I had started writing a post about what the next steps for the franchise could entail when I realized that a huge amount of it revolves around one guy... the player return we got from the Harden trade who happens to be entering Unrestricted Free Agency in a few months.
When the news came through that we had traded LeVert for Oladipo, many assumed that it was just a move to reduce salary by Tilman, but I reject that as overly pessimistic. Oladipo in his prime (which was not long ago at all) was a 2-time All Star and one of the premier defensive shooting guards in the league. His horrific injury has taken a bit of time to come back from, and worried Indiana enough to scare them off from wanting to deal with re-signing him to the max contract he will be requesting in Free Agency next summer. They saw so much value in having LeVert locked up on a cheaper deal for extra years that they were willing to take him on with his cancer concerns instead of dealing with a potential max deal for Vic. I don't see this as a salary move from Tilman so much as I see it as a gamble on a player returning from injury by Stone. Between taking chances on Wall, Boogie, and Nwaba, hoping players can come back from bad injuries is a common thread in his gambles and seems to be his "M.O.", so I'm thinking he honestly hopes Victor can come back to a significant percentage of his peak level.
Trading Harden for a younger All-Star SG +8 FRP assets is a massive coup of a deal... if Oladipo is capable of playing close to the level he was at before his injury.
Unfortunately, Victor hasn't gotten back to that level yet... But he isn't that far away, either. He has flashed his potential several times, but has had an equal number of horrific shooting nights. This lack of consistency is problematic, but if he could stabilize around the level of his better performances (which he is obviously capable of), there isn't really a question that he would be worth a near-max deal if not a full max.
Obviously, getting that consistency back is his primary goal and there is no reason to believe that it isn't our hope for him as well. If he does, then we can feel safe signing him to a long-term deal or, if he returns to form quickly enough, we can flip him for more assets.
The first option there is relatively straight forward. Re-signing him if he is close to his old production levels is a no-brainer. You've seen the reports that neither side are giving committed answers one way or the other at this point, which is sensible in terms of leverage in negotiations. Both sides know that he has more to prove and if he doesn't prove it, there isn't a good reason to offer him a max deal next summer. Some team will likely do it anyway, and there is even a chance that it may be us; but saying we are looking to do it before seeing that proof of play is a bad move (especially with no guarantee that another team will do it). It would be a mistake to offer him $34M/yr with 8% increases if he doesn't show serious progression from his current level of play. The question is... at what point does it no longer become a mistake?
Here is a list of available UFAs next summer (from Hoops Rumors):

2021 Unrestricted Free Agents

Point Guards

Shooting Guards

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

Centers

Although there are some interesting names on the list, unless Schroeder ends up with a FMVP or Jrue Holiday or Kawhi Leonard decide to leave their teams, Victor Oladipo is probably going to be the most sought-after Free Agent next summer. A fair number of teams have max space, so it is likely that he will get his max deal from somewhere. Oladipo has expressed interest in Miami, but they aren't likely to have a max slot available after signing Bam to his extension. A number of other teams do have plenty of space available, though, including the Knicks, Bulls, and Spurs.
If you can't see where I'm going with this, the question is... should we also consider being a team that offers him a max contract? Obviously we don't want to get caught up in a bad contract that prevents us from missing out on other Free Agents! Well, who else on that list strikes you as someone we should spend money on? There are some interesting names. Harry Giles... Otto Porter... Hey, maybe we could get Kelly Oubre!
But anyone we would want will also be wanted by another team, and there will be a bidding war that also makes that guy overpaid. In short, I'm suggesting that year 1 of an Oladipo max would not be a problem even if it were an overpay.
Well what about year 2? Here is a list of available FAs the following summer:

Unrestricted Free Agents

Point Guards

Shooting Guards

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

Centers

Zach LaVine is obviously the highlight here. Aaron Gordon and Terry Rozier are some other interesting names (and it's worth pointing out that Brooklyn's Big 3 could opt-out and enter FA). Is the hope of convincing Zach LaVine to sign here worth leaving open space for? Maybe you think so, but I'd suggest it's not.
Because here's the thing...
We can trade Oladipo.
Obviously we can trade him in the next 7 weeks, but we can trade him after re-signing him, too. In fact, as long as he doesn't get re-injured or regress horribly (the latter being something we can probably determine this year if you aren't already convinced), it won't be so hard to move his contract. A 30% max contract is not the problem that a 35% supermax represents. Any of the big name Free Agents could be sign and traded by their teams in return for Oladipo. If his contract has turned negative, we may need to include a pick or two... but we have a lot of those! And using them to move a bad contract as a way to sign a top-tier FA really isn't a waste of picks. It's essentially the same thing as using picks to trade for a superstar (WHICH WE CAN ALSO DO! more on that in a minute). Using Oladipo as salary filler in future trades is a good reason on its own to keep him around. There is a chance the deal will look like an overpay, but unless he has a horrific injury or falls off a cliff (which doesn't seem likely, imo), it isn't going to be that negative.
Victor will make over $10M/yr less than Harden is scheduled to make next year. Add that to an increased salary cap, and we can probably re-sign him to a max, re-sign Nwaba with Early Bird Rights, and along with Wall, Gordon, Wood, House, Tate, KJ, Ma$e and KPJ, have room to use the MLE and still fill out a roster while remaining under the tax.
It's basically this year's roster minus PJ, Ben, and Brown, but with an MLE signing to help out. Is that a Championship roster? No. It is competitive and has significant upside if the youth improve and the vets recover further from injury, but Wall and Oladipo are not the top-tier superstar needed to win a title.
But either one of them could easily be the 3rd best guy on a Championship team (with the other being sent away as salary match if/when such a deal arises) and resigning Vic - even to a max contract, if necessary - allows us time to find a trade for a superstar (or sign one in Free Agency by trading one of our guards).
I hear you calling me crazy for suggesting it. But what are the alternatives? Let's game plan them out, too. The popular idea is trading Vic before the deadline for more assets. This is not a bad idea... in fact, it may even be a better plan than re-signing him... but only if he can bring back a good deal.
What does a good trade for Oladipo look like? Well, in his prime he was a decidedly better player than Jrue Holliday, who just got traded for a decent player in Eric Bledsoe as well as 3 FRPs. It's unlikely that Oladipo will return to that form in the next 7 weeks (although not impossible, especially with the extra opportunity that Wood's injury affords him), but if he continues to flash that level of potential, we would be getting robbed to let go of him for anything less than 2 very lightly protected FRPs.
If that's the price for someone to trade for him, do you see it happening? I really don't. Maybe we get lucky and Miami gets desperate. Maybe another contender with assets to spare (there aren't so many left) decides to throw down an offer with hopes of a promise that he will re-sign (likely a max contract) with them. Again, I don't see this as likely. It would be great if it happens, though!
No, it is unlikely we can trade Oladipo for more than a FRP and some expiring filler. Now you may think that sounds like a good deal, but is it? Certainly it isn't good compared to what New Orleans got for Jrue, and while Oladipo doesn't look as good as Holiday right now, he undeniably has the potential to look that good. So the question is, do we certainly lose value on him by trading him on the cheap, or do we take a risk of losing value if he can't regain max-contract form. The former is obviously safer, the latter could obviously blow up if he has a career-ending injury (but it could also pay off with significantly higher rewards than a FRP).
So unless we get a lucky deal, it comes down to what our appetite for risk is. I'd say roll the dice on Vic. He's only 28, so age is not really a factor on his next contract. It's completely a question of how close to his old self he can return to. We've seen some promising signs in the short season so far, and will now get a month of real opportunity to gather information on him.
And here's the biggest problem with trading him for bad value... if we trade him for a pick without getting a very solid player in return, our roster will absolutely get worse. It drops us from our current status of 'bottom bracket playoff team' to 'No-Mans land'... being in the 9-12 range.
That's a horrible spot to land. If we are there, it makes more sense to tank, leading us into the last section of this essay on guarding our assets...
DON'T TANK
It's 2 AM here and I've been writing for too long, so I'm gonna make this short and sweet.
Tanking sucks. Losing sucks. We don't want to be losers if we can be semi-competitive. Showing a commitment to winning attracts Free Agents, keeps Wood happy, and allows us to maintain a franchise that is literally one piece away from being right back as a contender.
We are not Oklahoma City. Free Agents want to play in Houston. Maybe its not LA, NY, or Miami, but there aren't many other cities above us on the list of destinations. If we trade for a guy, he's liable to stay. We don't need to rely on high draft picks to get talent.
(side note: tanking is not even a reliable way of getting talent! Between reduced lottery odds and the uncertainty of high picks panning out, it's a bad way to depend on getting a superstar. Philly and OKC are the closest examples of it 'working out' and those were under the old lottery odds... now it would be significantly harder. Additionally, remaining competitive keeps our Brooklyn pick swaps in play as being assets. If we sell all assets and aim for the bottom, then it will be a long climb out in which at least 2 and quite possibly 3 of our swaps are basically completely surrendered, whereas keeping competitive can allow those swaps to become quite valuable even if the Nets don't bottom out as badly as they did for Boston. Not to mention the increased danger of giving much better picks to OKC)
Signing or trading for stars are MUCH more reliable methods... and we now have the picks to trade with. So that should be our preferred path to contention. Wait for the next top-tier superstar to become unhappy and fire away to get him. Only OKC and NO can compete with our picks package (and we can offer a decent player in return as an additional bonus!)
So when that next disgruntled star shakes free (which has happened more and more frequently), we stand poised to strike stronger than any team in the league.
A new era of contenders is on the horizon. The Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, and Nets are aging out. The Nuggets and Celtics are the types of teams we look to be competing against in a few years. Those are the superstars we need to be worrying about for now... not the old guard, but the young ones. Tanking next year puts us way behind in a rebuild that is only one move away. So get those thoughts out of your heads. We can compete with those teams with Wood, another star, and Oladipo or Wall along with all our promising young talent.
We will be back sooner than anyone expects. And as surprising as it sounds, the first step may well be signing Oladipo to a max contract next summer.

Hunter or Huntress Chapter 65: Uhm Who Is In Charge?

