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the-toppat-king · 5 years ago

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Chapter Six: Friends in Cold Places

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien stared blankly for a moment at what she'd caught in her net.

"Once." She sighed, kneeling by the net and cutting it open so she could pull out the motionless body. "Just once, would like to catch only fish."

Being so close to The Wall, catching a corpse or two wasn't uncommon. They had the bad habit of just dumping their bodies and trash into the ocean, making it harder for the scientist to catch only her next meal, which was the entire reason she'd decided she should move away from that area of the cliff.

This, however, she noted as she pressed two fingers to the body's neck, was not a corpse. He was still breathing, just barely, and she could feel a weak pulse beneath her fingers. Corpses didn't have pulses, and they certainly didn't breathe.

She glanced to the top hat and gold chain alongside him, somehow not lost to the ocean. It'd gotten tangled in the net with him and told her all she needed to know: Toppat. The leader, in fact, by the look of it. She'd heard that Reginald had handed over leadership in return for mercy, however, she didn't think it'd be someone she recognized.

"Never thought I'd see the day you returned to the Toppat Clan, Suave." Dr. Vinschpinsilstien stood up, lifting the Toppat in her arms. "Last I heard you ran after your father died, what happened to you?"

The only response was a moan of pain, but he didn't wake up as she carried him inside and laid him on a bed. His left arm was obviously and likely irreparably broken, twisted at more than one odd angle. Even then she could see frostbite was already setting in and likely was going to take it if she didn't. She began examination, experimentally testing reflexes and rolling him over to check his injured back.

She didn't need an x-ray to know his spine had been broken in more than one place, likely from the bullet hole she found as well as the fact it looked like he'd fallen into the sharp, jagged rocks that lined the cliffs. If he had any hope of recovery, or even survival at this rate, it'd need to be completely removed and replaced.

She suddenly stopped.

Why was she even considering any of this? She had told herself she would never help the Toppats again after she left. She had already refused to assist them once, when they called asking her to come save Right, and she really didn't want to give them the satisfaction of giving in at any point. Hell, she only knew Henry because he was Terrence's son and with how much trouble he'd gotten into, even as a child, it was hard not to know him.

She could, and honestly should, just toss him back in the water. He was already half-dead, and she owed him and the Toppats nothing.

Her fingers nervously tapped the table at that thought. She could do it, yes, but would she? Hell no. It felt...cruel to leave him to drown or freeze to death. It wasn't her place to decide who got to die based on her emotions. Did she hate the Toppat Clan? Yes. But was it right to leave someone to die because of her own experiences with them? Certainly not!

Briefly she wondered why he was even in the water. Was it a denouncement ceremony? It didn't look that way, if she was honest. The gold chain and his hat would have been taken if it was, but no one seemed to be looking for him.

Then again if he fell into the rocks, why would they? She wondered briefly, looking at him. He was obviously quite weak, struggling to even take a single, faint breath. It was nothing short of a miracle that he was still alive at this point. She knew his lungs had to have water in them, which on its own could be fatal. They probably assumed him to be dead.

She briefly wondered how Right and Reginald were holding up. She knew they loved Henry as their own son, losing him all those years ago, getting him back and then immediately losing him again must be tearing them apart. She didn't really want to, but she could imagine the heart-wrenching scream of Reginald, and the blank but grief-filled stare of Right as they had lost him for a second time.

Her hand balled into a fist.

She was so weak.

Finally she made a decision. She'd stabilize him for now, then call Reginald and Right to come get him. Maybe she'd perform the surgery to replace his arm and spine, if they paid her for it.

Time to get to work. She sighed.

Stabilizing Henry had been harder than Dr. Vinschpinsilstien thought it would be.

Even unconscious and injured as he was, he had fought like hell when she put a tube down his throat to drain the water from his lungs. It had been pitiful, honestly. Dr. Vinschpinsilstien certainly didn't pride herself on her bedside manner, but she couldn't help but gently try to reassure him that it was alright, and it would be over soon.

Sighing heavily, she sat in her chair before sending a call through to the Toppat Clan's airship division. Straightening up, she took a deep breath as the call was accepted, and Right responded.

"What? We're a little busy at-"

"Hello, Right."

"Ah, Doctor. 'Ave you reconsidered our offer to rejoin the Toppats?" He asked. She could almost hear the strained smile in his voice, and she quickly strangled the feeling of pity. She'd let herself feel sympathy for her patient, but the Toppat Clan would get no pity from her.

"Oh I'll join you alright, I'll join you in hell." She replied, teeth clenched. "But that's not why I'm calling. It seems you lost your leader."

There was silence for a moment.

"Did you...find the body?" He finally asked quietly.

"Oh I found a body, just not a dead one." She replied. "From here, you have three choices. I've stabilized him for now, you can come get him and deal with his injuries yourself, or you can commission me to perform surgery. If you do neither, I can always hand him over to the government."

"W'at kind of surgery?" Right asked a bit skeptically.

"His arm is broken in a few places and he's suffering from frostbite." She replied. "His spine is also broken in multiple places. Both will need completely replaced, likely along with his heart, as he's too frail to perform surgery on while still alive."

There was silence again, and she heard him take a trembling breath. "W'at do you want in return for saving 'im?"

"I won't ask for much this time." She replied. "I want appropriate compensation, for one. I'll go with the low end of one hundred, fifty thousand for both the spine and arm, and my time. These augmentations are not cheap to make or install. And I would rather like the dinner I lost from catching him in my net to be replaced."

"T'at's all?"

"That's all." She confirmed. "I suggest you make a decision quickly. Henry is very frail, I cannot hold him for long."

"Done, we'll bring the payment as soon as we can." He took a breath. "...may we see 'im?"

"If you wish. But you need to find your own way here." She didn't particularly want either of them on her boat, but there was no way she could safely move Henry to the airship, and she wasn't sure if she'd even be able to revive him. Replacing his entire spine was experimental, even by her standards.

If she failed, this may very well be the last time they see their son alive. Who was she to deny them of that?

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien sighed, crossing her arms as she stared up at the airship.

Honestly she wasn't sure what she was expecting when Right asked if he and Reginald could see Henry. I suppose arriving in the airship and dropping down is better than trying to pick up the boat and bring it inside the airship. She thought, a little bitterly, as she watched Reginald, Right and a few others climb down a rope ladder. She raised an eyebrow upon noticing one of them was a government pilot. "Toppats working with the government? Is the world ending?"

"It's only temporary." Right grumbled. "We don't particularly want 'im 'ere."

The other person, a woman with fiery red hair, glared at him. "I did. We both owe Henry. You admitted he might not survive this, we needed a chance to thank him, even if he's not awake."

"I'm sorry," Dr. Vinschpinsilstien sighed. "Who are you two?"

"Charles Calvin and Ellie Rose." The pilot replied. "General Galeforce sent me on a mission to retrieve files so we can shut down the Wall. He thought that since the Toppat Clan were lying low we could at least take them out and lighten our workload. Ellie was a prisoner, she came with us."

"Henry broke us out." Ellie nodded. "We just...need to see him, just once."

It took a few moments for what she just said to sink in. "He...broke you out of the Wall?" She asked slowly.

Both nodded.

"I'm going to want that story later." She turned away. "Come with me, I'll take you to my workroom, that's where I'm keeping him."

Leading them to the small room, Dr. Vinschpinsilstien blinked in surprise seeing that he was actually awake now. Immediately Reginald pushed past her, running to his son's side. "Henry!"

"Reg...inald...?" Henry breathed, meeting his eyes.

“I’m right here.” Reginald squeezed Henry’s hand. “I-I’m right here. I...I’m not going to leave you.”

"E...everything...hurts..." He squeezed back weakly, blinking as Right came up next to him. "Right...I..."

"You don't 'ave to say anything."

Henry shook his head. "I...I'm...sorry. I...hurt you. I..."

"I know." Right replied, voice uncharacteristically quiet. "It's alright, I'm not angry."

"Henry." Reginald's voice broke. "Please, hold on a while longer. The doctor is doing to fix you, I promise. You'll...you'll be alright."

“...promise…?”

"I...I promise."

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien's breath caught in her throat as she got a good look at Henry's face. His eyes were half-closed, dull with hopelessness and clouded with pain. He was struggling to stay awake, to even stay conscious.

Charles tapped her shoulder. "Doctor...is he going to survive this?"

She shook her head. "No, but I need to completely replace his spine, and I can't do it while he's alive, anyway."

"But you can bring him back?"

She nodded.

"...'m tired." Henry murmured.

Reginald covered his mouth to hide a sob. "I...I know, Hen."

“...it’s so cold...so dark…” He breathed. “D...Dad...I...I don’t...I don't want to die...not like this...”

That was all it took for Reginald to break down into sobs, hunching over his son. Right held him tighter, reaching to join his husband in holding Henry's hand. “You’re not going to die!" Reginald finally choked out. "I’m not going to let you die, I refuse to let you go like this!”

There was no response.

"...'Enry...?" Right asked, eyes clouding with grief.

Silence. Henry's eyes stared sightlessly up at the ceiling, no breath leaving his lips.

Reginald screamed. "HENRY!"

"That's your cue to leave." Dr. Vinschpinsilstien cut in, pulling Reginald away. "Go wait outside so I can work."

"T'ank you, Doctor." Right spoke up, leading his husband out. "I trust you with the rest."

______________________________

It'd been a few hours since Dr. Vinschpinsilstien had begun surgery.

Right sat against a wall, Reginald sleeping against his chest. He'd only left once to help her remove Henry's left arm, but he hadn't lingered long.

Seeing Henry hooked up to life support, so unnaturally still and pale, was too much, even for him.

(He'd briefly wondered where she'd gotten a ventilator, but it was keeping oxygen flowing to his brain and preventing brain death so he wouldn't complain.)

Right glanced over at Charles and Ellie, the two in a corner leaning against each other. They, too, had fallen asleep, it'd been an exhausting day for them and he didn't blame them for wanting some rest. He himself only remained awake so he could recieve the news as soon as Dr. Vinschpinsilstien was finished.

Suddenly there was the sound of someone clearing their throat. Right looked up, seeing the good doctor peeling off her gloves.

"'Ow is 'e?"

"Alive. But he's very weak." She replied with a frown. "I hope you know it is unwise for him to return to the Toppat Clan."

Right stared at her blankly a moment. "I...I'm sorry, w'at?"

"It is unwise for him to return to the Clan." She repeated. "Right, Henry's augmentations are not nearly as stable as your own. I've managed to connect his heart replacement to his spine in a way that his brain thinks it's his heart, so he won't have any problems with that, but the second that spine is damaged his body will begin to shut down again."

"So? No one cares if 'Enry has to be more careful. But you left, so I wouldn't expect you to understand our familial bonds."

"Do you really believe that? You have over a thousand members, what will happen if a small group, or even a single person, decides Henry is weak and unfit to lead? Do you want Henry to live past the age of thirty-five?"

"Of course!" Right forced his voice to stay steady so he didn't wake the others, despite the rage bubbling in him. The nerve of this woman!

"Then let him go. He has a chance to get out of this life, you have to let him take it."

Right fell silent, glancing down at Reginald. "...we can't say goodbye again. Not after all of this."

"Who says you have to say goodbye?" She knelt down. "Just give him a chance to leave, if you think he'd never speak to you again you're dead wrong."

"...can we just see 'im?"

The doctor sighed. "Go ahead. He's asleep for now, but I suspect he'll be complaining if he wakes up and none of you have visited."

It took a few minutes for Right to wake Reginald up, but soon enough they stood before their sleeping son.

His left arm was completely gone, even the shoulder was missing, replaced by smooth metal. There were patches down his side for easy connecting a disconnecting, and a blue light glowed on his chest, becoming brighter with each inhale before dulling slightly upon exhale.

She'd explained his spine was exposed, since there was just no way for her to get skin over the metal without it shredding like paper if it ended up strained. Just another reason for Henry to leave the Toppat Clan, permanently this time.

Reginald will not like that. Right noted, staying quiet as he sat down by Henry. Reginald squeezed his hand, giving him an exhausted smile.

Right couldn't help but smile back.

At that moment, it felt like everything was going to be just fine.

#Chapters #The Toppat King #Dr. Vinschpinsilstien #Reginald Copperbottom #Right Hand Man #Charles Calvin #Ellie Rose #Henry Stickmin

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weaselle · 5 years ago

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Dead Earth 3rd installment

Ringer had killed a couple men back in Quorum, and that was the problem. Quorum was pretty rough and tumble; those men he shot were mean and tough, and he figured it made him a real bad hombre.

He was tall and slim, and he fancied himself a gunfighter, wearing a pistol in a shoulder rig and another in a holster tucked into the back of his belt. Somewhere along the way he had joined up with Daily, a big beefy man who loved to hit things with his fists, and the two of them pretty much thought they were the toughest dudes to ever live. Geo, a smallish young man, was impressed by them, and latched onto the pair.

Breen only had two other crew members: Cee W., a copilot he’d met on a night the young man was fed up with his previous employer, and Hanah, an old ship hand who kept to herself, knew how to do her job and everyone else’s too. Breen’s ship The Grabbyelle was already warming it’s engines for take off by the time Ringer, Daily, and Geo showed up, late as usual.

“They’re on, Cap’n” Hannah’s voice sounded in Breen’s ear.

“Lift it” Breen told Cee W.. Once they were on course, he turned over control to his copilot and called a crew meeting in the galley. Hex and Jackal would be there, Cee W. would listen in on the com.

_____________________________________________________________________

Breen did a double take as he entered the galley and saw Hex. She was wearing a kind of business suit in crimson and black, with plenty of gold jewelry, somehow managing to look like both a CEO and a pirate -- the pirate effect highlighted by the nine inch blade strapped to her left thigh and a long wool coat draped over her shoulders like a cloak. Jackal was beside her in similar if less flashy garb. His large foxy ears were plainly visible through a brimmed hat with two holes for them, but looked at first glance like they might be part of it, like feathers stuck in the hatband. Wearing a vest and no jacket, he had a sort of short staff slung across his back. It was the least number of visible weapons Breen had seen on them yet.

When Ringer and Daily came in trailing Geo behind them, Hex and Jackal had their interest right away. Ringer leaned insolently against a counter eyeballing Jackal, and Daily walked over and lewdly ran his eyes up and down Hex.

“Well well, Captain, what have you brought us?” Ringer said, looking at Jackals ears, then glancing at Hex. “Pets? Are they house trained?” Jackal’s eyes narrowed a little, and one ear flicked. “What do think Daily, she got a tail hidden away behind her? Aww, what am I sayin’, you probably don’t care if she’s human or not”

“Shut up, Ringer” Daily said flatly, leaving his eyes on Hex.

“You’re out of line, Ringer” said Breen, with more confidence than he felt, “You too, Daily, back off! Don’t be rude to our clients” Daily lingered a second, then moved to sit at the table with Hannah and Geo.

“Oh clients!” said Ringer, bowing sarcastically “So sorry, I didn’t realize.” Suddenly ignoring Hex and Jackal, he dropped into a chair and faced Breen, who also sat. “What’s the job?”

Before he could answer, Hex said “I’ve hired this ship and its crew to retrieve something of mine. A box my uncle left me.”

“We need a whole ship for that?” said Geo skeptically “Must be a big-ass box”

“Not so big,” said Hex, as Jackal brought her a mug of black caff and sat at the table, “it’s not the size, it’s the location. I hope you all are ready for a rough time -- we’re going down to the Old World.”

Well, they didn’t like to hear that, and with good reason. The Lunar Colonies had been established close to 200 years ago, and the Earth had been considered a dead and dangerous planet for most of that time. Oh, there were things living on it, but it mostly wasn’t a fit place for people to live. Some did anyway, such were the ways of humans, to claw existence from the barest chance of survival. They lived amid the wreckage left by a combination of environmental disaster and global warfare, an apocalyptic wilderness considered uninhabitable by most of what was left of humanity. Many of those left on the planet were either genetically altered or cybernetically augmented, the progeny of laboratory creations during the last, war-torn decades of a fully populated Earth.

