#i'll do ship stuff for... yeah basically any ship i've mentioned on here before (too many to list haha)

[jessicas-pi]

it has occurred to me that it is truly preposterous that I, the Maker Of A Ridiculous Number Of AUs, have never yet played that ask game that's like "send me an ask with a character pairing and an AU and I'll write 3 sentences"

anyway, send me an ask with a character pairing (or just some characters) and an AU and I'll write probably way more than 3 sentences

[hamikau]

[AKNK -Event] The desert labyrinth and the Butler's oath

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Chapter 2 Bazaar

[Sarahan Market]

We were told we could do as we pleased during our stay in Sarahan…

We decided to explore the town together… First, we arrived at a bustling market with many people passing by.

Lono: What…?! This amount of spices for this price…?

Lono: …Did you put the price tag on the wrong thing? If they bought them in the town of Espoir, it would cost several times this much…

Aruji: It's so different!

Yuhan: Yes. These kinds of spices are a specialty of the southern lands.

Yuhan: There are customs duties and shipping costs to transport them to the central lands… I guess that's added to the price.

Yuhan: If the customs negotiations go well… We might be able to buy them cheaper in Espoir than ever before.

Aruji: I hope so.

Lono: I see… I've never really thought about it, but customs duties are important.

Bastien: Yeah. Still, it's still cheaper to buy them locally.

Bastien: These rare sausages… Let's load as much as we can into the carriage and take them home.

Lono: Wait a minute! It'd be better to buy spices instead of all that bulky stuff.

Lono: Spices last longer… We can even sell any leftovers.

Bastien: …No. The flavors that can only be had here are much more valuable.

Lono: So just eat it here. Eat now, while you can, until you get sick of it.

Yuhan: Hmm… If we're bringing it back by carriage, how about some silk fabrics?

Yuhan: I think those will last longer than spices…

Bastien: No, food would be better.

Lono: …But when you say it, it just sounds like I'm being greedy… I think food would be better too.

Lono: I'm not sure if silk fabrics are cheap or not. Unless Flure is there.

Yuhan: I see… Now that you mention it, I'm not so sure about the fair price of luxury goods either.

Bastien: Ah. I'll go with sausages then.

Lono: I said spices!

Muu: Hehe… They all seem like real merchants.

Aruji: That's true…

Muu was "pretending to be a normal cat" as usual… whispering to me.

Lono and Bastien were arguing, and Yuhan was skillfully mediating next to them…

Lato seemed completely unconcerned by the commotion… I noticed him gazing into the distance.

Lato: …Hmm…

Aruji: Lato, is something wrong?

Lato: No… But I've been wondering about it for a while…

Lato: That odd-shaped mountain I can see in the distance… What is that?

Aruji: A mountain…?

Looking in the direction Lato was looking… I could indeed see a huge structure the size of a mountain.

I had been wondering about it myself… I wonder if there are "pyramids" in this world too.

Yuhan: Ah, that is… A tomb in the southern earth.

Muu: A tomb… is it?

Yuhan: Yes. To put it simply, it's the grave of a great person from the past.

Lono: A tomb? Something that big?

Bastien: If it's that big… I wonder if a lot of people are being mourned here.

Yuhan: Hmm… It happened a long time ago, so there are various theories…

Yuhan: Basically, it seems it was built for a single powerful person.

Yuhan: It seems it has no connection to the current Portrae family or the Malak religion… I don't know the details.

Yuhan: It seems that powerful people have always wanted to show off their power.

Muu: Wow… You're very knowledgeable, Yuhan!

Yuhan: No, not at all. I just did a little research before coming to the southern lands.

Yuhan: I had heard rumors of a giant tomb, but… This is the first time I've actually seen one.

Lato: You can see it from here… It must be really big…

Lato: Kufufu… I'd like to see it up close someday.

We were talking about this while gazing at the distant tomb…

We noticed an unfamiliar local old man… staggering towards us.