What is this only a day between posts? it's a miracle. The sleep schedule has taken a hit for this one so I hope you enjoy it. Twoflower68 is trucking along trying to keep this all a lot less messy than the results of 3 AM writing by a goblin with a chaingun-typewriter normally would.
Anywho it's time we see how our impromptu boy band gets along and whether Sapphire has already been bored to death from sitting around. So let's get on with the show.
ko-fi for those feeling generous
Sapphire
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Chapter 65: Uhm Who Is In Charge?
“I told you we should have brought someone who knew where we were going” Jarix protested as they flew along the forest's edge.
They had been at this for nearly an hour now and no sign of any dragonettes. Tom reckoned Jarix was fast even on the cruise Tom reckoned maybe 130 to 140 as they went along. Meaning they had likely covered over 80 kilometers already accounting for a bit of backtracking here and there. And yet they had found nothing.
“This doesn’t make sense, could they still be on the ground searching for those herb things?” Tom questioned.
“Look don’t ask any of us, we have no clue” Radexi defended.
“Let’s land for a bit before we get completely lost.”
“Okay then, go down low and circle back again, I’m used to navigating by ground, let’s see if we can find where we hunted those red deer.”
“Fine, at least that is more fun than this,” Jarix replied, clearly not very optimistic.
Radexi and Tom took a shoulder each as they sat peering out ahead trying to spot something.
It took a while but they finally came across a familiar-looking hilltop.
“There, left turn one eighth” They seriously needed to improve on this system.
“Left turn” Jarix replied, flying over the hilltop and sure enough there were the tracks left by his quadbike… why hadn’t they just followed those?
“Goddammit, I’m an idiot. We could just have followed those tracks”
“What why… what is that?” Jarix questioned.
“My quad bike, you’ll see soon enough those lead home.”
“You really aren't good at this are you?” Radexi added from behind.
“Yeah yeah, I can't fly that’s my excuse. Well, we are where we are supposed to now. So where are they?”
“I’m gonna get some altitude so they can see us.”
Jarix climbed up hard, he was surprisingly nimble for his size and even seemed to be able to match the dragonettes for climb-rate. He wasn’t even breathing hard from doing so either.
“Jarix targets two-thirds left. Is that them?” Radexi asked, pointing to the horizon. Tom strained to look. He did make out four dots on the horizon which seemed to be approaching. That was behind them though.
“Yep” came the reply from Jarix. “Turning to intercept” It took a few minutes for the range to close but eventually Tom could make them out as well.
As they reached each other the dragonettes turned to match Jarix's direction, setting down on his back. All seeming a little winded, especially Wiperna.
“Why didn’t you stop? We’ve been chasing for kilometers." Fengi questioned setting down.
“I didn’t see you” Tom replied. Zarko looked less than pleased.
“Who was rear lookout?” Radexi and Tom looked at each other. “For a teacher you sure suck at learning Tom and I expect better from you.” She went pointing at Radexi.
Wiperna was still wheezing trying to catch her breath clearly not used to this kind of flying.
“Whu… why are you so fast?”
“That is my job, who gave me such a kind compliment?” Jarix responded.
“Wiperna” She got out.
“Right, you’re the one whose fields I need to plow I think”
“This is a weird day” Wiperna went, giving up and just laying down.
“So you all look tired” Tom tried in as innocent a voice as he could manage.
“I’m not” Jackalope replied with her usual lack of tact standing proudly with of all things two jackalopes hanging over her shoulder. ‘touche’ Tom thought to himself.
“Well, that is good to hear” Zarko replied in a discouraging tone which achieved exactly nothing.
“Wanna race?”
“Uhh yeah,” Jarix replied as if that was the easiest question ever, which to his credit it might well be. “Not with all you lot on board you are rather heavy you know”
Tom looked around at the six people currently standing on Jarix’s back while flying. Well, Wiperna was still lying down which didn't really help with the space situation.
“Oh shut it Jarix it’s good exercise,” Zarko replied
“I flew nearly a week to get here. I don't need more exercise right now and my belly is full from last night as well.”
“Yesterday you were starving, now you're overfed. Does a happy medium exist?”
“Fewer people on my back would do nicely”
“Oh, poor dragon who can’t handle a few passengers”
“Really? How about I try and stand on you one day and see how that goes” They were clearly joking. Tom guessed they had known each other for a while. Based on what Archeon said, Jarix should be good for over a ton of cargo probably more. “And I only said if I was going to race someone.”
“Uhm before any racing could we not get some hunting?” Fengi asked. “Tom, could you do that trick you and Sapphire did again?”
“Sure I think Jarix has a better idea though.”
There was a bit of a crackle, then a boom, that made everyone flinch, followed by a chuckle from Jarix.
“Oh yeah, I do.”
Jackalopes excitement was both visible and audible as she cheered “Best hunt ever. No offense Tom”
”Hell no I can’t compete with a flying lightning cannon… Not yet at least”
“Isn’t that irresponsible?” Wiperna questioned.
“I’m not a huntress, who has seniority here?”Zarko replied. It was at that moment Tom realized the catastrophic error that had been committed, as he turned to Jackalope who was standing there obliviously. The only silvered huntress present.
As it finally clicked for her, she began cackling madly rubbing her hands together. “Let's get started”
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Sapphire was getting the distinct impression Baltehon was making this easy for her. Not once had she even had to go for something philosophical or even a metaphor. She didn’t mind, but after a while, the game did sort of die a bit. She had learned the one to her left, was called Canabrera, she was a little older than Sapphire, only a few years though and they had gotten a decent conversation going.
She even knew where Vultcha Keep was, apparently having made a few stops there in the past, having served with another trader who had elected to take some time off having made enough money for a while.
Canabrera was one of the newly hired escorts following the bloody battle to reach Bizmati keep. After a bit, Canabrera brought out some dice in a little box with a glass lid. Sapphire hadn’t seen one before. it was rather clever, even if you had to time the dice throws with the wingbeats to keep them from rolling around.
Sapphire had never been a gambling person, but a friendly game was always good fun. She glanced over at Baron every once in a while. As much as she would like to berate the bitch all the way there she was fairly confident things were gonna be more entertaining over here. She wondered how they would manage with Jarix back home. She had never seen a dragon hunt before, Esmeralda would get him in line though she was sure of that… Wait.
“Dakota!”
“What is it Saph?” Dakota replied, seemingly a bit confused at the sudden outburst.
“We left Jacky in charge of the hunt, with a dragon and Tom” Dakota developed a sort of deep thousand-yard stare. Not answering
“Ohh noo” Balethon added, shaking his head.
“What’s the matter, surely it can’t be that bad, she seemed friendly enough,” Canebrera questioned.
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“Target dead ahead, we’ll break ’em up for ya. Fengi, Wiperna with me. Wanna come Zarko?”
“I’m fine here, the boys need some oversight I think.” This was yet another in the long list of stupid ideas that might work. Tom should maybe have tried to take some more responsibility but Jackalope was in charge so any disasters were on her after all. IT didn’t hurt that he really wanted to see how this lightning breath worked.
“Suit yourself, Geronimo!”
“Does she actually know what she is doing?” Radexi questioned.
“More than any of us I’m afraid” Tom answered.
“She seems very sensible” Jarix added, sounding perfectly serious. Perhaps assessing people’s character should be worked into the lessons Tom thought to himself.
The three girls set about herding the deer away from the forest further into the open marshes. Jarix following behind from above so as not to scare them yet.
“Now Tom this is gonna be a steep dive. Make sure those goggles are secure and you hang on tight.” Zarko went in a serious tone. Tom had no clue how quickly an 8-ton dragon could dive but it was likely fairly fast, so he did as instructed. He moved to make sure he had both good foot and handholds.
“They’re starting to split up now, here we go” Jarix pitched down pulling his wings in close to his sides as they began to fall. The sensation of being pulled down by Jarix was different from when Tom had flown with the dragonettes. They fell at about the same rate this was like holding onto an elevator with its cables cut. As the dive continued Tom guessed they were well above terminal velocity for a human. They had maybe 1.000 meters of altitude to scrub and Jarix didn’t seem to mind falling most of the way in one go.
Tom pulled himself close to Jarix lying as flat as he could manage the wind screaming in his ears. He had no clue how fast they were going, but he was fairly sure this was a new speed record for him in this world. Zarko and especially Radexi seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely, even if Tom was unsure as to whether it was the dive or him providing the entertainment.
As they approached the ground Jarix started to slowly extend his wings, but only by a little. Tom looked around fighting the wind to get a better look. He was making a kind of delta wing? As the young dragon started to pull up the familiar sense of G-forces returned it was a strange feeling when lying on top of something but it was no less thrilling. This was a proper rollercoaster.
“Wuuuhuuu!!” Tom let out in glee. Oh yeah, this was about as much fun as he had imagined as a kid.
They came upon the herd of red deer they were still traveling at considerable speed. Tom strained to get as good a look as he could manage, looking over the side in front of Jarix’s left-wing.
He saw Jackalope off to the side, clearly positioned to get the best view she could as they came speeding by. Tom felt the hairs on his neck stand on end as the air around him almost started to crackle. The sound was more like that of a rail gun charging as Jarix inhaled it with a static electric whine that sent shivers down Tom’s spine. Followed by a single bright streak of bluish light that looked more like a beam than a lightning bolt. It impacted the ground in a split second resulting in a bright flash with lightning arcing in every direction, even in the middle of that day it was perfectly visible.
No long breath spreading the love around, it was like a single shot that hit the ground, followed by an echoing boom. Jarix hadn’t even managed to hit one of the deer, but the electrical arcs could be seen spreading through the grass as they went by.
Jarix pulled in a fresh breath letting out a sigh.
“Pheew, that oughta do it”
“Good shot, right on target”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Radexi added.
Tom looked behind them to see, maybe half a dozen deer all lying legs in the air, the grass blackened all around the small crater in the ground. The three girls came circling down as the remaining deer bolted in a blind panic.
“Holy shit” Tom let out gawking. That was one hell of a weapon, and he had been worried about a damn machine gun.
“Try that on for size, mister nearly as well-armed as me” Jarix went in a sarcastic tone, scoring a short laugh from Zarko and Radexi.
“Not gonna argue with that. Though it would be more like a storm of lightning”
“Oh I can do that too” Jarxi clarified “Spitting works great for ground targets though”
“You can say that again”
They had come down next to the others taking a look at the damage, which was extensive. Jackalope was beside herself with excitement of course.
“That was awesome, look at them! I mean that one is a bit busted, but still, look at them!”
Tom glanced around at the fairly singed looking deer, one clearly having been a bit close to the impact site. It was a disfigured mess hardly recognizable as a deer. He slid off Jarix to have a look around, inspecting the ground and the impact crater.
“You want that one Jarix? I mean it’s already sorta cooked.” Jackalope then went. pointing at the chared deer.
“Eew no, I don’t like raw meat, that’s for savages”
“We can light a fire under it if you want” She continued
“No thanks,” Jarxi replied, clearly not thrilled with the prospect.
“Isn’t this cruel?” Wiperna had questioned, clearly disturbed by the scene. In hindsight bringing the resident animal lover along might not have been the brightest idea, they had ever had.
“I doubt a deer has died this quickly around here in a while. Well short of when Sapphire decides to show off, anywho we need to get these back to the keep.” Jackalope’s answer sounding a tad annoyed at the part about Sapphire. “How much can you carry Jarix?”
Jarix took a step back looking at all the six dead deer. “Five is no problem” He finally replied, looking at the mangled one Tom was now inspecting.
“What’s the matter, soldier? Scared of blood?” Tom questioned
“No of course not. I’ll take five, they look heavy.”
“I guess we will have to come back for the last one then.” Tom just stated, getting up.
“But my harness” Jarix pleaded. Tom had to admit it was very nice. Mostly made of the dark blue leather the dragonettes seemed to use for most things. There were some white pieces here and there though. Most of the handholds were polished metal too and there was even some engraving on parts of the armor plates.
“A soldier that doesn’t want to get dirty? I have shown you what a soldier is expected to go through, does this look bad to you? Or do I need to get a mud bath going?”
“I’ll take all six... think you can scrub it out?” Jarix went looking to Radexi with a pained expression on his face.
“Sure thing boss” Well at least Radexi was still positive.
“I’ll grant you though it’s a nice harness. Perhaps we should have something less nice made for things like this.”
“But it’s mine though It was a gift from my mother.”
“Yeah, but there is no use ruining it. It should survive a bit of blood though if it’s as well made as it looks.” Jarix just let out a discontented grump as an answer.
By the time they had finished carrying all the deer up and lashing them down securely, Jarix looked more like a medivac for a fictional deer army than a hunter on the job. It did the trick though and they were soon airborne, the girls having gotten the herb collecting done prior to their arrival.
They had matched cruising speeds, the dragonettes flying under their own power with Jarix breaking the wind for them. It wasn’t fair that he had to carry both everything and everyone, after all. They had tried to keep the mess to a minimum but still, Radexi would have his work cut out for him.
They had set down outside the keep to begin the process of prepping the carcasses. Unkai and Herron had come down to meet them. In Tom and Esmeralda's stead, they had been tasked with taking care of the children for at least some of the day. Judging by the crying and the two very weary faces that had been a tall order even for a couple of hours.
“Hey Turinia, how is it going?” Tom tried in his best diplomatic voice.
“Holdey bit me” Turinia let out sobbing a bit.
“Holdey! that isn’t nice. Come here let me have a look at that.” Well, bite might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but there were actually teeth marks. Tom had struggled a bit with coming to terms with the at times slightly more violent tendencies of the dragonettes. This wasn’t that bad though.
“But she took my bricks!”
“NO, I was playing with them!”
“If you keep fighting over blocks of wood, like this you are never gonna get those legos I talked about. Now come here” Tom picked up Turinia to try and comfort her.
“Now now, no harm done and you shouldn’t take what isn’t yours either. Would you two help them unload? I’ll take care of this.” Raulf and Herron looked rather relieved at the prospect of physical labor so they must have had a rough time of it.
“Get yourself cleaned off Jarix and take some time off. There will be another movie tonight, a bit more fun than last time though..”
“Another movie?” Jackalope questioned excitedly.
“Yep two in fact, not about war though, but I think you are gonna like it.” Jackalope looked a little slack-eared, but Fengi and Wiperna definitely perked up at that.
So with Kiran clambering up to his usual perched Tom went about the next duty of his day. Trying to figure out whose bricks had been stolen and by whom. Maybe he should just make more bricks for them. That would have to come after winding the coils for the motor though. He wondered if Shiva was still conscious enough to discuss that?
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So big dragon go *zap boom* and need some kleenex. As always I do hope enjoyed the chapter and the story as a whole, most of you certainly seem to do so. If you got any feedback, questions, or general banta by all means take to the comment's section below. I love prowling around down there looking for something interesting or hilarious.
Until next time have an awesome day.

