His father spoke little to them of Trinity. Mostly he’d read it in the
literature. Lying face down in the bunker. Their voices low in the darkness.
Two. One. Zero. Then the sudden whited meridian. Out there the rocks
dissolving into a slag that pooled over the melting sands of the desert. Small
creatures crouched aghast in that sudden and unholy day and then were no
more. What appeared to be some vast violetcolored creature rising up out of
the earth where it had thought to sleep its deathless sleep and wait its hour
of hours.
It was his father who took her to see all those doctors. Who sat at the
kitchen table in the old farmhouse and stared out across the fields to the
creek and the woods beyond. He’d written in a notebook things she had said
that he could not understand and he read them over and read them over until
in the end perhaps he came to realize that her illness—as he called it—was
less a condition than a message. He’d turned more than once to see her in
the doorway watching him. Fräulein Gottestochter bearing gifts of which
she herself would at last be no advocate.
His father. Who had created out of the absolute dust of the earth an evil
sun by whose light men saw like some hideous adumbration of their own
ends through cloth and flesh the bones in one another’s bodies.
He’d looked for his father’s grave in the ratlands of northern Mexico but
he never found it. Talking in his bad Spanish with officials in soiled shirts
who watched him wordlessly and did not even pretend to think him sane.
On the streets of Knoxville he met someone from his childhood who asked
with no apparent malice if he thought that his father was in hell. No, he
said. Not anymore.
He’d sit sometimes in the little church at San Javier. The long quiet
afternoons. The women in their black shawls would try their best not to
steal a look at him. A stone font with stone infants. The cheap boards
behind the altar had been painted gold and the plastered walls of the church
were painted with flowers which were visited by mothlike creatures,
drifting through the paneled light, one, the next. He’d thought at first they
might be hummingbirds but then he remembered that there were no old
world species of them. He lit a candle and dropped a peseta into the tin box.
He walked out along the headlands. In the distance the thunder rolled
across the dark horizon with a sound like boxes falling. Unusual weather.
Lightning thin and quick. The inland sea. Cradle of the west. A frail candle
tottering in the darkness. All of history a rehearsal for its own extinction.
In the morning there was a spider on his blanket. Its sesame eyes. He
blew at it and it scuttled away. Some dream of his father. Later in the day he
remembered. A wasted figure shuffling along the corridor of the shabby
clinic. Pushing a wheeled stand before him with his tubes and vials. Days
perhaps from death and a nameless burial in the hard caliche of a potter’s
field in a foreign land. Who stopped and turned with his watery eyes. Paper
slippers and a stained white gown. Where is my son? Why doesnt he come?

Basic Modular Sorting System v1 created by Defango
Here is the Basic Modular Sorting system I use in game to keep my stuff organized. Basic 9 box system that uses the Facepunch Category filters to sort your loot in a simple way. I included a connection from the resource box to the TC for Upkeep and can be split out to accommodate connected TC's for Clans. You can add more boxes in-line if you need more room for filtered items. You can also add drop boxes before the buffer box for more places to stash into the core. This setup is ideal for small and large bases with an open core in mind. Still works with doors and windows but repeated opens and closes will make you have to redo the pipes from time to time. Then we connect the boxes into one line to be split off for automated furnaces, oil refineries, crafters. Those would be looped back into the first boxes open Storage adaptor port to complete the system. You can start off with less boxes and just combine more filters onto conveyers. One thing to note is that on some modded servers with items that don't normally stack wont be moved by the conveyers. It also seem that damaged items sometimes cause issues when it tried to stack them with full health items. They will just sit in the boxes as well as some holiday items that facepunch didn't give a filter to in the game code. It's been tested on vanilla and modded and works pretty good.
Component List:

• 4 x Solar Panel
• 1 x Medium Rechargeable Battery
• 3 x Root Combiner
• 4 x Electrical Branch
• 1 x Blocker
• 1 x OR Switch
• 5 x Industrial Combiner
• 6 x Industrial Splitter
• 9 x Industrial Conveyor
• 13 x Storage Adaptor
• 9 x Large Wood Box
• 1 x Tool Cupboard

Crafting Cost:

• 25 High Quality Metal
• 3950 Metal Fragments
• 3250 Wood
• 5 Tech Trash

https://www.rustrician.io/?circuit=c63310ad489e730fb4a68a739996f4e0

Hello! My 1 yr old cat had a UTI about two weeks ago. The signs leading up to it were that she began pooping outside the litter box in piles, followed by a pee outside the litterbox. After the pee incident we took her to the vet and they confirmed she had a UTI and gave her an antibiotic shot and some anti inflammatories. We also gave her probiotics.
She has since resumed peeing in the litter box again. She seemed to be fearful of her old litterbox, so we replaced them all and she seems fine with them now, however every time she poops she starts in the litterbox and then SPRINTS out. Like full on sprint, losing traction on the floor kind of sprint. As she’s running around, she drops poop nuggets everywhere.
We mentioned this to the vet and took in a fecal sample. She didn’t have parasites or anything.
Does anyone have recommendations on anything else we should be looking for, or ways to coax her into staying in the box for pooping?

• Species: feline
• Age: 1 yr 3 months
• Sex/Neuter status: female spayed
• Breed: tabby
• Body weight: 11 lbs
• History: had to have emergency surgery for intestinal distensión around 4 months old. She had some trouble after that using litterbox but we got her back in. Recently had a UTI that has since resolved. Parasite/worm free.
• Clinical signs: poop nuggs everywhere
• Duration: 2 weeks
• Your general location: USA

Here's the second part of Act IV. Sorry for the double post but I had no choice due to the website's limitations.
​

Act IV: The Clouds Burst (2/2)