Called derogatory names like “grader” “shifter” “alter” and “mutie” (slurs short for upgraded, gene-shifted, altered, and mutant) people with cybernetic or genetic enhancements were not welcome in the lunar colonies. First generation Upgraded and Gene-shifted entities had been designed for war and terror, often mimicking horror story creatures such as vampires and zombies, or housing weaponry and programing for battle and assassination. Not just people, there were many human-created animals, some of which were quite intelligent. And there were micro-organisms and nanobots still swarming the planet, as well. When a last large-scale evacuation had finally been implemented, the Planetary Evacuation and Transfer Agency had screened for and denied entry to all Enhanced Beings, a policy meant to prevent “infecting” the supposed purity of the Lunar Colonies.

“I shoulda known a couple of damn shifters would try to get us down the well” said Daily, referring to the gravity well created by the planet. “Like hell I want to go there, full of vampires and borgs and nano-mites and who knows what.”

“That box of your uncle’s must have something worth a whole lot of money in it for you to hire a ship and land on that death rock,” mused Ringer. “What’s our share?”

Hex looked at him coldly “Whatever worth that box has is only valuable to me. There’s nothing in there for you. What you get is a working ship in operation, with its dock fees paid off and plenty of food and water, and your normal crew rates.”

Ringer scowled and looked over at Breen “That right, Captain? We working for zero percent of the haul? Doesn’t seem fair, that.”

“Can’t make money on a ship with empty tanks and unpaid dock fees, Ringer. I saw a chance and I took it. You’re getting paid your crew rate. Sometime in the next few hauls maybe we’ll find something that’ll earn you a nice bonus. Meanwhile, eat up, sleep tight, do your job, and draw your normal pay.”

“I don’t like it at all,” Ringer replied “and I know Daily and Geo don’t either. How ‘bout you, Hannah? You want to go down to Old Earth? Getting old to try that kind of environment, aren’t you? And I bet you don’t like to work a run and not get a percentage”

Hannah, never impressed by Ringer and his friends, shrugged “You ever shipped out on one of those big ol’ EA astroid miners? They charge you for room and board the whole time you’re on the ship, gotta pay it out of whatever you manage to mine while you’re out in The Black. If you don’t find enough ore to pay your bill, you don’t get to leave the ship when it docks, gotta head back out on the next run and hope your luck is better. Plenty of them miners never manage to get free, spend the rest of their lives working for that EA mining corp, never see a single kuai in their bank account. This here’s not my favorite deal, but it’s a deal, and a better one than I’ve had from some. Captain says we might get something extra later on, then I expect there’s a good chance of that, he ain’t lied to us yet.”

Hannah grinned nastily at the lanky troublemaker, “As for taking a trip down the well, you don’t worry me none with that talk, Ringer, what with you never even breathed the Old World air. You might be surprised to know I actually been down there before, an’ I ain’t so old I can’t go again. What’s more, I’m twice as likely to make it back as you are yourself, and that’s facts. That there planet eats up men think they’re tough like you, just plain eats ‘em right up; why, you oughta be scared more than you are, really.”

“Scared?” Ringer was outraged. “You keep talking, grannie,” Ringer bit out, “I’ll show you who’s tough”

“Alright, that’s enough,” said Breen, “In 52 hours we’ll be landing. It’s a dangerous world, but we’re just making a pick up, and taking off. No reason for everybody to get all wound up. Now you’ve heard the job, and that’s how it is. Everybody back to work. Hex, I’d like to speak to you on the bridge at your convenience” and with that, he walked out.

Daily stood up, looking at Hex, “How ‘bout it, lady, you want to come see me in my quarters when you’re done with the captain, I’ll show you a real man.”

“That’d be nice” said Hex, “I been looking for a real man since I got here.”

“Oh yeah?” said Daily, grinning lustily.

“Yeah,” said Hex, wryly, running her eyes slowly up and down Daily “and I haven’t seen one yet” and turned her back and left.

“Fucking bitch!” Daily exclaimed and leapt up to follow, but suddenly Jackal was face to face with him, fangs bared, staff out with the tip resting against Daily’s chest, stopping him. Ringer put his hand to his gun, but Jackal said “Daily dies if you do, Ringer. Daily, you better call off your buddy if you want to live. You know what a bangstick is?”

Off to one side, Hannah chuckled. “You boys sure went knocking on the wrong door. Better go easy there, Ringer. Bangstick is a compression gun, Daily, in case you don’t know. Just a pipe with a round loaded in, usually shotgun shell -- you jab it against anything and it hits the pin, fires the round. You’re mighty close to having a big hole right through you, boy.”

“That’s exactly right,” said Jackal “and your pal Ringer there could make me nervous, with his hand on his gun like that.”

“Let’s go, Ringer,” said Daily, slowly, “this is a bad start to a fight. We can pick a better time and finish it.”

“Anytime at all, cabronés,” said Jackal, as Ringer took his hand away from his holster and Daily backed away. “You try it anytime you want”.

Daily and Ringer left.

Hannah looked at Jackal. “You remind me of some folks. You ever ship with any of the Old Fleet?”

Jackal grinned at her and winked, touched the brim of his hat and left.

Hannah whistled soundlessly and looked across the table at Geo. “Kid, I never liked those two you hang out with, but you seem okay, so I’ll give you some good advice for free. If they go after these two, you just let them go and do it without you, I’d hate to see you killed. That there was a Galloglas, or I’m Queen of the Moon.”

Geo wrinkled his brow at her. “What in the diyu is a Galloglas?”

“You ever hear of the Old Fleet?” Geo shook his head at her. “The Council of Captains?” Geo shook his head again. “Well, you know how Sol Union got started?” Geo shrugged. “Por su madré, what all are they teaching people these days?” she said, “Well okay then, listen up, I guess this here is story time.”

“Back in the day, the Old Fleet was called the Station Supply Fleet, or the Service Fleet. A handful of giant ships created to service the seven space stations.

Life on these stations was secretive even back then, and from the beginning, their smaller populations tended to have a lot of brains and be in the top of their field. Then those folks raised a few generations of children who were certainly very, very smart, even if no one has ever proved they’ve been genetically enhanced to be extra intelligent, as rumor says.

Those stations, whole little worlds unto themselves, were busy developing goods and services in their areas of specialty -- those things they still produce, like robotics, medical research and narcotics, specialized food production, entertainment. But that wasn’t all they developed while floating around out in The Black. They also developed their own ways of life.

Sort of the same way, the Service Fleet was making their own cultures too. Most of those ships were crewed by several hundred men and women on back to back between-station journeys that could take three years or more each trip, and they naturally started their own way of living.

So anyway, it wasn’t long before the stations began to have differing opinions about what the law should be on-station. Different from each other, a bit, and very different than the governments that thought they controlled them.

More and more those opinions disagreed with the opinions of Earth and the Lunar colonies, and when one of those disagreements came to a head on Station Delta, the old Space Command found out very quickly that one of the things all the stations had in common was an opinion that attempts at military boarding and take-over of a station would not be tolerated.

The long and short of it was, the few surviving members of the Lunar Military incursion team wound up reporting that yes, the extremely intelligent people of Station Delta had, in fact, thought to engineer quite well against armed intrusion. Planetary authorities were further caught with their pants down when the seven stations of Sol System immediately unionized and seceded en mass, announcing themselves an alliance of self-governing bodies. Looking back, they had to have been planning it for a while, secretive messages going back and forth in the dark for years. Anyway, that’s how Sol Union was born.

The days-old Sol Union then gave the Supply Fleet that serviced them an offer, which was simply: join us.

Now those ships relied heavily on those stations to supply and refuel. There was no way to land them on the Moon or on Old Earth, they were designed to dock with the stations. And I imagine a lot of those ships didn’t care for being ordered around by government folks who didn’t know what life in the Fleet was like, most of who’d never even served on board any ship at all.

On each ship of the Fleet, decisions were made about the Sol Union offer. On some ships, there were votes. On other ships arguments were more pointed. Explosive, even. Two ships were lost entirely.

In the end, the Council of Captains was formed (some of whom were very new to their captaincy indeed). They defined each ship as an autonomous entity, and unanimously offered an alliance with the Sol System Union, simultaneously offering Earth and the Lunar Colonies a peace-treaty with trade agreements. Once the Sol Union signed that alliance with the Council of Captains, there wasn't really any choice for Terran or Lunar governments; the station labs produced a lot of the best goods and technology: medical equipment and vaccines, personal electronics, as well as widely enjoyed arts and entertainment- that last bit was particularly tricky for Space Command to get around. It was extremely difficult to keep the support of the citizenry when the 'enemy' was so damned popular.

But mostly it was that the ships of the Fleet were almost all of the serious space-craft humanity had made up til then. There was no space navy, nor any kind of second fleet to provide shipping. In effect, the rebel Union, while refusing to trade any of their products with Terra, had agreed to sell to the Fleet, who was offering to sell those things to the Earth and Moon. And buy goods from them to sell to Sol Union, of course. Neither Terra nor Luna could afford to refuse, and indeed, the Delta Solar Treaty worked well for all concerned. Still does.

Now, one of those ships, the captain was a woman named Reilly Galloglas. Nobody is sure how or where, but her crew started buying or building smaller ships. They spread out some. Some of them turned Pirate. Some of them started raiding Earth, scavenging and selling black market goods. Some of them even left off shipping out and worked security for a station here and there, or started a business. Mostly they’re one big family, even if distantly related. They’ll adopt long time crew members, and I’ve heard tell some people marry into the family. But they never take in or keep anybody who doesn’t live up to their standards, born in or not. And there are three things you have to know about them Galloglas folk.

First, they’re honest and honorable, even if half of ‘em are criminals and pirates. I mean they might steal all your money, but they won’t lie about it, they’ll keep any promise they make, and they’ll only kill someone who’s armed and facing them. Second, they’re a hard, dangerous, deadly folk. They don’t run from a fight, you can believe it; there’s just no back up to ‘em. And third, they are loyal as fuck. They mostly handle their own business, but gods help anyone who backshoots one, or gets one too outgunned and they have to call for reinforcements.

I only ever heard one time it happened. ‘Bout sixty years ago, the Theta Station Mining Co. had a difficulty with one, and blew her ship up while she was on station talking to them about it. They musta figured to strand her there, or something. I don’t know if they realized that little ship had her husband and kids on it, but she sure made sure they knew it by the end. Every Galloglas near got involved, and that right there is why there’s only six stations left in Sol Union. The rest of them stations looked at shrapnel left where the station had been, checked their options, and allowed as how Theta had fucked up and got what they deserved. They sorta buried the whole story and moved on quick. They surely didn’t want to push the issue with that Galloglas crew. I reckon if it came to it, they’d all of them show up, and I don’t see how there could be less than 500 of them Galloglases, maybe two or three times that number, a bunch of ‘em with their own ships, and every one a demon in a fight.”

Son,” Hannah looked into Geo’s eyes, “you take an old lady’s advice, tell your friends to lay off - them two are a lot more trouble than Ringer and Daily can handle”

“I will Hannah, thanks” said Geo. And a couple hours later, he did.

But the problem was, Ringer had killed a couple men back in rough and tumble Quorum, and he figured it made him a real tough guy.

#dead earth #fiction #writing #science fiction #dead earth 3

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mikewhittakermusic · 5 years ago

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December/January Progress

Throughout December and January I gave myself a lot to do, possibly too much as not everything was completed. However, I still feel that I am making good progress with what I have done so far:

Business cards have been designed and created (see Appendix 1), however the company that printed them has made an error in the printing and so have agreed to print them again for free; this could even be considered a positive as now I have double the amount of business cards than I anticipated as a result.

An orchestral template has been created and put to use (see Appendix 2) and works well as an idea generator. As this template uses Pro Tools stock plug-ins Xpand!2 to maximise the amount I can create without running into CPU and RAM issues the resulting sound is not as good as it could be, so another template needs to be created which includes better VST instruments to move tracks onto after the initial ideas have been created.

Work with Alexander Macrae took place on his D’Cafe series throughout January (see Appendix 3). My role was to record Foley sounds for the first 6 minute (approximately) video. This is almost entirely finished now, and the composition for the video will be discussed, considered and composed with Alexander before this can be included within a showreel.

Potential theatre collaborators were found throughout Bristol and back home in Ludlow, Shropshire. An email was sent out to them asking if they would like any free composition for a project/theatre show (see Appendix 4). I am awaiting replies from these emails at present.

6 quick one minute compositions in different modes were to be composed, 2 of which have been composed to varying levels of success. The compositions are basic and mainly consist of chord sequences, melodies and harmonies. A further 4 will be composed to be critically assessed by peers.

Further research was done into Music theory and quick composing techniques as the Theatre World can be a quick paced environment with music for a scene being needed very quickly. This knowledge comes from a discussion with Set Designer Frances Norburn who explained that on one of her recent projects (See Appendix 5) the director would tell the musician what sort of a feel was needed for the incidental music during rehearsals and the musician would have to compose this on the spot. This means that template creation is an absolute must, and quick compositions in different styles with short deadlines would be a good practice tool. Research included looking into modes in more detail in regards to brightest to darkest (12tone); changing keys in a range of manners whether it be augmented 6th modulation (reference), diminished 7th modulation (reference) or pivot chord modulation (reference). As my skill set means I am weaker at electronic elements including sampling and synthesis I looked into Youtube videos making the most of Ableton's Simpler, Sampler and Operator (reference).

Masterclasses were attended at dBs music (Appendix 6), of particular interest were the classes on experimental music composition and using Arduino:

The experimental music class showed how using a cello bow with a guitar can create an interesting effect and can be made into a full instrument using reverb and sampler. The sound created from this sounds epic yet suspenseful and would be perfect for film composition or theatre, as my main instrument is a guitar this appealed to me greatly.

The Arduino class was a new discovery for me in seeing how electronics can be controlled and programmed with relative ease using Arduino’s coding programme. This would be especially useful in some areas of sound design for theatre, such as controlling a puppets mouth automatically when someone speaks into a microphone (reference).

Odd time signatures was another compositional tool that was looked into for creating compositions in different moods. Of particular interest was their use for creating unrest, and how they can create a swing like vibe (reference).

In conclusion December to January was very productive, but I didn’t achieve everything I set out to do: I still have to create a website; my business cards need re-doing; previous projects need to be mixed and mastered to a better standard for inclusion into a showreel; collaborators are still needed; and the showreel needs to be up and running.

References:

Viers, R. (2008) The Sound Effects Bible. Michael Wise Productions.

Ament, V. T, (2009) The Foley Grail, Focal Press, Elsevier.

Felipe Tellez (Oct 19, 2015). 1. Big Orchestral + Mockup Templates for Pro Tools 0 Session and Channel Setup. [Video File]. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nzwGxbagJ0&t=97s

12tone (Sep 25, 2017) Building Blocks: The Modes [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPWQC4pdEco

Music Matters (Nov 21, 2019) Modulation using the German 6th - Music Theory [Video File] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI7LGdCEc4k

12tone (Mar 18, 2016) Diminished 7th Modulations and the Swiss Army Pivot Chord [Video File]. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er6HLn6d05Y

Music Matters (Dec 5, 2019) Modulation using a Pivot Note - Music Theory [Video File] Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQbHSEDpE6s

Seed to Stage (Aug 15, 2019) Ableton Operator Synth Tutorial Deep Dive [Video File] Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBl25OB0E58

Caulfieldcosplay (Jul 5, 2017) Akulva animatronic speech demo using Arduino, Picotalk and servos [Video File] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKzLxwR_qgo

MusicTheoryForGuitar (Dec 9, 2019) The COOLEST Odd Time Signature [Mission Impossible, Music Theory]. [Video File]. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=948iIiI2kmQ&t=704s

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indigobluealchemy · 5 years ago

Text

The culture of nomadic Halflings of the Tatenta Plains

This is In My Eberron, and is no way cannon. It's formatted off the write ups of nomadic cultures from everyculture.com

Introduction

The nomadic Halflings of the Tatenta Plains do not have a particularly hard or grim life. Given their dragonmarks they tend to not starve or die of needless illness. They are too small to conquerors and too isolated and mobile to be conquered. Being small, they need warriors to fight the big predators that want to eat them and their children, but over all, they have a good life. They have domesticated some of dinosaurs that are near their size, and are skilled at avoiding the larger and more dangerous ones.

Halflings is nomads because the Tatenta Plains is not fertile enough to support them staying one place. At the core of pastoral nomadism is migration, the pattern of which is determined by a combination of seasonal variability in the location of pasture and water. Because water and grass can be in short supply in a particular area at the same time that it is abundant elsewhere, survival of both herds and herders makes movement from deficit to surplus areas both logical and necessary.

