Average sat score for nc state
/r/SAT!
2009.04.02 03:45 Satur /r/SAT!
A forum to discuss the SAT and forms of preparation for taking the test. Visit to find - Help - Statistics - Practice tests - Discussion and more!
2020.10.27 20:38 RandomPerson777666 normalpeoplechanceme
This is chanceme but without the toxicity! It’s a place where average students can get help and advice for college admissions without constantly being bombarded with humblebraggers who have a 4.0 gpa and 1600 SAT and started 15 nonprofits freaking out about how they won’t get into their 80% acceptance rate state school.
2010.12.26 23:57 kharasho Miami Heat
A subreddit for Miami Heat fans from all around the world! 🏆🏆🏆(🏆?)
2023.06.03 12:31 ReWiser2023 ReWiser Best SAT Coaching to ace your test
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submitted by ReWiser2023 to u/ReWiser2023 [link] [comments]
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2023.06.03 12:27 Mad_Creator Gorm's Epic (English Version)
 | Episode 1 The End of the Exodus A great, huge ship, a real Ark of 130 cubits, was sailing on the flat sea of a blue and sunny afternoon. submitted by Mad_Creator to Gormiti [link] [comments] -…I still wonder why you gave such a name to our ship…- Krom-Nav said, as he steered the wheel. The two brothers always had something to say about each other: Krom-Nav was the eldest, always dutiful and precise in his duties, while Yughy, the youngest, was the more reckless one, always ready to experiment. The first had long brown hair that stopped at his shoulders, light and large eyes, a smooth beard that started under the hooked nose, surrounded the mouth, and ended by covering the chin with a point. The second had shorter hair, hazel, darker eyes, a veil of beard on the chin, both tall, athletic bodied, Krom leaner and Yughy Sturdier, dressed, like the rest of their people on that great ship, in animal furs decorated with the symbols of their people: Five symbols that indicated the elements, Water, Earth, Plants, Air, Fire, which all revered and respected. The two had very different characters: Yughy was impulsive, skilled at manual labor, a hothead who often acted on feeling rather than reason. Krom, on the other hand, was more methodical, more thoughtful, didn't talk much unless necessary, loved to read, and always kept a watchful eye on his people and crew.
-HEY BUT YOU DUMPING ME LIKE THIS?- -EXACTLY!- And laughing, he made his way to the large stern. Their relationship had always been like this, since they were children. Bound by a brotherly love that occasionally cracked, but never broke. Even in the darkest moment, in fact, they were together. 10 years earlier, on a very distant coast, on a misty island, stood the village of Missa, a village known for its constant mist. The Missians were a peaceful people, dedicated to agriculture, livestock and fishing, and worshiped the elements of Nature: The Earth, on which they could build their houses, The Plants, which gave them shelter and nourishment, The Air , which moved their mills and relieved them from the heat, Water, which gave them its fish and quenched their thirst, and Fire, which protected and warmed them in the dark nights. Some of them were called Old Sages: They were those who mediated between the Elements of Nature and the material world, holders of ancient powers with which they were born and which they then handed down to their successors. They could blend in and disappear in the eyes of others, use their magic to perform miracles, could increase their strength and speed dramatically, and could read minds and move objects with their thoughts. The title of "Old Sage" referred to the first Village Chief, an old man who helped his people to settle in that place, facing dangers and vicissitudes using his magic to create bridges, drive away beasts and make the land fertile. Since then, individuals with similar powers, even young ones, have received this nomea, a noble title for those who would have been the guides, defenders, or scholars of ancient primordial arts. There Krom-Nav and Yughy were born. Since they were children they showed innate abilities: Krom spoke with plants and animals, perfectly understanding their moods and intentions without his mouth producing sound, and he was able to exploit the air currents to run faster or make the windmills move, while Yughy was able to manipulate the fire, deflect water in the fields with only the laying on of hands and carried heavy rocks making them float with the power of his mind. Both were in total control of the elements of Nature, and were the most talented of those with their powers. The other villagers respected them, and somewhat feared their power. Krom tried to use his powers to improve life in the village, and was always thinking of his fellow citizens, but Yughi was a much more restless spirit: He composed works of art, sculpting the surrounding hills, but often caused disasters such as landslides and mountain slides, when they pissed him off, he controlled torches to set the pants of troublemakers on fire, and played with water, causing it to float in the air, but when he got distracted, the water fell back, often ruining previously irrigated fields. All pranks that Krom-Nav then had to solve, and the bickering between the two brothers was all too frequent. After a few years, the two grew up, and Krom-Nav was elected full-fledged Sage and head of the village of Missa, while Yughy, also elected Sage, became his trusted second. But not even the time to celebrate, that the tragedy struck the village. A neighboring village, made up of a tribe of hunters and vandals, wanted to take possession of the powers of the Sages of Missa. Thus a war broke out which nearly wiped out the Missians, as the enemies burned houses and destroyed crops. In a last desperate attempt, Krom-Nav defended the survivors of his people, together with other Old Sages and the best Missian warriors, while Yughy shaped with his Psychic power, the metal extracted from the earth, and the wood of the last unburnt forests, a large and stately ship where all the Missians boarded. The few left to defend them sacrificed themselves with honor as Krom-Nav mounted Gheos, and set sail, concentrating his powers and controlling the wind to swell the ship's sails. That terrible night, fortunately, most of the Missians survived, including Yughy, Krom-Nav, and his still infant son, little Lehander. Lehander was now 10 years old, born with one yellow and one black eye, his hair shimmered in the light and turned dull in the shade, he was an enterprising and playful child, also endowed with powers, like his father. While his uncle steered, and Krom, his father, made sure all was well on the ship, Lehander slept peacefully in the hold, where everyone's dormitories resided. As the ship cradled him in the waves, his dreams came alive with strange visions: Before him loomed an ominous mountain, tall, with spiers that seemed to form a thorny crown of pointed rocks, and the front wall carved as if it were an evil visage. From the "mouth" of the mountain, incandescent lava and magma came out, a real river of death, and from it arose monstrous creatures with red and yellow skin. Then the dream became absurd, moved, strange, many different images of strange creatures fighting against fire demons, until everything suddenly stopped. Lehander saw the Volcano, again, but this time from above, and with it a whole island, huge, with blue seas, green forests, steep mountain ranges and all sorts of natural wonders. Then in front of him, a ball of light. When he tried to touch her, he woke up. It was now full night and beside him was his father. -DAD…DAD WAKE UP!- Krom-Nav opened his eyes lazily, seeing his son shaken. -Hey…did you have that nightmare again?- -Yes! But this time it was longer! There was the Volcano, the demons, and then other creatures appeared, and they all lived on this huge and beautiful island in the middle of the sea!- Krom, listened curious, but disturbed. His son not only had both his and his brother's abilities, but he had developed unusual powers: He often saw how the child, in totally random moments, was able to move his own and the shadows of objects hit by the sun, as if they were solid, and he was able to mold them into any shape. In the same way he was able to "take" the rays of the sun or the moon that shone through the cracks in the wood of the ship to illuminate a totally dark place. He also had the unnerving ability to make small predictions: Krom could not get out of his mind how, one day, Lehander said "I'm going to look for a blanket.", and in that instant the climate, which until then had been scorching, suddenly became cloudy and cold, so much so that he had to interrupt the navigation for two days. So those dreams she told him were hard to ignore. They sounded absurd, but what if they were harbingers of something horrific? He couldn't take this lightly, he had learned over the years that chance was nothing more than a way for the mind to justify natural phenomena and destiny. Krom spoke about this a few nights later with his brother Yughy, after Lehander had a similar vision again, but he kept telling him not to worry, while they were at the bow looking at the sea, that probably the child's immature powers made harmless pranks. -Krom, you get too worked up…do you remember, when we were kids, I had that dream about a red-hot rock that would hit me on the head?- -Yes, I remember…you were so agitated that when you finally sat down under a tree and a pine cone hit you, you passed out for hours from terror.- -You never remember nice things…anyway if you notice I was a child, and while you already had conversations with blackbirds and lizards, I still had to figure out how to avoid setting fire to the grove behind the house…- -So you want to tell me that Lehander is only very young?- -And also that his powers sometimes go to his head! Then he's always been a kid with a wild imagination, you shouldn't take it too seriously!- The two continued to converse about it, while the night sky was lit only by moonlight. Krom-Nav continued to be worried about his son's visions, while Yughy continued to reassure him. Krom, however, couldn't get over it, since that wasn't the only thing troubling him. -Sometimes, when he thinks he's alone, I hear him talking as if he were with someone else...often it almost seems like he's "arguing" with himself.- -Maybe just play, don't you think?- -I know my son, and I distinguish well when he plays and when something is wrong. He's had weird attitudes ever since he started walking on this ship. He has powers unlike ours or any other Sage who have come before us, plus it seems as if he is never fully awake…I think this journey has become too long…our people need a place to call home…and this vessel can no longer be. Far too many people were born and died here, and I think that the continuous wandering in the sea for years is doing as much harm to our body as to our psyche.- -I know brother...I know...- Yughy said, as he placed a hand on her shoulder. -…But I'm sure we're almost there. I read the stars yesterday, they seemed to be in the right position, and a few days ago I saw some seagulls in the sky! We are certainly close to the earth!- -You say? What if it was just an islet? A tiny strip of land?- -It will mean that we will replenish the supplies, we could take Lehi and the other children for a walk, and then we will leave again! Where there is a strip of land Often there are others not far away, who knows, maybe after that we won't find a bigger island, or an entire continent!- -…Let's hope so…- -Hey, Hey! Don't make that face. Come on, if I can get that frown out of you, as soon as we stop I'll have Lehander go on a little adventure! As soon as he helps me gather wood, he'll forget about his bad dreams! What are you saying, big brother?- -…Thanks Yughy.- They continued to converse for a while, Krom-Nav felt more and more reassured by the words of his brother, who had always helped him raise his son: While escaping from Missa, little Lehander's mother, Astreg, was killed by an arrow shot straight to the heart. Krom-Nav had not had time to bury her for years, and kept her remains, mummified so as not to lose them, in a remote room of the ship, waiting for a suitable place for her burial. Since then Krom raised his son alone, with the help of Yughy, who often entertained the child, making him do small jobs on the ship, teaching him some magical techniques, and playing the funny uncle. The two spent a lot of time together, often not even Krom knew where Lehander was, only to later find him with his uncle. As the two brothers continued to talk, a yell from the watchtower made them whirl around. -FOG BANK COMING SOON!- The two brothers ran to the helm, which was being steered by one of their best men, Hagar. -What happen?- -We are entering a bank of fog, Krom. Looks pretty thick,- -Fog? But how?- The ship then plunged into fog. All the Missians exited their cabins and made their way to the deck. Lehander reached his father and hugged him tightly, while Krom kept his arm around him. The fog was thick, white, so much so that everyone could feel the steam touching them like a caress, and the salty smell of the sea almost seemed like a sweet aroma. This penetrating fog reminded everyone of the fog of Missa, and caused a sense of nostalgia, serenity, peace in the souls of each of them. Either because of Hagar's caution, or because of the pearly and compact vapor, the mist looked like an infinite Cloud in which the ship was almost swimming. Abruptly, Hagar stopped. Something in the sea was moving. A rumbling was rising from the depths of the sea, and it seemed to get closer and closer. Everyone felt it, and terrified they stood silent, hugging their loved ones. Krom, he looked around, perceived a great, immense force around them. Yughy instead heard only an indecipherable muttering. Then, suddenly, a gasp. The ship began to rock violently, everyone held on to something, the two brothers barely resisted standing. The ship rocked for minutes, until something popped up from the sea: An enormous head, twice the size of the ship, emerged from the water. A gargantuan creature with a reptilian head, mottled and scaly skin, tinged with a brilliant abyssal blue, opened its mouth, emitting a high-pitched dissonant song and displaying thousands of sharp teeth, arranged in a comb, as large as the trees of the ship. His mouth shut, his oil-black eye opened, and he just stood there staring at the ship. Krom-Nav approached the rail, where the eye of the creature scrutinized the ship, while Yughy and Lehander watched the scene amazed together with the rest of the people. -KROM! COME BACK HERE!- -Keep calm…- -KROM! FOR THE SAKE OF THE ELEMENTS, IT'S NOT A DOLPHIN!- -I said stay calm, Yughy…I feel it…it's powerful…but it's not hostile…- -…HOW SHOULD YOU SAY THAT YOU FEEL IT?- Krom got as close as possible. He saw the giant pupil turn towards him, narrow and then widen. He feared neither the ship nor Krom. And he didn't seem to want to attack her. Lehander also approached, as if attracted by that magnificent creature. Krom held his son close, and in the process, tried to use his powers to communicate with us. The only thing he heard were strange words in an incomprehensible language. -Dad...maybe I can understand you...- Krom wondered for a moment, how could his son already know a language that he didn't know either? But he could not let fear dominate him. -...Lehe...be careful...and tell us what the beast wants.- Lehander approached, under the astonished eyes of all. The mighty animal began to make strange noises, but it seemed that somehow, its roaring gurgle and its high-pitched song, resembled words, sentences, a finished speech he was having with the child. Abruptly, he changed, and Lehander turned to face his people. -…He said his name was Murena. It lives a little further on, in its great lair at the bottom of the sea, near a southward current, and a ditch beyond it. She says that she is one of the guardians of this sea, and that she has a friend with many tentacles, with whom she sometimes fights over the place where she likes to eat. Near her lair is also a large Island. If we ask them please we can live there! There's plenty of room, lots of wood, enough food and water for everyone! We just have to not fish too much and not catch too much. She says she has many other friends on earth, and she doesn't want some of them to get angry.- The great Moray eel slowly closed and reopened her eye towards the boat, as if it were a sign of assent. Yughy approached his brother. -…it almost seems that…- -Yes…he understood that Lehander is a “puppy”…and made him understand it easily…- -So, there really is an island…and it's big enough for all the people.- -He also said that there are Beasts like her, if not bigger, that could kill us.- -KROM! HE SAID WE SHOULD NOT DISTURB THEM AS WE ALWAYS HAVE DONE WHEN WORSHIP THE ELEMENTS! YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND! WE ARE ONE STEP AWAY FROM OUR NEW HOME! IF IT'S AS BIG AS IT SAYS WE WOULD NEVER HUNGER! WE WOULD RESIST FOR GENERATIONS AND GENERATIONS! FOR THE FIRST TIME YOUR CHILD WILL TOUCH THE WARM GROUND AND NOT THE COLD WOOD OF THIS SHIP! YOU CAN BURY ASTREG INSTEAD OF ROTTING IT IN THE SEA! IF THIS THING WOULD HAVE WANTED TO EAT YOU IT WOULD ALREADY HAVE DONE IT! LOOK HOW BIG HIS MOUTH IS! THINK WHAT'S UNDER THE SEA! IT'S OUR CHANCE, BROTHER! OUR INVITATION TO A PEACEFUL LIFE FOR US, FOR YOUR PEOPLE! FOR YOUR CHILD!- Krom was torn: On the one hand there was the risk of a trap by that monster, on the other, his people were tired of travelling, tired of seeing only the sea and having to make do to survive. Krom approached his son. -Ask her…to show us the way.- -YES!- Lehander with the most innocent smile he could muster looked at his father and uncle, and turned to the Moray Eel. It remained motionless for an interminable minute, then, its head moved forward, towards the direction of the Gheos ship, its long bluish body began to show itself as it swam towards that direction. It seemed endless, but out of the queue, Krom-Nav realized that his brother was right in his greatness. It was ten times the length of the ship, its serpentine body like a moving mountain range, and the long translucent blue fin that ran along its entire body made it even more imposing to the shocked Missians. The Moray Eel swam ahead of the ship, and began to swim straight ahead to show the way out of the mist. Krom, immediately set to work. -HAGAR! FULL SPEED! SAILS EXPLAINED! WE NEED TO STAY BEHIND IT! YUGHY! REACH THE LOOKOUT AND CLIMB THE MAIN MAST! ALL ELSE BELOW DECKS!- And so they did, everyone took their places, the civilians returned, and Krom stood straight in the bow, followed by his son who watched in ecstasy as the gigantic creature guided them towards the unknown. Mist beat against their faces as the ship went at full speed driven by the wind. The creature accelerated more and more as the clouds cleared, they were coming, the salty smell was slowly disappearing. Then, from the top of the watchtower, Yughy screamed together with the other sailor. -GHEOOOOOOOS! GHEOOOOOOOS! EEEEEARTH!- Krom still couldn't see it, then the sunlight blinded him, Lehander, and Hagar. As their eyes adjusted, they saw her: A gigantic island loomed before them, a huge layer of land surrounded by cliffs and a sea so blue it looked like fresh water, so clear that you could see all kinds of sea creatures swimming beside the ship, known and unknown. Two huge mountains welcomed them, towering over endless expanses of lush jungles and forests, and surrounded by towering mountain ranges that crowned the entire island. It was their promised land. Their new home Yughy, he got off, very excited and joined his brother and nephew. -…Look…WHAT SPLENDOR...- -…Yes…finally…we are home…- -We absolutely have to find a name for her…- -I already have a name for her…- -And what will it be called?- -…it will be our Life from now on…- -Life…you mean..?- -Exactly…GORM…- |
2023.06.03 12:27 TheRollingPeepstones The 1998 disappearance and murder of 7-year-old Nikolett Szathmáry in Gyula, Hungary
Hi there! I apologize for any mistakes that stem from being inexperienced, this is my first post here. I have been thinking about posting Hungarian cases on the sub, but this is the first time I actually found the time to do it. I will attach a few sources - English ones seem to be impossible to come by, although there might be one or two related to a possible theory that was since dismissed, I will attach these. The following post is a loose translation of information coming from Hungarian Wikipedia and other Hungarian news articles.
Background
Nikolett Edit Szathmáry was born on July 8, 1990, in Gyula, Békés county, Hungary, to parents Sándor Szathmáry and Edit Szilágyi. Her hometown, Gyula has a population of ~28 000 people and lies in the southeastern corner of Hungary, 5 kilometres (3 miles) from the border with Romania. Most likely due to Nikolett's young age, there is very little information available regarding her upbringing, but it is known that her parents divorced and Nikolett lived with her mother, Edit and her two brothers. (Edit remarried in 2011, to one of the police officers that were involved in the case.) In 1998, at the time of the disappearance, Nikolett was a student in the local No. 5 Elementary School, and Edit supported the family by working as a cleaner in local exhibition halls. Nikolett was a happy, joyful child who was very attached to her mother, but she was also very confident for her age and she regularly walked home on her own from school. She liked to go out in nature with her uncle to watch wild ducks, often went to her friends' homes to hang out with them, and attended extracurricular activities like folk dance classes.
Disappearance
Wednesday, January 14, 1998 started as a regular day for the family. In a 2001 interview, Edit recalled the day of her disappearance: "It was a completely average morning. I woke her up, brought her a cup of cocoa, then we went to school together. We said goodbye to each other, she spent the day in school, then around 2 PM, she walked to her folk dance class. The class was over sometime before 4 PM, they let the kids go a little early that day. Shortly after 4 PM, I went to pick her up, although I previously told her I would not be able to pick her up that day. I wrapped up work and headed out [to Ferenc Erkel Cultural Centre, where her class was]. Maybe if I chose to head home instead, we would've met halfway."
Nikolett did not stay behind to wait for her mother. She began to walk home, as she did many times before without any issues. She left the Cultural Centre in downtown Gyula around 4 PM, and during the walk home, she encountered her pediatrician. They chatted for a little bit and walked together for a while. However, they parted at the neighborhood grocery store, and Nikolett continued on her way alone. Most articles say that this store was no further than 300 metres (about 1000 feet) from her home. According to the receipt the pediatrician showed to police, she paid at the grocery store check-out counter at 4:08. After this point, there were no eyewitnesses that ever saw Nikoletta alive again.
Edit was not particularly worried at first when Nikolett was not home in time, as she was known to visit friends after school on occasion. Until 8 PM, the family tried looking for her in places she could possibly have been, to no avail. At this point, they called the police. A warrant was issued for a blue-eyed girl, around 140 - 145 cm (4' 7" - 4' 9") tall, wearing a purple jacket, pink knitted hat, a green sweatshirt, and a yellow school backpack. The Békés County Police Department searched the town of Gyula and the adjacent woods and wetlands, with no results. Hundreds of police officers were deployed to the town to assist with the search. Special K9 units were also deployed, including Mancs ("Paw"), Hungary's most famous German Shepherd rescue dog who later saved a 3-year-old girl in the aftermath of the 1999 Izmit earthquake in Turkey, and participated in the search and rescue efforts during the 2001 earthquakes in El Salvador and India. 3 000 apartments were searched in the neighbourhood, and they even drained a canal that runs through the town of Gyula. Search helicopters were also used. However, despite the efforts, police was unable to locate Nikolett. Police processed hundreds of reports, none of which lead to any progress with the investigation.
The Békés County Police Department offered a 3 million HUF (around 14 000 USD at the time, a very large sum in 1998 Hungary) to anyone who could provide useful information regarding the circumstances of the disappearance. The mayor of Gyula offered another 500 000 HUF (~2 300 USD). Neither reward was ever claimed. Due to the events, fear spread through the town, and parents did not allow their children to go anywhere on their own. Baseless rumours started spreading, linking Nikolett's disappearance to organ harvesting, but there was no evidence to suggest this. Moreover, Gyula's closeness to the Romanian border and relative closeness to Serbia also led to speculations that Nikolett's disappearance could be the work of a local who escaped the country, or a foreigner who just arrived in town. An international warrant was also issued and Nikolett was added to Interpol's list of missing children worldwide.
Location of the body
For the next three years, there were absolutely no advancements in the case, until February 20, 2001. Thatching workers were collecting straw in the wetlands by Road 44 near the outskirts of Gyula, when they found a large plastic bag. They realized that the bag contained human remains, and the police were informed. Forensic experts determined that the body was likely submerged in water for an extended period of time. Police claimed that this may have been the reason why rescue dogs did not alert in 1998 when the same area was searched. The body found was in a completely skeletal state, with only a blouse and a pair of socks. The backpack, coat, pants, and underwear were never found. Due to these circumstances, it was theorized that she may have been sexually assaulted, although any concrete evidence of that would have been long gone. DNA samples were taken - actually, this was the first case ever in Hungary where DNA was extracted from bones. Getting the results took over six months, which confirmed that the located remains belonged to Nikolett Szathmáry. Finally, the family was able to have a proper burial for her.
Possible perpetrators
According to one article, an anonymous police officer claimed to media that "investigators had and still have suspicions about a possible perpetrator, but there was never enough evidence to support a criminal case". A man named Mihály Rostás, who was 39 years old at the time, was the main suspect. This man committed a few murders in the area; he had three confirmed victims. He committed his first murder in Sarkad, a town 14 kilometres (about 9 miles) north of Gyula. After an argument in a pub, he followed and stabbed his victim to death. He dragged the body to the nearby wetlands and hid it there. (This does show similarities to Nikolett's case.) The second case was the brutal double murder of an elderly couple that happened in Sándorhegy, a suburb of Gyula. After this murder, Rostás was still at large, living in Gyula at the time of Nikolett's disappearance. In early 1998, when she disappeared, he lived less than 2 kilometres from where Nikolett's remains were found. Later, Rostás was caught by police and was sentenced to life in prison for the three murders. Investigators regularly interrogated Rostás in prison. According to the anonymous officer's report, he said: "I know why you are here, I know what you want to hear. I want to live". The death penalty in Hungary was abolished in 1990 - Rostás likely referred to the fact that being known as a child-murderer could have resulted in his death by the hands of his fellow prisoners. He died in prison without ever confessing to any crimes other than the three murders.
Another lead, that is most likely false but still worth mentioning, was discovered on August 2, 2021. A man from Gyula named László Horváth was arrested by police on the suspicion of having produced child pornography. Horváth, a well-known local figure, was a karate instructor, and a report from the parents of a pupil of his resulted in his arrest: the 10-year-old claimed that Horváth touched him inappropriately. The case was heavily politicized due to Horváth having been a local candidate for the political party Jobbik. Jobbik, once characterized as a nationalistic, far-right party, took an unexpected turn in the late 2010s: the far-right radicals in the party leadership left to form another party, and the remaining leadership steered Jobbik in a more centre-right direction, even going as far as joining centre-left parties in a coalition to defeat Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's party, Fidesz, in the 2022 election. This move made Jobbik a newfound enemy of Hungarian media outlets owned by the government party or its associates. This was likely the reason that as soon as DNA was taken from László Horváth as part of standard police procedures, multiple news sources jumped to make connections between Nikolett's case and Horváth, a suspected pedophile living in the same town where she was murdered. One news source, Magyar Narancs, correctly concluded that it is unlikely that the fact DNA was taken had anything to do with Nikolett's case, as her remains had no DNA evidence that could be linked to the killer. However, this same source also erroneously reported that there was no DNA analysis available in Hungary in 2001 - this is incorrect. As of 2023, there were no other reports connecting Horváth to the case.
I was not able to find any other possible leads online that has any chance of credibility. I came across an article that details the claims of a so-called "spirit medium", but it only contains information already publicly known, or laughably vague details that cannot be corroborated in any way. Despite the death of Mihály Rostás, Nikolett's mother Edit claims she believes the real killer is still at large, but she admits this is only based on feelings. In the early 2000s, there were suspicions that the case of another missing child, Tamás Till, could be connected. Tamás disappeared May 28, 2000 in Baja, Bács-Kiskun county. However, Baja is about 220 km (~140 miles) from Gyula, and there is no evidence of a connection.