ko-fi for those feeling generous
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Unleashed pt. 47

This chapter was a labour of love, heists are hard. Big thanks to u/eruwenn for helping tidy up this bag of snakes.
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“Ranjaz K’Lua, you thieving scumbag!” the Kah’Ree in the purple suit exclaimed loudly as he spotted them across the busy room. “As I live and skral, I never thought you would have the Jolos show your face here again!”
Two J’Rami in suits detached themselves from the lobby wall, walking towards the Kittran and his friends. “Alfor, my old friend!” Ranjaz smiled broadly. “No need for the welcoming party, I’ve got your credits” —he gestured to Cygna— “and a sweetener, for all the trouble I caused last time.”
Alfor paused, lecherous eyes assessing the Fae’Dan. “You know I have a thing for purple.” He chuckled at his own joke and waved the guards back to their posts. “How about we have a drink, and discuss your forgiveness.” He pointed to Thor and Eruwenn. “Brought your own security, or are these Gal. Fed. goons? Everyone knows about your probation.”
The Kittran gave a broad grin. “I got a Tulseria-damned pardon, a new ship and a very lucrative opportunity.”
The Kah’Ree smiled. “How’d a thieving cat like you get a pardon?” He gave Ranjaz an appraising look up and down. “Oh? Now, let me guess, you need something from me and my brother?”
Ranjaz fired his finger guns. “You were always the smart one Alfor, that’s why you run the casino floor.” The Kittran stepped in close. “The item, do you still have it?”
Alfor tilted his head back and away from Ranjaz. “Your little guarantee?” He looked back down at Ranjaz. “We have it somewhere safe. Had some unusual people come by after you got caught. Asked a lot of questions. Made a lot of threats.” His face contorted in anger. “We got audited thanks to you.”
The Kittran smiled. “If only they knew you better, they could have simply paid you for the information.”
“We give nothing for free.” The Kah’Ree gave a sinister smile. “House rule.”
Ranjaz walked forward to put his his arm on Alfor’s back. “Let’s go see your brother. Have a few drinks, maybe gamble a little, and discuss our future riches.”

Ripley stood in the shadows of the staff shuttle bay, watching as the numerous employees of assorted races came and went. Loud laughter caught her attention, and a very strangely dressed Niham broke away from a small group and walked towards her. Ripley tried to maintain her low profile as the scantily clad female strutted towards her in long black boots with pointed heels that clacked loudly with every step.
Deliberately avoiding eye contact the Awakened tried to will herself into the wall but it was too late and a voice called out to her. “Hey Darling! You must be the one I’m looking for.”
Ripley shook her head. The Kittran had said the contact was an Ashi pirate captain, a master gambler and expert in procuring the unusual. “I don’t-”
“Listen cutie,” she interrupted, “you’re the one lurking in dark corners drawing attention to yourself. I’ve got your security card. You tell that fluffy little stud he owes me. And more than a bottle of Fae’Dan wine and a good time, if you know what I mean.” She held up the card between her fingers, just a little out of Ripley’s reach.
The Awakened considered the phrase ‘fluffy little stud’ and decided that, despite her hopes, this was probably her contact. “You’re Captain Whiplash?”
The Ashi laughed genuinely, the jiggling of tightly squeezed breasts bursting at shiny black restraints making Ripley nervous. “Oh, Darling! Only my little pets call me that! You may call me Sho’Na.”
Ripley was momentarily confused. “So, you aren’t a pirate captain?”
“I’m anything they pay me to be.” She smiled at the silver-haired woman's naivety. “You really are new to this.”
Ripley, caught off guard, simply nodded, then replied, “I’m a quick learner.”
“Good for you, Darling.” Sho’Na handed over the card. “Just make sure you get paid up front, and don’t use your real name with clients. Ruins the mystique.”
Ripley was unsure of what was being said. Turning the card over in her hands she saw that the holo-image on the front was of a male Arkellian. “This isn’t me?”
“Honey, I was given half a cycle to get you a level three security card. Just be glad it’s a biped.” Sho’Na looked Ripley up and down. “Our mutual acquaintance told me you were some sort of master of disguise who could even trick Selva Blaster.”
Ripley paused, then smiled. Her appearance had become such an integral part of her identity she had forgotten that it was entirely optional. “It won’t be a problem.” She looked at the card again. “Unless the owner comes looking for it.”
Sho’Na gave another bosom-trembling laugh that threatened to spill out at any moment. “Oh, don’t worry, he’s tied up at the moment.”
The Awakened considered the risk. “Hmmm, but for how long?”
The few strips of shiny black material that comprised Sho’Na’s revealing outfit strained under her amusement. “Don’t you worry, Darling. He paid for the whole night.”

Eruwenn had reassessed her opinion of Ranjaz many times since meeting him. The criminal. The loyal friend. The lazy trouble-maker. All were true, but now she was seeing something new. He sat opposite Toran, the brother of Alfor, in a game of dalcho she wished she could have taken part in, but was equally glad she did not.
At first she had thought the Kittran was outmatched, a few reckless mistakes costing him dearly as the Kah’Ree deftly selected his tiles. Toran was clearly a seasoned gambler, using a blend of the Remee Le’Bow Gambit and the Kowals’Kee Analysis she hadn’t seen before. It seemed to be dismantling Ranjaz’s tiles before he could even prepare his cards. A few fortunate dice rolls and he had taken a strong lead from the outset. The Kittran appeared desperate, playing any tile available to try and slow the defeat.
It had all been a ruse, she saw it; Ranjaz had saved his best tiles and carefully thrown hands to manipulate the cards. In just a few rounds he would be able to dominate the board and raise the stakes, recouping his losses and changing the course of the game entirely. She had encountered few players who could manipulate the game so deftly, using memory and layers of strategy to corner their opponent. It was magnificent.
Eruwenn couldn’t tear her eyes from the board as she stood beside Thor. The Awakened had shown no interest in the game, studiously watching the opposite door as Toran’s staff came in and out. When a waiter entered and began preparing drinks at the small private bar in the executive gambling room, Thor coughed. It was a strange thing for an Awakened to do, and Eruwenn finally looked up from the table. “Are you ok?”
Thor nodded. By the time he had looked towards her, she had returned her attention completely to the game. “You don’t seem concerned about your friend?” he asked.
The Anatidae watched as Ranjaz used a blind double feint, and the sheer audacity of such a move made her swallow hard. She didn’t look back to Thor, but mumbled a response. “I’m very confident in her abilities.”
The waiter was methodically placing drinks by each of the players, but when they stood behind Ranjaz the Kittran surged to his feet, shouting, “Hey! No cheating Toran! Getting your waiter to look over my shoulder? That’s a dirty move I’d expect from your brother!”
Thor had reacted faster than Eruwenn, pinning the arms of the Arkellian waiter in a vice-like bear hug. Toran slowly stood. He was big, heavily muscled, and the veins on his neck bulged as his anger rose. “Don’t accuse me in my own place.” He cracked his knuckles and glowered down at Ranjaz. “I run a straight game.”
Fearlessly the Kittran walked right up to the Kah’Ree and stared up into his face from waist height. “Don’t try and intimidate me, you son of a Vogel.” Ranjaz puffed out his chest and began pushing the burly casino owner. “Nobody cheats me!”
The blow caught Ranjaz across the cheek and sent him sprawling across the room. Eruwenn winced at the impact, but maintained her composure. Toran laughed. “Watch your tongue or I’ll add it to my collection.” He walked round the table and kicked Ranjaz in the stomach, glaring at Thor and Eruwenn, daring them to act. “Know your place trash. You’re at this table because you put credits up front. You are a dishonest thief, begging for scraps, and cosying up to me any my brother to get your little trinket back.” He returned to his seat. “Why would I need to cheat against the likes of you?”
Ranjaz stood, brushing himself off. “Fine, fine.” He waved a hand and Thor dropped the Arkellian. Ranjaz tapped him on the chest. “My mistake.” He sat down and picked up his cards once more. “You’re right Toran, you run a clean game. I’m just a sore loser.” He shuffled the order of the tiles that were still face down on the table. “To show my sincerity, how about we double the buy for the rest of the game?”
Toran snorted. “Double?” He looked at the Kittran, scrutinising his opponent. The game was already over; he had control of the board and his tiles occupied the three prime positions. Was the thief trying to buy his favour, he wondered? How much was the trinket he wanted truly worth? He decided it was worth testing. “Triple, and I’ll forget you dared touch me.”
The Kittran swallowed hard, his ears flat to his head. Toran momentarily worried he’d pushed for too much but a decision seemed to be reached. “Fine. Triple.” The look of defeat was delicious to the Kah’Ree.