There is more information about Eberron Halflings in Learn more: Eberron: Rising from the Last War(2019) chapter 1, Player's Guide to Eberron (2006) “Halflings.” that probably doesn't match what I have written. Use what works for you.

Location

The traditional homeland of the Halflings is the Tatenta Plains though Halfings can be found everywhere in Khorvaire where there is "civilization". You are much more likely to find a halfling in a city or town than the Demon Wastes.

Language

Halfling speak Common and Halfling.

Religion

The Halflings typically worship Balinor among the Sovereign Host and are strong followers of spirit worship. Talenta religion is based around reverence for spirits, both departed ancestors and the spirits of the natural world. They see no dichotomy in following both the Host and spirits. Each nomadic tribe has a lath—a chieftain who guides and protects the tribe—but it is the shamans who consult the spirits and choose the paths of migration.

In the traditional Halfling religion, both living beings, dead beings and inanimate objects such as trees had spirits that could guild them. A priest or shaman acted as an intermediary between the spiritual and material worlds. He would consult with the dead, living and dead, while in a trance induced by beating on a magic drum and performing a special kind of chanting.

Major Holidays

The themed festivals of the Waundering Festivals, across the Talanta Plains are important to them. https://www.reddit.com/r/Eberron/comments/3uas1s/traveling_festivals_for_the_talenta_plains/

They also have simple holidays at the summer and winter solstices as well as the spring and fall equinoxes. They offer toasts to the elders, eat and drink a great deal, and listen to storytelling all night long. Epic dancing , drumming and singing, as well as other physical activities and more drinking, are part of the celebration. The quarterly festivals are often times of marriage.

Relationships

There are no inns or hotels in the boundless grasslands, but one can always count on the Halflings for help. Their hospitality displays the generosity that is characteristic of nomadic peoples. The master of a Tardis caravan carts or Tardis tent will put up a stranger for the night. Multiple strangers will be split up among locations. They offer goat milk tea, mutton, and wine. The whole family shows concern by asking detailed questions. Upon leaving, the guest will be accompanied for quite a distance, then told the direction of his destination.

Living Conditions

Tardis caravan carts or Tardis tents are the traditional housing of the halflings. Several family member sleep in and round the tent/caravan cart at night.

Cooking is done outside over fires.

Dinosaur riding, or walking, is the traditional mode of transportation.

House Ghallanda will work to make living conditions easier during bad weather or times of trouble. House Jorasco will also do what they can to make people live better and longer. Not saying the houses will make their tribes live like kings, but will help them live better than the environment would allow. Neither House is terribly concerned about payment since this is for family.

Family Life

The three-generation Halfling extended family is the ideal domestic unit. Although this group, averaging between nine and eleven persons, may sleep under more than one tent or shelter, its meals are generally taken together. Though man and wife units are the norm, it's perfectly fine to have a husband and husband or wife and wife and they can adopt orphans. Families are close-knit with a great deal of attention paid to the children. A newly formed nuclear family tends to remain with the larger domestic unit until it has sufficient manpower and a large enough herd to survive on its own. The children, after marrying, move out of their parents' home. However, they live nearby and may travel with their parents in search of new pastures.All members of a family are magically tattooed (All the tattoo without the pain and can be removed or altered) with a family and personal symbol. Herding families use these marks to distinguish their dinosaurs and other livestock, from those of other families.

Children and infants are raised by the extended family unit. Parents, older siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all take part in the rearing of the young. By the age of 6 or 7, the child begins to take on simple household tasks and soon thereafter becomes a full working member of the family. Adolescence is hardly recognized; by the early teens, the individual is accepted as a full working member of Halfling society.

Halfling society is traditionally open and egalitarian, and the Halfling are known for their courtesy and hospitality to outsiders.

Clothing

Halflings wear, (and I have to indulge in modern day analogies to describe it), is a mix of 17th century clothes, tribal tattoos and primitive bones and shells. Sort of a mix of burning man and steam punk. Dinosaur leather is always an element of their clothing as well as cotton and linen. Never shoes, how are they supposed to be connected to the Land.

Warriors wear dinosaur skull helmets and more dinosaur leathers. Headers wear more stone and bone jewelry.

Food

The main traditional foods of the halflings include dinosaur meat and eggs, goat, mutton, and milk products, supplemented by found vegetables. Halflings drink the milk of goats, and sheep, as well as tea and wine. Common dishes include dumplings, steamed stuffed buns, and meat pie. Meals are augmented by House Ghallanda cooks.

Grains and flours are purchased from the 5 nations, they are not part of traditional nomadic foods. However, halfling love their bread so they buy the flour.

Supper is the main (and traditionally, the only hot) meal of the day. Dinosaur meat is a protein-rich dietary staple. Even the dinosaur 's blood is used, for sausages. Fish and amphibians caught in the many ponds on the Halfling routes are eaten boiled, grilled, dried, smoked, or salted. Wild berries are another mainstay of the halflings diet. Berry alcohol is prepped and buried and retrieved when they pass through a year later.

Education

Halfling value usable and portable forms of education like history, ballads, animal husbandry, crafting, storytelling, healing. Being nomads, they have no use for education that needs fixed infrastructure like forges or libraries.

Cultural Heritage

The Halflings are known for the House Ghallanda and House Jorasco. Other resources go into detail on the houses.

The Wandering Festivals - Being nomads, they don't have many permanent settlements. However they do have themed gatherings and festivals for every month at various spots across the Talenta Plains where they converge.

The Talenta Halflings have a rich collection of oral literature that includes myths, legends, folktales, riddles, and proverbs that has only recently been discovered by the Dragons to have clues to the Prophesy. Bards are common among nomadic halflings.

Traditional musical instruments are mostly limited to the single-stringed instrument, various types of drums, and a type of recorder or wind instrument. Almost all Talenta Halflings have at least one small drum and are passably good at jamming with other with it. When a halfling is lost, a community will play drums to guide them home.

Employment and Economy

Most Halflings of the Talenta Plain engaged in livestock husbandry, raising mainly dinosaurs, sheep, and goats. Halflings cooperated in hunting, trapping, and fishing depending on where they are at them time. Talenta dinosaurs, are used for transport and as a source of eggs, and they are the subject of dance and songs. The Halflings develop a reverence for dinosaurs from childhood. Most children love dinosaurs riding, and participate in games and races on dinosaurback.

The division of labor among Halfling is determined age and by the type of animals that are herded. The larger domesticated dinosaurs are the responsibility of the older folk. Children are often barred from close contact with these animals so they don't get killed. It is generally the responsibility of the children to herd, feed, and milk the smaller mammal animals (i.e., goats and sheep).

The Halflings, in general and of House Ghallanda and House Jorasco are employed across Khorvaire and send remittances home to their families to make their lives less hard and buy them luxuries of cloth, flour and better tools and Tardis Tents.

Wandering Inn Is a nomadic pack of caravans that mimics cruise ships and offers the same luxuries one would find in most Ghallanda enclaves. (This is all I know of the Wandering Inn)

Sports

The three main sports in the Talenta Plains are clawfoot raptor racing, ranged attacks, and wrestling.

For wrestling, after a day's work, everyone gathers near the Lath's wagon. There is no weight or gender classes, it's a just two opponents. Each are trying to knock the other off balance till they touch a knee and elbow to the ground. But this done while singing an agreed upon song or ballad duet and if one or both stop singing the song, they also lose. In game play terms, the first wrestler makes an athletics or aerobics roll the other wrestler must equal or beat. If they fail, they must make a performance roll save vs DC 15 or they have lost the song and the match.

Halflings use a row of small woven leather rings about 10 feet long. Halflings use short bows to shoot 10 arrows from about 200 feet and the winner is has the most arrows within the rings. For sling contests, the range is 100 feet. For the Talenta Boomerang, there is a rod 30 foot way. The contestant throws 5 times and the throws that do damage to the stick count. However if they miss, the boomerang will return, and if they catch the boomerang, they can throw once more. If it misses on the second attempt, it counts as a fail.

Mount Racing, Weekly racing involves the riders and mounts doing either athletics or acrobatics contents. This is speed (athletics) contests of the riders and mounts riding out and back the fastest. Once a month, a complicated course is set that tests the riders and mounts acrobatic skills to weave and dodge the best.

The annual event for wrestling and ranged attacks is the Rough and Tumble Games during Olarune.

The annual Dravago Stock Fair during the month of Dravago, features formal athletics or acrobatics contests for the halfling and their mounts; Carver, Clawfoot, Fastieth, and Glidewing. There are traditional short track races and acrobatic contests similar to their nomadic contests. There is a marathon race of 300 miles over 6 days.

Recreation

Halflings entertainment is provided both by expressive activities, including storytelling and singing, and physical contests such as wrestling, ranged contest and racing.

A traditional board game for rainy days involves one character playing a clawfoot raptor and the other a hunter and companions. The players maneuver their pieces around a board with the hunter trying to corner the predator before he or she "eats" all the hunter's pieces.

Crafts and Hobbies

The Talenta Halflings produce beautiful crafts, carving a variety of objects—such as tools and utensils—from bone, wood, dinosaur leather, dinosaur shell, and precious metals (so long it doesn't need a large forge), often with geometric motifs. The Talenta Halflings make decorative beaded jewelry including necklaces, earrings, headbands, and wrist and ankle bracelets. Talenta Halflings also excel in wood carvings, Their crafts are popular tourist purchases, although the Halflings save many of their creations for their own use.

----------------------

The Tardis Tent. When set up, the inside of the tent is 3x bigger than the outside footprint. Opening door or window flaps does not cause problems. As it taken down, it gently contracts to its natural footprint. If the tent is destroyed, HP <= 0 or less, it violently contracts doing 2d6-2 damage if the tent has contents.)

The Tardis Caravan cart. The Caravan cart is bigger on the inside. The Tardist Cart had one larger room and two smaller ones, with wood walls. The cart is approx 3 times large than it seems on the outside. If the cart is destroyed, HP <= 0 or less, it violently contracts doing 4d6 damage to what ever is inside And then explodes if there is too much stuff for the space.

#Tatenta Plains #Halfling #Halflings #Eberron #D&D

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self-proclaimed-chaotic-good · 6 years ago

Text

The Kyber Soldier (2) | Bodhi Rook x Reader

Words: 3221

Crossover: Rogue One x Avengers

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. There were a lot of things that I had to think through and I appreciate the response of the first chapter. I have a few chapters planned and I hope you guys continue to leave reactions/feedback. Not much Kyber Soldier in this chapter, but I did create an outline for this series.

"This is madness, Bodhs!" you hissed as Bodhi pulled you aside behind a cargo ship.

He covered your mouth, searching with wide eyes if there were any stormtroopers around. He turned back to you and licked his chapped lips. "This is our chance, (Y/n/n)," he said, "We can get away from here and do something good! Gal…, " he paused, leaning closer and lowered his voice, "… Galen Erso entrusted me with this message to give to Saw Gererra. This will help the rebellion have a fighting chance."

You shook your head. Bodhi was just a cargo pilot, your anxious best friend that had a gambling problem, not a full-fledged soldier or spy. "Why you?" you breathed, feeling a lump in your throat.

Bodhi's expression dropped as he stepped back, the heat from him left, leaving you cold against the ship's metal exterior. "You don't think I can do it," he stated more than questioned. "Galen Erso trusted me. Me, (Y/n). In all my life, I never knew that I would ever be part of something bigger than myself, fighting for what's right instead of cowering and laboring away just to survive. You know… you know how I… " He shook his head, turning away from you as he tried to regulate his breathing.

Your heart clenched as you witness your friend struggled to calm himself, making you regret your question. It must have taken Erso a while to convince Bodhi to take up the mission and build up his confidence and here you were, his best friend, toppling it over with only two words. You stepped forward, but he took a step back.

"I'm sorry, Bo. I'm just… I'm scared," you said, reaching a hand out to him.

"And you don't think I am?" He wanted to sound harsh, but after years of knowing him, you caught the faint shakiness in his voice. "What do you expect me to do, continue running routes for the Empire, shipping components to help them get closer to ruling the galaxy? Just to be safe? I'm tired of that. With my… with my mother gone, I have no reason to stay here. You know that."

You didn't know what else to say as he stormed off towards his quarters, leaving you alone to your thoughts.

You were still dazed as the cargo ship breaks into Yavin IV’s atmosphere, Jessika announcing the ship’s call signal before maneuvering towards the hangar. You were led to believe, well everyone had believed, that the crew that fought on Scarif for the Death Star plans had perished along with the planet. But there he was, Bodhi Rook, the defected cargo pilot of the Empire, staring right back at you. The moment the U-wing lowered to retrieve you, Bodhi disappeared. There was no time to dwell on where he had gone as Poe practically dragged you on the ship before they headed towards the port. You told them it was useless to go back for the X-wings, sensing that they were already tampered with. You were right, the thrusters and gas cannister busted, making it unflyable. Poe suggested they’d come back with a scavenging ship to salvage them, all while casting a curious glance your way. He had seen you use the force, but he wasn’t going to question it yet.

Snap had calmed the informant down, trying to get more information about the Kyber Soldier. Kare told him to stop and let him rest for a while. He nodded, suppressing the urge to look back at your shaken form. His partner squeezed his shoulder and shook her head. Now wasn’t the time.

A firm hand on your shoulder snapped you out of it. You looked up to a concerned Poe and you realized that the ship already landed, the rest of the crew had already left. BB-8 let out a few worried beeps before nudging your leg. Poe helped you off the bench until you touched ground.

“Why don’t you head in and rest,” he said.

You shook your head. “I’m fine. Besides, Leia needs to know what happened and it’d be better if I was there.”

You could tell he wanted to argue with you, but BB-8 let out a series of beeps that made him stand down. Poe let out a defeated sigh and lead you to find Leia. He greeted a few pilots in passing while you and BB-8 trailed behind. The little droid kept glancing back up at you every now and again, making sure you were okay. Once Poe reached the door to Leia's office, you bent down to scratch BB-8's head and check on his antenna while Poe knocked. You heard Leia's voice on the other side, prompting your small group to come in.

Leia was standing in front of a holo map with her arms crossed, her eyes leaving the projection to address the two of you. Poe stood next to Leia, glancing at the map before gesturing for you to stand closer.

"I've heard that the mission had been compromised. What happened?" Leia asked.

Poe sighed. "There was… an assassin sent after the informant. It was a good call on (Y/n)'s part to bring the U-wing and the rest of Black squadron, though our X-wings will have to be retrieved. With our numbers, we had enough visual of the situation and escorted the informant back to the base. He's being tended to at the medbay for any injuries he may have sustained from the encounter," he reported.

Leia frowned. "Assassin? Anyone we know of?"

Poe looked over to you to go ahead. "From my encounter with this assassin… I believe that…," you hesitated as Leia waited patiently, "the assassin is Bodhi Rook."

Leia's eyes widened. "Your friend," she said grimly. You nodded. "How is this possible?"

"From the stories that I've heard as well as the informant, this assassin, known as the Kyber Soldier," Poe said, "From what I've heard, there had been little to no survivors from this man. He's someone to steer away from unless you have the force to give you a fighting chance."

You lowered your head at this. Surely Leia already knew. She was a Skywalker after all. She would be able to sense the force within you. Leia nodded at this new information, dismissing Poe to go about his other duties and check on the informant. Poe spared you a glance before leaving with BB-8, who gave you a comforting nudge with their small head. You continued to look down as they left, followed by the hissing of the closing door. Once it was closed, Leia headed over to her desk and waited for you to sit. She folded her hands on the desk and studied you for a moment.

"Is there anything else that you remembered when you were held captive?" she asked.

"I heard that they were conducting various experiments on war prisoners," you started, "I haven't seen anyone else. Everyone was held in separate parts of the base. A big part of their experiments were augmentations and kyber crystals. They were looking for other ways to use those crystals and if it could be manipulated into other forms. When I tried to escape, I panicked. The alarms were alerted as soon as they noticed my cell was empty. I didn't have time to search the rest of the base, but from what I've heard from the scientists throughout the trials were something about increasing sensitivity of the force in people."

