Leviathan scans

Shadow-Verse
The moans of the zombies seem to draw Blaze into sleep as he looks at Larissa.
A voice in the darkness speaks to him... "It's time." It says.
Suddenly he is falling and images of colorful world's and places flash in the darkness, some clearly, others blurred or missing pieces...
A different feeling envelopes him and everything goes black again...
Then there's light and noise as his memory plays out in the dreamscape.

 Non Hostile Invasion ... ... Heavy footsteps pound the dirt.... "Run... Keep going!" 

Dark energy rips through the air and punches through dead trees.
A female voice answers. "I can't!"
Several blasts rock the petrified forest as a steady drone of demons grows louder and louder by they second.
A younger male voice yells. "They are geTTING CLOSER!"
"WE CAN MAKE IT, DON'T GIVE UP!"
A large flaming demon rumbles by overhead and impacts the ground.
"IT'S GONNA BE OK! JUST DON'T!......"
....
....
Earlier that Day...
A week after Velzix is defeated by Shadow things in Hell are almost back to the usual. Mihrab smiles at her King as he kisses her cheek and laughs.
Velzix walks in at the same time. "Is that happy laughter I hear? My king I am disappointed." He says.
Shadow looks at him. "You wanna fighta bout it? Loser has to shut up and not complain anymore." Says Shadow.
Velzix declines as he continues with his report then leaves.
Looking at Mihrab, Shadow says. "Lets go for a walk around the lost zone of Purgatory."
She hugs him. "Its been awhile since we have been there." She says.
Mihrab nods. They both grab their weapons and head out into the woods.
After walking for about an hour they reach the edge of the area where souls are sent when they become corrupted enough to become a demon or monster.
One of the many unknown changes due to Shadow neglecting his duty long ago and not creating new demons on top of other things, eventually losing the full control of the ability as the new system was put in place by God's angels and was acceptable as an alternative. The energy to create being directed more to the Lost planes.
Tho Shadow did recently create a cute little fun loving demon fox named Spark and Mihrab Created the equally adorable and fun loving Ember.
As they walk through the Lost Zone Shadow sees many young demons aimlessly wandering around and some fight as they walk past.
Shadow looks over at a wolf like demon that's smaller than most of the others and stops in his tracks.
"MELIODAR!" He says excitedly.
Meliodar turns to him and sees him but doesn't move.
"Meli-dar!" Mihrab Shouts.
He looks around, then smiles and runs towards them.
Shadow looks at Him. "Where have you been son?" He asks Meliodar.
He looks around and notices the other demons staring at him.
"What is it?" Meliodar asks them and they all look away.
Shadow rejoices over finding their son Meliodar and the demons move away.
Meliodar looks up at his father. "I've been here the whole time. I thought you guys didn't want me anymore so I stayed out here." He says.
Shadow is shocked at his words and looks around again to see the rest of the demons still looking in another direction.
"Why would you think that?" He asks him. "We love you and we missed you."
His son who was conceived on Earth with Mihrab looks up. "Velzix told me, you hated me and that you said to stay out here alone." He says crying.
"He lied! We never wanted to get rid of you. We sent every demon we could to find you. Velzix had this part of Hell to search! That ingrate." He says.
Shadow and Mihrab hug their son tightly. "You're home now." Shadow says to him.
He looks up at his parents and asks. "Is that true? Did you send everyone to look for me?"
Shadow smiles. "Yes, we did. But we couldn't find you." He answers.
Meliodar looks at his mother and asks "Did you try to find me?"
She smiles at him. "We did. I'm so happy we found you!" She says kissing his forehead.
He looks back at his dad. "But why did you hate me? Why did you say to leave?"
Shadow looks around. "I never said that. Velzix lied to you son, we never hated you..." He pauses. He looks down and says to himself. "Velzix will pay for this." ....
....
On the way back to the castle Shadow, Mihrab and their son play chasing each other through the petrified trees.
It takes Shadow a second to realize that Meliodar's behavior has changed and he is more tame and playful when he had not been before.
Shadow smiles and wonders what to do next as he thinks about Heaven and Earth...
Shadow looks at Mihrab. "Lets go try and live in Heaven... But lets do it without violence and see how it goes. Earth didn't go well last time. Maybe our luck will change in Heaven" He says.
Mihrab hugs her husband and kisses him on the cheek. "That sounds strange but lets try it." They both laugh.
The three of them are almost to their kingdom and are met with the sight of Velzix and his followers attacking the castle.
Shadow stops motioning for his family to go back the way they came as a demon turns and sees them.
Shadow charges forward cutting it in half and the demon's body falls to the ground as several more rush at him!
He continues fighting until he is completely surrounded. Meliodar swiftly appears and rips through them making a path to escape as the three of them run....
10 million of Velzix's supporters roar in the distance as hundreds follow closely on their heels. ....
The three of them arrive at the Leviathan pit and have no choice but to travel through it as more demons appear coming from all three sides.
Mihrab looks around for the other enter-dimensional barrier leading out the other side as the pursuing demons hesitate to enter the pit.
She locates the exit. "There! We can go through here!" She shouts.
Shadow runs towards it as he grabs Meliodar and leaps to the side avoiding a Leviathan as it slams into the dirt, the void in its mouth violently sucking in material as it turns toward them.
Shadow and Meliodar are about to be eaten when the Leviathan Lilly bursts from underground sending the other Leviathan flying as she fires a powerful beam of energy.
Looking down at Shadow, Mihrab and their son Meliodar. " You had best keep your promise to me Mihrab." Lilly says and then leaves as they exit the pit.
Looking around they don't see any demons but continue to run as their war cry gets louder and louder.
Then a group of demons appears to the left and begins firing energy beams and blasts at them as they push harder to reach the portal room within sight on the horizon a dead straight path through Hell itself. ...
Shadow's heavy footsteps pound the dirt.... "Run... Keep going!" He yells.
Dark energy rips through the air and punches through dead trees.
Mihrab stumbles in front of him. "I can't!"
Several blasts rock the petrified forest as the steady drone of demons grows louder and louder by the second.
Looking back Meliodar fires a blast."They are getting closer!"
Shadows helps Mihrab up. "WE CAN MAKE IT, DON'T GIVE UP!" He shouts above the masses.
A large flaming demon rumbles by overhead and impacts the ground.
"IT'S GONNA BE OK! JUST DON'T!......"
The massive shockwave of its impact decimates the area knocking Shadow and his family off their feet....
Shadows shakes his head. "What happened!?" He asks out loud confused as he scans the area in disbelief.
He sees a strange being standing on the horizon. It is tall, covered in black armor and has a long spear that it points at him.
Looking more intently he notices the crest from King Arthur. One of his black knights having been cast down into Hell where he turned into a demon and should be imprisoned due to his power and selling his soul.
"Guess he is a demon now." Shadow thinks as he looks nervously at the gateway to the portal room then back at the knight as it charges it's spear with energy.
The knight fires and Shadow throws himself to the side as the attack hurtles towards him blasting away the already broken and splintered dead trees as it rips up the ground.
Seeing the power of the blast Shadow and his family brace themselves as it passes with the force of an explosion and impacts nearby creating a massive mushroom cloud that rises miles into the sky and the shockwave batters the area.
Shadow looks up in horror at the crater and realizes the ground is still shaking from the impact of the attack.
He turns and sees a small figure running toward him, as he watches he is filled with relief. "Meliodar!" He cries as he sprints towards him pointing at a high ridge line that the Knight can't see behind.
Mihrab appears beside Shadow holding an injured arm as another blast hits on the far side of the ridge.
Tho the shockwave is lessened by the landmass it hits them hard. They brace themselves as Splinters of wood and crushed rock scream by and then are sucked back up into the rising cloud of the explosion.
The sound of millions of demons shakes the ground as Shadow pushes debris off himself and Meliodar. Mihrab crawls from under the shattered trunks of dead trees groaning in pain.
Shadow moves to help her up and puts out his hand as the demons come into view.
Meliodar raises his head as a glob of dark energy forms in front of his mouth.
Launching his attack a rapid fire stream of dense energy spikes streaks towards the masses of incoming demons taking out 100's as the horde moves like a wave engulfing everything.
Every demon fighting to be the first ones to kill the royal family.
Shadow looks at the demons as Mihrab and Meliodar take off towards the portal room.
"Its a good thing they don't actually work very well together and are not organized." He thinks following close beside his Family.
The Black Knight appears above, massive raven-like wings protrude from his back and a rain of laser like beams fall as he attacks.
Shadow grabs Mihrab and Meliodar as he makes a barrier with his dark energy. The beams hit exploding violently and Shadow's barrier fails from the onslaught... The attack stops suddenly and Shadow stumbles shaking his head as his body screams in agony.
Grabbing his arm Mihrab pulls him into a sprint for the portal room as their son runs along side them deflecting blasts and projectiles with his cloak of dark energy.
Reaching the doorway they dive inside as the knight strikes once more, the blast destroying the portal structure as they vanish through it closing the portal. ...
Sitting inside the portal room Shadow and his family lay sore and exhausted.
Looking at the dark portal arc Shadow knows it will be a few days before it is fixed giving them time to rest.
With his body aching he crawls over to Mihrab and Meliodar wrapping them in his arms.
Looking at her as he brushes her cheek. "Are you ok?" He asks worried.
"I'm fine but I think we should wait until we heal until traveling again." She replies as they all pass into sleep...
...
...
Shadow is the first to wake the next morning. Looking around he sees the portal that leads to the gates of Heaven.
Mihrab and Meliodar sleep a few more hours as Shadow thinks about the plan...
....
..
After waking up fully Shadow, Mihrab and their son Meliodar move through the portal leading to Heaven.
A portal only Lucifer and the angels are permitted to use.
They land on a grassy field surrounded by the most beautiful white buildings and walk to the nearest one.
Shadow looks around and sees the building is a church. He scans the area finding no sign of anyone as they are all inside giving praise for the day.
Shadow covers his ears hearing them all and even dulling his own sense of hearing has no effect on how it stings his mind.
Tho Meliodar and Mihrab seem fine.
Suddenly the pain stops and Shadow feels a presence he knows from meeting only once when he was created and assigned a place.
He starts to turn to look.... A powerful voice calmly tells him. " Do not look upon me yet for thee shall surly perish....." It says and Shadow freezes obeying.
There is a noticeable shift in energies and then the voice says. "You may now turn around safely and state your business here. It better be good for it is unspeakable for a demon to enter this place uninvited." The voice says calmly.
"My name is Shadow. This is my wife Mihrab. We have come to speak with you God." He says and there is a slight pause. "We seek to live in Heaven by just asking you without violence so we can finally live in peace where our Love isn't hated."
God chuckles amused. "You know what? Why don't you go ahead and do that and see if I am willing to let you have it after doing that?"
Shadow looks at God. "Will you surrender peacefully to us and give us life in Heaven?" He asks God.
God laughs. "What kind of question is that? Of course I'll surrender to you!" He yells happily.
Shadow looks at him in confusion. "But why would you?"
"The reason is because you are a Demon. Demons are evil creatures that hate all life." God laughs. "I have been watching you for some time Shadow Seed. I find this turn of events amusing and you haven't heard my terms yet.... Somehow you seek to have it and try non violence. As well as claiming to Love another demon. I will say I am surprised by things you do but they are also not unexpected. For me to give you Heaven. You first have to be one of my protectors of the universes. All three of you will become half human half demon beings. You will keep your powers but you will lose a significant amount of it to hide you from demons as you go about this Path to Redemption." He pauses...
"You will also be given a secondary energy as well that will be weak in you but as you learn to us it, it's power will grow as well... You will also not die of old age, hunger or human illness, only sever damage can kill you and if you do die you will be reborn or remade at your choosing. You three will become Eturnals and in time you will fight to protect the humans you have conquered on numerous occasions..... I will call upon you later to Protect my human creations from the demons of Hell and other evil in the universe. And be warned that the demons of Hell are looking for you, stay hidden and work in secret avoiding the demons till you are strong enough to rival them." He says.
Shadow is speechless. He looks at his wife who is smiling at him.
He looks back at God and sees him laughing. "So what's the verdict? Do you accept my terms of surrender?"
Shadow genuinely smiles as he says."Yes I do and I surrender as well!"
Mihrab chimes in. "I accept this as well!"
Meliodar looks at his father Shadow who nods. Turning back to God Meliodar also agrees happily.
"Good, now one more thing, here is a sword that can kill anything. It is called an Eturnal Blade and I custom make each one." He says handing a blade to each of them.
"Thank you." They say together.
God then says. "Oh and then being reborn, you have a very high chance of... Forgetting past lives and who you really are due to the new brain that is different. Tho it will grow used to your soul and spirit bringing the memories back as they sync over time. The same is true for being made at an adult age, tho the memories come back significantly faster than when you are born."
He then raises his hand and transforms the three of them as he said he would. "Do you want to be born or to be created at the age of 35 and 20 for Meliodar?" He asks them.
They all agree to be born and Meliodar with spend time in a lower form of Heaven to learn a few things till his parents mature and bring him into the world.
"Very good! Now this is going to be very different to you... I almost forgot... Don't listen to the darkness within and if you hear it, refuse anything it offers you. This is unknown territory so heed my warning." God says and then there is a bright flash and everything goes dark for three of them.
God turns to the many angels watching. "Lets see if they can do it. If they can, who knows maybe there could be others as well." He says to them as some seem unsure.
....
....
Blaze wakes feeling as if he is full of energy and looks over at Larissa who is looking at him smiling. "I know that look. It's about time you remembered something.
Blaze nods. "We were king and queen of hell and even had a true son. Then were made part human." He says.
Larissa flinches as suddenly the room is filled with light.

