential thinking.
"Self-referential processing is the cognitive process of relating information, often from the external world, to the self. Self-focus refers to attention directed inwardly, to the self, as opposed to the external world. Rumination is repetitive and distressful form of thinking that can be symptomatic of depression." (ncbi)
Amazingly enough - wikipedia page about social anxiety says nothing about it. In fact, there are not much resources about it at all in general - even though it is at the core of social anxiety. When we do not know something is the cause of problems, it will continue to haunt us from the dark, from the unseen.
This YT video helped me to realize that self-referential thinking is the motor of toxic shame that keeps social anxiety alive and kicking:
I'm sometimes afraid of going outside because I'm afraid that my neighbors are going to see me and then judge me for my yard not being good. I just assume people are judging me all the time. You bring a complaint to narcissist or something that's hurting you in any way – concern, pity, we always assume this is you judging us and telling us we have to be better. 🟥 Narcissists ALWAYS think you’re judging them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRvaYTtstuY
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I was in this head space of everyone thinks I'm weak and pathetic and they're judging me. I'm lashing out at people left and right. I had to call my buddies and you don't hate me, right? I'm convinced that I'm laughing stock everywhere because I feel like a failure all the time. This constant feeling of just everyone thinks you're not good enough, everyone thinks you're pathetic and I can't escape it. 🟥 Narcissists ALWAYS think you’re judging them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRvaYTtstuY
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It's insane that I have this strong emotional reaction to all this. It's why do I care so much about what people that I view as beneath me think of me. It does not make sense logically. And it makes me feel inferior on relying on the opinions of other people. But I can't escape it. The idea that anybody dislikes, judging me, or has an opinion about me that I don't like is actively distressing. 🟥 Narcissists ALWAYS think you’re judging them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRvaYTtstuY
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A lot of times in fairness I do deserve some of opinion. A lot of times some of these opinions are not even false. But just knowing that people have those ideas about me, those thoughts about me – I can't handle it. That someone hold opinion that I don't want them to have will make me self-destructive. It's so ridiculous saying it out loud. It's pathetic that I am having those reactions to the bunch of nobody's. All the time. 🟥 Narcissists ALWAYS think you’re judging them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRvaYTtstuY
Yep, this same kind of worry is inside narcissistic disorder, too. And it does make sense. Social anxiety starts as a avalanche caused by bullying incident in our teen years, there is some kind of shocking traumatic experience of rejection - which is always perpetrated by someone narcissistic. Normal, healthy, sane people do not attack others. It is only a person without empathy and compassion that will treat another person with disrespect and force control and manipulation over their target. This way we were initiated into evil, into narcissistic thinking - where we are not capable of tolerating someone's anger, criticism or negative evaluation about us - even if it is potential. Then we attempt to people please others with the hope that other people will not hate us if we shut up, self censor and do everything to make other people happy. Which of course does not work at all - yet we keep on doing it - due to punishments and being stuck in codependent contact.
CBT will try to convince us that our thinking is the problem and that we can change external reality with ABC Model - where we replace our explanations and our interpretations about fearful objects that distress us. When we actually do this - we end up fawning and people pleasing toxic people, since now we have destroyed any part of us that would leave toxic person and confront their abuse.
Social anxiety that we feel is real - the rejection is real. It is not imagined as CBT tries to brainwash us into. When someone is rude - no matter what the context is, and no matter whether we have done something wrong - the other person always has a choice how to deliver the message. Being rude is conscious choice - and our traumatized parts will easily pick on the abuse - no matter how small or insignificant it is. We can follow CBT advice and calm ourselves down - yet in the end, when we are in toxic ambient, when we live in shame culture country, when people around us ARE intrusive and unfair and with hidden agenda of car-salesmen mentality - we will feel social anxiety, and we should feel it. It is totally normal reaction to abnormal intrusive and sick people who are toxic. And even wikipedia page about social anxiety tells this:
Full quote: The fear or anxiety is out of proportion to the actual threat posed by the social situation and to the sociocultural context. The fear or anxiety is judged to be out of proportion to the actual risk of being negatively evaluated or to the consequences of such negative evaluation. Sometimes, the anxiety may not be judged to be excessive, because it is related to an actual danger (e.g., being bullied or tormented by others). However, individuals with social anxiety disorder often overestimate the negative consequences of social situations, and thus the judgment of being out of proportion is made by the clinician. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_anxiety_disorder
How to recognize someone being abusive?
Examples of verbal abuse:
- name-calling
- guilt trips
- gaslighting
- criticism
- threats
- blaming
- manipulation
- humiliation
- spreading lies
- minimizing someone's experiences of feelings
- screaming
And Glasser also explained how healthy and unhealthy communication looks like:
​
Controlling Habits:
Blaming
Criticizing
Complaining
Nagging
Rewarding To Control
Threatening
Punishing
William Glasser
​
William Glasser "What's my Choice" Connecting Habits:
Listening
Supporting
Encouraging
Negotiating
Respecting
Accepting
Trusting
The other person will shame their target. When anyone resorts to shaming others - there is always hidden agenda behind it: control and manipulation. This is what we feel with social anxiety. When social anxiety is with us longer than 10 years - we will learn to make a distinction between someone being angry and not taking it personally - and someone who holds a grudge and evil attentions - and we will feel this difference with social anxiety immediately. This is due to exposure to narcissistic abuse (ACoA, ACE) in our formative years.
Anyone who is confused about this - and I learned a lot of socially anxious people refuse to accept this fact - I would suggest that you start documenting and writing all the incidents when social anxiety happens, when we experience the attack and when we expect and anticipate something bad to happen. Then we can easily notice that expectation of abuse is based on previous bad experience.
So we cannot stop people being abusive. In many situations we cannot leave toxic ambient or toxic job due to finances or contracts or visas or papers or the third party that needs our help. And we live in toxic world which is unjust - so it is highly likely that we will experience toxic people from time to time. Toxic people do not wear label toxic on their foreheads and they will appear as friends, and help and service to us - so we will accept them inside our private sphere. They will scan our voids and present themselves as perfect solutions for our needs. And we cannot go living our lives being paranoid and not trusting anyone, raising our boundaries and never let anyone in - since we will end up with attachment styles issues.
This is where Self-Referential thinking comes into play. The reason why toxic people hurt so much is due to this kind of thinking. It is important to notice that thinking itself is not our disordered brain, it is not our choice, and we cannot remove it with yelling Stop or with self discipline or with willpower. IFS Model can help us a lot. But it is important to notice that Self-referential thinking is behind hurt and pain of Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria that we feel in social situations, which CBT labels as "fear of criticism and negative evaluation".
IFS Model tells us that instead of destroying our inner critic with ABC Method, that we actually listen to our fears and panic. There is message, there is part of us that calls us for our attention and message for us to hear. IFS Model tell us what this decoded message us: that our Self is not present inside us and this is causing Self Referential Thinking and Rejection Sensitivity and social anxiety symptoms. Instead of Self, we have External Referencing Locus of Control and Trauma bonding - which makes our whole mind being merged and fused with other people automatically - without us being aware of it. It appears as empathy. It will appear as if we are feeling other people's emotions and that we are connected with other people. Nope. This is not empathy. Empathy would be feeling sorry for someone's hurt - whereas with destroyed Self - we are believing we are guilty for someone's pain and that we are responsible to fix someone's problems and that we are bad person just because someone is feeling pain. This kind of thinking occurred in ACE and ACoA when we were repeatedly criticized and told that we are bad for any kind of error that happened, repeatedly over and over again.
With social anxiety panic - our traumatized parts are telling us that we don't have secure Self inside us. We don't have home inside us. We don't have place, sanctuary inside us. We cannot lean on ourselves. We cannot trust ourselves - since there are no constructs inside us. This is Ego Death. Ironically, this is what Buddhism tries to implement through vigorous exercises - that we do not own Ego, however even in Buddhism there is a basic house which has awareness that Buddhism is religion to follow.
With Self Referential thinking - we don't even have this basic house that would know what our deepest meaning and deepest purpose on this Earth is. What's more - instead of Ego, we constructed a hologram, a holodeck of make-shift Persona - without being aware of it at all. And this fake Self depends on other people to reflect it and approve it and validate it. Hence we end up with social anxiety and inability to withstand someone's criticism, anger or any kind of negative evaluation or rejection.
Narcissists also have the same fake Self inside them - which depends on other people approval and validation - which narcissists choose to gain through being grandiose and abusive to others. With social anxiety - we decided to handle trauma by hurting and abusing ourselves, through toxic shame being directed inside us - by rejecting shameful parts of ourselves and hiding them from others to see. CBT does not help here at all - since CBT will tell us that we are abnormal because we spend most of our free time alone and inside, whereas we should go to parties and be sociable. This way CBT is ashaming our traumatized parts and make us believe that our brain is abnormal and this way we start to develop Self Referential Thinking - by depending on anyone in authority to guide us and explain us what is normal and what should be stigmatized and masked and destroyed away.
IFS Model tells us when we accept all our parts - that paradoxically we will become sociable and we will "go out" as CBT tries to discipline us to do - but IFS Model tells us to do this in healthy humane way without shaming, but with validation and self acceptance. With CBT we will force ourselves to cure social anxiety and life will be a spasm. Any social event will always feel like Batman Lego movie - where Batman screams "No no no" like a child and jumps around the place refusing to socialize.
When we accept all our traumatized parts and listen to their demands and wishes and worries - we will remove toxic people that we forcefully stay with due to CBT's explanation that we must never avoid anyone. And we will instead do our own goals and start to do things which we truly like - as opposed CBT's approach where we must have fake image of superiority and impress other people with money or influence to prove others that we are worthy by showing off. With IFS Model - we will flood ourselves with good vibration, excellent goals suited to our needs - so we won't have time to worry or be in spasms or think of denying any activity - since we will love everything that we truly want to do, with all our parts aligned inside us, approving ourselves - instead of depending on approval of others.
Kant said that we are not aware of external reality, outside world. We can never truly see other people and external reality. Instead we will always depend on our education and knowledge and insight to interpret any kind of event or people that prance around us. Therefore without ever noticing it on our own - reality is actually limited in our mind and reality is also deflected - so we miss a lot of information or any kind of data that would actually help us with many of issues that we struggle with. That is how we end up with Self-Referential thinking. In our formative years we were operantly conditioned into belief that we are worthless and that we must prove our competence by making angry people happy and regulated and through people pleasing abusers and through actions by being slave to anyone who is angry at us. This conditioning will become a pattern how our thinking process is working - this is how we will process other people. So no wonder we struggle with social anxiety - we simply have no idea that we are forced into worry and panic, like a circus animal that performs tricks.
With that kind of Complex Trauma, we will develop coping mechanisms - like negative politeness where we will try not to make other person distressed by speaking the truth. Their negative reaction will be simply too painful for us. This happens because deep down we don't have Self. We don't trust our Self, we don't believe that we are competent enough and that we can rely on ourselves. When we are in social situation and if we somehow start talking - there will always be someone who will ashame our opinion and someone who does not agree with our thoughts. This is Self Referential Thinking - and we have no idea that this happens, that we are experiencing it. Instead - what we will feel is that we are embarrassed and that we are stupid and that we are inept and that we need to shut up and never express our opinion because we are so abnormal and dumb - and that other person thinks this too - is Self-Referential Thinking. It is fear of what other person thinks about us, that they hold negative evaluation about us - and we cannot shake it off. CBT does not explain this at all. CBT adds more shame by claiming that we have abnormal brain that is filled with cognitive distortions which we must worry about and remove them and fight with them all the time, making already stressed social situations even more additionally stressful.
Sooner or later everyone encounters stressful life experiences, but HSPs react more to such stimulation. If you see this reaction as part of some basic flaw, you intensify the stress already present in any life crisis. The Highly Sensitive Person, Elaine N. Aron
So it is not a simple act of Rejection or potential Rejection that feels painful to us - it is also a feeling that something does not goes along with wishes and expectations of another person. That other person will be annoyed by our imperfections, flaws and errors - and their annoyance is painful to us. We cannot stand someone being irritated by us. So we try to correct our thinking by smiling, we try not to correct anyone when they are obviously telling lies or wrong things, we feel that if we say something that we will harm and hurt other person and their reaction - whether anger or sadness is too much for us to bear. This is direct by-product of ACoA.