Cygna had done her part and lured Alfor to a private room away from his security. She had danced, skipped and side-stepped his groping hands so far, maintaining a playfulness that ensured he complied. This sort of thing was not new to her; she had spent time undercover in the past. Fortunately, there had been little call for it since she had joined forces with Eruwenn.
Alfor’s eyes scanned her body once more. “The Kittran has very good taste.” He licked his lips, a small amount of drool escaping and running down his chin. He wiped it on his sleeve. “Now, I brought you somewhere quiet. How about you show me how sweet you can be?”
The Fae’Dan smiled coyly and continued her dancing just out of reach, glancing to the doorway where Alfor’s two guards stood watching her. “With an audience?” She raised her eyebrows expectantly.
With a sly grin he waved the guards out of the room. “Now come here and let me satisfy you like only a Kah’Ree can.” His eyes wandered over her body once more.
Cygna smiled, her own eyes moving from the Kah’Ree’s hands to his shoulders, then up towards his neck. An interesting fact about the Kah’Ree was the thick blood vessels on the side of their neck. They often bulged when a Kah’Ree was angry or excited, like Alfor’s were as he leered at her. She danced closer. Another interesting fact was that their brains were not as efficient as those of other species, hence the requirement for additional blood flow; more oxygen per limited thought.
He leaned forward, his eyes locked to her swaying hips. Cygna turned slowly, and his head tilted to appreciate her assets. The third, lesser known, fact about the Kah’Ree was that an interruption to the blood flow while they were in this excited state caused them to lose consciousness rapidly as their brain burned through the available oxygen. “My eyes are up here.” She smiled as he looked up at her with his head still tilted.
He sneered. “Who ca-”
The Fae’Dan struck the side of his neck with the edge of her hand, targeting the throbbing blood vessel with a powerful blow. The interruption to his brain's oxygen supply worked perfectly and he fell face forward onto the ground at her feet. She let out a sigh of relief and looked down at his unconscious body. “Thank you, that was particularly satisfying.”
She walked over to the door and peeked out, finding the guards standing either side. “He said to order us some drinks.” One of the guards nodded and immediately put his hand to his lapel communicator.
Back inside the room, Cygna used her foot to roll Alfor to his back and began searching his pockets. She came up empty. Her eyes caught a glimmer from his collar and she found a heavy gold chain, at the end of which was his security key. She removed it just as a knock came at the door. A deep voice from the other side called out. “Your drinks, boss.”
The Fae’Dan quickly messed up her hair. Using the back of her hand she smeared her lipstick sideways, and then pulled the strap of her dress down off her shoulder. She opened the door and, to her surprise, was faced with an Arkellian waiter. The bodyguards noted her dishevelled appearance and shared a smirk, and she said, “Oh, I wasn’t expec-”
The waiter pushed the trolley into the room. “Don’t keep the boss waiting, lady.” Before Cygna could reply they were inside and the door closed. “Relax, it’s me.”
Ripley’s voice sounded bizarre coming from the male Arkellian form, and Cygna’s eyes went wide in shock. Her sharp mind quickly adjusted to this new information. Of course the Awakened could change their physical appearance; she had just never seen it. They all seemed quite attached to their chosen human forms. “Neat trick.” She held out Alfor’s key. “Did you get the other one?”
Ripley nodded. “The Kittran played his part well. I didn’t see him take it, and didn’t feel it when he placed it in my pocket. Now that was a neat trick.”
The Fae’Dan smiled. “I think I’ll pass on that dalcho game.”
The Arkellian Ripley smiled. “Probably wise.” Turning, she slipped the key into her pocket and headed back out of the door.

Ripley entered the elevator to the owner's private offices on the top floor. Thanks to the distractions downstairs, the two large desks in the centre of the room were empty. She walked straight past them to the large leokas painting on the wall and swung it forward. Behind it was a Fae’Dan safe; she took out the two keys and a small homemade device the Kittran had given her.
Attaching the device to the bio-lock and standing before the safe, she elongated her arms to reach both key positions at once. There was more than one reason she was the one chosen for this task. The device beeped twice and small lights above each lock lit up. She simultaneously turned both keys, and there was a satisfying clunk.
She raised an eyebrow. The device had worked. The heavy safe door swung open and she began her search. Ranjaz had been very specific: while there was one item she had to get, she was to grab as much as possible to obscure their true target.
Quickly grabbing as much as she could she retrieved the keys and ran back across the room towards the elevator.

Cygna hauled Alfor back onto the seat, putting him in a more natural position and messing up his hair. She looked away as she began unbuttoning his clothes, pulling his trousers around his ankles and opening his shirt up to bare his chest. From a secret pocket inside her dress she pulled out a lace thong, setting it on his head like a bandana. She also had a small box which she opened, inside of which was a replica mouth with lipstick that matched her own.
Cygna carefully applied kiss marks all over his exposed skin before popping the fake lips back into the secret pocket. She took the Fae’Dan wine and partially filled two glasses, making sure to take a long drink from one and leave more lipstick marks. The rest of the wine was poured into the ice bucket.
She heard the sound of voices outside the door. The guards were arguing with someone, refusing them entry, but when the name Toran was mentioned it was Ripley who entered, still in uniform but now looking much like her usual self. She smirked at the Kah’Ree in his derobed state. “I can see you had fun.”
The Fae’Dan chuckled. “That’s the idea.” She looked at the Awakened in her true form. “You look… better.”
Ripley cocked her head. “It would be strange if the waiter came back to deliver a message.” She tossed the necklace key to Cygna, who replaced it on Alfor’s neck.
Reclining on the sofa and picking up her glass, Cygna took another long drink. “Get the other one back to Ranjaz quickly. This one won’t be napping much longer.”
The Awakened gave an almost Ranjaz-like grin. “You could always hit him again.” Before the Fae’Dan could reply she had ducked back out of the door. She caught the eye of one of the bodyguards and gave a head tilt back towards the room. “The boss is really enjoying himself!”
As the suited pair chuckled, the larger of the two got a message in his ear piece. “Hey, silver hair.” He grunted. “Boss has an important guest. Meet them in the foyer and bring them to the dalcho room.”
Ripley was relieved – she needed a reason to get into that room. “On my way.”

Toran was seething as he watched as the Kittran flipped his final tile. Why would he have waited so long to play the Wings of Tulseria tile? His stomach sank, and he couldn’t hold back his anger any longer. “Damn you!”
Ranjaz gave a full-fanged grin. “Looks like my luck turned at just the right moment.”
“Luck!” Toran’s tile snapped between his fingers. Why had he let the damned cat goad him into constantly increasing their bet? The cycle had started with him owing the brothers a million credits plus interest, and now the infuritating Kittran had won nearly forty times that. “Nobody is that lucky.”
“Woah!” Ranjaz held up his hands. “I would never cheat, well... certainly not a second time. After you caught me, I’d be a fool to try.”
“Hmm.” Toran looked at the two behind the Kittran. The big one would be a problem, but the Anatidae looked to be nothing special. “How about I give you back your little trinket and we call it even?”
“My trinket?” Ranjaz shook his head. “I had to convince you it was worth the million I owed. Why would you think I’d trade it for thirty eight million credits? I’ll pay what I owe, take my trinket and my winnings and leave.”
Toran folded his arms and looked across the dalcho board at Ranjaz. “And why would I let you do that?” The atmosphere in the room changed as the two security guards changed their stance. “Transfer the credits back to the house.”
Ranjaz dropped the grin, replacing it with a defiant glare. “What happened to you running a straight game?”
“The game was straight. You won, didn’t you?” He leaned forward, his eyes cold and hard. “You’re just in no position to collect.”
The Kittran was about to argue when the door behind Toran opened. He looked up as Ripley entered, and his eyes widened in shock. She wasn’t alone. “Toran, you bastard! You sold me out!”
“For ten million credits.” Toran stared hard at Ranjaz. “Care to make a better offer?”
Eruwenn’s eyes blazed with anger as the grey-suited Niham pulled up a seat and sat down beside Toran. “Now, now, you lied to me about having the item before. Don’t double cross me.” Sentinel Krast placed his hands together on the table, interlacing his fingers. “I’m not somebody who forgives easily.” He looked directly at Eruwenn. “Isn’t that right, former Councillor? A little far from your new Ambassador position, aren’t you?”
Ripley stood back against the wall. She had no idea who the newcomer was, but this most definitely was not the plan. The golden green Anatidae walked forward to stand behind Ranjaz. “Oh, I had a little vacation time saved up, and decided to spend it with my good friend here.” She placed a hand on the Kittrans shoulder. “And what brings a Sentinel here?”
Krast’s lips curled in what might approximate a smile. “I’m also acquainted with Mr K’Lua. In fact, we go back a very long way.” He turned to look directly at Ranjaz. “Now, return what is mine.”
Toran looked from Ranjaz to Krast. “Yours? You don’t look like the tiara wearing type.”
The Sentinel didn’t turn his head. “Ah, so you hid the data chip inside some shiny bauble. As inventive as ever, Mr K’Lua.” The Niham finally acknowledged Toran by looking at him. “Bring. It. Here.”
The Kah’Ree sucked air through his teeth. “Well, seems like we have something mighty important, and two very interested parties.” He stood and walked to his two security officers, who drew their weapons in unison. “Now then, I believe you” —he nodded to Krast— “offered ten million. How about it Ranjaz, old friend? What’s your counter offer?”
The Kittran had been sitting, silently seething at his double cross being double crossed. He looked at Krast. “Were you the one?”
Toran was surprised at being ignored, but before he could reply Krast answered, “The one?”
Ranjaz’s eyes narrowed, his ears alert, his tail swishing aggressively. “The one who took my friend!” he snarled as he felt Eruwenn’s hand holding him back gently.
Krast’s eyes glittered as he saw the impotent rage in his opponent’s eyes. “Ah, the poor deceased human?” He smiled his mannequin-esque smile. “And if I was?”
Toran snatched a pistol from one of his men and fired a blast at the ceiling. “Your quarrel can wait. Let’s settle our business first and you can kill each other after I’m paid.” He paused, then added, “but, not in my casino. Body disposal costs extra.”
Eruwenn’s hand gripped Ranjaz’s shoulder harder, and he braced himself. In one smooth move she both threw him backwards and to the right, and kicked the dalcho table up and forward into Krast's face. The Sentinel fell backwards as a blast from Toran struck the table, but Eruwenn was already on the move, sidestepping left and ducking forward into a cartwheel. Toran's gun had been following Ranjaz, but as her leg swept down it knocked the weapon from his grip.
Once she stabilized, her fist, already primed with momentum from the cartwheel, struck Toran below the ribs and knocked the wind from him. The guard, whose gun the Kah'Ree had been holding, lunged forward to grab Eruwenn but she simply deflected his hand, pairing his forward momentum with her rising elbow to swiftly render him unconscious.
The second guard had just begun to raise his weapon when a huge fist struck him in his chest, sending him careening backwards into the wall. Thor loomed over him, shaking his head as he retrieved the energy pistol. “Too slow.”
Ripley helped Ranjaz to his feet as Krast pushed the table off his chest. Toran was coughing and struggling to breathe as Ranjaz pressed the retrieved energy pistol to his forehead. “Double cross me?” He dragged the Kah’Ree forward. “I want to see the item, then I’ll pay what I owe.” The two of them awkwardly made their way back towards Krast, so Ranjaz could point the gun in his face. “Then we can talk about your body disposal fee.”
Krast stood, and his phony smile was gone. “You can’t kill me. The Sentinels will tear this place apart, hunt you down and kill you. You think I came alone? My ship is in orbit and waiting for my orders!”
Ranjaz grabbed him by the jacket, pulling him down to his level, and struck him in the face with the butt of the pistol. Thor cooly kept his stolen pistol pointed at Toran and the one conscious guard. By the third blow Krast’s face was bloody, his nose broken and he began to struggle against Ranjaz’s assault.
A muted boom caused everyone present to stop in their tracks. Alarms began to sound and Toran swore loudly. He pulled out his communicator, ignoring Thor’s pistol. “What the hell was that!” He held the device close as he listened. “My office?” He patted his pocket. Finding his key in place, he looked to Ranjaz and then Krast. “Seal the casino! And where is my brother?”
Ripley suddenly understood why the Kittran had told her to leave his device on the safe door. After a brief further moment of shock, which she kept from showing on her face, she realized that she had been carrying an explosive without being told. If they survived, Ranjaz was going to need to explain himself. Thoroughly.
Eruwenn, Thor and Ranjaz had backed away to the opposite side of the room, standing by the door. Krast stood alone, holding his profusely bleeding nose. The opposite door soon opened to reveal scrambling casino security, with Toran and his guard standing nearby.
The unconscious guard was carried out without comment, and the Kah’Ree turned to Ripley. “Why are you still here?” She nodded and slipped out of the door, leaving one less concern for the remaining three. “Alright, which one of your skrolg-licking bastards broke into my private safe?”
Krast spat blood onto the floor, pointing at Ranjaz. “He’s the thief. You and I had a deal.”
The Kittran smirked. “I’m a better thief than blowing up a Tulseria-damned safe. If I wanted to steal it, I would have done just that. I would not have announced my arrival and sat down to a game of dalcho.”
Toran looked between the two of them. “He’s got a point.” One of his men handed him a pistol, and he continued to talk a little distractedly into his communicator. “Well, check everywhere!”
Ranjaz stirred the pot. “He’s the bastard who double crossed me, why would he honour your deal?”
Eruwenn nodded. “A government agent can’t be seen working with criminals.”
Krast's face contorted in rage. “Don’t be a damned fool, Toran!” He pointed at Ranjaz. “This is clearly some convoluted distraction.”
Toran shook his head. “They had the upper hand. You were the one getting your face ruined.”