Old Man: …That tomb… It's cursed…

Aruji: Eh…?

Lato: …Hmm? You are…

Old Man: …Traveller… You must never enter the tomb…

Old Man: …If you go in… You'll awaken the spirit and incur its wrath…

Old Man: Good… You must never enter the tomb…

Lato: Oh… So you can go inside that tomb.

Lato: I didn't know that. Thanks for letting me know.

Old Man: ……………….

Lono: Oh no! We're not planning on going inside the tomb.

Lono: Hey, Lato! Isn't that right?

Lato: Yes. I was just curious to see how big it was.

Lato: But… Being told "Don't go in under any circumstances" piques my curiosity.

Old Man: You mustn't go in under any circumstances…!

Lono: I-I get it! I'm not planning on going in anyway…

Aruji: (…I'm starting to get a little curious)

I was surprised by the warning from the old man who suddenly appeared…

After that, me and the others didn't go near the tomb… We enjoyed sightseeing in the market…

We spent our time shopping and eating… The next few days passed without incident.

-Two days later -

A week after arriving in Sarahan…

It seems that Golda's customs negotiations are still ongoing… Me and the others were spending a peaceful time at the lodgings.

Lono: Good morning, master! What shall we do today?

Aruji: Good morning

Bastien: Hmm… We've looked around most of the market…

Bastien: Yuhan. I wonder if there's anywhere around here that you might like to visit.

Yuhan: That's true… Sarahan was originally famous as a commercial city, but…

Yuhan: When it comes to tourist attractions… Other than the market, I can't think of anything right away.

Lato: Kufufu… In that case, today we'll visit that large tomb…

Lato: …Oh? It seems someone is coming this way.

Golda's subordinate: Excuse me…! Is Shinonome Yuhan here?

Yuhan: I believe you are Lord Golda's… Is there something I can help you with?

Golda's subordinate: Yes. Lors Golda has called for you, so please make the effort to come to her room.

Aruji: Lord Golda…?

Yuhan: He has called for just me… huh… I see…

Yuhan: Master, it seems that's the case… If it's not a problem, may I come to Lord Golda's room alone?

Aruji: Yes…

Yuhan: Well then, master. I'll be off for now.

Thud…Thud…

Bastien: He called just Yuhan… I wonder what he wants.

Lono: I don't know… Isn't it about the tariff negotiations after all?

Lono: Our original purpose in the first place… was to support Lord Golda's negotiations so that they would go well.

Aruji: I see…

Lato: Hmm… Now that I think about it, that was the request.

Muu: I-I remembered it well!

I didn't know why only Yuhan had been called, but…

I thought we might be able to hear about the progress of the negotiations… Me and the others decided to wait for Yuhan to return in our room.

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English is not my main language so there may be a lot of mistakes. I used google translator most of the time so if you find any mistakes in the translation please let me know and I will fix them quickly!

[infin1ty-garden]

May I request Mae x fem!Reader where Mae subconsciously goes to Reader who has shown her kindness and consideration every time, even when Mae has failed a task from the Stranger and feels at her lowest?

୭🧷✧˚. WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE ME?

⋆｡°✩ summary: [ in request ] ⋆｡°✩ pairing: mae aniseya x fem! reader ⋆｡°✩ warnings: mention of injuries (nothing graphic) ⋆｡°✩ word count: 657 ⋆｡°✩ author note: it has been a while since I wrote for the acolyte and I forgot how much I love it

masterlist. & acolyte masterlist

She had failed her mission. She failed miserably. She was injured and had lost her ship in the process. How could she face her master again? How was she gonna get back? Should she get back? All these thoughts were running through Mae's head as she made her way to the one person she knows won't turn her away. Your shop, it was luck she crash landed on the same planet where it was located.

Mae had leaned on the doorway for support, waiting for you to open the door. "What-?" You scanned her from head to toe before quickly following with. "Come in," she stumbled into the shop, barely being able to hold herself up. "Sit, sit." You hastily moved a chair closer to her. "What happened? Do I wanna know?" Mae lightly shook her head. You took out a first aid kit, the one you'd gotten since you met her.