14 Traits of an Adult Child of an Alcoholic ("The Laundry List")
​
We became isolated and afraid of people and authority figures.
We became approval seekers and lost our identity in the process.
We are frightened by angry people and any personal criticism.
We either become alcoholics, marry them or both, or find another compulsive personality such as a workaholic to fulfill our sick abandonment needs.
We live life from the viewpoint of victims and we are attracted by that weakness in our love and friendship relationships.
We have an overdeveloped sense of responsibility and it is easier for us to be concerned with others rather than ourselves; this enables us not to look too closely at our own faults, etc.
We get guilt feelings when we stand up for ourselves instead of giving in to others.
We became addicted to excitement.
We confuse love and pity and tend to “love” people we can “pity” and “rescue.”
We have “stuffed” our feelings from our traumatic childhoods and have lost the ability to feel or express our feelings because it hurts so much (Denial).
We judge ourselves harshly and have a very low sense of self-esteem.
We are dependent personalities who are terrified of abandonment and will do anything to hold on to a relationship in order not to experience painful abandonment feelings, which we received from living with sick people who were never there emotionally for us.
Alcoholism is a family disease; and we became para-alcoholics and took on the characteristics of that disease even though we did not pick up the drink.
Para-alcoholics are reactors rather than actors.
​
This unbearable dread of someone's anguish caused by our "wrong" opinions or annoying actions feels like catastrophe. It feels like the end of the world, like we are being the bottom low life, loser and that everything is wrong. So no wonder we end up with people pleasing and negative politeness. All this happens because we don't have secure Self inside us - since we never developed it in childhood when we were supposed to. And as Kant said it - we are not aware of this at all. Someone outside of us must explain this, that this is happening to us.
Now it is easy to understand social anxiety symptoms. It is no wonder that we:
- are in defense mode all the time. - are disorganized and have small amnesia - we feel spasms and general feeling of dread - we end up with childhood splitting, trauma splitting, BPD Splitting - where we divide people in either good or bad - only to end up confused when good people hurt us or when evil people do something nice to us or they don't attack us when we expected them - when we are accused of something or blamed - we don't advocate ourselves - since we carry burden of guilt and shame like Sisyphus around. Then our silence only confirms the false accusations against us. - When we need to go somewhere, outside comfort zone, face our fears - we will be like Batman Lego - No no no no no.. refusing to do it and pout about it and it will feel like burden - we won't have GPS system. Our goals and hobbies and desires and interests will depend on other people's approval. Anything that toxic people and toxic ambient has prejudices with - we will never explore it - and we will reject it as sissy, feminine, stupid and abnormal and never experiment and never be curious. - our decisions will be based and guided by our traumatized parts and burdens
Similar to film Vanilla Sky (2001), we also project our life in accordance what we experience. With social anxiety we refuse to explore or try out different things - due to fear of what other people may feel critical about if we do try out something. Other people are therefore our masters and they decide and form our life and our directions in life. We never notice the very fact - that some person who is angry at our opinion - that such person has Self Referential thinking, too. Anyone who is stubborn - has Self Referential Thinking. They refuse other's ideas or anything new. It is being stuck in a tunnel vision where choices and decisions are formed by avoidance of anything that is uncomfortable. When we refuse to hear criticism or anything new - we are creating mental illness, since instead of data from reality - we replace missing puzzles with our perceptions that are not confirmed by reality. So if we build a deep water submersible - when we refuse to hear HSE notes and feedback about carbon fibre not being safe for certain depths - we end up being murderer, anti-social element that destroys other people by building totally unsafe vehicle. So we need constructive feedback and critique in order to improve potentially dangerous projects or any kind of action that we plan to take. With social anxiety - we end up depending on other people's criticism to stop ourselves. We end up blocking ourselves - because we have no filter to discern healthy from toxic criticism. Instead of criticism, we interpret other people as us being bad person. That is trauma. That is the disorder. And this is something that CBT falsely explains. CBT tells us that social anxiety is fear of criticism and negative evaluation - while in reality social anxiety is strong processing of someone's real or potential criticism as us being worthless human being that must be passive and removed without any needs or requirements or any rights or respect.
This is what IFS Model and Quiet BPD helped me to realize. That we don't have Self inside us - and this non existence of Self is producing skewed interpretation of other people's thinking. When someone is rude, critical - due to destroyed Self and operant conditioning where we repressed and rejected plethora of our partial Selves - we do not have any Referential point to see or explain the rudeness and criticism of other people - other than us being worthless and abnormal and inept person. That is Self-Referential Thinking - we compare any external stimuli with our deep toxic shame of being worthless human being. No other referential construct. Only us being bad person - and that is all.
Now social anxiety makes sense - we end up with imagination and expectation of someone judging us - we simply process this criticism is about us, we personalize it. Since we have no other reference point to compare nor explain it with. And of course - we end up being scared of other people and ashamed since they revealed our supposedly abnormal and sick self, our core being which is bad already and filled with guilt and shame from before.
Like a faulty old satellite cable. It will stop showing perfect picture for satellite channels which have weak beam. And CBT telling us that our tv is wrong or receiver or LNB. While it is old cable that is causing this particular issue. Due to Self referential thinking here - we never consider changing cable. We end up fixing objects which are perfectly normal and do not need any fixing at all. This is why CBT ought to be banned - it is doing incredible psychological damage with its hyper-cognition (putting quick wrong labels on anything that is easy to scapegoat) and stigma and weaponized psychiatry. Social anxiety is not hallucination and it is not imaginary - it is only that our trauma makes our cable unable to receive the weakest signals - which in society are rude people and criticism and errors and faults. We do not see them as errors, we see them as us being stupid. We do not see rude people as mentally ill - we see ourselves as sick. We don't see criticism as critique or feedback - we see it as proof that we are inept and that we must hide away in shame for not being perfect. That is Self Referential Thinking - we interpret neutral events as huge negative bad trait about ourselves, we see everything as our own fault and then our responsibility to fix and waste incredible amounts of resources on not making mistakes - which ends up as stress. We simply have no other available explanations - other than that we are bad.
Other people can be toxic. They can have hidden agenda to harm and exploit and cheat other people. They can appear normal and friendly - with Self Referential thinking we will never consider this possibility that other people have car-salesman mentality, that they are crooks or even criminally insane. This way, toxic people - they all need to shout and yell and make false accusations - and we will be their slaves for life - since we will never think that they are bad. We will be convinced that we are bad, due to Self Referential Thinking.
This is where IFS model helps - it tells us to be curious. And to listen to our panic fear parts. These parts are trying to tell us that we are naive and that rude people are dangerous and sick and we must avoid them. And that we miss our True Self - where we ought to to jobs and hobbies that we like- other than doing something to please other people's criticism. With Self Referential thinking, like Kant discovered - we never know what we need - because we are never been shown that there is so much more in life than our trauma and toxic people around us who instruct us into passivity and false belief that we are bad person.
You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough. William Blake
Those who control their passions do so because their passions are weak enough to be controlled. William Blake
Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you. William Blake
Let's look at this analogy: 1) Scenario one: I am poor, abused and have no exit from toxic people or toxic country/family 2) Scenario two: I was rich, I had job with no boss hence no mobbing, I can buy away my problems as they occur.
The first scenario would experience the world and people through social anxiety. All social anxiety would be there. We would depend on toxic people to give us toxic job where we would be abused. Free time would be nothing - since we have no money to create or go anywhere and we would be in our free time in constant contact with toxic people who are angry all the time since they have nothing fun to do - but only obligations. The second one would be confident, there would be no social anxiety panic, social skills would come easily with each interaction with people, without depending on hanging on to toxic people - since our money would provide us with anything that we need.
Now what happens when someone criticize us? In the first case - there would be full social anxiety symptoms like panic and Self referential thinking worry where I cannot shake off someone being mad at me for not being perfect. In the second case - other people would not bother me at all. Unless I ran into their home with my Ferrari and destroy their living room or garden - I would have no close contact with any person that may potentially be angry at me for my mistakes or my very existence - as it is case in the first scenario. I would feel uncomfortable if I ran into some mentally ill person who is rude to me at random, but I would not lose my sleep over it. I would not feel threatened and I would be too much busy with jobs that I like, with places to visit, with plans to make, vacations and wardrobe and luxury. In this second case - I would not need special social anxiety programs to learn how to be confident, nor I would need CBT strategies to list my fear and confront them. My emotions would be in high state all the time and I would be regulated - because I would feel safe and secure where I am and I would not think that I am a bad person just because I go outside and exist.
In childhood we never grew into this second scenario. We never grew into adult person who makes choices in life. Instead we were programmed to be told who we are, and to be permanently ashamed about who we are as person. And instead of developing our persona and choices and decisions in life - we stayed stuck in this deep toxic shame and then being afraid about what other people might say about us - as the only preoccupation in life, since we never build or explored referential points or constructs in our life. Now the inner parts inside us that know we can do better - will produce discomfort inside us. Inner critic will be especially focused to make us successful and happy - HOWEVER due to self referential thinking neither our parts nor our inner critic has any other referential point to base their attempts to help us - other than repeating the same abuse we experiences in ACoA and ACE - by self blaming, self disciplining ourselves and by putting ourselves down and feeling responsible for anyone and everyone especially if someone is angry. Our healthy parts will be thwarted and distorted through the prism of trauma and abuse that we endured during our formative years. Why CBT does not explain this? CBT tells us that we are too sensitive. But does not explain that we need compassion and validation to heal our trauma - so that we stop harassing ourselves, once we learn that there are better and healthier models to help ourselves.
When your self-image is adequate and one that you can be wholesomely proud of, you feel self-confident. You feel free to "be yourself" and to express yourself. You function at your optimum. Maxwell Maltz
When we are Self - referential - we will repeat unhealthy coping mechanisms such as denial and suppression - or in another word, placing boundaries as an attempt to keep us safe. However in reality what happens is that we become slaves to toxic people - since we end up reacting to them. We make toxic people our guiding star that determines where we spend our time, focus and money. And due to Self Referential Thinking we are unable to step back and see the whole picture: that we are dancing to their music all the time. They play the music and we dance. They are rude and we start avoiding going out. They are aggressive and we shut up and never advocate for our rights. Since we never seen nor witnessed models that do that. So all our goals in life are distorted through the prism of toxic people and our reactions to them. That is why boundaries as coping mechanism needs our re-evaluation - and instead of toxic people - the key factor in making decisions in life should be our True Self.
With Self Referential thinking we keep on seeking cure for being undone and for being human. We try to be perfectionists in order for angry people not to be angry at us. And this makes toxic people nourished because they see that we react to their anger well - so they use their anger as a remote control to manipulate and control us.
With Self Referential Thinking - when we started to notice issues of social anxiety panic and trauma - we developed tools from ACoA and ACE ambient while growing up: holding on to grudges, seeing people in black and white, without knowing that our actions are driven by toxic shame. With Self Referential Thinking - and explanation about social anxiety will still not help us at all. Because we have no reference point to believe in ourselves. Other people will still be our masters. We will simply have deep sense of obligation to other people that we cannot shake off. We will be trapped into referential idea that to feel secure to talk to someone I have to know it all, I must be perfect so that I cause no annoyance to the other person, and if the other person is irritated, we feel their emotions as pain and torture.
IFS Model helps with this. Once we listen to our traumatized parts, when we unburden our inner critic and firefighters inside us - we will be open enough to explore life through the prism of being a good person that we try to be so hard after trauma and relentless criticism while growing up. Then our Self will guide us - and tell us what jobs, hobbies, people are good and healthy for us and what to do in life.
No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness Richard C. Schwartz Blended parts give us the projections, transferences, and other twisted views that are the bread and butter of psychotherapy. The Self’s view is unfiltered by those distortions. The clarity of Self gives you a kind of X-ray vision, so you see behind the other person’s protectors to their vulnerability, and in turn your heart opens to them.
​