Some sources
Hungarian:
https://gyertyalang.hu/szemely/751
https://www.csaladinet.hu/hirek/gyerekneveles/gyermekbiztonsag/33164/quot_nem_tanitottuk_meg_hogy_felni_kell_quot_-_szathmary_nikolett_tragikus_esete
https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szathm%C3%A1ry_Nikolett-gyilkoss%C3%A1g
https://magyarnarancs.hu/bun/maig-megoldatlan-szathmary-nikolett-eltunese-es-halala-235116
https://magyarnarancs.hu/kismagyarorszag/szinte-kizart-hogy-a-gyulai-pedofilbotrany-a-szathmary-niki-ugy-megoldasa-lehet-240699
https://www.blikk.hu/aktualis/krimi/regi-bunugy-szathmary-niki-eltunes-gyilkossag-nyomozas-megoldatlan-rejtely/b0x8c49
https://www.blikk.hu/aktualis/krimi/szathmary-nikolett-gyilkossag-edesanya-jobbik-gyula/edgkqh7
I used other articles as well, but I honestly didn't keep very good track of it, as I assume most readers would not be able to read them anyway.
English:
https://v4na.com/nagyvilag/politician-could-face-investigation-for-paedophile-murder-case-48999/
https://hungarytoday.hu/former-local-jobbik-politician-arrested-suspicion-child-pornography/
These are connected to the lead that is most likely false.
submitted by TheRollingPeepstones to UnresolvedMysteries [link] [comments]
Background
Nikolett Edit Szathmáry was born on July 8, 1990, in Gyula, Békés county, Hungary, to parents Sándor Szathmáry and Edit Szilágyi. Her hometown, Gyula has a population of ~28 000 people and lies in the southeastern corner of Hungary, 5 kilometres (3 miles) from the border with Romania. Most likely due to Nikolett's young age, there is very little information available regarding her upbringing, but it is known that her parents divorced and Nikolett lived with her mother, Edit and her two brothers. (Edit remarried in 2011, to one of the police officers that were involved in the case.) In 1998, at the time of the disappearance, Nikolett was a student in the local No. 5 Elementary School, and Edit supported the family by working as a cleaner in local exhibition halls. Nikolett was a happy, joyful child who was very attached to her mother, but she was also very confident for her age and she regularly walked home on her own from school. She liked to go out in nature with her uncle to watch wild ducks, often went to her friends' homes to hang out with them, and attended extracurricular activities like folk dance classes.
Disappearance
Wednesday, January 14, 1998 started as a regular day for the family. In a 2001 interview, Edit recalled the day of her disappearance: "It was a completely average morning. I woke her up, brought her a cup of cocoa, then we went to school together. We said goodbye to each other, she spent the day in school, then around 2 PM, she walked to her folk dance class. The class was over sometime before 4 PM, they let the kids go a little early that day. Shortly after 4 PM, I went to pick her up, although I previously told her I would not be able to pick her up that day. I wrapped up work and headed out [to Ferenc Erkel Cultural Centre, where her class was]. Maybe if I chose to head home instead, we would've met halfway."
Nikolett did not stay behind to wait for her mother. She began to walk home, as she did many times before without any issues. She left the Cultural Centre in downtown Gyula around 4 PM, and during the walk home, she encountered her pediatrician. They chatted for a little bit and walked together for a while. However, they parted at the neighborhood grocery store, and Nikolett continued on her way alone. Most articles say that this store was no further than 300 metres (about 1000 feet) from her home. According to the receipt the pediatrician showed to police, she paid at the grocery store check-out counter at 4:08. After this point, there were no eyewitnesses that ever saw Nikoletta alive again.
Edit was not particularly worried at first when Nikolett was not home in time, as she was known to visit friends after school on occasion. Until 8 PM, the family tried looking for her in places she could possibly have been, to no avail. At this point, they called the police. A warrant was issued for a blue-eyed girl, around 140 - 145 cm (4' 7" - 4' 9") tall, wearing a purple jacket, pink knitted hat, a green sweatshirt, and a yellow school backpack. The Békés County Police Department searched the town of Gyula and the adjacent woods and wetlands, with no results. Hundreds of police officers were deployed to the town to assist with the search. Special K9 units were also deployed, including Mancs ("Paw"), Hungary's most famous German Shepherd rescue dog who later saved a 3-year-old girl in the aftermath of the 1999 Izmit earthquake in Turkey, and participated in the search and rescue efforts during the 2001 earthquakes in El Salvador and India. 3 000 apartments were searched in the neighbourhood, and they even drained a canal that runs through the town of Gyula. Search helicopters were also used. However, despite the efforts, police was unable to locate Nikolett. Police processed hundreds of reports, none of which lead to any progress with the investigation.
The Békés County Police Department offered a 3 million HUF (around 14 000 USD at the time, a very large sum in 1998 Hungary) to anyone who could provide useful information regarding the circumstances of the disappearance. The mayor of Gyula offered another 500 000 HUF (~2 300 USD). Neither reward was ever claimed. Due to the events, fear spread through the town, and parents did not allow their children to go anywhere on their own. Baseless rumours started spreading, linking Nikolett's disappearance to organ harvesting, but there was no evidence to suggest this. Moreover, Gyula's closeness to the Romanian border and relative closeness to Serbia also led to speculations that Nikolett's disappearance could be the work of a local who escaped the country, or a foreigner who just arrived in town. An international warrant was also issued and Nikolett was added to Interpol's list of missing children worldwide.
Location of the body
For the next three years, there were absolutely no advancements in the case, until February 20, 2001. Thatching workers were collecting straw in the wetlands by Road 44 near the outskirts of Gyula, when they found a large plastic bag. They realized that the bag contained human remains, and the police were informed. Forensic experts determined that the body was likely submerged in water for an extended period of time. Police claimed that this may have been the reason why rescue dogs did not alert in 1998 when the same area was searched. The body found was in a completely skeletal state, with only a blouse and a pair of socks. The backpack, coat, pants, and underwear were never found. Due to these circumstances, it was theorized that she may have been sexually assaulted, although any concrete evidence of that would have been long gone. DNA samples were taken - actually, this was the first case ever in Hungary where DNA was extracted from bones. Getting the results took over six months, which confirmed that the located remains belonged to Nikolett Szathmáry. Finally, the family was able to have a proper burial for her.
Possible perpetrators
According to one article, an anonymous police officer claimed to media that "investigators had and still have suspicions about a possible perpetrator, but there was never enough evidence to support a criminal case". A man named Mihály Rostás, who was 39 years old at the time, was the main suspect. This man committed a few murders in the area; he had three confirmed victims. He committed his first murder in Sarkad, a town 14 kilometres (about 9 miles) north of Gyula. After an argument in a pub, he followed and stabbed his victim to death. He dragged the body to the nearby wetlands and hid it there. (This does show similarities to Nikolett's case.) The second case was the brutal double murder of an elderly couple that happened in Sándorhegy, a suburb of Gyula. After this murder, Rostás was still at large, living in Gyula at the time of Nikolett's disappearance. In early 1998, when she disappeared, he lived less than 2 kilometres from where Nikolett's remains were found. Later, Rostás was caught by police and was sentenced to life in prison for the three murders. Investigators regularly interrogated Rostás in prison. According to the anonymous officer's report, he said: "I know why you are here, I know what you want to hear. I want to live". The death penalty in Hungary was abolished in 1990 - Rostás likely referred to the fact that being known as a child-murderer could have resulted in his death by the hands of his fellow prisoners. He died in prison without ever confessing to any crimes other than the three murders.
Another lead, that is most likely false but still worth mentioning, was discovered on August 2, 2021. A man from Gyula named László Horváth was arrested by police on the suspicion of having produced child pornography. Horváth, a well-known local figure, was a karate instructor, and a report from the parents of a pupil of his resulted in his arrest: the 10-year-old claimed that Horváth touched him inappropriately. The case was heavily politicized due to Horváth having been a local candidate for the political party Jobbik. Jobbik, once characterized as a nationalistic, far-right party, took an unexpected turn in the late 2010s: the far-right radicals in the party leadership left to form another party, and the remaining leadership steered Jobbik in a more centre-right direction, even going as far as joining centre-left parties in a coalition to defeat Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's party, Fidesz, in the 2022 election. This move made Jobbik a newfound enemy of Hungarian media outlets owned by the government party or its associates. This was likely the reason that as soon as DNA was taken from László Horváth as part of standard police procedures, multiple news sources jumped to make connections between Nikolett's case and Horváth, a suspected pedophile living in the same town where she was murdered. One news source, Magyar Narancs, correctly concluded that it is unlikely that the fact DNA was taken had anything to do with Nikolett's case, as her remains had no DNA evidence that could be linked to the killer. However, this same source also erroneously reported that there was no DNA analysis available in Hungary in 2001 - this is incorrect. As of 2023, there were no other reports connecting Horváth to the case.
I was not able to find any other possible leads online that has any chance of credibility. I came across an article that details the claims of a so-called "spirit medium", but it only contains information already publicly known, or laughably vague details that cannot be corroborated in any way. Despite the death of Mihály Rostás, Nikolett's mother Edit claims she believes the real killer is still at large, but she admits this is only based on feelings. In the early 2000s, there were suspicions that the case of another missing child, Tamás Till, could be connected. Tamás disappeared May 28, 2000 in Baja, Bács-Kiskun county. However, Baja is about 220 km (~140 miles) from Gyula, and there is no evidence of a connection.
Some sources
Hungarian:
https://gyertyalang.hu/szemely/751
https://www.csaladinet.hu/hirek/gyerekneveles/gyermekbiztonsag/33164/quot_nem_tanitottuk_meg_hogy_felni_kell_quot_-_szathmary_nikolett_tragikus_esete
https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szathm%C3%A1ry_Nikolett-gyilkoss%C3%A1g
https://magyarnarancs.hu/bun/maig-megoldatlan-szathmary-nikolett-eltunese-es-halala-235116
https://magyarnarancs.hu/kismagyarorszag/szinte-kizart-hogy-a-gyulai-pedofilbotrany-a-szathmary-niki-ugy-megoldasa-lehet-240699
https://www.blikk.hu/aktualis/krimi/regi-bunugy-szathmary-niki-eltunes-gyilkossag-nyomozas-megoldatlan-rejtely/b0x8c49
https://www.blikk.hu/aktualis/krimi/szathmary-nikolett-gyilkossag-edesanya-jobbik-gyula/edgkqh7
I used other articles as well, but I honestly didn't keep very good track of it, as I assume most readers would not be able to read them anyway.
English:
https://v4na.com/nagyvilag/politician-could-face-investigation-for-paedophile-murder-case-48999/
https://hungarytoday.hu/former-local-jobbik-politician-arrested-suspicion-child-pornography/
These are connected to the lead that is most likely false.
2023.06.03 12:26 sarahreads- SAT First Practice Score
Hi everyone. I just did my first SAT Practice test. I've never studied, never even looked at an SAT test. I got 1340. 730 for English, 610 for Math. I found the Math Module 2 to be really hard.
Is my test score good? Will I be able to get a 1550+ with practice?
Any tips for the math section?
Thanks, everyone :) Sorry if this is a question you get a lot!
submitted by sarahreads- to Sat [link] [comments]
Is my test score good? Will I be able to get a 1550+ with practice?
Any tips for the math section?
Thanks, everyone :) Sorry if this is a question you get a lot!
2023.06.03 12:15 lmb_reddit All State - PICK 3 List Performance for 2023-06-02
Lottery Website for Workouts and Tools - Lets Make Billion
All State - PICK 3 List Performance for 2023-06-02
Numbers:('000','002','005','006','007','009','011','015','022','024','025','026','027','029','033','038','047','055','056','057','059','066','067','069','077','078','079','099','114','119','123','128','137','146','155','159','168','177','222','225','226','227','229','236','245','249','255','256','257','258','259','266','267','269','277','279','299','335','339','344','348','357','366','447','456','555','556','557','559','566','567','569','577','579','599','666','667','669','677','679','699','777','779','799','999')
Congrats all Winners and Followers.
submitted by lmb_reddit to lotteryGames [link] [comments]
All State - PICK 3 List Performance for 2023-06-02
Numbers:('000','002','005','006','007','009','011','015','022','024','025','026','027','029','033','038','047','055','056','057','059','066','067','069','077','078','079','099','114','119','123','128','137','146','155','159','168','177','222','225','226','227','229','236','245','249','255','256','257','258','259','266','267','269','277','279','299','335','339','344','348','357','366','447','456','555','556','557','559','566','567','569','577','579','599','666','667','669','677','679','699','777','779','799','999')
| State | Draw Date | Draw Time | Winning Number | BOX Number | VTRAC Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AR | 2023-06-02 | Midday | 056 | 056 | 112 |
| AR | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 204 | 024 | 135 |
| CA | 2023-06-02 | Midday | 506 | 056 | 112 |
| CO | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 362 | 236 | 234 |
| CT | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 092 | 029 | 135 |
| DC | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 602 | 026 | 123 |
| DE | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 207 | 027 | 133 |
| DE | 2023-06-02 | Midday | 775 | 577 | 133 |
| FL | 2023-06-02 | Midday | 996 | 699 | 255 |
| GA | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 750 | 057 | 113 |
| GA | 2023-06-02 | Midday | 240 | 024 | 135 |
| IA | 2023-06-02 | Midday | 099 | 099 | 155 |
| KS | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 969 | 699 | 255 |
| MD | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 676 | 667 | 223 |
| MD | 2023-06-02 | Midday | 707 | 077 | 133 |
| ME | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 666 | 666 | 222 |
| MI | 2023-06-02 | Midday | 461 | 146 | 225 |
| NC | 2023-06-02 | Midday | 625 | 256 | 123 |
| NE | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 470 | 047 | 135 |
| NH | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 666 | 666 | 222 |
| NM | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 770 | 077 | 133 |
| NY | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 220 | 022 | 133 |
| NY | 2023-06-02 | Midday | 602 | 026 | 123 |
| OH | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 663 | 366 | 224 |
| ONT | 2023-06-02 | Midday | 696 | 669 | 225 |
| PR | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 654 | 456 | 125 |
| VA | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 146 | 146 | 225 |
| VT | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 666 | 666 | 222 |
| WCAN | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 843 | 348 | 445 |
| WV | 2023-06-02 | Evening | 362 | 236 | 234 |
2023.06.03 12:11 Any_Engineering Medical Schools in New York: A Comprehensive Guide to Pursuing a Medical Career in the Empire State
Introduction
New York, the bustling metropolis known for its iconic skyline and vibrant culture, is also home to renowned medical institutions that attract aspiring healthcare professionals from around the world. If you're passionate about medicine and dream of making a difference in people's lives, New York offers a plethora of opportunities. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the various medical schools in New York, shedding light on their programs, admission requirements, and career prospects. Let's embark on this journey to discover the path to your medical career in the Empire State.
submitted by Any_Engineering to u/Any_Engineering [link] [comments]
New York, the bustling metropolis known for its iconic skyline and vibrant culture, is also home to renowned medical institutions that attract aspiring healthcare professionals from around the world. If you're passionate about medicine and dream of making a difference in people's lives, New York offers a plethora of opportunities. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the various medical schools in New York, shedding light on their programs, admission requirements, and career prospects. Let's embark on this journey to discover the path to your medical career in the Empire State.
Medical Schools in New York
New York boasts a rich selection of prestigious medical schools that provide exceptional education and training. These institutions prepare aspiring doctors to excel in their careers and contribute to the field of medicine. Here are some of the top medical schools in New York:- Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons:
- Program: Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons offers a comprehensive Doctor of Medicine (MD) program.
- Admission Requirements: Prospective students must demonstrate academic excellence, strong letters of recommendation, and a competitive MCAT score.
- Career Prospects: Graduates from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons are highly sought after, with many securing residencies in prestigious medical institutions across the country.
- Weill Cornell Medicine:
- Program: Weill Cornell Medicine offers a rigorous MD program with a focus on research and clinical practice.
- Admission Requirements: Applicants must possess a strong academic background, competitive MCAT scores, and demonstrate a commitment to patient care and research.
- Career Prospects: Weill Cornell Medicine graduates are well-equipped to pursue diverse medical careers, from primary care to specialized fields.
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine:
- Program: New York University Grossman School of Medicine offers an innovative and patient-centered MD program.
- Admission Requirements: Prospective students undergo a holistic evaluation process, considering academic achievements, MCAT scores, letters of recommendation, and personal experiences.
- Career Prospects: Graduates of the New York University Grossman School of Medicine contribute to advancing healthcare through research, clinical practice, and leadership roles.
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai:
- Program: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai provides a comprehensive MD program with a focus on biomedical research and patient care.
- Admission Requirements: Applicants must demonstrate academic excellence, a competitive MCAT score, research experience, and a commitment to community service.
- Career Prospects: Graduates from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai are prepared to excel in various medical specialties and contribute to groundbreaking research.
- SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine:
- Program: SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine offers an integrated MD program that combines basic sciences, clinical practice, and research.
- Admission Requirements: Prospective students must showcase academic achievements, a competitive MCAT score, and a commitment to serving underserved communities.
- Career Prospects: Graduates from SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine pursue diverse medical careers, including primary care, research, and specialized fields.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What are the admission requirements for medical schools in New York? To gain admission to medical schools in New York, aspiring students must typically demonstrate academic excellence, competitive MCAT scores, strong letters of recommendation, and a passion for medicine. Additionally, involvement in extracurricular activities, research, and community service can enhance an applicant's chances of acceptance.
- How competitive is the admission process for medical schools in New York? Admission to medical schools in New York is highly competitive due to the reputation and quality of education these institutions offer. It's crucial for prospective students to showcase exceptional academic achievements, a well-rounded profile, and a genuine passion for medicine.
- What financial aid options are available for medical students in New York? Medical schools in New York provide various financial aid options, including scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study programs. Prospective students should explore the financial aid packages offered by individual institutions and explore external funding opportunities.
- Are there any specific programs for underrepresented minority students in New York's medical schools? Many medical schools in New York actively promote diversity and inclusion in their student body. They offer programs and initiatives aimed at supporting underrepresented minority students, providing mentorship, networking opportunities, and resources to ensure their success in medical education.
- Can international students apply to medical schools in New York? Yes, international students can apply to medical schools in New York. However, they must fulfill additional requirements, such as providing proof of English language proficiency and obtaining the necessary visas or immigration documentation.
- What are the career prospects for medical school graduates in New York? Medical school graduates in New York have abundant career prospects. They can pursue residencies and fellowships in top-tier hospitals, engage in cutting-edge research, work in private practices, or contribute to public health initiatives. The diverse healthcare landscape of New York provides ample opportunities for graduates to make a meaningful impact.
Conclusion
Embarking on a medical career in New York opens doors to exceptional education, clinical experiences, and career prospects. The top medical schools in New York, including Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine, offer aspiring students a chance to realize their dreams of becoming healthcare professionals. By pursuing medical education in New York, you can join the ranks of distinguished medical professionals who shape the future of healthcare. So, seize the opportunity, pursue your passion, and make a lasting impact on the lives of others.2023.06.03 11:58 flackobrt Average grades in Mongolia
Whats the average grade of a high school student in Mongolia ? Average in private schools seems to be 90 and 70/80 for state owned ones. Whats the cause ?
submitted by flackobrt to mongolia [link] [comments]
2023.06.03 11:43 JimBottone Morgana is the worst most banned champion in the game, or the most banned bad champion in the game if you prefer.
 | Using LoLalytics as our source of stats, over the last 30 days (Plat +) Morgana placed 57/69 as Support, 98/101 in Midlane and doesn't even have a score for Jungle (where she sports a 45.39% winrate and a 0.06% pickrate). submitted by JimBottone to leagueoflegends [link] [comments] Despite this, she has been the 6th most banned champion in the game (21.28%). This means that she can't even be buffed or her banrate would go even higher. This is something Riot realized when they tried to make Morgana and Zed (consistently two of the most banned champions in the history of the game) be able to flex as Junglers: they had to give up on it and stop supporting them because of the their absurd banrates. Morgana is almost in the same position Yuumi was in, (I say almost because at least Morgana doesn't ruin Pro-play), and just like with Yuumi, numerical changes won't solve her issues: she needs a kit overhaul. First of all, let's identify Morgana's most glaring issue: Dark Binding (Q) and Black Shield (E) gobble up too much of her power, leaving no space for the rest of her kit that, as a result, feels underwhelming. The fact that her two strongest abilities are also the source of most of the frustration against her, unavoidably led to Morgana's current state. What has changed recently is simply that, due to a meta that doesn't favor her, her winrate is in the gutter and her underlying problems are now exposed. In order to go more in detail about what I consider to be the issues and, consequently, what I would like to see addressed, in the rest of this post I have listed some changes as a mock-overhaul. I just want to make clear that these are just examples I came up with, the point of the post itself is to have a discussion and bring attention to Morgana and her place in modern League. Tormented Shadow (W ==> Passive) Innate: When Morgana roots or stuns an enemy Champion with her abilities, the soil around them is desecrated for 5 seconds. Enemies within take magic damage over time, increased based on target's missing health. Tick Rate: 0.5 seconds ==> 0.25 seconds Magic Damage per tick: 6/11/16/21/26 (+7% AP)==> 2.5-10 based on level (+2.5% AP) Total Damage: 60/110/160/210/260 (+70% AP) ==> 50-200 based on level (+50% AP) Damage Increase: 0-170% (1.7% per 1% missing health) ==> 0-150% (1.5% per 1% missing health) Comment: I despise Morgana's current W. It feels completely unimpactful and essentially a waste of mana as Morgana Support (its only purpose is to proc Spellthief's/Liandry's) and, when maxed by Morgana Mid, enables one of the most boring and noninteractive playstyles in the game. An ability that has to be bad in order to not be toxic doesn't deserve to be an Active. Now as her Passive it just provides some extra damage when you land Q or R, which is the most common use of her current W anyway, so might as well have it happen automatically while also removing the "go afk after using W on wave" mid playstyle. Not a spectacular passive by any means, but at least we get to keep this iconic effect in the game while also no longer wasting one of Morgana's buttons. Dark Binding (Q) Active: Morgana throws a sphere of dark magic in the target direction that deals magic damage to the first enemy hit and roots them for a duration. Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 Mana (unchanged) Cooldown: 10 seconds ==> 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds Magic Damage: 80/135/190/245/300 (+90% AP) ==> 50/95/140/185/230 (+70% AP) Duration: 2/2.25/2.5/2.75/3 seconds ==> 2.25 seconds Comment: Big change here is making the root duration 2.25 seconds at all ranks. Even nerfed, it remains the 2nd longest root effect in the game together with Jhin's max rank W (the longest is Neeko's empowered E that reaches 3s at max rank). Lowered Q duration allows us to shift power elsewhere while mitigating the frustration of playing against Morgana. The damage reduction is due to Q now automatically proccing Tormented Shadow. Soul Siphon (Passive ==> W) Active: Morgana channels a ray of dark magic on an enemy for up to 2.5 seconds, dealing magic damage and slowing them. If the target is a Champion or a Large Monster, Morgana heals for 30% of the post-mitigation damage. If the target is a Minion or a Monster, the ray chains to up to 6 more minions or monsters nearby. Soul Siphon deals 150% damage against monsters and 75% against minions. Cannot be cast during Soul Shackles. Cost: 70/80/90/100/110 mana Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8 seconds Range: 650 to cast and 850 once started (for reference, Karma's W ranges are 675 and 825) Magic Damage per tick: 8/16/24/32/40 (+7.5% AP) every 0.25 seconds Total Magic Damage: 80/160/240/320/400 (+75% AP) over 2.5 seconds Slow: 20% (+4% per 100AP) Comment: As a passive, Soul Siphon is only relevant for Morgana Jungle in her early clears, while her Support and Midlane counterparts don't get much out of it. Which is understandable because a laner with easy access to sustain can easily become a problem. Now that it has to fill an Active slot, I wanted an ability that could provide Morgana two things: waveclear and trading. Even better this ability provides waveclear OR trading: using it on the wave or on your opponent is a meaningful choice. Additionally, unlike Tormented Shadow, this ability forces Morgana to be vulnerable when clearing the wave. The monster modifiers are obviously to keep Morgana Jungle playable. You can think of it as a variation of old Fiddlestick's W (Drain) or, if you are familiar with HotS, as something similar to Whitemane's W, Inquisition: This but purple Black Shield (E) Active: Morgana grants a shield to the target allied Champion or herself for 5 seconds, which absorbs incoming magic damage and grants Cost: 80 mana (unchanged) Cooldown: 24/22/20/18/16 seconds ==> 18/17/16/15/14 seconds Magic Shield Value: 80/135/190/240/300 (+70% AP) ==> 70/115/160/205/250 (+60% AP) (new) Tenacity: 40% Comment: with this change Morgana is less of a "hard counter" against single-target highly impactful abilities (mostly hooks and stuff like Vi's ultimate) and just a "good counter" against cc-heavy champions. The added retaliation damage further contributes to the "anti-engage" idea behind the ability and provides some extra synergy with melee champions. It is also quite fitting thematically when you consider that half of Morgana's quotes consists of lines like "Know my pain!", "They shall feel my pain!" or "I don't hide my pain, I wield it". Soul Shackles (R) ACTIVE: Morgana latches chains of energy onto nearby enemy champions over the cast time, dealing magic damage and forming a tether between herself and each target for 3 seconds, during which the targets are revealed and slowed by 20%. Morgana gains bonus movement speed while facing enemies tethered to her and takes reduced damage from them. If a target does not break their tether by the ends of its duration, they are dealt the same magic damage again and become stunned for 1.5 seconds, during which they are revealed. Cost: 100 mana (unchanged) Cooldown: 120/110/100 seconds ==> 120/100/80 Magic Damage: 150/225/300 (+70% AP) ==> 100/175/250 (+55%AP) Bonus Movement Speed: 5/30/55% ==> 10/30/50% (new) Damage Reduction: 20/30/40% Comment: The important change is the damage reduction from champions chained by Morgana. The goal is to make her ultimate less reliant on Zhonya's Hourglass (it will still be good on her, but hopefully it won't feel as a requirement to even finish to cast her ultimate). Additionally, just like with Dark Binding, the damage of the ability has been reduced to compensate for the automatic Tormented Shadow. Basic Attack Range: 450 ==> 500 (same as Janna) Comment: Nothing wrong about Morgana having lower than average range, but 450 is just sad. |
2023.06.03 11:35 MiracleCanHappen The Story of a Moment
Hi all, please read to the end, I put my soul into this story.