She has a habit of appearing on your doorstep injured. Silence was the only thing filling up the space as you heal Mae's wounds. Occasionally she would wince and your sorries soon followed. It took quite a bit of time to properly treat everything. "Hungry?" You asked, finally breaking the long stillness. "Yeah."

"There's a dinner not far from here." You waited for her reply, hoping to gauge her reaction. As it could have been a clue as to show how serious her situation is. "Anything you have is fine. I don't think I'm in any state to leave, right now." You knew she could very well make the trip but decided not to push anymore. Getting your stuff and focused on closing your shop as Mae just sat, waiting for you.

“We can’t stay here. We need to make our way to my apartment.” Something clearly on her mind. You knew better than to ask, when she's ready, she'll tell you. In record time you finished everything, locking the door and quickly helping Mae walk. The apartment was located near the outskirts of the town and it’s relatively safe. It was an even longer walk considering you had to basically carry Mae. You were glad when you finally reached it.

You placed her on your couch. You started to leave the room but Mae held you in place with the use of the force. "So, You're not that tired." You were slowly turned to face her. "Don't leave." The force keeping you in place, relented. "I don't plan to. I just need to get something. I'll be right back." As fast as you could, you grabbed some water and reheated leftovers. You know Mae well enough to know that she hasn't eaten anything in a while.

She tends to forget to eat during stressful missions. "Thank you." She said as she started to eat. You tried to take your mind off of everything by watching something. She soon joined you. "What have you been up to?"

"You know. Same old, same old. Nothing too exciting. Unlike you I'm guessing?" She smiled lightly. "No, definitely not."

"It went bad, like really bad. My ship got destroyed. I lost the asset. It all went up in flames. I don't know how to get back or if I even should." Tears started to fall from her eyes. "I've been trying so hard to prove myself to him. For him to see I am a worthy apprentice but I failed." You embraced her. She returned the hug with much more force, pulling you closer. You didn't know what to say.

You know her master is very strict and there's a high probability Mae would end up severely punished for her failure. You know your words wouldn't bring her any comfort as you both know what happened if she returns. So, you just held her. That's what she needed at the moment. "Would you mind if I stay for a while?"

"Ofcourse, not. Stay as long as you'd like."

Thanks for reading & requesting!

[nuclear-satan]

Final Space Season 3 Episode 1 Review **SPOILER WARNING!!**

...And Into The Fire we go!

I really have wanted to do a Final Space review for a while, so now - I'm going to do it, fuck it. Starting a couple episodes late, but after [insert shenanigans] I needed to let it cool off before getting back into it.

One last warning: THESE ARE NOT SPOILER FREE REVIEWS. DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT SPOILED AND DO NOT WANT TO BE. THESE ARE GOING TO HAVE SOME SUMMARIZATION INVOLVED.

With the disclaimer out of the way, let's get into it.

So, first of all, I have to acknowledge that this cold open? Fucking toasty. The entire first five or six minutes of this episode is flat out amazing and some of the best that Final Space is. Really intense - I love the dramatic cold open to a space chase.

Also, however, brief, the Quinnary reunion was nice. Quinnary is a ship that I enjoy subjectively more than objectively, but considering it really hits now even if S1 had issues... I can look past it yo.

Invictus proves his power and intimidation incredibly well this episode, between the Gary Zombies and even this first incredibly terrifying matchup - even Mooncake, who in any other situation has been able to zap it away, couldn't touch it. Really setting the villain well.

Small thing I want to acknowledge because there was some discourse on it -- Sheryl saying "I'm his mother; where do you think he got it from?" Was really nice to me. Obviously not all is forgiven, nor should it be, but it's just a nice bit of character development.

Then, Ava gets Yeeted by Bolo and breaks.