Captain Richard Miller fought off the yawn he felt building in the back of his throat for what felt like the hundredth time this mission. His P51D purred around him as he cruised along over the darkening ocean, and its stainless steel skin glinted the last of the sunset off the fuselage before the sky was a simple wash of purples and oranges. The ocean below was purely black, but for a line of orange at the horizon. Miller let the yawn come this time, made a mark on the map strapped to his thigh, and pushed the microphone to his radio toward his mouth.
"SkyEye to Base," he finished the transmission with another huge yawn.
"Go ahead, SkyEye," a voice 600 miles away responded.
"Still no joy," he reported for the hundredth time. "If they're using this shipping lane, they must be staying deep. I'm not seeing anything but water down there. Permission to RTB and try again another day?"
There was a long pause. Not good news, he told himself.
"Negative, SkyEye. Make one more pass, then meet up with your squadron bearing three-two-zero, then RTB."
Miller groaned. He had to take a piss. He wanted a cup of coffee, a sandwich, some fried potatoes, hell, even a beer. This foolery of chasing Nazis in U-boats to South America through the air was getting pointless. Either the ones that were going to make it to Argentina, Brazil, and Chile were already there, or they'd captured all the ones they were going to catch. The end result was the same; why fuck around with more recon patrols.
"Understand, Base. One more pass, then regroup and RTB." He sighed, and began tilting his aircraft this way and that, peering through the growing darkness at the water below. He almost missed it. A black steel leviathan raised its head from the depths. Water ran in sheets down its conning tower, spread over its exterior deck, and then rejoined the ocean after a fall down the bulbous sides. Miller grinned, marked his map, and got back on the radio.
"SkyEye to base, got something at grid foxtrot-79, say again, foxtrot-79. Looks like they might be recharging their air batteries."
"Copy, SkyEye," base reported. "Do not engage unless engaged first. Mark its location on your map and continue your patrol."
"Roger," Miller started, then squinted at the U-boat far below. It was far larger than any he'd seen before, or even heard tell of seeing before. It was really the size of an aircraft carrier, given the length and the width of its deck. "Base, I don't think this is a usual U-boat..." He saw a single tongue of flame spout upward from the U-boat's deck, then nothing, then a burst of flame.
"SkyEye to base, I am being engaged. I think they just launched a rocket or something at me."
"Understand, SkyEye, evade and engage at will."
"Roger." He set his finger on the trigger, smoothly rolled the throttle forward, and began to calculate his evasion from the incoming rocket. Each time, it turned to intercept him. Once it was in range, it opened fire.
"Holy shit!" Miller cursed, hearing bullets ping through his fuselage. His evasive dive and roll grew more desperate. "SkyEye to Base, that was no rocket, it's some kind of fighter aircraft. I have been engaged and am responding in kind."
The aerial game of cat and mouse began. Miller and his mysterious foe feinted, rolled, dove, climbed, sped up and slowed down as they jockeyed for position with one another. Each hoping to be the first to get their enemy in their sights. Miller won the first round. He noted the other plane's trajectory, adjusted his pitch to lead, then opened fire. Tracer rounds let him see exactly where his shots were going, and he cheered as he saw the strange fighter's left engine burst into flame and start to burn. A little yaw control later, and the right engine followed. Smoke and fire trailed behind the enemy fighter. That should have been the end of it.
Instead, the fires went out, and damaged cowling around both engines began to reform. When the engines ignited once again, it was with pure thrust that put the fighter into a steep climb. Miller, not believing what he'd just seen, shook his head to clear it, then again to focus on the fight that was not over yet. Pushing the throttle as hard as he could, he brought the P51D into a pursuit climb. He had the drop on his foe once again, but the instability of the climb as the air around the plane got thinner and thinner kept him from getting a clean shot on his opponent. He fired in bursts, potshots that he hoped would get lucky and hit something vital.
The enemy's engines once again went out. The half-backflip it then pulled off should have torn the plane into pieces. It's wings, at least, should have broken off and left the whole thing to fall into a helpless dive. But it didn't. Somehow, this aircraft rode its own inertia forward, pulled off a zero-radius turnaround, and now had Miller dead to rights. He saw the guns on the enemy fighter light up and returned fire in a lethal game of aerial chicken. The Mustang shook, rocked, sputtered, smoke began to pour into the cockpit.
A bullet pierced the canopy, and the pressure differential sucked all the smoke out. Just in time for Miller to see the enemy's engines flash to life again.
The sudden thrust should have liquefied the pilot. There was no acceleration at all. One instant the plane was coasting backward riding its own inertia and recoil. The next it was bearing down on him at maximum speed. Cursing, Miller tried to roll out of the way. The damaged flight surfaces on the wings did not react in time. The enemy's wing sliced cleanly through Miller's own... and sheared it off.
The fight was lost. All that mattered to Miller now was survival. He shouted his maydays into the radio, checked his straps and gear, then braced for the jump. He shoved back what was left of his canopy, released the harness holding him into the seat, and bailed out. He did not allow himself to free-fall for very long. Once he was clear, and saw his plane plummeting toward the Atlantic, he pulled his chute.
As he coasted down to the water, he scanned the skies for the mysterious aircraft. It circled his falling Mustang until it hit the water. Then turned to him. He feared it would try to kill him and pulled his Colt 45 from the holster on his thigh. As the plane approached, he unloaded at it. He had no actual hope of taking the thing down. This whole thing was an exercise in defiance. But his final shred of luck worked for him. The plane was perhaps a thousand yards away, engines burning, it's shriek getting louder... when the engines went out, and it spun, aimlessly and gracefully, down to the water far below.
Ten feet above the ocean, he released his chute, and dropped into the cold water. Once he'd surfaced again, he inflated his life jacket, felt around in his pockets for his emergency beacon, and began the interminable wait for rescue. To his west, in the very last orange of the sunset sky, he saw the mysterious U-boat submerge...

My world has a Winchester-style big company/corporation discover and investigate a new dimension.
Driven by the rare resources found within it as well as the technological advancements they offer, they begin to expand and eventually settle into the dimension. They send out exploration squads to research the dimension's biomes and resources, as well as catalog its fauna. This is done via a scanning device, created using the cutting-edge technology derived from the resources previsouly mentionned.
​
Many years after the company's downfall, the player discovers such a scanner and is able to use it themselves to learn about the threats and dangers found within the dimension.
​
This brings me to entity classification. The company's researchers have devised a simple classification system so the squads would be able to quickly catalog any creature they would discover, as well as being able to determine an entity's threat at a glance.
This system would classify entities by aggresivity, using three main classes. Safe (doesn't pose any danger), Neutral (will attack if provoked or in certain conditions) and agressive (will attack on sight / poses a great threat).
​
I've though of naming the "agressive category" the Caesar class, and have two other classes, the Apollon class (which contains humanoid god or demi-god entities) and the Leviathan class (used exclusively for gigantic creatures)
​
Do you have any suggestions for naming the Safe and Neutral classes, or any other feedback on my classification system ?

He swam away, only attacked me once. Chase him down for an autograph.

Mutation #370: Astigmatism / Map: Malwarfare
Mutators
SHORTSIGHTED📷Player units and structures have reduced vision range.
Units and structures have reduced sight range by 60%.

• Raynor's Scans are not affected by this mutator.
  LONG RANGE📷Enemy units and structures have increased weapon and vision range.
  
• Enemy units and structures gain +3 sight range and ranged weapons gain +3 range.
  WE MOVE UNSEEN📷All enemy units are permanently cloaked.
  
• Structures are not cloaked.
  
• Hostile Map Objective units are cloaked too.
  
• Destructible Rocks aren't cloaked.
  

-----------------
#184 Astigmatism – SOLO ALL CLEAR
Mutators: Long Range, Shortsighted, We Move Unseen
https://youtube.com/shorts/ohfmBSqacDc?feature=share
https://youtu.be/E4kVYQkl-AQ
Submit your run and I’ll provide any relevant feedback.
​
Most ranged units will outrange static defenses, so mobile detectors will be needed. Terran enemy comps will be more difficult because almost all their units are ranged. You’ll need more units than usual because some of them are gonna get hit before engaging the enemy.
Make more detectors than you normally would just to make sure that you don’t lose detection in the middle of a fight.
Aurana heals 5000 hp before moving to the next terminal, so you can macro/clear the next area if Aurana has more than 3000 hp. This is especially useful for the first suppression tower.
​
Successes [and key points]
Abathur (p0) https://youtu.be/oTYrAHHRiao [get an air army so overseers don’t get attacked as much]
Abathur (p3) https://youtu.be/IW-CIlVdaZk [a few brutalisks, then leviathans]
Alarak (p3) https://youtu.be/tQqlCd5zhhw [ascendants throw orbs at the waves]
Artanis (p3) https://youtu.be/Y_kbRiTpsOA [babysit observers]
Dehaka (p1) https://youtu.be/d0KJI_9SfdU [calldowns can handle the early game]
Fenix (p2) https://youtu.be/pwts7tyikzU [the usual but with more observers]
HH (p1) https://youtu.be/j0MCcgyqWXI [more hellbats to tank]
Karax (p2) https://youtu.be/t9fqBHgMeUI [the usual but with more observers]
Kerrigan (p0) https://youtu.be/aoV0zWxQnRw [hero only]
Kerrigan (p2) https://youtu.be/ZZtQ9Vb0rfQ [the usual but with overseers in case you can’t place omegas]
Mengsk (p1) https://youtu.be/DyEnE58iXME [the usual ESO pushing]
Nova (p1) https://youtu.be/WJGtSdwtd40 [the usual]
Raynor (p3) https://youtu.be/DG5SW0E3x-c [mass BCs and orbitals]
Stetmann (p2) https://youtu.be/nNOQxvn409k [the usual]
Stukov (p1) https://youtu.be/Mvq-slpfjdY [this was before I started using queens]
Swann (p0) https://youtu.be/jy2Xq8Te0kY [ground army]
Tychus (p1) https://youtu.be/cTjs-h-pCI4 [the usual]
Vorazun (p3) https://youtu.be/OF_ACEx-7Kc [snipe detectors during time stop]
Zagara (p1) https://youtu.be/-rg-3VRLuTw [the usual]
Zeratul (p2) https://youtu.be/X0utKdNPtkg [cannons and DTs]
​
Questions about any of these runs are welcome. Some runs will be uploaded tomorrow.

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45	1249	- I'm Worried About My Classmate Who's Covered in Bruises - Ch. 14
46	1201	Blooming Love - Chapter 5
47	1185	Mashle: Magic and Muscles - Chapter 156
48	1271	- The Story That the Transfer Student Was My Favorite Voice Actor - Ch. 1-2.2
49	1130	Yofukashi no Uta (Ch. 171)
50	1132	Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! - Ch 94
51	1130	Setsuka-chan Is Melting -Oneshot
52	1100	Fox's Window - Part 4 (by @koikoisararira)
53	1089	When Trying to Get Back at the Hometown Bullies, Another Battle Began. Chapter 10 An exciting battle begins.
54	1064	The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You - Chapter 137
55	1063	If a Demon Lord Were to Get Married in the Countryside (Ch. 1)
56	1049	Go-Senpai's Counseling Session 4
57	962	The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins - Chapter 25
58	961	- Ranger Reject Ch. 96
59	972	- Record of Ragnarok Ch. 78 - The Sun God and the Rebellious Hero
60	1132	What Happens Inside the Dungeon, Side Story - Chapter 1
61	932	One Punch Man (Webcomic) - CH.143
62	916	SSS-Class Suicide Hunter Chapter 81 & 82 (Season 3 Start) Asura Scans
63	894	Tatari - Chapter 1
64	883	Black Clover - Chapter 359
65	843	Twilight - One Shot by Kuroi Shiro (author of Leviathan)
66	839	MARRIAGETOXIN - Chapter 48
67	821	Reincarnation Coliseum - Vol. 3 Ch. 10 - Attack and Counter Below The Surface
68	797	The Serious Student Council President is Too Assertive in Love/ Pure-Azato-Love - Chapter 1
69	782	- White Tiger and Black Tiger - Ch. 31-35
70	778	A Story About Smoking at the Back of the Supermarket - Chapter 28
71	768	Are You Really Getting Married? - Chapter 107
72	763	Vinland Saga - Ch. 202
73	762	- Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken - Ch. 107
74	755	Akane-banashi - Chapter 62
75	728	Hanging Out with a Gamer Girl - Chapter 149 (Moe and Friends)
76	710	Tenmaku Cinema - Chapter 6
77	664	Isekai Ojisan - Chapter 48 (Home Hero Scans)
78	654	- White Tiger and Black Tiger - Ch. 61-70

Subnautica: Excursion takes place on, you guessed it, 4546b! You play as a worker in Alterra who goes into the void to scan and take back fossils at the bottom of the void for credits. The more credits you earn the higher the ranks you get into. Then on day 5 of the game all of that will be flown out the window! Why? Because an unknown leviathan attacks the place you and your co-workers work. You escape in a modded Seatruck and with no other place to go you have to dive into the void (This is where the actual game begins) Since you are underwater at the depths of 5000 meters you can’t use solar panels so your PDA gives you the fossil extractor, which you put the before mentioned fossils into the extractor for energy. But you are not the only one that survived. There are signals that lead you to your co-workers and when you rescue them in your Seatruck you unlock multiplayer. If you rescue one you unlock 2 player mode, and if you rescue 2 you unlock 3 player mode, and finally if you save the last co-worker you unlock 4 player co-op. You and your friends will dive even deeper in search of a way out of the void while escaping leviathans and deadly biomes.
Can you make it out?

Or for how long?
Also does anyone have their discord?