Black Sheep Family
Part 29
Arc 2
Pieces, Puzzles, and Potential
You make me brave / You're my titanium / Fight song, raising up! ~ Invincible, Skillet
(B)(S)(F)
GO!
Wednesday, October 12, 2078
A week had passed since the destruction at the docks har rocked the city. Lucretia Bloodgarden was now scheduled to answer before the U.S. Senate oversight committee for the Charter Organization, it was unlikely she would be remanded to custody or charged, her work had all been within the bounds of the domain of the Black Folders, even the attempt to undermine Pharaoh’s network had been approved by Senate authority. Trident had come out swinging against all forms of “Black Folder” projects, calling them antithetical to all hero work and officially bringing his stance more in line with Union Heroica’s belief structure, he just would not give up on what had become his home and passion.
Salem Stevens was brought back to consciousness within a few days. His mental state was in shambles and found himself staring into the distance far more often than he used to, visions of his past failures danced in his head near constantly. He was however given a fighting chance by Endara Quain referencing him to a specialist of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. His first visit was yet to occur, but it wasn’t a thought he opposed, oddly enough. His friend Sawyer was given permission and grounds to set up on the Quain family grounds for a special form of security monitoring. He would not elaborate as to what it entailed, but did enlist Danny Quain’s assistance.
Nelson Terrance, aka Nelgore the Hound had only recently come out of recovery and quickly came to consciousness. He was groggy at first, but eventually got the message across to his nurses and doctors that if they did not get his son and the Quains, that he was going to rip out every needle and walk out of the hospital with zero clothes on. The doctors quickly acquiesced and called the Quain family.
So it was around noon on the day in question that Alan Quain and his Wife walked in with Nelgore’s son. The young werewolf was careful about how he approached his father, the young man’s head was still spinning as he was fighting ingrained reactions and trying not to cry all at once.
“What’s she been feeding you?” Nelgore snorted. “You’re like a string bean, well not as much as Stephen, but still.”
“She hasn’t been at her best dad.” Jack said, trying to figure out if he should make eye contact or not with his dad in his human form.
Nelgore’s human form was heavily scarred, his face was criss crossed in slashes and gouges and his right eye was barely functioning in this form. Despite that he was athletically defined with more than a healthy musculature.
“Can’t look me in the eyes, I get it.” Nelgore nodded, “I ain’t been there, I don’t rightly deserve it.”
“No...” Jack winced. “It’s hard. I get what you were doing but you don’t know what it’s been like. She won't take her meds, she’s always on the edge. I can’t even tell her I’m dating Aggie without her freaking out.”
Nelgore nodded and looked at Alan. “He wiped my mind.”
“I know.” Alan nodded, “I went diving, most of the last six months. He left the night you helped us though.” Alan nodded back to Jack. “Your family’s your concern now man.”
Nelgore sighed, “Not taking her meds, what’s gotten into that psycho?”
“Not sure.” Alan shrugged, “She went off the deep end about five years ago, even harder than normal. Won’t associate with us, won’t talk to us.”
“Well I can say for certain she is definitely not on her medication.” Endara said, “We’ve tried to get court orders, it never works.”
“And Protective Services?” Nelgore gestured to Jack.
“I...” Jack laughed and roared in frustration. “I covered for her.”
Nelgore nodded. “Well now, it seems like I got a lot of work to do.” He tossed off his covers and swung his legs out over the edge of the bed, pulling six sets of monitors and three IVs off. Several machines blared and doctors and nurses came rushing in.
“I’ve missed him.” Alan smiled to himself.
“You mean you missed not being the troublemaker.” Endara glared at her husband.
“I missed the competition.” Alan smiled.
“I’m not dead!” Nelgore roared, “I’m a werewolf, this does nothing for me now! Get me discharged!”
Three nurses left while a doctor called down to have papers brought up.
“I’d invite you to drive in the camaro but I think Kyton accidentally dragged it into the lake last week.” Alan laughed, “I just got that damn thing fixed too.”
“We brought the van, and we would be glad to take you home.” Endara smiled.
“Which would be where?” Nelgore snorted, “I doubt she’s in the same place.”
“Sold it, said it was bugged by aliens.” Jack sighed, “Nectarwood Apartments.”
“Christ.” Nelgore shook his head, “No offense Al, you shoulda pulled me sooner.”
Alan made no movement or sound.
“We know.” Endara said, “Believe me, we’ve been looking everything over. We fucked up.”
Nelgore took a breath and stood. “Well, we can’t change the past. Just tell me you brought some clothes.”
Alan grinned and pulled forward a bag and tossed it to his friend.
“Black!” Nelgore grinned, “Never goes out of fashion.”
“My husband, my daughter and my husband’s best friend. How do people see this as fashionable?” Endara scoffed.
Nelgore grinned and walked into his room’s toilet and changed. He came back out in a black tank top, black jeans, white socks and black loafers all sized larger than what his normal clothes would be at. He kept a self adjusting belt around his waist.
He stretched and yawned. “Well I am famished, tell me we got a place in mind for lunch first before I go apartment hunting.”
Alan snorted, “Dude, who the hell do you think bought the place when she sold it?”
“Seriously?” JAck and Nelgore said in unison.
“Was gonna be a surprise for his eighteenth or your return.” Alan smiled, “Certainly couldn’t let her know what I’d done.”
“He’s not wrong there.” Jack sighed. “I am hungry though.”
“Goodfillas is down the block.” Endara said.
“Spaceys!” Alan hissed. “The classic!”
“The Friendly House.” Nelgore said. “I like to make them nervous.” He chuckled.
There’s a Burrito Bandit across the street.” Jack said flatly.
“Cheap, filling and Nel can make people nervous.” Alan smiled.
“I’m in!” Nelgore laughed.
“Oh god, we’re going to be sued by so many people today.” Endara sighed.
Nelgore laughed and hugged his son close. Jack flinched for just a moment and then smiled, he caught a look of approval or perhaps relief from Alan. He felt the man’s guilt for a brief second as the psion quickly suppressed his own psychic volume. Endara just stood up and went to get ready to help Nelgore sign out.
---B)(S)(F---
Regina Rex got home from her middle of the week adventures in superhero schooling with little fanfare. Her mother quickly went to work in the kitchen to make dinner. Her father was in the garage working on one of his own projects, likely his weed-whacker that would always break twenty minutes into being used. Regina went up to her room and started her homework.
It was almost an hour later when she felt the house shake. She quickly grabbed Pyrora and ran down the stairs. Her mother was peeking around the corner from the kitchen and motioned for her daughter to join her. Regina shook her head and pointed to the garage. Her mother nodded.
Regina rushed into the garage and saw her father against the wall, with a large metal cross pinning him there. Three men in black suits were standing quietly and all turned to face her as she opened the door. They smiled in unison and vanished in a white blur, so did her father. Regina could only stare in shock and confusion as she shouted for her mother to call the police.
---B)(S)(F---
Angie Alton was still in the Academy's A/V club meeting at around the same time. She was the treasurer and the year was starting out strong for the small club. They had a new member in Anna Quain, who was unfortunately not able to make their first meeting due to a family obligation, but they were glad to have the Wi-Cast celebrity in their club.
“So what are we thinking for our first project?” Tammy Lackamore said as she signed the same question, a step she always took when Angie was present.
Angie signed out her idea, “Make a big dance number, heavy beats, happy tunes. Make it irresistible.”
“You always want that Angie.” Hammington Swells said, The young man was gifted with super strength and cursed with terrible manners. He belched shortly after speaking.
“It’s always good!” Angie signed back angrily. She didn’t have trouble reading most people’s lips, but Hammington mumbled, sometimes on purpose.
“What about, we do a video on the Fission fight?” Tommy Tangel suggested; he was also a new member, but seemed more interested in taking selfies and showing off. He was also not as good at signing as he thought he was.
“I like that, but it might mess with Anna a bit, that was her dad that nearly died.” Angie signed to the freshman.
“Oh...” Tommy nodded, “Nevermind.”
“Well, we can always ask her next meeting.” Tammy said, “But do we have other ideas?”
The rest of the group shrugged and shook their heads.
“Okay. Angie, see what kind of general cost each idea would cost, we can delve deeper next week. Any other business?” Tammy smiled.
“Yeah, Heith and her crew want to pay us for a music video.” Hammington rolled his eyes. “I think they want all the attention they're losing to the Quains.”
Angie chuckled and signed, “Of course they do, but you can’t make up for terrible behavior with cleavage and ass shots.”
Hammington snorted a laugh and nodded, he may have been rude, but he knew who his friends were. “That’s what I told her. She tried to break my jaw.”