To the Panic room
Frightened by the new attack, Biosyn's board of directors leave the auditorium and, guided by their escort, they head for the panic room. Meanwhile, the employees finally manage to rush out of the burning cafetaria and while some surrender to the Italians and the Austrians, others rush to the metro station or the garages in order to flee to the Biosyn village, and a fraction try to make a run for the panic room but their way is blocked by a group of guards.
On their way to the panic room, the board of directors is partly caught in a stampeding crowd. Zoe Murdoch is pushed on the ground, trampled and left behind while Nathan Quinn abandons his fellow board members.
The wage of treachery
While she also started heading to the garages, knowing that Dodgson must be there, Bigelow is attacked by Massoud. They fight but despite her skills, Massoud is a stronger opponent and he overpower Bigelow. But just as he is strangling her, the grey guard is tased by Kayla and falls unconscious. The smuggler helps the CIA agent get up and they hurry to the garages.
The raiders
Meanwhile, the mysterious soldiers have reached the laboratories, killing everyone in their path, be they Biosyn guards and mercenaries, scientists who tried to save their work, or besiegers (including Luis Olivares).
They cross the different labs. In Dr Lesser's, Wu hides from them as he is still locked up. The raiders ends up reaching their objective: The locusts' lab. When they see the nine empty rooms, the raiders seem worried and frustrated, implying they came to do something with the locusts. They then has the remaining group gassed and we see the locusts taking flight and then starting to drop dead on the floor. While some of the raiders then raid and destroy the rest of the Locusts' lab, other squad members then free the animals contained in the cages of another lab.
In the lower levels
While crawling and climbing in the vents towards the top of the Citadel, Claire sees Owen running past her as he rushes to the kennels. But the alarms' blare prevent The Raptor Whisperer from hearing his fiancée.
In the lower levels, Mia Everett is trying to capture Victoria, intending to save her from the chaos and Biosyn's clutches, but the young Achillobator attack her, biting and clawing at her throat. Grievously injured, the scientist fall and Victoria lets her bleeds to death. When Owen finds Mia, she just has the time of uttering a few words before passing away. The Raptor Whisperer sees a number of animals running in the hallways, including Victoria. But just as he plans to catch her, Biosyn employees are being chased by some of the most dangerous escapees (like the dilophosaurs). Some of those animals prevent The Raptor Whisperer from going after Victoria and he is forced to hide in the first room he can find.
Tu quoque mi fili
On their way to the garages, Ramsay and Dodgson have an argument, during which the first say he no longer want to follow the second due to his recent fits of madness (filling Maisie's head with lies; the locusts' threats; literally declaring war with the Italians and the Austrians; behaving like a dictator...), even though he believed in his vision when he was recruited years ago (Ramsay genuinely believed that Biosyn's breakthroughs could improve the world etc...). When Ramsay admits having helped Wu with discovering the truth about Charlotte's videos and breaking Maisie out of the Citadel, Dodgson seems genuinely hurt by the betrayal of his son-like figure. One too many, after those of Wu, Drummond, and Pellegrino. Their argument worsens, up until they come to blows. At one point Dodgson pulls out a pistol and shoots Ramsay in the belly by accident. While the younger man bleeds out, the CEO is dazed and runs away while predators' growls can be heard nearby.
Near the garages' entrance, Dodgson is found by Bigelow and Kayla. The CIA agent asks about Ramsay and he answers that he didn't make it due to an attack on the way. The three take the last available vehicle and exits the Citadel, driving into the valley. Their objective is the same mountain path towards which Maisie and Drummond are heading.
Duel
On the way to the courtyard, one of the mysterious soldiers has a sword fight with a grey guard (Cesare oand Papadopoulos). During it, his opponent tear a part of his sleeve, revealing a tattoo which depicts a snake hieroglyph (actually a symbol of the god Apep). The soldier manage to climb aboard their helicopter, which take off and leave the valley with one of the attack helicopters. Confused, the grey guard wonder who those attackers were.
The dam busters
Meanwhile, the other has moved to the other end of the valley, where it's in the middle of a fight with one of the Special Forces' helicopters, just by the dam. During their battle, the dilapidated dam is destroyed and its unleashed frozen waters follow the valley's main river, flooding everything in their path, including the battlefield on the road and the area just in front of the Citadel. A number of animals, Carabinieri and Biosyn employees aboard a fleeing vehicle are carried away and many of them drown while Dodgson's vehicle is almost caught by the waters.
The flood reaches the south-eastern limits of Biosyn's lands, where it's momentarily stopped by the wall found there and which separates the Sanctuary from the nearest village. But under so much pressure, the wall breaks down and the flood continues, destroying parts of a riverside village after that, catching some of the inhabitants.
With its main power source gone, the electricity goes off within Biosyn's lands and the surrounding areas, deactivating the invisible fences and stopping the metro full of passengers in the middle of the tunnels.
Road accident
While in the part of the valley spared by the flood, Dodgson's vehicle nearly collide with a loose black billy goat (the same which ran away in the prologue) and in its attempt to bypass it, it tumble down a slope (with Bigelow being ejected in the bushes in the process) and ends up on its roof (like the vehicle carrying the original trio and Maisie in Trevorrow's version).
Aftermath
The attackers gone and most of Biosyn troops neutralized or routing, Vuillier, Dougal, Nyamu, Viscontini, and the surviving grey guards, the officers of the Carabinieri and the Special Forces, along with Pellegrino and Nathan Quinn starts organizing the evacuation of the remaining Biosyn employees and taking the wounded (as the grey guards' medic, Papadopoulos will tend to them) to a provisional secure location within the Citadel (the auditorium could be such a place). In the control room, all the technicians but a few were killed or badly injured by the helicopter's attack while the grey guard's team dispatched there is in a hardly better state as Isabella Perez was also injured. Al-Damiri orders their comrade to take her out of the tower, and give similar orders to the uninjured technicians, asking only one to stay just in case. The Egyptian grey guard and the remaining technician then assess the damage.
As power need to be put back on for various purposes (allowing the three grey guards continue their search in the archives; deactivating the valley "aerial defense" to let helicopters come in the Citadel and evacuate people; reactivating the metro; reactivating the invisible fences to prevent the animals from leaving the valley...), people are sent activating the emergency generators.
They want to send men after Dodgson's but while the valley's known exits are watched, they fear he knows a secret one.
Dodgson's demise
When Bigelow awakes amidst the bushes, she notices that the vehicle is surrounded by a group of Nasutoceratops (or some other buffalo-sized herbivores). Inside the crashed vehicle, Dodgson and Kayla regain consciousness and know they have to wait for the herbivores to leave before exiting the vehicle. Suddenly, the herbivores get agitated and leave. They caught the scent of a predator and the latter shows itself: It's the InGen-bred Acrocanthosaurus.
Ensue a scene where Dodgson, just like his novel version with Sarah Harding, tries to save his own skin by pushing Kayla from the vehicle so the Acro can eat her instead of him, deeming her expendable, but the opposite happens. When the CEO is shaken between the jaws, his precious hard-drive falls on the ground and Bigelow sees this and tries to reach it before it's crushed by the animal. Kayla tries to hold the CIA agent back, saying she'll get herself killed and that the hard-drive isn't worth it. Bigelow rushes towards her objective anyway. When it takes a still screaming Dodgson in the woods, the acro steps on the hard-drive, destroying it.
The black billy goat responsible for the road accident watches Dodgson being devoured by the dinosaur.
Meanwhile, a depressed Bigelow is looking at the destroyed hard-drive and Kayla is forced to shake her so they can move away and head for the mountains in order to leave the valley.
Drummond's confession
Walking above the surface and not in the tunnels in order to not reiterate the traumatizing experience with the pectinodons even if it's equally dangerous due to the other valley's predators, Drummond and Maisie are heading eastward, following the peripheral rim of mountains.
During their trek, Drummond tells Maisie about the Hunting activity in the Sanctuary and how its profits financed his research at Biosyn, explaining part of his self-loathing. He admits he's glad that Claire put an end to it, even if he wished less blood was spilled.
To add some light amidst those dark hours, the teenager and the palaeontologist have a peaceful encounter with some dinosaurs (probably herbivores).
While watching them, Drummond tells Maisie about his late wife's wish of having children, implying to the teenager that she has a roof under which to sleep if she doesn't want to return to Orick and leave the Lockwood name behind her in order to finally have a normal life.
At the opposite end of the valley, they see fire and smoke rising from the Citadel and wonder what happened there.
Zobie la Mouche/Whac-a-Mole
Another danger is spotted near the Citadel. Coming from the now-flooded area at the base of the building, comes Brontes, one of the Argentinosaurus.
After the battle and the flood, he just seeks a place to have some rest and thinks the Citadel's courtyard would be a decent choice. The characters in the atrium hide as he crosses the now destroyed hall. It's seen during that scene that the sauropod has many scars on his skull, implying some human abuse (probably for medical experiments). The sauropod's suite of small carnivores take off from it and land in the atrium, investigating the hall as they caught the scent of dead or wounded humans.
On his way, Brontes sees something moving on the ground. It's Murdoch, who's trying to crawl away despite the injuries she got after being trampled by a crowd. Brontes looks at her with curiosity and then crushes her under his foot. Murdoch now squashed, Brontes loses interest in her and enters the courtyard while some members of his suite eat the remains of Biosyn's vice-president. The Argentinosaurus stands in the middle of the courtyard, just in front of the tower's entrance, and starts to sleep while standing (a bit like elephants). A part of his suite is on the lookout, hearing noise all around within the Citadel.
Distracting Brontes
Our protagonists are bothered as Brontes and his suite are preventing them from going after Dodgson by the shortest way and reaching the archives' entrance. They can either make a long detour through a series of hallways or confront the dinosaur. As time is running against them, they take the second option and while some of the grey guards (Cesare, Massoud, Kapakas) are attracting Brontes and his suite towards a ruined part of the Citadel (and from the control room, Al Damiri help them by shooting on the beast), Vuillier and Nyamu run to the tower and reach it in time. At the archives' entrance, they join Chapuy and his two comrades.
Burning the Hydra's heads
In the dark hallways, Claire stumbles upon Betty Chapman (or whatever her real name is), who's pushing a cart with hydrogen cyanide canisters. At that moment, the audience also notices for the first time that Chapman has the same snake hieroglyph tattoo on her arm as the soldier who had a sword fight with the grey guard.
Claire first intends to stop the guard and bring her to the invading force so she can be put with the other Biosyn employees, but Chapman tells her that they should be allies as she's also an enemy of Biosyn. Claire demands precisions and while pushing the cart, the guard reveal that she infiltrated the company and was the one who sabotaged the Sanctuary in the last few months, by temporarily deactivating the invisible fence and allowing one of the Quetzalcoatlus to escape in order to accelerate the destroying of Biosyn's reputation, and sending intel to the raiders, whose objective were to destroy the locusts before their shipping abroad. When Claire asks who she and the raider are, Chapman only gives an enigmatic answer (something like "Chaos in the service of a greater good"). When she tells Claire that Wu made those locusts, the former director of Jurassic World thinks about finding the geneticist and follow through with her threats from three years earlier.