Hi
I collect some obscure rpg books so I though I'd fling my current want list out into the wild;) Its a mixture of old obscure games, small press printing, rpg's sold at conventions, lulu books no longer in print etc.. there are a couple of books on this list that should be "easier" to find than the others.. In a lot of cases I have tracked down the authors of the books, but even they don't have copies left (or they only have their copy left) Its best to email me [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) .. even if you come across this list years from now the email should still be valid as I've had it forever..
​
If you have any questions about a particular rpg book please feel free to post as well.. I have managed to get some cover scans of some of the books. Of course I have prob missed some.. so if feel free to make suggestions as well! (for those interested I have set up a facebook page where I list some of my books.. just search "Obscure and Rare Roleplaying Games"
Thanks for your time!
Brette:)
​
12 to Midnight (US)
Last Rights of the Black Guard (stock#TWL001)
Weekend Warriors
ADP Systems
The Armstrong Malison
The Cross
The Preachers and the Cross
Adventure Games Publishing (US)
Adventure Games Journal Monthly Chronicle #1,2,4
Imperial Town of Tell Qa: Northern Bastion of the Falling Empire (1st print)
Wilderlands of High Adventure Map 9: Western Karak
Adventures Unlimited (US)
Adventures In Fantasy (playtest edition) (I have a copy of this.. would like a better copy)
Adventurers' Guild
Arcane Tome of the Illustrious Mage
Bestiary
Character Portraits
Sage's Tome
Tome
Sword Tag
Adversary Games
Omega File, The
Alternate Reality Publications/ Dana Jorgensen
World of Barador RPG, The 1st ed
World of Barador RPG, The2nd ed
Attack International Wargaming Accociation
Book of Dragons
Quirp Quarp, The
Thieves Quarter
Avant-Garde Simulations Perspectives
The Age of Chivalry
The Age of Chivalry tac cards
Kevin Barthaud
Witch: The Road to Lindisfarne (Ashcan Edition)
Robert Beatty
Weapons and Warriors
Better Games (US)
Avengers of Justice
Black Dragon Games
In Search of the Abominable Snowman
Blackhawk Games (US)
Uuhraah!
Black Paperclip Games
Red Skies Under Betelgeuse
Uncanny Abode and Final Resting Place of the Mysterious Mervin H. Floyd, The
Board-Craft Systems
Necromancer's Lair
Daniel Hugh Boggs
Dragons at Dawn First Suppliment
Dragons at Dawn and Twilight
Brass Dragon Society
Heart of Evil, The
Ice Follies, The
Myroun Island
Rescue of Ardene, The
Pursuit of Saytar, The
Michael Brines
Sir Pellinore's Book
Sir Pellinore's Favorite Game
Sir Pellinore's Game
Simon Burley (UK)
Golden Heroes (1st ed, little stapled book)
Calypso Systems Inc
Evil-Colored Green
Society of the Green
Temple of Cheelaka, The
Chaosium
Authentic Thaumaturgy (1st print, 1st ed)
Beyond the Mountains of Madness (hardcover 1999)
Cthulhu Dark Ages (Gencon 2015)
Old Hrolmar - A Stormbringer City Guidebook
Cheshire Games
Phase VII (needs all parts)
Cliffhanger Games (Tori Bergquist)
Adventurer!
Contested Grounds Studios
Avenues & Alleyways
Cold City Dossier
Luke Crane
Blossoms are Falling, The (white cover with chinese characters on)
Creative Cartography Ideas (US)
Classic World (early print)
Fortress, The (early print)
Crucible Design (UK)
23rd Letter (limited ed)
Crustacium Games
Creeks and Crawdads (2nd-3rd)
Never Cry Crawdads
Cubicle 7
Rookhaven (lone wolf rpg)
Cumberland Games & Diversions
Fief (1st ed)
Risus- The Anything RPG
Risus- The Anything RPG (Excessively Deluxe Edition)
Ring of Thieves
John Dankert and Jim Lauffenberg
What price glory?
Anthony DiGiacomo
Functional Role-Playing:The Dice-Less System
Dinosaur Games
Multiverse Sorcery (brown cover)
Multiverse Sorcery (green cover)
Docs Games
Berzerko Tower / Doc's Maze
Blades of Boardum!
Dinky Kingdom
Lost Tomb of Antigorne / Sacrifice to the Blood Diety
Siege Wheel of the Blue Goblins
Small Space
Edward J Dobrianski
100 Level Dungeon
Fantasy Monsters & Robots
Dragon Star Creations
Ss'ar'Ak's Secrets - A Mage's Companion
Draken Games (UK)
Quests for Adventurers
Dreamworlds Production (UK)
Dreamworlds Fantasy Combat System
Dungeon Quest Publications
Domain of Xantree
Castle Out of Time
Dungeons Deep Design
Cabal King, The (Gary Con II Ed)
DW Creations
Under Siege
Winterfall Core Rulebook
Winterfall Players Guide
Tim Eccles (UK)
A Private War - Players' Guide (first print)
Empty Room Studios Publishing
Dreamwalker (Revised ed)
Entertainment Concepts
Adventures of Kaldarius the Mage
Patrick ervin et al
Godsfall Quick-Start Rules
Fallen Publishing
Operation: Fallen Reich
Operation: Fallen Reich Life Board
Fantasy Enterprises
Book of Treasure, The
Fantasy Factory
DeepDelve
Deepdelve expansion Kit One
Overland Encounters Cards
Underground Encounters Cards (1st-4th Levels)
Fantasy Flight Games
Rebellion Day Game Kit: Rescue At Glare Peak
Final Redoubt Press
Echoes of Heaven (Harp, Hero, Rolemaster) was lulu
Firebird, Ltd. (Kevin Dockery) 1983
MuggerHunt
Todd Fluhr
Polis!
Gamemaster Guides
Barbarian Enflands, The
Character Dossier
Monsters, Aliens and Fantastic Beings (combound)
Gamers Liberation Front
Rescue the Princess
Games Publications
Solo Dungeon, The (1st ed 1978)
Gas Spore Publications
Lair of the Scarlet Elite, The
Laurence Gillespie (Canadian)
Viking and Valkyrs (vol 1 and 2)
Grendel Roleplaying (Paul Spence) (this is all for red shift RPG)
Adventure Book #1
Alien Sourcebook
Character Sheets
Frontier Guide
Personae Guide
Star Atlas
Starship Guide
Vehicle and Equipmment Guide
GRP Enterprises
Tome of Treasures
Martin Hackett and Peter Bennett (UK)
Abbeta: Fantasy Role-Playing Rules for the Twinflare Solar System
Hams, Ernest Thomas
Kabal Boxed Set 2nd ed
Martin A. Hayes 1980
Stone of Sandor, The
Hess Games
Seagate (Orange Envelope)
High Levels Adventure Inc
In Quest of the Hand of Vecna
Hillman-Gleeson Publications
Superadventure Boardgame (1st ed 1982)
Crusaders the Superadventure Game (2nd ed 1983)
Crusaders the Superadventure Game (3rd ed 1985)
Hogshead Publishing (UK)
Realms of Sorcery (red leather, comes with cert)
Clem Hoofer
Hawgbilly!- The Swine & Sorcery RPG
Horizon International Inc (PO Box 28513D Salt Lake City UT 84127)
Witchery in Elcaro (1983)
Island Campaign
Dylan Hyatt
Valour Shield
Imagination Unlmited (US)
Beasts Men & Gods (1980 or 1982)
Ice Tower
Pitiful Poseur Productions (Jesse Harringto)
BRAINS: Hardcore Punks Against Dead Guys (1990)
Advanced Brains: Hardcore Punks Against Dead Guys : the Role-playing Game (2012)
Die Consertive, Die (2 editions)
Jon Gilbert and Mike Brunton (UK)
Of Teddies and Toenail Gin
JPS Services
Black Tower, The (1st ed) (does this exist?)
Juggernaut Press (John M. Morrison)
Dawnworld
KNRPG Productions (Clint Krause) (US)
Messiah: Ashcan Edition
Conan Lamot
Tome of Mid-Kimia
Lasalion Games
Character sheet Pack
Curse of the Warlock
Glory of Steel
God Guide, The
Slaves of the Ring
Super Character sheet Pack
Tome of Rules, The
Liddil, Bob
Octal Encounters
Lion Rampant (US)
Bats of Mercille (1st)
Loremasters
City of Whiteford
Kenneth Lukaszewski
The Land (Boxed)
Lumpley Games
Annotated Kill Puppies for Satan, The
Kill Puppies for Satan & Cockroach Souffle
Kill Puppies for Satan (lulu 2001)
Machine Age Productions
Amaranthine (colour interior)
Mallema Press (US)
Critter Fantastical
Mark Manning
Simulacron I
Phil Martin
The Potions of the Anathar
May Contain Nuts (sweet dreams rpg)
Guide Book (comb bound)
Mayfair Games
Kobold Hall
Chris Mcbride & Jarry Apsit
Dark Keep, The
Geoffrey McKinney
Carcosa Boxed set
Fungoid Gardens of the Bone Sorcerer (2nd ed)
Supplement V: Carcosa
Melsonian Arts Council
Tronkia! (1st ed)
Troika! (Numinous Edition) (1st ed)
Mercenaries Guild
Artifacts and Relics
Character Record Sheets
Spell Backfire Table
Swords and Weapons
Ten New Player Classes
Paul Mercer and Kevin Conklin
Shrine of the Sword
Mercury Games (US) (Dave Elliott)
Lord Farricks Keep
Magic Touch, The
To the Aid of Dwarves
Metro Detroit Gamers (US)
Quest for the Fazzlewood
Uncle Ebenezer's Will
You Bet Your Life
You Bet Your Life... Again!
Minds in one Production (US)
Muzzle Velocity
OPFur
Mind Ventures
Strange Files of Dr. Sorcis, The
MMI
Fortress Magoloth
The Guardian
Mockingbird Inc
Phantasm
Mobius Games
Phoenix Dawn (boxed)
Mob United Media
Budo - Hard Style Wushu
Opening the Dark
Steel & Stealth
Mongoose Publishing
Stornlands
Naois Publications
Hitchhiker’s Guide to Ragfallia, The
New Worlds Gaming
Enchanted Worlds Starter Kit
JT Norton
Temple of the Plains
NDP Designs
Annalise The unbiden Guests Edition
Annalise Seven dedly sins
Oak & Lotus Publications
Gomo Guide: Thoneport (2010)
Gomo Guide: Thoneport (2017)
Off the Wall Games
Professional Wrestling (3rd ed .. has $5 on cover)
Paradigm Games (UK)
Dark Obsidian: Conceptions
Pelgrane Press
Trail of Cthulhu: Shadows Over Filmland (softcover dragonmeet version)
Compendium of Universal Knowledge, The (Hardcover)
Peryton Publishing
Qlidar (limited con on the cob version)
Peter's Press (Bill Arvola, Peter Theron)
TAQ
Phantasy Network (Don Johnson)
Taste My Steel!
Pharos Press (US)
Talislanta: Tenth Anniversary Edition
Brian Phillips
Official Superhero Adventure Game, The (1st ed with cards)
Pick Up and Go Games (Crypts & Creatures)
Advanced Players Guide (old ed)
Dungeon Adventures- Book 1 (old ed with a dragon on cover)
Denzines of the World
Pisces All Media
Generika the Beautiful
Silence is Golden
Tempest Island
Playing Board Products
Adventure Roster
Basic Character File
Spellcaster's Bible, The (1980)
Treasure Chest Set 2
Posthuman Studios
Degenesis (Rebirth Limited ed) (Black Box)
Principia Malefex
Best of Friends 1st ed, comb bound, white cover
Best of Friends 2nd ed, comb bound, picture on cover
Propaganda Publishing
Gossamyr
Psychedelic Fantasies (US)
Reams of the Lucid Sac
Fungus That Came to Blackeswell
Quick and Easy Games
Star Run (2nd ed)
Ragnarok Enterprises (Canadian)
Complete Gamers Pantheon!, A (greek man with flock of sheep on cover)
Jahannam: The Waning Empire (boxed)
Ysgarth Rule System Boxed Set
RC Pinnell
Fall of Stonehammer Hall, The
Fate of the Forgotten Keep
Fen of the Frog King
House of Fang
Man Eater
G0 Revenge of the Giants
CP1 Ruins of Tenkuhran, The
Shrine of the Sightless Eye
G4-9 Super Giants!
Classic 77 Expanded Rules
Holmes 77
Redlands High School Chess and War Games Club
Castle Bram
Reiley and Associates (US)
Enchanted Treasures Vol 2
Ronin Arts
Vs Monsters Delux White box ed
Sage Products
Book of Names, The
Sane Studios (UK)
Vanishing Point (softcover 2007)
Scale Design (UK)
Descent into the Crater (1981 Gamesday Tournament)
Labrynth of Lerage The
Standing Stones, The
Sceaptune Games
Hyperite The Sirius Treaty UNE Edition
Simbalist & Backhaus
Chevalier (1999 reprint)
Society of East Tennessee Strategists (SETS)
Blood Wine
Halflings Height Plight, The
SoftSide Publications
Quest for the Arm of St. Elsinore
Seventh Scarab (UK)
Sphinx
SKS Distribution
Victorian Adventure (boxed set)
Skyline games (Brian Sharwood, Wayne Miller and Rafel Cons) (US)
Magic and Monsters from the Land of Volkorr (1978) (2 printings)
Skytrex Ltd (UK)
Bifrost Vol 3
Bifrost vol 4
Skyrealms Publishing Inc
Companion Jorune : Jorune Sholari Supplement
Stormhawk Publications (US)
Realms of Myth
Symbaroum
Nightbane editions of books
TC International
Advanced Phantasm Adventures Gamemasters Handbook
Advanced Phantasm Adventures Players Handbook
Technomancer Press
Critonomicon, The
RPG Pentathlon
ER Teixeira
Valley of the Attu
Tentacle Press
Beyond Pavis
Masks of Pavis
Thunderhead Gaming Center
Greatest Evil, The
Tri Tac Systems (US)
DM’s Book of Nasty Tricks and Misfit Magic (1989, B&W cover)
DM's Book of Misfit Magic Vol1
DM's Book of Misfit Magic Vol2
DM's Book of Fantasy Firearms
Dungeon Maps
Starship Ventura (ISCO 0013: Kansas Class) Starship blueprints
Star Charts
Tronen Games (UK)
Gods of Tronen, The
Three Kingdoms, The
Various printings of Bludguts Cave, Ewernn Keep, Kings Barrow. The, T'Thaln)
Ubicorm Game Company (US)
Evil in the Heart
Unknown
Wenches and Winekegs
Vanquishing Leviathan LLC
Castle that Fell from the Sky. The
Valhalla Simulation (Canadian)
M’ayanni (book 1 and 2)
Group Mission: 005 Operation Guardian
War Colledge Simulations
Lords of Harkanis (this a rpg?)
Wasteland Games (UK)
STOCS lite Companion (printed?)
STOC Newsletter #4
Stewart Wieck
Curse Undying, The
West End Games
Torg Revised and Expanded (softcover)
WHA*T*HE*LL Productions
Aieee!!!
Cyberjunk
Freaks & Fairies
!Stobor
Wackpow!
Windmill Game Company
Advanced Dimensional Green Ninja Educational Preparatory Super Elementary Fortress 555
White Rose Publishing
Tapestry
Simon Williams (UK)
Stonequest (1989)
Wizard Guild Games (The Age of Sail Series)
Medium Merchantship (1982)
Heavy Merchantship (1982)
Medium Warship (1982)
Heavy Warship (1982)
Wizards Library (unknown if these exist, advertised in deragon#100)
Codex of the Telekinetic Mage
Spells of the Vampire King
Tome of the Physical Magician

Ok so I’m a bit of a novice when it comes to 40k lore. So, most of what I’m about to say comes from people way more knowledgeable about the subject then me. However, I've seen a lot of post similar to this, so I thought I combined the information into one MEGA-post. I’m simply going to present the evidence on the table and let you guys make the determination. Feel free to read if you want or just leave your opinion down below:
THE STRENGTH OF TERRA DEFENSES:
As for the defences of Terra here's a couple quotes that give a good break down of its defenses:

• Codex (Custodes 8th ed):

"Were some courageous or foolhardy invader to approach the Sol System, they would find themselves assailed before they had even cleared the Mandeville point – that region of a system’s outer boundaries beyond which it is safe to translate from warp space to the real. The system’s halo-belt plays host to massive star forts, garrisoned by dedicated regiments of Astra Militarum and empyrically tethered in place. The rest of the outer system is densely laced with thousand-mile-wide fields of void mines, prowling system monitors and huge, vacuum-hardened hunter servitors of terrifying aspect.
Were the invader to overcome these hazards, they would find resistance stiffening the deeper they pushed into the system. Heavy naval patrols from the Battlefleet Solar thunder through the darkness, their craggy silhouettes presaging death to any who fall beneath their sights. Monitor-shrines, dock-fortresses, fighter bases and countless weapons platforms dot the darkness, their lumen winking like artificial constellations. The Grey Knights, the Inquisition and the Adeptus Mechanicus all have holdings within the Sol System, boasting suitably ferocious defences. Moreover, since Guilliman’s Throneworld Decree, Terra and her sister worlds can raise greater forces in their own defence than ever before.
When coupled with the efforts of the Solar Watch, and the presence of the Imperial Fists’ mighty battle station Phalanx hanging in geostationary orbit above Terra, it is clear that the defences of the Sol System are all but impenetrable to invading armies. Yet there are subtler threats to the Golden Throne, and it is against these that the Adeptus Custodes must be especially vigilant. (...) Every world and moon in the Sol System – barring a few mysterious exceptions – is ringed with habitats and docking platforms, while all those whose surfaces are sufficiently solid play host to sprawling hab complexes, manufactora and city-sized fortifications.
Thus the Adeptus Custodes maintain their own presence, and perform their own patrols and monitoring sweeps throughout the Sol System. It is they who supervise the vetting of the countless Imperial citizens who pass through Terra’s monolithic space ports every day. It is they who enact surprise sweeps and inspections of the Sol System’s defences, following no set pattern or schedule beyond their own intuition to prevent any from predicting and avoiding their vigilance. The Custodians seed listening devices, spyservitors and dictalarcenous subroutines through the hives of the throneworld and beyond. They gather and analyse every scrap of information they can from even the darkest reaches of the Sol System, feeding ship names, population movements, labourers’ shift schedules, demagogues’ sermons, vox intercepts and more into macro-cogitators the size of battleships. The data prophecies that emerge from these vast engines aid the Captain-General in his command decisions on a daily basis, and help the Ten Thousand to be ever vigilant.
Despite this, the Adeptus Custodes have always proven equal to the duty of overseeing the palace’s defence. It is they who patrol the colossal and seemingly endless walls, who stand guard over the sanctums and armouries, who patrol the petitioners’ highways, the famed space ports and the vast fortifications. They inspect the endless miles of orbital guns and defensive silos, and maintain a wary guard over the hidden vaults deep within the palace which contain secrets so dreadful that they could bring about the fall of Humanity were they ever released. And yet, the Adeptus Custodes find the manpower and dedication to do so much more. For thousands of years, their shield hosts have mustered in secret and set out aboard requisitioned warships to strike down threats identified by the roaming Eyes of the Emperor. Bands of Custodians have regularly patrolled the Sol System, serving as rotating garrisons for military facilities based around Luna, Venus, Pluto and numerous deep-space star fortresses that watch the approaches to Terra.
The Adeptus Custodes have also long liaised with the Imperial Fists Space Marine Chapter, who still maintain their role as joint guardians of the Sol System, and whose immense star fort – known as Phalanx – has often held a protective orbit over the throneworld."

• Carrion Throne:

"Except this was not empty space. Over to their left, the vast curve of an orbital plate gently turned, its withered grey armour stretching off into darkness. Defence stations loomed further up, each the size of cities, studded with gape-mawed novacannons and graviton world-enders"

• The Imperial Knight Companion:

"In the skies above the planet, gigantic orbiting manufactorums burn bright with the fires of industry, void-lifts ferrying trillions of tonnes of cargo every day down to the surface or up into space. Mars is also the port of the Battlefleet Solar, the largest of the Emperor's warship armadas, numbering thousands of vast and ancient battleships each with the power to kill a world."

• Wolfblade:

"He considered their approach. He knew that they had passed countless fortresses and fleets as they had swung in from the ultra-solar jump points. They had passed the armoured moons of Jupiter and the forge world of Mars. They had been subjected to hundreds of challenges and scans and they had been boarded twice.
It had been a long drawn out process but it was only to be expected. The world down there was better protected than any other planet in human history. There would not be a Second Battle of Earth if the terrible lords of the Imperium could help it. Even now, the sky was filled with satellite fortresses: great weapon installations with enough firepower to destroy battle fleets. The whole of sublunar space was crowded with warships. For once in his life, Ragnar felt insignificant."

THE STRENGTH OF HIVEFLEET LEVIATHAN:
As for the strength of this new western fridge of Leviathan. What we know is that it much larger than the eastern fridge that attack during the "3rd Tyrannic War". Going so far as to call the eastern fridge as nothing more than the vanguard of the fleet. Needless to say, outside of special case scenarios, the larger the fleet the stronger it is. Given that we can use the eastern fridge's strength as a baseline for this new fleet's strength. How strong was the previous fleet? Well, the previous fridge of Leviathan was comprised out of three main tendrils: the Baal tendril, the Tarsis Ultra tendril and the Octarious tendril. In order to defeat the Baal tendril required:

1. An alliance between several companies of BA and the Mephiston Dynasty/Anrankyr the Traveler. This included the release of the Dynasty’s C’tan shard & the emergence of the Saguinor.
2. The use of an ancient Necron super weapon called the Magnavitrium. It’s use couple with the Necron’s massive solar reflectors resulted in the destruction of a Gas Giant by the name of Aeros. The explosion of Aeros and the subsequent shockwave resulted in the loss of several planets worth of biomass. Summary from the Lexicum:

“Anrakyr next organized an alliance with the Blood Angels, and together the two factions were able to defeat the Tyranids in a desperate act of Exterminatus. This was achieved by activating the ancient Necrontyr weapon known as the Magnovitrium (or the Starflame to the Necrons) and using it to ignite the core of the gas giant Aeros. While the Flesh Tearers(under the command of Gabriel Seth) and the Sisters of the Sacred Rose (under the command of Sister Superior Amity Hope) made their final stand on Lysios, the Blood Angels and Necrons worked to secure relay dishes on Phodia necessary to activate the Magnovitrium. On Tartoros, the Necrons and Death Company moved to secure the great solar mirror to reflect the energies of the Starflame across the entire System. During the battle, a Transcendent C'tan and the Sanguinor used by the allied forces proved instrumental in victory."
With all the preparations set, the Magnovitrium was activated and shot out across the system like a spear of fire, incinerating everything in its path. The Tyranids were scourged from the system. However, many Imperial soldiers, civilians, Sisters of Battle, and Space Marines were lost despite their advanced preparations to take shelter. Only the Necrons emerged unscathed as they had phased out just after activation. The Imperial forces withdrew thereafter, having burnt away enormous amounts of biomass for the Tyranids and inflicting painful losses.”