Tammy snickered, “That couldn’t have been fun for her.”
“It was in the hall, so she broke her hand.” Hammington laughed, “But I got nothing else other than my usual personal projects.”
Tommy leaned over to the Junior hero. “Whatcha workin’ on?”
Hammington blinked and pushed the speedster back a bit. “Personal projects.”
Angie signed quickly, “He’s making a video game.”
Tommy paused then seemed to look at the junior in awe.
“Aw jeeze, here we go.” Hammington sighed.
“May I please see your indie game?” Tommy asked.
“I’m going home.” Hammington stood up and left, dragging Tommy for about twenty feet before the freshman gave up and zipped back to the meeting.
Angie smiled and finished taking her notes, then signed, “I have to go, gotta walk home today.”
“We can give you a ride.” Tommy said, “It’s not like Gwen would fight it, mom will always say yes.”
“Appreciate it, but I like walking. Time to think.” Angie smiled and plugged a device into the base of her neck, then waved as she walked off.
Angie was twenty minutes into her walk when she felt a hand grab her arm and pull her into an alley. She dropped her heavy boots onto the toes of her attacker and spun to see her own brother grabbing his foot.
“Damint, Angie.” He signed between limping from side to side.
Angie raised her fists ready to fight. Her brother was covered in speakers and had a speaker he could project from his mouth to make his sonic attack even more lethal than they already were. Her brother was the villain Stereo.
“Come on Songbird.” He signed, speaking slowly as he did so. “You know I ain’t gonna hurt you.”
She paused and lowered her fists, then signed, “You killed a classmate's dog.”
“Hell-hound, we were fighting for our lives.” Stereo said, “Plus didn’t she get a goat or something?”
“What do you want Andrew?” She signed furiously.
“I need a place to lie low.” Stereo signed as he took off his specially designed helmet and set it to the side. “Garg’s been after me the last few days, then these goons in black.”
Angie sighed and tried to think of a way to help her brother.
“Not the only one tailing you.” A man in a black duster walked out, his arms were wrapped in fresh bandages and a mask resembling a crying clown was on his face.
“Aw come on man.” Stereo whined, forgetting to sign. “Just, I got into a fight with someone I shouldn’t have, I know that now.”
“Garg’s someone you shouldn’t even talk to.” SideEffect said, his gravelly voice rumbling with a small amount of ill intent. “But I want to know about these guys in black.”
Stereo looked at his sister. Angie was just putting her hands up. She wasn’t about to intervene when the second in command of Union Heroica had stepped in.
“I have to get home.” Angie signed.
“Home, what about me, I’m gonna get crushed!” Stereo snapped. “You’re always like this, all about you!” He pointed a finger at his sister and her arm began to vibrate.
A hand grabbed Stereo’s arm and jerked it back and around to point back at his own head. SideEffect had officially lost his patience.
“Don’t point that at family.” SideEffect hissed. “Now sit down and tell me about these people in black.”
Angie took the moment of distraction to run off and pull out her phone and text the Dross City police.
“I don’t know man!” Stereo pushed SideEffect back and went to pick up his helmet. A wall came tumbling down a few feet away and the monstrous shape of Garg walked out.
Garg was a mutant that stood ten feet tall with a slate gray complexion and skin tone, mostly because he was made of some form of organic rock. He felt very little pain, had an endless supply of endurance and strength and was known for pursuing any villains that came into his territory. He was a vigilante who used excessive violence to keep villains out of his territory and punished criminals that wandered into his territory with the same force. He was also known to have a running and nearly endless grudge with SideEffect.
SideEffect did what he always did, he stepped between Garg and his target.
“Not now Bandages, this punk needs a lesson!” Garg rumbled.
“Then he goes to jail or juvie. Not the hospital, not the morgue.” SideEffect snapped and looked over his shoulder, “Run kid, I got this maniac.”
Stereo looked at SideEffect in confusion for just a moment before he grabbed his helmet and ran off.
“WHY DO YOU DO THAT?!” Garg roared as he charged forward.
SideEffect simply flipped backwards, avoiding the giant’s lumbering strike.
“Same reason I always do, you don’t know how to hold back.” SideEffect growled, “You aren’t even interested in trying to!”
Garg roared and hefted a piece of the building at SideEffect. SideEffect jumped and flipped over the projectile, pushing himself off and landing a drop kick on Garg. The blow did nothing and Garg grabbed SideEffect by the legs and slammed him full into a building. SideEffect dropped and rolled back into Garg’s path.
“Why can’t you leave me alone!” Garg snapped as he picked the smaller man up by his coat.
“It ain’t about you dipshit, never has been.” SideEffect raised his head and spat a gout of blood into Garg’s eyes, then twisted and used the momentum he had to drag Garg’s face into the ground while he was off balance. He then dashed back a few feet and pushed a button on a small device.
“I’m gonna break your bones all over again little man.” Garg stood with pavement in his jaws, he bit down and crushed the material and chewed on it.
“Big problem with that Garg is I don’t work alone anymore.” SideEffect said as a form slammed into Garg from behind sending the large mutant into the street behind SideEffect.
Standing where Garg had been was the comparably smaller frame of The Wielder. His magical blade glowing with power as his specially crafted armor glowed with a few symbols.
“Why did you wait so long?!” The Wielder shouted.
“Bad habit.” SideEffect shrugged, “Aren’t you supposed to be picking up your kid?”
“Not today she’s supposed to be going to a friend’s house to study.” The Wielder said casually and watched as Garg stood back up.
“Why is the NERD HERE?!” Garg roared, “Kyton, Ra-Blam! Anyone else I can respect.”
“That’s hurtful.” The Wielder said in a squeak of a voice.
¶He is always so rude.¶ Ixton, The Wielder’s magical blade spoke into his partner’s mind. ¶Standard pattern should work to take him down, I think you can handle this.¶
The Wielder sighed as he felt the power of his blade surge through his body, but the communication ceased. “Why do you do this man?”
“I wish I knew.” SideEffect sighed as Garg came to size up the two heroes he considered non-threats.
“He does know that is a city wide alert, right?” The Wielder asked.
“What?” Garg asked the ground beneath him suddenly dropped out from under him, then shot him high into the air.
The spot on the ground then turned into Tunneler, produced a small bowler hat upon his head and nodded to the two fellow heroes.
“Afternoon, Garg’s being Garg again?” Tunneler asked.
SideEffect and Wielder nodded as Garg slammed into the street once more.
“Fucking cheater!” Garg flipped to his feet once more and bent down to rip up some of the asphalt.
SideEffect pulled out his phone and sighed as he dialed. “Yeah, Masie dear, I’m gonna be late for dinner.” He paused. “Garg throwing a tantrum late.”
“Can you have her call my wife?” The Wielder asked.
“Oh, Call Wielder’s wife too.” SideEffect said, “Nah he’s trying to rip up the ground with Tunneler around.” Another pause, “Yeah, he ain’t ever been the brightest boy.”
The fight would go on for three hours. Eventually more heroes would get called in with Tesseract being called in to reastrain Garg. For the first time the violent vigilante had been stopped and contained and would answer for his crimes.
SideEffect leaned against a wall as he tried to catch his breath. He had returned to the original spot where the fight had started and was trying to track where Stereo had gone. Urban tracking was a skill the man had in spades and he wasn’t about to lose a lead even after a fight with Garg. He actually managed to track the villain called Stereo to a small abandoned deli not too far from where the fight had started, just in the opposite direction of where it had gone.
He didn’t even have to force the door open, Stereo had blowin it open. He went in quietly and searched around carefully. All he found was Stereo’s helmet, four large gashes in the wall and three sets of neatly pointed footprints. Underneath the mask SideEffect’s glare narrowed and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a partially shattered mask, old and worn from use. Its magic had been unknown to him until it forced a powerful artifact to shut down at the cost of its own power.
He switched the masks, his faces were many now and the old one still held meaning. It also still had power. In the corner he saw his daughter’s location on a magical display, Kyton’s as well. The Wielder was there as well as The Wielder’s daughter. He added Stereo to the very short list. The mask hummed, a pulse of energy went out over the city and returned. Stereo was not in Dross City.
SideEffect put on his newer face and grumbled, someone was busy at work collecting people. Men in black suits had been kidnapping people all day, from random civilians to lower tier villains. But not a single hero had been targeted. SideEffect was not going to let that one slip by. He knew who he needed to eventually talk to, but he also knew Quain and his family had earned a rest. Besides, he had to investigate more before he went to them.