On the way, Claire has to scare off some escaped predator which wanted to attack them. Chapman tells her she's heading to the panic room, where the board of directors so foolishly trapped itself. The felon guard explain Claire they can't take the risk of having the board members leaving the panic room and escaping the valley and that she could help her giving a deadly blow from which Biosyn will never recover while they still can. Claire agrees to help her and looking at the canisters, she remembers what Doctor Karim Depéret, one of InGen's geneticists, told her during the Lockwood Estate incident, that Hydrogen Cyanide is a poison.
The emergency generators
As having a full suspenseful scene dedicated to restoring power like in Trevorrow's version would be too much of a retread of JP's bunker scene, the scene where power is restored is either much shorter or happening off-screen.
However, the emergency generators alone are not enough to provide power for all the needed tasks (the invisible fences and the aerial defense system are quite energy-intensive) and another black-out occurs. Power is once again put back on but our protagonists are forced to make choices. In order to keep the invisible fences on and the archives' power running, they are forced to keep the "aerial defense" system on and stop the evacuation's helicopters from going and coming between the Citadel and the camp outside the valley in order to not trigger pterosaurs' attack.
Dracul
Reaching the part of the Citadel where the panic room is located, Claire and Chapman bring the cart to a maintenance tunnel, prepare the canisters and neutralize the guards in front of the panic room, using darkness to their advantage. They block the door, preventing the board members from escaping. They return to the maintenance tunnel and Chapman lets Claire introduce hydrogen cyanide in the panic room's aeration, poisoning the board members. Finally, the Chapman gives Claire a box of matches. She takes it, lights a match, throws it in the right vent and while the gas catches fire, the two women run away. The panic room is destroyed in a violent explosion which finishes the board members off. It's heard and felt within most of the Citadel.
A wounded Biosyn guard sees Claire fleeing the panic room's area and notices the blood on her clothes. When he discovers what's left of the panic room and the board members (charred corpses at best), he utters with dread the following word: Dracul (Dragon in Romanian. The guard, a minor character, is established to be a Romanian immigrant in an earlier scene depicting the daily life of the facility's employees).
Claire tries to find Chapman after that but the other woman disappeared like a ghost and is not seen for the rest of the Dolomites Incident.
In the Archives
Vuillier, Nyamu and the three grey guards with them are still searching the archives for every incriminating document.
Reuniting
After discovering that Victoria and other animals escaped the citadel through a door and are now in the valley, Owen heads for the control room, aware that it must have some sort of tracking system. On the way, he reunites with Claire and soon, they are found by Dougal. As the Argentinosaurus is still posing a threat in the central courtyard, they pass under it in order to access the tower. They climb to the control room, meet Al-Damiri and the last technician there, get access to the tracking system and Victoria's current coordinates. They find a tracking tablet and Claire volunteers to stay in the control room and be their eyes.
While Owen and Dougal grab some capture equipment in a room near the kennels, Claire searches through the CCTV footage and finds Wu in Maisie's cell, within Dr Lesser's lab. She heads for the laboratories, telling the others she found the geneticist.
Following Victoria's signal thanks to their tracking tablet, Owen and Dougal leave the Citadel and head for the nearby forest, crossing the flooded area between the two.
Wu-ing for redemption
Claire reaches Dr Lesser's lab and opens its cell. Wu steps out but his old enemy brutally grabs him and interrogates him about the locusts. As he once again fucked up, she's about to strike him when pity hold her hand back. Wu tells her that they can still cancel Dodgson's apocalypse, by passing as the CEO himself and giving Biosyn's abroad agents the order to destroy the locusts, and just begs her to offer his help. After a moment of hesitation, Claire help the geneticist stand and give him his cane, the one Lockwood offered to him at the end of TRQ. Together, they then head immediately to the central tower and once in Dodgson's office, Wu turns the CEO's computer on but discovers it's empty. Claire's aggressiveness starts to return when Wu remembers that Dodgson kept some of his most precious information on paper and not necessarily on his computer as he feared being hacked. They start searching the office and the adjacent bedroom. Wu notices a framed picture of Dodgson as a child with his mother at some science fair (in an earlier scene, before he sent the containers, Dodgson could be seen closing the frame while Wu just stepped in his office). Wu opens the back of the frame and discover that Dodgson hid small pieces of papers between the picture and the frame itself. When he sees one paper with Hexapod Allies written on the top; a series of names, phone numbers and email addresses below; and a series of secret codes for the different orders on the back; he knows they put their hands on the jackpot. Wu and Claire hack Dodgson's email account (the password is Liddell, the maiden name of Dodgson's mother) and write the message to the agents involved in the Hexapod Allies operation, including the secret code for the Destroy order, but when they want to send it, the computer notify them that they can't due to internet connection issues. Wu realizes it's because the antenna on top of the control room might have moved following the helicopter's attack. Someone has to climb on the roof to properly realign it and since Wu can't because of his lame leg, the task goes to Claire.
Tracking Victoria
In the woods, Owen and Dougal hear Victoria's calls for help. The young Achillobator still thinks her mother might show up.
They find her and try to capture her but fails. They wander deeper in the woods.
Realigning the antenna
Claire climbs on the control room's roof and communicates with Wu through the radio, she ends up finding the right antenna.
However, just as she begin fixing it, the Argentinosaurus' suite start harassing her as the sauropod is just below. From the auditorium's entrance, Viscontini notices that. Learning through Wu what Claire is doing, Viscontini orders the grey guards to attack the Argentinosaurus so his suite will turn away from Claire to instead defend him. Wu also urges the AISI head to send men after Theo, Maisie and Drummond, as they're carrying very important data about the locusts, enough to destroy Biosyn.
Defying a Titan
Round two between the grey guards and Brontes start, and most of Claire's harassers go help him. This time, the sauropod actively chases his human attackers across parts of the Citadel, destroying walls and roofs with his sheer weight, letting out deafening bellows, passing his neck and head into breaches to try get access to the characters while his suite can reach them where he can't. Massoud ends up grabbed by the herbivore mouth and then thrown against the tower or any other surface, killing him instantly. An additional idea could be the titanosaur provoking small "earthquakes" when he strikes the ground with his forefeet, destabilizing Claire on top of the tower (she even almost falls).
Depending on the pace, there could be at the same time a suspenseful scene in the archives involving some creatures from the labs or the kennels. If the archives are low enough, maybe they'll get inundated because of the flood and the threat could be a semi-aquatic creature contained in the Citadel or brought by the flood (like the temnospondyl; while Nothosaurus, which had a small appearance in my JW rewrite, could be an alternative choice, with individuals housed in the kennels).
Prometheus' fate
After giving a few kicks while repelling her last harassers, Claire manages to properly realign the antenna and Wu successfully transmit the Destroy order to the Hexapod Allies agents. We cut to them as they destroy the locusts in their containers. When he receives their confirmation, the geneticist is relieved. But just as Claire is about to return to Dodgson's office, she sees a *Variraptor (*if it's chosen as Brontes' suite. If not, it will be some relatively large feathered coelurosaurian from the labs in order to make the parallels with Prometheus work) getting to its entrance first. Wu just has the time to barricade himself in the bedroom adjacent to the office but he knows the door won't hold long. Something (Brontes passing his head through a window and trying to attack her?) prevents her from reaching the office. She tells Wu to hold while she tries to save him but he asks her to instead save herself, wishing her a long and happy life. He bids her farewell and wait for his death while Claire escapes the tower. The raptor ends up breaking through the door and it pounce on Wu. While the predator starts devouring him, his cane falls on the ground and its amber pommel shatters.
Owen's decision
Just as the Owen and Dougal are about to start a new attempt in capturing Victoria, a pack of Achillobators (the same one which allied with Claire in the previous night) shows up and our duo hide while the raptors spot Victoria. At first, Owen fears they'll hurt or even kill her. He thinks about intervening, even if he might risk his own life, but after sniffing the young and scared Achillobator, the pack leader gently guides her towards her pack. Owen and Dougal watch the raptors disappear in the darkness. Dougal ask Owen if he'll do something but the Raptor Whisperer says nothing, willing to let Victoria live with a pack and without unnecessary human interference in her life. They head back to the Citadel.
The tower and the tyrannosaur
Kayla and Bigelow arrive by one of the observation towers, the one closest from the mountain path they're heading to. Nearby, the Special Forces' helicopter shot down by that of the raiders and the surrounding vegetation still burns. Just as they are about to climb to its observation bay in order to raid the tower for anything useful before starting the mountains' ascent, they are surrounded by a pack of small carnivores (just like Claire with the dilophosaurs in Trevorrow's version). Before they attack, a horn blast is heard. It's Drummond and after the palaeontologist insists with his portable horn (similar to the one Nigel Marven use against the velociraptors in The Giant Claw), the small carnivores scatter. He asks the two women if they're friends or foes, if they count among Dodgson's friends. Kayla answers that since Dodgson tried to sacrifice her to an Acrocanthosaurus, the answer is no for her, before adding that it ate Dodgson instead. Drummond is glad to hear that and he tells Maisie she can come. The teenager, hidden until there amidst the vegetation, joins them. Having heard Dodgson complaining about Maisie's escape, Bigelow is aware she must be very important but still wary, Drummond whisper to Maisie to not say a single word about the flash drive she's carrying. The two duos talk about their objectives and discover that they're the same. For better chances of survival, they decide to head together for the mountain's path.
But a tyrannosaur, the same one which Claire released earlier, makes its appearance while they're walking away from the tower. It saw them and they know that they better seek refuge in the tower than attempt to run from the predator. At first, they try to stay still, in order to not trigger its attack, but when he notices that the predator wouldn't mind eat one or two of them, Drummond tells Maisie and the two women to run. While they rush to the tower, he distracts the rex by agitating a burning branch. Afraid of the fire, the rex seek to avoid the branch and see the three other humans climbing the tower's ladder. The predator bypass Drummond and in its dash towards the tower, it sends the palaeontologist flying away with its tail. As such thing would have easily killed someone, Maisie fears the worst for him and when his motionless body falls into a ravine, the audience think it's over for him. Maisie panics while the rex has its jaws locked around the ladder's protective cage. What follows is pretty much similar to the Giganotosaurus' attack on the tower scene from Trevorrow's version, except that the final outcome will be quite different. As the observation towers' power has been turned off from the control room in order to save power for more urgent systems, our three protagonists can't have the observation bay rise to the top of the tower, where they would be safe from the rex. To make matters worse, another threat arrive.