Leia took a moment to wrap her head around this new information, giving a contemplating hum. "If the rebellion was able to find you, surely the First Order must have tried to dig up the Empire's old research and found something. We need to know how much of it they were able to retrieve and how many of those war prisoners are still around. Both sides of this war had sustained heavy losses and they may be searching for others ways to end the Resistance for good. We will have to keep an eye out for this Kyber Soldier. Anything else you've noticed from your encounter?"

"He…," you cleared your throat and frowned, "his arm. It's a prosthetic, made from this dark metal. Plated. There seemed to be kyber crystals within the arm that's giving him the ability to manipulate the force."

The general's face twisted into a grimace. To think the Empire was able to create such technology. How things would have been different if they went through with their experiments and used it on the Rebellion. An army of force-users on the dark side would be lethal and would threatened to wipe out any trace of hope left in the galaxy. Why they hadn't done so, that was another question.

"And he had seen you?" she inquired.

You nodded, replaying the moment the mask fell off his face. You wanted to reach out and hug him and yell at him, demanding why he had to go be a hero even though deep down inside you knew you'd let him if given a second chance, but the next time he'd have to take you with him.

"I don't… I don't think he remembers me. I don't think he remembers himself, like he was brainwashed, but I wouldn't be surprised. The Bodhi Rook I knew was a timid cargo pilot, not a ruthless assassin."

Leia sighed and pursed her lips. "That may be so, but it does not change the fact that it's not safe to have you going out there at the risk of facing him again," she said firmly.

You stiffen, straightening your back as you raised your eyes to meet hers. "With all due respect, general, but if another squad were to encounter him, what are the chances that they'd make it out in one piece? We don't know the extent of his powers, but for anyone else to go against a force-user…"

"I am aware of this. However," she pressed, standing up and rounded her desk and laid a hand on your shoulder, "this is too personal for you… you know where I'm getting at."

You remained silent, mulling over your current situation. First, the Empire took over Jedha, leaving you and Bodhi no choice but to work under them in order to get by. Then, they created the Death Star, the creator being the only person to know its weakness and thus sends Bodhi to deliver the message for the Rebellion. After that, the Empire had done worse than kill the group of rebel spies. They had captured at least one of them and used them for experiments. They couldn't even leave him be to die a hero, they had to make him live long enough to become a villain.

Leia studied you for a moment, then said, "I'm grounding you and placing you with the repair mechanics. You are dismissed."

She left no room for discussion. You nodded and walked out without another word, almost missing the commander leaning against the wall a few feet away from the door. BB-8 rolled up to you, nudging you with their head as they let out a series of beeps. You patted their head reassuringly, Poe following close behind as you made your way towards the medbay.

"They ordered him to rest," Poe said, referring to the informant. You humph, stubbornly continuing on towards the medbay anyways. Poe pursed his lips, easily overtaking you and blocked your path. "Question him tomorrow. We all need some rest. Please, (Y/n), I'll help you find answers, so just rest."

You sighed, not appreciating the puppy eye look that Poe was giving you, along with the pleasing beeps of BB-8. "Fine, but I'm not going to like it," you grumbled, letting Poe steer you towards the sleeping quarters.

Bodhi's chuckle echoed through the empty section of the hangar as he relished in the credits that he won through sabacc from playing the other pilots. You remembered the first time he started to gamble, a way to pass the time at first and relax. Then, he became addicted to it, searching for opportunities to play in between shipment runs and while off planet picking up supplies. He sought the thrill of it, learning to bluff, to risk, relishing in triumph or in denial of defeat. If he had gone and passed the flight academy, no doubt he would have been a fighter pilot. Those who didn't know him better and only saw him as a closed off, stuttering mess would think you were joking.

You stepped around the cargo ship and saw your best friend, his left arm replaced with that black metal plate arm, his long black hair tied loosely behind him with a few strands escaped and matted on his sweat soaked face. His head shot up, his smirk dropping as his eyes grew cold and distant as he looked straight at you.

"Bodhi." you whispered, taking a step towards him.

He held his ground. "Who the hell is Bodhi?" he replied monotonously.

"Please don't say that," you said shakily.

His brown eyes raised, shifting over your shoulder where heavy footsteps resounded behind you, followed by filtered heavy breathing. Bodhi lowered his head at the figure. You didn't have to turn to know who the person was. From what Leia told you, this man who turned to the dark side and terrorized the galaxy was her father who briefly switched back to the light side to save her brother, Luke. Darth Vader.

"Bo- " your friend's name was cut off as your throat was being squeezed by an invisible force that seemed to tighten with each attempt to breathe. You clawed at nothing despite knowing that the force was being used, yet you were unable to use the force yourself. "Pu- Plea- ugh."

Bodhi twitched, raising his head slowly and tilted his head at you with a confused expression. "I knew them," he muttered, facing you but his eyes seemed to be looking through you.

"They are part of the Resistance," an disembodied voice said dismissively, "you likely saw them on another mission."

Bodhi's face twisted into a pained grimace. "But I knew them," he insisted.

The voice sighed. "Wipe him."

This time, you snuck into the kitchens for some snacks before heading towards the hangar, a tray of food in one hand and a toolbox in the other. You sized up the remaining repairs on your ship before sticking a cookie in your mouth and placed your toolbox on the side. You found yourself rubbing your neck where the force had tightened around you in your nightmare, trying to find any clues in your dream. That disembodied voice is new. You don't think you've ever heard them before. "Wipe him," they had said. What does that mean? Could have something to do with the experiments that the Empire had carried and your mind forming theories about the research they had. You were still wrapping your head around the fact that your best friend is still alive, but he had no idea who you were.

As you were rewiring the side panel, you felt a nudge at the back of your head. You frowned, turning to wipe your hands and picked up a water bottle in hopes of ridding this headache. It occurred again, like a tug, pulling at your consciousness. You sat down to steady yourself, setting the bottle on the side as you waited for the tug to come back. When it hadn't, you took another gulp of water and went on with your repairs. It was still early and the sun had yet to rise. While Leia did ground you, doesn't mean that you couldn't take the old speeder that you spotted at the back of the repair shop for a test drive before sun up. You overheard the mechanics planning a race once everything quiets down, something to boost morale, and they have yet to seek approval of this event to Leia. What was the worst thing they could do if you do get caught? You're already grounded and you weren't a high ranking, let alone official, intelligence officer or belong to any squadron anyways. You just needed to get away to process some things.

You made your way to the mechanics' workshop, flipping a switch to shed light in the cramped space. There at the corner of the room, was a row of heaps of metal hidden under a large dirty tarp. You grabbed the corner of the thick material and gave a long and gentle pull to reveal the set of speeders that the mechanics were fixing up. They were pretty much fit to run, just not enough to race. It'll do when you've planned to venture off base. The thing is, you don't know how to operate one. How hard could it be, right?

You grabbed the most able looking speeder and sat in it, studying the controls in hopes of figuring out the basic operations. It seemed straight forward enough, so you went to start it up and pulled it out of the workshop, careful of making any loud noises. The sun was beginning to rise and you didn't want to risk running into any early birds. You made your way towards the edge of the base and braked, the tug returning and seemingly guiding you into the direction it wanted you to go. You frowned, swerving your body to check the surroundings for the source, suddenly getting the feeling that it was more than a headache, but an outside force. Driving forward, you felt the tug guide you to the right and continued to lead you all the way to the nearby forest area. It was foolish to follow this force, drawing out of the safety of the Resistance base, but it felt weak.

The forest floor tangled with large roots and rocks, making you weave around until you reached a clearing where the trees parted to reveal the sky. There, you saw a tall and dark figure, someone you may have seen briefly or at least a reminiscent of someone you've seen before. The figure held a heavy looking helmet at his side, dark hair reaching his shoulders. They turn, revealing a pale man with a large nose and full lips, a scar ran near his right eye. You slung yourself off the speeder and walked towards him.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked, his deep voice low as if there were others nearby that he didn't want to them to hear.

"Ben So- "

"Kylo Ren," he quickly corrected, his lips tightened into a thin line.

"Right," you said, though from the holo that Leia had shown you, no matter how hard he tries to separate himself from Ben Solo, this Kylo Ren had a lot of his father's features. You should be scared, cautious, and many other things, not simply curious and concerned. "Were you the one that was trying to get in my head earlier?"

"Clearly," he said, stepping towards you with his heavy boots, "You want answers. About the experiments. About the rebel spies that fought on Scarif. I can help you, but you'll need to help me."

"Why would you want to help me? Aren't you the Supreme Leader?"

His gloved fists tightened. "This is where I need your help."

#Kyber Soldier #bodhi rook x reader #rogue one imagine #Rogue one x avengers #everyone deserves a best friend like Poe #I want a BB-8 unit #riz ahmed #star wars imagine

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nazm145 · 7 years ago

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This was supposed to be a mildly long rant but ended up a dissertation I’m so sorry

Ok, can we just talk about Juliette Durand for a moment?

Like, I know people hate her, but I don’t get it. And I just can’t.

Let’s consider the facts, shall we?

This is going to be hella long, just a warning, so please don’t hate me. I have many feelings.

(I haven’t read the books, so I’m basing almost everything off of the show’s version of the characters. Tell me if I get anything wrong. Also, general spoilers below.)

Juliette was sired, abused (strong implications of rape), confined, and conditioned by a (white) man who used and trained her specifically to get close to another (white) man and get information from him for his own personal gain.

We see the dynamics of their toxic relationship and its effects on Juliette from the moment she and Gerbert are introduced, augmented by the dark, claustrophobic interiors of their Venetian home – which is strange because the house should be airy and well-lit considering how open and spacious it is. Definitely a metaphor, I think, for the dark and twisted nature of what is supposed to be a “father-daughter” relationship.

The scene in which Gerbert is seeing her off on the boat after allowing/ordering her to go find Matthew, the creepy cheek-kiss, and her look of relief and what seems to be almost a mixture of triumph and freedom as she turns around and gets farther away from him is a pretty decent summation of what things are like between them. Of course, we hardly need to analyze anything this deeply when Gerbert’s treatment of Juliette and her strange, toxic dependence on him is so grossly obvious.

Enter Domenico.

For me, Juliette and Domenico are the most intriguing characters on show. I don’t know how extensive their roles were in the book, but to me their subtle exchanges, as short as they were, are so impactful. I definitely think this is in large part because Elarica Gallacher and Gregg Chillin are amazing actors who pack so much depth and nuance into their scenes.

The whole Juliette/Domenico/Gerbert dynamic is so interesting to me (to reiterate, I fully loathe Gerbert and want him to choke). While the nature of Juliette and Gerbert’s relationship is tragically obvious, Domenico’s relationship with both of them is much more complex. From their very first scene, it’s clear that there is a mutual dislike, distrust, and tension between them all, and like Juliette, Domenico answers to Gerbert. But of course, his level of subjugation can’t even begin to compare to hers.

What first caught my attention was when Gerbert called Domenico a “nosy fucker” even though Domenico looking into the dead body and reporting to Gerbert was clearly in his favor. This strongly leads me to believe that Domenico has indeed fucked with Gerbert in the past, either intentionally or unintentionally. Not surprising – Domenico obviously has no love for Gerbert and given the constant descriptions of him as a manipulator and strategist, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s played his hand more than a few times in the past. He even tells Juliette that Venice is his home, so he does what he has to do in order to keep Baldwin and Gerbert happy. He is, in his own way, a victim of his situation - even though he holds a position of power, there is only so much he can do.

Which brings me to him and Juliette. God, I have so much to say about these two. So many of their scenes (both together and apart) force me to think about just what their feelings are towards each other and how much of that stems directly from the other and how much from their situations and the other people around them.

Like when Juliette tells Gerbert, “Domenico hates me.” It got me thinking – does he really hate her? Does she only think that he hates her? What has he said or done to make her feel that way? Or am I just thinking too much into this and it was really just a last-ditch effort on Juliette’s part to try and stop Gerbert from punishing her? Now, that last part is interesting – I’m positive Domenico knew what would happen to Juliette once he told Gerbert what happened. Everyone probably knows. But Domenico’s role in regards to both the Congregation and Gerbert seems to be that he’s the one who’s expected to keep everything in line on the Vampire front and report any problems, otherwise it’s his ass. And clearly, he’s under some sort of employment for Gerbert considering he reported the incident to him and not the Congregation, and it was him who was asked to fetch Gerbert when he didn’t show up at the meeting in episode 7. So I really believe he had no ill intentions towards Juliette when he ratted her out – it was more a fulfillment of duty, which in the world of ADoW, seems to be a necessity for survival.

Which brings me to The Scene. You know, the one where they unnecessarily angry-whisper-flirt with each other, have absolutely no regard for each other’s personal space and for two people who supposedly hate each other, look at each other’s lips a completely inappropriate number of times within a span of thirty seconds. This was the scene that made me complete trash for them, not in the very least because it was sinfully hotter than hell and had me feeling some type of way. There was so much to unpack here.

This didn’t occur to me until now, but when Domenico tells Juliette to not bother going home because Gerbert is disappointed, was he really mocking her? Or was it actually a subtle warning to wait until Gerbert cooled down so she wouldn’t have to go through what she did the last time she made a mistake? What leads me to believe the second option even more is that Juliette herself told Marcus that Gerbert will be angry with her if she doesn’t retrieve Matthew… so.

Next – Domenico shamelessly spilling the deets on how Matthew is in love with Diana, and goading Juliette to go to Sept Tours and confront them. Here, I’d just like to take moment to appreciate Gregg’s delivery of “really” after Juliette tells him she can’t go without permission. It could easily be interpreted as “Really? Do you really need Gerbert’s permission, or are you just forcing yourself to believe that” OR “Oh really? You don’t say.” Like, I love how he could either be challenging her perception of the reality of her own confinement or just being a facetious asshole. But what really got to me was the look he was giving her as she walked away. It was both unreadable, and yet strangely… I don’t even know. Almost sympathetic? Dare I say longing?

And that’s what occupied my mind for an entire week until I saw episode 7. How genuine or underhanded were Domenico’s intentions when he tried to convince her to go to Matthew during the bar scene? Was he just trying to hurt her? Did he want her to go for her own sake? Or was it all a ploy to throw Gerbert in deep shit when his “daughter” showed up uninvited on ancestral De Clermont land? I honestly don’t believe that Domenico would be above grabbing any chance he could to fuck with Gerbert. And I absolutely don’t condone him using Juliette or manipulating her to accomplish that. Which got me thinking about another aspect of their relationship, until again, I saw episode 7.

Domenico obviously hates Gerbert, and he knows what he’s done to Juliette, possibly more so than anyone else considering the extent of their interactions. Why then, has he done nothing to help her? Why has he been, if not complicit in, then at the very least a bystander in her abuse? Now this bothered me a lot more until I saw the more recent episodes of ADoW (Don’t get me wrong, it still does. But I feel like I understand a lot more now.)

The magical world of ADoW works a lot differently than the mortal one. Law, intrigue, politics and revenge take precedence over even family and friends. Gillian sold Diana out because she thought it was her duty as a witch (although there was clearly some personal pettiness involved there). Sophie and Nathaniel wouldn’t tell Agatha that the baby might be a witch even though she’s the grandmother, and quite possibly the only genuinely kind, not insane member of the Congregation. And no one even questioned Baldwin’s claim that Knox had Diana and he himself didn’t know where she was because they never thought he would actually lie to protect his own brother (albeit only Vampire brother). So it’s not hard to believe that Domenico wouldn’t put his ass on the line to cross Gerbert that way, especially when, as we learned in episode 7, Juliette could have saved herself but chose not to.

You guys – their talk in 7 was so unexpected and touching to me. Not in a “Oh look how cute, he cares for her, aww” type of way. But in a “Wow. He really does realize her situation and is willing to help in whatever small way that he can so she can finally free herself – in whatever manner she chooses to do so.”

What really got to me was when Juliette asked him what he wanted in return for Diana’s file, and all he says is that she should finally free herself and just go anywhere. Just leave the horrible life she’s been living, while recognizing that in part it’s been her own choice because she either can’t or won’t forget Matthew. Contrast this with Baldwin asking Domenico what he wants in exchange for Satu, and Domenico saying “Someday… who knows?” Everyone knows how manipulative Domenico can be. But in that one instance with Juliette, we see him being genuinely kind and not asking her for anything in return. And his little smile after he sees her Power Walk out of that church like a Queen?