Once upon a time, in a small town, there lived a young man named Mike. He was once full of energy and dreamed of a bright future, but fate decided otherwise. One hard day his life changed dramatically.
Mike lost his job. He had put his soul into it, but an unfortunate set of circumstances forced him to leave the place. Despair gripped his soul, and unemployment became a dark shadow over his life.
The same day Mike lost his job, his beloved girlfriend decided to leave him. She said she no longer saw the point in their relationship and needed a fresh start. Mike was shattered, his heart was torn to pieces.
But the biggest blow of life hit Mike the hardest when he discovered that his financial situation was terrible. He was swamped with debt that simply threatened to destroy him. He realized that he could not survive this difficult and difficult period of his life without help.
With each passing day Mike felt his soul grow heavier and despair inevitably approaching. He stood on the edge of a precipice and prayed helplessly for something or someone to pull him out of this gloomy state.
One day, Mike decided to share his story and his hopes with the people around him. He wrote a frank message asking for help, even the smallest help. He knew it sounded pathetic and awful to many, but he couldn't keep quiet any longer.
"I just want to live," these words became a call from the very depths of his being.
In the shadows of a lost corner of an old building sat a lonely young man. His eyes, marked by weariness and hopelessness, plunged into the depths of his own desperate destiny. Dawn was quietly blurring on the horizon, and he continued to write slowly on a piece of paper, as if each word contained his last hope.
As you can see, this is a story about me. I really wanted to share this story with someone, I couldn't keep it to myself anymore.
So I'm reaching out to you with a request. If anyone has even 1 free dollar, it would really help me through this difficult and difficult time in my life. I believe in the kindness of people, and I hope there is still some in this world.
Number of crypto wallets:
Ethereum: 0x913C0F72A393a4CEB3439A41058531108150C2b5
Bitcoin: 1AU3dJbsNcgF8ZzsPtLAgujcueNup2YTPM
LiteCoin: LReXcSZts3ueh1ShzDcopVK4dZWK15PSNE
submitted by MiracleCanHappen to u/MiracleCanHappen [link] [comments]
Once upon a time, in a small town, there lived a young man named Mike. He was once full of energy and dreamed of a bright future, but fate decided otherwise. One hard day his life changed dramatically.
Mike lost his job. He had put his soul into it, but an unfortunate set of circumstances forced him to leave the place. Despair gripped his soul, and unemployment became a dark shadow over his life.
The same day Mike lost his job, his beloved girlfriend decided to leave him. She said she no longer saw the point in their relationship and needed a fresh start. Mike was shattered, his heart was torn to pieces.
But the biggest blow of life hit Mike the hardest when he discovered that his financial situation was terrible. He was swamped with debt that simply threatened to destroy him. He realized that he could not survive this difficult and difficult period of his life without help.
With each passing day Mike felt his soul grow heavier and despair inevitably approaching. He stood on the edge of a precipice and prayed helplessly for something or someone to pull him out of this gloomy state.
One day, Mike decided to share his story and his hopes with the people around him. He wrote a frank message asking for help, even the smallest help. He knew it sounded pathetic and awful to many, but he couldn't keep quiet any longer.
"I just want to live," these words became a call from the very depths of his being.
In the shadows of a lost corner of an old building sat a lonely young man. His eyes, marked by weariness and hopelessness, plunged into the depths of his own desperate destiny. Dawn was quietly blurring on the horizon, and he continued to write slowly on a piece of paper, as if each word contained his last hope.
As you can see, this is a story about me. I really wanted to share this story with someone, I couldn't keep it to myself anymore.
So I'm reaching out to you with a request. If anyone has even 1 free dollar, it would really help me through this difficult and difficult time in my life. I believe in the kindness of people, and I hope there is still some in this world.
Number of crypto wallets:
Ethereum: 0x913C0F72A393a4CEB3439A41058531108150C2b5
Bitcoin: 1AU3dJbsNcgF8ZzsPtLAgujcueNup2YTPM
LiteCoin: LReXcSZts3ueh1ShzDcopVK4dZWK15PSNE
2023.06.03 11:30 LeftChannel295 My POMI partners dad (an elder) is trying to convert me
Me and my partner had kept our relationship secret from his JW parents after he left home. We’ve been living together for almost three years now and the truth was spilled to his parents. (Because his brother is very sick and we went down there to visit him. They live in a different state)
To make things short I met his parents and stayed at their place for a week. His parents know I’m not a witness but they didn’t mention anything to do with their beliefs. However I could see it all over their house. (Wifi name, car number plate, pictures of Armageddon and paradise on the walls, and so forth) it actually went really well, they were kind and accommodating. until the last day.
Their dad sat us down and said “so, what’s your plan? Are you getting married?” I was shocked at how straight he was with it. It’s hard to remember exactly how the conversation was but this was pretty much the main points his father told me:
I made it clear to my partner that I will NEVER join and he’s okay with that. He isn’t sure if he wants to keep believing in it either. The dad recently came up with a “solution if I never join the truth” and it’s that if me and my partner get married soon, because then that would make it okay if we sleep in the same bed and stuff like that so we aren’t sinning anymore. Their dad said we can get married even if I’m not a witness but they won’t be able to attend the marriage. The thing is I don’t want to get married this early, I’d much rather mid 20s. My partner is fine with that. But I still feel really unsure about the dad, I don’t trust him and I feel like he’s planning something or not telling us something. He’s done a lot of things in the past that gives me reason not to trust him so I don’t know how I feel about any of this.
submitted by LeftChannel295 to exjw [link] [comments]
To make things short I met his parents and stayed at their place for a week. His parents know I’m not a witness but they didn’t mention anything to do with their beliefs. However I could see it all over their house. (Wifi name, car number plate, pictures of Armageddon and paradise on the walls, and so forth) it actually went really well, they were kind and accommodating. until the last day.
Their dad sat us down and said “so, what’s your plan? Are you getting married?” I was shocked at how straight he was with it. It’s hard to remember exactly how the conversation was but this was pretty much the main points his father told me:
- “The order of authority is women below men, and men below god.” “If you guys have differing believes and can’t decide on something, just let the man decide for you because he is above you therefore his word is more trustable” “the man should be the head of the family and all responsibility will go on him” He then started telling me that this was “all for you” because it means that life would “be easier for me” if I just accept this and let the men decide while I “lay back.”
- “ if you guys get married, there is two paths you can go down. The extremely bumpy and messy path, or the smooth and easy path.” (If I join the religion.)
- He told me that they don’t hate me, it’s just I grew up in “unfortunate influences”. His dad told me that they “love me” and now I can learn the ways of the truth. He said I have time to learn and decide and proceeded to download the JW library on my iPad, handed me one of the JW bibles and a little book for newcomers to read. I didn’t really have much to say at all during this. It felt like I didn’t have a choice. Before we left the dad kept urging my and my partner to make a “plan” for our future. He also told me that I should study the religion but I have to make it quick because we are in the last days.
I made it clear to my partner that I will NEVER join and he’s okay with that. He isn’t sure if he wants to keep believing in it either. The dad recently came up with a “solution if I never join the truth” and it’s that if me and my partner get married soon, because then that would make it okay if we sleep in the same bed and stuff like that so we aren’t sinning anymore. Their dad said we can get married even if I’m not a witness but they won’t be able to attend the marriage. The thing is I don’t want to get married this early, I’d much rather mid 20s. My partner is fine with that. But I still feel really unsure about the dad, I don’t trust him and I feel like he’s planning something or not telling us something. He’s done a lot of things in the past that gives me reason not to trust him so I don’t know how I feel about any of this.
2023.06.03 11:28 Rainbow6SiegeCreator What If Legends and Canon Merged? Part 13: Republic Anew
5 years had past since the formation of the New Republic and the SkywalkeKenobi Academy, a new Squadron had been formed with the veteran General Hera Syndulla leading the very vessel they had become a part of. This group was known as the New Republic Rangers. This force had composed of ground troops, pilots, and others with exceptional skills. Leading this group in Syndylla's absence were Carson Teva, and Cara Dune. Hera trusted this team not only because of their reputations, but also due to her personal accounts of their advisor, Zeb Orrelios.
When the Jedi had arrived, the new Republic soldiers stood at attention in respect for the Grandmaster who saved the galaxy from the Imperial regime. Luke reunited with his old friend Wedge Antilles, X2 reunited with Grey Squadron and his wife Shara, Ezra reunited with Zeb and met the new team as well as Hera, who embraced him along with the still-so-devious astromech droid Chopper. The 3 Ghost crew members almost teared up when they found out Ezra and Sabine married.
Hera: [Through tears of joy] Ezra, Sabine, I'm... I'm... so proud of you both. I had a feeling this would happen.
Zeb: I'm proud of you too, kid. You two have grown up so much. Bet you didn't miss this bucket of bolts.
Chopper gave his version of a nudge to the Lasat and the old friends and Bridger couple said their goodbyes as they moved to their military posts.
Back at the Temple, Rex and Ahsoka had been teaching their son, Anakin Tano many aspects of their expertise, but this particular lesson was from his father who had realized that his age caught up with him.
Rex: Son, Your mother and I served with your namesake for years, and You have been made aware of my aging. This won't happen to you, but I have things I wish to leave behind. The shrine has been entrusted to Luke's apprentice, but my armor, when you get old enough, as well as my blasters will be yours. Add my helmet to the shrine, give it to Grey. Learn the ways of the Force, like your mother, and her master before you. My mission is over. Continue with yours, and protect all that you love.
With those words, the mother and son embraced in grief. With a heavy heart, Anakin tried to bring himself to give his father's helmet to the Grandmaster's padawan.
Grey: Hello, little guy. What's your name?
Anakin: My name is Anakin Tano. My father told me to give you this.
X2 had then realized who his father and mother were. He then took the helmet and remembered what to do with it. He then asked the child if he wanted to accompany him.
Grey: Do you want to see what your father had referred to?
Anakin: Sure. What is it he wanted to put his helmet for?
Grey: Your father told you of the adventures he had with your mother?
Anakin: Yes.
Grey: After the Clone Wars ended, Your father started collecting helmets of fallen brothers, essentially your millions of uncles, who he was close with. He wanted his helmet on this shrine so he could continue being with them, in spirit.
Anakin: So my father has now joined my uncles in the Force?
Grey: Yes. Like your mother and many Jedi like her believe. When we see the shrine, you can ask anyone who knew your uncles about them, any time you like.
Anakin: Thank you. For everything.
Back at the Temple, Cal Kestis had been teaching the younglings Luke's 3 forms of combat. Form 8 included the use of a primary lightsaber and shoto secondary as needed much like Niman. Luke had been training in this style after making his red shoto from Ahsoka. Form 9 included the use of saber staves, crossguard sabers, and heavy strikes. Ben Solo had been training in this form as his base for when he would create a suitable saber in the future. Form 10 included using the lightsaber as a offensive shield in tandem with a blaster. Kata Akuna, Jacen Syndulla, and Ezra Bridger were the beat students with this form, since Kata saw her father use this form, and Ezra's first blade merged the two types of weapons. As the younglings and older students continued practicing, Kestis had begun having a vision.
Figure: Your family is unprotected. Only your hatred can keep them safe. The Dark Side that you have tasted before has been your savior time and time again. There is much to learn. All you need to do is embrace it! Remember those you've lost, your masters, your best friend, the Jedi Order. Give yourself to it!!
As Cal jolted out of the vision, Merrin came rushing over to comfort the Jedi Battlemaster.
When Luke and the other Jedi returned, he began to organize a meeting of the most powerful and wisest Jedi. Ahsoka, Starkiller, Luke, Cal, and Quinlan Vos had met in a round holotable that was reminiscent of the rebel base. X2, Merrin, and Jacen Syndulla kept watch over the rest of the youngling's training.
Luke: Thank you all for attending this inaugural meeting of the Jedi Council.
Quinlan: I never sat on the council of old before, feels a little weird sitting on one now.
Ahsoka: This is a first for me as well. I remember my master and Master Kenobi being on the council, but I never got the chance.
Luke: We are the wisest that remain of the Jedi, hence why I had chosen you all to serve on the council. Those from the order of old for advisory roles, some who are powerful in many aspects, and those who are willing to provide insight to how the Jedi can be reformed?
Cal: Reformed how exactly?
Luke: Master Kestis, what was the rule on attachment in the order of old?
Cal: That it was forbidden. When I was on Jeddha, I realized that I couldn't let it hold me back. I allowed myself to love unconditionally and now I have not only the child I adopted, but my own with my wife.
Ahsoka: I also had a husband after the battle of Endor, my son and I recently lost him to his accelerated aging.
Quinlan: You had a kid with a clone?
Ahsoka: Remember Captain Rex?
Quinlan: Skywalker's clone leader? Yes. Oh, oh, ooooohhhh.
Starkiller: I also married a pilot. She has been by my side, and we have two children.
Cal: How many of us are there supposed to be, if you don't mind me asking?
Luke: We would start with 6.
Starkiller: There's 5 of us here.
Luke: I understand. We were hoping to put allowing Ezra Bridger to the council.
Ahsoka: I believe that he would make an excellent addition to the council. He has a great tie to our Mandalorian Allies, being married to one.
Starkiller: His combat prowess has not changed since he was lost for years.
Quinlan: Alright. We survived the Empire due to our bending of the rules of the old Jedi Code. This can be more my speed.
Luke: Let's bring the decision to a vote. Those in favor of appointing Ezra Bridger to this council?
Ahsoka: Aye.
Starkiller: Aye.
Luke: Aye. Opposed?
Cal: Nay.
Quinlan: Nay.
Luke: Very well. Majority has decided to welcome Ezra Bridger to the council. Motion passed.
Quinlan: Alright. Guess we can throw away the old code.
Luke: All part of reformation, Master Vos.
Cal: I understand that my family and I have been away from the galaxy for quite some time. We can learn from him as well he learns from us.
Luke: Excellent, everyone. Council adjourned.
As Ezra arrived to the council chambers in his beskar armor, he had seen 3 familiar faces which only comforted him slightly.
Ezra: Council, you have requested my presence here.
Luke: Yes, Bridger. You know Ahsoka Tano, Galen Marek, but allow me to introduce Master Quinlan Vos, and Battlemaster Cal Kestis.
Ezra: A pleasure to meet you both.
Quinlan: Likewise.
Ahsoka: You have been brought before us due to your wisdom and ties to Mandalore, as well as your ability to maintain your dedication to the light.
Starkiller: Your confidence under pressure is commendable and your composure is inspiring for the other students.
Ezra: I understand.
Luke: We invite you to join this council and we grant you the rank of Master.
Ezra was shocked to hear this news from Luke, especially when he knew he had yet to train someone to use the Force.
Ezra: Thank you for this invitation, but I have yet to be a teacher.
Ahsoka: Kanan taught you really well. You have a great ability to bond with others.
Ezra: I see. I accept the seat on the Jedi Council.
As Ezra took his seat, the remaining Jedi had begun thinking of who to train out of the students they have.
Luke: Out of our oldest students here, it seems that even though most of them are our own children, they may need to learn to have different teachers other than parents.
Cal: What about allowing attachment in the Order?
Luke: Attachment can be good, if the attachments are healthy. Some separation can be good for some of the students.
Quinlan: Like how the Jedi of old used to do?
Luke: No, Master Vos. Most of the attachments already formed have been between some Jedi and their children.
Ahsoka: We can discuss this in another meeting.
Starkiller: She's right. Let's move on.
Luke: Thank you, Master Marek. Since I already have a padawan, we have 5 students that need a teacher.
Cal: 4. Kata Akuna is well trained enough by my wife in basic combat tactics, but since her father was a Jedi, I feel it's my duty to train her in the Force and lightsaber techniques. We have been Way from the galaxy for quite some time, and I don't want to overwhelm her with so much at once.
Luke: I see. We can remove her from the list. First, we must discuss who is to train Satine Kenobi Kryze.
Ezra: I will train her.
Luke: What case do you make for the daughter of my Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi?
Ezra: She is also the daughter of Bo-Katan Kryze, leader of Mandalore. With my ties to Mandalore and wisdom previously mentioned by Master Tano, she can learn to marry the ways of the Jedi and the ways of Mandalore in a healthy and coherent way.
Luke: Master Tano, any opposing statements?
Ahsoka: No, Grandmaster. Ezra's connections to Mandalore run deeper than mine.
Luke: It's settled then. Satine Kryze will be trained by Master Ezra Bridger. Next, we have Jacen Syndulla-Dume.
Ahsoka: I will train him.
Luke: What case do you make for young Syndulla-Dume?
Ahsoka: He is the grandson of a famous freedom fighter named Cham Syndulla. Like his grandfather and mother before him, he will be one of the greatest heroes in the galaxy.
Luke: Any opposing statements?
The room had looked around for any opposition to the scenario at hand, with nothing but silence.
Luke: Very well. Master Ahsoka Tano will take Jacen Syndulla-Dume as her apprentice. Master Marek, Master Vos, would you like to teach a student?
Quinlan: I've had enough adventure for a lifetime. I'll keep the records and preserve what Jocasta Nu had attempted to maintain. She had sent many pieces of information through The Path, hopefully most of it was preserved.
Cal: I actually have some left from a holdout on Jeddha that Vader burnt to the ground a few years back.
Starkiller: I believe that in order for me to be a teacher, my personal demons must be conquered first.
Luke: We respect your decision.
As the council adjourned on Yavin 4, another Force-sensitive being has been imprisoned by a group of pirates on Nevarro. As he used his cradle pod to hide from the danger, he had heard blaster fire in the distance. A bounty hunter clad in Mandalorian style armor, by the name of Din Djarin, and a long forgotten IG assassin droid, IG-11, had eliminated the pirates guarding their bounty. The droid had orders to execute the child, but the Mandalorian had orders to bring it to a client who would pay rather handsomely for the job. After the droid fell to a blaster shot to the chest, The beskar clad hunter brought the pod to the Empire. When the hunter got there, he was paid in beskar stamped with the Imperial seal. When the hunter took his payment, he began to feel a weight slowly growing heavier on his shoulders.
After the mandalorian got paid in beskar, he returned to the undercity lair of the Armourer to Forge the pieces he needed.
Armourer: How much do you have for me?
Djarin: How much will this do?
Armorer: Whatever work you found paid you handsomely. I'll send for you when it is ready.
Djarin: Thank you.
Armourer: This is the way.
Djarin: This is the way.
As the two separated, Djarin had collected his single shot disintegrator rifle and IB-94 pistol and began to plan on rescuing the child. When he got a message from his contractor, it was to meet him at the cantina, but he made another stop to the Armourer to inspect his new armor. When he arrived there was a new complete set of armor from the shoulders down.
Armourer: You have brought a great amount to work with. What do you plan to do?
Djarin: Correct a mistake. One that if left as is, will besmirch my honor.
Armourer: This is The Way.
Djarin: This is The Way.
When Djarin arrived at the cantina, the room began to quiet down in astonishment and intimidation. The baskar clad hunter then met with the contractor, Greef Karga. To discuss the job that had gone down.
Greef: Wow, Mando. I take it the client paid you well. All that armor definitely doesn't come cheap.
Djarin: The payout was a handsome one, but I've made a mistake, one I must correct before my honor is worthless.
Greef: Why? Who was your client?
Djarin: The beskar that the client paid me with had Imperial symbols on it.
Greef: Isn't the Empire gone? What would they need- We shouldn't even ask those questions, cause that's not our job.
Djarin: I'm getting him back. This is The Way.
Karga thought that Djarin had gone crazy taking on the Empire. He then kept his head down and put away the bounty puck, saving it for another hunter who wasn't as susceptible to any hokey religions and ancient weapons, as a smuggler turned Alliance hero once said, but only susceptible to credits.
In the New Republic, Generals Solo and Syndulla had sat down discussing some military tactics for defending the new territories and liberating others, and even giving her a piece of information that he could no longer bear his portion of.
Hera: I heard that you joined us moments before Yavin and rescued the Princess of Alderaan. Your kid is studying alongside mine at Skywalker's temple.
Han: Yeah. As much as I tried with her, eventually I succeeded, little did I know that the family drama would be mine to carry along with the Skywalker twins.
Hera: The princess isn't a Skywalker.
Han: She is. Luke is her brother. I'm the only one besides Chewie, Ahsoka, and those ghosts he sometimes talks to.
Hera: Her position in the senate will be up for grabs if that information gets out.
Han: Then you will keep that secret just as I have, that Chewie and Ahsoka have, before she loses potential power in the Senate. Anyways, have we found any more Imperials?
As the conversation continued, Sabine had begun talking to Zeb about joining the team of New Republic Rangers.
Sabine: Hey, Zeb! You got an extra spot on the team?
Zeb: Sabine! Glad to see ya. Well, it ain't me you gotta talk to Marshal Dune over there. From the looks of it, we're fixing to load up. Talk to her when we get back. I'll put in a good word for ya.
Sabine: Thanks Zeb! Tell her I'm great with explosives!
She told the Lasat the last part as the ships roared to life and then as the Lasat gave her a thumbs up, a quick goodbye before they left for the mission.
On the ship, Colonel Kallus had begun talking with Hera about the plan involving the Rangers encountering an Imperial presence on Kashyyyk.
Kallus: General. What are these reports of a couple Jedi joining our group to our mission?
Hera: Since the Jedi have agreed to serve the New Republic on occasional missions, they can decide to help us or not. 2 of them have decided to help us.
Kallus: Can they be trusted? Last time the Jedi helped the Republic of old, they were massacred by the clones who were the first troops of the Empire.
Hera: I have complete faith in these Jedi. My son is one of them. Has your trip to reinvigorate the Lasat population been for naught?
Kallus: No, General. I am just airing on the side of caution. While continuing to do so, I request that I join the ground assault so I can see for myself that these Jedi can be trusted and serve as servants of the Galaxy, not just us.
Hera: Granted, Colonel. These Jedi know the planet a d will be your best bet in navigating the environment and the wookiees.
Kallus: What makes them such experts?
Hera: They were born on the planet.
As Kallus continued to don his armor, blaster, and join Dune and her forces, he began imagining two wookiee jedi, something he thought was both absurd and frightening. When he got to the hangar bay, he was met by half of his expectations.
Kallus: You two must be the Jedi accompanying us I heard so much about.
Starkiller: We are, Colonel. I am Master Marek, and this is Jedi Knight Gungi.
Gungi roared a greeting to the Former Imperial agent turned Rebel Colonel.
Kallus: You two were born on Kashyyyk?
Starkiller: Yes. Gungi you expected since he was a youngling during the Clone Wars, but my parents hid on the world and had me, until they were killed by Vader. Vader took me as his own, trained me to be his weapon, and when the Rebel Alliance was formed, they used my family crest.
Kallus was shocked to hear this information and immediately cast whatever doubt he had aside and introduced the Jedi to the rest of the team of Rangers.
In orbit above Kashyyyk, Lord Cain had been discussing a battle plan with Thrawn, hoping to keep the wookiees in chains for his cloning experiments.
Thrawn: My Emperor, We have detected a rebel fleet that has just exited hyperspace. I suggest that we send the Imperial Army troopers, with the stormtroopers in reserve.
Cain: We have enough power with the garrisons of stormtroopers coming in to relieve the last one. The army troopers are ineffective with maintaining their loyalty to the Empire.
Thrawn: With all due respect, my lord, The wookiees would believe that they would be calmer if they see human faces help them, or they would see any human face as an enemy and attack any other humans on sight.
Cain: So that's your play? Excellent idea. Send the Army troops to maintain the security of the labs and have the stormtroopers guard everywhere else.
Thrawn: At once, my lord.
Cain: My apprentice, once all the necessary vessels are left to join the battle, you must board another destroyer, so the New Republic dogs think they destroyed a command vessel. If Skywalker is not with them, You will engage the less powerful if there are more. If Maul's forces arrive, deal with the silver skinned slimo.
Lumiya: Yes, my master.
Back on Dathomir, Maul and his apprentice have been meditating on Sith teachings until Maul sensed something stirring within his apprentice.
Maul: You have slowed down your rate of study. What is troubling you?
Relicta: It's that Jedi. The one who looked like the one we killed when he tried to hunt us. When I fought him on Mandalore, he said that he and the one we fought were clones of him.
Maul: Since the one you executed wielded red blades, and the one you've encountered on Mandalore had blue blades, what he has told you is true. Vader and my late former master killed him above Naboo, when their first superweapon was under construction.
Relicta: He still has to die. I will not gain certain closure for as long as he lives.
Maul: Then the decision to hunt him down will be solely placed in your hands. Take a ship and find him, if you must. We have an army to maintain and no assured method of recruitment.
Relicta: Yes, Master.
After meditating on her decision to find Starkiller, she finally made the choice and began planning on turning many Imperial troops into her own.
As the Rangers touched down along with the Rogue Shadow, they were greeted by the hiding wookiee chieftain flanked by 3 of his guards. As Gungi communicated with them about the situation, Marek translated for the group.
In the labs, the Imperial army troopers had been watching the wookiees get poked and prodded when a couple had seen a robed figure just vanish. As the soldiers pursued the figure, Relicta knew her plan was working, she was going to lure each soldier away from their posts to defect to her side. As every Army soldier continued to maintain their post, they knew their loyalties were no longer with the Empire.
Back on Nevarro, Djarin had returned to the client with intent to kill. When the 4 stormtroopers guarding him raised their blasters, he drew his pistol and aimed his free arm at another.
Stormtrooper: There's 4 of us. No way you walk put of here alive.
Djarin: I like those odds.