I could have taken a better screencap probably, but I will not.

Anyways, considering the cast of characters was way too fucking big in S2, I'm not... particularly aggrieved by this, especially since I didn't really like AVA anyways, but it is pretty unfortunate that one of the only female characters just got the ax without basically any development other than the obligatory robot comphet stuff. Whatever, I think this is setting the stage for HUE AI, so I'll bite my tongue.

That said, the conversation that HUE and AVA had before she died? Sweet.

And then they're in Final Space. Goddamn, they really went the extra mile animating and illustrating this episode. Gotta acknowledge it.

Also, quick note: New OP is a banger.

...And this is when the review's going to start getting a bit more negative, because we jump straight into everyone's favorite trope: a time skip.

I. I really have issues with this timeskip. This episode was fucking ballistic in the pacing, and I really, really wish that I could have spent some more time within Final Space just trying to survive. I get it. It was a premiere, so you wanted to go all out, but... I really wish we could have savored it. There's just suddenly a timeskip! We don't get to see how they've been surviving. We don't get to see shit. Quinn just suddenly appears in a new outfit, and then we're off the races.

I dunno man, I really had issues with the pacing of this episode, and this is the backbone of it. It's okay to take a breather, even in your opening episode. You have to know when to take a breather. This episode sorely needed it, and it didn't get it.

Also, obligatory Danger Groins mention. Yeah, I know that's not what he says. It's what he says in my heart, tho.

From here, the Gary zombies show up, which are... admittedly intimidating.

They get attacked, and - okay, can we fucking mention the titan fights for a moment? No matter what happens this season, I'm here for this. This is Gurren Lagann levels of ridiculous, and I fucking love it. Smash that planet, yo.

lThey get separated, and Avocato and Gary have a bit unfitting but fucking hilarious moment that has to be acknowledged. This shit ain't straight, yo. There's no fucking way you tell me this shit is straight.

And... *sigh* I really have some goddamn issues with the next... I don't know, I wasn't watching, six minutes?

"There's no more grossout scenes," we were told. "Season 2 gross out is done. No more weird fetishes."

Okay.

Okay, sure.

I'm sparing you the images, because I don't want to post grossout on my blog, but... holy shit, Quatronostro's birth scene. First of all, which of the fuckers on the blog keeps putting their fetishes in this show? Clarence is gone, so you're making Mpreg Tribore (I realize Tribore is canonically genderfluid, but he's male presenting at the time of this birth... and at every time... I don't have faith in two cishet men to actually make good on that, sorry. I hope I'm wrong.) Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.

The scene is gross, uncomfortable grossout. This isn't the 90s anymore!

Also, the other thing I have to acknowledge - that motherfucking robot. It's season 3 - haven't we moved past the screaming = funny leftover humor from Olan's YouTube days? Clearly fucking not.

Also, Ash did a really out of character thing this episode by shooting the robot. I... what is Ash's character, exactly? Ash is an inconsistent enigma. Someone define that poor girl's character, already.

After that... mess.... though, we do end up with a very solid ending. Bolo headbutts the planet, Quinn and Gary get swept up in the blast, and we end up with a very beautiful but quick scene of Gary and Quinn embracing one last time - it's very reminiscent of chapter 9, and I did thoroughly enjoy it.

iAlso, the shot of Mooncake saying "Gar" while looking for Gary, presuming he's dead? Oh, that just hurts.

And then we end with HUE saying, "We are alone, Gary." Honestly, genuinely was a little disappointed to find it wasn't just HUE and Gary. I thought this line was going to come later in the season, and it was just going to be HUE and Gary in a callback from season one. It wasn't, and I'm genuinely very disappointed as someone who's favorite dynamic in the entire show is S1 HUE and Gary. Of course, as a result, I'm not unbiased, and... well, I do stan Quinn too.