I haven't decided which yet but the idea I'm having now is a group of pterosaurs, probably pteranodons, which targets our trio and chase the rex away from the tower by pecking at his head. Another manages to grab Maisie and take her out of the tower. However, the pterosaur let her go before it can be above the canopy due to some incident (another harassing it probably) and Maisie falls into dense bushes at a certain distance from the tower, out of the two women's sight. In the meantime, a mist has started descending from the mountains. Bigelow and Kayla exit the tower and begin searching for Maisie in the area, fearing she got herself hurt in the fall. To cover a maximum of ground before the mist reaches them, they decide to split up.
The end of a line
We see Maisie managing to stand up and while she got bruises**,** she seems relatively fine and still in walking condition. Now lost and alone in the middle of the woods, she's very scared though and starts screaming to help. In the silent forest, Kayla hears her voice and follows it. Just as the mist is about to reach Maisie, the smuggler sees the teenager in the distance and calls for her. But when she hears heavy footsteps and a rumble coming from just behind Maisie, in the mist, her heart stops and she's aghast when she sees the tyrannosaur's silhouette closing to the girl's. Before Maisie can flee, the predator open its maws, grabs her and swallow her whole before disappearing in the forest's shadows (the scene is meant to be a mirror of one from my JW rewrite, where the death of a little girl during the pterosaurs' attack on the main hub is concealed by smoke while Claire watch helplessly). Thus ends Lockwood's line, indirectly destroyed by Claire Dearing.
Bigelow arrives in her turn and sees the smuggler kneeled on the ground, speechless, too shocked by the scene she just saw. Understanding what happened, the CIA agent has an "Oh. Shit..." face and tells Kayla they have to leave the valley while they still can, as she doesn't know what the Italians will do with it once it's taken, even fearing that it might be firebombed in order to destroy the perpetrators of the various incidents of the past months.
While the two women head for the mountain's path and the mist passes away, Drummond is seen climbing out of the ravine and starts to call for Maisie, in vain. Seeing the destroyed observation bay empty, he looks around for clues about Maisie's or the women's whereabouts. He ends up stumbling on the rex's tracks and follows them up to the spot where the teenager last stood. There he finds Wu's flash drive and seeing some blood stains around, he realizes she is no more. This deeply saddens him and this loss and failure just add another load on his self-loathing, as he would have gladly died between the jaws of the king of the dinosaurs if it could have saved Maisie's life. Instead of trying to follow Kayla and Bigelow, he goes in the opposite direction, towards the valley itself.
Leaving the Sanctuary
While looking to reach the auditorium, Claire is forced to hide in one of the labs from dilophosaurs roaming in the area.
In the archives, Vuillier and Nyamu finally put their hands on the documents they were looking for and take them. They and the grey guards' archives team then leave the room and head to the auditorium, in order to reunite with Viscontini and co. On the way, they have to pass between the legs of Brontes while he's distracted by the grey guards. When they reach the auditorium, Viscontini tells them that helicopters are waiting for them. One of the aircrafts is on its way to pick up the Owen and Dougal.
Escorted by the Carabinieri and the Special Forces, the surviving Biosyn employees are evacuated from the Citadel and when the grey guards retreat from their confrontation against Brontes, Vuillier asks them if they've seen Claire coming back but they answer that no. He contacts her and she tells him that she's being delayed.
We see her evading the dilophosaurs which were about to discover her and leaving the labs. Now, start for her an Uncharted-esque race through the Citadel where she has to cross various obstacles and avoid/outrun the loose creatures within it (including the dilophosaurs mentioned above). Still pissed, Brontes targets her and chases her up to her extraction point. Before the Argentinosaurus can close his mouth on her, she jumps into one of the helicopters where Owen and Dougal are waiting for her. The two men help her get inside and their helicopter fly away from the Citadel while the sauropod lets out a mighty bellow.
The protagonists leave the valley and the helicopters which drop them off at Biosyn employees' village, which has been taken over by the Italians and the Austrians in the meantime.
A bitter dawn
While the first sun rays reach the valley, Drummond stumble upon the monstrous Acrocanthosaurus Quasimodo in the area devastated by the flood, in sight of the now destroyed south-eastern wall. Surprised by the waters near the road battlefield, the predator was carried on a certain distance before ending up blocked by rocks and then impaled by a tree. When the palaeontologist finds him, he's dead. Disgusted by the animal, Drummond first tries to ignore him and continue towards the wall, intending to reach the village beyond it, but he turns back and carefully approach him. Tired from his night-long trek, Drummond sit on a rock just next to Quasimodo's head and still quite shaken by Maisie's death and the disaster, Drummond start to ramble about various topics (about the evolution of palaeontology since the San Diego incident, his wife, working at Biosyn, Theo's and Maisie's death...) before breaking down in tears and he can't hold himself from calling Quasimodo a Manmade abomination which deserved to be destroyed by Nature. While looking towards the destroyed wall, the palaeontologist start to regret those harsh words and pulls out a flask of whisky from his bag. After drinking a sip, he puts it back in the bag and just sit silently by the dead animal for a few minutes, up until some Quetzalcoatlus land nearby. The gigantic pterosaurs walk up to the dead Acrocanthosaurus and ignoring Drummond as a way bigger meal is just in front of them, they start feasting. While they do so, Drummond follows the flood's desolation towards the Citadel and he is soon spotted by the men tasked with finding him.
Of rivalries and world-saving
In the morning, Claire steps out of the accommodation assigned to her and Owen within Biosyn's Village. She sees Drummond giving Wu's flash drive to Vuillier before taking his leave. After joining her boss, Claire ponders about her relationship with Wu, on how both destroyed Jurassic World five years ago and how they pretty much saved the world that night. She and Vuillier have a respectful moment of silence for their deceased enemy.
In the abandoned citadel, it's revealed that one of the locusts survived. It's seen crawling on the ground, towards one of the vents. But just before it could reach it, a Mononykus (freed from one of the cages during the raid) swoops on it and devours it.
League of Dragons
As she is crossing the village, Claire passes by one of the remaining Biosyn guards. It's actually the Romanian one, the one who saw her by the panic room. Frightened as hell, he moves away from her while yelling "Dracul! Dracul!", still traumatized by the past night's events. Claire briefly wonders why he is yelling and running away before she gets surrounded by other Biosyn guards and Lucrezia Pellegrino. The Citadel's head of security explains that he called her a dragon because of what he saw and some of the guards start throwing insults at Claire, calling her a monster and a butcher, and she realize that they and their superior want to avenge those she killed. Pellegrino adds that by sending dinosaurs on people who oppose her, Claire is no better than Dodgson on that matter.
Nearby, Owen sees his fiancée surrounded and when one of the Biosyn guards throws a stone at Claire, he gets furious, tackles him on the ground and starts to beat him up. As another guard pulls out a knife (which he hid when they had to give their weapons to the authorities) and is about to stab Owen, the surviving grey guards suddenly intervene, getting the couple out of the Biosyn ambush and then confronting the attackers, standing by Claire's and Owen's side. The grey guards retort to their opponents that their comrades could have denounced the Sanctuary's illegal activities, surrendered, deserted or arrested Dodgson while they could but did nothing, before adding that without Claire, they would have all eaten nothing but locusts in a near future. The Biosyn guards feel insulted however and as an ugly fight is about to break out between both groups, the Carabinieri are forced to intervene and assign them to opposite parts of the village.
The press, who just entered the Biosyn's lands, has witnessed the confrontation and so did Vuillier and Nyamu. The latter tells the Frenchman that since Claire pretty much saved the world, Odegaard could give her a well-deserved break, literally and figuratively.
Debate
In the village's equivalent of a community centre, a meeting about the incident's consequences and what to do with the Sanctuary and its animals is held. Among the attendees, are:
- The WDMC and the people directly affiliated to it: Claire, Owen, Dougal, Vuillier, and Nyamu.
- Representatives of the Italian government: Viscontini, Giovanni Pazzi, and a few local politicians.
- The surviving Biosyn executives and top researchers: Drummond, Pellegrino, Quinn.
During the meeting, we learn that:
- Dodgson was found, or at least five or six pieces of him.
- Some of the Sanctuary's denizens managed to flee the valley and are now somewhere in the Italian countryside. Among the escapees are Victoria and her new pack of Achillobators.
- Exterminators led by the surviving grey guards are about to be sent in the amber mines to slaughter the pectinodons down to the last individual and the species will be soon classified as a pest in Italy, Austria and probably other countries.
Several solutions for the valley, its denizens and the Citadel are discussed:
- Cull the animals, cleanse the valley of Biosyn's traces, and give it back to the inhabitants expropriated by the corporation when it decided to have the entire valley and some of the surrounding lands for itself and no one else.
- Abandoning the valley, let the animals fend for themselves and hope that "life will find a way", even if it poses huge risks for the local populations and ecosystems.
- Dispatch the surviving animals to zoos and other entities which can legally house dangerous captive animals. Proceeding like this will allow de-extinct creatures to no longer be in the ownership of a single entity like Biosyn or InGen.
- Round up the loose animals, cleanse the battle's and the flood's damages, and turn the place into a real Sanctuary for de-extinct animals. Not a "Kruger with dinosaurs" like the Five Deaths but more like a non-profit place with enclosures (akin to many sanctuaries for wild animals across the globe). It will be a public-private joint-venture, with the sanctuary co-managed by the UN's WDMC and the Italian government while private partners will help finance it (Nathan Quinn propose to be one of those but Vuillier, Dougal and a few others distrust him and prefer to not have some of Dodgson's former collaborators on the project). And in order to ensure good relations with the local communities, jobs will be offered to the area's inhabitants and some lands given back to them. Shall this solution be adopted, Vuillier proposes to have Claire Dearing as its manager, Owen Grady its head warden, Rod Drummond its chief researcher, and Laurenzo Cesare as head of security, if they accept. Pellegrino storms off at this moment, disgusted that they're about to leave her without a job and rewarding Claire, an unrepentant psychopath in her eyes. In a moment of consultation amidst the meeting, Claire tells Vuillier she'll probably refuse becoming the sanctuary's manager if this solution is adopted, telling him that she has the feeling that her future lies elsewhere and that she'll continue work as a field agent if he don't mind. Vuillier, who clearly saw how Claire evolved since she started playing spies back in 2019 and decided to close his eyes on her exactions, suggest her to settle for a quieter less-violent life and declares that managing the Sanctuary could be the ultimate redemption for her. Still shaken by the amount of violence she had to commit in order to stop Biosyn and desiring to spend more time with her son, she ends up being persuaded and accept the idea.
The different solutions are being debated for weeks if not months within the Italian government and the UN.
​
End of Act IV.
See you tomorrow for the final Act and the Epilogue.