As the client was frozen in fear, he saw 2 blasts bounce off the armor as the hunter fired his pistol into one trooper, and the whistle rockets from his gauntlet fired in multiple directions killing the rest, sending the client running until Djarin fired a shot into the back of his head.
As the child cooed after opening the pram canopy, the beskar clad warrior tried to assure the infant that they were safe.
Djarin: Don't worry. I'll bring you back to your kind. You can trust me.
When the beskar clad warrior returned to his ship, he made sure that the pram was protected and prepared for more Imperial Forces.
As the Rangers, Kallus, Starkiller, and Gungi arrived at the Imperial base, the former ISB Agent saw a long highway leading up to the labs, much like the Imperial checkpoint on Lothal.
In the labs, Relicta finished her work moving the army troopers to position themselves ready to attack the stormtroopers. As she evacuated the labs, she contacted her master and began hunting the Jedi that were going to rescue the wookiees.
Relicta: Master, I have increased our odds against the Empire and I'm about to destroy the Jedi.
Maul: Excellent. Happy Hunting. When you destroy the Jedi, meet me on Oba Diah. We have an old alliance to rekindle.
As the female Zabrak ordered the Imperial army troops to fight against the stormtroopers, the New Republic squad and wookiee liberators joined in the battle and fought both sides. Kallus had ordered the troops and the chieftain to surround the lab entrance while the Jedi attempted to hunt whoever made the confusing move of turning the army against the stormtroopers.
Kallus: Where are you going, Marek?
Starkiller: Gungi and I are hunting whoever forced these army troops against the stormtroopers. Call Juno if you need any air support.
Kallus: Thank you, Master Jedi! Rogue Shadow, this is Colonel Kallus, we need you to lead an airstrike against any Imperial support that my come to reinforce the labs!
Juno: On my way, Colonel! I'll evacuate the prisoners if I have no other orders.
Kallus: Duly noted, Captain!
As Gungi and Starkiller found a cloaked figure, Gungi leapt in for a strike, but as the figure teleported away, Gungi was severely wounded with a stab to his ribcage, incapacitating the wookiee.
Relicta: I know who you are, Jedi. You don't fool me for a second.
Starkiller: A clone of the one you seek, yes.
Relicta: No! You are the one who took my masters away from me!!
Starkiller: You claimed to have fought and killed me, until you saw me on Mandalore.
Relicta: You will still die for Felucia!!
Starkiller then remembered what Kota told him about his vision of this woman was. As he steeled himself for a fight against the girl that his progenitor go and activated his two sapphire blades.
Gungi was crawling away to heal his wounds and as he saw the other Jedi Master fight with such raw potential compared to the Lady of the Sith. As Relicta threw her sabers after cloaking, Starkiller then balled himself up for a lightning infused Force repulse. As the energy blasted out of the Clone, Relicta had felt her robes be singed while she was thrown back against a tree. Starkiller then saw the figure disappear again and activated his unleashed state, sending Force lightning to his sabers. As Maris attempted to block each strike that looked like a blurr to anyone unable to touch the Force, but as Maris's arms continued to be singed, her defenses fell and Starkiller delivered a saber slam infused with Force lightning, further crimping her silver skin.
As Relicta used the last of her anger, what brushed it away was the last words that she may have heard from the Jedi.
Starkiller: You should've listened to me on Felucia years ago, Maris.
Relicta: That name is dead!
Starkiller: Your misery will end, Brood.
Relicta: I have a son! You can't make him an orphan!
Starkiller realized that since she was a mother, he had to reassure her that he won't come for her family.
Starkiller: I know what it is like to care for others like a family. They will be spared if they mean that much to you.
As Starkiller stepped closer to the fear-stricken zabrak, Relicta realized that she would join her former masters soon. Starkiller spun his right blade and stabbed her heart with a reverse grip, and stabbed her trachea with the left blade. The Marek clone then tended to Gungi and made their way back to the victorious alliance.
Aboard the Razor Crest, Djarin had begun searching for answers as to where the child he had in his care belonged. When he landed on Tatooine, he landed in a city where another job was about to take place that required multiple members. One member was a former Imperial Marksman by the name of Migs Mayfeld, and the others were a rather legendary pair; one was a Gand bounty hunter with a very keen talent for psychometry named Zuckuss, and a protocol droid like partner in crime by the designation 4-LOM.
Their job entailed taking some highly classified Imperial information that was about to be declassified aboard a star destroyer above Kuat. The veteran pair were very eager to get the job done efficiently and quickly. The other two, who had less experience were very dubious about what the intel was and who should possess it.
Mayfeld: So, Mando. You ever met those two?
Djarin: No. I haven't heard if them.
Mayfeld: My former CO told me that they wre tasked by Darth Vader to find a Corellian Freighter containing rebel officers and leadership. I never liked bounty hunters, but it's better than The Empire I can say that much.
Djarin: What do you plan to do once we get the information?
Mayfeld: From what I understood from those two, they're the kind to kill any partners to grow their share. How about we turn the tables on them, you and me? Huh?
Djarin: If those two are as legendary and skilled as you say they are, killing them would serve a tactical advantage and a good monetary step up in this line of work.
Mayfeld: Good. Thanks. We'll be rich and famous, well, infamous, for taking down those two.
When Mayfeld entered an Imperial encryption that checked out the crew entered the decommissioned destroyer and extracted the information needed from two different sections of computers. 4-LOM and Zuckuss had one half of the intel and Djarin held onto the other. As their clocks ran down, Mayfeld saw information about Operation Cinder and found that his CO was a field officer in the near destruction of his post on Burnin Konn.
As the bounty hunter crew split into two pairs and eventually spread themselves out, they were on the hunt to eliminate those they believed to be loose ends. Throughout the vacant destroyer, Djarin had used his cycler rifle to move from cover to cover as he searched for the droid. Mayfeld drew his DT-12 pistols and SE-14r pistol on the hunt for the gas breathing insectoid hunter.
Aboard the Razor Crest, The child had grown worried that he was left on his own, but remembered everything he had experienced during the purge almost 30 years ago.
As Zuckuss had turned a corner near the reactor room, Mayfeld had found the perfect shot with his trio of pistols, but a slip of one of his legs let out a screech causing Mayfeld to fire on the hunter, landing 3 precise shots to his right eye, heart, and his left thigh. A stray blast from Zuckuss's blaster left a hile through the rafters of the room as Mayfeld let himself fall to the walkways and make his way to take Zuckuss's information.
As 4-LOM continued to hunt one of the lesser hunters, he slowly began turning his head to see Beskar through a corner slot before seeing the cycler round fire through the corners of the halls, missing the droid's head, causing the droid to slowly approach approach him, blasting with the DLT-19 he had stolen from an Imperial outpost on Mimban.
Djarin knew that he had time to load another shot, and as he flanked the slow moving droid, he snuck around behind him and used another cycler round to the back of the hunter's head. As the brain-like head flew off the body, the protocol droid body collapsed forward, and Djarin switched to his pistol as he thought he had to fight his way back to his ship. When he saw his ship in the hangar, he tried contacting Mayfeld about his location.
Djarin: Mayfeld? Where are you?
Mayfeld: I'm not going with you. I'm taking a TIE to the rendezvous point. Meet me back at Mos Pelgo so we can get our credits.
Djarin: Fine. I'll meet you there.
As the two landed in different ports on Tatooine, they returned to their contractor, Ranzar Malk, they were each paid 32,570 credits, due to 4-LOM and Zuckuss perishing on the job.
When the Mandalorian and Former Imperial parted ways, Djarin had continued his quest to find the child's kind.
On Dathomir, Maul had recently learned that his apprentice perished on Kashyyyk, but her passing had a massive effect on his ability to maintain his own Sith Triumvirate. He had recently taken another apprentice in case Relicta decided that the way of the Sith was no longer important to her.
Maul: As you can feel, my new apprentice, Lady Relicta has been destroyed by the Jedi. Even though both of us had agreed to train you, it seems that you will learn the traditional ways of the Sith. This begins another chapter, Lady... Talon.
Talon: Yes, my master. We will conquer our enemies and usurp galactic power on a massive scale.
End of Part 13
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When the Jedi had arrived, the new Republic soldiers stood at attention in respect for the Grandmaster who saved the galaxy from the Imperial regime. Luke reunited with his old friend Wedge Antilles, X2 reunited with Grey Squadron and his wife Shara, Ezra reunited with Zeb and met the new team as well as Hera, who embraced him along with the still-so-devious astromech droid Chopper. The 3 Ghost crew members almost teared up when they found out Ezra and Sabine married.
Hera: [Through tears of joy] Ezra, Sabine, I'm... I'm... so proud of you both. I had a feeling this would happen.
Zeb: I'm proud of you too, kid. You two have grown up so much. Bet you didn't miss this bucket of bolts.
Chopper gave his version of a nudge to the Lasat and the old friends and Bridger couple said their goodbyes as they moved to their military posts.
Back at the Temple, Rex and Ahsoka had been teaching their son, Anakin Tano many aspects of their expertise, but this particular lesson was from his father who had realized that his age caught up with him.
Rex: Son, Your mother and I served with your namesake for years, and You have been made aware of my aging. This won't happen to you, but I have things I wish to leave behind. The shrine has been entrusted to Luke's apprentice, but my armor, when you get old enough, as well as my blasters will be yours. Add my helmet to the shrine, give it to Grey. Learn the ways of the Force, like your mother, and her master before you. My mission is over. Continue with yours, and protect all that you love.
With those words, the mother and son embraced in grief. With a heavy heart, Anakin tried to bring himself to give his father's helmet to the Grandmaster's padawan.
Grey: Hello, little guy. What's your name?
Anakin: My name is Anakin Tano. My father told me to give you this.
X2 had then realized who his father and mother were. He then took the helmet and remembered what to do with it. He then asked the child if he wanted to accompany him.
Grey: Do you want to see what your father had referred to?
Anakin: Sure. What is it he wanted to put his helmet for?
Grey: Your father told you of the adventures he had with your mother?
Anakin: Yes.
Grey: After the Clone Wars ended, Your father started collecting helmets of fallen brothers, essentially your millions of uncles, who he was close with. He wanted his helmet on this shrine so he could continue being with them, in spirit.
Anakin: So my father has now joined my uncles in the Force?
Grey: Yes. Like your mother and many Jedi like her believe. When we see the shrine, you can ask anyone who knew your uncles about them, any time you like.
Anakin: Thank you. For everything.
Back at the Temple, Cal Kestis had been teaching the younglings Luke's 3 forms of combat. Form 8 included the use of a primary lightsaber and shoto secondary as needed much like Niman. Luke had been training in this style after making his red shoto from Ahsoka. Form 9 included the use of saber staves, crossguard sabers, and heavy strikes. Ben Solo had been training in this form as his base for when he would create a suitable saber in the future. Form 10 included using the lightsaber as a offensive shield in tandem with a blaster. Kata Akuna, Jacen Syndulla, and Ezra Bridger were the beat students with this form, since Kata saw her father use this form, and Ezra's first blade merged the two types of weapons. As the younglings and older students continued practicing, Kestis had begun having a vision.
Figure: Your family is unprotected. Only your hatred can keep them safe. The Dark Side that you have tasted before has been your savior time and time again. There is much to learn. All you need to do is embrace it! Remember those you've lost, your masters, your best friend, the Jedi Order. Give yourself to it!!
As Cal jolted out of the vision, Merrin came rushing over to comfort the Jedi Battlemaster.
When Luke and the other Jedi returned, he began to organize a meeting of the most powerful and wisest Jedi. Ahsoka, Starkiller, Luke, Cal, and Quinlan Vos had met in a round holotable that was reminiscent of the rebel base. X2, Merrin, and Jacen Syndulla kept watch over the rest of the youngling's training.
Luke: Thank you all for attending this inaugural meeting of the Jedi Council.
Quinlan: I never sat on the council of old before, feels a little weird sitting on one now.
Ahsoka: This is a first for me as well. I remember my master and Master Kenobi being on the council, but I never got the chance.
Luke: We are the wisest that remain of the Jedi, hence why I had chosen you all to serve on the council. Those from the order of old for advisory roles, some who are powerful in many aspects, and those who are willing to provide insight to how the Jedi can be reformed?
Cal: Reformed how exactly?
Luke: Master Kestis, what was the rule on attachment in the order of old?
Cal: That it was forbidden. When I was on Jeddha, I realized that I couldn't let it hold me back. I allowed myself to love unconditionally and now I have not only the child I adopted, but my own with my wife.
Ahsoka: I also had a husband after the battle of Endor, my son and I recently lost him to his accelerated aging.
Quinlan: You had a kid with a clone?
Ahsoka: Remember Captain Rex?
Quinlan: Skywalker's clone leader? Yes. Oh, oh, ooooohhhh.
Starkiller: I also married a pilot. She has been by my side, and we have two children.
Cal: How many of us are there supposed to be, if you don't mind me asking?
Luke: We would start with 6.
Starkiller: There's 5 of us here.
Luke: I understand. We were hoping to put allowing Ezra Bridger to the council.
Ahsoka: I believe that he would make an excellent addition to the council. He has a great tie to our Mandalorian Allies, being married to one.
Starkiller: His combat prowess has not changed since he was lost for years.
Quinlan: Alright. We survived the Empire due to our bending of the rules of the old Jedi Code. This can be more my speed.
Luke: Let's bring the decision to a vote. Those in favor of appointing Ezra Bridger to this council?
Ahsoka: Aye.
Starkiller: Aye.
Luke: Aye. Opposed?
Cal: Nay.
Quinlan: Nay.
Luke: Very well. Majority has decided to welcome Ezra Bridger to the council. Motion passed.
Quinlan: Alright. Guess we can throw away the old code.
Luke: All part of reformation, Master Vos.
Cal: I understand that my family and I have been away from the galaxy for quite some time. We can learn from him as well he learns from us.
Luke: Excellent, everyone. Council adjourned.
As Ezra arrived to the council chambers in his beskar armor, he had seen 3 familiar faces which only comforted him slightly.
Ezra: Council, you have requested my presence here.
Luke: Yes, Bridger. You know Ahsoka Tano, Galen Marek, but allow me to introduce Master Quinlan Vos, and Battlemaster Cal Kestis.
Ezra: A pleasure to meet you both.
Quinlan: Likewise.
Ahsoka: You have been brought before us due to your wisdom and ties to Mandalore, as well as your ability to maintain your dedication to the light.
Starkiller: Your confidence under pressure is commendable and your composure is inspiring for the other students.
Ezra: I understand.
Luke: We invite you to join this council and we grant you the rank of Master.
Ezra was shocked to hear this news from Luke, especially when he knew he had yet to train someone to use the Force.
Ezra: Thank you for this invitation, but I have yet to be a teacher.
Ahsoka: Kanan taught you really well. You have a great ability to bond with others.
Ezra: I see. I accept the seat on the Jedi Council.
As Ezra took his seat, the remaining Jedi had begun thinking of who to train out of the students they have.
Luke: Out of our oldest students here, it seems that even though most of them are our own children, they may need to learn to have different teachers other than parents.
Cal: What about allowing attachment in the Order?
Luke: Attachment can be good, if the attachments are healthy. Some separation can be good for some of the students.
Quinlan: Like how the Jedi of old used to do?
Luke: No, Master Vos. Most of the attachments already formed have been between some Jedi and their children.
Ahsoka: We can discuss this in another meeting.
Starkiller: She's right. Let's move on.
Luke: Thank you, Master Marek. Since I already have a padawan, we have 5 students that need a teacher.
Cal: 4. Kata Akuna is well trained enough by my wife in basic combat tactics, but since her father was a Jedi, I feel it's my duty to train her in the Force and lightsaber techniques. We have been Way from the galaxy for quite some time, and I don't want to overwhelm her with so much at once.
Luke: I see. We can remove her from the list. First, we must discuss who is to train Satine Kenobi Kryze.
Ezra: I will train her.
Luke: What case do you make for the daughter of my Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi?
Ezra: She is also the daughter of Bo-Katan Kryze, leader of Mandalore. With my ties to Mandalore and wisdom previously mentioned by Master Tano, she can learn to marry the ways of the Jedi and the ways of Mandalore in a healthy and coherent way.
Luke: Master Tano, any opposing statements?
Ahsoka: No, Grandmaster. Ezra's connections to Mandalore run deeper than mine.
Luke: It's settled then. Satine Kryze will be trained by Master Ezra Bridger. Next, we have Jacen Syndulla-Dume.
Ahsoka: I will train him.
Luke: What case do you make for young Syndulla-Dume?
Ahsoka: He is the grandson of a famous freedom fighter named Cham Syndulla. Like his grandfather and mother before him, he will be one of the greatest heroes in the galaxy.
Luke: Any opposing statements?
The room had looked around for any opposition to the scenario at hand, with nothing but silence.
Luke: Very well. Master Ahsoka Tano will take Jacen Syndulla-Dume as her apprentice. Master Marek, Master Vos, would you like to teach a student?
Quinlan: I've had enough adventure for a lifetime. I'll keep the records and preserve what Jocasta Nu had attempted to maintain. She had sent many pieces of information through The Path, hopefully most of it was preserved.
Cal: I actually have some left from a holdout on Jeddha that Vader burnt to the ground a few years back.
Starkiller: I believe that in order for me to be a teacher, my personal demons must be conquered first.
Luke: We respect your decision.
As the council adjourned on Yavin 4, another Force-sensitive being has been imprisoned by a group of pirates on Nevarro. As he used his cradle pod to hide from the danger, he had heard blaster fire in the distance. A bounty hunter clad in Mandalorian style armor, by the name of Din Djarin, and a long forgotten IG assassin droid, IG-11, had eliminated the pirates guarding their bounty. The droid had orders to execute the child, but the Mandalorian had orders to bring it to a client who would pay rather handsomely for the job. After the droid fell to a blaster shot to the chest, The beskar clad hunter brought the pod to the Empire. When the hunter got there, he was paid in beskar stamped with the Imperial seal. When the hunter took his payment, he began to feel a weight slowly growing heavier on his shoulders.
After the mandalorian got paid in beskar, he returned to the undercity lair of the Armourer to Forge the pieces he needed.
Armourer: How much do you have for me?
Djarin: How much will this do?
Armorer: Whatever work you found paid you handsomely. I'll send for you when it is ready.
Djarin: Thank you.
Armourer: This is the way.
Djarin: This is the way.
As the two separated, Djarin had collected his single shot disintegrator rifle and IB-94 pistol and began to plan on rescuing the child. When he got a message from his contractor, it was to meet him at the cantina, but he made another stop to the Armourer to inspect his new armor. When he arrived there was a new complete set of armor from the shoulders down.
Armourer: You have brought a great amount to work with. What do you plan to do?
Djarin: Correct a mistake. One that if left as is, will besmirch my honor.
Armourer: This is The Way.
Djarin: This is The Way.
When Djarin arrived at the cantina, the room began to quiet down in astonishment and intimidation. The baskar clad hunter then met with the contractor, Greef Karga. To discuss the job that had gone down.
Greef: Wow, Mando. I take it the client paid you well. All that armor definitely doesn't come cheap.
Djarin: The payout was a handsome one, but I've made a mistake, one I must correct before my honor is worthless.
Greef: Why? Who was your client?
Djarin: The beskar that the client paid me with had Imperial symbols on it.
Greef: Isn't the Empire gone? What would they need- We shouldn't even ask those questions, cause that's not our job.
Djarin: I'm getting him back. This is The Way.
Karga thought that Djarin had gone crazy taking on the Empire. He then kept his head down and put away the bounty puck, saving it for another hunter who wasn't as susceptible to any hokey religions and ancient weapons, as a smuggler turned Alliance hero once said, but only susceptible to credits.
In the New Republic, Generals Solo and Syndulla had sat down discussing some military tactics for defending the new territories and liberating others, and even giving her a piece of information that he could no longer bear his portion of.
Hera: I heard that you joined us moments before Yavin and rescued the Princess of Alderaan. Your kid is studying alongside mine at Skywalker's temple.
Han: Yeah. As much as I tried with her, eventually I succeeded, little did I know that the family drama would be mine to carry along with the Skywalker twins.
Hera: The princess isn't a Skywalker.
Han: She is. Luke is her brother. I'm the only one besides Chewie, Ahsoka, and those ghosts he sometimes talks to.
Hera: Her position in the senate will be up for grabs if that information gets out.
Han: Then you will keep that secret just as I have, that Chewie and Ahsoka have, before she loses potential power in the Senate. Anyways, have we found any more Imperials?
As the conversation continued, Sabine had begun talking to Zeb about joining the team of New Republic Rangers.
Sabine: Hey, Zeb! You got an extra spot on the team?
Zeb: Sabine! Glad to see ya. Well, it ain't me you gotta talk to Marshal Dune over there. From the looks of it, we're fixing to load up. Talk to her when we get back. I'll put in a good word for ya.
Sabine: Thanks Zeb! Tell her I'm great with explosives!
She told the Lasat the last part as the ships roared to life and then as the Lasat gave her a thumbs up, a quick goodbye before they left for the mission.
On the ship, Colonel Kallus had begun talking with Hera about the plan involving the Rangers encountering an Imperial presence on Kashyyyk.
Kallus: General. What are these reports of a couple Jedi joining our group to our mission?
Hera: Since the Jedi have agreed to serve the New Republic on occasional missions, they can decide to help us or not. 2 of them have decided to help us.
Kallus: Can they be trusted? Last time the Jedi helped the Republic of old, they were massacred by the clones who were the first troops of the Empire.
Hera: I have complete faith in these Jedi. My son is one of them. Has your trip to reinvigorate the Lasat population been for naught?
Kallus: No, General. I am just airing on the side of caution. While continuing to do so, I request that I join the ground assault so I can see for myself that these Jedi can be trusted and serve as servants of the Galaxy, not just us.
Hera: Granted, Colonel. These Jedi know the planet a d will be your best bet in navigating the environment and the wookiees.
Kallus: What makes them such experts?
Hera: They were born on the planet.
As Kallus continued to don his armor, blaster, and join Dune and her forces, he began imagining two wookiee jedi, something he thought was both absurd and frightening. When he got to the hangar bay, he was met by half of his expectations.
Kallus: You two must be the Jedi accompanying us I heard so much about.
Starkiller: We are, Colonel. I am Master Marek, and this is Jedi Knight Gungi.
Gungi roared a greeting to the Former Imperial agent turned Rebel Colonel.
Kallus: You two were born on Kashyyyk?
Starkiller: Yes. Gungi you expected since he was a youngling during the Clone Wars, but my parents hid on the world and had me, until they were killed by Vader. Vader took me as his own, trained me to be his weapon, and when the Rebel Alliance was formed, they used my family crest.
Kallus was shocked to hear this information and immediately cast whatever doubt he had aside and introduced the Jedi to the rest of the team of Rangers.
In orbit above Kashyyyk, Lord Cain had been discussing a battle plan with Thrawn, hoping to keep the wookiees in chains for his cloning experiments.
Thrawn: My Emperor, We have detected a rebel fleet that has just exited hyperspace. I suggest that we send the Imperial Army troopers, with the stormtroopers in reserve.
Cain: We have enough power with the garrisons of stormtroopers coming in to relieve the last one. The army troopers are ineffective with maintaining their loyalty to the Empire.
Thrawn: With all due respect, my lord, The wookiees would believe that they would be calmer if they see human faces help them, or they would see any human face as an enemy and attack any other humans on sight.
Cain: So that's your play? Excellent idea. Send the Army troops to maintain the security of the labs and have the stormtroopers guard everywhere else.
Thrawn: At once, my lord.
Cain: My apprentice, once all the necessary vessels are left to join the battle, you must board another destroyer, so the New Republic dogs think they destroyed a command vessel. If Skywalker is not with them, You will engage the less powerful if there are more. If Maul's forces arrive, deal with the silver skinned slimo.
Lumiya: Yes, my master.
Back on Dathomir, Maul and his apprentice have been meditating on Sith teachings until Maul sensed something stirring within his apprentice.
Maul: You have slowed down your rate of study. What is troubling you?
Relicta: It's that Jedi. The one who looked like the one we killed when he tried to hunt us. When I fought him on Mandalore, he said that he and the one we fought were clones of him.
Maul: Since the one you executed wielded red blades, and the one you've encountered on Mandalore had blue blades, what he has told you is true. Vader and my late former master killed him above Naboo, when their first superweapon was under construction.
Relicta: He still has to die. I will not gain certain closure for as long as he lives.
Maul: Then the decision to hunt him down will be solely placed in your hands. Take a ship and find him, if you must. We have an army to maintain and no assured method of recruitment.
Relicta: Yes, Master.
After meditating on her decision to find Starkiller, she finally made the choice and began planning on turning many Imperial troops into her own.
As the Rangers touched down along with the Rogue Shadow, they were greeted by the hiding wookiee chieftain flanked by 3 of his guards. As Gungi communicated with them about the situation, Marek translated for the group.
In the labs, the Imperial army troopers had been watching the wookiees get poked and prodded when a couple had seen a robed figure just vanish. As the soldiers pursued the figure, Relicta knew her plan was working, she was going to lure each soldier away from their posts to defect to her side. As every Army soldier continued to maintain their post, they knew their loyalties were no longer with the Empire.
Back on Nevarro, Djarin had returned to the client with intent to kill. When the 4 stormtroopers guarding him raised their blasters, he drew his pistol and aimed his free arm at another.
Stormtrooper: There's 4 of us. No way you walk put of here alive.
Djarin: I like those odds.
As the client was frozen in fear, he saw 2 blasts bounce off the armor as the hunter fired his pistol into one trooper, and the whistle rockets from his gauntlet fired in multiple directions killing the rest, sending the client running until Djarin fired a shot into the back of his head.
As the child cooed after opening the pram canopy, the beskar clad warrior tried to assure the infant that they were safe.
Djarin: Don't worry. I'll bring you back to your kind. You can trust me.