You guys. A girl is weak.

Coming back to Juliette, I’m so mad that all this likely won’t come to anything if the show stays true to her fate in the books. Which it looks like it will. As much as I felt her walking out on Gerbert, the fact that a black woman left her abuser only to put herself in a situation that her abuser conditioned her to be in is still so problematic. Not to mention the fact that that after years and years of being used by males (apparently she was a prostitute before she was sired, so even as a human?! Really?!?!) she is killed by the blonde-haired, blue-eyed lover of the white man she’s been obsessed with for centuries. Like. Ew. No thank you.

And honestly? I feel like she and Domenico could really be something if she would just try and get over Matthew. Again, not saying that her obsession with him is completely her fault. She is blatantly a victim of abuse, and so many of her actions stem from the violence, manipulation, and torture that she has suffered for centuries. Of course that would mess her up. And finally giving a black woman autonomy and power and the courage to stand up to her white abuser in one episode only to kill her off in the next in a situation that is indirectly the result of her abuse is just awful and unacceptable, especially in fucking 2018.

You know what I want to see? Juliette calling bullshit on the whole Matthew situation and finally becoming her own person.

Like, girl. First of all you don’t need no man. You are gorgeous, clever, resilient, and could probably seduce half the world’s population with one Look. And yes, I fully include myself in that. And even if you do want a man (eternity is a long time to spend alone tbh) Domenico is right there. I know their relationship is nowhere near healthy or good, but it is still light years better than the shitstorm that is the Diana/Matthew/Juliette triangle of a fucking toxic disaster fest.

Give Domenico and Juliette their own developed story where they do or do not get together (as long as they’re both happy tbh – I love my evil disasters, leave me alone), fucking rip Gerbert’s throat out, and then basically take over everything. Because – and I know I’m gonna get hate for this – Matthew and Diana’s story is sweet, and Goode and Palmer are lovely in their roles. But the whole “forbidden love/Person A not knowing about or repressing their powers only to find out they are SuperPowerful™ and now have to master their abilities with the help of Person B so they can fight the world together” is so overdone. Give me more magical world politics and intrigue with a concentration on Domenico and Juliette or give me death.

Also – more hate-bait, but whatever – Diana and Matthew may be cute and all, but this is what makes my heart beat.

LOOK AT THEM

Domenico and Juliette are so fucking hot. Those curls. Those FACES. The adorably tiny height difference. His hand on her waist. The Looks being fucking Served.

Don’t even try to tell me that they wouldn’t be That Power Couple

#a discovery of witches #juliette durand #domenico michele #I am ashamed at how long this is #but I have so many feelings #I ALWAYS get invested in the side characters with no future it's not fair #someone pls scream about these two with me #I don't even care if anyone reads this #I had to get this out #I was gonna explode

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jbaquerot · 7 years ago

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Technology moves extremely quickly. It seems like there is a new innovation produced nearly every day. Technology has changed the way business is done and has enabled many people to reach goals and try new things that they’ve never done before.

So which recent technological innovations are the most impressive? Eleven members of Forbes Technology Council shared their responses. The answers varied, but there is a consensus that high technology has transformed our lives and made many new businesses and achievements possible.

Practical Augmented Reality Augmented reality stands to be the most immediate tech development that will affect our lives in the near term. With microdisplays becoming reasonably priced, we will see personal wearables becoming available to the masses. This will provide us with a whole new avenue of information retrieval use on a daily, minute-by-minute basis. - George Heimel, Square360

Generative Adversarial Networks Generative adversarial networks (GANs) are a new type of neural network that is semi-supervised and enables companies to learn more from less labeled data. Let’s say you would like to identify customers who are likely to churn but only have labels of actual churn after X days for a handful of customers. GANs enable this and succeed where other fully supervised neural networks fail. - Anand Sampat, Datmo

Real-Time Language Translation Driven by voice recognition technology coupled with AI, real-time language translators allow single-language speakers to have real-time conversations. It’s impressive both on the usability front (earphones) and on the level of complexity insofar as getting both the language and accent right. - Michael Gurau, The Beacon Group

Chatbots I love the idea of chatbots and what they can do to take on some of the time-consuming work companies have while making businesses look good in terms of their customer experiences. Plus, chatbots are good at collecting information and analyzing it for further insights. It’s just a great way to cover tech support and service questions. - Muhammed Othman, Calendar

Artificial Intelligence In Mobile Apps A year ago, building AI into mobile apps would have been extremely difficult and costly. Today, it’s a lot less expensive, and we can incorporate Microsoft Cognitive Services, Google services, or Amazon services that use AI to make a mobile experience more intelligent, anticipate users’ desire and needs, and present information in context. Artificial intelligence, particularly in mobile devices, has transformed the user experience in the last few years as cognitive services have advanced exponentially. - Sanjay Malhotra, Clearbridge Mobile

Inexpensive, Fast Storage The cloud, AI, VR and other buzzwords are often considered the hottest tech trends. However, the rapidly declining cost and increasing performance of flash-based storage powers these trends. Without the modern, low-cost solid-state drive (SSD), VR and AI would still be inaccessible to most businesses. Cloud providers rely on SSDs. Innovation in the storage industry builds a foundation for new tech. - Jason Gill, Attracta

Deep Learning-Based Predictive Analytics The biggest technology innovation of the last three years just might be predictive analytics using AI-based deep learning. The ability of a computer to learn by just analyzing data without having to let the algorithm know what variables are important is unprecedented. This form of unsupervised learning is drastically changing the role of technology. - Carlos Melendez, Wovenware

Serverless Computing Today, developers have to worry not only about building their application but deploying and hosting it as well. It is a large portion of their workflow and requires them to commit resources in time and money up front. Serverless computing makes launching applications cheaper and faster by letting companies focus on the customer value without having to worry about deployment and scaling. The possibilities this will unlock are endless. - Nikhil Hasija, Azuqua

Brain-Computer Interfaces Brain scanners can translate your thoughts into textual words. Discussions about these devices have been around for some time; however, they could only map a handful of commands. Imagine if only by wearing a ball cap you could think, “How deep is that river?” and have the answer read back into an earpiece. The next step is to get the information back directly into your brain. - Jere Simpson, KITEWIRE/Steel-Talon

AI And Machine Learning Applications The most impressive piece of tech that has come out in recent years is the practical application of AI and machine learning. Whether it is modeling data, analyzing speech or driving a car, we are starting to see real-world applications of these technologies. It may have taken a few of decades, but the field is making good on the promises that were made back in the 1980s. – Chris Kirby, Voices.com

The Cloud No doubt that the cloud service is one of the great technologies that happened in the last three years. SMBs that need to concentrate on the business do not have the right knowledge or the teams in place to maintain their systems or are not willing to spend the money in that direction. The cloud offers a unique and flexible option for them to make sure they will be able to concentrate on business execution. - Ofer Laksman, Correlata Solutions

#tech innovations #ai #Deep learning #gan #cloud #machine learning

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revcnir · 7 years ago

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KARINA OLIVER HERNANDEZ, who strongly resembles EIZA GONZALEZ, has made Ceres Centropolis their home. They are a 28/UNKNOWN year old WITCH and has been in the city for FIVE YEARS. They have been known to have PHANTASM MANIPULATION & SOUL ABSORPTION. They are known to be HUMBLE & DELIBERATE and ALOOF & MERCURIAL. If you’re lucky, you may catch them working at INNER SANCTUM APOLLYON as an DEPUTY DIRECTOR AGENT and RIVER STYX OCCULT as an ELUSIVE OWNER.

Hey it’s Venn! Karina’s abilities are a huge pain in the butt, but she loves using them to do what’s necessary. Anyways, this woman loves working out, teasing new recruits, her baby girl, and her husband. A crash course to Karina’s under the cut!

Karina comes from Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico, known for its lake, the remnants of the region’s rainforest, and a tradition of sorcery and witchcraft with its roots in the pre-Hispanic period. While all the magic was mostly practiced by men here, Karina discovered her abilities at a young age when she realized that she could see the souls of the departed.

She was a family-less child and grew up on the streets. This changed, however, when she met the Inner Sanctum. Karina was five years old when she was swept up in a battle between brujos and Inner Sanctum agents over containing a magical anomaly. An agent found her and did everything they could to keep her out of harm’s way, but they were struck down by their enemy. Young Karina unleashed her magical ability and defended the agent until IS retreated, but not without bringing her with them.

She was raised by the agent she saved under the close eye of the Inner Sanctum, and they were the ones responsible for giving her the name she uses to this day. Thanks to their teachings, she’s a skilled fighter, agent, and magic user. They helped her become comfortable with herself and her abilities, so she was very loyal to the IS cause.

However, like all good things, her comfort was short lived. She was twenty-eight when her mentor and guardian decided to send her back to Catemaco for a mission similar to the one that they first met in. It was supposed to be a simple containment mission, but the intel provided to her was wrong. Karina fell into a trap and was captured by the brujos. It turned out that they had cursed her mentor and forced them to give her up if they wanted to live.

Karina was subjected to a torturous ritual that kept her up through every painful moment. She was barely alive and the ritual was nearly completed when the Inner Sanctum realized what the traitorous agent had done and sent a team to retrieve her. Her first sign of salvation that night was Vera and even though Karina became disillusioned with the Inner Sanctum as a whole, she promised to pledge her allegiance to her saviour and her friend.

Three years after that botched mission, she ventured outside of the Inner Sanctum and became the owner of River Styx Occult shop. She bought it from the previous owner with the intention of taking a break from her work with IS, but what ended up happening instead was that she decided to join a local coven so she could keep watch on supernatural happenings in the city to help aid the Inner Sanctum.

Also she got married to Gray Oliver. Then two years after her marriage, she became pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. They named her Sawyer and she loves her very, very much. If you fuck with her, Karina will fuck you up. Don’t mess with her husband either, even if they’re quite quiet about their family life.

Their dog is named Pepperoni, as named by their daughter, but everyone calls the baby dog Pep, for short!

Update 1/23/19

Karina has left Inner Sanctum and flipped over to Apollyon to work with her adoptive mother, Amara Wolff.

Karina has found out she is an Immortal.

She has an anklet that stabilizes her magical abilities and allows her to have more control when things possess her.

More on her abilities, bam!

A year after her failed mission, Karina discovered the products of the ritual. She found that her magic had taken a sinister form and that she could call upon the dead to do her bidding. They were like puppets that she could bend to her will, but each soul and spirit she used had a personality to them. As she explored her abilities, she learned that she could do so much more than use them to aid her in battle; she could also absorb them and use them to augment herself. The dead were a great source of power and knowledge. And she had an endless supply, if she could collect enough of them.

So in her spare time she literally collects souls, earning the title amongst her peers as “The Reaper.”

The ritual turned her body into a nearly perfect vessel for her abilities. Her body stopped aging when she was twenty-eight. Because IS interrupted the ritual, the brujos didn’t get to complete the part about adding tirelessness to her or summoning the dark demon to possess her body.

When Karina absorbs a soul or lets them possess her, she is able to access their abilities, knowledge, and skills for as long as she keeps them inside of her body. However, during long periods of doing this, she loses herself as she takes on the person’s memories. The longer she uses a spirit in this way the more likely she’ll come out of the ordeal rambling about memories that aren’t hers and completely confused about the situation in front of her.

Karina is actually 36, but she cannot, for the life of her, remember her actual age because of all the souls that have gone through her body.

I guess that it's important to note that she can do witch stuff too and when it comes to stuff like that, unless she uses the spirits to aid her, she can go into overexertion mode, but despite her limitations, she has become a trusted member of the Ceres covens and is rumoured to be one of the most powerful witches of her generation. You'll never hear either of those from her though.

#vi.intro #this probably won't grace the tags till later whatever

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phantom-le6 · 4 years ago

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Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 (1 of 6)

Ok, I’ve been procrastinating on this for a while, so without further ado, let’s renew our look into episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation by warping into the start of the show’s fourth season, beginning with the conclusion to the ground-breaking two-part story “The Best of Both Worlds”.

Episode 1: The Best of Both Worlds (Part 2)

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The discharge fired from the Enterprise’s deflector dish has no effect on the Borg cube; Locutus reveals that the Borg had prepared for the attack using Captain Picard's knowledge. The Borg cube continues at warp speed towards Earth, with the crippled Enterprise unable to follow. Upon reporting their failure to Admiral Hanson, Commander Riker is promoted to Captain and makes Commander Shelby his first officer. The crew learns that a fleet of starships is massing at Wolf 359 to stop the Borg. Guinan suggests to Riker that he "let go of Picard", since Picard's knowledge is being used to thwart Starfleet tactics, in order to defeat the Borg and possibly save Picard's life.

The Enterprise arrives at Wolf 359 to find that Hanson has been killed and the fleet destroyed, including the starship Riker had been offered command of in Part 1. The Enterprise then follows the cube's warp trail to an intercept point and offers to negotiate with Locutus. The request is denied, but the communication reveals Locutus's location within the cube. The Enterprise then separates into saucer and stardrive sections. Although Shelby suggested attacking with the stardrive section, Riker does the reverse and orders the saucer section to fire an antimatter spread near the cube, disrupting its sensors and allowing a shuttlecraft piloted by Lt. Commander Data and Lt. Worf to pass the Borg shields and beam aboard the Borg cube. They kidnap Locutus, although the Borg ignore this and continue to Earth.

Data and Dr Crusher create a neural link with Locutus to gain access to the Borg's collective consciousness. Data attempts to use the link to disable the Borg's weapons and defensive systems, but cannot, as they are protected by security protocols. Picard breaks free from Borg control and mutters, "sleep". Dr Crusher comments that Picard must be exhausted from this ordeal, however Data deduces that Picard is suggesting accessing the Borg regeneration subroutines, which are less protected than key systems like weapons or power. Data issues a command to the Borg to enter sleep mode, causing their weapons and shields to deactivate. A feedback loop builds in the Borg cube, which destroys the vessel. Dr Crusher and Data remove the Borg implants and augmentations from Picard.

The Enterprise is awaiting repairs at an orbital shipyard, and Riker, although offered command of his own ship, insists on remaining as first officer. Shelby is reassigned to a task force dedicated to rebuilding the fleet. Picard physically recovers, but is still psychologically disturbed by his ordeal.

Review:

While Part 1 was great for the first season-bridging two-part cliff-hanger of TNG and of wider Trek lore ever to be done, the second part comes to drop the ball a little on delivering follow-through to part 1’s set-up. Granted, we still get some decent character performances and a good plot with what little decent action the episode could afford, but it’s ultimately failing to deliver on the level of action that is at times promised. Anyone coming into this from watching some later Trek productions like DS9’s story lines with fighting first the Klingons and then the Cardassian-Dominion alliance will see just how much this episode falls short on the action front; indeed, it’s not until DS9’s pilot episode that we get to see the infamous Battle of Wolf 359 in any real detail, as opposed to a DS9 episode like ‘Sacrifice of Angels’ which is almost wall-to-wall starship action at times.

The solution also seems to come too quickly and is almost too convenient. Part of this is because the first part was written without a solution ‘waiting in the wings’. If Memory Alpha is to be believe, Michael Piller waited until he knew he would be staying on as TNG’s story editor before trying to write his way out the seemingly impossible-to-escape cliff-hanger he’d created in part 1. Now while I can understand that desire not to tie yourself into a solution to something that might not be your problem, I think in any kind of continual story-telling, early parts should always be written to leave a few options open. Even if you’re not writing the solution because you’re doing a form of writing like TV or film where you’re not guaranteed to write the next instalment, I think it’s just good manners to fellow writers and to your audience not to write a hard-to-solve cliff-hanger.

As it is, I can’t help feeling TNG might have benefited from extending part 2 a bit more and potentially turning this into a trilogy, much as DS9 did with its season 2 opening episodes. Still, I suppose it ends well enough, and I’m glad this episode and later ones gave us a sense that Picard remains affected by his assimilation experience. Not only is this ground-work that later ex-Borg characters like Voyager’s Seven of Nine would rely on simply to exist, but it’s another move by the show away from being just an unending array of one-off adventures with little to no consequences for anyone involved. That kind of overly simplistic and unrealistic story-telling just isn’t Trek-worthy, and I’m glad it was starting to die out here. Overall score for this episode, 8 out of 10.