Spoofing Beginners "Pokemon Flees, Can't Spin Pokestop, Received Red Warnings, Etc."

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For PGsharp beginners, there's two things you need to know

1. Cooldown Period
2. Trigger Actions

Cooldown Period

The duration of the waiting period between actions depends on the distance between the actions. Your cooldown period begins only after you take an action that marks your current position. Once you are in the "cooldown" state, you must wait for the specified time before you can teleport to a different location and perform another action.
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To ensure you avoid being penalized with a softban, refer to the provided chart.
Total Distance - Waiting Period
1 km - 30 seconds
5 km- 2 minutes
10 km - 6 minutes
25 km - 11 minutes
30 km - 14 minutes
65 km - 22 minutes
81 km - 25 minutes
100 km - 35 minutes
250 km - 45 minutes
500 km - 1 hour
750 km - 1 hour 20 minutes
1,000 km - 1 hour 30 minutes
> 1,500 km - 2 hours

Trigger Actions

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Actions that DO trigger cooldown:
- Catching any wild Pokemon (including those from Incense, Lures & Mystery Box Meltan Boxes).
- Accidentally dropping a Pokeball Pokeball on the catch screen.
- Feeding a berry to a wild Pokemon or raid boss.
- Spinning a PokeStop PokeStop (even if bag is full or at spin limit).
- Placing a defender Pokemon in a Gym Gym.
- Healing a Gym Gym defender with a berry (only if you are near the Gym Gym).
- Battling the defenders of a Gym Gym.
- Having a Pokemon flee from you.
- Using a Gotcha or Pokeball Pokeball Plus spin PokeStop PokeStops or catch Pokemon for you.
Actions that DO NOT trigger cooldown:
- Teleporting to a new location.
- Encountering a wild Pokemon.
- Healing a Gym Gym defender with a berry (only if you are far away from the Gym Gym).
- Obtaining your free Raid Pass Raid Pass by clicking on a Gym Gym (do not spin it).
- Autowalking (no catching or spinning).
- Hatching Eggs Eggs.
- Claiming quest and weekly rewards.
- Catching a reward Pokemon from quests.
- Speed raiding.
- Sending and opening Gifts.
- Using items on Pokemon (potions, revives, TMs, evolution items).
- Unlocking secondary moves on a Pokemon.
- Evolving a Pokemon.
- Powering-up a Pokemon.
- Transferring a Pokemon (deleting it).
- Transferring a Pokemon to your Nintendo Switch.
- Trading a Pokemon.
- Taking pictures of Pokemon.
- Changing your Buddy Pokemon.
- Gaining Buddy candies from walking.
- Using an Incense, Lucky Egg or Starpiece.
- Deleting items from your bag.
- Player-vs-Player (PvP) battles.
- Team leader training (battling Blanche, Candela or Spark).
- Placing a Lure or Special Lure on a PokeStop PokeStop.
- Purchasing Pokecoins and items from the shop.
- Changing your avatar's appearance.
​
Credits to ARspoofing
​

I quite have a free time and would love to answer questions related to PGSharp Spoofing

Hey guys,
I installed Yuzu EA 3611 and tried many others to play Zelda ToTK. I played it 1.1.2 with Firmware 16.0.3 without mods and could archive ~30 fps with few drops to 22-25 from here to there. I was pretty satisfied like i mentioned in my post last time. What I also recogniced is that Breath of the WIld (OpenGL) and CEMU was pretty laggy sometimes after the new Driver update.
Therefore I had to update my Nvidia 1660 TI Mobile GPU Drivers. But since I updated the drivers my Docking Station didnt recognize the two external displays anymore. This Dock is connected on my HP Omen with I5-9300h with TB 3 cable (also ordered a new cable - also didnt work). I tried different Drivers from the last months and 1 year ago but nothing changed. Displays are always black but for example jabra box, mouse and keyboard were working! Tried BIOS update, Dock Update, checked BIOS Settings. everything is fine.
Then I installed the last official HP Omen Graphic updates again from November 2020 and Everything was working again! Also CEMU and Breath of the wild. Again 70-80 FPS with no lags.. But ofc not Yuzu because of outdated drivers. Give a shit to the dock aint an option because I dont want to switch 4 cables all the time during Home office laptop and private laptop. This is too important to me. With the Dock its only the USB C TB3 Cable :)
Long story short: Is there a Yuzu version with which I can run the games with outdated drivers? Or is there a workaround to get rid of this message and start the games anyway?
Big thx in advance! Greetings Jogg3r.

Kal is a lost child who has always found it hard to fit into any other area of life, he tells his story through his art and aims to help other's like him tell their stories too, kal was on a ship sailing to a distant land to tell a story, carrying several mystery boxes with him when the tempest tumbled his ship and scattered his mystery boxes all over the sea This mystery boxes contains several pieces of hand made art works of great value. His hopes were to use them in positively impacting the lives of younger artist who are lost in the world trying to fit in but lack the neccessary channel and resources which leaves them with no hope but to drop their dreams and go for another path Finding this boxes would mean you're helping Kal make a young artist dream come true by putting a young artist with exceptional skills out there in the world for others to see and appreciate. Let The Hunt For Kal's treasures begin and may the best explorer claim thy prize.

My buddy and I are in the process of building a ridiculously annoying base. It’s a 7x10 with about 30 doors, false rooms, hallways that you must crouch walk through, hallways that essentially go in circles. Another room hidden through those crouch hallways which seems like it should be full of loot because it’s so difficult to get to and the only thing in that room is 5 large planters, empty boxes on the 1/4 walls between planters that have nothing in them and another crouch hallway that leads to another room with 2 furnaces. We even have false armored floors/walls that drop into empty rooms that lead nowhere. It’s a diabolical base and we love it. Both my teammate and I don’t have much time to play this wipe (monthly) server. So we decided to build the base as I described and I’ve never had so much fun building a base. Let’s just hope we get raided before the wipe ends.