When the beskar clad warrior returned to his ship, he made sure that the pram was protected and prepared for more Imperial Forces.
As the Rangers, Kallus, Starkiller, and Gungi arrived at the Imperial base, the former ISB Agent saw a long highway leading up to the labs, much like the Imperial checkpoint on Lothal.
In the labs, Relicta finished her work moving the army troopers to position themselves ready to attack the stormtroopers. As she evacuated the labs, she contacted her master and began hunting the Jedi that were going to rescue the wookiees.
Relicta: Master, I have increased our odds against the Empire and I'm about to destroy the Jedi.
Maul: Excellent. Happy Hunting. When you destroy the Jedi, meet me on Oba Diah. We have an old alliance to rekindle.
As the female Zabrak ordered the Imperial army troops to fight against the stormtroopers, the New Republic squad and wookiee liberators joined in the battle and fought both sides. Kallus had ordered the troops and the chieftain to surround the lab entrance while the Jedi attempted to hunt whoever made the confusing move of turning the army against the stormtroopers.
Kallus: Where are you going, Marek?
Starkiller: Gungi and I are hunting whoever forced these army troops against the stormtroopers. Call Juno if you need any air support.
Kallus: Thank you, Master Jedi! Rogue Shadow, this is Colonel Kallus, we need you to lead an airstrike against any Imperial support that my come to reinforce the labs!
Juno: On my way, Colonel! I'll evacuate the prisoners if I have no other orders.
Kallus: Duly noted, Captain!
As Gungi and Starkiller found a cloaked figure, Gungi leapt in for a strike, but as the figure teleported away, Gungi was severely wounded with a stab to his ribcage, incapacitating the wookiee.
Relicta: I know who you are, Jedi. You don't fool me for a second.
Starkiller: A clone of the one you seek, yes.
Relicta: No! You are the one who took my masters away from me!!
Starkiller: You claimed to have fought and killed me, until you saw me on Mandalore.
Relicta: You will still die for Felucia!!
Starkiller then remembered what Kota told him about his vision of this woman was. As he steeled himself for a fight against the girl that his progenitor go and activated his two sapphire blades.
Gungi was crawling away to heal his wounds and as he saw the other Jedi Master fight with such raw potential compared to the Lady of the Sith. As Relicta threw her sabers after cloaking, Starkiller then balled himself up for a lightning infused Force repulse. As the energy blasted out of the Clone, Relicta had felt her robes be singed while she was thrown back against a tree. Starkiller then saw the figure disappear again and activated his unleashed state, sending Force lightning to his sabers. As Maris attempted to block each strike that looked like a blurr to anyone unable to touch the Force, but as Maris's arms continued to be singed, her defenses fell and Starkiller delivered a saber slam infused with Force lightning, further crimping her silver skin.
As Relicta used the last of her anger, what brushed it away was the last words that she may have heard from the Jedi.
Starkiller: You should've listened to me on Felucia years ago, Maris.
Relicta: That name is dead!
Starkiller: Your misery will end, Brood.
Relicta: I have a son! You can't make him an orphan!
Starkiller realized that since she was a mother, he had to reassure her that he won't come for her family.
Starkiller: I know what it is like to care for others like a family. They will be spared if they mean that much to you.
As Starkiller stepped closer to the fear-stricken zabrak, Relicta realized that she would join her former masters soon. Starkiller spun his right blade and stabbed her heart with a reverse grip, and stabbed her trachea with the left blade. The Marek clone then tended to Gungi and made their way back to the victorious alliance.
Aboard the Razor Crest, Djarin had begun searching for answers as to where the child he had in his care belonged. When he landed on Tatooine, he landed in a city where another job was about to take place that required multiple members. One member was a former Imperial Marksman by the name of Migs Mayfeld, and the others were a rather legendary pair; one was a Gand bounty hunter with a very keen talent for psychometry named Zuckuss, and a protocol droid like partner in crime by the designation 4-LOM.
Their job entailed taking some highly classified Imperial information that was about to be declassified aboard a star destroyer above Kuat. The veteran pair were very eager to get the job done efficiently and quickly. The other two, who had less experience were very dubious about what the intel was and who should possess it.
Mayfeld: So, Mando. You ever met those two?
Djarin: No. I haven't heard if them.
Mayfeld: My former CO told me that they wre tasked by Darth Vader to find a Corellian Freighter containing rebel officers and leadership. I never liked bounty hunters, but it's better than The Empire I can say that much.
Djarin: What do you plan to do once we get the information?
Mayfeld: From what I understood from those two, they're the kind to kill any partners to grow their share. How about we turn the tables on them, you and me? Huh?
Djarin: If those two are as legendary and skilled as you say they are, killing them would serve a tactical advantage and a good monetary step up in this line of work.
Mayfeld: Good. Thanks. We'll be rich and famous, well, infamous, for taking down those two.
When Mayfeld entered an Imperial encryption that checked out the crew entered the decommissioned destroyer and extracted the information needed from two different sections of computers. 4-LOM and Zuckuss had one half of the intel and Djarin held onto the other. As their clocks ran down, Mayfeld saw information about Operation Cinder and found that his CO was a field officer in the near destruction of his post on Burnin Konn.
As the bounty hunter crew split into two pairs and eventually spread themselves out, they were on the hunt to eliminate those they believed to be loose ends. Throughout the vacant destroyer, Djarin had used his cycler rifle to move from cover to cover as he searched for the droid. Mayfeld drew his DT-12 pistols and SE-14r pistol on the hunt for the gas breathing insectoid hunter.
Aboard the Razor Crest, The child had grown worried that he was left on his own, but remembered everything he had experienced during the purge almost 30 years ago.
As Zuckuss had turned a corner near the reactor room, Mayfeld had found the perfect shot with his trio of pistols, but a slip of one of his legs let out a screech causing Mayfeld to fire on the hunter, landing 3 precise shots to his right eye, heart, and his left thigh. A stray blast from Zuckuss's blaster left a hile through the rafters of the room as Mayfeld let himself fall to the walkways and make his way to take Zuckuss's information.
As 4-LOM continued to hunt one of the lesser hunters, he slowly began turning his head to see Beskar through a corner slot before seeing the cycler round fire through the corners of the halls, missing the droid's head, causing the droid to slowly approach approach him, blasting with the DLT-19 he had stolen from an Imperial outpost on Mimban.
Djarin knew that he had time to load another shot, and as he flanked the slow moving droid, he snuck around behind him and used another cycler round to the back of the hunter's head. As the brain-like head flew off the body, the protocol droid body collapsed forward, and Djarin switched to his pistol as he thought he had to fight his way back to his ship. When he saw his ship in the hangar, he tried contacting Mayfeld about his location.
Djarin: Mayfeld? Where are you?
Mayfeld: I'm not going with you. I'm taking a TIE to the rendezvous point. Meet me back at Mos Pelgo so we can get our credits.
Djarin: Fine. I'll meet you there.
As the two landed in different ports on Tatooine, they returned to their contractor, Ranzar Malk, they were each paid 32,570 credits, due to 4-LOM and Zuckuss perishing on the job.
When the Mandalorian and Former Imperial parted ways, Djarin had continued his quest to find the child's kind.
On Dathomir, Maul had recently learned that his apprentice perished on Kashyyyk, but her passing had a massive effect on his ability to maintain his own Sith Triumvirate. He had recently taken another apprentice in case Relicta decided that the way of the Sith was no longer important to her.
Maul: As you can feel, my new apprentice, Lady Relicta has been destroyed by the Jedi. Even though both of us had agreed to train you, it seems that you will learn the traditional ways of the Sith. This begins another chapter, Lady... Talon.
Talon: Yes, my master. We will conquer our enemies and usurp galactic power on a massive scale.
End of Part 13
2023.06.03 11:27 Kotkijet Preview notes for the first juvenile hurdle of the season
I AM NOT A TIPSTER. I AM NEVER A TIPSTER. NOTHING I WRITE IS EVER A TIP. THIS CONTENT IS SOLELY INTENDED TO INFORM, NEVER ADVISE
For context, the average strike rate (SR) across all juveniles is 9.54%, winner-runner (WR) 19.55%, improvement rate (IMP) 36.90%, clear round (CR) 96.07%, prize money per race (PMPR) £1107.31
https://www.equidia.fchevaux/waitara
submitted by Kotkijet to HorseRacingUK [link] [comments]
HEXHAM 3RD JUNE – PREVIEW NOTES
Unless stated, all figures relate to British and Irish juvenile hurdlers since 2004/05For context, the average strike rate (SR) across all juveniles is 9.54%, winner-runner (WR) 19.55%, improvement rate (IMP) 36.90%, clear round (CR) 96.07%, prize money per race (PMPR) £1107.31
Race History/Stats
- Traditional curtain raiser, held each year since 2008 apart from 2020
- Average winning Dis 0.89 median, 1.14 mean. Figures lower only at Chepstow and Cheltenham.
- Average winners’ seasonal RPR of 103.43 over a stone lower than standard juvenile hurdle.
- Four graduates have gone on to contest the Triumph; Simarian (1st 2008, 7th Triumph), Lindenhurst (2nd 2013, 9th Triumph), Koi Dodville (1st 2021, 11th Triumph), Rupestrian (1st 2009, PU Triumph).
- Dinarius (5th 2008), Ocean Transit (4th 2008) and Linger (UR 2016) eventually earned RPRs exceeding 130
Course Info
- Undulating, galloping, left-handed track.
- Average winning Dis of 0.89 median, 1.11 mean are 0.46 lower than average runner; greatest discrepancy of all racecourses.
- Clear round 97.24% (+1.17 cf. standard), completion rate 77.91% (-9.36 cf. standard) lower only at Southwell.
- Odds-on SR of 40% is lowest of all British courses with 10 or more qualifiers.
- No discernible pace advantage
Ground & Pace
- Good. Dry weather forecast, watering to maintain.
- Three have made running in past. Solid pace anticipated.
City Of Ruins bg Donald McCain Unraced
Nathaniel (New Approach){7-f}(0.53) 2/1 Devilment 150 2nd Anniversary Hurdle (G1), Aintree 2015Breeding
- Nathaniel 27.5% WR, including Zanahiyr, Burning Victory and Navajo Pass. Won this race in 2019 with Green Etoile.
- Full-brother Tuddenham Green won two Juveniles last term and finsihed second in Wensleydale.
- Nephew of Devilment (2nd Anniversary) and Nasee (minor staying hurdle winner)
Source
- Cost 7,000gns as yearling at Tatts October Sale.
- Donald McCain one win from five with racecourse debutants (Sacre Pierre a three-time winner in 2021/22).
Trainer
- 38.89% WR since 2018/19.
- 12 runners without a win at Hexam, 2nd in 2018 running with Weinberg.
Summary
- Outside of Junior NH Hurdles, previously unraced juvenile hurdling debutants have a first-time-out strike-rate of just 2.35%. Nevertheless, one such winner was trained by Donald McCain and this pedigree is an especially strong one for the time of year.
Hourless bg Alan King f5-1-0 (49) 57
Time Test (Green Desert){14-c}(1.36) 3/1 Blue Bit 107 1st 2m Handicap Hurdle, Tramore 1997Breeding
- Time Test second season, one juvenile to date; Never No Trouble r9w1 RPR91
- Green Desert below average influence in juvenile hurdles (15.79% WR damsire, 15.38% WR sire)
- Family of Kutub, Blue Bit (3/1) only winning jumper of ten+ relatives from 3rd dam.
Source
- Cost 70,000gns at last year’s Tatts Guineas Sale.
- Self-trained Alan King juveniles 51.06% WR.
- Those rated 61 or below have 15% first time strike rate. However, those rated 56 or below are only one winner from thirteen, with Proprioception’s sole win from six coming in a Southwell mares’ handicap off 92.
Trainer
- Most winners of any trainer since 2004/05, 47.13% WR, 48.57% IMP
- Three runs in this race, one win (Green Etoile 2019), one second (City Dreamer 2017)
Flat Profile
- No show on first three outings, but won handicap debut off 47 at Wolverhampton over 1m1½f.
- Raced keenly in rear off modest tempo, green under pressure but led inside final furlong winning with bit to spare.
- Raised two pounds, still green when one paced 5th last time at Bath
Summary
- Represents most successful trainer in the sphere and does have a win to his name. However, that came at a decidedly modest level and there is also a concern that he could find himself unbalanced around Hexham.
Indication Rocket bg Rebecca Menzies f9-1-2 (61) 64
Dandy Man (Rip Van Winkle){14-c}(0.71) 3/1 Rocky Wednesday 140 3rd Winning Fair Juvenile Hurdle (G2), Fairyhouse 2011Breeding
- Dandy Man 7.14%WR, 0-12 IMP. Chatez (Alan King rated 96 on flat) only winner.
- Rip Van Winkle 0-3 as damsire, 7.69% WR as sire.
- Third dam produced useful winners Bohemian Spirit and Rocky Wednesday
Source
- 16,000gns as 2yo at Tatts Guineas Sale.
- Sole self-trained flat recruit beaten only hurdles start.
Trainer
- 62.50% Improvement rate since 2018/19 is highest in GB.
- 26.67% First time strike rate, including three such winners last term. First juvenile at Hexham.
Flat Profile
- Most experienced runner in the field courtesy of nine outings. Modest on first three starts over 6f, but has steadily improved for switch to handicaps and step up in trip.
- Runner-up in slowly run 10f Newcastle Nursery in September, off the mark penultimate outing in mile handicap off 55 at same track in early May.
- Had run of race up front, but pulled clear again when caught inside distance to win by 2½l. No subsequent winners but those out since have run to form.
- Last seen ten days later finishing third at Wolverhampton over a further furlong-and-a-half off 61. Travelled strongly but no extra when headed turning for home.
Summary
*Rebecca Menzies is a very capable trainer of juveniles who finds improvement from her charges more often than not; which is very much a positive for a horse who is only a few pounds from the top rated. However, while the damline is sound, the sire and damsire have poor records and stamina around Hexham is not assured.Uncle Matthew bg Evan Williams f6-1-0 (65) 69
Fast Company (Manduro){13-c}(0.78) 3/1 Scriptwriter 134 5th Holloway’s Handicap Hurdle (G2,133), Ascot 2009Breeding
- Fast Company since 2018/19; 41.18% WR, 22.73% SR (2nd highest) 64.29% IMP (5th highest)
- Manduro 3-12 WR, 62.50% IMP as damsire, 32.14% WR as sire
- Half-brother pulled up sole jumps start. Nephew of Hunter’s Light. Fourth dam produced Darshaan, along with useful jumpers Daraydan and Darialann.
Source
- £16,000 Tatts Ascot March
- ex-John Gosden’s have below-average record in juveniles; WR 18.35%, IMP 22.97%
- First to join Evan Williams from Gosden’s
- Williams 31.75% WR with those bought at public auction. 29.79% for those costing £20,000 or less. Ex-Gosdens 18.60% WR <= £20,000
Trainer
- 27.97% WR, although only 9.52% since 2017/18
- 22.03% Strike rate during summer.
- Two runners in this contest; Simarian (1st 2008 – strongest juvenile graduate from contest; 1st Prestbury, 7th Triumph) Quickdrawmcgraw (2nd 2022)
Flat Profile
- Five-race 2yo campaign starting in Autumn saw him finish no closer than fourth with a BHA mark of 62.
- Made winning return in 1m3f Southwell handicap off 62; starting slowly, prominent halfway and stayed on dourly to prevail by head. Third, fourth and fifth all placed next time.
Summary
- Trainer not as prolific as he was previously, but still managed a second in this contest last year with 52 rated Quickdrawmcgraw. Pedigree is very solid, neither stamina nor attitude would be a concern, and the his Southwell win is as strong as any British form in this line-up. However, those leaving John Gosden’s often underperform when switched to hurdles.
Max Of Stars bf Ollie Pears f4-0-0 (55) 57
Cloth Of Stars (Rock Of Gibraltar){31}(0.67) 3/2 Tiger Roll 174 1st Triumph Hurdle (G1), Cheltenham 2014Breeding
- Cloth Of Stars first crop. 1st Ganay, 2nd and 3rd in Arc. 2/3 Elgin 3/2 Dodging Bullets, 1.62m
- Sea The Stars 35% WR as juvenile grandsire, 33.33% WR as sire.
- Two juveniles to date in France, each placing at moderate level.
- Rock of Gibraltar 13.95% WR as damsire.
- Third dam, On Air, 4th in Kennel Gate. Produced useful Khachaturian and dam of Tiger Roll
Source
- €8,500 as yearling from Arqana
- Sole placed juvenile My Brother Jack, trained on flat by Pears
Trainer
- 0-6 WR. No runners at Hexham. 100% IMP courtesy of My Brother Jack (sole qualifier)
Jockey
- Sean Quinlan won 2017 running with 8/1 shot Costa Percy
Flat Profile
- Made debut in February. Beaten at least eleven lengths first three outings in maidens at Southwell and Doncaster.
- Handicap debut off 56 at Southwell over 1m4f. Raced keenly with uncontested lead, headed final furlong, flashed tail under pressure. Finished 2¼l fourth of six.
Summary
- Distant relative of Tiger Roll and first-season sire not without potential. However, while best form on flat came last time out, it still leaves enough to find and her attitude was not massively encouraging.
Waitara chf David Pipe f6-2-1 (30.0/66) TF68
Recoletos (Hernando){1-t}(0.54) 1/2 Theamoi 62.5 1st 3550m 3yo Handicap Hurdle (59.0), Fontainebleau 2022https://www.equidia.fchevaux/waitara
Breeding
- Recoletos first juvenile runner. Won Moulin and d’Ispahan, 3rd French Derby. Half-brother to winning hurdler Pedregalejo. 1.63m
- Whipper’s sole juvenile stallion Very Nice Name 14.29% WR. Whipper himself 20% WR
- Hernando 29.27% WR as damsire inc. Punjabi, Adagio and Gaelic Warrior. 60.71% IMP
- Nephew of Timos. 0.5 Thea (1st 4yo Hurdle, Auteuil), 0.5 Ticinello (3rd 4yo Hurdle Enghien). 2/1 Trillion Stars, 3/1 Thagus (both winners)
Source
- David Pipe 7-22 first time ex-French Claimers; including last two winners of this race, Koi Dodville and Free Chakarte (both bought off Flat).
- Waitara second least expensive of such horses, only Jilaijone lower at €10,806; won first time at Fontwell last term for same owner.
- First export of Thierry & Gaël Lemer.
Trainer
- David Pipe 46.67% WR since 2018/19 (5th highest) 38.46% SR during June.
- Last four runners in this race; Free Chakarte (1st 2022), Koi Dodville (1st 2021), Bathwick Scanno (2nd 2011), Lucky Quay (1st 2010)
Flat Profile
- Beaten by at least 12l on both outings at two, but began 3yo campaign with win in Pau 2000m claimer (retained for €11,001)
- Forgiven sixth place finish next time having missed break. Second penultimate outing; winner (2kg lighter) had run of race, stayed on well from remainder.
- Last seen winning 2100m Toulouse claimer in mid March. Broke slowly but soon in lead racing keenly. Caught at distance but responded generously for pressure; winning decisively by length and a half.
- Fifth placed finisher only subsequent winner. Nevertheless, runner-up has since been consistent in handicaps off 62. Mark in mid-high 60s would be appropriate.
Summary
- Last two runnings have gone to David Pipe trained ex-French claimers, and while Free Chakarte and Koi Dodville had slightly higher ratings, Waitara still emerges on top at these weights. Moreover, she has shown consistent form throughout 2023 and a good attitude to complement same. First-season sire yet to be tested but has perfectly reasonable credentials and the damsire and damlines are encouraging. Only concern would be a lack of form shown on ground better than soft.
Strong Prospects
- Waitara
Reasonable Prospects
- Uncle Matthew
- Indication Rocket
Feasible Prospects
- City Of Ruins
Moderate Prospects
- Hourless
- Max Of Stars
Negligible Prospects
.2023.06.03 11:14 Successful_Bat_8677 Media: Arkane hired developers for Redfall without telling them it was a multiplayer game
 | submitted by Successful_Bat_8677 to Games_Piracy [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/1ax8aif9sr3b1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cd0d82ab3460755f2791e228d4d304e40be62ac5 According to Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, Arkane hired the developers for Redfall without telling them it was a multiplayer game, as the game hadn't been announced at the time of the hire and they didn't want to disclose it in the work requests. According to Schreier, this has become one of the defining factors in the development of the game and points to it as one of the big problems in the industry. Here is what a Bloomberg journalist writes about this in an excerpt from his article, which is devoted to the difficulties that Redfall faced during its creation. Recruitment has become a difficult task. ZeniMax's reputation in the industry was below average, and persuading game developers to move to Texas was difficult due to the state's conservative social policies. Since Redfall had not yet been announced, the studio was unable to communicate its details to employees seeking employment, exacerbating staffing issues, according to sources close to the project. Arkane wanted to hire staff with multiplayer shooter experience, but the people who applied were determined and wanted to work on exciting single-player sims.Recall that earlier, also with reference to Schreier, it was reported that one of the main problems that Redfall had to face during development was the loss of employees. By the end of development, up to 70% of those who worked on Prey at Arkane Austin left the studio. The new report makes things worse, as it says that in addition to the fact that the staff was too small, they were not qualified enough to work on multiplayer shooters, as they had experience in a completely different genre. Redfall has been voted the worst game in Arkane Austin's history. The Texas-based studio is currently working on technical improvements and a patch that adds a 60fps performance mode. |
2023.06.03 11:09 BruteSentiment Daily Minors Quick-Notes 6/2/23 - Villar hits another HR in Sacramento
 | It was Kyle Harrison day in Sacramento, but David Villar stole the show with a big day at the plate. Plus, Vaun Brown continues to hit well in Double-A as he gets up to speed. submitted by BruteSentiment to SFGiants [link] [comments] AAA: Sacramento 10, Tacoma 6Linkhttps://preview.redd.it/mugv995brr3b1.jpg?width=2496&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52359bd25e8d70b4ffcc27e26871002fbafe3007 Sacramento Notes:
https://twitter.com/RiverCats/status/1664844731547897858?s=20
AA: Richmond 6, Erie 5Linkhttps://preview.redd.it/zd680zybrr3b1.jpg?width=2496&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61647bee65c6876ccd21f99ff151fe88ed729871 Richmond Notes:
High-A: Eugene 2, Vancouver 1Linkhttps://preview.redd.it/z1nw09ocrr3b1.jpg?width=2496&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dc11aa99dd799fcc9045a5012dc3ec75a3f9a06b Eugene Notes:
Low-A: San Jose 2, Fresno 1Linkhttps://preview.redd.it/oxmh3b3err3b1.jpg?width=2496&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0040081c076dfba9bdaea6cbb7a744c3c456daa7 San Jose Notes:
https://twitter.com/SJGiants/status/1664846158664175618?s=20
|
2023.06.03 10:48 ReWiser2023 ReWiser Best SAT Coaching to ace your test
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2023.06.03 10:45 Colonel_ginger I applied for a job @ Team Theorist!
 | submitted by Colonel_ginger to GameTheorists [link] [comments] |
2023.06.03 10:42 SavingsSyllabub7788 [NoP Fanfic] Predatory Farming
Thanks to "Sithking Zero" on the NoP Discord for editing help.
Memory transcription subject: Tellek , Farmer
Date [standardized human time]: January 19th, 2137
Has it really come to this, am I really this desperate?
I was, for all intents and purposes, broke. The last harvest had been terrible, in addition to the one before that, which was practically a deathblow for my new farmstead. The debts and missed payments had started to pile up, and I was one more bad harvest away from going completely bankrupt.
Like so many farmers before me, I was becoming another victim of the 5 harvest curse.
I told you that starting a new farm was a bad idea.
What was I supposed to do, brain, keep working in the office until I died?
I sat on my chair, surrounded by other farmers who were presumably in similar states of desperation, the room we were in akin to the schoolrooms I had been in as a pup; a desk and whiteboard up front sitting in front of the rows of chairs. Most of the twenty or so figures around me were fellow Venlil, except for a handful of Gojid and even a single Yotul who was sitting in the back, all of us awaiting the start of the ‘lesson’.
They claimed they had a solution to our problem, that they knew how to increase our yields. How could a predator know how to fix our farming issues?.
Human. Human Human Human Human. Not a predator.
Yes yes I know, I’m trying to be better about that.
I stopped my train of thought and corrected myself. Ever since the revelations about many of our allies being former predators, I had been making an effort to stop thinking of the world in terms of predator and prey. It was difficult at times, but given that I was working against a lifetimes worth of lies, I thought I was making good progress..
But even if “Predator” wasn’t the curse it used to be, how could a human claim to know how to fix our farming issues? Even if we ignored the differences between our diets, for all their advantages, humans were still far below our technological advancements.
Almost on cue, the door to the room opened up, and the figure of the human who had invited us here entered with an enthusiastic bounce, caring two large cases covered with black cloth
Unlike most, this human was unmasked, its piercing eyes and beaming teeth filled smile visible for all to see. I could feel the room start to fill with panic. Sure, logically I knew I was probably safe, but seeing the unmasked features of an apex predator caused fear to grip the edge of my heart.
I could proudly say I can walk past and interact with masked humans without wanting to flee anymore, but seeing those forward-facing eyes boring a hole into my soul was another task altogether.
Come on, you should be better than this.
I’m trying, ok!
"Hello everyone. My name is Joseph. I'm an ecology student, and I'm here to provide a solution to your farming yields." The human spoke with an unbridled joy, seeming to wait a moment while our translators attempted to explain what Ecology was, stopping half way through and seemingly giving up.
“You might be wondering why I’m unmasked, well we’re going to be covering a lot of ‘predatory’ concepts today, so if you can’t handle this? We’re gonna have bigger problems.” Joseph took a moment to broadly gesture to himself, leaving a feeling of dread to start in the pit of my stomach.