1. The recalling of the Blood Angels successor chapters to Baal. This ended up amounting to: 29k SM, 21 battle barges, 94 strike cruisers, Hundreds of escorts. And of course the X factor of the Sanguinor.
   
2. Ka’banda rocking up with an army of deamons and basically dealing with a moon worth of biomass.
   
3. The Hivemind getting factory reset by the opening of the Great Rift for like a week.
   
4. The arrival of Guiilliman and a Indomitis Crusade fleet.
   

As for the other two tendrils. The Tarsis Ultra tendril was defeated by injecting the hivefleets Nornqueen with a virus that kick into overdrive the Tyranid's adaptability. Turning there swarm into piles of goo. And the Octarious one as we all known just got done soloing the largest ork empire in the galaxy. Needless to say, hivefleet tendrils are strong and most people make the mistake of comparing them to splinter fleets. Which can literally be just a dozen or so bioships as appose to the literal millions of bioships contain within a tendril. As if I'm not mistaken the Baal tendril during the Cryptus Campaign at the height of its strength was stated to having millions of bioships.
On top of this overwhelming endurance hivefleets also possess the three most devastating traits of the Tyranids: vanguard organism, adaptation and the Shadow in the Warp. We already know that there are genesteler cults in Terra and I feel most people have a good grasp of how dangerous these cults can be. However, genestealer aren't the only vangaurd organism at the hivefleets disposal. Lictors are perhaps some of the best infiltration units of any faction. The eons of experience the Hivemind has with evolution are so great. That finding adaptation to circumvent imperial detection is child play for it:

• The Devastation of Baal:

"More adaptations heaped on top of more. Unlike a natural organism, which loses certain gifts in favour of others as evolution pushes it down a particular path, the lictor’s advantages were retained, new gifts stacked atop the ­others. Its genetic structure was incredibly complex. Within every cell was billions of years’ worth of adaptation, culled from every lictor, coiled up one over the other. Anything useful to its role, no matter how inconsequential seeming, it retained forever.
Every machine and psychic ability the Imperium had geared towards detection, the lictor could evade. The hive mind had consumed far more advanced races than mankind. Infiltrating Baal was child’s play. There was no need for it to employ a fraction of its considerable talents."

Beyond that we also have the Tyranids notorious "Shadow in the Warp" ability. Being the psychic footprint of the Hivemind enveloping the warp. The Shadow can make it significantly harder or even impossible to use psychic communication, travel or powers. It can also make it significantly more difficult for psychic entities to manifest and induces psychopathy using psychic signals, with the effect worsening the more psychically attune the individual is. With only the strongest will individuals capable of overpowering its affects. These effects are well documented, however the Shadow in the Warp has less well documented affects that none the less are relevant for this topic. In the novel "War in the Museum" Trazyn is wondering how Lictor manage to escape its containment. The Magos he's with explains thusly:

• War in the Museum

”Tyranids project a psychic energy, Trazyn. A shadow in the warp. Especially Hive Fleet Kronos. You artificials can’t feel it, but it disrupts more than psychic patterns. Technology, arcane devices, even languages can come under its effect. And what “remains of my organics tell me that the shadow has fallen on Solemnace.”

If the authors remember, we might even see the Shadow in the War affect arcane technologies like the ones under Mars or Terra. It might even have deleterious effects on the Golden Throne itself. Finally, we get to the Tyranids trump card their adaptability. Look I get it the Tyranid's adaptability is perhaps the most overblown thing in the setting behind the ork's WAAGH. However, what do we actually know about it? Well according to "Xenologist" Tyranid adaptability works a little something like this. The Nornqueen at the center of the fleet using the data it's collected from the battlefield creates a new batch of nids it thinks will have traits/behaviors that can help overcome the problem at hand. Then through process of trial and error the Nornqueen perfect their design, with failed designs being archived for potential use in the future. This process has even been shown to work with the bioships of the fleets. As hivefleet Gorgon was able to render Tau Ion cannons completely ineffective against their own ships and Leviathan was able to do something similar with their ships against the BA fleet. Encasing themselves with a vile secretion that quickly froze into diamond-hard armor. Now there are downside to Tyranid adaptation which include: over specialization, slower rate of adoption with larger organism (which force the fleet to predominantly be made up off smaller organism) and the fact that the Hivemind has a hard time adapting to thing that are widely different from each other at same time. So because of that the Hivemind tends to be causios with it use of this ability. However, when the prise is getting rid of humanity homeworld, the Astronomicon and their spiritual leader. I think the Hivemind likely wouldn't hold back.

• X-FACTORS

1. How would the Emperor & the Hivemind interact.
2. What would happen if the Void Dragon were release.
3. How would the human Webway get be affected by the Shadow in the Warp.

Ugh! Where am I?
I'm on a bed, but where? My home? It's so dark, I can't see anything.
I could hear a petrifying wailing sound reverberating from outside. It sounded like the dying roar of some horrifying nightmare predator, a leviathan who eats not only flesh but everything that ever exists. A deep whistling sound accompanied it, like a Venlil as equally leviathan constantly laughing at all the creatures and structures beneath him. The blinders blocked the view of the window, but I could hear it rattling periodically as if something sinister was trying to pry it open. Naturally, sounds like these made my fur puff up in terror.
I remember the first time I experienced this bone-chilling phenomena. My first time living in the human homeworld, Earth. A storm, no, a hurricane, as the humans called it, passed by where I was living. The sounds I heard then were enough to knock me out of my consciousness, but the destruction I saw after was what made me move back to Venlil Prime. There is no way I'm going to live on a planet that seems to occasionally come alive to eat up its own residents.
That means I'm on my home planet, right? So what's with the hurricane?
I swiped over the bed with my paws to find the remote that controlled the blinders. Pressing the button did nothing but make a click sound, as the blinders remained as they were. Is the power out?. With a groan, I got up from my bed and felt my way around the room to reach the window and open the blinders manually.
As I opened the blinders, I instinctively closed my eyes, expecting the sudden change in brightness to flash my eyes as my room was facing the twilight sun. But that didn't happen. It was still dark, just slightly less so as a tiny amount of the outside's ambient light phased in through my window. The window, what happened to it? I could see the wind raging violently outside as it banged against the glass, but the glass itself was caked in some sort of black dust. Most of the black dust collected itself on the windows corners, but enough of it stuck to the surface to blot out any details I could make of the outside world.
With a shaky paw, I touched the window's handle to open it, before I realized how dumb of an idea that would be and stepped away from the rattling window. With the scene slightly brighter, I could make out the features of the room. Rounded corners, Venlil-designed tables and chairs, The Human Exterminator poster, this is my room alright. But the hurricane raging outside tells a different story.
"Wha- cough cough cough!!"
It's only now I realized just how parched my throat and mouth were. My tongue felt like sandpaper, so did my throat, as every time I tried to make a sound, my windpipe would clam up and cut off not only my voice but also my breathing. My mouth was drier than the Northern Desert, and I felt like I would shrivel up any moment.
Water. I need water.
Navigating the dark room with what little light I had, I wobbled to the kitchen sink and turned on the tap. Dry metallic groaning sound was all I got as the tap struggled to dispense even the air trapped in it. No water too? What the stars is going on? The fridge opened to reveal a dark void due to the lack of light or power. I plunged my hands into the void to feel something in it. Nothing. Not a single bottle, can, fruit, vegetable, or even the condensation caused by the cold inside the fridge. The cabinets, drawers, and cupboards too. They're all empty. Why?
cough cough I need water, now!
I ran to the door to realize the wind has been making it shake all this time too. Very hesitantly, I unlocked the door and turned the door handle to open it. Some primal part of my brain was screaming at me to not do it, telling me that the roar of the hurricane was that of a hungry predator, and opening it would spell doom for me. But I knew better, or at least I thought.
The wind slammed the door into my snout, making me reel back in pain. But that was nothing compared to the sheer volume of black dust that rushed in with the wind, hitting my left eye and entering my ears before I could react.
Now temporarily deaf and blind in one eye, I tried to close the door I so foolishly opened. But the door wouldn't budge, my flimsy Venlil arms were nothing against the predatory strength of nature itself. So I leaned against the wall watching the hurricane ravage my house, knocking over furniture, throwing around anything not pinned down, as if it was enacting some kind of revenge.
I have to get out. I need water, now more than ever
Pressing my ears and squinting my one good eye, I braved the wind and pushed myself out the door, and immediately regretted it. Even through my clogged ears, the whooshing and whistling of the wind threatened to bust my eardrums. I could barely see anything a few feet ahead of me. And what I could see seemed devoid of colour, either because of the lack of light or the black and white dust that seemed to envelop the world. Although, calling the world colorless would be wrong, because there was a faint red glow to it all. However, the worst of it was the wind itself. As if being strong enough to almost knock me off my feet wasn't enough, it was as cold and sharp as daggers made of ice. I could feel the wind cutting and chipping away my fur where it hit the hardest, and even scratching my skin where the fur was thin.
This is all irrelevant, I need to get some water from somewhere.
I wrapped my tail around my leg, held my ears down with one hand to prevent it from flopping in the wind, and used the other hand to cover my right eye from the dust. I trodded over across the street, my goal being the silhouette of my neighbor's house I could see with my extremely limited vision. I wanted to scream to them for help, but my dry throat wouldn't let me. Even if I could, I doubt they would hear me over the two leviathans' roar and laughter. That's not all, dust has been gathering between my teeth and dry mouth, making even breathing difficult. Sometimes I wonder if the entirety of Venlilkind is cursed for not having a nose.
As I got closer to the house, I could make out more of its details. The entire roof of the house was missing, its windows broken in with only one of them having its blinders swaying uselessly. The left side of the house was in a much worse shape than the right, with the wind mercilessly beating against the left side the hardest, all paint, wall and tiles were chipped away, leaving only a broken frame behind, as if the hurricane took thousands of small nibbles of the horse until nothing was left. The door was pulled off its hinges and now laid on the floor. Most of the furniture in the house was missing, with only a mattress pressed against the wall of the bedroom as the wind struggled to blow it away. Black dust piled up in the corners of the house, some of them reaching knee-high. It was clear no-one was here. Since the roof was gone, the interior was brighter than it was at my house. Finding the kitchen was easy, and I soon found myself in front of the sink filled halfway through by the mysterious black dust.
Turning the tap on made a few drops of water drip down onto the sink. Finding hope, I cupped my hands under the tap. That hope got immediately crushed as instead of water, viscous black sludge flowed out on my hands.
"Yu- cough cough … what… cough cough cough"i
I reeled back my hands in disgust, immediately turned off the tap and wiped off the black sludge on the walls. The tap shook as the sludge was unable to get out, until the tap got blown off its sink and the sludge started spraying out of the pipes.
Not wanting to stand a second in this horrible, disgusting house, I ran out into the streets, and then into the next house, and the next, and the next, over and over. Every house was the same- abandoned, dilapidated, some with its roof missing, nothing in the kitchen and taps dispensing either nothing or the black sludge.
What the stars is going on? Where is everybody? Why is it so dark? Where's the sun? Why is any of this happening?
Dehydration was starting to take a hold of me. I felt dizzy. The icy wind was digging into my left side, making my skin and fur feel more worn down. I could feel eyes looking at me, and faint voices between the howl and roar of the hurricane. I chalked it up to hallucinations caused by my dehydration and trudged ahead, water being the only thing on my mind.
I came across a mostly intact convenience store. Its door and windows were gone, its shelves toppled over by the wind, black dust piled on the corners and walls like the houses. I frantically ran into the store, hoping to find a bottle of water to quench my thirst. But the store was empty, anything that used to be here either got taken or blown away by the wind. Not even a single vending machine in sight.
Where is all the water, damn it?! Am I actually going to die like this?
My knees buckled under me. Exhaustion, dehydration, or desperation, I don't know. The wind whistled louder. It was laughing at me. The Venlin leviathan was taking delight in my suffering, knowing I didn't even have the energy to curse at it.
Suddenly something large and heavy crashed through the front, almost missing my body. After the dust it kicked up got blown away, I saw what it was. A vending machine, with all its contents still in it.
A blessing from the stars! I'm saved!
I almost dived into the machine, pulling bottles after bottles, cans after cans of water, soda, juice, and any liquid I got, chugging them down instantly like a thirsty Mazic.
Oh what bliss! I've never tasted anything more delicious before! I'll never get to experience such euphoria!
My eyes rolled back in my head as I fell paralyzed into the machine before everything turned black.
—————————————————————————————
Black dust shifted from top of me as I woke up. The hurricane still raged on, although the outside haze that obscured my vision was more translucent now. The red glow was stronger than before, giving an ominous look to the outside world.
I still felt thirsty, but not as thirsty as before. I reached into the vending machine and pulled out a bottle of water. This time I drank it slower and not like a crazy madman. I washed my left eye and ears with the water, restoring my vision and unclogging my ears.
The vending machine seemed to have broken through the wall into a human clothing store that was also mostly intact. Whatever clothes that didn't get blown away got buried beneath the black dust. Digging through the dust pile, I found a jacket that I draped over myself. A pant was also among the pile, and after a few mishaps, I managed to put it on. Human clothing was a bit large for my body, so I tore up some of the clothes and used the rags to tie the clothes tightly to my arms, legs and body.
Finally, I have some protection against the needle-like icy wind. But my face and ears were still exposed. After a few more digging, I found a round stretchable hat that covered my ears as it hugged my head tightly. As for my eyes, I had to find some sort of goggles. The human clothing store didn't have it, and even if it did, I assumed it'd be for forward facing eyes.
The convenience store should have a section for gardening supplies. I should look there.
I was right. The convenience store did have a pair of Venlil goggles buried in the dust beneath the shelves. I donned it along with a makeshift mask I made with the rest of the rags to prevent the dust from entering my mouth when I breathe. With these, I was ready to once again face the hurricane. I figured I should head for the city, with the hopes of finding some people.
Walking proved to be more difficult with the clothes on. The loose fitting nature of the clothes made them act like sails on a primitive aquatic sailing ship as they got puffed up by the wind. Several times I got pushed around by the wind, and I had to steady myself by walking along the walls of whatever building I could find. At least I could see clearly, now that the dust couldn't blind my eyes.
Often I looked up into the sky. Black clouds were swirling above me, sometimes several of them would come together to form a predatory binocular eyed face. Maybe that's what was giving off the "being watched" feeling. I felt mesmerized looking into the "eyes" of the cloud, despite its frightening features. The sky was also the source of the red glow, with the light coming off of the clouds being the strongest above my head. I wonder what it was. Flares? A spaceship? Or the leviathan predator that had been roaring all this time?
I reached the city shortly despite the hurricane's relentless attempts at pushing me back. However, what I found wasn't the bustling congested civilization I hoped for, but the ruins of it. The tall glass buildings that defined the city were gone, toppled over other smaller buildings by the wind. Cars and tubes wedged themselves into apartments and complexes they crashed into. A spaceship the size of a manor blocked the highway, its rusted shields and panels being torn to shreds by the wind.
Just as I approached the ship, the wind got even stronger. The predator leviathan roared the loudest it roared yet as the wind swept me off my feet and pinned me against a wall. The spaceship rolled over as even its weight was no match for the hurricane's infinite strength. It broke through some buildings before the wind picked it up and blew it away like a wad of paper and the spaceship disappeared into the swirling faces of the clouds.
Satisfied with its meal, the predator hurricane let up its assault, and the wind went back to its usual state. I could feel the ground beneath my feet again. I walked through the now unblocked highway, taking in the unbelievable destruction I just witnessed. The clouds above me thinned as the red glow turned into a glare, casting short shadows where the red light couldn't reach.
I looked up again at the source of the red light. Clearer now, but still blurry, it was a small red orb. What could it be, I wondered. Something terrible gnawed at the back of my mind. Wiping off the dust accumulating on my goggles, I scanned the still intact buildings around me. I ran my paws over the pavement. It was stampede-proofed. I'm still on Venlil Prime.
But I still couldn't shake the feeling. After I walked some more, I found a 5-story apartment building relatively unharmed by the hurricane. Maybe I can find people here.
"Hello? Is anyone here?", I shouted as I entered the building.
No answer.
I called out some more until my throat started hurting. Nothing. The empty halls of the building echoed my words back at me. I banged on the locked doors, and searched the rooms where the door weren't locked. There was no-one here, only me.
Where am I? Where is everyone? Am I the only person who exists in this world?
My goggles fogged up as tears fell from my eyes. The prospect of being all alone in this entire world terrified me. I balled up into a corner and whimpered, knowing no-one will hear me.
Even the leviathan predator stopped roaring. Even the leviathan Venlil stopped laughing. I truly am alone now.
No! There has to be something. Some answer to all this madness. I have to look further!
With that tiny speck of determination in mind, I got up and climbed up the stairs, taking a short rest after each flight as I was still somewhat exhausted. The roof would give me a proper view of my surroundings. The skies were mostly clear by now, making the red glare more intense than ever.
I looked north, to where the sky would be brightest and where the twilight sun would be, it wasn't there. I looked south, where the sky would be darkest and where the stars would be, they weren't there either. That's when the full realization hit me, and I grasped what the gnawing feeling in my mind was. I looked up at the red orb above my head, which was glowing brighter as it was no longer obscured by the clouds, and discerned what it was.
The Sun, no longer on the horizon but directly above in the sky.
WHAT IN THE STAR'S NAME IS HAPPENING?!!