First Prev Next Royal Road Patreon
u/KieveKRS providing the Trash certification of quality! (with help from u/coldfireknight cuz this one needed it.)
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Nalah affixed the massive shield to her back, the rectangular form large enough for him to fit behind while only needing to crouch slightly. It was mostly ironwood, but the sides and front were metal-plated, so it still weighed a considerable amount. Despite that, the thing’s bulk hardly seemed to be noticed by the blonde-furred female, likely due to the constant construction work she involved herself in. It paired oddly with the long pike she insisted on using, but he couldn’t deny that poking at things while hiding behind a mobile wall sounded like a good idea.
Jax was wearing his new armour, the bulky chest-piece a mirror of his blond-furred pack mate’s. Though he forwent the protection a buckler or likewise would offer, he doubled up on gear. Gauntlets, vambraces, pauldrons, and anything else he could wear to compliment the massive axe he had taken a liking to.
Where Nalah was fitted to look like an apocalypse survivor—her protections limited to her torso, forearms, and shield—the black-furred male resembled a giant, if underfunded, paladin. All he needed now was some religious imagery and a penchant for exalting the qualities of their god. Joseph almost nudged the guy to suggest it for kicks.
On second thought, he decided that Jax absolutely did not need a reason to start yelling about the Human-turned-religious-figure, because there was no way in hell he wouldn’t. There was no telling what he would choose to say, and the Grand Hunter was perfectly happy never knowing.
Having been with the male as long as he had, it would probably involve ‘taming’ females or something else that would leave him groaning for weeks, if not just contemplating another high-dive from the cliff.
Joseph fixed his own equipment, the ‘Wraith armour’ worn over his own thin iron breastplate. He wasn’t thrilled to wear the extra weight, but it beat being mauled by the thing they were heading out to kill. The trips so far had been tolerable, fog and overcast skies keeping the temperature in check, but he didn’t want to go out in this on a hotter day as Summer really kicked back in. He was sweaty enough without baking inside all this crap.
He adjusted the wolf-skull mask, the rest of the hunting party having gotten over the worst of the unease it gave them. Though they’d needed to rotate people out for the sake of fairness, this would be their eighth consecutive scouting. Using the information that Raine and Faye provided, they narrowed down a likely stomping grounds for the creature and were systematically clearing sectors. It might have been discouraging to keep looking after so long, but the occasional marking on trees and the odd moss-wolf corpse tipped them off that they were getting close. There was still another week’s worth of searching left if today wasn’t the day, but somehow he doubted they wouldn’t need that long.
All in all, they numbered six; larger parties were attempted, but their efforts at stealth quickly became pointless between so many trudging through the forest and stopping for breaks. There was a bit of a scare where one of Mi’low’s pack went missing, but the guy had just stopped to relieve himself. Since the discovery was made by someone else knocking him over in the process by mistake, they decided that keeping the number smaller made communication easier. And lowered the amount of grumbling about needing a bath.
Jax, Nalah, two security members, one of the hunters, and him. Sure, grabbing Tel or the Wraiths would have been a bit more useful for cohesion, but they were all busy with things, and he didn’t want to grind everything in the settlement to a halt for nothing if the search turned up empty again. They were more suited to taking out their fellow Lilhun than some monster in the woods, as much as he disliked the thought.
Scarlet was spending a lot of time with Violet and the new Atmo, Faye was spending much of her recovery with the moss-wolves and moss-pup, and Tel was in the process of helping Harrow shore up the few security members that were slated to become snipers. Kaslin was still learning chemistry with Toril, and Raine was helping whoever needed a hand, so that marked off all of his usual accompaniment. He could have taken more of his direct pack, but they all had important things to take care of as well.
Sahari was managing the pack and putting people where people needed to be put, Pan was working with Idee and Heralt to make a line of armour for the whole pack, and Mi’low was...well, Mi’low. He was pretty sure she was unofficially the master of the hunter’s lodge and spent most of her time keeping track of what came in and out of it, while also making sure that everyone got their fair share. It needed to be done with the settlement growing as much as it had, and it kept Mi’low busy enough to stymie the flow of complaints, so he wasn’t about to complain.
They double checked that they had everything that was needed; food, water, arrows, bolts, and some bags to store anything that the snares had caught on the way back. Four ranged and two melee weapons meant that they would be mostly using Jax and Nalah to soak hits if it came down to it, the others peppering it with projectiles. Given that Harrow was insistent on the bear-thing being resistant to anything they could use at a distance, they also carried spare weapons for the ranged users, just in case. Nodding, Joseph gestured to the group finishing up their preparations for the day’s trip.
“A moment, sir?” Scarlet called to him as she approached the gate, the Wraith flanked by Rose and Cobalt. The two Atmo were decked-out in their own armour, which appeared to be almost entirely metal, save for the palm lining the inside for comfort. Each of their six legs were adorned with broad shields, their bases capped off with a flat storage carriage. They looked like someone had a little too much fun testing how much the insects could effortlessly carry and had ended up with sapient hexapedal tanks.
“Only if you explain why those two would look more at home if they had cannons installed on their backs,” he quipped, an expression somewhere between surprised, amused, and plain dumbfounded plastered on his face. The blackish red-furred female smirked for a split-second before resuming her usual servile presentation.
“The young mistress had extended her request for these two to accompany you.”
Joseph tilted his head incredulously. “Violet told you to send them?”
Scarlet nodded, gesturing to the outfitted Atmo. “They have been under her tutelage for some time now, and wish to be of assistance.”
The Grand Hunter snapped his mouth closed when he was about to ask why his daughter would teach them anything that might be useful for fighting a deadly beast. Of course she did; It was one of the first things he did for her. It would have been weirder for her not to pass on what she knew after all the hours she spent either seeing him coach the others, or being coached herself. With the time she had under her belt, she was the local Atmo Close Quarters Combat specialist, and no one else understood how the modified boxing she learned worked with their bodies like she did.
He wore a hesitant expression, shifting his weight to his other leg. “Well, they’ve certainly geared up.”
“It is a product our smith is rather proud of,” the Wraith affirmed confidently.
He exhaled slowly. “Seems a bit much.”
She seemed to be expecting the remark, barely pausing to register what he said before responding. “Your kit wishes you safe, yet understands you would not allow her to accompany you. These two wish to be of assistance.”
To punctuate her point, the two nodded in agreement, walking forward and slinging some of the backpacks onto their carriages. It seemed ‘no’ wasn’t something they were going to accept after Violet had said her piece. He sighed, conceding that they wouldn’t slow the party down with everyone carrying so much weight in equipment, regardless of the bags. They took breaks frequently enough to accommodate the Atmo, so that wouldn’t hinder anything either.
“Fine,” he relented with a wave of his hand. “We’ll take them. Not like they’d hurt anyway. But–” He put a warning into his tone. “–they’re not playing the hero and getting themselves killed. This isn’t going to work if they think any of us dying is still a net positive, got it?”
The two Atmo mimed their understanding, Scarlet replying with a victorious smile. Joseph couldn’t help but bemusedly roll his eyes. The female had taken rather well to baby-sitting, and that seems to have extended to humouring the young Queen’s schemes now. It wasn’t an unwelcome addition to their little sojourn. At least they could haul back any larger game without it tacking hours onto the return trip.
He thanked Scarlet for her trouble before dismissing her, confirming with the group that everything was accounted for, and set off before it grew too late. He wasn’t looking to get caught out in the woods during the night. The Lilhuns might be fine, but he was pretty well blind unless the moon felt generous.
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Jax watched the two Atmo quietly follow on the sides of the group, their heavily armoured forms posing no issues with their naturally soundless movements in the forest. In the den, they would make moderate clacks and clicks as their chitinous legs contacted the ground, but the soft dirt and foliage stifled all but the smallest report of their travel. With Scarlet supervising alongside Violet, he wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the former Blade had influenced their movement with the goal in mind, though he had never paid much attention to how they walked before to compare.
He had to admit, having them carry the additional equipment was exceedingly useful. He had proposed having the group use the newly acquired platforms on their more arachnid-like abdomen to rest in shifts, but Joseph was quick to insist that the insects were of lesser stamina than even Lilhuns. The phrasing seemed like a comparative insult, but Jax had more than enough experience with the Human to know that he had simply spoken his mind. To him, everyone had sub-par stamina. Training had gone some way to remedy the discrepancy, but the Grand Hunter could still continue for longer than even the most well-conditioned of them.
The black-furred male rolled his shoulders, feeling the heft of his axe shift with the movement. It was an impressive size, the weight well-balanced and its edge sharp. He had once laid it to the ground out of curiosity and confirmed that it was about as tall as Pan from head to haft, though only if she stood to her full height. Regardless of its size, it was still lighter than the armour he chose to don.
Having only really worn leathers or a few sets of ironwood protections, the encumbering prominence of the iron equipment took getting used to. It wasn’t entirely restrictive, but did put a damper on any chances he had of sprinting from danger. That was fine, he supposed, since he was wearing it against a beast he had no experience with. It could very well outrun him regardless, and he would rather have the defences in either case.
Nalah seemed to be doing fine, the large barrier she kept on her back swaying slightly as she walked. She was unhindered by it, her movements barely affected by the bulk, which was reassuring. Joseph, however, seemed to be panting more than usual, the rolling cloud coverage easing as the sun progressively warmed the environment. The fog from earlier meant that it was rather humid, and that seemed to bore no well wishes for the male encased in dark leathers and thick plates. He had even flipped down his hood, the sweat beading on his skin adding a sheen to his visage.
“I liked this better when the sun didn’t exist,” the Human lamented quietly, just loud enough for Jax to hear. The black-furred male chuckled.
“It would be rather dark.”
Joseph glared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes. “I just don’t rank ‘heavily armoured hike through the woods’ high up on my list of things I want to do regularly.”