And goddamn, look at the Earth. She got fucked uuuuuup. I think I remember hearing next episode that there's only one survivor left, which I do NOT buy as a concept, but it's very cool to see a show that does not shy away from full apocalypse scale destruction of the earth. It like, never happens, so it's a nice subversion. Get fucked, earth.

Overall Thoughts:

This episode is the definition of a mixed bag. The beginning is fantastic and the ending is solid (even if personally disappointing), but the middle is genuinely kind of bad. The pacing is rough, there's season 2 tier grossout that I did NOT need to see, and that robot deserved a punt in the face.

The animation is fantastic though. Everyone point and stare at the animation.

I still think the good outweighed the bad, though - if only because of my personal attachment to the characters. I think this was a decent episode - probably on par with the other openers... actually, I don't know.

My disappointment with this episode was more than with the Toro Regatta, but that was more due to my own expectations and thus not fair to rank it that way. I don't know - all the first episodes of the seasons are meh at best, and this unfortunately due to the lackluster middle fit that mold as well.

If you asked me to give it a ranking, I'd probably say if we assume a 5 out of 10 is average, I'd give it a 6. Decent, fantastic when it's good, but the entire middle section really brought me out of it and because of that I can't give it anything more than that.

I've heard episodes two and three are good, though - excited to see the Ventrexian for myself after all the fuss, so let's see how it holds up!

I'm scared for Biskit tho.

[shippedwithmonsters]

Okay, so I'll start with Sophie.

(The actual gushing starts after a hearty bit of expository infodumping; read at your discretion)

I call her "Sophie" because her name is Sophia in the set of characters she was previously grouped with —

(Here's the complicated origin bit: She was originally based on a similar character in my current 'verse, but I imported her design into what amounts to a highly customizable girlfriend-themed paper doll/dress-up app, and I've been steadily creating new characters based on my now 7 designs there over the past 6 years, but I wasn't sure how to re-integrate Sophie into the 'verse she originally came from because out of all of them she was the only one who started there. Actually, if I'm gonna get really meta, I made an avatar for her on the app because she's always been the character I was most attracted to, but I felt weird thinking of her that way because I already designed a canon love interest for her, and even though he's technically also an S/I, he's like an idealized version of me that I have trouble relating to... ...but after exploring self-shipping in the past few months, I figured out how to incorporate her back into my main 'verse as a new character, and while I've had a version of her on the app for a while now, I'm so happy to have her back in-universe in a form my current, more-relatable S/I can interact with.)

—in this 'verse I haven't fully decided on her name, but she's probably "Galatea" (because out of all the designs that in-universe are creations loved so much by their creator that they were given life, she's the one who the name's literal translation best applies to i.e. "milk-white").

She's pretty much my ideal person, if I had to pick only one person. (I may or may not be considered polyamorous; it's more that I've long doubted I'll ever find one person who is simultaneously all the personality types I'm into. Irl I've only loved once and... ...it didn't work out.)

She's a lot like me, personality-wise (devoted, meticulous, and simultaneously hard-wired for logic and overwhelmed by feelings, et al) because on some level that's really the only kind of person that would work for me, so I designed her that way.

Visually, she's slightly taller than me (although about the same height as my S/I) She's pale white like bone or marble with at least waist length black hair and deep indigo eyes (again several of these traits she shares with my S/I, reflecting the above "like me" aspect.

Oh, and she's kind of a vampire? It's more accurate to say she was modeled with all the same traits as my 'verse's vampires (claw nails included) but like all of my other F/O's she's a mineral construct themed after a sea creature, in her case a Vampire Squid. Because of course. Mineral-wise I'm toying with making her diamond because Twilight was a big thing for me back in the day, but she's less sparky vampire and more cold dense statue physiology vampire.

Ok so ^this is why I asked for time 🙃

Now to actually gush about her 😳

-I could stare into her eyes for hours. Days even.

-She knows this, and stares at me when she wants attention.