Episode 2: Family

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise is docked at Earth Station McKinley, undergoing repairs and refitting following its battle with the Borg. The episode follows the interactions of three members of the crew with their family members. Lt. Worf's adoptive human parents, Sergey and Helena Rozhenko visit the Enterprise, having learned about his discommendation some time ago, but also having been unable to support him as they would wish due to being lightyears apart. Worf, though embarrassed and uncomfortable with their doting behaviour at first, but in the end appreciates their concern. Dr Beverly Crusher retrieves a chest, kept in storage on Earth, containing her late husband Jack's mementos, including a holographic recording he made for Wesley when their child was only 10 weeks old. Beverly, though worried that the two of them have only recently truly come to terms with Jack's death, eventually gives the recording to Wesley. Wesley runs the recording and is given some degree of closure by the message.

Captain Picard, recovering from his Borg assimilation, visits his family's vineyard in La Barre, France, which is run by his elder brother Robert along with his wife Marie and son René. Jean-Luc considers a position on Earth with an underwater research project called Atlantis. Robert has always been jealous of his brother's success and is concerned that Jean-Luc's presence will drive René to also join Starfleet. The two have a bitter argument and end up wrestling each other in a mud puddle, eventually culminating in an emotional reunion, with Jean-Luc breaking down and crying, admitting his sense of powerlessness and guilt at the things he was forced to do while under the influence of the Borg. Robert states that Jean-Luc will have to learn to live with what he did, regardless of where he goes. Jean-Luc decides to go back to the Enterprise. The two spend the night getting drunk as they resolve their differences. After Jean-Luc leaves, Robert decides to let René follow his dream to join Starfleet as René sits under a tree and looks up at space.

Review:

This episode really helps the previous one in terms of moving TNG away from being a series without consequence. While Wesley’s storyline is little more than filler covering a bit more screen-time that the other plots could have made better use of, Worf’s part in the episode is our first real sense of follow-on from ‘Sins of the Father’. At last, Worf’s discommendation gets its first notable repeat mention, and at the same time we get to see our first glimpse into the human family that raised Worf. Their part in this episode brings up some great little messages about good parenting, and as Guinnan points out, there are a lot of parents out there who could stand to learn something from the Rozhenkos.

However, the real sign that TNG is starting to take the idea of multi-episode story-telling seriously in this episode is Picard’s story. ‘Best of Both Worlds’ essentially hinted that Picard remained shaken by his experiences with the Borg, but that was as far as it went. ‘Family’ brings Picard down to Earth, literally, by having him go home and be cajoled into dealing with those experiences by the only people who could do that; his family. Ultimately, that’s the role that Picard’s family, or more accurately his brother, has to play in this episode; to be the spur that forces Picard to drop his outer reserve and let himself feel what he needs to in order to better deal with the mental trauma.

In many ways, it’s not unlike the kind of mental cajoling and breaking through a therapist might use in helping a patient deal with mental trauma, and I think the only reason Troi doesn’t provide this is because she’s part of Picard’s crew, and there’s only so far Picard would ever go to open up around those under his command. Ultimately, it has to be Robert that pushes his younger brother into opening up, and who points out that no matter what Picard does, the experience isn’t going to go away whether you avoid anything related to the source of that trauma or not. It’s a great message that I imagine many people suffering with psychological traumas could identify with and take as advice themselves, which adds in what defines Trek at its best; issue exploration through metaphor. Discounting the wasted time on the Wesley plot, I’d give this episode 9 out of 10.

Episode 3: Brothers

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

A misguided prank between two young brothers exposes the younger of them to a toxic parasite that cannot be treated aboard the Enterprise, but Dr Crusher is able to stabilize his condition in a controlled environment in Sickbay while the ship sets out for a starbase that can cure the boy. As Lt. Commander Data escorts the older brother to visit his sibling, he suddenly stops and returns to the bridge where, unseen by the crew, he sets a new course for the ship and triggers a life support alarm, causing the evacuation of the bridge to be ordered. Captain Picard orders navigational control transferred the controls to Engineering while the rest of the bridge crew evacuates, but Data remains on the bridge, mimics Picard's voice and locks down control of the ship with a complex access code, preventing any interference with his actions. The crew discover Data's lock-down and manually disable the transporter's site-to-site function to prevent Data from easily moving about the ship. Once the Enterprise is in orbit about the planet Terlina III, Data creates a programmed sequence of force fields to allow him to move from the bridge to the nearest transporter room without being stopped by security, and then beams down to the planet, leaving the Enterprise still under his lock-down. Picard orders his crew to attempt to override Data's lock-down of the ship, while Dr Crusher attempts to keep the infected boy stabilized.

Data finds himself in the home of his creator, Dr Noonien Soong. Soong states that he called Data to him using a form of automatic recall and makes a manual adjustment on Data to return him to normal. As they talk, they are joined by Lore, inadvertently also drawn by the same recall that Data received, since Soong assumed that Lore was still disassembled. Lore expresses resentment towards his creator and starts to leave, but stops when Soong tells both of his creations that he is dying and wishes to give Data an "emotion chip" he has created. Soong decides to rest before implanting the chip, leaving Data and Lore to talk. When he returns, he proceeds to implant the chip but discovers too late that Lore had managed to deactivate Data and switch clothing with him, so that he now possesses the emotion chip. Soong tries to warn Lore the chip is not meant for him, but Lore instead injures Soong and transports off the planet.

The crew of the Enterprise find a way to beam down an away team to the planet, where they discover the dying Soong and the deactivated Data. After Data is reactivated, he cannot recall any of what he did on the Enterprise to arrive at this planet, until Soong reveals to him where he can find that information stored in his memory files. Data apologizes to Soong that he will not be able to grieve for his loss, but Soong tells him he will grieve in his own way. After Soong states that he wishes to die on the planet, the Enterprise leaves and returns to its course to the medical facility, where the sick boy is successfully treated. Data observes the brothers at play after forgiving each other for the accident, contemplating his own relationship with Lore.

Review:

This episode is the second in a trilogy that covers the concept of family, although this time we’re exploring it through Data being reunited with his creator, as well as fellow android Lore; in essence, the reunification of a somewhat dysfunctional father-and-sons dynamic that bears echoes of the Thor-Loki-Odin relationship of Marvel lore. Not only is this a great little character piece for Data, but Brent Spiner actually plays all three members of this family. It’s a remarkable enough technical feat to see one actor play two roles, such as when Lisa Kudrow would play Phoebe Buffay’s twin sister Ursula in episodes of Friends or the earlier TNG episode ‘Datalore’ where Spiner played Data and Lore. Playing three characters in one episode, however, is all the more remarkable.

The main plot is very good, albeit lacking any real issue exploration because it is ultimately just a character piece. We also get to see some of Data’s more advanced abilities unleashed, such as his voice emulation and higher-level computer programming abilities. For anything close to issue exploration, it’s the guest siblings, or rather the younger one, that makes the closest thing to a salient point about anything of note. When Dr Crusher is trying to convince the kid to forgive his older brother for the prank gone wrong, the lad claims he’s never played practical jokes on anyone, even for April Fools, because he feels “it’s not funny for the person being pranked.”

As someone with autism who can’t generally separate practical jokes from bullying and sees the two of fundamentally synonymous except where the victim has behaved so poorly that a practical joke is equitable punishment, I totally agree with this kid’s assessment of practical joking. Such pranks, outside of punishing truly horrendous people and the slapstick antics of something like Looney Toons, are little more than the cruellest, stupidest and generally most immature of all humour forms imaginable. It’s not funny because it is essentially humour in weaponised form, laughter directed against a victim in mockery and shame, and in any truly enlightened society it simply has no place, save for an occasional punishment of necessity. Likewise, anything that encourages practical jokes as a generally accepted form of humour like April Fools should be banned.

Hell, April Fools only started because some idiots several centuries back refused to shift from an old model of calendars to a new one. How the hell does that justify all the stupidity of April Fools all this time later? The answer is simple; it never has, and the only true fools are the ones who still celebrate the custom instead of opting out. Frankly, the fact that pranks and April Fools haven’t been edited out of society by the time TNG is set is a flaw in the supposedly utopian world of Trek. If humans are still using humour as a weapon like this by the 24th century, if we haven’t grown up properly by then, how the hell have we managed to establish the kind of world that Trek claims to be. To say I am disappointed by this facet of this episode, and Trek as a whole, is to woefully understate things. Because of this, what might have been a top-scoring episode despite an otherwise total lack of issue-depth becomes worth 8 out of 10.

Episode 4: Suddenly Human

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a Talarian vessel. They rescue five teenaged crewmembers - four Talarian, and one human, Jono.

Jono keeps to himself, but shows strict obedience to Captain Picard, which together with some unexplained past injuries leads Dr Crusher to suggest Jono may have been physically abused. It is determined that Jono is Jeremiah Rossa, a long-lost Federation citizen. His grandmother is a Starfleet admiral, and he was orphaned ten years ago when his parents were killed in a skirmish with the Talarians.

When the Captain introduces the topic of Jono's human family, Jono becomes angry. After persistent effort by Picard, Jono's memories of the attack begin to return and a friendship develops between Jono and Wesley Crusher.

A Talarian ship arrives. Its Captain, Endar, asks for a status on his son, who happens to be Jono. Ten years ago, Endar claimed Jono after Jono's parents were killed. This is part of the Talarian custom of adopting the children of slain enemies to replace their own children who have died in battle. Endar explains Jono's injuries as the products of a boy trying to impress his father by participating in high-risk activities; Picard seems satisfied and observes that Endar seems to care for Jono. Picard allows Endar to see Jono, but when Jono says he wants to stay with Endar, Picard suspects the boy is afraid to say he wants to stay in the Federation. Endar insists that Jono will come back with him, even if the result is war between the Talarians and the Federation.

Returning to his vessel, Endar calls for reinforcements, as Picard decides to try to convince Jono to stay. After Jono receives a message from his grandmother, Picard takes the boy to play a form of racquetball, where Jono breaks down and cries due to the sounds of the game triggering long-buried memories of his human parents being killed. The crew believes they are making progress with the boy, but that night, Jono stabs the Captain. The dagger is deflected by Picard's sternum, and the wound is minor. The problem of where Jono should live is now compounded as Jono has committed a crime.

When Picard learns that Jono feels he cannot betray Endar by befriending Picard, the Captain realizes he has been trying to impose his wishes on the boy. Just as Endar's patience is about to run out, Picard contacts the Talarians and lets them know he will let Jono go back. Jono bids Picard farewell with a Talarian ritual that is normally reserved for family members.

Review:

This is the third episode on the trot that covers the theme of family, and again we get a different perspective. The apparent intention behind it was to explore something the show normally looks at using Worf, namely if you raise a child of one culture in another culture, can they ever be of their birth culture or do they inevitably revert to the culture they were raised in. However, exploration of this is partly muddled by the fact that the episode raises issues of child abuse regarding the Talarian-raised human teenager that the episode focuses on. Some less observant and more reactionary viewers seem to think the conclusion of the episode effectively condones child abuse, since those the Enterprise crew suspect of abusing the child get custody in the end. However, the episode clearly shows Jono’s injuries result from the physically harsh games of the world where he grows up, and as such are simply accidental injuries rather than intentional ones.

I think if there is a message regarding child abuse and custody cases in this episode despite the intentions of the writers, it’s not to let your suspicions and the personal emotions that stem from those suspicions cloud your judgement. While better safe than sorry is undoubtedly a wise policy for anyone to adhere to, I think that some people can be inclined to wrap their children up in cotton wool for fear that if their child gets injured even by accident, the state will use it as an excuse to label them as abusers to satisfy themselves. Such fears are perfectly understandable, as this episode clearly shows how easy it can be even for the supposedly enlightened and more rational humanity of the 24th century to leap to the worst possible conclusions and act from those rather considering all the facts. As soon as they see Jono is human, and once Dr Crusher finds broken bones and assumes abuse, the crew is hell-bent on winning Jono back to humanity, even when the broken bones are explained away as accidental, all because the Enterprise crew values its own assumptions over actual fact.

I also think the episode is a victim of when it was made; the later TV franchise of CSI shows the medical examiners of their various shows identifying whether certain injuries could be accidentally or deliberately inflicted, and the earliest of those shows began about a decade after this episode. This makes me wonder if forensic medicine had yet to develop this science far enough in 1990 that a show like TNG could capitalise on it in the same way. After all, if early 21st century MEs can determine the difference between an accidental bone fracture and one caused by an act of abuse, you’d think a 24th century doctor like Beverley Crusher could make similar determinations. As it is, this lack of diagnostic accuracy on Crusher’s part only adds to the error committed by Picard, and it’s only at the end when Jono is driven to violence that anyone realises ‘ok, we’ve messed up and mis-read the entire situation.’

What makes the whole thing really stupid, however, is that Jono’s situation is something of a mirror to Worf’s, and yet Worf is among those seeking to insist upon Jono throwing off his adoptive culture for his birth one. That seems very hypocritical coming from a Klingon who has gone into Star Fleet; if Worf were to live by the gospel of this episode, he’d have gone back to the Klingon empire as soon as he was old enough. Has he done that? No, he’s the tactical officer and chief of security for the Federation flagship, for crying out loud. For someone from a race valuing honour so heavily, it’s just stupid and inconsistent to have Worf follow everyone else’s assumption and not argue in Jono’s corner. I won’t even start on the stupid howling ritual that had me muting the episode every time it came on. Bottom line, this episode only gets 5 out of 10 from me.

Episode 5: Remember Me

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The USS Enterprise docks at Starbase 133, where Dr Beverly Crusher greets her elderly friend and mentor, Dr Dalen Quaice. After taking him to his quarters, discussing the loss of old friends, Dr Crusher visits her son Ensign Wesley Crusher in Engineering. Wesley attempts to create a static warp bubble, but the experiment appears to fail. As the Enterprise leaves Starbase, Dr Crusher finds that Dr Quaice is missing, with no record of him coming aboard the ship. As she performs a medical test on transporter chief O'Brien, she realizes that her medical staff is missing; further investigation and discussion with the crew show that she has always worked alone in sick bay.

Dr Crusher continues to try to track down the disappearing people and finds more and more crew members that she remembers being completely unknown to the crew or the computer. At one point, a vortex appears near Dr Crusher and attempts to pull her in, but she is able to hold on to a fixture until it dissipates; the ship shows no record of the vortex's appearance when she investigates. Eventually, no one but Captain Picard and herself remain on the ship, but Picard believes that the situation is normal. Dr Crusher orders the computer to give Picard's vital signs over the ship's speakers so she knows he is still there, but shortly thereafter, even he disappears. Then, the vortex reappears, and once again tries to claim Beverly. She is blown across the bridge, but she manages to hang onto the chair for the Ops position until the vortex disappears.

At this point, it is revealed that the actual Enterprise, where Wesley had successfully created the warp bubble and accidentally trapped his mother within it, is trying to rescue Dr Crusher. With the warp bubble collapsing rapidly, Wesley's fears lead the Traveller to appear and help Wesley attempt to stabilize the bubble. The Traveller recommends the Enterprise return to the Starbase, where the warp bubble was formed and may be more stable.

Within the warp bubble, Dr Crusher attempts to direct the Enterprise to the home planet of the Traveller, but soon finds the ship is unable to set that destination, as it no longer exists. More of the universe she knows disappears, soon leaving only the Enterprise. She recognizes the shape as being that of Wesley's warp bubbles, and determines that she is trapped, the earlier vortex being the Enterprise crew's first attempt to save her. As the warp bubble shrinks, erasing parts of the Enterprise, she races for Engineering, the centre of the warp bubble, and finds a vortex waiting there. She jumps in at the last moment, finding herself back in Engineering along with Picard, Wesley, Geordi La Forge, and the Traveller. She embraces her son and obtains confirmation from Picard that the Enterprise's population is 1,014, including her guest Dr Quaice), which is the correct number.