Cygna watched nervously as Alfor began to stir. Things were taking a lot longer than expected. Finally, her signal came; it was not as subtle as she had been led to believe. As soon as the explosion went off the two bodyguards quickly came into the room, glancing from Alfor’s sleeping body to her. She staggered forward, wine bottle in hand. “We need more drinkshh!”
The guard ignored her as he saw the condition of his boss. “Not again,” he groaned. “Toran will kill us for letting him get like this.”
The second guard stepped out into the corridor. “I’m not dressing him! Last time he tried to kiss me!”
Cygna paused, not having expected it to go this way. The first bodyguard walked out as well. “He pissed on my new shoes the time before that. I’m not moving him.”
Their communicators went off and their faces became more serious. Bodyguard two spoke first. “Damn it. Toran wants him.”
The first turned to look at the increasingly bewildered Cygna. “You!” He smiled. “You got him undressed. You can dress him.”
Cygna spotted Ripley running down the corridor towards them, causing her confusion to grow further. The Awakened shouted one word. “Sentinels!”
The Fae’Dan’s mind raced. The plan was clearly blown, and they had to get out. Fast. As the guards were now facing Ripley, she took the opportunity to kick one in the back of the knee. He fell forward, and as the second turned he was met with the upward swing of a wine bottle. The first guard discovered first-hand the shocking truth of how hard the knee of an Awakened could be, and both were unconscious by the time they hit the ground.
Cygna smiled at Ripley. "Thanks."
The Awakened gave a swift nod of acknowledgement. “A Sentinel turned up, so Ranjaz set off the diversion he promised. The other brother is busy trying to figure out whether it’s us or the Sentinels robbing him.”
Cygna took on board the new information quickly, knowing she needed to help the others. “I have an idea. Lie over there and look dead.” She ran back into the room, where Alfor was groaning and starting to move. She slipped the chain from his neck and dropped it into the ice bucket, where it sank out of sight below the dark Fae’Dan wine. She began to slowly shake him.
“Huh,” he grumbled, and slowly opened his eyes. “Wha.. what happened?”
Cygna clung to him tightly. “Oh thank goodness! I thought they killed you!”
“Killed?” Alfor’s head was pounding, his memory blurry. “Who-” He caught sight of his downed guards in the open doorway. “What the hell happened?” He began pulling at his clothes, and swiftly checked that his trousers were dry.
“While we were.. You know…” He nodded; he was buttoning up his clothes. He didn’t remember, but he knew. “Some scary men burst into the room and shot you! I was so scared.” She hugged him tight, pressing herself against him.
He put his arm around her. “What men? Be brave, and tell me what happened.”
She looked up at him, trying to make her eyes as big as possible, adding a lip tremble to really sell it. “I don’t know! They wore grey suits. And one of them took your necklace!”
“My necklace.” He clutched at his chest where it should have been. “Damn Sentinels! I told Toran we couldn't trust them!”
He stepped into the corridor, where Ripley lay on the ground with a terrible energy weapon burn on the side of her face. He pulled out his communicator. “Toran.” He instantly got hold of his brother. “I didn’t answer because I was knocked out. Damn Sentinels took my key, killed some of our guys.” He looked around. “Nobody important, just some waiter.” He finally pulled the underwear from his head. “I’ll go to the security room and look at the video.”
He ended the call and turned back to Cygna. “You stay here.”
She smiled. “Sorry, we can’t let you check the security footage.”
“Wha-”
Ripley struck him from behind and he crumpled to the ground, her fake burn melting from her face. The Awakened looked around, rechecking that all was clear. “I think that’s all we can do; we should get out of here. Come with me, my shuttle is in the staff bay.”

Toran closed his communicator and motioned to a guard. “Search him.”
Eruwenn wished she had some way to capture the look on Krast’s face when the remote detonator was pulled from his pocket. She'd have to hug the light-fingered Kittran later.
The Sentinel grit his teeth. “That’s not mine.”
“Sure, sure,” Toran agreed, while simultaneously shaking his head at the Sentinel. “Looks like you really didn’t come alone.”
Krast was furious, yelling, “I’m telling you-” He broke off when Ranjaz shot him in the leg, falling to the floor.
The Kah’Ree pointed his pistol at the Kittran. “Can’t let you kill a Sentinel in my casino, even if they did just rob me.”
Ranjaz was surprised the Kah’Ree had believed them so easily. “What about us?”
Toran sighed, lowering his weapon. “Take your winnings and get out. If you stole the thing once, I’m sure you can steal it again.”
Eruwenn and Thor both made to leave. Ranjaz paused, knowing he might not get another chance. “And him?”
The Kah’Ree looked at the Sentinel holding his wounded leg. “We’ll send him back to his ship. As much as I hate it, the Sentinels are untouchable.”
Ranjaz raised his pistol. “He took my friend.”
“And we’ll get him back,” Eruwenn said softly. “Then we’ll all deal with him, and the rest of the Sentinels.”
Krast sneered and spat blood once more. “Your human is dead.”
Ranjaz fired.
Krast screamed and grabbed his other leg. “You bastard!”
Toran and his men raised their weapons as the Kah’Ree yelled, “Get the hell out of here!”
Ranjaz turned and followed the others out of the door, but just as it was about to close he poked his head back in. “Oh, one last thing.”
Toran could be seen looking up just as the Kittran fired again, but he ducked out of sight before the true outcome of his shot could be seen. The shrieks of agony, however, followed the trio down the corridor as they broke into a run. Eruwenn spared a glance down at Ranjaz during their retreat. “What did you do?”
The full-fanged grin had never been larger. “Made sure we’ll see him again.”
On the floor of the dalcho room Krast was screaming in agony. He turned over to stare at the closed door. “I’ll kill you! I will hunt you down and kill every last one of you!”
Toran spoke into his communicator. “Tell the Sentinel ship to come get their man. And, bring a doctor. A really good doctor.” He nudged one of his guards and finally let out a chuckle. After all, the Sentinels had just robbed him. “You double-crossing scum always get what you deserve.”
The J’Rami guard raised an eyebrow. “Not sure anyone deserves getting shot in the balls.”

Next

Player robss and tries to kill the party. Eventually stops hanging out with us and calling us "losers"

Here's an in-depth breakdown of Super Bowl LV:

https://preview.redd.it/xm2rmxgccif61.jpg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=727ec6ddc09f8e0ebc58dfbb4bfe5a6e702fff49

We have made it! All 256 regular season and – since this year – twelve playoff games are in the books and there is just one matchup left to decide who will be crowned NFL champions. There are so many storylines leading up to the big game – the GOAT Tom Brady versus the kid Patrick Mahomes, two of the all-time great tight-ends on either side of the ball wearing number 87, the Buccaneers becoming the first ever team to host a Super Bowl in their home stadium, Andy Reid after all this time of coming up short, potentially winning back-to-back titles, while Bruce Arians is looking to finally get his first ring as a head coach and potentially becoming the oldest one to earn one in history, and many others.
As I do every year, I wanted to give a detailed look ahead to the big game, where I break down who these teams are, kind of how they got here and how they match up against each other. To do so I put together analysis of each offense and defense, plus where each could have the advantage, then I take a look back at when these two teams first met back in week 12, explain what they have and/or should have learned from it, give you an X-factor on either side of the ball for both and finally hand out my score prediction, while explaining what I believe will happen.
Let’s dive into it!