If this was just the start, what exactly was going to happen here?
Silence! Wait and see, knowing humans it’s probably interesting at the very least.
“I’ve finally been given authorization to start a trial of this program. Both the UN and Venlil governments are very interested in increasing food supply for both our people. As you might know we’re kinda at war, and logistics wins wars.”
The human paused for a moment, a shiver running around most of the room as he gave a large beaming smile.
“So to start: paws, claws, or tails up if you know about the ‘5 harvest curse.’”
The room immediately was filled with Federation species all raising their prospective limbs in affirmation. Of course we all knew what it was, that was why most of us were here.
How would the human know about that?
Basic research, simple reading, asking literally any farmer?
“Fantastic! I’m still going to explain it so we’re all on the same page. The ‘5 harvest curse’ is a phenomenon where new farms on Venlil prime often fail within the first five harvests. On a side note, the coincidental fact that five has a religious contention in Venlil culture is neat.”
I could feel an annoyance start to course through me, that the affliction currently driving me to destitution was being described as ‘neat’ by the callous predator. I mean human.
Stupid human.
Joseph either didn’t pick up or ignored my annoyance as he pressed a button, a graph appearing on the whiteboard showing expected yields over time, continuing on in his seemingly endless enthusiasm.
“So in general the five harvest curse follows a standard pattern of yields, with the first two harvests being up to 52% larger than even more established farms, plummeting after that until the business is non-viable and collapses. Officially the reason for this is unknown, with some vague religious stupidity about new farms being too far away from the center of the habitable strip.”
This was nothing new to me, I remembered feeling the joy of the sheer output from my first harvest, of wondering if I could finally make something of myself, a joy that had been whittled down as my last two harvests had been pitiful.
“However there’s an interesting thing, if you also plot the number of predator sightings during this time against the yields, you can see a direct correlation between number of predators and the success of each harvest.”
Wait, what? Is this human trying to say that predators… increase harvest? That can’t be right, that can’t be right at all. That would be insanity.
The data is literally there in front of you.
Yet it was there on the screen, a second graph had appeared on the whiteboard, tracking predator sightings over time in each of the farms afflicted by the curse.
“This tracks with most farms' general lifecycle. You buy a plot of untamed land on the edge of the habitable zone but you don’t have enough money to go full anti-predator. As the harvests come in you end up spending more and inadvertently messing it up.”
This caused a small amount of murmuring and energetic rejection by myself and the other members of the room, wiping away the previous undercurrent of fear. It was insanity, it went against everything I had ever known or been taught about farming and how the world worked. How could a predator of all things be beneficial?
Didn’t the introduction of humans also go against everything I had ever known or been taught about?
“If this effect is so obvious, how has nobody found this before?”
The sound of a Venlil challenging Joseph was greeted by murmurs of agreement from the group, causing the human to give a different kind of smile. Not a smile of joy or excitement as had been seen before, but the smile of someone who had something for this.
“Because you have. 150 years ago, a Venlil named Slavek wrote a paper regarding this. 119 years ago, Vicktal did the same. As well as Traval, Stralan, and Vilkin in between then and now. Those are just the ones I’ve found. Who can guess what happened to them?”
There was a pause, before the uplift in the back spoke up for the first time, a surety in the Yotul’s voice.
“They were diagnosed with predator disease.”
Joseph pointed at the Yotul in the back with both hands, the joy radiating from him.
“Based Space Kangaroo gets 10 points for being correct! Yep the federation has been actively suppressing anything that suggests that predators are more than some kind of eldritch evil, that and your surprising lack of hydroponics causes most planets to be dependent on the core worlds for food imports. Probably by design for control.”
Wait… that’s a good point, why aren’t we using hydroponics?
The human took a moment to switch to the next slide, showing a simple three part cycle.
“Most healthy ecological systems are made up of three parts: Plants, which are eaten by herbivores, which are in turn eaten by carnivores. In reality actual systems are far more complex than these, but as a basic understanding this will suffice. These three parts keep each other in check, each part dependent on the other, which-”
“Are you trying to say that predator attacks are a good thing? Are you suffering from predator disease?! ”
The Venlil interrupted once again to more murmured agreement, causing Joseph to give a sigh of clear annoyance in response. I wished the Venlil would shut up and just let the human talk.
“No, I’m not suggesting we airdrop a bunch of Nissa into the Capital, I'm explaining how natural systems work. Sapience obviously breaks this cycle, which if you deviate too far, you end up with something called trophic cascade."
The human seemed to wait a moment for the translator to once again fail to explain the meaning of the phrase.
I wonder how many basic concepts the federation lacks words for…
"Rather simply, the removal of one of these pieces has wider effects, reducing biodiversity and in many cases causing a complete ecological collapse. An example of this is the dust bowl effect, something the federation is well acquainted with."
There was a moment before the whiteboard changed before showing pictures of desolate barren worlds. Without any explanation I knew exactly what I was looking at. It was one of the… lesser talked about aspects of the federation.
"The Skivit grand herd are a species who go from planet to planet stripping ecosystems bare, devouring everything down to the smallest sapling. This removes important root systems that act as drainage, causing flooding and deserts to form as new plantlife lacks the structure to grow. In many cases these ecosystems are permanently destroyed, turning once lush planets into lifeless husks”.
I couldn’t help but feel sorrow for those planets. It was well known the impact the Skivit had on planets, once thriving planets of beauty. Although if I was following this human’s logic correctly did that mean…
“Now I’m not suggesting that the Skivit need a predator, that would be immoral.” Joseph cut off the thought I was about to have, seemingly understanding the logical thought many of us had picked up on. “But instead this is a real life example of damage an unchecked herbivore can have on ecosystems. If the Skivit didn’t have FTL travel they would have long ago driven themselves to starvation under their current society. It’s also not the only form of this trophic cascade.”
“Surely this doesn’t just apply to prey? Or are you saying prey are somehow inferior?”
The sound of the Gojid cutting in was filled with an unspoken challenge against the idea, inciting general sounds of agreement from those around him. Surprisingly however, Joseph seemed to respond positively.
“That is entirely correct, an overabundance of carnivorous species can also cause their own issues. Keep in mind what I’m describing here is an extremely simplified version, just the addition or removal of a single species can cause untold damage and harm to the diversity of ecological systems as the impacts are felt in the most seemingly unlikely cases.”
With that the human reached under the desk, taking one of the two covered containers he had brought with him and placing it into view.
“In Venlil Prime’s case, while the impact of Federation thinking has been reduced due to the day and night sides being mostly untouched, you still have the problem of overpopulation of certain species, and a lack of reasonable fear response from certain prey species. This has accumulated into the problem you all face.”
With that he removed the cover, causing a surge of fear to ripple through the participants around me until we all calmed down at what was underneath: A small cage, containing a single red bird busily eating seeds.
All farmer’s arch nemesis.
“This is a Flowerbird, a seed eating avian often coming in solid red, blue, or green. They are adorable, dumb as a sack of bricks and food motivated to a fault. They are also one of the biggest causes of farm yield destruction, with these birds alone being responsible for around about 41% of all losses. If we include Voidpins and other similar wildlife, farms can have up to 94% of their yield destroyed before they even get to harvest.”
Everyone in this room was familiar with the cursed avians. While your average city dweller would enjoy the sight of a flock of Flowerbirds, the farming community knew of them as a blight that devastated crops.
Joseph took a moment to open the cage, reaching inside and grabbing the bird. A small part of me wondered if he was about to devour it in front of us, before I tamped down on such an illogical idea. Of course the humans wouldn’t, we knew they didn’t do that. The Flowerbird also seemed completely unfazed about being in the meaty grasp of a predator, simply continuing to eat.
“Even worse, these things have basically zero fear response to noises and large beasts, probably due to all major predators having been removed. As you can see this specimen doesn’t mind a ‘scary predator’ grabbing it. As long as it has food, it couldn’t care less. This makes pest control tricky, as scaring them away is no longer an option. Poisons would be used in such a case, but they can have wider ranging effects, and poisoning prey is considered ‘Predatory’, not that many of you haven’t tried ‘accidentally’ leaving potential pesticides out.”
This caused a sway of discomfort to sweep through the room, tails switching in guilty movements as everyone tried to hide the truth of this human’s words. I knew I personally had considered such actions in desperation.
I mean, would ‘accidently’ leaving out a known poisonous chemical really be a sign of predator disease?
“Ha! I know enough tail language to know I’m right, that’s guilt isn’t it? I’ve read your internet, I know your discussions on loopholes about what is and isn’t predatory!” Joseph cried out in triumph as many of the Venlil of the room reached out to grab their traitorous appendages. “Now normally I would just tell people to stop being idiots, but in this case we can’t do that. Ironically because predators are actually dangerous. Because of your slaughter the only species left are ones aggressive and smart enough to survive. Shadestalkers are legitimately dangerous and can’t be left to interact with the farming community because people will die.”
The words from Joseph all sounded so… reasonable at this point. However, I, along with the rest of the room, were all desperately waiting for the other paw to drop. Because there would be, humans always had something they were about to do.
Almost in response to our thoughts the human placed the second container on the desk, covering up the first in response.
“Humans have dealt with this problem in a simple way, a way that our Yotul friend over there will know of. I need all of you to please remain calm and orderly, and to remember that you’re perfectly safe and there’s no need to overreact or panic. Humans dealt with this pest problem, through the use of safe predators.”
Before anyone could properly react to those words, the cover of the second container was removed, showing… a predator. An actual one, not a human but an actual real threat. Small piercing front facing yellow eyes attached to a brown feline form, sulking from the cage it was being held in.
Speh speh speh speh that’s a PREDATOR, A FERAL PREDATOR
If it was a danger the human wouldn't have-
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO DO NOT LIKE NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.
The panic in the room was immediate. Sapient human predators we had gotten used to, but none sapient ones were another deal entirely. Chaos started to spread as the 7 in the front row got up, pushing themselves up against the back wall as everyone else in the room did the same. Three Venlil made the choice to bolt out of the room, rushing past the human and his tiny devourer, while another clean fainted, hitting the floor with a thud. One even decided to take things further, jumping out of the singular window attached to the far wall in a frantic motion.
I could feel fear overwhelm me, desperately staring at the feline and waiting for it to make its move. What was the human thinking, it was going to attack at any moment, it was going to-
“STOP, Stop this stupidity. Right. NOW!”
The stern commanding voice of Joseph caused everyone in the room to freeze. The calm enthusiastic demeanor of the predator was gone, replaced with an emotion I’d never actually seen a human show before: anger.
“It has been six months! Do you really still believe that the UN or the Venlil government would put you in actual danger? You’re still thinking based on your stupid fascist Federation propaganda. Thinking that tells you that the Yotul are primitive, or the Venlil are weak. Propaganda that says genetically modifying people against their will is morally OK”
I knew that humans normally bared their teeth in joy, as a sign of happiness and friendship. This wasn’t the case right now, as everything in Joseph’s body language screamed of rage, of pain, of words spoken through gritted teeth. Nobody in the room was focused on the predator in the cage at this point, instead all eyes staring at the human. Suddenly the feline mattered a lot less than the anger of the human.
“That sort of thinking leads to the belief that killing over a billion innocent people is somehow the right thing to do. You are all presumably intelligent sapient adults able to think things through logically. Could you all please act that way?”
I could see the swishes of shame from the other Venlil’s tails, everyone in the room avoiding eye contact guiltily. Well, apart from the Yotul, who had remained seated and calm this entire time, staring almost joyfully at the feline predator. The human, of course, was completely right. Taking a moment to force myself to think, the predator was safely behind metal bars and was making no move to attack, seemingly content to stare lazily at us.
You finished overreacting?
Shut up, brain.
“Also, at the risk of ruining the angry vibe I’m giving off, is the guy who jumped out the window OK? Jesus Christ, we are two stories up, do we have to call someone or….”
Joseph had relaxed a little in response to the group calming down, allowing the normal empathetic nature of humans to come through once more. Slowly I made my way to the window, looking down to see a singular Venlil running off into the distance.
“I-I think he’s fine.” I responded, causing the human to give a sigh of relief in response.
“Good. Note to self, do this in a room without windows next time… or maybe just the ground floor. So, to continue where I left off, humans have used tame predators as a natural non-invasive form of pest control since we started farming. This is a cat, completely harmless unless you’re a small rodent or bird. They also have this effect.”
With a flourish Joseph removed the covering for the cage containing the Flowerbird once more, the red little avian had been busily eating during the entire presentation so far. However upon spotting the Feline predator did something none of us had ever seen before.
It stopped eating. Wait, the human managed to get a Flowerbird to stop eating! I didn’t even know that was possible…
Giving repeated alarmed chirps it moved as far away as it could from the predator, still trapped inside the small cage, a frantic fear obvious on the poor little thing. Joseph let this go on for a few moments more, before dropping the cover back on and silencing the Flowerbird once more.
Everyone in the room was shocked. You could literally scream and shout all you wanted at the dumb little birds and they would ignore you and continue to devour crops. The fact that the feral predator had managed to stop the bird from doing that simply with its presence… was huge. Was more than huge.
“As you can see, the instincts of the ‘prey’ animal still remain. Presumably, whatever predator used to hunt these Flowerbirds has a resemblance to our cats. Normally it would be sacrilege to suggest introducing cats to an ecosystem, but in this case your ecosystems are so messed up that’s exactly what we want to do: Provide any farmer who wants one with a kitten, in order to quickly reduce yield lost to pests.”
I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t interested. On the one hand having a vicious predator in my house, where my pups would visit seemed like something a predator diseased individual would only consider. On the other hand, nothing else I had ever tried had even come close to the simple effectiveness shown here.
Would I be this desperate and in debt if I had one of these “cats” already?
“So I can see you’re all still a little worried, so we’re going to have a little discussion, for which I need a volunteer-'' The Yotul in the back practically fell over with excitement, with his arm raised immediately as he interrupted, causing Joseph to give a small smile. “One who isn’t a Yotul. I know your history with similar pets, and we are totally going to hook you up with a cat, but for this I could do with a Venlil please.”
The Yotul sat back down, a look of disappointment plastered over his face as the rest of the room shifted uncomfortably. Nobody wanted to be the person to step up and presumably get closer to the predator. Until I found myself raising my hand.
Brain, what the hell are you doing?
You said you wanted to be better, and we’re desperate.
NOT LIKE THIS BRAIN!
In a blur I found myself being introduced to the room and being told to sit at a chair next to the desk in front of the rest of the members here. Then, to my horror, Joseph opened the cage and took the feline predator out of its holding cell. The human took a few moments to fuss over the beast before turning to the rest of us.
“So now that we have our volunteer, let's logically look at our ‘dangerous predator’. The first thing to notice is simply the size. Regardless of anything else, size matters, size matters a lot. It’s hard to feel threatened by something that you can literally throw across the room.”
Joseph took a moment to hold the small creature next to me for context, highlighting just how small the predator actually was: barely the size of a Skivit, like a furry little pup. Logically if it wasn't for the forward facing eyes, I might consider it… cute?
“But what about its teeth and claws? It’s a predator that will tear people apart!”
The voice of the Gojid sounded out, a shrill fearful voice filled with barely contained panic and fear, the source of the sound looking ready to flee even though they weren’t the one sitting next to the predator
“Let's compare these. Tellek can you please extend your paws and show your claws to the group.”
I did as asked, my four black claws visible for all to see as Joseph moved the predator close. He stretched out one of its paws and pressed on a knuckle, a singular sharp claw protruding as he did so, causing a fresh burst of fear to erupt in my heart from being so close to such a thing.
Although if I was to be fully honest, if I was comparing the two, the predator’s claw were…
“As you can see, the cat’s claw, while sharper, is far smaller and more brittle. A Venlil can do some serious damage with their claws, while the worst this cat’s claw could do is break the skin. The teeth are similar, if you could show the group your pearly whites please.”
I again did as asked, feeling embarrassed and weird just having my mouth wide open in front of everyone. I hoped that there was nothing stuck in my teeth. While I did Joseph manhandled the cat again, taking a moment to move the lips and display the sharp needle point teeth, doing so for a moment before the small predator gave a small lazy growl of annoyance, clearly reaching the end of its acceptability.
“Once again we have similar results: Notice the small size of the cat's teeth compared with the Venlil’s. These would pierce skin, the Venlil’s would pulverize bone. Gojid aren’t much better with your literal claws and a back full of knives. Ironically enough the two ‘predators’ in the room are probably the least physically imposing.”
There was a moment as the room seemed to ponder this statement, allowing Joseph enough time to place the cat on the desk next to me, the predator promptly giving a stretch then curling up into a ball. The human was right, even humans themselves were physically… underwhelming, apart from their endurance. No claws, small teeth, no defensive armor or spines.
It’s kinda sad to think the only reason we’re all so scared of humans is their eye placement.
“Now the UN and Venlil government are looking for people to use cats as pest control to increase farming yield, with an initial trial size of about 100 participants. We’re offering a stipend for food, instructional care of your kitten, and as much support as needed. There are risks, for instance you’re going to need warning signs near your property and a containment system, as cats are actually dangerous to the Dossur.”
I could hardly hear Joseph speak, my entire concentration focused on the predator right next to me. I knew logically that the human wouldn’t do something to bring me to harm, but it was difficult to think that with a potentially feral predator right next to me. I saw its eyes fixate onto mine and I quickly looked away.
Maybe if I don’t look at it, it won’t take it as a challenge.
However much to both mine and the rest of the room's shock, slowly and carefully the cat stood up, stretched once before walking purposefully towards me, the room erupting into cries of worry as it leapt off the desk and onto my lap, curling into a ball with me trapped underneath.
“H-h-help…. Help…..!”
The human turned to look at me, breaking into a smile seemingly at my misfortune and giving a small chuckle.
“Awwww, she likes you. As you all can see cats share a lot of characteristics with ‘prey’. They will often seek companionship from others, and have a lot of prey characteristics, being at times skittish due to having many natural predators.”
That was good and all, but didn’t stop me from being trapped under the beast.
I don’t want to think about what could cause a predator to become prey.
“W-What d-do I do?”
Joseph gave a small shrug in response, clearly amused by my reaction.
“You could try petting her. Her name is Sprinkles and I can confirm she likes pets.”
You see brain, this is what happens when I let you do things! Now I'm trapped by a predator and I'm gonna die!
Stop being such a pup, the thing is tiny. Besides, don't humans claim petting stuff is nice?
Slowly I reached out a paw, gingerly approaching the predator, those yellow slitted eyes regarding my exposed arm as I gently placed it on the "cat", running my paw across its back.
I felt my held breath release as the predator did nothing, some of the tension of the room releasing in the instant.
"So interesting thing about cats: they 'chose' to be domesticated."
Joseph had gone back to talking, seemingly happy that I wasn't about to be torn apart. I had stopped listening, entirely focused on keeping the predator satisfied by running my paws across its fur.
Isn't this nice? I gotta admit I understand why humans like doing this.
Fine. I'll admit that this isn't unpleasant, the cat is rather soft.
"When humans originally started farming, that also attracted pests. Cats just turned up, following their food source. They stuck around because humans would feed them and provide companionship."
I was entirely focused on the cat at this point, running my claws through the fur, feeling the predator press itself against my paw, seeming to be enjoying itself. Gently I moved my claw to the back of one of its tiny little ears, scratching behind it like you might do to comfort a young pup. It started to emanate a low vibrating noise in response, causing another wave of tension to emit from the rest of the room.
For some reason, even though this feral predator was sitting on my lap, the sound seemed to vibrate through my heart in a calming motion.
Maybe this is some kind of predatory hypnosis?
Really? Just shush and enjoy this. Being scared of everything all the time is so tiring.
"Nobody needs to worry. That is just the sound a happy cat makes, it's called purring. Although I do need to take Sprinkles back now."
Joseph motioned towards the cat on my lap, a motion I decided to ignore, enjoying petting the purring cat for a few moments more. Eventually the human reached down and removed Sprinkles from my grasp as I momentarily resisted before letting the feline go.
See, that wasn't so bad.
Brain, I will admit- reluctantly- that I would have preferred to keep doing that.
With a small amount of resentment I watched as Joseph placed the cat back inside the cage, before turning back to the rest of the room.
"So anyone who is interested, stick around and we can get the paperwork completed."
—-------------
In the end eight of us remained, 5 Venlil, 2 Gojid, and obviously the Yotul. We had spent the last half a claw having instructions and paper work thrust upon us. Many of the group had immediately left, with others dropping out as various facts of cat ownership became apparent.
Still, those of us who were left behind were now heading to our respective farms, each with a single carry case. Mine was currently containing a gray and black “kitten,” which had been “meowing” loudly during the entire journey.
I looked simply at the little bundle of fur and eyes that peered out from inside the cage I had been given. Part of my mind still screamed danger, but it was a part that was getting quieter and quieter as I continued to look at what was a small fragile bundle of fur that I was now ultimately in charge of.
How could you look at something that’s hardly bigger than your paw, and think it’s a danger?
As I reached my farm, I finally opened up the container and pulled out the tiny predator. My tiny predator. There would be work to do, fences to erect and warning signs to place, but for now I just held the tiny thing in my paws, supporting it in the way I’d been told to. I now knew why humans spent all their time trying to pet things: with the troubles on the farm I hadn’t felt this calm in several cycles.
He was more energetic then Sprinkles had been, but in a way the more skittish nature pulled at my heartstrings, as if it was a small innocent Venlil pup. I sat there stroking it, realizing I still needed to give him a name. He was fluffy, Tiny, innocent, fragile. Yet with an underlying spice as it continued to meow loudly as I held in my paws
“I will call you Fireberry. My little predator.”
submitted by SavingsSyllabub7788 to HFY [link] [comments]
Memory transcription subject: Tellek , Farmer
Date [standardized human time]: January 19th, 2137
Has it really come to this, am I really this desperate?
I was, for all intents and purposes, broke. The last harvest had been terrible, in addition to the one before that, which was practically a deathblow for my new farmstead. The debts and missed payments had started to pile up, and I was one more bad harvest away from going completely bankrupt.
Like so many farmers before me, I was becoming another victim of the 5 harvest curse.
I told you that starting a new farm was a bad idea.
What was I supposed to do, brain, keep working in the office until I died?
I sat on my chair, surrounded by other farmers who were presumably in similar states of desperation, the room we were in akin to the schoolrooms I had been in as a pup; a desk and whiteboard up front sitting in front of the rows of chairs. Most of the twenty or so figures around me were fellow Venlil, except for a handful of Gojid and even a single Yotul who was sitting in the back, all of us awaiting the start of the ‘lesson’.
They claimed they had a solution to our problem, that they knew how to increase our yields. How could a predator know how to fix our farming issues?.
Human. Human Human Human Human. Not a predator.
Yes yes I know, I’m trying to be better about that.
I stopped my train of thought and corrected myself. Ever since the revelations about many of our allies being former predators, I had been making an effort to stop thinking of the world in terms of predator and prey. It was difficult at times, but given that I was working against a lifetimes worth of lies, I thought I was making good progress..
But even if “Predator” wasn’t the curse it used to be, how could a human claim to know how to fix our farming issues? Even if we ignored the differences between our diets, for all their advantages, humans were still far below our technological advancements.
Almost on cue, the door to the room opened up, and the figure of the human who had invited us here entered with an enthusiastic bounce, caring two large cases covered with black cloth
Unlike most, this human was unmasked, its piercing eyes and beaming teeth filled smile visible for all to see. I could feel the room start to fill with panic. Sure, logically I knew I was probably safe, but seeing the unmasked features of an apex predator caused fear to grip the edge of my heart.
I could proudly say I can walk past and interact with masked humans without wanting to flee anymore, but seeing those forward-facing eyes boring a hole into my soul was another task altogether.
Come on, you should be better than this.
I’m trying, ok!
"Hello everyone. My name is Joseph. I'm an ecology student, and I'm here to provide a solution to your farming yields." The human spoke with an unbridled joy, seeming to wait a moment while our translators attempted to explain what Ecology was, stopping half way through and seemingly giving up.
“You might be wondering why I’m unmasked, well we’re going to be covering a lot of ‘predatory’ concepts today, so if you can’t handle this? We’re gonna have bigger problems.” Joseph took a moment to broadly gesture to himself, leaving a feeling of dread to start in the pit of my stomach.
If this was just the start, what exactly was going to happen here?
Silence! Wait and see, knowing humans it’s probably interesting at the very least.
“I’ve finally been given authorization to start a trial of this program. Both the UN and Venlil governments are very interested in increasing food supply for both our people. As you might know we’re kinda at war, and logistics wins wars.”
The human paused for a moment, a shiver running around most of the room as he gave a large beaming smile.
“So to start: paws, claws, or tails up if you know about the ‘5 harvest curse.’”
The room immediately was filled with Federation species all raising their prospective limbs in affirmation. Of course we all knew what it was, that was why most of us were here.
How would the human know about that?
Basic research, simple reading, asking literally any farmer?
“Fantastic! I’m still going to explain it so we’re all on the same page. The ‘5 harvest curse’ is a phenomenon where new farms on Venlil prime often fail within the first five harvests. On a side note, the coincidental fact that five has a religious contention in Venlil culture is neat.”
I could feel an annoyance start to course through me, that the affliction currently driving me to destitution was being described as ‘neat’ by the callous predator. I mean human.
Stupid human.
Joseph either didn’t pick up or ignored my annoyance as he pressed a button, a graph appearing on the whiteboard showing expected yields over time, continuing on in his seemingly endless enthusiasm.
“So in general the five harvest curse follows a standard pattern of yields, with the first two harvests being up to 52% larger than even more established farms, plummeting after that until the business is non-viable and collapses. Officially the reason for this is unknown, with some vague religious stupidity about new farms being too far away from the center of the habitable strip.”
This was nothing new to me, I remembered feeling the joy of the sheer output from my first harvest, of wondering if I could finally make something of myself, a joy that had been whittled down as my last two harvests had been pitiful.