Review:

Here we have another example of a cost-saving bottle episode made to save money where earlier episodes perhaps involved an over-spend. It’s not up there with the like of ‘The Offspring’ for quality; it’s taking an item that was apparently intended for the earlier episode ‘Family’ and got for time, turning it into a stand-alone episode and then bringing back the Traveller, a guest character not seen since his only prior appearance in TNG’s first season. As a result, we get a re-hash of the ‘thoughts making reality’ premise from the Traveller’s one previous episode, albeit focused entirely around Beverley Crusher. Gates McFadden does a wonderful job taking centre stage for this episode, but there’s only so much she can do to raise its quality; there’s simply not enough substance for her performance, and the performances of the other actors, to bring to life. No character exploration, a recycled issue from a past episode. The only reason I give it 6 out of 10 and not less is that we’re at least getting a break from the kind of stupid we got on the previous episode.

0 notes

willsherjohnkhan · 8 years ago

Text

Sky Warrior

RATED - Mature

Chapter 1: Future's Past

***

USS VENGEANCE - BRIDGE

Even given the warships deliberately simplified command systems, it was still a remarkable feat of piloting on Khan’s behalf operating the ship, pursuing and engaging with weaponry all at the same time, and all by himself.

And though it continued to tumble, on fire, weaponless, without shields and while wounded himself, Khan still managed to maintain a vestige control of the ship. Dragging himself over to the forward console, he fought to make his orders heard above the crackle and thunder of instruments exploding, while the very structure of the ship fell all around him.

“New destination!” he roared, “Starfleet headquarters!”

“Engines compromised,” the ship’s computer warned. “Cannot guarantee we will reach intended destination,” it paused a moment, checking and finding an order prohibiting the ship from going to that particular location, “Specified destination off limits. Do you confirm order?”

The augment remained undaunted. Enraged and filled with an indescribable pain at the thought of having lost those that he had tried so hard to save, Khan’s response emerged as a snarl, “Confirmed.”

***

STARFLEET HEADQUARTERS – SAN FRANCS|ISCO

They stood hypnotised by the most extraordinary sight. A massive, black, unmarked spaceship was hurtling at speed towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Smoke billowed from the badly damaged craft as it plummeted from the sky.

It was only as it was about to crash into the bay that curiosity turned to all out panic, and those on the ground ran for their lives.

***

USS VENGEANCE – BRIDGE

Alarms screamed throughout the ship. The computers voice intoned at regular intervals, “Impact in...”

Khan had made his way back to the Command chair. He sat his back straight, his hands gripping the armrests as he braced himself for the inevitable fate that his time in the 23rd century had ultimately led him to...

***

INDIAN RESERVATION - 1835

The Medicine Man turned to his Chief. When he received a nod of confirmation he begins to chant.

Several hours later the unconscious body of Khan Noonien Singh appeared at the Medicine Man’s feet.

***

Chapter 2: The Old New World

***

SIOUX RESERVATION, SOUTH DAKOTA – 1835

Khan felt disorientated when he first opened his eyes. His last memory was of sitting in the command chair on the damaged bridge of the USS Vengeance and ordering the warship’s computer to comply with his instructions to crash into Starfleet Headquarters.

It had been his defiant last stand in retribution for what he believed had been the callous murder of his fellow augments. His crew, his followers, those he regarded as family, the only remaining link to his past.

Khan sat up and gazed around him. The dwelling he found himself in was primitive. It was made of animal skins, as was the bed upon which he rested.

Intrigued, he got to his feet and exited through a simple flap that was the only way to get in or out.

It took him a moment or two for his eyes to adjust to the brightness of the sun beating down on him, only then did he get his first real look at where he was.

What he saw left him stunned. For all his genetically superior enhancements, the augment was overwhelmed by the irrefutable proof before him.

He had somehow travelled from 300 years into his future to 150 years into the past.

***

THREE MOMTHS LATER...

Chief Grey Wolf watched on in ever growing admiration of the white man that called himself Khan.

The Sky Warrior had proved himself to be a most efficient and effective hunter, trapper and fisherman. He had also shown considerable skill in hand-to-hand combat, as well as being proficient with weaponry, both in the use of, and in finding ways to improve and enhance the accuracy.

And yet for all that he had achieved while he settled into this new life they had offered him, the chief remained concerned for his overall welfare, in particular his emotional welfare.

Khan was restless.

Chief Grey Wolf was certain that he would settle down more easily if he had female companionship. But Khan had shown no interest in any of the young unattached women in the tribe. Grey Wolf concluded that Khan found them too submissive for his tastes.

What he required was a woman who would challenge him, a spirited woman.

So to ensure that Khan got what he so desperately wanted, even if he wasn’t yet willing to acknowledge it to himself, the chief knew he needed to acquire a very particular woman.

***

NEW YORK

Molly had made a number of hazardous journeys of late. The biggest to date was the unpleasant sea voyage from England to America.

But she knew none would be as perilous as the one she was about to embark upon.

Miss Margaret Elizabeth Hooper had proved to be an imposition and a nuisance since her arrival, alone and unaccompanied ten days before. She had left the authorities completely stunned when she advised them of her intention to travel across the country by wagon train.

They of course had done their best to persuade her to stay where she was. That the new life she had hoped to find could be found right here. New friends, a young man with whom she could marry were all here, there was absolutely no need for her to travel on such dangerous trails.

But Miss Hooper proved herself to be a particularly stubborn young woman, who refused point blank to heed their advice. So outraged and scandalised by her continued determination, the authorities forthwith and with undue haste passed on all responsibility for her welfare to an unsuspecting Wagon Master.

***

ON THE TRAIL – SEVERAL WEEKS LATER

It was the end of another long day. The wagons as was the usual at night were placed in a circle with a number of fires in the centre for warmth and protection. Most of the travellers were sat around the fires.

All except Molly, who fed up with the continuous disapproving looks and comments that were directed her way.

“It was all rather disappointing,’ she thought, and not for the first time. She’d been led to believe, (incorrectly it would seem) that everything was far more progressive and open out here in this New World. And perhaps it was, but not apparently when it came to what a woman could and could not do.

But Molly had not travelled all this way to be dissuaded now.

Molly was so deep in thought she wasn’t aware that a small group had infiltrated the camp. She only became aware when a hand covered her mouth as she was grabbed from behind.

The rest of her travelling companions had their backs to her, and either didn’t hear her muffled cries for help, or simply chose to ignore them.

***

Chapter 3: Igniting a Savage Flame

***

INDIAN RESERVATION, SOUTH DAKOTA - 1835

It had become his habit of late to every morning go for a stroll until he found a quiet and peaceful spot. There he could sit to meditate, and contemplate.

Since his unexpected arrival here he had come to terms with the events that had taken place while he had been trapped in the 23rd century. And that in turn had led to an easing of the resentment he had felt at the time he and his followers had been forced to flee Earth at the end of the 20th century.

Living in this simpler time was certainly having a calming effect upon him. So much so that he was careful not to affect the time he was in by his knowledge from the future. Any improvements he made to assist these people were limited to the knowledge of the time.

Khan chuckled softly to himself at the realisation that even Starfleet had made an invaluable impact upon him in the form of their Prime Directive.

However, his thoughts this particular morning were more focussed on the Chief Grey Wolf’s wish that he find some female companionship.

He was not in the least adverse to the idea. But he had no idea how he was ever to find any woman from this time period who could stimulate and satisfy him – sexually and intellectually.

His musings were interrupted by the sound of horse’s hooves, announcing the arrival of the scouting party.

Khan got to his feet and headed back.

***

KHAN’S TIPI

As he’d approached his lodgings, Khan became aware of a ruckus coming from inside his tipi. Whatever he’d expected to find upon entering was definitely not what he found himself confronted with.

He knew the Chief had instructed the scouting party to retrieve something very particular, but he hadn’t expected...

A young woman, newly arrived from England was kicking, scratching, biting and spitting in her attempts to free herself from the grasp of the braves who held her.

“Leave.” Khan ordered.

The braves immediately released the woman and left, relieved to leave the little hell-cat in the more than capable hands of the Sky Warrior.

Molly made no immediate move to escape. She was exhausted from the exertion she had expanded in her attempts to free herself from her captors.

But that wasn’t the only reason she’d made no attempt to flee.

An English word, said by an Englishman, spoken in a deep baritone, its rich timbre sending shameless shivers of delight racing through her body. All this before she’d even set eyes upon him.

When she did, she couldn’t hold in the gasp that escaped her lips.

He was tall, with dark straight hair, the long fringe falling endearingly into his mesmerising blue-green eyes. His cheekbones were chiselled and impossibly sharp, while his lips were full and generous, encased within their cupids bow. His shoulders were broad, and his waist was slender. His bare chest once fair skinned, now sun-kissed. He was slim but muscular, with not an inch of excessive fat. His powerful thighs and legs encased within buckskin leggings that rested low-slung on his hips, while on his feet he wore simple deerskin moccasins.

A white man he may be but there was something of the savage about him, and not simply because he lived among the native Indians. It should have frightened her, but instead she felt drawn to him in a purely primal way.

Her perusal took no more than thirty seconds, but by the time her gaze returned to his face, he had moved to stand in front of her, invading her personal space.

He circled her in a predatory fashion, and yet when she looked into his storm-tossed aqua-coloured eyes her body trembled, but not in fear, for she had read, and instantly responded to the smouldering passion that burned within their cool depths.

Khan was impressed by the diminutive woman. She had shown spunk and spirit, and she clearly possessed a more than reasonable amount of common sense.

He read no fear in her eyes as he continued circling her. He read only genuine curiosity in her big brown, intelligent eyes. And whenever their eyes met he noted the igniting of a long suppressed passion spark to life. She was a woman who needed, and expected more from life, certainly more than had been offered her in England.

As his gaze met hers once more, he knew taming had no place between them. He wanted only to inflame her – heart, body and soul.

He halted in front of her, reached out a hand to lift up her chin, so that their gazes remained locked.

“What is your name?” he demanded.

Molly couldn’t control the shiver that raced through her body at the mere sound of his commanding tone of voice.

“Margaret Elizabeth Hooper,” she replied immediately.

Khan raised a quizzical eyebrow.

“I prefer Molly.”

“Molly Hooper,” Khan murmured, nodding with approval.

“And..., and you are?” Molly queried.

“I am Khan,” Khan responded. “Khan Noonien Singh” and he gave a little bow.

‘Such an unusual name for an Englishman,’ Molly thought to herself. But then everything about this man was different and unique. She knew nothing about him, but she sensed on a purely instinctive level that he was a man out of his time. Otherworldly, yes, that description suited him best.

“And what exactly do you intend to do with me?” Molly cautiously enquired.

For all her attempts to appear unaffected, Khan still heard the slight tremor in her voice.

“I’m going to claim you,” Khan informed her. “And make you mine.”

His statement neither filled her with fear, nor dread. Instead when she looked up into his face she felt reassured, wanted, safe and whole. She felt she had met her other half, her soul mate.

Taking a deep breath, she asked. “And how do you plan on doing that?”

“Like this,” he responded. That was all the warning she received before he pounced, scooping her up into his arms and carrying her over to his narrow bed.

Setting her down on her feet, Khan was thankful for his superior strength as he dispensed with her many layers, easily ripping the offending garments from her person, before stripping off his own clothes.

After the indecent haste with which he had removed their clothes, Khan now took his time.

Gently he cupped her face as he lent down to press his lips to hers. It was a soft kiss, chaste, a mere caress of lips against lips. He didn’t want to rush this, or her, taking her slowly, exquisitely on the journey of sexual awakening and discovery.

Molly let out a moan of disappointment when Khan’s lips left hers, but the moan became a sigh as she felt his lips move along the line of her jaw, before moving to the hollow beneath her ear, his lips and tongue causing shivers of delight as they caressed her skin with the lightest of touches.

Khan slid one hand around the nape of her neck, his fingers teasing at the fine tendrils of her hair, while with his other hand he took hold of her throat as she arched her head back.

When his lips returned to hers, Molly opened them willingly, allowing him free access. When his tongue slipped between her lips and was immediately met by hers, Khan felt his need to have her spike. In an attempt to reign in his body’s rampant impulses, he was forced to break off the kiss abruptly. Resting his forehead against hers as their rapid, erratic breathes mingled as he fought to regain control, but to no avail, his mouth descended again, plunging to claim her lips, his kisses like those of a starving man. His tongue mated with hers, his breathing harsh with growing need.

But despite his inner primal need, there was gentleness in the way he laid her back against the furs on his simple bed.

It was only when Khan joined her on his narrow bed that Molly felt the evidence of the hard, turgid, blatantly tangible power of his manhood as it pulsed against her thigh. Turning to face him, Molly instinctively arched her back, pressing herself fully against him.

In response Khan’s body surged against hers, insistent and demanding as he ground his lower body against hers.

With his hands Khan caressed her body, smoothing over her shoulders, to her small, but firm breasts that he palmed slowly, sensually, bringing her dusky pink nipples to erect attention with every sweep of his fingers, before moving on to span the width of her waist and then sliding down to take hold of her hips.

Molly had not been idle, having begun her own tentative explorations. She ran her fingers through his velvety soft hair, before running them over his prominent cheekbones and full lips. She then took hold of his broad shoulders as she slid her hands along his powerful arms until they came to rest atop his hands where they rested on her hips.

And then, as if compelled by a force beyond her control, she sought to test his willingness in allowing her to touch his body so freely, as she moved her hands towards his narrow waist.

To her surprise and delight, not only did Khan not impede her actions, he encouraged them, taking hold of her hands, to place them against his lower body where it pulsed in masculine arousal.

As soon as Khan released his hold on her hands, he moved his own so that his fingers could drift down to where her cinnamon coloured curls nestled amongst his own darker, courser hair.

When his fingers slipped between her folds, he found her wet and wanting. He easily pushed one finger inside her, and began a gentle rhythm, moving his fingers backwards and forwards. Molly’s breathing hitched as her internal muscles contracted, causing her hips to begin rocking to and fro. Khan then inserted a second finger, but her channel was narrow and incredibly tight and it initially resisted the intrusion, but with a little forceful persuasion, it too slips fully inside her.

Molly felt her internal muscles clamping around Khan’s fingers, and when he began moving them again, this time harder and faster she experienced a fervour and an acute awareness of sensations, the like of which she had never known existed before. Her lower body now moved in complete synchronicity with the motions of his fingers. A primal instinct sent her fingers reaching down to pull back her folds to reveal her clitoris.

But before she could begin rubbing at the tight centre of nerves, Khan removed her hand, and removed his fingers from her vagina, so that he could shuffle down the bed until his face is level with her cunt. Then he lifted her hips up, to place her legs over his shoulders, before reinserting his fingers inside her once again. Then, and only then did he lean down to take hold of the exposed nub with his lips, sucking on it urgently with the aid of his tongue. And all the while his fingers move in an ever increasing rhythm.

The gentle undulation of Molly’s hips now became frantic, and Khan willingly endured the pain as her hand moved into his hair, taking a firm hold as she neared climax.

Without warning she was overcome, giving an exultant cry as her sexual fulfilment was finally achieved.

When Molly recovered, she felt renewed, energised, and oh so incredibly good, which went completely against everything she had ever read or heard.

Sexual satisfaction from oral stimulation, especially for women, was generally frowned upon. In fact many saw it as taboo, regarding it as an obscene act, unclean and unnatural.

Yet having now experienced it, Molly found it...freeing, uninhibited, its aftermath leaving her feeling more than a little...bold.

After bringing her to orgasm, Khan had moved to lay alongside her, pulling her into his arms, turning them so that they lay on their sides. His groin pressed intimately against hers, his erect cock trapped between their bodies.

Molly slid her palms down Khan’s abdomen, reaching down into the dark thatch of hair, and below, taking the weight of his balls in one hand, and the shaft of his penis in the other.

Molly knew the mechanics of the male anatomy, having read the dry description contained within her father’s medical books. And yet the reality was quite different; warm, hard, pulsing with blood, almost alive with a mind of its own as it twitched and bobbed impatiently within her grasp,

Khan was surprised by Molly’s boldness. However, it soon became clear that she wasn’t sure what she should do now. This shy uncertainty he found refreshing and delightfully endearing.

Before she could lose her nerve, Khan reached down, placing his hand over hers, while using the fluid of his pre-cum that had begun to leak out, to school her in the ways of sexual stimulation of an erect penis. He showed her how to rub and to stroke, as he gently thrust in and out of her hand.

Molly proved to be a quick and adept pupil, unfortunately for Khan, who was determined to retain absolute control, preferring, needing, wanting, desperate not to cum until he was fully encased within her. So, with the greatest reluctance he was forced a few minutes later to withdraw her hands from their pleasurable task, reverently kissing the back of each hand before placing them at her sides.