-In one particular instance, she was ready to go to bed, but I was staying up to work on something, so she basically said "don't mind me, I'll just be sitting here enjoying the view until you're ready"

-The reason for this is because she can't sleep without me. Sometimes she just stays up because "vampires watching their partner sleep" tendencies run deep, but when she feels tired, she likes to lay on top of me and listen to my heartbeat, gaze into my eyes, let me hold her tight and stroke her hair, etc, until she feels safe enough to drift off, and with the weight of her body pressing me into the bed it doesn't take long for me to follow.

-You might be asking, "wait, didn't you say she was cold and stone-like?" Yep!

-Because of this, before bed, we get to engage in a couple of my other favorite rituals- bathing and massages touch-starvation.

-Here's the fun part: because she's like me, she simultaneously prefers giving to receiving affection (like your vampire boy if I recall correctly) and willing consents to receiving said affection because she knows I feel the same way, and vice versa. So we take turns.

-Bathing together so she's warm and slippery, and washing each other's hair because it drives us both wild...

-Exploring each other's bodies (I love her shoulder blades) and leaving the other barely coherent from the sensuality, then carrying them bridal-style off to bed... (I feel so safe cradled in her arms 😳 and then she straddles me...)

-So since her physiology is stone-like, while she's initially cold, she retains heat. So when it's cold, after a hot bath, she keeps me warm all night... (and of course she can be a more traditional cold-to-the-touch vampire during warmer weather etc)

-Ok ok one more thing, and then I'll gush about someone else. Since we both love giving affection, one of our shared passions is taking care of my (/our) other F/O Nettie. I'll get back to her, but regardless of the fact that this version of her is wildly different than her original concept, either way she's an athletic/tomboy type who overexerts herself, and Sophie and I take one look at our tired and sweaty girlfriend, nod at each other, then scoop her off her feet and carry her off to be pampered senseless in many of the same activities mentioned above.

...yeah I really went overboard I just love her so much. Small endnote: a lot of the imagines I write are about Sophie, and part of the reason I described her above interacting with me rather than my S/I is because those imagines are set somewhere between the 'verse I'm currently writing and the app I designed her on. Because I love imagining soft domestic stuff with her but there's slightly less room for that in my canon, so in a sense I really do self-ship with her out-of-context as if she was a more traditional F/O rather than the OC F/O she is. Sorry if any if this is too dense or complicated but feel free to ask for clarifications and stay tuned for more gushing 😊

Definitely no way I can completely comprehend all this tonight, but thank you for telling me about Sophie! I am curious, what dress up app do you use? All the ones I used to use to make my characters died when Flash died. :(

Okay, actually I did read the whole thing and umm I loves? Sophie sounds amazing! And goodness, what is it about falling asleep with vampires that's so darn appealing? rofl.

Thank you for all this! It honestly made me really happy to read!

[sirro85-blog]

Dark Horses 6

So, what are the Xhost? Now, so long after they have left the stars it's a question that can be asked.

The Xhost were an idea that became a cult, if humans are more durable and Rhul are faster and Biviladi are more adaptable to environmental changes what if instead of celebrating the diversity we examined the discrepancies and found a common ground?

A noble thought, corrupted, corrupted into the Xhost where races were genetically modified to be a bit of everything, differences were no longer celebrated as part of a more fantastic whole but instead were vilified as non-conforming.

To the Xhost purity was required, variation was the enemy.

Kovac sat against the wall looking at his friends, Wolf shook his head and turned to Dorman for support.

"No," said Kovac, " you both have opinions and you're both entitled to them, but you're wrong.

It's as simple as this. Iron man is the greatest superhero, all those with superpowers built in can fuck right off, if your solution to a problem is punching harder then you're not a solution. Iron man's super power is thinking better than all of the others, he figures stuff out, after that his inventions win fights. All the other smart guys either have powers or their limited, I mean Batman isn't a one man army. Reed Richards works stuff out then relies on being Mr Fantastic to solve the problem.

Also Tony fights butt naked and the rest don't."