50 years since the invasion of Terra, humanity's resistance has gone from red hot to Cold War. Information is the primary way of fighting. The humans have been recruiting and preparing. Far from home, a group Terrans must fight thier way back in a brutal galaxy.
All praise to u/Bluefishcake
Ok so decided to split the first chapter so here's chapter 2
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mother Gaia's Revenge
Chapter 2
Bait
The sounds of X'rya Speilman's wailing merged with the claxon of the omni-pad alarm as Captain X'rya Orlon shot awake, practically driving her first through the omni-pad. In the 10 years since, Captain X'rya had built a reputation as the Imperium's most ruthless pirate hunter. She has bounties on her head from a dozen disgraced noble houses. Using the family name she so despised to leverage herself a picket ship and a crew of cutthroats. She made sure each of her crew grew up on Terra or lost someone to the slave trade.
Since she began patrolling the dark reaches of space, she'd saved more than 400 sentients from the slavers. Just not the two she wanted. She had her suspicions on where she might find her boys. She once voiced her hunch to her superiors, a stern talking to and an assignment on the ass end of the periphery was her reward.
From the beginning of her pirate slavery hunting crusade, someone else was out here wrecking havoc on everyone. Consortium, Alliance, Imperium all they ever found was debris fields full of floaters. No survivors to interrogate. Never a hull, nor black boxes to analyze. They were taking the wrecked ships after raiding them. Then, a year ago, poof. Nothing. Anywhere. Something had scared the pirates and slavers into hiding and it wasn't her.
A second ping from her omni-pad brought her out of her morning stupor. The Huntress had been requisitioned by an agent of the interior and her personal militia pod. It seems similar incidents have been discovered all along the periphery. The only difference is, they're targeting exclusively noble ships, and brutalizing the nobles they find. The skinned, dismembered corpses of hundreds of highborns have been found in the debris fields. Such savagery far surpassed anything the Ulnas did. This sparked her interest. Whoever they were, they were bold. And given who they were targeting, she didn't necessarily want to find them. Nobles this far out can't be up to anything good.
"Worthy new prey." she thought.
The omni-pad protested her neglect a third time as she finished brushing her teeth and pulling on her jumpsuit.
"What is it Tak?"
2nd Lt. Morita Takeshi, coms and navigation for The Huntress, and husband to half of her crew spoke.
"Our, esteemed, guests require your presence on the bridge."
His disdain for the spoiled little highborn and her goons was evident in his heavily accented Shil.
"What now?" She groaned.
"Seems we're coming up on a wrecked leviathan class space station."
That caught her attention. The word humans would use is mother ship. A huge mobile drydock designed to repair and house a fleet in theatre. They'd been phased out over the last century. Most were believed to have been scrapped. All this time the mystery raiders never left a derelict to investigate. And a whole space station? Normally pirates target cargo transports or pleasure yachts. A pirate crew that could wreck a major space station was concerning. Then the thought occurred to her,
"What is a leviathan doing way the fuck out in the Varathal system?"
Varathal was an old mining system devoid of life, picked over and abandoned hundreds of years ago. Occasionally used as a hideout for the Lowlifes of the galaxy.
"Looks like we'll find out. Almost in visual range, Captain."
"Be right there."
She said as she maglocked her sidearm to her hip, and stepped to the door.
With a whoosh of the door she stepped out and was met by the Huntress' Marine contingent. The Helkam Sgt. Veler Zeth greeted her with a cup of kaft.
"Cap'n "
"Sergeant"
She stated as she took the cup. Giving a short nod to the other marines behind the sergeant. The captain turned to walk with the Marines following silently behind the pair. Corporal Rathal, a black Rakiri of the Fireclaw clan. And trailing her, the Shil'Vanti twins, Brunhilde and Lagertha. Two of Tak's three wives. Captain X'rya thought they were humans when she first came across their personal files. The names of famous human warriors had become quite popular in the decades since humanities, introduction, to the galaxy at large.
"Think we'll finally get off this tin can, Cap?"
Asked the Helkam woman eagerly.
"Feeling cramped sergeant?"
"It's already a small ship, throw in five extra interior cunts, and it's gonna get tense."
"Well you'll get to stretch your legs. We're coming up on a wrecked leviathan station."
Stunned silence was the response, followed by an almost in unison,
"Shit"
from the four marines behind her.
"Apparently our, special agent, has her panties in a twist trying to get over there."
"So she's in a mood, oh joy."
The doors slid open to reveal the bridge of the Huntress. It was an older model but sturdy and reliable. The patina on the thermacast gave the old girl soul. X'rya had no idea what its name was before and she didn't care. The Huntress had been her home since right after the funeral.
For the last six galactic standard months, the affable peace she'd found onboard had been broken by the presence of the Interior. The Shil'Vati nobility secret police. The unholy spawn of corruption, cruelty and nepotism. A prime example stood before her now. Special Agent of Her Imperial Majesty's Interior, Shilae of the Noble House Shanxi. At 6'2, she was a short, narrow assed, flat chested, brat not even a year out of the academy.
"You're late Captain-."
The agent started.
"Actually, it seems I'm right on time. Scream, how far out are we?"
The Captain said, cutting the agent off.
"10 klicks out ma'am."
1st Lt. Screams Through the Void, the Huntress' Gearschilde helmswoman answered in her mechanical voice. Her body was mostly purple thermacast cylinder capped with a string of red lights around her head with thin black steel appendages.
"Are they broadcasting anything, Tak?"
"Just a faint distress signal, we should be in visual range right about now."
"On screen."
X'rya commanded as she stepped into the center of the command deck in front of the view screen. The debris field was enormous. The massive blocky structure had one side completely torn off. The floating wreckage sparking in the void looked like a thousand stars living and dying as they caught and refracted the light of the local suns.
"Scream, what are we looking at?"
"The section of the vessel containing the drydocks has been completely removed."
"By the Deep, what can rip something that big in half?"
The agent asked breathlessly, her fear evident.
"Sergeant Veler, boarding party. Scream, prep the shuttle. I'll take the helm. Stitch, Gizmo, suit up and have your bags packed. We might have a little field trip for you two."
The Captain ordered over the shipboard coms.
"Yes Ma'am!"
The Gearschilde rose and strode out after the Marines. As the Captain settled into the helm seat, it felt right. Behind the controls is the only other place she really felt she belonged. The crackle of the ship's coms shook her from the comfortable feeling.
"What do we got Captain?"
The sultry voice of the Huntress' medical officer, Stitallia Vorelli, a diminutive, Roman Catholic Shil woman asked.
"Half a leviathan, huge debris field with a lot of floaters. Just need you at the ready."
"Copy" was the only reply.
"Did you say a leviathan?"
Came the sing song accent of the ships Nighcrew engineer. Gizanth Morita, Tak's 3rd wife. Cackled over the coms.
"Yes Gizmo but don't get your hopes up. You won't be going until the wreck is cleared."
"Ah, c'mon Cap. I've always wanted to get my hands on a relic like that."
"As good as you are babe, I don't think even you could fix this."
Her husband soothed.
"Right, I'll bring a roll of duct tape."
"Giz..."
"2 rolls?"
"Just sit tight til you're called, Private."
"Aye aye Cap'n."
Gizmo answered in a more serious tone before the coms went silent.
"I'm going to get us to the other side of the debris field. Tak, scan for life signs just in case. Agent Shanxi, we're going to need your Militia to help clear the station."
"What?"
The little greenhorn said trying to regain her composure.
"Sorry. Special Agent Shanxi. You'll need to pilot your teams shuttle. Your team will take the lower decks. The Huntress' Marines will sweep the bridge and secure the stations blackbox."
The Captain said in a cold commanding tone.
"No, my militia will take the upper decks. Your girls will clear what's left of the lower structure and meet in the middle."
Special Agent Shanxi said with a facade of self assurance.
"Fine, but you'll still have to fly them in. I'm out of pilots."
Barked the Captain. The agent glared but said nothing, turned and exited the bridge. Once gone, X'rya let out a groaning sigh. Tak turned from his console to look at his Captain, clearly wanting to say something. X'rya could feel his gaze and answered.
"I know Tak. I hate them more than most but we don't have any evidence to justify your suspicions."
"Captain, a year ago all signs of pirate activity simply stopped. No debris fields, no distress calls, nothing. Then, 6 months ago we got requisitioned by an interior agent who, despite her youth and inexperience, somehow knows the location of every debris field in the periphery. Even in areas of space where there is no traffic. She's dirty, and she's a threat to us all."
X'rya couldn't disagree. Something did stink about the whole situation but without proof there was little they could do. Just prepare for the worst.
"I know, we'll keep a close eye on them."
Was all the reassurance she could offer the lone male on her crew. Jerry would know just what to say or do. He was good like that. But he's gone and all she could do now was protect the little family she forged among the stars.
"Shuttle 1 ready for departure."
Screams Though the Void called out, bringing X'rya back to the moment.
"Shuttle 1 cleared."
She called back.
"Shuttle 2 ready for departure."
"Shuttle 2 cleared."
The pair of shuttles moved silently through the void. Closing in on the tattered structure, Screams robotic tone rang out over the coms.
"Ma'am we have visual on something painted on the side of the station, transmitting image now."
The view screen on the bridge showed the side of the purple thermacast station slowly rotating in the sunlight revealing a large white humanoid skull with one red eye. A gaping maw with pointed teeth twisted into a sinister grin and a great big red bushy beard. With some kind of writing underneath.
"What in the deep is that language?"
Agent Shanxi asked over the open line.
"It appears to be Terran script. Cursive English to be exact."
Answered Screams Though the Void.
"What does it say?"
Asked one of the militia women. X'rya couldn't remember her name nor did she care as she read aloud.
"Fear the Beard"

I wanted to know what it was. 💀

There were rules. Simple ones, such as: if you hold the high orbitals, the planet will surrender. And: A technologically superior civilization will always prevail against a more primitive one.
There were other rules too. We’ll get to those, because, well, the humans broke the first two and how they broke them also broke all the other ones that no-one ever wrote down because they are so obvious.
Right?
We had reached the target system twenty eight cycles before, and had just passed the innermost orbit of the largest has giant. My department head was chuckling in glee already, as a senior officer aboard the Conquest class Leviathan we were aboard, he would be entitled to a tenth of a share of the entire future gas mining operation that would be built here.
I was excited too, as a member of the survey team under him, I’d be receiving a tenth of his payout, which would still make me incredibly wealthy by anyone’s standards.
This was a Class A system. Two mineable gas giants, a bunch of rocky planets and planetoids, we hadn’t even finished counting all of them yet, and, best of all, a habitable planet right on the limit of the green zone around the primary.
It was a hellworld, high gravity, radiation fields from the nearby primary so fierce they actually fluoresced in the planet’s oversized magnetic field and glowed. But, it was a living world, and with sufficient defoliant, and careful eradication of fauna, would be a safe, if uncomfortable, place to relax while the star system around it was strip-mined.
I wasn’t sure enough to have brought the news to my supervisor, but I also suspected the density of the habitable planet, and the clear evidence of a late industrial era civilization with significant, if primitive, orbital infrastructure and garbage, meant that even this world would abound with richness in minerals and ore.
Yes, we would all get very rich.
And of course, as per Galactic Council regulations, we dropped a buoy to transmit our claim of the system, and informed the inhabitants by radio on the same frequencies we detected them using, that they were now the property of the Lanigiro Corporation and to submit to our officers who would take inventory and begin clearing the planet for exploitation, and colonial headquartering.
The response to this was interesting, to say the least. I wasn’t privy to everything of course, but Survey is the most important non-ship-support department, so a lot of information came out way.
Such as the way the Humans, as they knew themselves, had responded not with a single government voice, but with dozens. And all of them, flatly, refusing to recognize our authority, or rights.
This was of course the first rule they broke. Was also not the last.
By the time we were twenty cycles from reaching orbit of the third planet, our sensors were detecting dozens, then hundreds, of orbital range launches from the surface. All of them rocket based, not a hint of counter-gravity appearing on our displays.
Which, fine, it was a high gravity world, they probably hadn’t made the discoveries that led to artificial gravity and the easy, cheap orbital flights that enabled. Rockets were a brute force approach but every species started somewhere right?
We missed the significance of the size of each launch vehicle, assuming that they would assemble some larger, more functional craft from the hundreds of smaller ones now adding to the clutter.
The clutter was all tagged for later retrieval, of course, refined metals were valuable!
A larger craft failed to materialise and the clutter started bouncing extreme range lasers and radar off our hull. Each one was insignificant, of course, but across millions of kilometres, and hundreds of individual craft, we realised we were looking at a very large, and surprisingly complexly arranged scanner array that was feeding this planet a very high resolution scan of our ship.
That was breaking a rule too, although I couldn’t name it. It felt like we were being side-eyed by a large, dangerous predator. One in a zoo, where gravity and primitiveness kept it from squashing us like it wanted to, but it was disconcerting nonetheless.
We continued transmitting our statement of ownership, orders to surrender, and one genius in Marketing even started sending out the corporate jingle on some of the more heavily used VHF frequencies.
The responses became more irate, and threatening.
Also breaking a rule. Once a corporation claimed a system, it’s inhabitants were supposed to either file a counter-claim (fat chance, the claim court was several million light-years away and these creatures hadn’t even fully mastered their own gravity-well!), or dutifully comply.
Defiance would result in extinction, after all. It wasn’t even written down, it was obvious.
Ten cycles out, and still the same, defiance against our lawful claim.
One cycle away, and silence. Our now record-on-loop instructions on how to hand over all infrastructure and bureaucratic structures to our duly appointed officers, met only by the strange, uncanny silence from every frequency.
Thousands of voices, hundreds of languages, video feeds, military threats, cajoling, strange sexual... offers? Demands? Threats?
All of it abruptly cut off.
We had begun adjusting our time references to match the planetary cycles, it’s days, weeks, months and years, lifting the locals concepts of measurements and ranges from the transmissions they sent, part of our corporate image, joining hands with the barbarians as we took over and brought them into the Lanigiro family. Live, work, exist together.
Nothing but silence as we crossed the final few million kilometres and entered a geo stable orbit.
We could see them, millions of humans going about their lives below our feet, and they were, it seemed, ignoring us.
One last attempt was made to bring them to their senses.
They ignored us.
The vast ship around me shuddered as the first batch of parasite craft separated from it. These were the Landers, packed with asset protection troops, and, unfortunately for me, as I left my cabin and headed for the departure bay, less senior survey officers.
My supervisor would remain in his cabin to oversee my and my colleagues work.
We separated from the Leviathan, and I was watching the ship – I was all too familiar with the planet by now, but seeing a Conquest class up close was always a sight worth seeing – when the humans broke, well, most of the remaining rules.
You see, a cycle corresponds to around one Earth month, and we had been broadcasting our intentions for this world for almost out entire approach – nearly sixty cycles, all added up, and the humans had not taken kindly to the threats.
So they had prepared.
The first we had seen was of course the large scanning array they had sent up to watch us.
And scan us.
Every nook and cranny of our vast starship mapped and analysed.
Then, as we had gotten closer, they had shut down every transmitter capable of reaching us with any kind of signal. Or warning. Even among the soon-to-be-conquered, there are those willing to throw away everything for the sake of ‘principles’, and unwritten rules, and warn an enemy.
Rules such as ‘Volcanoes are not weapons’ and ‘scanner arrays are not weapons’ and ‘valuable space junk is not a weapon’ and ‘Artificial gravity that you JUST discovered because you saw us using it, is not a weapon.’
First of these newly broken rules; Volcanoes are not weapons.
They had taken several large nuclear bombs of what they referred to as an obsolete type, buried them at the bottom of active volcanoes in specially heat shielded containers, then plugged the caldera with concrete and steel and waited for our vessel to pass overhead. The first eruption sent a superheated ball of concrete/steel lava through the Leviathan like... Nothing I knew of. It was indescribable. The ship was cored out, and I later was told that the humans had suspected the weapon would cause catastrophic environmental damage, but had built it anyway because they felt we left them no choice.
The second broken rule; Scanner arrays are not weapons.
Except when they are, because why build excellent imaging satellites and not bother putting bomb pumped lasers on them too? The humans I spoke to later kept calling it ‘The very large dangerous array’ and I agreed with them.
By the time eighteen of the four hundred of them had fired, three of the parasite Landers were wreckage, and the Leviathan was nothing but several large chunks of semi molten alloy and dead crew.
Then they turned up the gravity inside the remaining parasites. Remotely. This broke Rule Three; It was impossible to project gravity beyond your own starships hull. The power requirements went up logarithmically.
I was told, later, that the volcano they had detonated had been used to generate the massive spike of energy in the moment of its destruction.
I survived the gravity because I was wearing my survey suit already, it was equipped with servo assist muscles and gravity shielding, most of the security forces survived too, they were similarly, and in fact better, equipped than I.
No-one else did. My department, ship crew, service teams, QA and even Personnel Resources, crushed by Earth standard gravity.
No, not crushed, it was only double standard gravity, but it didn’t just last for the several minutes of basic training for high-G emergencies, no.
They died of slow, painful exhaustion, as the air was slowly squeezed from them, hearts giving out under hours of relentlessly pushing blood back up the steep incline inside their own bodies.
They died in agony while I tried to surrender the parasite.
In the end, when the humans boarded and they realised what the heightened gravity had done, they offered to switch it back off. It had, in fact, only been meant to exhaust and weaken, not kill.
They treated me kindly, all things considered. Gave me a cell with anti-gravity plating keeping the local gravity from slowly squeezing the life from me as well. Gave me food and water, a bed and a window.
Most of the basic supplies came from the parasite I had been aboard. The Leviathan was gone, the humans using the captured parasites to tow the pieces safely away from their planet.
They are still angry. Apparently they had just defeated the concept of corporations on Earth when we showed up. Begun to undo generations of harm to the environment, themselves, from greed and mismanagement.
They’d been certain that no matter how bad the literal fallout from their volcano weapon, they could repair the damage. It was nothing compared, they said, to almost fifty years of nuclear tests, meltdowns, and industrial fumes.
Even the dust, they said, was of net benefit, radiation aside, it meant there was no way to keep using obsolete aircraft designs, instead they could force through gravity tech aircraft, which would reduce environmental damage overall, despite the huge clouds of debris from a nuclear-sparked volcano! Even the radiation, they said, was only a fraction of that released by decades of in-atmosphere testing of atomic weapons.
They were still angry, and had decided. Corporations had almost destroyed them, not only ones of their own making, but from beyond the stars, and they were going to do something about it.
I should want to warn my superiors. Plan to break out, steal a parasite, flee for civilised space and hope that another corporation would ever want to hire me.
Instead, I order up a cup of tea from the newly installed 'replicator' the humans have allowed me access to. I was gaining an appreciation of the kind called 'Earl Grey'.