Molly immediately sensed a change. The air became thick with anticipation. The time had come.

Khan carefully manoeuvred himself so that he lay between Molly’s legs. Nervous though she was, Khan knew her body was eager. Wet, wanting, wildly on edge, it was ready to receive him.

Not knowing what to expect, but assuming he was just going to get it ‘the act’ over and done with, Molly was taken by surprise when Khan lent down and began kissing and caressing her wherever he could reach.

As soon as she started to relax, Khan rose up on his forearms, and with a slight nudge of his hips to get her legs to spread a little wider, his hips surged forward, and entered her.

Khan immediately paused, and took a deep breath, using every inch of his enhanced control to hold his position, resisting his body’s persistent insistence that he plunge forward and take what he so desperately craved. He needed to treat Molly with care, she was incredibly right. He knew that pain was an inevitable result of loss of virginity, but he determined to do all he could to lessen the discomfort, so that all she would remember was pleasure.

Not surprisingly the moment he had entered her Molly’s body had tensed up, as the full realisation of what was to come registered. Looking down into her big brown eyes, he read her uncertainty, and so he attempted to reassure her, telling her softly. “Breathe Molly, just breathe.”

Molly read understanding in his tender gaze. The moment she followed his instruction she felt the need to be consumed by him return. She knew this first time wouldn’t be entirely enjoyable. In fact if any of the rumours she’d overheard were true, copulation was never enjoyable for women.

But then she remembered the pleasure she had felt after being brought to climax by Khan’s fingers and tongue. Maybe her reaction made her a loose woman, but as she gazed into Khan’s steady gaze, she decided she didn’t care what others thought of her. The only person whose opinion mattered the most to her was the man patiently waiting for her to give him a sign that he was free to continue. And that she intended to do.

Molly placed both her hands on his back, her fingertips finding the curve of his spine, where they followed it down to the lean hardness of his buttocks. Khan’s spine arched and his hips thrust against hers, but still he held back. Acting purely on instinct she clenched her fingers, digging her short nails wantonly into his flesh, Molly made her intentions crystal clear.

Khan gave in with an audible moan of relief. With one swift, deep thrust of his hips he broke through her virginal barrier, smothering her cry with his mouth as he slipped deeper within her. The sensation that surrounded him was one of pure bliss.

The initial pain Molly experienced was searing, but almost immediately it began to lessen, leaving a dull ache.

Khan gently rocked against her, testing how she was adjusting to the invasion of his possession. When Molly shifted slightly, spreading her legs that little bit more to accommodate him, as he felt her muscles relax he slowly increased his rhythm.

Molly half expected him to now rush through to the ultimate completion, but to her delight there was no haste to Khan’s love making. His movements became sensuous and languid, he deliberately took his time. Every move he made was intended to increase her sexual excitement. He was invading every inch of her now, exploring her body boldly ensuring she give herself up to him completely. It was only when his breathing became harsh, and she felt him tremble against her that Molly realised the cost of his restraint as he held back in an attempt to not overwhelm her. To think that she plain, shy Molly Hooper had brought a man like Khan Noonien Singh to his knees with want for her, the very thought had her internal muscles clamping possessively around his manhood, her hips surged up as she grasped him firmly by the shoulders.

In response Khan thrust his hips deeper, higher, harder, rotating, grinding his pace increasing, the motion pressing the swollen base of his shaft to the very heart of her womb.

He filled her to bursting. He knew exactly where to press, when to drive forward, then back.

The feel of her legs innocently wrapping themselves around his hips caused his rhythm to increase to a point that brought deep thrilling spasms, and the most exquisite pleasure.

Molly gave an exhalant cry as she threw her head back, giving herself over to the most incredible sensation as she felt Khan’s seed pulse through her. No sooner had her climax washed over her than Molly became concerned as she realised Khan had not as yet reached his completion.

But as soon as her eyes met his, Khan’s hips began to pump again, in and out in an ever increasing rhythm. Suddenly he reared up, taking his weight on his arms, the movement causing his hips to slam in deep one last time. Then his body went rigid. His eyes were brightly dazed and unfocussed, his lips parted, while his breathing became tortured and rough. And then he gave a primal raw as he let go. He collapsed against Molly before rolling to his side, and then he pulled her to him, lazily burying his face into her neck.

Like that they both slipped into a well earned slumber.

The sound of rustlings alerted Khan, and with the greatest reluctance he awoke from his deep slumber. He was immediately aware of Molly snuggled up so trustingly against him, and though sorely tempted to pick up from where they had left off, he also readily acknowledged her need to rest and recuperate.

So instead he carefully got out of bed so as to investigate the source of the sound that had so rudely awoken him.

He didn’t need to look far. Just inside the flap to his tipi was a bowl of steaming hot water, and two clothes, one large and the other small. There was also a plate with fruit and nuts, as well as a pitcher of fresh water.

As he made his way back to the bed, Molly began to stir.

Crouching down, Khan used his fingers to gentle comb her hair out of her eyes. “How are you feeling?” he asked softly.

Molly started in surprise, clutching at the furs to her chest as she sat up, though the movement caused her to wince slightly. She looked around her before her eyes settled on Khan.

“I’m well,” she replied, wincing again as she attempted to move to a more comfortable position.

“But still s little tender,” Khan quickly surmised.

Molly felt her cheeks warm at his obvious knowledge of her present condition, but she nodded her head in agreement.

Khan placed the steaming bowl onto the floor and then immersed the smaller cloth, before wringing it out. He then turned back to Molly who was watching him curiously. While she was distracted Khan reached for the furs, yanking them away from her before tossing them to the end of the bed.

It was then that the irretrievable loss of Molly’s maidenhood was clear to see. In between her legs was the unmistakable evidence, a splattering of bright red blood.

Khan immediately set about cleaning her up, while also easing the soreness between Molly’s legs by pressing the cloth firmly to her groin, and allowing the soothing warmth from the hot water to do its healing work.

Molly knew she should feel embarrassed that Khan was performing such an intimate task, but as she watched him all she saw was complete adoration.

To Khan, this most delicate of tasks was not only his responsibility, it was his privilege.

After he had finished cleaning her up, he used the larger cloth to dry her off. He then got up to retrieve the food and water, bringing them over to the bed and handing them to Molly as he joined her on the bed, and pulling the furs back into place.

After they had finished eating, they lay together snuggled up in bed as Khan had explained his theory about why he believed she had been brought here, to him.

Molly surprised him again, taking everything he said, and everything he still withheld in her stride.

After mulling things over, Molly turned to Khan.

“So,” she began carefully. “None of the women in the tribe...interested you.”

“No,” he replied. “They didn’t have what I needed in a life partner.”

This snippet of news took Molly by surprise, ‘Life partner?’ “Life partner, as in...married?”

For the first time Khan appeared nervous. “Well, according to the laws set down by the Chief...”

“I see,” Molly said carefully, though to be honest she was thrilled at the notion. She still had a lot to learn about the man who called himself Khan. And now at least she knew with absolute certainty she was going to have many long years with him to do so.

Unable to keep him in suspense any longer, Molly gave a dramatic sigh. “Well I guess there’s only one thing left to do.”

Something in her expression told him he had nothing to fear, that she was as happy to be here with him, as he was with her. He rolled over, trapping her beneath him. “And what would that be?”

“I think we’re going to need a bigger bed.”

*** Chapter 4: A Promising Future

***

INDIAN RESERVATION SOUTH DAKOTA - 1835

Chief Grey Wolf and the Medicine Man sat together enjoying the simple pleasure of smoking their pipes.

The tribe had changed since the arrival of the Sky Warrior. They no longer felt inferior to the white man population. Khan had taught them many skills that made them better prepared to deal with any further incursions into their territory.

This had led to a feeling of optimism for the future that had spread throughout the whole tribe, from the oldest elder to the youngest child. It made Grey Wolf’s heart light to see his people happy.

Glancing over to Khan’s tipi he smiled to himself. The wisdom of the Great Spirit was wondrous yet mysterious, and should never to be taken for granted.

It had demanded that Khan was brought from his time to theirs to assist the tribe. And this he had done admirably. But in doing so, something that was damaged in him had begun to heal, and that healing was completed with the addition of Molly.

This coming together was meant to be, they had gained something important that was missing from their lives, and in doing so had become whole.

***

#Khanolly #Fate has other plans for Khan #Time travel #Back to 1835

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impossible-3d · 8 years ago

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Programming Gem: Separate means of iteration

I’ve started working on my secret programming project in earnest, which I’ll reveal in full once I have the basics working.

My main philosophy of programming is that if you have an idea in your head, then good programming means putting that idea down in code as is, without having to compromise the idea just to please the particularities of whatever language you're using. You can imagine my thrill when I realized that - by pure coincidence - the D Programming Language happened to share this exact philosophy.

And it shows. Looking through their standard library feels a bit like a child feels like looking around in a candy store. There's a library facility for just about any common programming task, such as automatically generating classes (yes, classes) that automatically implement the abstract methods of an abstract class for your unit testing pleasure, or wrapping an existing type in a class that behaves exactly like the original type but has ADA-like strict typing.

Hacker types who are fans of low-level programming are not left out either with library features that facilitate bit-twiddling such as Bit Fields or using the unused bits of a size-aligned pointer to store data.

I could spend another hundred paragraphs gushing about the language, I haven't even mentioned its language-level unit testing and documentation features, contract programming or scope-level imports. The main focus of this post will be a specific language feature - that is the customizability of the foreach language construct.

In my project I found it necessary to iterate over two ranges and match the element in one range with an element from the other range that is structurally in the same place. This is not always the same thing as iterating on both ranges and matching their current elements - if you're walking two binary trees for example, it's extremely plausible that on the third iteration one tree will be on the right child of the root while the other tree will be on the left child of the left child of the root. This is on the same iteration, but not in the same place structurally. As such, it is necessary for one range to "lead" and the other to follow its exact motions. I use the most naive and inefficient implementation for now - I assume that both ranges have an index which stores a means of getting to the same place structurally, relative to a root element. The resulting code looked something like this:

MatchData matchData; foreach(const index, const ref leaderElement ; leaderRange) { ref FollowerType followerElement; try { // Try to find the element that is in the same structural place in the follower range followerElement = followerRange[index]; } catch (RangeException e) { static if (skipInvalidPairs) { continue; } else { followerElement = null; } } bool hasMatch = leaderElement.Match(followerElement, matchData); if (!hasMatch) { return Nullable!MatchData.init; // return null } } return Nullable!MatchData(matchData);

There are a few unmentioned D-isms here such as static if (which is basically a compile-time if a-la conditional compilation), and Nullable, which basically takes a value type and augments it with the ability to have a null value (which we use when no match occurs).

But look at it! Almost three quarters of the loop body have nothing to do with the actual work being done - it's just bookkeeping and code dealing with loop control! Going back to our basic philosophy of programming, good programming means putting down an idea in code in the same form as it exists in your head. In this case, it's roughly "Iterate over the structurally matching elements of two ranges and match those elements to each other".

Constructs like the original for loop facilitated this by at least taking the loop control code out of the code that did the actual work, and the foreach construct improved on this by abstracting away the means of iteration compeletely, and we only need to specify the range over which we wish to iterate. The obvious solution, then, would be to create a custom range to iterate over only the structurally matching elements of the two arrays (or a null in the follower element, depending on settings). The problem is that such a range would presumably iterate over pairs (or two-tuples) of matching elements, and we would have to spend time retrieving the first and second elements of those pairs, which is more bookkeeping code that we shouldn't have to do, even if it's massively less than our original monstrosity, I wanted more. I wanted zero bookkeeping in the code that does the actual work.

Thankfully, D is a programming language that I would describe as free-spirited. It doesn't (for the most part) arbitrarily limit your use of its constructs, which is what makes it massively powerful. It allows you to do things like importing things in a certain scope, or using all of D's own language constructs to generate code via string mixins, but the possibilities don't end there. You may have noticed in the above code that D supports specifying an index variable as well as the iteration variable, which is an expected feature of any modern programming language. The caviat is that D allows you to overload this functionality, so that the foreach iteration can be whatever you like, and so can the two variables you specify. You can even overload over the number (up to two) and type of loop variables, so that different combinations yield different iterations. The details of how this can be done is detailed in this chapter of Ali Çehreli's excellent book Programming in D.

Here, I will only show my use of this feature. Therefore this programming gem is not so much my idea as it is a demonstration of one of D's many amazing features. What I wanted to do is define a class that takes two ranges and provides a foreach iteration for elements that are in the same place structurally in both ranges. I also wanted to be able to specify whether to present nonmatching elements as null or skip them altogether. I could also add additional options such as ending the iteration or throwing an exception when such a mismatch is encountered, but for simplicity I will stick with the skip/don't skip solution. With this feature implemented, we have truly reached (or almost) the ideal iteration where we only need to specify the options of our iteration, and then merely write code that does the actual work, with zero bookkeeping code.

Well, without further ado, here is the implementation of such a range:

struct TogetherRange(LeaderRange,FollowerRange, bool SkipInvalidPairs = false) if (isInputRange!LeaderRange && isInputRange!FollowerRange) { public: alias LeaderValue = ElementType!LeaderRange; alias FollowerValue = ElementType!FollowerRange; this(ref LeaderRange l,ref FollowerRange f) { m_leaderRange = l; m_followerRange = f; } int opApply(int delegate(ref LeaderValue,ref FollowerValue) loopBody) const { int result = 0; foreach(const index, ref LeaderValue leader ; m_leaderRange) { ref FollowerValue follower; try { follower = m_followerRange[index]; } catch (RangeException e) { static if (skipInvalidPairs) { continue; } else { follower = null; } } result = loopBody(leader, follower); } return result; } private: LeaderRange m_leaderRange; FollowerRange m_followerRange; } template Together(LeaderRange,FollowerRange, bool SkipInvalidPairs = false) if (isInputRange!LeaderRange && isInputRange!FollowerRange) { alias RangeT = TogetherRange!(LeaderRange,FollowerRange,SkipInvalidPairs); RangeT Together(ref LeaderRange l, ref FollowerRange f) { return RangeT(l,f); } }

For brevity this class is missing its obviously needed range iterator methods, which need to be generated based on what methods both ranges support, which is too much irrelevant code to what this post is really about. The opApply function takes a delegate which is the loop body (similar to std::for_each of C++ fame) and surrounds that with its own code for the actual iteration part. You can see the beauty of seperation of concerns here - this whole opApply function is merely a means to separate out the bookkeeping code from the loop body that does the actual work. Our loop handling code is now nicely and completely sepearated from code that does the actual work, enablind us to merely request the proper means of iteration and then do our work undisturbed. The final foreach loop that uses the above class looks like this:

MatchData matchData; foreach(const ref LeaderType leaderValue, const ref FollowerType followerValue ; Together(leaderRange, followerRange)) { bool hasMatch = leaderValue.Match(followerValue, matchData); if (!hasMatch) { return Nullable!MatchData.init; } } return Nullable!MatchData(matchData);

This code now only concerns itself with specifying the means of iteration and then doing the actual work. As a result, our code is much cleaner and easier to understand. The loop body in the foreach above gets turned into a delegate and passed to the opApply method of our TogetherRange class. Of course we neglect to do a few things, such as handling the case then followerValue is null, but whether we should do that in the loop body or not is the same as a simple question - does a structural mismatch that would lead to such a case affect the loop control, or does it affect how the work is done? If it affects loop control, then it's better delegated to the range via an option (skipping mismatched elements or bailing out of the loop on a structural mismatch is such a decision). On the other hand if it merely affects how the matching is done (against a nonexistent element), then it is best left to the Match function. One could argue that even returning on a failed match is something best left to another part of the code - for example the matching rule could be extended by an option that tells it how to handle matching against nonexistent elements, or it could even be tasked with handling match failures altogether (such as making any matching rule optional - so that only the matching for that single element is discarded, rather than the entire collection of match elements).

But I'm just rambling now, and there's lots of more basic work to be done before a coherent system arises from this little project of mine. However, my hope is that once a basic version is up and running, it will be able to do some awesome things.

#programming #D #C++#D programming #pattern matching #abstraction #template metaprogramming #templates #programming gem

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