Buccaneers offense vs. Chiefs defense:

The Tampa Bay offense has been transitioning throughout the season. Early on it was Bruce Arians’ system with a lot of 12 and even 13 personnel, trying to establish a gap-scheme power run game and taking play-action shots off it from under center. And then a second offense was kind of implemented, which was more suited to what Tom Brady was used to in New England, where they spread the field and attack defenses with the quick game. However, it really was two separate playbooks almost, that they worked in. I think we have seen a little more of a symbiotic relationship, which I believe Byron Leftwich has had a big role in putting together. They motion their backs in and out or use their receivers as pre-snap coverage indicators at a much higher rate, letting Brady be surgical in the quick passing game, but still attacking vertically and using Gronk and the tight-ends as that extra in-line blocker to get enough time, because Brady still more than enough juice in his arm to push the ball down the field. Since week ten, Cameron Brate has also played about 41 percent of the snaps and I believe he gives them more versatility in what they can be from two tight-end personnel, since he can basically be a big slot for them. Their receiving corp as a whole offers a lot of versatility, whether it’s Mike Evans moving more into the slot this season, Antonio Brown being able to line up at any of the receiver spots or specialists like Scotty Miller to attack down the field.

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It’s a well-established narrative that if you can get to Tom Brady early, he becomes a much less effective passer and if you look at the five games, that they have come up short in 2020 (Saints twice, Bears, Rams and Chiefs), they have lost the battle up front offensively. Since their week 13 bye, following their last loss to Kansas City (including the playoffs), they have gone undefeated whilst averaging 34.3 points per game, with at least 30 in all three postseason battles. Looking at those games in particular, the defense was dominant at New Orleans and set up scoring opportunities directly, but against Washington and Green Bay, they completed a combined 11 passes of 20+ yards. So it is still very much about the big plays through the air (finished top three in 20+ and 40+ yard passes), but the efficiency of this offense has really gone up to a different level. At Detroit they were so dominant that Brady sat out the entire second half, then they scored on all but one of their possessions against Atlanta and now over this three-game road playoff run, they have had only three combined three-and-outs and turnovers in each of them. A big key to that has been the Bucs offensive line keeping Brady clean, as he has gotten sacked only 11 times over their active seven-game win streak and just once in all but two of those contests. To go with having better solutions to beat the blitz in their system.

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Unlike a lot of modern NFL offenses, that have incorporated more RPO elements and try to create numbers advantages in the run game with spread sets, Bruce Arians still brings that old-school flair with multiple tight-end sets and the power run game. There’s not a lot of wide zone blocking, but rather they create vertical movement at the point of attack with a heavy dose of duo, get those big offensive linemen on the move on toss plays and then I love watching those receivers get involved as blockers in the box – especially Chris Godwin, who they seriously have leading up in the hole or trapping three-techniques. When they run play-action off those looks, they use a lot of seven- and eight-man protections and try to hit defenses over the top, whether it’s deep crossers and posts or straight go routes down the sideline. As much success as they have with that recipe, when you look at the analytics, their tendency to run the ball on early downs shows there’s plenty of improvement in terms of efficiency, which is something I want to see them do in this game, to not get behind the chains and allow the Chiefs defense to be as creative on third down. When they go into shotgun and spread the field more, they look for ways to attack the middle of the field with their inside receivers primarily and when they see one-on-one on the outside with Mike Evans or Antonio Brown, they will take their shots. Double-moves are a large ingredient to what they do, especially out-and-up routes.

For the Chiefs defense, they looked like they had carried over that momentum from last year’s Super Bowl run into 2020, not giving up more than 20 points in any of their first four games. In week five, the Raiders out of nowhere exploded for 40 points and handed them their only loss outside of week 17, when they rested several starters, before having three more great showings at Buffalo, Denver and then hosting the Jets. But since then, they have allowed at least 24 points in six of their final eight games. Part of that negative turnaround was the injuries they have had in the secondary and the lack of takeaways (one per game). The biggest piece however has been their inability to keep teams out of the end-zone when they got close. Looking at the whole regular season, no other team has allowed their opponents to create a higher rate of their red-zone trips into touchdowns (74.1%). That’s why so many of their games stayed close deep into the fourth quarter, which I’ll get to more in a little bit. When you look into play-calling, you can see that they played a lot more zone-coverage and rushed only four or five, because they simply didn’t have the guys their could trust to cover in man. Outside of one game, where they felt like they had a great feel for the opposing route-patterns, which I’ll get to soon.

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Yet, once again, that unit has stepped up in the postseason and the two things that stand out to me are defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s brilliant game-planning and their ability to stop one-dimensional offenses. When I look at what they did against the Browns, if you take away one 23-yard burst from Nick Chubb, Cleveland’s elite running back duo was held to 78 yards on 18 carries, as Spagnuolo gave their opponents a lot of looks that they didn’t want to run into and then had a safety drop out of the box late. Then in the AFC title game, to take away Buffalo’s dynamic passing offense (which ranked top three in all major categories), they played a lot of cover-two and two-man, where their DBs pressed the hell out of the Bills receivers and then they played a lot of different versions of those two-high shells, like invert cover-two or bringing Tyrann Mathieu down as the MIKE in Tampa-two basically, which forced Josh Allen to hold onto the ball. What I can promise you is that they aren’t afraid of bringing heavy pressure and then having their coverage defenders well-schooled in the concepts they should focus on taking away primarily while the Honeybadger is often allowed to move pretty freely as the robber. Frank Clark hasn’t quite lived up to his contract, but he has had big moments in the playoffs these last two years, Chris Jones is one of the most disruptive interior D-linemen in the game, who they can move all over the line, and they have several big bodies they can rotate through to stay fresh and eat double-teams.

Chiefs offense vs. Bucs defense:

As much as we all love the Kansas City offense and we see them as this unit that blows us away with flashy play-designs and throws over the top, they have really been alternating their approach over the course of the season as well. When you go all the way back to their season-opener against the Texans, you see that they used more of a West Coast and RPO-oriented attack to punish a defense that played a lot of soft zones and invited them to throw the ball short. However, two weeks later at Baltimore, they were destroying the Ravens’ single-high safety and man-coverage principles by letting their speedy receivers streak down the field and call double-moves at 15+ yards of depth. Then three weeks after that, when they found themselves in a rainy setting at Buffalo against a soft interior run defense, they pounded the ball 46 times for almost 250 yards on the ground. So they have shown the ability to adapt to their opponents. However, with several injuries on the offensive line – most notably a turnstile at left guard and those two tackles, which will now both be out for the Super Bowl – and opposing defenses taking the approach of using a lot more split-safety looks and trying to take away the big play, they have turned back into being more methodical in their plan and putting together long drives. In the AFC Championship game in particular, with Patrick Mahomes coming off a turf toe injury, their gameplan and drive charts look almost like what they used to with Alex Smith, in terms of the West Coast designs and those glance or slant routes on the backside of RPO concepts.

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When you look at this KC offense, they have had large stretches of getting static in games and as great as they are at moving the ball between the 20s, they are only 14th league-wide in red-zone touchdown percentage (61%). Some people may not realize this, but since their week eight blowout win over the Jets, they had not won a game by more than six points until the AFC title game. That is due to a combination of tendency to start slow, their poor red-zone efficiency and the inability to run the ball consistently with all the movement they have had on the O-line, having rushed for 135+ yards just three times all season. With that being said, Darrell Williams has been a big factor as a power runner these playoff and rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire should be back to full health. In addition to that, they find other ways to put the ball in the hands of their skill-players quickly, using the speed of their receiving crew on bubbles and speed sweeps, to go along with well-designed longer-developing screens, such as the double swing-fake and then middle screen to Travis Kelce. They also use their star tight-end quite a bit on those power shovels in short-yardage situations and I believe their most effective run play is the speed option, because of the way Mahomes can manipulate that end-man at the line.

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While I have seen them run anything from 23 personnel to going empty with Kelce detached from the line (so basically a five-wide situation), there are a few things the Chiefs love to run. Their go-to formation is a three-by-one set with Kelce as the single receiver, mostly flexed out wide, but also in-line. In 2019 they ran three verticals from that trips side and then had Kelce on a shallow crosser over and over again. This year they still run it quite a bit, but they let the tight-end run more corner or curl routes, to allow inside receivers from the other side attack the middle of the field and isolate their backs against the linebackers, in addition to running power that way. And then they motion someone like Tyreek Hill or Mecole Hardman across, which for the most part gets opposing defense to move into two-high coverages and play off. So if KC runs either one up the seams, there’s usually a ton of space underneath. The two things that take this offense to the next level however, are trick plays and off-script production. What makes Andy Reid and Eric Bienemy great is not only their ability to exploit defensive schemes, but they are so creative and don’t shy away from throwing reverse passes, underhand shovels to their fullback or digging up tape from the 1948 Rose Bowl. And then there’s all the thing Mahomes can do off script. That guy is so slippery to extend plays while continuing to look downfield and his pass-catchers are so adept at adjusting on the fly and finding the open areas, especially that sixth sense-like connection he has with Kelce.

I have been higher on the Bucs defense for pretty much the entire year, which was really up and down for them as a unit. They have had moments of dominance, like keeping three straight opponents to under 50 rushing yards each or holding Green Bay’s number-one ranked offense to just 10 points in their regular season meeting, but they also gave up a combined 72 points in their first two meetings with the Saints and got lit up for over 450 yards through the air when hosting these same Chiefs back in week 12 (I’ll analyze that matchup in detail in our next segment). During this playoff run however, they have really stepped up in big moments to get them to this point. Whether it’s forcing four turnovers at New Orleans or sacking Aaron Rodgers five times and making a historically great red-zone offense settle for a couple of chip-shot field goals at Green Bay. When you look at their duo of edge rushers, Shaq Barrett is tied for the lead-league in QB hurries (24) and only three players in the NFL (all DBs) have forced more turnovers than Jason Pierre-Paul (six). Then they have the most dynamic linebacker tandem in all of football, which are heavily involved in their pressure packages and make it nearly impossible to get outside the tackle box in the run game, and now with Vita Vea back in the lineup, they have a wall on the inside that nobody can run on consistently. That’s how they finished the regular season as the clear number one run defense in the league. The secondary has been the problem child at times, especially when defensive coordinator Todd Bowles has put them in pure man-coverage, but by moving their safeties around more to bracket and help in certain areas of the field, they have really improved in that department.

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Bowles is an aggressive play-caller by nature and they have created a lot of problems for opposing offenses by bringing one more than you can block (blitzed on 39% of plays). It has bitten them in their behind at times as well, but from what I have seen on tape, they have been more strategic in how they use it. Especially on third downs, I love how they have used their safeties as moving pieces, having them key on certain areas of the field or defending the sticks. In the NFC Championship game for example, one of the biggest plays of the afternoon was that Aaron Jones fumble at the start of the second half, when the Packers thought they had defeated the man-coverage with a shallow crosser to Jones whilst picking the underneath coverage, but Jordan Whitehead raced up from the other side of the field and jarred the ball loose just as the RB tried to turn upfield and convert on third down. That willingness to drive on routes is also apparent when they run quarters coverage and you see Whitehead and rookie Antoine Winfield Jr. break on the ball, looking to take somebody’s head off, while they are also heavily involved in their blitz packages. That combined with those guys coming off the edges, Ndamokung as a bully on the inside and a pretty unknown contributor in William Gholston has them ranking in the top five in sacks, pressure percentage, turnovers and tackles for loss.