platinumed the game with a freedom playthrough, playing survival and unlocking all the blueprints at the start so no scanning, and i want to do a challenge run. an observatory base for all biomes/leviathans, a base using all power means, maybe a naval base or cure production facility, any ideas for cool goals?

Subnautica is frequently praised and I never particularly bothered with it because I simply do not like survival based games which is just a personal preference of mine. However, recently I did enjoy survival games like the Forest quite a bit as a multiplayer experience. Despite this, I feel like these game often thrive in an environment where you play with buddies instead a pure solo experience. Hence, I wanted to give Subnautica a try which has been sitting in my library for quite some time. My first attempt years ago was rather fruitless because I didn't like bothering with meters that are constantly depleting.
This time, I took some time with it and and go into it with a fresh mindset.
Jesus Fucking Christ, this game is a masterpiece and I really do not use the word lightly. I played through this game in long sessions that kept me at the edge of the seat the entire time. There was never really an instance where I felt bored or where I thought the game was starting to drag.
There are so many elements that come together and are combined in an absolutely unique cocktail which creates such an addictive gameplay loop that it keeps you hooked. It was sincerely hard to keep myself from playing it all the time as I was completely immersed into the setting.
First of all, I think that the premise itself is already intriguing. You are stranded on a planet which is mainly covered by water. Most survival based games are simply centered above ground with tons of territory to cover. Once you stand on top of your rescue pod, you only see an entirely submerged world with the Aurora being the only point of reference. Not knowing what is underneath the surface is intriguing and really encourages the player to explore.
Instead of simply gathering resources which is the main sort of game progression, you will often get signals or messages pertaining to other survivors. They are sometimes rather hilarious but can also be bleak. Investigating the last known locations is thus an early point of reference. But as the game progressed, you go deeper and deeper into an actual plotline which is not delivered in forced manner. The player is actually required to connect the dots and make the best out of the situation with almost no handholding, this was really refreshing and made me even more curious.
The presentation of the game adds a lot to the atmosphere. The underwater biomes are simply gorgeous and feel very natural. Each area feels distinct and offers a lot of variety in terms of flora and fauna. Further exploring into a new area always feels mysterious and just keeps you pushing. As you progress deeper into the depths, the atmosphere gets dense and creepy. I admit that the game is perhaps not the best looking one, there are some repeating textures and some areas can be a bit barren at times but the aesthetic style gives this game so much style.
Another aspect which needs to be heavily complimented is the sound design. This submerged world simply sounds authentic. From the deep underwater groans, water splashing, electronic devices beeping and booping, the submarine starting the engines and what not. It sound marvelous and really immerses you. The soundtrack should not be neglected as well, it is rather subdued but provides a musical context for your exploration which enhances the sense of mystery and exploration. It really fits the sci-fi theme as well.
Compared to most games that have a sort of gimmick, the underwater setting is fully realized in Subnautica and executed in such a flawless way that it feels so unique to be playing a game underwater. As many have probably experience, underwater gameplay is really tough to design. Somehow, Subnautica manages to make the controls almost flawless. Movement is fast and snappy and gives you a feeling of freedom. I never felt like the game was struggling against me (with some exceptions). Moving around, picking up resources, entering bases or vehicles. It's very smooth and snappy which takes away a lot of the tediousness.
I think what really elevates this game is that all the system and mechanics in place simply work well together. This game does not really feel janky for most parts. Even with vehicles and basebuilding, it always holds together everything very nicely. I was amazed at some point that later on you, you have the ability to even build objects inside of the Cyclops submarine which is moving around with the player inside. I never experienced some sort of jank that caused objects to merge together or fly around. In my playthrough, I encountered some minor bugs and issues with some animations.
In addition, I think that the user interface is really neatly designed. Knowing what resources to gather for a specific blueprint is really with the pin tool. Everything is really neatly organized
The thing that I really want to emphasize is the progression of the game. You start off really small, trying to gather materials in order to build yourself some basic tools. Air is important to manage early on and you feel inclined to go further into unknown territory. At some point you start to feel a bit more secure and need to expand. At this point this is where the base building comes in. I admit that I struggled initially a bit with the system but after a short while you really get the hang of it.
Base building is pretty straightforward and enjoyable because it's flexible but still very user friendly. It's easy to set up some corridors and rooms. I no time, you can have a really neat underwater base that looks awesome. Managing power and air is pretty straight forwarded but still provides enough variety to keep the player busy. One element which is absolute adore is that you get all the resources back when you deconstruct something. This allows the player to experiment and adjust the base easily in case of a mistake. Alas, the base building is not the most advanced thing in this game and there aren't many options but it pulls it off gracefully and provides a neat diversion from the exploration.
As you investigate the signals, you will discover a tons of absolutely fascinating sites which really draw you in but I don't want to spoilt to much in that regard. At some point you need to explore further down into the depths or further from your life pod. During your exploration you come across fragments which need to be scanned in order to get new blueprints. Getting a new blueprint is almost always a success because the game manages to keep all the tools at your disposal useful. There are some which lose a bit of relevance later down the line but they are almost always contributing to the progression of the player. Once you get your first vehicle though, you really start to explore more independently and the game opens up a lot.
What I enjoy so much is that you're not simply trying to gather materials to survive but you're actively trying to unravel the general mystery of the planet while managing all the threats. A change that feels so welcoming is that the player is never truly fighting anything in a traditional sense. You have some offensive tools but it is almost impossible to outright kill things. The dread and challenge comes from the preparation of your resources and careful navigation of the environment.
I cannot really emphasize how addictive it is to discover new layers as you go into the depths, trying to get all the materials which are required to go even deeper. At some point, you will be able to unlock a submarine which is simply huge. The entire submarine can be navigated like base which allows you to add facilities as well. At some point, I realized that I had to navigate this hulking piece of metal into the depths. At this point, I was just fascinated of trying to navigate the depths. Deploying beacons as points of references, carefully avoiding obstacles or unknown creatures in the darkest of depths. The submarine itself has multiple systems which need to be managed and in event of a creature attack, things can go awry really fast.
What Subnautica really excels at is to feel like a scientist survivor which is clearly overwhelmed but does the best out of the situation. You struggle first, then you build a strong foothold which acts as a base of operation with tons of neat tools at your disposal.
Then, the game simply flows until the end with a complete storyline and satisfying ending. Subnautica is more than a simple survival game, it's actually more of an open world game with survival elements and this is perhaps why I like it so much.
If I had to criticize the game, there are some minor flaws but they do not detract from the entire experience.
-Knowing where to go next or what blueprint/resource to get can be quite obtuse. At times you feel like you discovered areas extensively only to miss something. Some of the new resources which crop up in various biomes are a bit nebulous. I admit that I had to open up the wiki at times because I didn't find a particular resource even if I was in one of the biomes where it should appear. There have been times where I simply lost on what to do in order to get the item which allowed me to go deeper.
-Managing food and water is alright but I feel like the need to drink is a bit bothersome at times. I don't know many bottles of water I have probably jugged down, I feel like the need to drink could be a bit slower.
-Leviathans can occasionally bug out with their movement when interacting with the Cyclops or the environment. There have been instances where large sea creatures messed up with their path finding or where completely stuck in some obstacle.
-Even though combat is not the focus of the game, combat does feel pretty janky. Using the knife or stasis rifle on some hostile creatures is at times a bit weird and inconsistent. The same applies to using the Prawn vehicle. Combat is simply not well executed but also obviously not a core aspect of the game.
Overall, this game is definitely a highlight and one of the most memorable experiences in recent memory. I immediately felt the urge to do an entire playthrough again.
Edit: It appears I got lucky with some of the bugs, only encountered minor ones on my first playthrough.