“However there’s an interesting thing, if you also plot the number of predator sightings during this time against the yields, you can see a direct correlation between number of predators and the success of each harvest.”
Wait, what? Is this human trying to say that predators… increase harvest? That can’t be right, that can’t be right at all. That would be insanity.
The data is literally there in front of you.
Yet it was there on the screen, a second graph had appeared on the whiteboard, tracking predator sightings over time in each of the farms afflicted by the curse.
“This tracks with most farms' general lifecycle. You buy a plot of untamed land on the edge of the habitable zone but you don’t have enough money to go full anti-predator. As the harvests come in you end up spending more and inadvertently messing it up.”
This caused a small amount of murmuring and energetic rejection by myself and the other members of the room, wiping away the previous undercurrent of fear. It was insanity, it went against everything I had ever known or been taught about farming and how the world worked. How could a predator of all things be beneficial?
Didn’t the introduction of humans also go against everything I had ever known or been taught about?
“If this effect is so obvious, how has nobody found this before?”
The sound of a Venlil challenging Joseph was greeted by murmurs of agreement from the group, causing the human to give a different kind of smile. Not a smile of joy or excitement as had been seen before, but the smile of someone who had something for this.
“Because you have. 150 years ago, a Venlil named Slavek wrote a paper regarding this. 119 years ago, Vicktal did the same. As well as Traval, Stralan, and Vilkin in between then and now. Those are just the ones I’ve found. Who can guess what happened to them?”
There was a pause, before the uplift in the back spoke up for the first time, a surety in the Yotul’s voice.
“They were diagnosed with predator disease.”
Joseph pointed at the Yotul in the back with both hands, the joy radiating from him.
“Based Space Kangaroo gets 10 points for being correct! Yep the federation has been actively suppressing anything that suggests that predators are more than some kind of eldritch evil, that and your surprising lack of hydroponics causes most planets to be dependent on the core worlds for food imports. Probably by design for control.”
Wait… that’s a good point, why aren’t we using hydroponics?
The human took a moment to switch to the next slide, showing a simple three part cycle.
“Most healthy ecological systems are made up of three parts: Plants, which are eaten by herbivores, which are in turn eaten by carnivores. In reality actual systems are far more complex than these, but as a basic understanding this will suffice. These three parts keep each other in check, each part dependent on the other, which-”
“Are you trying to say that predator attacks are a good thing? Are you suffering from predator disease?! ”
The Venlil interrupted once again to more murmured agreement, causing Joseph to give a sigh of clear annoyance in response. I wished the Venlil would shut up and just let the human talk.
“No, I’m not suggesting we airdrop a bunch of Nissa into the Capital, I'm explaining how natural systems work. Sapience obviously breaks this cycle, which if you deviate too far, you end up with something called trophic cascade."
The human seemed to wait a moment for the translator to once again fail to explain the meaning of the phrase.
I wonder how many basic concepts the federation lacks words for…
"Rather simply, the removal of one of these pieces has wider effects, reducing biodiversity and in many cases causing a complete ecological collapse. An example of this is the dust bowl effect, something the federation is well acquainted with."
There was a moment before the whiteboard changed before showing pictures of desolate barren worlds. Without any explanation I knew exactly what I was looking at. It was one of the… lesser talked about aspects of the federation.
"The Skivit grand herd are a species who go from planet to planet stripping ecosystems bare, devouring everything down to the smallest sapling. This removes important root systems that act as drainage, causing flooding and deserts to form as new plantlife lacks the structure to grow. In many cases these ecosystems are permanently destroyed, turning once lush planets into lifeless husks”.
I couldn’t help but feel sorrow for those planets. It was well known the impact the Skivit had on planets, once thriving planets of beauty. Although if I was following this human’s logic correctly did that mean…
“Now I’m not suggesting that the Skivit need a predator, that would be immoral.” Joseph cut off the thought I was about to have, seemingly understanding the logical thought many of us had picked up on. “But instead this is a real life example of damage an unchecked herbivore can have on ecosystems. If the Skivit didn’t have FTL travel they would have long ago driven themselves to starvation under their current society. It’s also not the only form of this trophic cascade.”
“Surely this doesn’t just apply to prey? Or are you saying prey are somehow inferior?”
The sound of the Gojid cutting in was filled with an unspoken challenge against the idea, inciting general sounds of agreement from those around him. Surprisingly however, Joseph seemed to respond positively.
“That is entirely correct, an overabundance of carnivorous species can also cause their own issues. Keep in mind what I’m describing here is an extremely simplified version, just the addition or removal of a single species can cause untold damage and harm to the diversity of ecological systems as the impacts are felt in the most seemingly unlikely cases.”
With that the human reached under the desk, taking one of the two covered containers he had brought with him and placing it into view.
“In Venlil Prime’s case, while the impact of Federation thinking has been reduced due to the day and night sides being mostly untouched, you still have the problem of overpopulation of certain species, and a lack of reasonable fear response from certain prey species. This has accumulated into the problem you all face.”
With that he removed the cover, causing a surge of fear to ripple through the participants around me until we all calmed down at what was underneath: A small cage, containing a single red bird busily eating seeds.
All farmer’s arch nemesis.
“This is a Flowerbird, a seed eating avian often coming in solid red, blue, or green. They are adorable, dumb as a sack of bricks and food motivated to a fault. They are also one of the biggest causes of farm yield destruction, with these birds alone being responsible for around about 41% of all losses. If we include Voidpins and other similar wildlife, farms can have up to 94% of their yield destroyed before they even get to harvest.”
Everyone in this room was familiar with the cursed avians. While your average city dweller would enjoy the sight of a flock of Flowerbirds, the farming community knew of them as a blight that devastated crops.
Joseph took a moment to open the cage, reaching inside and grabbing the bird. A small part of me wondered if he was about to devour it in front of us, before I tamped down on such an illogical idea. Of course the humans wouldn’t, we knew they didn’t do that. The Flowerbird also seemed completely unfazed about being in the meaty grasp of a predator, simply continuing to eat.
“Even worse, these things have basically zero fear response to noises and large beasts, probably due to all major predators having been removed. As you can see this specimen doesn’t mind a ‘scary predator’ grabbing it. As long as it has food, it couldn’t care less. This makes pest control tricky, as scaring them away is no longer an option. Poisons would be used in such a case, but they can have wider ranging effects, and poisoning prey is considered ‘Predatory’, not that many of you haven’t tried ‘accidentally’ leaving potential pesticides out.”
This caused a sway of discomfort to sweep through the room, tails switching in guilty movements as everyone tried to hide the truth of this human’s words. I knew I personally had considered such actions in desperation.
I mean, would ‘accidently’ leaving out a known poisonous chemical really be a sign of predator disease?
“Ha! I know enough tail language to know I’m right, that’s guilt isn’t it? I’ve read your internet, I know your discussions on loopholes about what is and isn’t predatory!” Joseph cried out in triumph as many of the Venlil of the room reached out to grab their traitorous appendages. “Now normally I would just tell people to stop being idiots, but in this case we can’t do that. Ironically because predators are actually dangerous. Because of your slaughter the only species left are ones aggressive and smart enough to survive. Shadestalkers are legitimately dangerous and can’t be left to interact with the farming community because people will die.”
The words from Joseph all sounded so… reasonable at this point. However, I, along with the rest of the room, were all desperately waiting for the other paw to drop. Because there would be, humans always had something they were about to do.
Almost in response to our thoughts the human placed the second container on the desk, covering up the first in response.
“Humans have dealt with this problem in a simple way, a way that our Yotul friend over there will know of. I need all of you to please remain calm and orderly, and to remember that you’re perfectly safe and there’s no need to overreact or panic. Humans dealt with this pest problem, through the use of safe predators.”
Before anyone could properly react to those words, the cover of the second container was removed, showing… a predator. An actual one, not a human but an actual real threat. Small piercing front facing yellow eyes attached to a brown feline form, sulking from the cage it was being held in.
Speh speh speh speh that’s a PREDATOR, A FERAL PREDATOR
If it was a danger the human wouldn't have-
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO DO NOT LIKE NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.
The panic in the room was immediate. Sapient human predators we had gotten used to, but none sapient ones were another deal entirely. Chaos started to spread as the 7 in the front row got up, pushing themselves up against the back wall as everyone else in the room did the same. Three Venlil made the choice to bolt out of the room, rushing past the human and his tiny devourer, while another clean fainted, hitting the floor with a thud. One even decided to take things further, jumping out of the singular window attached to the far wall in a frantic motion.
I could feel fear overwhelm me, desperately staring at the feline and waiting for it to make its move. What was the human thinking, it was going to attack at any moment, it was going to-
“STOP, Stop this stupidity. Right. NOW!”
The stern commanding voice of Joseph caused everyone in the room to freeze. The calm enthusiastic demeanor of the predator was gone, replaced with an emotion I’d never actually seen a human show before: anger.
“It has been six months! Do you really still believe that the UN or the Venlil government would put you in actual danger? You’re still thinking based on your stupid fascist Federation propaganda. Thinking that tells you that the Yotul are primitive, or the Venlil are weak. Propaganda that says genetically modifying people against their will is morally OK”
I knew that humans normally bared their teeth in joy, as a sign of happiness and friendship. This wasn’t the case right now, as everything in Joseph’s body language screamed of rage, of pain, of words spoken through gritted teeth. Nobody in the room was focused on the predator in the cage at this point, instead all eyes staring at the human. Suddenly the feline mattered a lot less than the anger of the human.
“That sort of thinking leads to the belief that killing over a billion innocent people is somehow the right thing to do. You are all presumably intelligent sapient adults able to think things through logically. Could you all please act that way?”
I could see the swishes of shame from the other Venlil’s tails, everyone in the room avoiding eye contact guiltily. Well, apart from the Yotul, who had remained seated and calm this entire time, staring almost joyfully at the feline predator. The human, of course, was completely right. Taking a moment to force myself to think, the predator was safely behind metal bars and was making no move to attack, seemingly content to stare lazily at us.
You finished overreacting?
Shut up, brain.
“Also, at the risk of ruining the angry vibe I’m giving off, is the guy who jumped out the window OK? Jesus Christ, we are two stories up, do we have to call someone or….”
Joseph had relaxed a little in response to the group calming down, allowing the normal empathetic nature of humans to come through once more. Slowly I made my way to the window, looking down to see a singular Venlil running off into the distance.
“I-I think he’s fine.” I responded, causing the human to give a sigh of relief in response.
“Good. Note to self, do this in a room without windows next time… or maybe just the ground floor. So, to continue where I left off, humans have used tame predators as a natural non-invasive form of pest control since we started farming. This is a cat, completely harmless unless you’re a small rodent or bird. They also have this effect.”
With a flourish Joseph removed the covering for the cage containing the Flowerbird once more, the red little avian had been busily eating during the entire presentation so far. However upon spotting the Feline predator did something none of us had ever seen before.
It stopped eating. Wait, the human managed to get a Flowerbird to stop eating! I didn’t even know that was possible…
Giving repeated alarmed chirps it moved as far away as it could from the predator, still trapped inside the small cage, a frantic fear obvious on the poor little thing. Joseph let this go on for a few moments more, before dropping the cover back on and silencing the Flowerbird once more.
Everyone in the room was shocked. You could literally scream and shout all you wanted at the dumb little birds and they would ignore you and continue to devour crops. The fact that the feral predator had managed to stop the bird from doing that simply with its presence… was huge. Was more than huge.
“As you can see, the instincts of the ‘prey’ animal still remain. Presumably, whatever predator used to hunt these Flowerbirds has a resemblance to our cats. Normally it would be sacrilege to suggest introducing cats to an ecosystem, but in this case your ecosystems are so messed up that’s exactly what we want to do: Provide any farmer who wants one with a kitten, in order to quickly reduce yield lost to pests.”
I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t interested. On the one hand having a vicious predator in my house, where my pups would visit seemed like something a predator diseased individual would only consider. On the other hand, nothing else I had ever tried had even come close to the simple effectiveness shown here.
Would I be this desperate and in debt if I had one of these “cats” already?
“So I can see you’re all still a little worried, so we’re going to have a little discussion, for which I need a volunteer-'' The Yotul in the back practically fell over with excitement, with his arm raised immediately as he interrupted, causing Joseph to give a small smile. “One who isn’t a Yotul. I know your history with similar pets, and we are totally going to hook you up with a cat, but for this I could do with a Venlil please.”
The Yotul sat back down, a look of disappointment plastered over his face as the rest of the room shifted uncomfortably. Nobody wanted to be the person to step up and presumably get closer to the predator. Until I found myself raising my hand.
Brain, what the hell are you doing?
You said you wanted to be better, and we’re desperate.
NOT LIKE THIS BRAIN!
In a blur I found myself being introduced to the room and being told to sit at a chair next to the desk in front of the rest of the members here. Then, to my horror, Joseph opened the cage and took the feline predator out of its holding cell. The human took a few moments to fuss over the beast before turning to the rest of us.
“So now that we have our volunteer, let's logically look at our ‘dangerous predator’. The first thing to notice is simply the size. Regardless of anything else, size matters, size matters a lot. It’s hard to feel threatened by something that you can literally throw across the room.”
Joseph took a moment to hold the small creature next to me for context, highlighting just how small the predator actually was: barely the size of a Skivit, like a furry little pup. Logically if it wasn't for the forward facing eyes, I might consider it… cute?
“But what about its teeth and claws? It’s a predator that will tear people apart!”
The voice of the Gojid sounded out, a shrill fearful voice filled with barely contained panic and fear, the source of the sound looking ready to flee even though they weren’t the one sitting next to the predator
“Let's compare these. Tellek can you please extend your paws and show your claws to the group.”
I did as asked, my four black claws visible for all to see as Joseph moved the predator close. He stretched out one of its paws and pressed on a knuckle, a singular sharp claw protruding as he did so, causing a fresh burst of fear to erupt in my heart from being so close to such a thing.
Although if I was to be fully honest, if I was comparing the two, the predator’s claw were…
“As you can see, the cat’s claw, while sharper, is far smaller and more brittle. A Venlil can do some serious damage with their claws, while the worst this cat’s claw could do is break the skin. The teeth are similar, if you could show the group your pearly whites please.”
I again did as asked, feeling embarrassed and weird just having my mouth wide open in front of everyone. I hoped that there was nothing stuck in my teeth. While I did Joseph manhandled the cat again, taking a moment to move the lips and display the sharp needle point teeth, doing so for a moment before the small predator gave a small lazy growl of annoyance, clearly reaching the end of its acceptability.
“Once again we have similar results: Notice the small size of the cat's teeth compared with the Venlil’s. These would pierce skin, the Venlil’s would pulverize bone. Gojid aren’t much better with your literal claws and a back full of knives. Ironically enough the two ‘predators’ in the room are probably the least physically imposing.”
There was a moment as the room seemed to ponder this statement, allowing Joseph enough time to place the cat on the desk next to me, the predator promptly giving a stretch then curling up into a ball. The human was right, even humans themselves were physically… underwhelming, apart from their endurance. No claws, small teeth, no defensive armor or spines.
It’s kinda sad to think the only reason we’re all so scared of humans is their eye placement.
“Now the UN and Venlil government are looking for people to use cats as pest control to increase farming yield, with an initial trial size of about 100 participants. We’re offering a stipend for food, instructional care of your kitten, and as much support as needed. There are risks, for instance you’re going to need warning signs near your property and a containment system, as cats are actually dangerous to the Dossur.”
I could hardly hear Joseph speak, my entire concentration focused on the predator right next to me. I knew logically that the human wouldn’t do something to bring me to harm, but it was difficult to think that with a potentially feral predator right next to me. I saw its eyes fixate onto mine and I quickly looked away.
Maybe if I don’t look at it, it won’t take it as a challenge.
However much to both mine and the rest of the room's shock, slowly and carefully the cat stood up, stretched once before walking purposefully towards me, the room erupting into cries of worry as it leapt off the desk and onto my lap, curling into a ball with me trapped underneath.
“H-h-help…. Help…..!”
The human turned to look at me, breaking into a smile seemingly at my misfortune and giving a small chuckle.
“Awwww, she likes you. As you all can see cats share a lot of characteristics with ‘prey’. They will often seek companionship from others, and have a lot of prey characteristics, being at times skittish due to having many natural predators.”
That was good and all, but didn’t stop me from being trapped under the beast.
I don’t want to think about what could cause a predator to become prey.
“W-What d-do I do?”
Joseph gave a small shrug in response, clearly amused by my reaction.
“You could try petting her. Her name is Sprinkles and I can confirm she likes pets.”
You see brain, this is what happens when I let you do things! Now I'm trapped by a predator and I'm gonna die!
Stop being such a pup, the thing is tiny. Besides, don't humans claim petting stuff is nice?
Slowly I reached out a paw, gingerly approaching the predator, those yellow slitted eyes regarding my exposed arm as I gently placed it on the "cat", running my paw across its back.
I felt my held breath release as the predator did nothing, some of the tension of the room releasing in the instant.
"So interesting thing about cats: they 'chose' to be domesticated."
Joseph had gone back to talking, seemingly happy that I wasn't about to be torn apart. I had stopped listening, entirely focused on keeping the predator satisfied by running my paws across its fur.
Isn't this nice? I gotta admit I understand why humans like doing this.
Fine. I'll admit that this isn't unpleasant, the cat is rather soft.
"When humans originally started farming, that also attracted pests. Cats just turned up, following their food source. They stuck around because humans would feed them and provide companionship."
I was entirely focused on the cat at this point, running my claws through the fur, feeling the predator press itself against my paw, seeming to be enjoying itself. Gently I moved my claw to the back of one of its tiny little ears, scratching behind it like you might do to comfort a young pup. It started to emanate a low vibrating noise in response, causing another wave of tension to emit from the rest of the room.
For some reason, even though this feral predator was sitting on my lap, the sound seemed to vibrate through my heart in a calming motion.
Maybe this is some kind of predatory hypnosis?
Really? Just shush and enjoy this. Being scared of everything all the time is so tiring.
"Nobody needs to worry. That is just the sound a happy cat makes, it's called purring. Although I do need to take Sprinkles back now."
Joseph motioned towards the cat on my lap, a motion I decided to ignore, enjoying petting the purring cat for a few moments more. Eventually the human reached down and removed Sprinkles from my grasp as I momentarily resisted before letting the feline go.
See, that wasn't so bad.
Brain, I will admit- reluctantly- that I would have preferred to keep doing that.
With a small amount of resentment I watched as Joseph placed the cat back inside the cage, before turning back to the rest of the room.
"So anyone who is interested, stick around and we can get the paperwork completed."
—-------------
In the end eight of us remained, 5 Venlil, 2 Gojid, and obviously the Yotul. We had spent the last half a claw having instructions and paper work thrust upon us. Many of the group had immediately left, with others dropping out as various facts of cat ownership became apparent.
Still, those of us who were left behind were now heading to our respective farms, each with a single carry case. Mine was currently containing a gray and black “kitten,” which had been “meowing” loudly during the entire journey.
I looked simply at the little bundle of fur and eyes that peered out from inside the cage I had been given. Part of my mind still screamed danger, but it was a part that was getting quieter and quieter as I continued to look at what was a small fragile bundle of fur that I was now ultimately in charge of.
How could you look at something that’s hardly bigger than your paw, and think it’s a danger?
As I reached my farm, I finally opened up the container and pulled out the tiny predator. My tiny predator. There would be work to do, fences to erect and warning signs to place, but for now I just held the tiny thing in my paws, supporting it in the way I’d been told to. I now knew why humans spent all their time trying to pet things: with the troubles on the farm I hadn’t felt this calm in several cycles.
He was more energetic then Sprinkles had been, but in a way the more skittish nature pulled at my heartstrings, as if it was a small innocent Venlil pup. I sat there stroking it, realizing I still needed to give him a name. He was fluffy, Tiny, innocent, fragile. Yet with an underlying spice as it continued to meow loudly as I held in my paws
“I will call you Fireberry. My little predator.”
2023.06.03 10:41 Advanced_Ad_6814 Weapon tier list based on percieved win rate
 | Mostly play turf war submitted by Advanced_Ad_6814 to splatoon [link] [comments] |
2023.06.03 10:36 Noghbuddy A Secret Chord - Part 5
This part got a little bit away from me. I only intended to have a brief moment between David and Ruk'sa, but it grew a bit more than I planned. It seemed like the right time for David to tell a little bit about his side of things. I hope you enjoy, and once again let me know what you think.
First / Prev / Next (At some point)
CW: Suicidal thoughts/actions
----------
David was all-too familiar with the ceiling of his bedroom. He’d spent many nights staring up at it praying for sleep to take him. Of course, then he had to deal with the nightmares. Tonight, was no different. Well, there were the two fik sleeping on either side of him, but the insomnia still had a firm grasp of him. The following afternoon he was supposed to catch a chartered shuttle out to the boonies for the funeral of a man he didn’t know. He could probably catch some sleep on the red eye, but if he couldn’t even sleep in his own bed…
He decided to stretch his legs. Thanks to a bit of luck, he wasn’t pinned down like last time, so he tried his best to stealthily shuffle off the foot of the bed. He padded silently to the bathroom, closed the door, then flicked on the light. Blinded for a moment, he blinked his eyes a couple times in the mirror until his vision cleared. Between the dark circles under his eyes and how gaunt his cheeks had become; his face took on an almost skull-like appearance.
He stared into his eyes, watching them dilate ever so slightly. Come on, man. You gotta get some sleep. Something. Anything. He ran his fingers through his mop, contemplating whether he should try and find some kind of barber. Perhaps one that could do something about his beard too. Knowing his luck, the aliens probably just grow perfect hair and have no concept of a hairstylist.
Resting his elbows on the counter, he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes until he saw spots. Just let exhaustion take you. It wouldn’t be the first time.
He flicked off the light and waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark once again. Once he could see, he padded back out of the bathroom and into the living room. The fik had overrun the small abode. Half a dozen bodies strewn about peacefully asleep on the floor, the room full of gentle breathing and the occasional snore. Chief Sulta had claimed the couch after being denied the bed by David. She made it clear he could also use the bed, but he didn’t feel comfortable letting a stranger into it. This of course didn’t stop the other two who were with him the previous night. Apparently, they thought they got a pass. He was too frustrated to object. Plus…They were warm…
David carefully stepped over the sleeping forms making his way to his kitchen. The chief seemed alright after a couple conversations. His guardians disapproved vehemently of course, but she seemed honest. A bit too honest. She really intended to do everything she could to keep David safe, but…Well, she wasn’t the sharpest bulb in the box.
Clearing the threshold, he made his way to the fridge for something to drink. As he sipped, he checked the time. It was still a few hours till morning. It was hard to tell on station. This one orbited a moon that orbited a gas giant that orbited another gas giant that all orbited a distant star. There was some kind of galactic standard time, but David could never get his head around it.
“Why are you awake?”
He looked up at Rus’ka leaning against the doorway. She was rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
“I can’t sleep.”
“Why?”
“I just can’t. I have insomnia.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s where I can’t sleep.”
She crossed the room to stand beside him as he turned to lean back against the counter.
“Sleeping is easy. Just close eyes and relax. Sleep come to you. You try too hard, maybe?”
He sighed and reminded himself that they were a relatively young species that didn’t come with countless medical journals or psychology papers. Lucky them.
“If only it were that easy. No. I broke whatever I had that let me sleep.”
“How can you fix?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“Well…How did you break?”
He closed his eyes and set his glass aside, “I don’t know…Well, I have some ideas, but I don’t know.”
“What ideas?”
He couldn’t tell if she knew what she was doing or was just stubbornly persistent. Probably a mix of both. “Probably what happened to me.”
“What happened to you?”
He took a deep breath and slid down the counter to sit on the floor. She joined him there. “I told you: a lot.” He looked her in the eyes. She didn’t look away. He didn’t want to talk about this. He’d do anything besides talk about this, but… If she wanted to live here. Live with him, then she should probably know. She’d find out one way or another. When did I accept that?
Looking down between his knees he sighed and began, “I was kidnapped. I don’t remember much of what happened. One minute I’m trying to figure out why my Honda died again, the next I’m strapped to a table.” He shuddered. “I was groggy, but I could still feel them-“ He swallowed, “cutting into me. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t scream. I just felt and watched. They were out of a nightmare. They couldn’t be real. But I felt it. It was real. It hurt. Oh God, it hurt.”
He screwed his eyes shut trying to force the memory down. To think of anything else. Ruk’sa put her arm around his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “Then I could hear them. I could understand the snakes.” He fingered the scar behind his ear, “They put a translator in me. Then threw me in a cell. I was a slave.”
*****
As soon as he could move his arms, he began hammering on the metal cage around him. “Let me out! Don’t do this! Let me out!”
In a flash a blade whizzed past his temple scoring a shallow cut. “Silence! You will not speak. You have nothing to say anyway.”
His crimson captor ignored him and returned to the console before them. David took stock of his situation to find any possible way out. He was prone on his back in a metal coffin with a grate by his head, apparently there for easy stabbing access. He took a minute to control his breathing when the guard slithered out the door.
The box wasn’t tiny. It seemed to be made for larger creatures, but it was still a challenge for David to sit up. He grabbed onto the bars and pulled himself up to the hatch. A quick scan revealed the handle just outside. He thrust his hands through the bars, but he couldn’t reach the latch. It was so close. It looked like it turned toward him. All he had to do was pull it.
He sat for a moment contemplating what he had available. All he had on him was his rental tux. He regretted not going for the cummerbund, so the bow tie would have to suffice. He pulled it off his neck and stuck his hands out of the cage. It took a few tries, but he eventually managed to toss one end of the tie around the handle and caught it in his other hand. He didn’t have a lot of leverage, but with a steady pull he managed to pop the latch.