His new face booted up a digital display, again the locations of multiple people were layered over the map in his Heads-up-display, but now they were all a part of his daughter’s technical genius. He loved it all, but he had to admit that even he missed the strange eldritch power he original face once held. He stopped himself mid solipsism and re-focused on his work, he would take the helmet to his companions and go from there.
---B)(S)(F---
Vile’ethiscore was curled up in his cavern, under the beaches of Dross City. He had found it years ago when he first found his way inland from the Second Great Ocean, what humans called the Atlantic. He was native to the First Great Ocean, The Pacific, humans called it. It had been a long journey, but it had been worth it. The coasts of the world had been littered with exiles of the Icathians. He sighed, content with the fight he had almost a week ago, it had stirred an old desire to do more than just face down the minor threats, that seemed to disagree with the local guardians anyway, and now he wondered if he could do more.
Slowly he dragged himself to the water and swam out to the surface. He walked along the docks and below the piers listening into the news that people would talk about. Alan’quain and his family had come up multiple times, Vile’ethiscore almost poked his head out to ask for directions as the powerful human had been an entrancing sight and feeling. The only other time he had felt something like it was in the presence of the entirety of the Noble Caste in his home. Right before he was exiled for preaching of the Mothers.
Slowly, throughout the night he made his way more inland, a first in a long while. The guardians inland had stronger weapons and he did not have the resources to mend such wounds. Still he was drawn inward, as if the Mothers themselves were calling him. He found himself near large well lit buildings staring at works of what he assumed were art, carvings of stone and metal twisted to unique shapes. He heard voices and paused as he loomed in the shadows, trying to remain unseen.
“And these wonderful works were made by Emily Ferrel, Dross City’s finest sculptor.” A cheerful sounding woman said, the stink of alcohol was on her breath.
A tingle in Vile’ethiscore’s mind went off. He felt like that name was familiar. He brushed it aside though and went to leave, then the artist spoke.
“Thank you Mary.” Emily, the woman he had helped at the docks spoke.
Vile’ethiscore froze. The Mothers had guided him to his own doom by embarrassment. He stayed as still as he could, frozen in fear and a desire to not be shot as several large guards walked past him. Then his instinct changed like a shark picking up blood in the ocean, the guards had a large weapon and they pushed the patrons away. One of the guards raised their weapon and aimed it at Emily’ferrel.
He moved without thought, but by pure instinct as was bred into his caste, and he descended up the wielder of the large weapon, driving his spear shaped tail into the man’s body. Much to his surprise a black liquid gushed from the man, so did a milky white substance. His tail roared in pain as he realized it was covered in acid. One of the other men picked up the weapon and aimed it at the artist. Vile’ethiscore snarled in anger and defiance, this beast disguised as a human would not get its prey. He grabbed the other standing man in black and threw him into the one with the weapon and leaped forward pinning both of them to the ground. He roared in their faces.
Then one of the men pulled a small weapon free and pressed it into Vile’ethiscore’s chest. Vile’ethiscore reacted and rolled away, but the powerful energy beam partially cut into his side, blood flowed freely as he raked his hand across the face of the other man. Skin was peeled back to reveal a metallic skeletal structure. Vile’ethiscore hissed in disgust. They were machines!
Vile’ethiscore then stood and rushed to block them from their target.
“What’s going on!” Emily’ferrel shouted as she stumbled while others pushed past her.
“They seek your capture, run!” Vile’ethiscore shouted.
“Vile?” Emily’ferrel shouted.
Vile’ethiscore was briefly taken aback by her more familiar usage of his name, and the absolute butchering of its pronunciation. Then even more shocked as she stood directly behind him.
The last man in black stood and aimed his small weapon at them. Vile’ethiscore knew he could not hope to dodge it and even if he could it would only leave the human woman in danger. He turned and covered her with his body, bracing for his final moments. But they never came.
When he turned back there was a new man holding the machine by its now detached head. The man was wearing a black long coat and wore a mask that looked like an angry thing that humans call clowns. It was white except for the blood and fire red markings over the eyes that expressed anger and rage. It had no visible mouth, just a thin red line where one should have been.
“It is done?” Vile’ethiscore asked. “They are defeated.”
“Don’t talk, you’ve lost a lot of blood.” The new man spoke as he approached and caught Vile’ethiscore as he fell. “Come on, you lizards are supposed to be tough. Don’t die before Quain can speak to you. He was impressed.”
Vile’ethiscore chuckled, it would have been an honor to speak to the psychic god once again. But he felt his mothers calling. Then he felt the small human hands at his side.
“Please, this is twice now.” Emily’ferrel’s hands pressed down on his open wound.
He felt the call to his mothers halt and the fire of life stoked once more. This only confused him more, but the mothers had called him here. If it was to protect this human then he was not yet done and he would not leave until he was sure he had completed his mission. But for now, rest was a good idea. And he slipped into blackness, comfortable darkness.
SideEffect stood over the unconscious Icathian. He had met only a few in his life. Mostly Guardians, the caste was notorious for being spiritually strong and stubborn, often getting ousted by their own leaders. He knew he was looking at a Guardian caste from the bulk of the creature and he knew the big guy had a toughness to him that humans could only hope to obtain. He had already put in a call for a non-human ambulance and now he was just helping the little blind artist apply pressure. She moved nervously away from him.
“Relax, I’m a hero.” SideEffect said.
“You killed a man.” She said in disgust.
“Robot.” SideEffect corrected her as he looked back to see the bodies had vanished, but the weapon was still on the ground, having been knocked from the hands of the robots. “Damnit.”
“What?” The woman flinched.
“Robots vanished....” SideEffect looked down the lizard’s body and saw the tail burning in battery acid. “Shit, need to get that clean. I need baking soda.”
“MARY!” Emily shouted.
The slightly drunken woman poked her head out from behind a statue.
“Mary, baking soda and lots of it!” SideEffect snapped.
“Yes Mr SideEffect!” Mary ran off to somewhere in the building.
“So you are a killer.” The small woman said.
“Never said I wasn’t.” SideEffect said, “Just that that wasn’t a person.”
The woman nodded, “He’s getting colder.”
“Move aside.” Two Rana EMTs with brightly colored skin came rushing up the stairs.
SideEffect moved aside, “Battery acid over the tail, it’s vital for his lifestyle and biology. Do not ignore it.”
The orange skinned Rana EMT nodded and pulled out a packet and poured a chemical mixture over the tail, it hardened quickly as she tried to get it all over the tail. The blue skinned rana prepped their stretcher.
“Massive blood loss, is this a lizard person from Fawl?” The blue skinned EMT asked.
“Icathian. Should have a small stock of cloned blood available.” The orange EMT said as she recognized the species. “We used to have a small Fresh water group about ten years back.”
The EMTs attempted to lift the heavy aquatic lizard-man. It took the assistance of SideEffect to get him on the stretcher. Then the two EMTs were off as fast as the could be.
“What happened to the colony?” Emily Ferrel asked, seemingly to no one, but she did get an answer.
“The Nobles launched a crusade.” SideEffect said darkly. “Trident wasn’t happy.”
Emily Ferrel nodded, “Will he be okay?”
SideEffect looked down at the shorter woman, “It’d be harder for him to actually give up. Guardians can’t live without something to protect. I got some questions for you though. People have been being abducted all day by these Robots in Black.”
Emily looked out from the deck where her art sat. She couldn’t see what was happening, but she heard the sirens of the ambulance start and fade into the distance. She then turned back to SideEffect and listened, answering when she could.
/////
The First Story
Previous Part! //// [Next Part!]()
Arc 1 Black Sheep Family - Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10
Spotify
/////
Credit where Credit is due:
Kyton & Cassandra Adams are © u/TwistedMind596
Obsidian is © u/Ultimalice
Ixton the Blade of the Wielder is © My friend Forged of Souls who does not use reddit
Furnace is © my friend Matt who does not use reddit
Cedric Stein Meissner aka Tesseract is © my friend James, who does not use reddit.
All other characters and Dross City are © u/TheSmogMonsterZX
////
Smoggy: So...
Wraith: You made it two days before writing.
Smoggy: Not posting though.
Perfection: Don’t make me get the Foxboy to tell you to stop.
Smoggy: I need the happy brain chemicals!
DM: Legitimate.
Wraith: Hmmm, carry on.
Smoggy: Yesssss!
Perfection: Oh wow, that’s a flood of feel goods.
Wraith: Needs more coffee.
DM: Everything always needs more coffee with you!
Wraith: And?
DM: Not complaining, just give me some!