Examining the first matchup:

Like I already mentioned, these two teams met back in week 12. The Chiefs jumped out to an early 17-0 lead in the first quarter, with Tyreek Hill racking up over 200 receiving yards over those 15 minutes already and the Bucs offense having just one combined first down over the first four possessions. Kansas City was in the red-zone once more mid-way through the second quarter, but a Shaquille Barrett strip-sack gave Brady & company the ball with some life and they were able to go on the board. That really got things to click and they fought their way back to being down only three, despite a couple of interceptions for Tampa Bay’s QB killing drives, because after scoring a touchdown on their initial try for the Chiefs, the Bucs defense really stepped up and held their opponents scoreless the rest of the way. However, Mahomes and Hill were able to run down the final four minutes and close the game, not giving Brady’s troops another chance, as they were coming off consecutive TD drives at the end, to secure a 27-24 victory.
While the Chiefs certainly took their foot off the gas pedal and tried to run the ball more, which KC outside of what Mahomes did, rushed for only 59 yards on 16 carries, I really thought this was a breaking point for Tampa Bay as a team. The offense started finding a groove and the only two drives that didn’t result in points from that final first half possession on, ended in picks. The defense on the other hand adjusted what they were doing in coverage and held that explosive KC attack to just ten points through the final three quarters. So while I think the result may be a little deceiving and the Chiefs could have easily won by double-digits, I look back at this as more of a launching pad for a team that has been the best in the NFC from that point on and now represents that conference in the big game, with a chance to learn from their early mistakes. Here are a few things that really stood out to me when they first met:

When you look back at the ridiculous first quarter Tyreek Hill had at Tampa Bay, what really stands out is how much he was left one-on-one in coverage, often times with Carlton Davis, who has had a good season in general, but is a bigger corner who ran in the low 4.5s at the combine – no way can he keep up consistently against the fastest man in football. Davis did follow Tyreek for the most part, in particular when he was the single receiver or the #3 in that trips set with Travis Kelce soloed up on the opposite side. And the Chiefs did a great job of creating those one-on-ones with motions, where they moved Kelce in line or forced Davis to trail Hill, when he came across the formation from that trips alignment. Tyreek’s two long touchdown came on a subtle double-move after they motioned Kelce in and then on a streak across the field as the #3 from trips. That opened up the middle of the field later on for Kelce on hook and dig routes. Something else Kansas City did in the first half particularly was using more 12 and even 13 personnel than I had seen from them all season long. They still couldn’t run the ball a lick out of those sets, but they were effective in the passing game when used, especially chipping both those guys off the edges for Tampa, with one of the TEs and the running back.

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Tampa Bay called a lot of passing concepts with five-man protections early versus Kansas City bringing an array of blitzes (18 on 42 drop-backs). Especially on third downs, they were able to create at least one free rusher and then they had one or two defenders bailing out to take away the middle of the field. However, the Bucs made some very effective adjustments in the second half with hot-route to defeat those blitzes and putting that “bail defender” I will call it here in a bind, with a seam and spot route underneath for example. Of course the Chiefs still got two interceptions off Brady, that stopped promising drives, but when you look at what went wrong on those plays, first Ronald Jones overset to the outside trying to pick up Tyrann Mathieu off the edge, which led to an underthrown deep ball by Brady that was brought in by Bashaun Breeland along the sideline, as Scotty Miller got pushed out wide on his release, and then Mathieu got an INT of his own, as Mike Evans didn’t recognize the pressure and the ball went off the helmet of a blitzing Daniel Sorensen. In general, they were able to get the ball out quickly – especially to their tight-ends – to take advantage of limited resources in coverage and on the final two drives, when KC brought heat almost every single snap, they were punished for it.

What each team can take away:

A couple of adjustments that I already saw in the first meeting or that I would like to see for each team would be:

For the Bucs, the one thing I want to see most is using more dummy counts to show pressure pre-snap and give Brady a clear picture. Whether they try to block it up with the tight-ends and backs in protection or alert the hot read, the more information they can get from a Spagnuolo defense that prides itself on disguising pressures and coverages, they more adept they will be at defeating those. Once they do that, this could turn into a chess match, where the Chiefs show something different intentionally to make Brady kill the original play and then have to pull the ball down anyway, as the picture changes once the snap is off. And something else they should take advantage of is isolating what is a below-average group of linebackers in the passing game. Their RB core isn’t overly impressive in terms of their receiving abilities, especially when you look at the amount of drops we have seen from Leonard Fournette, but maybe they dig LeSean McCoy out more for this matchup and see if he can win on option routes and Tampa actually put AB in the backfield a couple of times in the backfield in their prior meeting, only they ran him downfield on wheel routes.
Defensively I already saw some stuff that I really through quarters two to four, in terms of using their safety tandem to bracket Hill and Kelce on a lot of snaps and on key downs in particular, forcing the ancillary pieces of that offense to beat them. I will mention one of my X-factors and his role in how that “gamble” could end up in the next segment, but those two guys accounted for 55.5 percent of Kansas City’s total passing yardage. So it’s certainly a chance worth taking and if you go with a game-plan, where your two stand-up guys on the second level are more involved in covering space underneath, as Tyreek may be utilized as more of a decoy that runs off the deep coverage, you can eliminate a lot of yardage after the catch, since teams that rush four and play coverage have been the ones giving the Chiefs some issues at times. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t want the Bucs to not use their linebackers as blitzing threats. They should try to cover up the open gaps with those guys and create one-on-ones across the board, to enable their edge rushers to dominate against KC’s backup tackles. And something the Browns against them a few times, which I really liked, was rushing four or five, but not giving up assets in coverage, as they had somebody drop out to replace those blitzers and still create a free rusher.

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On the Chiefs’ side, I really liked the plan of chipping those two guys off the edges, as I already discussed, with an extra tight-end on the field, and while they are a spread-oriented offense, they had a lot of success when they used 12 personnel and threw the ball out of those looks. Because you can’t cover the whole field and have to take away what Kansas City sends vertically, those TEs and backs are often times all by themselves as they release into the flats. If that happens, like it did in their prior meeting, Mahomes has to take the free yardage and open up the deeper areas of the field again, as the Bucs have to re-adjust. The other thing I can tell you for sure is that the Bucs are obviously terrified of Tyreek burning them deep again and I’m sure there won’t be many chances to just attack their corners in man-coverage for big plays. So if they give Hill a lot soft cushions, they have to repeat what did to the Bills’ Tre’Davious White in terms of getting him the ball quickly on smoke routes and forcing those guys to tackle their electric receiver. While vertical prowess has to be used as a decoy, in terms of putting him in the slot of those three-by-one sets and having him run up the seam, while you attack underneath that. If you get Mecole Hardman one-on-one with their third-best CB on a post-corner route, while the flanker runs a hitch or square-in to bind the guy on the outside, that could be free money.
When I switch to defense, they had a ton of success bringing the blitz and not allowing Brady to step into throws. I would certainly say they were happy with that game-plan and they have reason to feel confident in the guys they have on the back-end, with the way they have showed out so far in the postseason. However, I have now talked about this at length and the Bucs have watched that tape over and over again. There is no way, those guys will be as ill-prepared to counter those pressure packages as they were back in November. Hell, Brady was dicing them up in the fourth quarter and I just detailed how those two picks came about. So Steve Spagnuolo can still bring the heat in certain situations and test Tampa Bay in their ability to pick up the blitz, but he has to be more strategic in how he uses it. The second thing to consider here is how you mask those linebackers, when you decide to utilize them more in coverage. Those players can be very effective as downhill thumpers in the run game, taking on pulling guards and filling holes, but they aren’t great in space. The Raiders in their two matchups against Kansas City had a lot of success attacking that area of the field with crossing routes. Chris Godwin and Gronk would be guys for that task, so maybe if you have them to one side, the opposite linebacker is the one you blitz and you bring down Sorensen or Mathieu to replace him in that hook-area, while looking to pick up anybody working across the field.

X-factors:

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Buccaneers – Aaron Stinnie & Jamel Dean

I’m not going to give you a name like Scotty Miller here, because at this point, he is more likely to catch at least one deep ball than not. Ronald Jones’ health will be key as well, to give the Bucs that physical one-two punch out of the backfield. However, I’m going with their starting right guard Aaron Stinnie, who just got his first two starts of the year during these playoffs. The Bucs O-line has been dominant over the course of this seven-game win streak, like I already mentioned, holding opponents to just 11 sacks combined in those games and an average of 115 rushing yards during these playoffs, despite some tough competition. Alex Cappa was one of the road-graders on the interior for Tampa and only missed three total snaps throughout the regular season, before fracturing his ankle mid-way through their Wildcard game at Washington. Stinnie has since stepped since then and played pretty well, but he was also responsible for the only sack on Brady in the NFC Championship game at Green Bay, when Kenny Clark went right through him on a bull rush. Well, the challenge will not get any easier, as I’d expect the Chiefs to line up Chris Jones in the B-gap as much as possible and try to exploit that matchup, on passing downs in particular. That’s why it will be crucial for Tampa Bay to stay ahead of the chains, unlike they did in the first matchup, and slow the rush down a little bit. Good thing Stinnie is lined up in-between arguably the top rookie right tackle of 2020 in rookie Tristan Wirfs and one of the better centers in Ryan Jensen, who will be looking to land a rib-shot on the guy over Stinnie, on the snaps that he is uncovered for.
As for the Bucs defense, that whole group of corners will have to step up in a major way, as they hope to slow down this explosive KC passing attack. Obviously, Carlton Davis’ name will come up a whole lot early on during the broadcast, as Tony Romo and Jim Nantz show what Tyreek Hill did to him early on in that week 12 meeting, and I could see Hill be matched up with Sean Murphy-Bunting in the slot a whole lot as well, but since I expect the safety to that side to keep his eyes constantly on him, when he lines up inside and makes it easier to bracket to some degree. Instead, I’m looking at Jamel Dean, who primarily is Tampa Bay’s field-side corner, unless they have Davis travelling with the opposing team’s number one receiver in certain matchups, which I wouldn’t expect, as the Bucs coaches go back to the tape of that first matchup. If Todd Bowles is smart – and from what I’ve seen from his as a coach, as much as aggressiveness may have hurt him at times, he is – he will build on what they did in the second half of that last game, when he used his two safeties to bracket Hill and Kelce almost every snap and forced the rest of that receiving corp to beat them. That puts the spotlight on guys like Sammy Watkins if they line him up more at Z, Demarcus Robinson and others, as those guys will pretty much be one-on-one with Dean. While the coverage numbers would indicate otherwise – in part because he draws the easiest assignments – to me he is the weakest link of this secondary and has been highly vulnerable to double-moves. The Chiefs might be burn him once more on Sunday.