It was awkward twisting and dropping to the floor, but he was free…Free-ish. Now he just had to get out of the room. Glancing back to the wall of cells he realized he was the only one there. That made things simple. He stalked to the iris door and peeked out after it hissed open. The halls were empty, so he ducked outside. The place was massive, which made sense given its inhabitants. He noticed the halls had a slight bow in them. Must have made slithering easier.
He picked a direction and padded away as quietly as his dress shoes allowed. He’d stop at every intersection and listen. He chose the path with the least sound up until some kind of alarm sounded.
“Cell breach. Alert. Cell breach.”
He needed to hide, and fast. Looking around the circular hallway he noticed pipes and vents above him. Using the rounded walls to his advantage, he got a running start and ran up the side of the warped wall. It took a couple tries, but he eventually made his primate ancestors proud and caught a pipe above him. He hauled himself up and began shuffling awkwardly above the hallway.
Below him pandemonium broke out. He saw dozens of snake monsters slithering this way or that, looking for him. Each armed.
David channeled his inner John McClain and pulled a vent off the ceiling and climbed inside. As he crawled, he thought about what he was even looking for. There had to be some kind of escape pod, or shuttle he could steal. Maybe hide out on the next shuttle headed down to abduct some other poor dumb bastard. All he knew was he needed to get home. After scuttling around for a while his luck ran out. He crawled over a vent that couldn’t hold his weight and he fell into a hallway. Hauling himself upright with a groan he stopped dead at what he saw.
He could see Earth through the window. David never believed he could be an astronaut. He thought this view would forever be a dream, but there it was. Earth was beautiful.
Then he felt a sharp stinging pain across his back as a monster slashed him. He convulsed and collapsed, losing consciousness as he was dragged back to Hell.
*****
“I don’t know how long I was there…But that was the last time I saw home…I tried escaping. Many times. I saw home and damn it I was going to get back…Each time they punished me. Each time I ‘lost value’.” He looked over his scared arm then squeezed his eyes shut. Forcing the memories away. He didn’t want to be taken again, but they pulled. He could feel the cuts. The burns.
Ruk’sa rubbed his shoulders and leaned into him. Trying to keep him there with her.
With a shuddering breath, David continued, “Then one day, I was ‘rescued’. I don’t know if they were with the Community or just pretending, but some of those big bastards raided the ship. It got loud and violent. They hauled us off and took us to a little waystation. Refueling, I guess. They kept telling us we were safe. Then one of them…I think he was one of them, told us we needed a medical examination.”
*****
David and a couple of other escapees stared out the window at the strange planet. It was a pale-yellow rock drifting around some distant star. They were let off the ship to stretch their legs while it refueled for the next leg of the journey. David didn’t know where it was supposed to go. He just wanted to go home. He didn’t know or care how he’d explain what happened to him. There were plenty of crazy whack-jobs who claimed to be abducted. He could just roll with them. Or just pretend the whole thing never happened.
One of those big bastards who ripped him out of his cell and tossed him bodily off the ship appeared in the doorway.
“You there. You need a medic to look you over. Come on over here and let’s take a look at you.”
Seemed fair enough. David wasn’t sure how much blood was too much to lose, but the snakes flirted with that line all too often. He and the others shuffled over to the giant and where he directed. David entered the room and was soon pulled up by his arm. It felt like it might pop out of its socket. He struggled and thrashed before a giant fist sent the world to spin.
He woke up in another cell with another man. All he could do was weep.
*****
David didn’t notice when Ruk’sa drew him into her lap. He clutched at her arm to stay where he was. In the here and now. He could still see Sammuel’s face.
“The big bastards didn’t cut. They just hit you. Or starved you. All I could do was hold on. I tried to help Sammuel. Tried to keep him strong. If he was strong then I would be strong. We’d come so far. I held out. I did it once, I could do it again. And I was right. We were liberated once again after God only knows how long. We were free.” He swallowed and wiped away the tears forming in hie eyes.
“I can still remember the blinding light. I was numb when they hauled us off. They took us to some big station and asked where we wanted to go. I told them I just wanted to go home.” He let the tears fall now, “they told me it was gone. ‘What do you mean it’s gone?’ ‘It’s been destroyed. A terrible tragedy.’ I thought they were lying. It had to be another trick to keep me enslaved. I never escaped. They just refuse to send me home…Then they showed me…”
He clutched at her shoulders and buried his face in the nape of her neck, “That was all I had! I just wanted to go home! And they fucking stole that too!”
He wept and shuddered in her grasp. She stroked the back of his head while he collected himself.
“They tried to fix me. I broke down. I had nothing left. So, they sent me away to the loony bin. I just wanted to die. Is that too much to ask? Just bury me with the rest of my kind. But they had to try and fix me. They barely knew me or mine! How can you fix that!?”
*****
He was trapped once again. The fucking snake sat there asking questions like they didn’t destroy his life.
“David. Please talk to me. I’m trying to help you. If you just talk to me, we can help you.”
What fresh Hell was this? Making his tormentors try and fix him? David closed his eyes and refused to speak. If he looked at her, he could only relive what they did.
“I know what you went through was stressful…”
She didn’t know shit! How could she? He wouldn’t give her anything. Never again. He wasn’t a slave. He’d die first. Why didn’t he die? He should be with all the others. What’s left?
“David, please. I’m trying to help you. I just want what’s best for you.”
He knew what was best for him. He was tired of everyone trying to control him. This was no different. Well, no more. He’d seize the last bit of control he had. His hands were bound, but his mouth was still free. He bit down on his wrist. Maybe he could bleed out before someone stopped him.
“Nurse! Nurse! I need you in here!”
*****
David didn’t know how long it had been. Ruk’sa was rocking him back and forth. He felt tired. But he still couldn’t sleep.
“I was trapped there for a while…I couldn’t take it…Once they realized I wouldn’t talk to a snake, I started saying the magic words. ‘Oh, I feel better. I’m moving on. I’ll be fine I promise.’ They didn’t know the first thing about humans. I lied. They let me go thinking they’d done good… When they let me free, I tried taking all the pills they gave me. I tried ending it all a couple more times…They’re too damn good at stopping me.”
Ruk’sa couldn’t stop herself. She clutched David tightly to herself. “Saaaa, no! David, no! You can’t mean that! David must…David must….Saa!” She was ashamed for not having the words. She couldn’t fix him.
“I’m sorry…You just found a broken human…Just let me be broken.”
“No!...We fix you!...We must!” She held him tight as if he’d slip away. She didn’t know what to say. But she’d figure it out. She had to.
They stayed like that for a while before David asked, “Can…Can you hold me? Just like this? Please?”
She nodded, “Forever, if I must.”
David buried his face in her chest while she clutched him tightly. She tried to stop the tears from falling. To stay strong. To hold him and show him he was safe.
She tried her best, all the while a certain albino listened from around the corner, out of sight.
submitted by Noghbuddy to WolvensStories [link] [comments]
First / Prev / Next (At some point)
CW: Suicidal thoughts/actions
----------
David was all-too familiar with the ceiling of his bedroom. He’d spent many nights staring up at it praying for sleep to take him. Of course, then he had to deal with the nightmares. Tonight, was no different. Well, there were the two fik sleeping on either side of him, but the insomnia still had a firm grasp of him. The following afternoon he was supposed to catch a chartered shuttle out to the boonies for the funeral of a man he didn’t know. He could probably catch some sleep on the red eye, but if he couldn’t even sleep in his own bed…
He decided to stretch his legs. Thanks to a bit of luck, he wasn’t pinned down like last time, so he tried his best to stealthily shuffle off the foot of the bed. He padded silently to the bathroom, closed the door, then flicked on the light. Blinded for a moment, he blinked his eyes a couple times in the mirror until his vision cleared. Between the dark circles under his eyes and how gaunt his cheeks had become; his face took on an almost skull-like appearance.
He stared into his eyes, watching them dilate ever so slightly. Come on, man. You gotta get some sleep. Something. Anything. He ran his fingers through his mop, contemplating whether he should try and find some kind of barber. Perhaps one that could do something about his beard too. Knowing his luck, the aliens probably just grow perfect hair and have no concept of a hairstylist.
Resting his elbows on the counter, he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes until he saw spots. Just let exhaustion take you. It wouldn’t be the first time.
He flicked off the light and waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark once again. Once he could see, he padded back out of the bathroom and into the living room. The fik had overrun the small abode. Half a dozen bodies strewn about peacefully asleep on the floor, the room full of gentle breathing and the occasional snore. Chief Sulta had claimed the couch after being denied the bed by David. She made it clear he could also use the bed, but he didn’t feel comfortable letting a stranger into it. This of course didn’t stop the other two who were with him the previous night. Apparently, they thought they got a pass. He was too frustrated to object. Plus…They were warm…
David carefully stepped over the sleeping forms making his way to his kitchen. The chief seemed alright after a couple conversations. His guardians disapproved vehemently of course, but she seemed honest. A bit too honest. She really intended to do everything she could to keep David safe, but…Well, she wasn’t the sharpest bulb in the box.
Clearing the threshold, he made his way to the fridge for something to drink. As he sipped, he checked the time. It was still a few hours till morning. It was hard to tell on station. This one orbited a moon that orbited a gas giant that orbited another gas giant that all orbited a distant star. There was some kind of galactic standard time, but David could never get his head around it.
“Why are you awake?”
He looked up at Rus’ka leaning against the doorway. She was rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
“I can’t sleep.”
“Why?”
“I just can’t. I have insomnia.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s where I can’t sleep.”
She crossed the room to stand beside him as he turned to lean back against the counter.
“Sleeping is easy. Just close eyes and relax. Sleep come to you. You try too hard, maybe?”
He sighed and reminded himself that they were a relatively young species that didn’t come with countless medical journals or psychology papers. Lucky them.
“If only it were that easy. No. I broke whatever I had that let me sleep.”
“How can you fix?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“Well…How did you break?”
He closed his eyes and set his glass aside, “I don’t know…Well, I have some ideas, but I don’t know.”
“What ideas?”
He couldn’t tell if she knew what she was doing or was just stubbornly persistent. Probably a mix of both. “Probably what happened to me.”
“What happened to you?”
He took a deep breath and slid down the counter to sit on the floor. She joined him there. “I told you: a lot.” He looked her in the eyes. She didn’t look away. He didn’t want to talk about this. He’d do anything besides talk about this, but… If she wanted to live here. Live with him, then she should probably know. She’d find out one way or another. When did I accept that?
Looking down between his knees he sighed and began, “I was kidnapped. I don’t remember much of what happened. One minute I’m trying to figure out why my Honda died again, the next I’m strapped to a table.” He shuddered. “I was groggy, but I could still feel them-“ He swallowed, “cutting into me. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t scream. I just felt and watched. They were out of a nightmare. They couldn’t be real. But I felt it. It was real. It hurt. Oh God, it hurt.”
He screwed his eyes shut trying to force the memory down. To think of anything else. Ruk’sa put her arm around his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “Then I could hear them. I could understand the snakes.” He fingered the scar behind his ear, “They put a translator in me. Then threw me in a cell. I was a slave.”
*****
As soon as he could move his arms, he began hammering on the metal cage around him. “Let me out! Don’t do this! Let me out!”
In a flash a blade whizzed past his temple scoring a shallow cut. “Silence! You will not speak. You have nothing to say anyway.”
His crimson captor ignored him and returned to the console before them. David took stock of his situation to find any possible way out. He was prone on his back in a metal coffin with a grate by his head, apparently there for easy stabbing access. He took a minute to control his breathing when the guard slithered out the door.
The box wasn’t tiny. It seemed to be made for larger creatures, but it was still a challenge for David to sit up. He grabbed onto the bars and pulled himself up to the hatch. A quick scan revealed the handle just outside. He thrust his hands through the bars, but he couldn’t reach the latch. It was so close. It looked like it turned toward him. All he had to do was pull it.
He sat for a moment contemplating what he had available. All he had on him was his rental tux. He regretted not going for the cummerbund, so the bow tie would have to suffice. He pulled it off his neck and stuck his hands out of the cage. It took a few tries, but he eventually managed to toss one end of the tie around the handle and caught it in his other hand. He didn’t have a lot of leverage, but with a steady pull he managed to pop the latch.
It was awkward twisting and dropping to the floor, but he was free…Free-ish. Now he just had to get out of the room. Glancing back to the wall of cells he realized he was the only one there. That made things simple. He stalked to the iris door and peeked out after it hissed open. The halls were empty, so he ducked outside. The place was massive, which made sense given its inhabitants. He noticed the halls had a slight bow in them. Must have made slithering easier.
He picked a direction and padded away as quietly as his dress shoes allowed. He’d stop at every intersection and listen. He chose the path with the least sound up until some kind of alarm sounded.
“Cell breach. Alert. Cell breach.”
He needed to hide, and fast. Looking around the circular hallway he noticed pipes and vents above him. Using the rounded walls to his advantage, he got a running start and ran up the side of the warped wall. It took a couple tries, but he eventually made his primate ancestors proud and caught a pipe above him. He hauled himself up and began shuffling awkwardly above the hallway.
Below him pandemonium broke out. He saw dozens of snake monsters slithering this way or that, looking for him. Each armed.
David channeled his inner John McClain and pulled a vent off the ceiling and climbed inside. As he crawled, he thought about what he was even looking for. There had to be some kind of escape pod, or shuttle he could steal. Maybe hide out on the next shuttle headed down to abduct some other poor dumb bastard. All he knew was he needed to get home. After scuttling around for a while his luck ran out. He crawled over a vent that couldn’t hold his weight and he fell into a hallway. Hauling himself upright with a groan he stopped dead at what he saw.
He could see Earth through the window. David never believed he could be an astronaut. He thought this view would forever be a dream, but there it was. Earth was beautiful.
Then he felt a sharp stinging pain across his back as a monster slashed him. He convulsed and collapsed, losing consciousness as he was dragged back to Hell.
*****
“I don’t know how long I was there…But that was the last time I saw home…I tried escaping. Many times. I saw home and damn it I was going to get back…Each time they punished me. Each time I ‘lost value’.” He looked over his scared arm then squeezed his eyes shut. Forcing the memories away. He didn’t want to be taken again, but they pulled. He could feel the cuts. The burns.
Ruk’sa rubbed his shoulders and leaned into him. Trying to keep him there with her.
With a shuddering breath, David continued, “Then one day, I was ‘rescued’. I don’t know if they were with the Community or just pretending, but some of those big bastards raided the ship. It got loud and violent. They hauled us off and took us to a little waystation. Refueling, I guess. They kept telling us we were safe. Then one of them…I think he was one of them, told us we needed a medical examination.”
*****
David and a couple of other escapees stared out the window at the strange planet. It was a pale-yellow rock drifting around some distant star. They were let off the ship to stretch their legs while it refueled for the next leg of the journey. David didn’t know where it was supposed to go. He just wanted to go home. He didn’t know or care how he’d explain what happened to him. There were plenty of crazy whack-jobs who claimed to be abducted. He could just roll with them. Or just pretend the whole thing never happened.
One of those big bastards who ripped him out of his cell and tossed him bodily off the ship appeared in the doorway.
“You there. You need a medic to look you over. Come on over here and let’s take a look at you.”
Seemed fair enough. David wasn’t sure how much blood was too much to lose, but the snakes flirted with that line all too often. He and the others shuffled over to the giant and where he directed. David entered the room and was soon pulled up by his arm. It felt like it might pop out of its socket. He struggled and thrashed before a giant fist sent the world to spin.
He woke up in another cell with another man. All he could do was weep.
*****
David didn’t notice when Ruk’sa drew him into her lap. He clutched at her arm to stay where he was. In the here and now. He could still see Sammuel’s face.
“The big bastards didn’t cut. They just hit you. Or starved you. All I could do was hold on. I tried to help Sammuel. Tried to keep him strong. If he was strong then I would be strong. We’d come so far. I held out. I did it once, I could do it again. And I was right. We were liberated once again after God only knows how long. We were free.” He swallowed and wiped away the tears forming in hie eyes.
“I can still remember the blinding light. I was numb when they hauled us off. They took us to some big station and asked where we wanted to go. I told them I just wanted to go home.” He let the tears fall now, “they told me it was gone. ‘What do you mean it’s gone?’ ‘It’s been destroyed. A terrible tragedy.’ I thought they were lying. It had to be another trick to keep me enslaved. I never escaped. They just refuse to send me home…Then they showed me…”
He clutched at her shoulders and buried his face in the nape of her neck, “That was all I had! I just wanted to go home! And they fucking stole that too!”
He wept and shuddered in her grasp. She stroked the back of his head while he collected himself.
“They tried to fix me. I broke down. I had nothing left. So, they sent me away to the loony bin. I just wanted to die. Is that too much to ask? Just bury me with the rest of my kind. But they had to try and fix me. They barely knew me or mine! How can you fix that!?”
*****
He was trapped once again. The fucking snake sat there asking questions like they didn’t destroy his life.
“David. Please talk to me. I’m trying to help you. If you just talk to me, we can help you.”
What fresh Hell was this? Making his tormentors try and fix him? David closed his eyes and refused to speak. If he looked at her, he could only relive what they did.
“I know what you went through was stressful…”
She didn’t know shit! How could she? He wouldn’t give her anything. Never again. He wasn’t a slave. He’d die first. Why didn’t he die? He should be with all the others. What’s left?
“David, please. I’m trying to help you. I just want what’s best for you.”
He knew what was best for him. He was tired of everyone trying to control him. This was no different. Well, no more. He’d seize the last bit of control he had. His hands were bound, but his mouth was still free. He bit down on his wrist. Maybe he could bleed out before someone stopped him.
“Nurse! Nurse! I need you in here!”
*****
David didn’t know how long it had been. Ruk’sa was rocking him back and forth. He felt tired. But he still couldn’t sleep.
“I was trapped there for a while…I couldn’t take it…Once they realized I wouldn’t talk to a snake, I started saying the magic words. ‘Oh, I feel better. I’m moving on. I’ll be fine I promise.’ They didn’t know the first thing about humans. I lied. They let me go thinking they’d done good… When they let me free, I tried taking all the pills they gave me. I tried ending it all a couple more times…They’re too damn good at stopping me.”
Ruk’sa couldn’t stop herself. She clutched David tightly to herself. “Saaaa, no! David, no! You can’t mean that! David must…David must….Saa!” She was ashamed for not having the words. She couldn’t fix him.
“I’m sorry…You just found a broken human…Just let me be broken.”
“No!...We fix you!...We must!” She held him tight as if he’d slip away. She didn’t know what to say. But she’d figure it out. She had to.
They stayed like that for a while before David asked, “Can…Can you hold me? Just like this? Please?”
She nodded, “Forever, if I must.”
David buried his face in her chest while she clutched him tightly. She tried to stop the tears from falling. To stay strong. To hold him and show him he was safe.
She tried her best, all the while a certain albino listened from around the corner, out of sight.
2023.06.03 10:35 Just_Curious_Okay I hope I don't regret posting this :(
It took several months to submit my anonymous tip to the FBI. That was 2 years ago and still no one has followed up or contacted me.
And so, I will post it here. I won't use names or identifying details like addresses or dates just in case the authorities are looking into it and I am just not aware.
It is my understanding that there has never been a solid lead/suspect in this case other than 2 random child molestekillers, both of whom they couldn't place within a 100 miles of Cleveland County.
Well, the tip I gave to the FBI placed a violent serial rapist (not yet on the sex offender registry at the time) within a 3 minute drive from the Degree House. So, you can see why I've been so upset and anxious that the FBI has not followed up with me. I honestly don't get it.
I grew up about 20 min from where Asha lived. But I moved away before she disappeared so for a very long time I was unaware of that happened to her. And it is only recently that I realized I might be holding some key information.
When I was 14 years old there was a guy who sexually harassed me everyday. He was explicit in the things he said he was going to do to me. I ignored him. But one day when he caught me alone he did attack me. He was big and he was violent. But I was fortunate because he saw people coming and I was able to get away.
I didn't tell anyone, not even my friends. That's something I've always regretted because just a few weeks later he attacked another 14 year old girl. She was not as fortunate as I was. He raped her. She reported it but he was given a slap on the wrist. It was pleaded down. He served no time and was not put on the sex offender registry.
I'm uncertain of what he did for the next few years beyond petty crimes but I'm certain he was no angel. Someone that angry, violent and compulsively raping girls isn't likely to just stop. But it was in early 2000's that he left NC and brutally raped and beat a woman then left her for dead. He was caught and is currently still in prison for that crime.
The issue is that the state where he is incarcerated believe him to have only committed that one sex crime. And in NC because I never reported him and he was not charged with rape against the other 14 year old then only a few realize he's a serial rapist. And perhaps only I am aware of this since no one knew about me.
I initially contacted the CMPD sexual assault cold case unit to make sure this man's DNA was in the national data base because I felt he had probably hurt other girls and woman. And because he was so violent I was also afraid he might have killed someone. They understood my concerns. The cop I spoke to said this guy was what they called an "opportunist rapist" or "stranger rapist". This type of rapist doesn't have a type. They don't care about age, race or body type. If the opportunity is there then they take it. Its compulsive. They don't even really consider the risk. And the violence is a huge part of what excites them.
So, when I discovered that my attacker-- the violent sex offender, lived just up the street from the Degree house around the time she disappeared, I realized he would have been a serious suspect had the cops known about his past. But like I said, he barely escaped being put on the sex offender registry and the authorities were unaware that he'd already sexually assaulted 2 minors.
I was quiet after my attack when I was 14 and that silence allowed at least 2 more people to get hurt. So, now I'm doing my best to be heard. And perhaps a thorough investigation of this guy will prove him innocent. I welcome that because the alternative means that my silence allowed this man to hurt an innocent little girl and that reality is just something I can't handle.
submitted by Just_Curious_Okay to AshaDegree [link] [comments]
And so, I will post it here. I won't use names or identifying details like addresses or dates just in case the authorities are looking into it and I am just not aware.
It is my understanding that there has never been a solid lead/suspect in this case other than 2 random child molestekillers, both of whom they couldn't place within a 100 miles of Cleveland County.
Well, the tip I gave to the FBI placed a violent serial rapist (not yet on the sex offender registry at the time) within a 3 minute drive from the Degree House. So, you can see why I've been so upset and anxious that the FBI has not followed up with me. I honestly don't get it.
I grew up about 20 min from where Asha lived. But I moved away before she disappeared so for a very long time I was unaware of that happened to her. And it is only recently that I realized I might be holding some key information.
When I was 14 years old there was a guy who sexually harassed me everyday. He was explicit in the things he said he was going to do to me. I ignored him. But one day when he caught me alone he did attack me. He was big and he was violent. But I was fortunate because he saw people coming and I was able to get away.
I didn't tell anyone, not even my friends. That's something I've always regretted because just a few weeks later he attacked another 14 year old girl. She was not as fortunate as I was. He raped her. She reported it but he was given a slap on the wrist. It was pleaded down. He served no time and was not put on the sex offender registry.
I'm uncertain of what he did for the next few years beyond petty crimes but I'm certain he was no angel. Someone that angry, violent and compulsively raping girls isn't likely to just stop. But it was in early 2000's that he left NC and brutally raped and beat a woman then left her for dead. He was caught and is currently still in prison for that crime.
The issue is that the state where he is incarcerated believe him to have only committed that one sex crime. And in NC because I never reported him and he was not charged with rape against the other 14 year old then only a few realize he's a serial rapist. And perhaps only I am aware of this since no one knew about me.
I initially contacted the CMPD sexual assault cold case unit to make sure this man's DNA was in the national data base because I felt he had probably hurt other girls and woman. And because he was so violent I was also afraid he might have killed someone. They understood my concerns. The cop I spoke to said this guy was what they called an "opportunist rapist" or "stranger rapist". This type of rapist doesn't have a type. They don't care about age, race or body type. If the opportunity is there then they take it. Its compulsive. They don't even really consider the risk. And the violence is a huge part of what excites them.
So, when I discovered that my attacker-- the violent sex offender, lived just up the street from the Degree house around the time she disappeared, I realized he would have been a serious suspect had the cops known about his past. But like I said, he barely escaped being put on the sex offender registry and the authorities were unaware that he'd already sexually assaulted 2 minors.
I was quiet after my attack when I was 14 and that silence allowed at least 2 more people to get hurt. So, now I'm doing my best to be heard. And perhaps a thorough investigation of this guy will prove him innocent. I welcome that because the alternative means that my silence allowed this man to hurt an innocent little girl and that reality is just something I can't handle.
2023.06.03 10:31 kawaiisweetpotato C4C if you have hat trick!
Click for click!!! I have all clicks available except hat trick! Accept my invite to score 3 free swag! https://app.temu.com/m/uspNcYlbEZ1wuTc
submitted by kawaiisweetpotato to TEMU_Official [link] [comments]
2023.06.03 10:30 BaseballBot [General Discussion] Around the Horn - 6/3/23
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Saturday's Games
| Away | Score | Home | Score | Status | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1:10 | |||||
| 6:10 | |||||
| 2:10 | |||||
| 4:05 | |||||
| ★ | 4:05 | ||||
| 4:05 | |||||
| 4:10 | |||||
| 4:10 | |||||
| 4:10 | |||||
| 4:10 | |||||
| 4:10 | |||||
| 7:15 | |||||
| 7:15 | |||||
| 10:05 | |||||
| 10:10 | |||||
| 10:10 |
Yesterday's ATH
This Week's Schedule (all times Eastern)
| Day | Feature |
|---|---|
| Sunday 5/28 | No subreddit features planned |
| Monday 5/29 | baseball Power Rankings |
| Happy Memorial Day! | |
| Tuesday 5/30 | baseball Players of the Week |
| Wednesday 5/31 | No subreddit features planned |
| Thursday 6/1 | Division Discussion Thread: The Easts |
| Friday 6/2 | Friday Trash Talk Thread |
| Lou Gehrig Day | |
| Saturday 6/3 | No subreddit features planned |