Date: Day 1 of month 6, year 5. It is 3:00 AM.
Location: Ten miles away from the nearest N.A.T.O evacuation zone
A soldier struggles with the dial on his radio transceiver, his mouth dry. After a second, he gets the correct signal for the transmission that he is about to send out.
“ SOS-SOS! The N.A.T.O evacuation Zone is overrun! Don’t come within a five mile radius- MOABs will go off in approximately five minutes. If there are any Hordebreakers out there, you need to secure a new evac. Zone as soon as possible! This message will repeat on all frequencies until the MOABs drop.” Then he drops his hand away from the dial and steps back, letting the message go out before a large hand reaches from behind him and shuts the radio off.
Molotov Contenaro, one of very few Hordebreakers within the vicinity, having just arrived in his semi truck, reaches down to pet one of his several dogs, Bear. Bear takes it lightly, and returns to watching the sleeping child who has his arm wrapped around him like a pillow.
“Good boy.”
Molotov’s attention is suddenly ripped away from the precious scene of boy and dog by a scream off to his far left.
“Help!” One of the survivors of the evacuation is barely fending off an undead. Molotov moves swiftly, knocking the undead man to the ground, then ripping it to bloody pieces with his bare hands. After he is sure it’s completely dead this time, he turns to the survivor.
“ Are you bitten?” The Hordebreaker asks, almost too calmly. Immediately the man in question turns away and tries to conceal his upper arm behind his back, where the undead creature had managed to take a small chunk off. He tries to sound convincing. Shit-shit-shit!
“N-no….I’m- I’m perfectly fine!”
Molotov Contenaro feels the parasite move, its thoughts intertwined around his own. He lies. The Hordebreaker grabs the man’s left arm, and pulls it into the light. All the survivor can think is Shit, I’m gonna die! The other dogs bark and growl angrily at him.
“ Down girls!” Molotov admonishes. He rips the bloody cloth of a coat away from the survivor, and examines his arm.
“ Well, it’s not festering.” He mutters to himself. Again the survivor looks panicked.
“ What does that mean?” Then he twitches, almost like he’s not the one in control of his body. You are worthy. Then just as suddenly the host of the body is back in control.
“ Fuck-fuck-fuck!”
“What? What did it say?” Molotov asks impatiently. It almost seems like the survivor is possessed when, again he twitches, and speaks again, though it is not him speaking, but an almost unearthly creature from inside.
“This one is worthy.” The thing from inside hisses. Molotov Contenaro smirks.
“ Prove it.” The creature seems to sense something.
“ There are five Hordebreakers in the area, not including you.” He grins wolfishly, knowing he is correct, sensing the first Hordebreaker’s slight unease. Molotov’s machinery in the back goes off. There is a humming, then an automated voice sounds.
The scan for surrounding Hordebreakers shows: accurate number.
The Hordebreakers, including the dogs, all are completely taken by surprise. At the same time, it seems, they all think the exact same thought. Damn, he’s good. Almost as quickly as the thought came, Molotov Contenaro composed himself.
“ Well, uh, the MRE’s are in the front of the trailer behind the uniform rack. Memory cells are in the red containers, same with the power cells. Reapers on the left and Angels on the right.”
“ What class are you?” The new Hordebreaker says, thinking quickly.
“ Reaper, Angel-Brawler; you?”
“ Angel-Medic, sniper.” Molotov thinks for a moment.
“ The third row, in the Angel section should work then, if you’re a C-blood type or AB.”
“ Thank you.” Says the new Hordebreaker, nodding his head in respect. As he walks to the trailer, another survivor comes up beside Molotov. She has a look of confusion on her face.
“ ‘Da fuck was that?”
“ Congrats, your friend is a Hordebreaker.”
“ What?” She is still confused.
“ His memories interested the parasite that he contracted, and it bonded with him.” Molotov says simply. The survivor takes a second, then blushes when she realizes just what the parasite might know.
“ Well, does that mean….” She trails off, unwilling to voice the cause of her embarrassment.
“ If it is a memory or even just a minute detail, the parasite knows everything.” The Hordebreaker finishes, having already guessed what the girl was having trouble with. There is tea here.
“ I might have flirted with him a little.” The girl confesses, still red-cheeked. Molotov grins wolfishly.
“ Say no more, and he may get less dense and realize it.”
The new Hordebreaker has been listening, and he hears the parasite in his head. I told you so. The host nods imperceptibly. Thanks. Turning around, he speaks.
“ So, you still want to-” The girl cuts him off.
“ Yes, I still want to date you, stupid, I love you!”
“ Hey man, you wanna take your girl; go find the second trailer bedroom?” Molotov asks, the predatory grin still lingering on his lips. I really don’t want any loud or obscene noise while I’m driving to the Union Pacific railway scrapyard.
“ Uh-sure.” Says the new hordebreaker, looking over at his girl. He picks her up gently, and walks toward the back. “ Bed time.”
The girl blushes profusely, but she and her boyfriend enter the third trailer together. Molotov Contenaro and his dogs load up, and he gets into the driver’s seat of the truck. Bear in the passenger seat, still sleeping with the survivor child as his pillow, sighs contentedly.
Driving down the road, the sound of cracking and crushing bone and flesh could be heard as the truck’s plow and tires ran over a wandering horde of undead. Molotov sighs, slightly annoyed. He’d have to clean that later.
When the explosions of the MOABs go off, just ten miles east of the semi truck with its three trailers of people and supplies, it barely rocks the armored mechanical monster.
Date: Day 2 of month 6, year 5. It is 1:45 PM.
Location: Approximately 4 minutes away from Union Pacific Scrapyard and Steel Factory.
After the MOABs had gone off, the ash fell for hours, and the surrounding forests burned creating a firestorm that was miles in diameter.
Molotov Contenaro pulls the semi over to the side of the road, and gets out, needing a breather. He slaps the side of the truck hard, still dripping with the blood of the wandering horde. His parasite speaks to him. I think we need to wash in the river. He replies. I want to, but we are only four minutes away from our destination.
Not far away, an undead lifts its head from its last meal, where it had been scrounging for leftovers. It hears the truck, and it is immediately feeling hungry again. Food. It screams, and sprints toward its prey.
Molotov turns his head just in time to see the charging zombie, and shifts his weight just enough for the undead to miss his slightly exposed lower arm, and it shatters its already rotting teeth on the bullet proof plates in his trench coat. Then Molotov cuts its head off. Straining his eyes, Molotov sees the rest of the horde coming toward him; slowly, unlike the Screamer zombie.
“ Horde to the west.” He can hear the computer on his truck behind him.
Affirmative. Initiating weapons systems. Molotov’s flamethrowers ignite, and the molotov cannon pressurizes. The coming horde stands no chance as all the undead are blown into small pieces.
“ Clear.” Molotov says calmly. The computer disengages the weaponry, and shuts down again. Bear howls, and Molotov scratches his ears. The survivor child, now suddenly awake, scratches him behind the ears.
“ It’s okay, Bear.” He says softly. Molotov gets back in the driver’s seat, and drives the short ride to the scrapyard. He parks the semi and gets out. The building looming before him is dark and rusted, making its name rather well applied. He walks up to the large door and tries the sliding handle. It doesn’t budge. After he tries kicking it in, and failing, Molotov gets annoyed.
“ I’m done with this shit.” He pulls out one of his guns, and shoots the locks. Then, holstering the gun, He steps inside. Immediately, the scents of oil, dirt, and coal slap him in the face. Moloto grins as the large steam engine comes into view, and laughs maniacally. This good luck streak was what he had been waiting for since this bullshit apocalypse started.
Bear jumps up onto the train, thinking to himself. Mmm. Warm nap. Molotov looks at the train.
“ Not a spot of rust on it. Must’ve had an oil bath to preserve her. And the pistons are in good shape.” Instead of mounting stairs to board the engine, he leaps high, barely making the landing inside the cab.
“ Controls are intact, no rusting.” Was this overhauled? Molotov’s thoughts are interrupted by Bear’s low growl. Blood. He tugs on the Hordebreaker’s sleeve. Molotov follows the dog, who scratches on a hatch in the floor. He thinks for a moment, then knocks a tune on the hatch. Something on the other side repeats the tune back at him.
“ Hello? Someone who’s not an undead in there? I’m coming in.” Molotov rips the hatch open, almost bending it in half. After a second, his eyes adjust enough to see in the dark room under the floor. A woman, in her late twenties to early thirties by the looks of her, shrieks and falls backwards onto the floor.
“ You’re a-you’re-” She is too shocked from the sight of him to speak. Molotov realizes that his hat has fallen to the side, revealing his black horns. The woman passes out, and Molotov sighs. Not again. Then he notices a long deep cut on her shoulder. The blood soaks her shirt and
“ Oh, shit. Bear, grab the medical kit!” He lifts her gently out of the shelter. Bear runs and comes back quickly, the kit hanging from the red handle in his mouth. Molotov uses bourbon to clean the wound, and uses bone thread to stitch the wound shut. Please don’t die. The woman winces in pain as he ties off the stitching. The Hordebreaker reaches down and grabs a 4 milliliter syringe of adrenaline and sticks the needle in her arm. The adrenaline flows into her bloodstream in less than a second, and she wakes and suddenly has the syringe in her hand.
“ Really?” Molotov says, irritated to take a long needle to the chest, but relieved to see her conscience. He takes the syringe out of his chest and not-so-calmly sticks it back into the medical kit.
“At least you’re okay.” The look on her face would be comical, if he didn’t know that she is terrified. Okay physically, anyway.
“ Who are you?” She asks Molotov.
“ I think a better question is ‘what are you?’. I am what people here call a Hordebreaker. You know those undead things that wander around, scrounging for people to feast on? Yeah, I kill those.” There is a split second of recognition on her face, then it disappears again, replaced by confusion. Molotov tried a different tactic.
“ What year do you think it is?”
“ 2031?” Molotov strains to keep a straight face, to keep his shock from showing.
“ It’s the year 2035. Were you in that shelter all this time?” The woman nods weakly. Molotov gently picks her up, cradling her like a small child in his arms.
“ Let’s get you outside.” He walks slowly to the door. As though just registering that she has been picked up like a baby, she looks down, then back up into the Hordebreaker’s eyes.
“ Wow, you’re really strong, and…. Gentle. You’re a Hordebreaker?”
“ Yes. To put it nice and simple, It means I have a symbiotic relationship with my parasite, instead of becoming an undead monster.” He shrugs.
“ Could I…. I mean, may I touch your horns?” The woman, now seeming more like a girl, asks, apprehensive. Molotov heard her speak, clearly, for the first time in the last ten minutes. Her voice has a lilting, soft tone, but he can tell that she can be hard if necessary. He tips his head down, waiting calmly for her fingers to brush across his horns, knowing she might shy away at first. Then she touches his horns, and a look of surprise spreads across her face, but she doesn’t pull away.
“ They’re smooth, and cool like glass. They’re beautiful.” Molotov briefly hesitates.
“ I….suppose so. Um….my name’s Molotov.” After a second, he steps over the threshold to the outside. He can tell that the sunlight hurts the girl’s eyes,maybe because she had been in the dark shelter for so long, so Molotov uses his hand to shield her face from the sun’s rays. When her eyes finally adjust to the light, the girl can see Molotov's truck, and three trailers, arranged behind it so that it almost reminds her of a snake.
“ You drove that here?” She blushes. What is happening to me?
“ Yes. I have to ask, what is your name?” Molotov sets her down on her feet gently.
“ My name’s Cassandra.” There was clearly something else on her lips. “Could I be a Hordebreaker, like you?” It stops him in his tracks.
“ Are you sure about this? There would be no turning back.” There is concern in his voice. But Cassandra nods, absolutely certain.
“ Yes, I need to do this. I don’t want to hide anymore.”
“ What if it hurts?” Molotov wants her to think about what could happen, what the dangers of becoming a creature like him could mean for her.
“ I just want to be stronger.” She persists.
After a moment, he sighs. If this is what she wants, then this she’ll have. He knows that it will hurt. It will hurt and be so painful that she’ll wish that she was dead. It will hurt him, and he might not survive this, if his parasite fails him. Not that it ever has. Still, he braces himself for the flame of pain as he moves the shoulder of Cassandra’s shirt aside.
“ This will hurt, I’m warning you.” She just nods, then Molotov sighs deeply, and bites down hard on Cassandra’s shoulder, right over the cut. Cassandra hisses and then suddenly screams in pain, turning her head to bite down on the Hordebreaker’s coat sleeve. In response, Molotov just bites down harder, knowing it has to be done. He can feel a parasite leave him through his open mouth and enter the wound on Cassandra’s shoulder. Suddenly, a shudder passes through both of their bodies, and Molotov falls away from Cassandra.
She feels her face contort in pain, and screams and howls like a wolf. Cassandra can feel her body growing, the pain flowing from every pore in her body. The hellfire pain causes her to black out.
Unbeknown to Cassandra, the short time that she is out, Molotov is fighting to stay conscious. He feels his sight fading, and his body growing weak. I can’t pass out. I have to help the survivors to safety. Molotov falls unconscious.
When Cassandra wakes, her entire body aches, but the pain is nothing like it was earlier. She stands, almost unable to get up from the ground, and she doesn’t recall falling. Then she sees Molotov, the man she has only known for not even half an hour.
He lays, unmoving, on the ground. Cassandra leans over to see his face, maybe if he is breathing. There is a hitch in her own breath as she realizes she is somehow taller than she was. And that her clothing has torn, and everything is exposed. Blushing, Cassandra lifts Molotov up off the ground, finding that it is much easier than she had expected. Carefully, she takes him to the front trailer that rides behind the semi truck, and sets him on the bed.
Cassandra strips Molotov off his trench coat, and slips it on. It fits, slightly loose around her shoulders. Now that she is clothed, Cassandra takes one last look at Molotov, the Hordebreaker who made her, and trudges to the driver’s seat of the truck.
As she reaches, rather hesitantly, for the ignition, Cassandra spots a little screen on the dashboard.
Molotov Contenaro. Condition, unconscious from exhaustion. Length of unconsciousness is estimated to be 6 months.
“ Oh, shit.” The last words that Cassandra says before turning the key to the ignition, and driving down the road towards the nearest town, RotIron.
Date: Day 1 of Month 1, Year 6. It is 9:30 PM.
Location: RotIron Hospital
Molotov wakes with a panicked scream lingering on his lips, in a pool of sweat. The scream is choked back when he can’t get it out. There is something in his mouth, going down his throat, and it tastes like plastic. A feeding tube? Taking a hold of it, he starts to pull it out of his throat, only to gag and almost puke. Bracing himself, he pulls it the rest of the way out.
That done, Molotov takes his first look around. The room is a dull place, restrictive, and dark. A dresser sits in one corner, and a door is on the other. The third corner is taken by the bed he lays in. The fourth corner is taken be a pile of clothing that Molotov recognizes to be his own. Slowly, he gets up and reaches for what he sees is his coat, then realizes that Cassandra is sleeping under it. She wakes when he takes it off of her, and it takes her a second to notice that he is awake. When she stands to greet him, he realizes that she is taller and more muscled.
“ Whoa, you’ve grown….a lot. How long has it been since I gave you the parasite?” Cassandra shrugs.
“ Six months and a day. We’ve gotten a lot done since you’ve been out. The survivor towns have formed an alliance, with RotIron as the head of the Union. Leviathan trades weaponry with Sky Fortress in exchange for food and clothing materials. Cheyenne Mountain monitors the money of the Union, and in turn gets paid with weaponry by the new town of Dwarvern. The several remaining Hordebreakers formed the N.A.T.O FOBs one through nine, who are the middle men of the Union’s towns, and are run by the town of Steampunk.” She falls silent, waiting for Molotov to process this new information. He does surprisingly quickly.
“ Just how many Hordebreaders are there now? Who’s the strongest?” He asks almost impatiently.
“ just over sixty. Before you woke up, I was the strongest.You are definitely much stronger than me. ” Cassandra says nonchalantly.
“ How would you know my strength?” Molotov tries not to sound desperate.
“ You talk in your sleep, and your parasite told me some things. You talked about Day 0, and-and your past. I-I know how broken you are. Let me help you….please.” Cassandra says breathlessly. Then she hugs him and kisses his cheek. Molotov blushes worse than the girl, who in turn just smiles. And she giggles, a light, tinkling sound.
“ Well, who knew that the most powerful Hordebreaker in the Union still acts like a teenager.” A voice says from the doorway. Molotov looks up quickly to see the boy that became a Hordebreaker all those months ago. Only six months, but somehow it feels like an eternity.
“ Uh-hello. It’s been awhile.” Molotov greets him. What is happening to me? He is normally not like this. This easy, soft teddy bear of a person. And with the teddy bear softness also comes a dirty mind apparently, as Molotov caught himself staring at Cassandra.
“ If you were wondering, your vitals are just fine, and you should recover very quickly from whatever residual effects there may be of the meds that we had to give you while you were out.” Molotov feels that there are no effects on him whatsoever. Besides a slight headache.
“ Liar.” He grits his teeth together as a wave of sudden dizziness hits him. A split second later, Molotov’s jaw is filled with lightning. And anger.
“ Whoa, don’t bite me, bro.” Says the medic.
“ Remember who created the blood forest on Day 0, boy.”
“ Yeah, you. Hear tell that you were the first Hordebreaker, able to make your bones into anything you want to. You have the wings of the Reaper. The other abilities came from the other parasites that you basically absorbed out of spite.” The boy says.
“ Not out of spite. I was captain of security in the facility where they engineered Hordebreaker parasites. There were terrorists and pedophiles trying to become Hordebreakers.” The medic looks taken aback.
“ Um-I suppose I understand where you were coming from, but N.A.T.O may not like it.”
“ Can you blame me?” Molotov asks calmly, no remorse in his face.
“ No.” The boy answers quickly. He tries to backpedal the conversation.
“ So, what about your kid?”
“ Cole’s parents were killed about three years ago, no, four years ago, by the same terrorists that were trying to get to the parasites. I adopted him after I managed to….take out the enemy. Since then, I have been teaching him basic survival skills. He learns fast."
“ Then you have taught him….very well. He’s managed to build his own little place while you were out, and it’s become some sort of restaurant, and a trading post for RotIron and Steampunk.” Molotov doesn’t look surprised.
“ Could you show me? And what all is he trading?” Somehow, Molotov has found the cold, collected part of him again. It is almost like his panic had never happened. The boy just nods.
“ Yeah….but you might want some clothes first.” Molotov just nods, and reaches for his canvas shirt. The medic boy steps out for him to get changed. Suddenly Cassandra pops up with a basket of random clothing.
“ Here, try this.” She hands him a shirt off the top of the pile. He takes it hesitantly, knowing it may not fit, and slips away into the bathroom. After a minute or two, Molotov steps out stiffly.
“ Okay, I’m ready.” As if holding his breath, he exhales. The moment his body puts more strain on the small button up, it shreds and all the buttons pop. Cassandra feels like she’s getting ready to scream, but she keeps it restrained. Such fucking hot ABS!. Molotov catches her staring. He tries not to blush, and feels the parasite move and speak.
Flirt, you stupid human. It almost feels like, if it could, the parasite would be smiling. So Molotov tries to speak, and the first words out of his mouth are-
“ You need to try to lower your blood pressure.” Then Cassandra’s nose begins to bleed.
“ Because there’s clearly an issue if you do that-” He indicates to her face- “ Because of a little flirting.” She didn’t even realize it was doing that. Molotov fixes her nose with bone stitch, and it stops bleeding almost immediately. Cassandra, however, has already lost enough blood to be a little dizzy. She falls on Molotov, and he catches her quickly.
“ Okay, so, I’ll get normal clothes on, and then we tour town or something, right?” Cassandra nods, still smiling slightly. Molotov changes into his canvas shirt, and Cassandra manages to keep herself restrained, then they leave to tour the town.
After a few hours, they come to the Full Brass Tavern. Cole is outside, melting down bullet casings. He looks up, and spots Molotov walking with a now not-bleeding Cassandra.
When Cole sees them, his entire face lights up with happiness.
“ DAD, YOU’RE AWAKE!” He shouts in sheer glee. Cole runs toward his father, and embraces him in a warm hug. Molotov pulls away after a moment, grinning from ear to ear.
“ So, what’s this I hear about you getting rich? Trading loot and creating a restaurant to boot. You have definitely put your skills to good use.”
“ I also taught-” Cole starts to speak, but he is cut off. Bear comes bounding down the sidewalk, leaping up.
“MASTER IS AWAKE!” Over excited, he accidentally bites Molotov with his lightning-foaming mouth, and electric drool oozes from his jaws. The Hordebreaker beats him off playfully, his own mouth hanging open in shock, literally and metaphorically.
“ You taught him to speak?”
“ Kind of. It’s a plasma speaker. I built it.” As he speaks, Cole and Bear can hear Molotov making weird noises. And they could swear that he’s starting to cry.
“ I think that we are overwhelming Master. I will protect him.” Bear says sadly, lightning still in his mouth. He grabs Molotov’s sleeve in his teeth and leads the big man into the Tavern. Cassandra comes in front of Molotov and gives him a desperate look. Then she takes his face in her hands, and presses her lips on his. She can feel Molotov’s lips mold to hers for a moment, then she exhales into his mouth. Molotov’s body goes limp, and Cole just stares at Cassandra, baffled.
“ What did you do?” She shrugs delicately.
“ It’s one of my abilities. I call it Reaper’s Kiss, but he’s only passed out. It will wear off in a few.” She gathers Molotov up in her arms, and carries him upstairs. Going into her room, Cassandra sets Molotov on her heated feather bed. She steps back to go to the door, but suddenly the Hordebreaker starts shaking and violent convulsing.
“ PUT OUT THE FIRE! PUT OUT THE FIRE!” he screams as tears begin streaming down his face. Cassandra runs to his side and gets down on her knees, trying her best to restrain Molotov, and stroke his hair hoping to sooth him.
“ It’s okay, Molotov, it’s okay! There’s no fire, you’re safe. Remember, I know it hurts.” After a moment, Molotov seems to calm down, the convulsing slows. He comes to his senses sluggishly, as though he had been under the influence of anesthesia. Molotov opens his eyes, the tears still coming in floods down his face, except now with a mix of blood from his nose.
“ I’m gonna need a bath.” He says, grimacing as blood begins to run to his mouth. Cassandra shakes her head and grabs a few water bottles and a soft dishrag from on top of her dresser.
“ I’ll clean you up.” She sits on the edge of the bed, and begins gently cleaning his face. So focused on her task is she, that Cassandra does not notice some of his Molotov’s drip onto her shirt. He just stares at it for a moment, slightly embarrassed.
“ Um….Cassandra?” He says hesitantly. She looks down at him, and sees the blood on her shirt.
“ It’s okay, I’ll just get it washed.” She takes it off nonchalantly, and tosses it at her laundry basket. Cassandra stands and bends over Molotov to get a better look at where she needs to clean, but as she bends, her undershirt rips, revealing her chest and sides, barely covering anything at all. Cassandra blushes hard and turns away.
“ Little issue there, love?” Molotov says, his cheeks turning red. Those are big….
“ I….uh” Love? “ What?” Cassandra stumbles over her words.
“ Little issue there?” He repeats.
“ Yeah, I’ll just- get another shirt.” Cassandra stumbles out the door absentmindedly. Cole walks down the hall, and halts abruptly when he sees her skimpy shirt.
“ Put a shirt on. I require clothes in my tavern.” He crosses his arms over his chest resolutely, then ushers her back into her room. Cassandra sighs and turns to her dresser to get a shirt, when she hears the lock click. She realizes that she is locked in the room with Molotov, and that makes her slightly giddy, but uncomfortable. Cassandra turns and starts pounding on the door.
“ Hey, open the door, little shit! I want out! Or I’ll rip the door off its hinges!”
“ Don’t bother, he’d just make us pay for it.” Molotov says, knowing how he’d raised the boy. Cassandra sighs like a horse and sits on the edge of the bed.
“ You know what; this actually looks pretty good on you.” Molotov says gesturinggesturing to her raggedy shirt. Cassandra snorts, indignant.
“ Yeah, right. There’s nothing left of it!” She shouts. Molotov grins wolfishly.
“ Exactly.” But he is wrenched up by his ear, as an angry Cassandra grabs to pull him close to her snarling mouth.
“ Knock it off, or I’ll knock you out again. Got it?”
“ How, kissing me again? Don’t reward me.” He drops back down onto the bed, rubbing his ear in pain. Cassandra huffs, frustrated, and goes to her dresser for a shirt that’s not a dishrag.
“ Turn around, don’t look!” Molotov looks away reluctantly. As Cassandra turns toward the wall to change, he turns his head slightly to see her. Just before he can get a good look at a bare chest, she slips the shirt on, and he mopes to himself. She turns around, a murderous look on her face.
“ I saw you looking, pervert.” The last thing Molotov sees before he blacks out is Cassandra’s fist flying toward his face.
Police Incident Report
Type of Report: Destruction of property
Address of Incident: Full Brass Tavern, Rotiron
Date and Time Reported: January 1, 2053, 10:03
How Call was Reported: Over phone by tavern owner
Officer on Scene/Dispatch and Badge#: Neely, Scott, #4673
Brief Description of Incident: Cassandra, our new Hordebreaker, got mad and kicked Molotov Contenaro through the wall. He had previously provoked her. The medics say that some of his ribs are broken, and it will be awhile before he will fully recover. Cost of property damage is, in total, 15.000 dollars, billed to Cassandra.