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Project 2025 is a far-right plan to transition the U.S. federal government into an authoritarian dictatorship should a Republican win next year’s election. The project, led by the Heritage Foundation, was crafted with the implicit expectation that Donald Trump will be the GOP nominee.
Key officials in Trump’s former administration are also involved in Project 2025: Ken Cuccinelli, former Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security; Rick Dearborne, Trump’s former Deputy Chief of Staff; Christopher Miller, former acting Secretary of Defense; Peter Navarro, former Assistant to the President and former Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy; and Russ Vought, former Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Unitary executive theory

The broad strokes of Project 2025 are undergirded by the unitary executive theory, which holds that the President of the United States possesses the power to control the entire federal executive branch—no other branch can act as a check or balance on executive power. Lawyers in the Reagan administration advanced the theory in order to centralize control over the executive branch and refuse to comply with congressional oversight.

Reagan’s notion was that only a strong president would be able to dramatically limit big government. Perhaps drawing on a model for unitary corporate leadership in which the CEO also serves as chairman of the board, the so-called unitary executive promised undivided presidential control of the executive branch and its agencies, expanded unilateral powers and avowedly adversarial relations with Congress.
In the years that followed, Heritage Foundation and Federalist Society conservatives worked to provide a constitutional cover for this theory, producing thousands of pages in the 1990s claiming -- often erroneously and misleadingly -- that the framers themselves had intended this model for the office of the presidency.