“I believe that list would be occupied by your mates, no?” he ribbed playfully, a smirk arising when the Grand Hunter shunted his eyes closed in a grimace.
“I hate you.”
“I can see your smile underneath your displeasure, Joseph,” Jax quipped, nudging the male with his elbow, then giving an apologetic smile when his friend almost fell. Joseph sighed, waving Cobalt over and fetching a water-skin from the luggage that the insect was ferrying without breaking stride—though he needed to be careful not to get stepped on.
The Atmo always amused Jax. Be it their passive demeanour hidden by their towering stature, or his interactions with the den-kit, they never failed to be curious people. Having the two that accompanied Volta with them was an unexpected development, but he couldn’t claim to disapprove. If they had been imparted the methods of combat that Violet had cultivated, then there was little worry of them being harmed by naught but perhaps their current target. At least not until there was a better reference of its strength than the single encounter the first-years had so long ago.
At the time, it had smashed pillars and pierced flesh effortlessly, claws proving to be little more than tempting ministrations of tender touch to the thick hide. Jax only had some of the pack’s recount to base the experience off of, but was content to take their word for it. He was, ashamedly, preoccupied taking care of baser needs when the event transpired, so he was woefully unprepared for the eventual encounter. Still, he was afforded the best the settlement had to offer so that he might serve his duty of protecting the Grand Hunter. Harrow would never forgive him if only he returned.
His thoughts were disturbed by Joseph calling for a rest, Jax’s legs thankful for the break from supporting the unusual weight for so long. The Human dispensed rations and water for the pack, the Atmo waiting until everyone else was supplied before accepting their portion. They rested on their base directly, instead of curling their legs beneath them like Jax had become accustomed. Perhaps the armour impeded such, or they wished to remain mobile in the event such was required. Regardless, they blocked what little breeze there was, forcing the Grand Hunter to walk beyond them to enjoy it in the shade. It was short-lived however, as Rose quickly repositioned to stay between the pack and whatever lay beyond their protections.
It was a futile effort, it seemed, because it repeated again twice before Joseph groaned loudly and threw himself atop the carriage to lay back, his legs dangling at the knee. He seemed perfectly content with the unorthodox arrangement, snorting his amusement along with a muttered comment about a ‘taxi.’
The entertaining sight was marred by a distant yelp, snapping the group to attention. Jax and Joseph traded looks, subtle nods and gestures given to move out while remaining quiet. Ignoring his earlier complaints, the Grand Hunter flicked his hood up and donned the mask, drawing his crossbow and readying a bolt. The hunter of the pack mimicked the preparation, the two security members loosely nocking their arrows while Rose, Cobalt, Jax, and Nalah took point.
They proceeded quietly for far longer than the proximity of the noise would have suggested, but marks and gashes upon the trees implied a moving conflict. Thoughts of it being a lost cause quickly became moot as a closer growl and bark shattered the careful silence they had been maintaining.
Motioning for the pack to stop, Joseph waved Jax forward, Nalah approaching the other side. Using the large shield as additional cover, they peered around a particularly thick tree. Locked in combat were two moss-wolves, both attacking a truly massive grey creature.
Twice the Human’s height, half that in width. Four pillars as legs—the muscular trunks sinewy and defined—supported the disturbing hunched figure, the wide base tapering slightly into a thick and extended torso. A singular eye-stalk replaced the head, the ocular organ atop it pitch black and free of any indication of its focus. Four arms with deadly claws parried and sliced the two yellow beasts as they attempted to drive off the predator, a sickeningly large maw gaping to catch any attempts at a lunge. The mouth of the creature almost occupied the entirety of the available surface area upon its front, the jagged bone tools of manduction undulating with the promise of sustenance.
Joseph pulled them back, cursing under his breath as he tried to fight off the tension. From Nalah’s worried expression, it seemed his caution was rather potent, the other members of the group smelling his reaction as well.
“So, what’s the plan, Jax?” the Human whispered, his grip on the crossbow alternating with his fingers stretching across the trigger lest his fidgeting cause a misfire.
“I thought that, with your record, you would wish to tame it for the settlement,” Jax replied while thinking through a plan of action. He was glad that his friend trusted him, but he wished he had known the true scale of the beast prior. Joseph grit his teeth, turning to glance past the tree again with sarcasm pouring out of his response.
“Can’t quite see Winnie-the-woodchipper there playing great with kids.”
“You say that after adopting an Atmo as kit, Grand Hunter,” he returned, nodding to himself when a plan formed. The Human smiled, the banter easing the tension somewhat. “Rose, Cobalt, you two are the most well defended of us. Circle around and drive the beast this way. You should be capable of such without noise, yes?”
The two insects nodded, emptying their luggage behind a tree so as not to lose any of it before disappearing into the trees. The slight glimmer of their iron armour was the only indication of their position through the dense forest. Jax hoped that the beast was not particularly curious about the dimly pulsing glare, nor finished with its current altercation in time to impede the pair.
Satisfied with their progress, he motioned for the two security members to scale a tree and gain a superior vantage point. Their weapons would be able to maintain a more rapid pace of sustained fire at longer ranges. Joseph and the hunter were instructed to hide behind trees nearby, though the Human would need to remain grounded as his lack of claws made scaling the large flora difficult with his equipment.
Finally, Nalah and he positioned themselves much closer, in order to flank the creature as it fled the Atmo and occupy it long enough for the others to bleed it out, if not outright dispose of it.
With the forms of the Atmo peeking through the brush opposite them, Jax raised his axe to signal the start.
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Joseph felt the hammering in his chest, his heart preparing him to fight for his life against the walking abomination that easily outclassed the only other predator that he had experience with. Sure, the moss-wolves were easy to take down once you had equipment and a plan, but that thing screamed danger.
He watched Jax and Nalah set up behind thick trees, their goal being for Jax to hopefully disable a leg or two with the war-axe while Nalah occupied it with the shield. As the two strongest members of his little family, he trusted both to do their job.
As a clusterfuck of animal and torture device, he had no faith in the creature playing along.
Swallowing his hesitation, he adjusted his grip on the crossbow again, mentally tallying his shots and cursing himself for not researching explosives. Sure, Toril didn’t want to be involved in that kind of weapon, but at the moment, the tailless white-furred male could suck it up and make one anyway. Joseph would give his left nut to see how quickly the chemist would make weapons of mass destruction just to annihilate whatever that thing called home.
Jax raised his axe, glinting the sunlight of it towards the Atmo. Receiving the start signal, the two clicked and loosed a deafening screech, the Human’s ears ringing even from this distance.
The beast seemed unperturbed by the noise, though the lack of visible ears may have had something to do with the lacklustre effect. Regardless, it did notice the two armour-clad insects charging at it, and smartly decided to extradite itself from the area. The moss-wolves, however, didn’t quite get the memo, mistaking the advancing assistance as yet another foe to defend themselves from.
He had to say, Violet taught the two well. They flashed their blades out in the same flicker jab that he had shown his daughter, and with an unceremonious squelch, the two bisected canines landed in four pieces, a vibrant green ichor now staining the weapon-like appendages of the Atmo. Undeterred by their first act of violence—as far as he was aware, anyway—they continued herding the beast.
It wasn’t as fast as they might have feared, its quadrupedal gait hindered by its proportions, but it was still quick enough to be damn intimidating. Its arms acted as a counter balance, constantly adjusting this way and that just to keep it stable. That thing was clearly never meant for sprinting, all its mobility being given to the overactive maw that pulsated with the exertion.
He readied his crossbow, the shaking in his hands not ruining his aim against such a large target. He eyeballed the distance between the creature and the ambush point, forcibly moving his finger off the trigger so that he didn’t fire early.
Closer. Come on. Almost.
Now.
Jax wound up like a particularly enthusiastic lumberjack, putting his full body into the rotation. The massive axe swung like a horizontal pendulum striking home with all the finality of a clock tolling midnight. It bit into the front leg of the beast, only sinking a few inches before momentum nearly wretched the weapon from the black-furred male. Luckily, the force and timing was enough to trip it, the creature crashing to the forest floor with a deafening roar of pain.
They could hurt it. That made him feel better.
His relief evaporated as the beast swiftly recovered, hauling itself from the ground faster than he thought possible, but his archers took it for an unspoken signal. Arrows and bolts peppered its thick hide, to no effect—it shrugged off the projectiles like they were nothing more than pine needles, none sinking far enough to gain notable purchase.
Jax hefted his axe for another strike, careful not to over-commit this time. Nalah prodded the beast wherever she could with her pike, the melee weapon sliced and skewered just past the surface of the hide, though not enough to do more than marr. It was, however, enough to gain the attention of the target, the creature swinging two of its four arms to rake across the shield that the blond-furred female held. The iron plating across the front let out an unearthly shriek as claws ripped and crumpled the metal.
Well, fuck.
Nalah was quick to react, treating the shield less as an immovable barrier and more like a slight distance buffer, dodging in and out of range to steal jabs with the polearm. The security members nocked another volley, picking different targets than before. An arrow bounced harmlessly off the black orb of an eye, another finding purchase in what passed for gums in its mouth.
The hint was received; aim for the mouth. Thankfully, that was a large target. Less thankfully, it realized that flashing its teeth was detrimental to its health, slamming the maw closed.
Jax managed another swing, this time into one of the rear legs. It wasn’t as effective as the first strike, but it did warrant a sweeping double back-fist from the creature, scoring Jax’s armour with shallow claw marks as he jumped backwards. Joseph let out a breath as he fired his second shot, only just narrowly missing the sliver of a gap between razor teeth that the enraged attack afforded. It couldn’t keep its mouth shut forever, each frenzied swipe pulling its form enough for glimpses of softer flesh within to appear. The hunter dropped from their tree, darting across to reposition for a wider angle to capitalize on. The creature noticed, lunging forward to eviscerate the easier target.