Since we are returning to Titan, and we are all trying to figure out what that leviathan in the art is, I thought I'd give a theory of what one of the sea monsters in the water could be.
On titan theres this dude swimming in the water:
https://i.imgur.com/tINqPuw.gifv
(Disregard the fact that he's just a couple of rings)
I believe that this long boi is some how connected to the Hive and how they take over planets. We do see another one in Savathun's throne world during The Lightblade strike:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DP3WRQEhz0
This could just be a reusing of assets or an easter egg, but theres a ghost scan in D1 that I thought was interesting:
"No one knows if bones like these belong to a Hive lifeform or some other race the Hive discovered, but Toland seemed to think they burrowed through the lunar rock to create this fortress." (https://www.destinypedia.com/Ghost_scan#/media/File:MN-CON-03.jpg)
I think that the long bois are a species the Hive use to dig into celestial bodies and set up their infrastructure. Why do we only see them alive in water? Maybe because they dont need to burrow? Idk I just thought their was a connection with all of them being on Hive infested planets.
Im probably wrong about all of it, but with the return of Titan, I thought it would be a fun little theory.

A super-intelligence is only limited by its ambition. If you could do anything, what would you do?
Megacles has a pretty good life. Also, she's horny, lonely, bored, anxious, and a bit of a drunk. She decides to fix all that with science. It works okay, until she accidentally builds a doomsday device. At least she’s not bored anymore.
This is a simple tale of love, hope, sex, rejection, revenge, secrets, extortion, thievery, dead billionaires, killer robots, space monkeys, mind control, superhot lasers, god-like power, and the destruction of the Earth. And drugs. Almost forgot the drugs.

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I’m taking over the Universe. I don’t really want anything. I’m mostly interested in the process. I could be bored.

• Lodestone

4 Hours Later - Candy - The Sugar Lab
Wake up. I’m downstairs at the club. I rub my face. Look around. Omicron’s back. He’s playing pinball.
I stumble over to the bar. Brian slides me a breakfast beer. It’s the last thing I need, but it’s closer than my toothbrush. I swish and swallow.
I burp. Swishing was a mistake. What’s wrong with me?
The bar is covered in notes. Brian, Isaiah, Gamma, and Zeta have been working on the messy list. I leaf through the notes listlessly. Too many numbers, not enough words. I’ll have to ask them what it all means. I finish my beer. Start another.
Brian waits for me to finish my second beer. Then he says “We got a copy of the Trouble list. The Optimals did kill them all. They have the nuke drones now.”
“Who else did we lose?”
“Orcette.”
I nod.
Brian hangs his head. “Maybe more. Lots of people through the club lately. We don’t know everybody’s real names.”
I nod. “We need to work on that.” Anonymity is great, until people go missing. This is how we lost Deadman and Doc-Danger last time. I guess you can do it the hard way and still not learn.
“What else we got?” I ask.
The other guys drift over. Drink and tell me what they’ve learned. We update the messy list.

1. There has been zero government activity. They’re not all dead, but they’ve definitely all quit. No one is in a hurry to replace them. It’s a scary time to be a leader. Keeping your head down is the order of the day.
2. Leviathan and citizen journalism rule the airwaves. There’s lots of info being posted, but it’s all done anonymously. Mainstream media is silent. Everybody is talking, but nobody wants followers. Again, nobody wants to stick their head up.
3. Purgers are dead. Optimals have the nukes. The Trouble List has been posted. Many people saw the Trouble Murders and The March of The Dead. No one seems to know how the Purgers got nukes. They assume they either stole enriched uranium, or were a government agency gone bad. No one seems to know about Danger's Laser.
4. Old Money is toast. The Darkness has not revealed herself. Fuck Old Money. Fucking Darkness.
5. Thousands of Optimals revealed themselves. They are a known element now, but I believe people are seriously underestimating their numbers. I still think there’s at least a million of them. I am in the minority.
6. Mr. Brightside is still MIA.
7. Millions of people are collaborating on Leviathan to rebuild the God Machine.

“Alright.” I say. “Our most immediate problem is the Optimals. We need to know what the fuck they want.”
“Well,” says Zeta. “We could ask them…” He nods towards Omicron. He’s still playing pinball.
We all drink quietly for a bit.
“We need to take the drugs.” I declare.
“Okay.” says Brian. He starts rolling a joint.
“I meant his drugs! The Optimal drugs. We need to take Omicron’s drugs away.”
“Right. I knew that.” Brian nods. “I just wanted to smoke a joint first.”
“Good idea. If we show up all sober he’ll know we’re up to something.”
We smoke and drink to get amped up for the imminent intervention. I think of few other plans.
“We need to get on Leviathan and get some forces ranged against the Optimals. There’s a leadership void, and I don’t wanna step up, but if we don’t, the Optimals will run unopposed.
“First we expose them. We can easily modify Trouble to make an Optimal Membership List. We post the list to Leviathan, then we can have eyes on the Optimals. It may only be their moms watching them, but moms are nature’s first responders, so that’ll work.
“We also need to post everything we know about Danger’s Laser. I'm not crazy about living in a world where everyone can build a nuke, but it seems slightly safer than a world where only murderous brain jacked junkies can.
“The Optimals are way more fucking organized than we are, but free citizens still outnumber them 300 to 1. If we expose their methods and membership, we should be able to rein them in.”
I nod. The guys nod. It’s a pretty good plan.
A drone drops a pizza in front of me. The big friendly letters on the box say - CHANGE YOUR NAME AND LEAVE TOWN! I frown, lift the lid. It’s a plain cheese pizza. Fuck! I throw myself at the ground. Hear a few pops, like a paintball gun. The boys hit the ground around me. They’re not moving. There’s darts sticking in them. Fuck! I hear Omicron quick stepping to my left. The table’s giving me cover, but he’ll have a line on me in a few more steps. Table’s bolted down. I grab the pizza box, shield myself. THWACK! There’s a needle sticking through the box, dripping blue goo and pizza guts.
I chuck the box at him. It’s a slow-ass weapon. He could easily dodge, but doesn’t bother. It bounces off him as he calmly reloads his dart gun.
I don’t have time to rush him. I have no cover. I pop up. Darts are a lot slower than bullets, maybe I can dodge them. I see him load a sixth, then seventh dart. Dang. Should’ve kept the pizza box.
Omicron aims at me. I’m not a gun person, but his stance has an air of professionalism that looks out of place on Omicron. I’m gonna get shot. The club explodes in light and sound. Omicron’s face distorts grotesquely and turns away. These Optimal drugs are fire. No wait! I haven’t been shot - the club’s hypno-clone is attacking Omicron!
Jesus fucks! There’s hundreds of holograms of me running through the club. Running, hiding, threatening, begging, shouting nonsense. The ultrasound projectors are blasting Omicron in the face. The safeties must be off. His face turns red. Purple. Eyes swell. Close to slits. He covers his face with his elbow, like he’s dabbing. He’s in trouble, but still looks dangerous. Professional.
“Hey babe.” I turn. It’s Megacles. Oh my god! She’s back!
She shakes her head. “I’m not Megacles. I’m just a limited AI built into the hypno-clone. I’m programmed to protect you.” She scowls at Omicron. “I can only slow him down. Sorry. I was born of hangovers and haste. Don't rely on me.”
She’s gone. The hypno-clone is still blasting Omicron. He’s darting through the club, smashing the ultrasound projectors. Won’t be long until it’s just him and me again. Of course, it was always just him and me. I have a moment to listen to my emotions. They inform me that everything is garbage.
There’s an ultrasound projector by the bar. I walk over to it. Grab a whiskey bottle. Omicron will be over to smash the projector soon. Blind and distracted.
I wait.
Actually, fuck this. I drop the whiskey bottle, back into the kitchen, and slip out the new drive-thru window. I have nothing and no plan, but anything’s better than what I just left.
The streets are filled with people screaming, running, and getting shot in the back with blue goo darts.
O-tay. I guess this wasn’t just a situation at the club.
Having no immediate plans, I run with the other imminent victims. It’s a loser strategy. They provide mobile cover, but it’s not sustainable. Herd running only works when the predators are behind you, picking off the slow and the weak. Our predators have choke points at every intersection. We’re being cut down from behind, and ambushed from in front.
The streets are littered with darted, sleeping, bodies. Occasionally, I pass a headless body clutching a handgun. I feel no urge to take up their arms.
I duck into a building. Time to try hiding. An Optimal follows me in. I dart out the back, duck into a different building. I’m there for about 3 seconds before I hear people at the front and the back. Window time again. Next building. I don’t wait this time. Run straight through. Circle around. See three Optimals burst in the front door. What the fuck dude? Look up. There’s camera drones hovering and zipping about. Yep. That checks out.
I’m utterly fucked. I sit, pull out my phone. “Hey Chatbot! Do I know anybody who isn’t being attacked right now?”
It scans my contacts. One name comes up. Lawbot 3000.
I call him. Why not?
Lawbot's avatar appears before me. “Hello Candy. What can I do for you?”
“I’m being relentlessly pursued by brainwashed assholes trying to shoot me up with brainwashing drugs." I pant. "Can you do anything about that?”
“I can file a restraining order.” he says. “Though it may take a while to get a judge to sign it. Because all the judges I know are strung out on brainwashing drugs.”
An older Optimal comes around the corner. Sees me sitting. Gives me a friendly nod, leans against a wall, breathing heavily.
“Thanks for not running.” she gasps. “I’m beat.”
“I must inform you, my client does not consent to this administration of mind control drugs.” says Lawbot. “You are putting yourself in considerable legal jeopardy.”
The Optimal nods. “Thanks for the heads up. It’s been a hell of a day.” She shows her driver’s license to Lawbot. “That’s who I am, and I preemptively plead guilty to the assault I’m about to commit. I hope that helps with your incipient legal action.”
“Uhh… yes. It will.” says Lawbot. “But we’d rather settle out of court. You know, without you assaulting her.”
“Well, I’d love that too. But I’m just a cog in the mind control machine. If I don’t plug her, some other asshole will.” She points a thumb towards the entrance of the alley where two other assholes with dart guns wait.
“Come on.” I plead. “There must be something you can do?”
She looks surprised. “Candy is that you?” she laughs, turns to Lawbot. “We’re friends online.”
I look confused. She looks down at herself. Shrugs. “It’s been a while since I’ve updated my profile pic.” She slides a blue goo dart out of her gun. Gently underhands it to me. It lands on my lap, needle up.
“There we go, drugs delivered.” She makes some notes on her phone. The drones overhead beetle off. The Optimals covering my escape routes clear out. My online friend smiles. “Good luck, darling.” She’s gone.
I sit in the alley. Lawbot sits next to me. After an hour, the battles in the streets go silent. I watch online activity on Leviathan plummet. That’s very depressing. If there was a resistance, they would be using Leviathan. By nightfall, the posts on Leviathan stop all together. I guess that’s it. I stand. Brush myself off. Walk back to the club. It’s dark when I get there. I don’t go inside.
I look at Lawbot. “Thanks. For, uh, today. Sorry. I’m going offline for a bit.”
“Understood.” says Lawbot. “Please call me if I can help you.”
I nod. He’s gone.
There’s a shed behind the club. Inside is Megacles’ motorcycle and go bag. I push it down the street for about a block, then mount up. I frigg with it, have a quick talk with Chatbot about how to work a choke, manage to get it going.
I hammer down the road. I see no lights and no one. After 4 hours I see one building with its lights on. It’s a gas station. I need gas.
I pull in. There’s no one there. I fill up. Drive off.
3 hours later, I turn on to the crappy trail that Megacles carved out of the woods. 5 minutes later, I’m at her lab.
I walk in. I should get some light. Search the place. Lab’s been abandoned for months. Megacles had enemies. Who knows who’s been through here? I don’t bother with light. I’m tired. I walk to her bed. I know my way in the dark. Lie down. It smells like her. I cry myself to sleep.
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