George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton continued Reagan’s use of unitary executive theory relatively unchanged. George W. Bush, however, greatly expanded the concept, arguing that the president had the authority to spy) on Americans without a warrant, detain suspected terrorists without charge or trial, and even torture prisoners.

From holding detainees as “enemy combatants” with no legal rights in an extraterritorial prison camp subject to trial only by military tribunal to a massive new spying program, Bush robustly asserted executive power as commander-in-chief to do what he saw as necessary to protect the American people (Perine 2006; Howell 2005, 418). In fact, John Yoo argued that no other branch had the authority to review the president’s decisions; in a speech, he said, “Congress cannot use…legislative powers to change the Constitution’s allocation of powers between the president and Congress in the war power,” (Perine 2006). This notion – which underlay some of Bush’s most aggressive expansions of power – has vast consequences…the Bush administration, fueled by trailblazing lawyers and hawkish neoconservatives (e.g., Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney), waged a multi-theater war on terror that involved the unprecedented extension of powers of the unitary executive (Warshaw 2009).

Barack Obama did not fully embrace Bush’s incredible expansion of presidential power, though some would argue that he nevertheless relied on its precedents to unilaterally authorize military action in Libya.
Then came Donald Trump, who attempted to demolish every check and balance on the executive office imaginable. He claimed the authority to fire independent agency chiefs (and followed through, in FBI Director James Comey’s case), actually fired independent inspector generals, argued the president is immune from criminal investigation and prosecution, threatened to sic the military on racial justice protesters, bypassed the congressional appropriations process to use military funds to build a wall on the southern border, and tried to illegally stay in power by overturning the 2020 election—among a slew of other unconstitutional actions, statements ("I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president”), and threats. Some of Trump’s more dangerous ideas, like ordering the Pentagon to seize voting machines, were only prevented from becoming reality through the intervention of more rational federal employees and civil servants. As we’ll see, Project 2025 ensures these barriers to autocracy will not be in place for a second Trump term.

Install loyalists

Project 2025 hinges on filling the administration with loyalists who will not oppose Trump’s burgeoning autocracy. To this end, Trump’s former personnel director, John McEntee, is working with the Heritage Foundation to create a personnel database of far-right “purists” ready to join the administration on day one.

We're told immense, intense attention will be given to the social-media histories of anyone being considered for top jobs. Those queasy about testing the limits of Trump's power will get flagged and rejected. The massive headhunting quest aims to recruit 20,000 people to serve in the next administration, as a down payment on 4,000 presidential appointments + potential replacements for as many as 50,000 federal workers who are "policy-adjacent," as Trumpers put it.

In order to install tens of thousands of loyalist federal workers, Trump would first have to get rid of tens of thousands of career civil servants. According to Axios, the former president plans to reimpose his Schedule F executive order to remove federal employees’ protections and more easily purge them from government.

“I think Schedule F is basically doctrine now on the right,” said Russ Vought, an architect of Schedule F when he was Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget [who now works on Project 2025]. “So I think one that sits in that position does not have an ability to not do this, not unlike any other governing philosophy” widely embraced by conservatives.
“Schedule F is getting to the point where I cannot see anyone who runs on the Republican side who doesn’t put this into play,” Vought, the president of the Center for Renewing America, a right-wing think tank, continued.

As for presidential appointees, there is some speculation that Trump's allies in Congress are holding open positions to make it easier for Trump to fill them in should he win the election. Nowhere is this more stark than Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) hold on nearly 450 military nominees, ostensibly aimed at forcing the Pentagon to stop covering travel for service members in restrictive states to obtain an abortion. Whether or not this is the true reason behind his blockade, the effect is the same: if Trump wins the election, he will be able to replace the professional class of officers pledged to the constitution with loyalists who won’t question his command.

Eliminate independence

Consistent with the unitary executive theory, Project 2025 seeks to eliminate the independence of the Department of Justice, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and other agencies.

“The notion of independent federal agencies or federal employees who don’t answer to the president violates the very foundation of our democratic republic,” said Kevin D. Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, adding that the contributors to Project 2025 are committed to “dismantling this rogue administrative state.”