Joseph blinked as two armoured figures jumped in front of the Lilhun, raising their blades in a tight guard to block the four arms grabbing for a quick meal. The beast recoiled with a thunderous screech, two of its appendages sporting deep gashes that fountained blood, while the others managed to impact above the edged outside of the blades. Rose and Cobalt pressed forward, buying time and space for the hunter to collect themselves and scale up another perch. Taking advantage of its pain, two new arrows ripped through the air, smacking into exposed inner flesh. Two new protrusions joined the first in the mouth, one landing next to the existing projectile, while the other cleared the gateway of serration, driving deeply inside of it.
More flicker jabs and extended straights pushed and cut the beast as it tried to gain distance from the two that wounded it, every retaliatory strike earning it another gash in its grey hide.. Unencumbered by the constant barrage, Nalah thrust into its legs more vigorously, her body leaning into each attack to gain every inch of penetration she could into the muscle and thick hide.
Jax used the chance to score another chopping blow, doubling down on a previous wound to a back leg—striking bone this time, based on the unholy wail the beast uttered. Joseph raised his crossbow to land another shot into its mouth, but the beast flailed wildly to fend off the ambush.
Rose managed to block, Jax lunged backwards, Nalah deflected most of it with what remained of her shield, but Cobalt was caught by a strike, taking the hit to its torso. The Atmo flew backwards, rolling when it landed, the carriage and assorted armoured plates trailing behind it. Rose shifted instantly, covering the direction that their companion had been sent while Jax and Nalah focused on pulling the beast away from the downed combatant.
Joseph’s eyes flicked to the Atmo, waging an internal battle on whether helping the insect would be better or worse for the situation as a whole. He didn’t want to lighten up their assault if it would just mean more injuries, but Cobalt could be in dire need for a patch job. It was hard to tell from where he was.
Cursing, he bolted from his spot, firing off one last round into the gaping maw before clipping the crossbow onto his armour and sliding on his knees in front of Cobalt, healroot hastily retrieved from his pocket.
He paused, sighing in relief when none of the armour bore more than deep gashes, the carapace underneath unblemished by the attack. Cobalt clicked lightly, dazed, but otherwise seeming unhurt. Unlearned in the physiology relevant, he ushered the Atmo to remain out of the fight for fear of concussion or something similar. They could look at the insect back at the base to be sure later.
“Joseph!”
His head spun around at both Jax and Nalah screaming his name, a massive clawed hand sweeping at him—the monster's approach unnoticed while he focused on Cobalt. Lacking a better option, he lunged forward towards the underside of the beast to dodge the swipe, crashing to his shoulder on the dirt below.
The creature raised a leg above Joseph, pounding the earth scant inches from his head as he rolled sideways. Ignoring the kicked up dirt, he brought his fist to the underside of the beast, flicking the release on his bracer.
Blood spouted from the newly formed wound, the blade breaking at the mechanism as the massive animal lurched in pain, Joseph rolling out of the way of another attempted trampling. He scrambled to his feet, feeling the wind of another strike narrowly missing him.
Yeah, that would probably kill him.
Luckily, the injuries renewed the desire to flee in the monstrosity, the group of attackers proving too dangerous to continue challenging. It stumbled away from them, sparing Cobalt from its panicked trudging. Jax and Nalah started to run towards him, worry evident in their eyes, but he barked for them to finish it, redirecting the two to keep the pressure going. He didn’t want to mention the pain in the arm from where the bracer hitched. It didn’t feel broken, and thus was irrelevant.
Pressure applied, the grey beast picked a random direction free of opponents to escape, ignorant of the waiting security. When it was too close for them to shoot into its mouth at a decent angle, they slung the bows over their shoulders and drew the swords they had been afforded, patiently waiting with the blades turned down.
It passed below them, the two Lilhuns dropping from the branches to put their full weight into the plunging blades. Both landed on the large target, one sword sinking deep into a shoulder, while the other managed to pierce one of its hip joints. The beast spun haphazardly to dislodge the ‘new’ threats, both security members kicking off and finding new trees to set up in.
Whatever damage was actually done, it had lost the use of an arm, and its gait shifted awkwardly as the blade lodged in its hip worked more harm with each shambling step.. Emboldened, Jax picked up the pace, struggling to position himself with the amount of metal he wore. Ducking another swipe of its claws, he saw his chance and swung, pivoting with his axe as a counter weight. For the third time, his axe blade found the wound in its leg, adding a sickening crunch as the bone snapped from the impact.
The creature swung wildly, forced to favour its two remaining good legs, and the only other leg that could still support at least some of its weight. It was unstable now, the hunched figure swaying while unmoving. Unable to run, it decided to go down with as many of them as it could.
Rose caught up with the attack, drawing attention from the comparatively squishy Nalah as the blond-furred female deflected a wayward swing with her shield. The once iron-plated ironwood now sporting little more than jagged scraps of metal atop its silver wooden structure, a series of deep gouges marring the surface. Two lunging thrusts with the pike bit flesh, drawing new blood from the beast.
Joseph loaded his crossbow, getting off two bolts, but not managing to keep it steady enough to hit anything of use, his arm faltering under the weight of the weapon. Cursing, he decided to flank the beast and try his luck with the other bracer. If nothing else, the force in which the blade deployed was enough to pierce the thick hide, and the others were doing a good job of distracting it.
The red armoured Atmo let loose a series of directed swings, the fifth severing an arm in motion, the flying appendage forcing Nalah to raise her shield to block the unorthodox projectile. The female was sent sprawling from the weight of the impact, but the beast was too busy voicing its agony to take advantage of it. Jax worked another two chops into the broad legs, but neither managed to incapacitate it any more, and the prolonged exertion was slowing his reflexes.
As if cued into his waning energy, the beast flung Jax with another strike, the hunter of the group sinking a bolt deep into the cavernous flesh of its mouth to prevent an attempt at following up.
Joseph roared, desperate to finish it off before the creature could do the same to his downed pack. He sprinted at the monster's back and slid underneath it with as much speed as he could muster. Throwing his fist into the passing undercarriage, he let the deployed blade leave a long gash in its wake.
The grey monster lost its ability to stand, torn tendons, blood loss, and inflicted injuries taking their toll. The Grand Hunter kicked off his knees to fling himself out of the way of the collapsing figure, grimacing as the remaining bracer proved unable to support the abuse he had put it through. He looked back at the beast, the flailing body failing to right itself as teeth did little more than gouge dirt, its back exposed. Rose approached, raising their blades together and plunging it through the body over and over until it stopped moving.
Exhausted, the Atmo dropped where it was, breathing heavily. Joseph’s instinct to yell their victory was delayed as he hurried over to Jax and Nalah to confirm he didn't need to bring back bad news. Nalah seemed fine, if a bit sore from hitting the dirt and rolling, while Jax just asked to lay down when he heard that everything was over. Cobalt came over to the group, the armour that had come off collected atop the carriage it had managed to loosely affix to its base.
It was light, a chuckle originating from the Human as he slumped to the ground against a tree, but soon the entire group was roaring with laughter as victory settled in their minds. The two security members helped the hunter begin disassembling the beast, their contribution to the fight leaving them with more energy than the rest. They hadn’t been slacking off, that much was certain. The number of arrows jammed into the maw of the thing would have guaranteed a few extra seconds of survival and chances to escape if one of them had been forcibly tossed into there, and it had caused enough pause for the rest of them to get in a few hits up close.
Joseph rested across from Jax and Nalah, letting his heart rate slow from the rapid pace it had been pinned to since the start of the conflict. His arm continued its protests, but from the amount of movement he still had, he guessed that he had just strained the elbow. A few days taking it easy should straighten that right up.
Once the active members were about half way through processing the creature for hide and meat, Cobalt approached him, a mimed request for assistance putting their armour back on being redirected to Nalah since he doubted he could lift the damn pieces without hurting himself at the moment. She obliged, getting the blue Atmo back in full attire, though it took a while.
Rose stood first, stopping over to allow the hunter to place collected bits and pieces onto the carriage before securing it with whatever they could make due. A security member gathered the moss-wolf corpses for a similar treatment. Waste not, want not, he supposed.
Rose ended up carrying most of their spoils. When he was about to ask why, he, Jax, and Nalah were dragged to Cobalt and hefted onto the carriage. A series of confused questions revealed that the rest wanted to head back before it started getting dark, and it was pretty obvious who was the most exhausted of them. Lacking the will or energy to argue it, he flopped back on the Atmo as the trees passed them by, Nalah resting her legs across him as her head sat on Jax’s lap. The black-furred male didn’t so much as smirk, so it was clear he had pushed himself too far to quip about the arrangement as he laid down.
“The next time you wish to exhaust me this much, Joseph,” the Head of Security started after a long while of silence, tiredness in his voice, “I would prefer it to involve my mate and a bed.”
The Human snorted, closing his eyes and enjoying the lack of walking as the surprisingly stable Atmo carried the three of them. “Fuck off, Jax.”
“Of course, Grand Hunter.”
Next
A/N: Patreon is fixed!... aka new one cuz problems with the last. Check it out to support the story, get AI character art every now and then, or even preview sections of chapters as i write them! (aka, before kieve gets to fix them :D)

It’s 12am and I just came home to two kittens(2-3weeks old) in a box at my door. I have no idea how long they’ve been there because I haven’t been home all day. I have NO food for them, and I have NO IDEA how to care for kittens that small. I’ve cared for kittens older than that but these two have just opened their eyes. What do I do? Do I call animal control? No shelters are open right now so I can’t drop them off.

Hi guys
Just got back into guard after a while out, didn't really play them at all in 9th and sold most of them off back in 8th when I took a break. Looking to get more troops since I only have 60 Cadians left these days, and it seems the best way to achieve this is to buy Start Collecting sets £ for model wise. I do already have 3 sentinels and 4 FoB that I picked up cheap as unwanted models when the special army box dropped last year (this year?). If I was to buy 3 SC sets to take me to 120 troops total, would ending up with 10 FoB and 6 sentinels lead to an over abundance of them that will never be used?
Obviously I know we can't be 100% sure with 10th on the horizon, but hopefully can get a rough idea. Got a week off next week, so would be good to get things built up then.