Kovac looked at his friends and smiled at their faces, "look it's this simple, your mind, the human mind is the greatest weapon in the galaxy. Now the second lesson I have to teach you is this simple, no matter what your taste in music one song needs special attention."

"We Will Rick You, by Queen will be remembered as a Pride song but it shouldn't be. What really matters is the solo or fade out; that piece of guitar play by May...everything else is just delivery for that.

Finally, if you're not happy, watching bad television at 0400 with you're partner then you're relationship won't last, if their presence doesn't bring you joy then move on.

Right that's about it, that's my life time knowledge, guess we should see this out then." Kovac stood.

Outside the Xhost forces had swept across the continent.

"Major, you know that the General will mobilise to defend us, even with the bones of a brigade. Major General Michaela Jones will be here," Wolf said.

"I know Wolf, the question has always been how do we drive the Xhost back? They control more sectors than the Rhul and the Flet together, they control more planet's than the Korlax."

"They've never defeated the Galactic Council forces though." Dorman countered.

"Well that's not strictly true, they've never won a war against the GCDF but they've always required mobilising core divisions and I hate to say it but that means human troops, we're the backbone of the GCDF without our presence the Xhost have seen success."

"You really don't think we can save the Towoli? Or the EDC?" Wolf asked morose.

"With a squadron of combat engineers? No." The Major was terse in his response.

Captain Becca looked out at the gathering darkness, "three days to capture the Towoli and secure the cities, so on the fourth day they turn around and hit the EDC, they're dug in now, so they last, maybe another four days and then it us. In this position we can last, maybe three days. That gives the Major-general two weeks, to raise at least a brigade and to get to us..." the question hung in the air unasked.

Kovac puffed out his cheeks, and rubbed his right forearm. "Remember in the 88th there became this belief that I'd pull it out of the fire, everytime it looked impossible odds you'd hear the men, "trust in kovac" I have that faith in Michaela Jones. Our only job right now is to keep open this beach head so she can land the troops. Now I've shared my life's wisdom with you, who has any other nuggets to share?"

Sergeant Major Panther had her own meeting with her sergeants, the needs of various troops and sections were discussed and the talk turned to how long they could hold out, "Captain says three at a push, but knowing the Major, if say closer to five."

"It'll take them a week to roll the Towoli and the EDC so by the end of the second week it'll be all over," said Sergeant Webb.

"No, you're forgetting Webb, we've got Kovac, 'keep calm and trust in Kovac' I've been saying that for over ten years now and I'll keep saying as long as he keeps earning my damn faith." Knickers glared at her fellow sergeants, "what was it he always said? It's us, it's us the 88th, well now it's us the Dark Horses but it's still us, we're still the real first in last out and we're still fighting fit and fucking ugly, Kovac will know what to do and when he asks us to do the impossible we'll deliver."

Panther grinned, "Exactly, so get out there and tell that to the men, wipe their little faces, help them blow their noses and smack the heads that need smacking, we are the Dark Horses and we will do what is needed."

"Except the Major is sitting there saying the same about the General," Webb said, "you all know I love the man, he's personally saved my life four times that I can count, if anyone can save us he can...but he isn't trying to. He's not even mentioned trying to save the Towoli and the EDC, he's said we use them as cannon fodder. Our hope is that we get rescued by the woman we walked away from to follow Kovac."

The sergeant-major stared at her sergeants, she seemed at a loss for what to say.

"I'll keep my faith thank you Webb. You're not wrong, yet, but I'll put my trust in Kovac."

Corporal Grey was growing weary of banging heads, the men were despondent and grumbling. The leader they trusted beyond all others was finally cornered and they could all see it. He watched as Captain Dorman walked away from the Major looking down-trodden, after a few steps the officer managed to organise himself and he straightened his shoulders and put his head up...keeping up appearances.

"I hear you're out of ideas and we're all fucked," said a coarse voice behind Kovac.

"Hello RQ," said Kovac without turning round, "and do you believe it?"