A key motivation for placing Trump in charge of the entire executive branch is also a common theme in nearly every speech the former president gives: revenge. According to the Washington Post, Trump plans to weaponize the Justice Department against his enemies:

In private, Trump has told advisers and friends in recent months that he wants the Justice Department to investigate onetime officials and allies who have become critical of his time in office, including his former chief of staff, John F. Kelly, and former attorney general William P. Barr, as well as his ex-attorney Ty Cobb and former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley…
To facilitate Trump’s ability to direct Justice Department actions, his associates have been drafting plans to dispense with 50 years of policy and practice intended to shield criminal prosecutions from political considerations. Critics have called such ideas dangerous and unconstitutional.

Suppress dissent

A sizable portion of the U.S. population will likely object to Trump’s autocratic plan. Should protests erupt, Trump reportedly intends to “immediately” deploy the military for domestic law enforcement—just as he attempted in 2020 but faced pushback from advisors.

Much of the planning for a second term has been unofficially outsourced to a partnership of right-wing think tanks in Washington. Dubbed “Project 2025,” the group is developing a plan, to include draft executive orders, that would deploy the military domestically under the Insurrection Act, according to a person involved in those conversations and internal communications reviewed by The Washington Post. The law, last updated in 1871, authorizes the president to deploy the military for domestic law enforcement…Trump has publicly expressed regret about not deploying more federal force and said he would not hesitate to do so in the future.

According to the Washington Post, the person leading the Insurrection Act portion of Project 2025 is none other than Trump’s unindicted co-conspirator Jeffrey Clark. As you may recall, Clark assisted Trump in attempting to overturn the 2020 election and nearly got himself appointed as Acting Attorney General in the days before the January 6th insurrection.

As a Justice Department official after the 2020 election, Clark pressured superiors to investigate nonexistent election crimes and to encourage state officials to submit phony certificates to the electoral college, according to the indictment.
In one conversation described in the federal indictment, a deputy White House counsel warned Clark that Trump’s refusing to leave office would lead to “riots in every major city.” Clark responded, according to the indictment, “That’s why there’s an Insurrection Act.”

Project 2025’s other plans for the military also worry experts, like its promise to “rigorously review all general and flag officer promotions to prioritize the core roles and responsibilities of the military over social engineering and non-defense related matters, including climate change, critical race theory [and] manufactured extremism." This would likely include rescinding the Pentagon’s designation of climate change as a national security priority, preventing the military from taking climate change into account when planning installations, prohibiting the Defense Department from holding diversity and inclusion training and education, ending the Pentagon’s efforts at countering extremism within its ranks, and banning the Pentagon from covering travel costs for service members to obtain an abortion in states with fewer abortion restrictions.

Limit rights

A majority of Project 2025’s plans involve reenacting Trump’s first-term policies—but on steroids.
Immigration:
Trump’s official platform, known as Agenda 47, contains the most extreme anti-immigrant policies of a leading presidential candidate in recent memory. He has promised to enact mass deportations, “round[ing] up undocumented people already in the United States” and detaining them in “huge camps,” while invoking a public health emergency to refuse asylum claims.

To help speed mass deportations, Mr. Trump is preparing an enormous expansion of a form of removal that does not require due process hearings. To help Immigration and Customs Enforcement carry out sweeping raids, he plans to reassign other federal agents and deputize local police officers and National Guard soldiers voluntarily contributed by Republican-run states.
To ease the strain on ICE detention facilities, Mr. Trump wants to build huge camps to detain people while their cases are processed and they await deportation flights. And to get around any refusal by Congress to appropriate the necessary funds, Mr. Trump would redirect money in the military budget, as he did in his first term to spend more on a border wall than Congress had authorized.

According to Axios, Trump also intends to use the U.S. military to target drug cartels in Mexico—a move that would risk open hostilities with the Mexican government—and form a naval blockade to stop drug smuggling boats.
Project 2025 implicitly supports these policies by laying the groundwork to reorganize DHS, ICE, and CBP to serve primarily as deportation police. Further, the project calls to reinstate Remain in Mexico, restart building a wall along the Mexico-U.S. border, restrict visa programs, repeal Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations (that allow migrants from unsafe home countries, like Ukraine, a right to live and work in the U.S.), and rescind protections for unaccompanied minors.
Environment:
Following its pledge to dismantle the “administrative state” full of “leftists” and “Marxists,” Project 2025 proposes gutting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), cutting its environmental justice functions, and terminating the newest hires in “low-value” programs (which it does not define but would likely cover any programs with a social outreach aim).
Green energy would be completely removed from the incoming administration’s agenda by terminating the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and ending electric grid expansion to incorporate green energy generation. Instead, the plan calls for ending “the Biden administration’s unprovoked war on fossil fuels,” expanding natural gas infrastructure, eliminating regulations against drilling on federal land, and ceasing efforts to encourage a transition to electric vehicles.

The plan to gut the Department of Energy was written by Bernard McNamee, a former DOE official whom Trump appointed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. McNamee, who did not have regulatory experience, was one of the most overtly political FERC appointees in decades. He was a director at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank that fights climate regulations, and was a senior adviser to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

LGBTQ+ rights:
Project 2025 plans to advance the current red state war on the LGBTQ+ community by integrating its discrimination into the federal government. Under the Biden administration, the document claims, “children suffer the toxic normalization of transgenderism with drag queens and pornography invading their school libraries.” Trans people are not treated as human. Their very existence is reduced to a poisonous ideology:

Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children, for instance, is not a political Gordian knot inextricably binding up disparate claims about free speech, property rights, sexual liberation, and child welfare. It has no claim to First Amendment protection. Its purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women. Their product is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime. Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.

To facilitate the erasure of LGBTQ+ people from public life, Project 2025 proposes removing all references and protections for queer people from federal language (note the removal of terms connected to women’s health, as well):

The next conservative President must make the institutions of American civil society hard targets for woke culture warriors. This starts with deleting the terms sexual orientation and gender identity (“SOGI”), diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”), gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other term used to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists.

Reproductive health:
In addition to eliminating “gender equality,” “abortion,” and “reproductive health” from federal rules and regulations (above), Project 2025 plans to reverse the FDA’s approval of mifepristone for medication abortion and prohibit the mailing of abortion pills.

Abortion pills pose the single greatest threat to unborn children in a post-Roe world. The rate of chemical abortion in the U.S. has increased by more than 150 percent in the past decade; more than half of annual abortions in the U.S. are chemical rather than surgical…Now that the Supreme Court has acknowledged that the Constitution contains no right to an abortion, the FDA is ethically and legally obliged to revisit and withdraw its initial approval, which was premised on pregnancy being an “illness” and abortion being “therapeutically” effective at treating this “illness.”
Allowing mail-order abortions is a gift to the abortion industry that allows it to expand far beyond brick-and-mortar clinics and into pro-life states that are trying to protect women, girls, and unborn children from abortion. The FDA should therefore…Stop promoting or approving mail-order abortions in violation of long-standing federal laws that prohibit the mailing and interstate carriage of abortion drugs.

Not content to limit its oppression of women to the U.S., Project 2025 advocates for eliminating many of the family planning and reproductive policies of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). A woman’s role, the plan all but states, is only to have children:

Families are the basic unit of and foundation for a thriving society. Without women, there are no children, and society cannot continue. As evidenced by the confirmation testimony of now-Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the progressive Left has so misused and altered the definition of what a “woman” is that one of our U.S. Supreme Court Justices was unable to delineate clearly the fundamental biological and sexual traits that define the group of which she is a part. USAID cannot advocate for and protect women when they have been erased globally along with the values and traditional structures that have supported them.
The next conservative Administration should rename the USAID Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) as the USAID Office of Women, Children, and Families; refocus and realign resources that currently support programs in GEWE to the Office of Women, Children, and Families; redesignate the Senior Gender Coordinator as an unapologetically pro-life politically appointed Senior Coordinator of the Office of Women, Children, and Families; and eliminate the “more than 180 gender advisors and points of contact…embedded in Missions and Operating Units throughout the Agency.”