"Of course not, you need extra arms for all the tricks up your sleeves," scoffed the Quartemaster, "but they do, the rank, which I'm guessing is the point."

"They're good people, good people don't become monsters without falling down first, I need them to be monsters, they have to lose hope so when I throw them a cobra for a life line they grab it."

"What's the plan troop?"

"The secret to Xhost success is that the Xhost have their own supply of fuel, took us a while to realise what it was, now they use a variety of tricks but the basic component is Phosphene gas, toxic and smells like rotten fish half the time. So the finest galactic scientists looked at how they could inhibit their engines, how they could stop the Xhost fuelling their war machine, they failed. Then a human looked at it, her solution was deemed too heinous, the very suggestion caused humanity some problems, as we were suddenly seen as viscious and evil."

"What was her solution?"

"Chemistry, it's beyond me but...have you ever heard of White Phosphorus?"

The Qm blanched, "really!? That's your solution?"

"Turn their fuel into chemical weapons, I just need men desperate enough to agree to it."

"Kovac..."

Kovac turned to look at the Qm, "first time you've ever called me that, look, we can sit here and let the Xhost slaughter the Towoli and the EDC or we can act, to save innocent lives, maybe we need to be less innocent."

The Qm was quiet a moment and then sighed, "you think we have to?"

"I do."

"Alright then," she touched his arm and left him.

Kovac stared into the gathering gloom, "Clausewitz never finished and Ludendorff was a bastard who lost," he seemed to mutter to himself.

Later Kovac would say it was almost sad how quickly his men agreed to his plan, but they did. So within 6 hours his troops were prepared and moving out.

Before dawn the Dark Horses had returned to their fortifications, none of the normal a activities were on display, showing pride in a job we'll done. Instead the attitude was grim, an unpleasant job but one needing done.

Outside in the skies and on the ground, the Xhost burned, White Phosphorus burns on contact with air and it can burn even human flesh to the bone. Steel melts at half the temperature of burning white phosphorus.

I've seen artists renderings of the human construct of hell, the day the Xhost burned was brighter, hotter and there was more smoke. The issue of demons I'll leave to other scholars.

Ten days later Major General Michaela Jones landed with the 3rd army of the Galactic Defence Force to discover a smoking planet and the Towoli and EDC talking about burning skies and enemies vaporized in a wall of heat.

The Dark Horses, grim of face and closed in demeanour said nothing, they simply boarded and left with the advance ships into Xhost territory.

There is a phrase amongst those who study human kind, it's taken from their own old language, a term itself bastardised from an even older tale, "humans are space-orcs"

To humans it's funny, "the human can withstand the loss of a limb and is capable of feats of strength near impossible to other races, they fix metal into their mouths and inject their skins for aesthetic purposes...ha ha, fuck yeah we're space-orcs"

But to those of us who study, it means something different, orcs are the monsters of human fiction, rewritten and redefined they are brutal, barbarous and backwards. Their savagery and their lack of humanity is common in all their iterations. Orcs are the monsters humans see in themselves.

We space going species forget that humans may be like us in their hunt for answers but they got to this technology not through global cooperation but through war-driven advances and international tensions and competition.

They have only recently become the advanced global society we know, just under the surface lies the monster. Humans are Space Orcs.

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So I know the Chemistry is a bit hinky here according to a chemist friend of mine what I've said is possible but not easily but...hey It's sci-fi.

Anyway this one ends in a dark place but it's where it went and I can't really pretend I know what I'm doing.

As always feedback is appreciated.

[jessicas-pi]

finally started catching up on some of the asks from my ask box, so... I guess it's time to do another ask game again!!!

it has occurred to me that it is truly preposterous that I, the Maker Of A Ridiculous Number Of AUs, have never yet played that ask game that's like "send me an ask with a character pairing and an AU and I'll write 3 sentences"

anyway, send me an ask with a character pairing (or just some characters) and an AU and I'll write probably way more than 3 sentences