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Chiefs – Andrew Wylie & Juan Thornhill

I thought about going Sammy Watkins here for the Chiefs offense, because he hasn’t suited up for them since week 16 and he hasn’t caught at least five passes in a game since week three, but averaged almost 100 receiving yards during last year’s playoff run. And you should also get accustomed with who wears number 48 for them, because Nick Keizer may have only caught six passes through the regular season, but he has become KC’s TE2 on the depth chart, playing just over a quarter of the snaps, and he could have a key role as an extra protector or chipping those edge rushers. Instead, I’m going with KC’s new starter at right tackle, who was slotted in at RG for all but one game so far. With blindside protector Eric Fisher unfortunately tearing his Achilles late in the AFC title game, Mike Remmers – who originally replaced Mitchell Schwartz on the right end of the line – is now switching sides and Andrew Wylie is sliding one spot outside. And he will face a tough task, after only having started one game on the edge against the Saints and now getting a heavy load of Shaq Barrett, who primarily rushed off that side. Let’s see if Wylie has the quickness in his kick-slide to counter Barrett’s speed and if the latter can get him on a dip-maneuver, like he beat Eric Fisher for a strip-sack on when these two teams last met. Steven Wisniewski will step in at Wylie’s original spot, but he has been one of the most dependable veteran linemen of the last decade in my opinion.
Defensively, I’m looking at the guy who missed Kansas City’s Super Bowl run last year, after an excellent rookie campaign. Their secondary was the star of the show against Buffalo, to send them to the Super Bowl, by disrupting route patterns at the line of scrimmage and not allowing receivers to separate late. A big reason they felt comfortable doing that was their safety tandem, with Tyrann Mathieu being in more of a robber role and dropping down in Tampa-2, to go along with the rangy Juan Thornhill, who broke up four passes and nearly picked off two of them. Steve Spagnuolo has those safeties doing a ton of late rotations, bailing Daniel Sorensen out for two-high shells, Honeybadger turning into a freely roaming robber and often times Thornhill ending up as the deep middle safety. As a single-high defender, he makes it almost impossible to push the ball down the hashes and he has the ability to make plays outside numbers. That will be crucial against all the deep balls Tampa Bay attempts and if one of those corners loses Mike Evans or Antonio Brown off the line by lunging in press, he could be the guy who decides if there will be a 40+ yard gain or maybe even an interception, if Brady puts too much air under the ball and tries to give his receiver time to track it. I can’t wait to watch that chess game between the Chiefs’ second-year safety and the ultimate student of the game in Brady, who will try to manipulate him with his eyes and body language, in order to keep the defender away from where he wants to go with the ball.

Prediction:

On paper, the Bucs have the better and healthier roster at this moment. You look at the offensive line in particular, where they still have four of their day one starters, while the Chiefs’ only full-time starter at his original position is center Austin Reiter and they will have two guys at those tackle spots, that have barely never played there for Kansas City. In terms of pass-catchers, it’s hard to argue that you could put anybody above the Chiefs group of track stars, but you don’t need a full hand to count off the teams that you would put ahead of the Bucs. There is also a pretty clear advantage on the defensive line for the home team, when you look at them being top three in pressure percentage, while KC is outside the top ten. And while I would give the Chiefs the nod in terms of the back-end, seeing how they have stepped up so far this postseason at full health, the Bucs’ group has made plenty of plays to take them to the Super Bowl and linebacker is not even a competition, watching Devin White and Lavonte David fly around the field. And of course, they have the number one rush defense, while the Chiefs rank 21st, and they are both average at running the ball themselves.
Schematically, Tampa certainly has to make some adjustments, as I have already discussed in length, having solutions for the blitz packages Steve Spagnuolo will throw at them and not allowing the Chiefs two main weapons to beat them. Right now, I give the clear advantage to the reigning champs when it comes to the coaching staffs and as great as Brady has been for two decades now and the how clutch he has been on the game’s biggest stage, we may be witnessing the one guy, who has a chance of dethroning him one day as the GOAT. Spags has a proven track record of success against Brady and I’m sure Andy Reid and Eric Bienemy have been in the lab, cooking up new things to throw at the Bucs defense, figuring out ways to score points all four quarters, but in the end it comes down to Patrick Mahomes being able to make plays nobody else in football can. Shaq Barrett and JPP could have a field day against these two backup tackles and I think Todd Bowles will also have a couple of things up his sleeves that the Chiefs haven’t seen, but last year’s Super Bowl MVP is the ultimate equalizer. He will shake out of a sack and find Kelce for a huge third-down conversion and he will have another like twelve-step drop and fire a deep ball off his back-foot to break Tampa’s neck.

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Chiefs 34 – Bucs 28

So give me the Chiefs here and I’ll take the chalk with Mahomes earning MVP honors, winning back-to-back titles and setting the foundation for a potential dynasty in Kansas City.

If you enjoyed this breakdown, I would really appreciate if you could visit the original piece!
Also make sure to check out my video on the ten biggest questions heading into Super Bowl LV!

Descriptions and Recommendations for the Broken Bonds refugees wanting to continue to watch Verum

Since the recent news (Best of luck to Toast and his father!) I imagine a lot of the Broken Bonds viewers who want to get into more involved in Verum has increased, so I will attempt to give a small description of a few campaigns in relation to Broken Bonds for the Broken Bonds refugees who want to branch out into new campaigns. I will not be commenting on every campaign ever but I will comment on every active one(excluding one shots or things like the red star) and a few finished ones that are related to BB:
This is the time that I would put a bit of a disclaimer for Strange Roads and the early parts of the Tops campaigns, in the early parts of these campaigns a player was revealed to have some abhorent acts that were brought to light, that player was removed from both Strange Roads and Tops campaigns, I will not be mentioning this another time but it is a disclaimer I thought was worth mentioning, but I urge you to not be dettered from these amazing stories cause of one bad apple and I would prefer if the matter was not mentioned again in this thread.

Gamblers Delight (11 episodes , 1 bookkeeping episode) -> Shadow of Tyre (23 episodes, currently ongoing):

@CrikMaster aka Criken as Moe Kowbull
@Strippin aka Strippin as Ahst
@woops aka Woops as Raost Tredder
@TheNo1Alex aka TheNo1Alex as Toot
@goldentot aka Tate as Eustace
This is the quintessential lore campaign, the Gamblers is the campaign with the fastest roadmap to get people kept up with the current lore and currently running events while also providing proper context and buildup, because this is the group that most likely uncovered that lore to begin with. The players themselves follow the name of the campaign to a fault, they are gamblers. If you liked E'ar hugging the maggot get ready for a whole 40+ sessions of that with these misfit pirates and their constant gambling of the world's fate. Shadow of Tyre has given to the world the fastest way of aquiring lore aptly naming the group the "Speedrunners of Tyre" for constanly completing everything quickly through gambles. The group dynamic is very cheery and jumps on almost any oportunity to do something great. I would recommend this campaign to almost everyone who is interested in the lore of Verum and likes people doing heroic things. The easiest way to describe them in one sentence is "Take a chance. Roll the Dice. Let it be a Gambler's Delight".

Gailen's Gate(39 Episodes) -> Soul of Tyre(21 episodes, currently ongoing):

@shaken_im aka Sean as Braktor Ironbellows
@surefour aka Surefour as Belanovan
@ronniefilyaw aka WhompRonnie as Ozzie
@invadercristi aka Miss Universe as Hackne Silvermask
@SterLovesFood aka Ster as Gruff
This campaign starts out as a city builder establishing a new city in the continent of Kalkatesh but their fate is rewritten as they follow their destiny to the Arcane Labyrinth to find the Soul of Tyre. The players are all VERY experienced both in terms of roleplay and battle mechanics, they have a past Seven from 7years7days as a player and that plays a lot to the dynamic of the group and the way they make decisions. This is a group that is very careful with the decisions they make and are very careful. It provides a unique way to experience the world since most of the time people are new to Verum and the way the universe works. If you want a campaign filled with lore and tense decisions focusing a lot on the green side of the pantheon of Verum and of course takes a very important role in the current storyline due to them being in the Arcane Labyrinth then Soul of Tyre is for you. Due to the tense nature of their enviroment and their decision making the campaign may sometimes result in characters arguing with each other for a lot of time, however when push comes to shove SoT always delivers with excellent RP, incredible tactics and overall smart decision making. This is the line that I think describes Soul of Tyre the best: "Because you could be right, our spark is fading. But the Seven will not die forgotten. I'm little more than a candle in a sea of darkness now, but before you snuff me out I will start a luminous fire. And now, you're going to witness me, THIS IS MY POWER TOO! And I'm going to show you EXACTLY WHAT THIS SOUL CAN DO"

Deals in the Dark(14 Episodes) -> Maw of Abbaddon(7 Episodes) -> Duality of Dragons(6 Episodes) -> Meaning of Madness(7 Episodes) -> Heart of Tyre(21 Episodes, currently ongoing):

[REDACTED] aka [REDACTED] as [REDACTED]
@NaomiOop aka Naomi as Neve
@scottjund aka Scott Jund as "Rivitah or whatever the fuck name he has this week"
@RussMoney aka Russmoney as Madd Morc
@AMGSheena aka AMGSheena as Argh'xl Roz
@SummersSalt aka Summer as Seren
@msf_actual aka Snake as Ives Brightburn
The late night crew, the Tops, the lords of Abbadon. They go by a lot of names and titles but if there's one campaign that adheres to the sentence "Hope is not so easily extinguished" it is the Tops. I'm gonna be blund. Nothing good ever happens to the Heart of Tyre, they constantly face worse shit and worse shit every week. Yet, every single week they overcome it , they strive forward no matter the challenge and the opposition. Whether it be through a lucky dice roll, fate or impressive stratergies , the Tops are the group that had me waking up my wife at 4am from me screaming "TOPS TOPS TOPS TOPS". Every single one of them having heroic moments all the time no matter the challenge. If you want the heroes of Verum, no matter their allegiance , no matter their alignment, for me Tops are the heroes Verum has. In terms of what the campaign entails , it goes from a faction building campaign into the whole storyline of the Arcane Labyrinth with a heavy emphasis on horror elements like Silent Hills and Resident Evil. If I could describe the group dynamic in one sentence is "For the planet"

Shattered Crowns Season 1-3:

Season 1: 14 Episodes
Season 2: 14 Episodes
Season 3: 6 Episodes
@MOONMOON_OW aka MoonMoon as Scrumpo
@AdmiralBahroo aka AdmiralBahroo as Big Tree
@Octopimp aka Octopimp as Huckleberry
@JoeZieja aka Joe Zieja as Ikkar
@SterLovesFood aka Ster as Guy
The scattered clowns, a chaotic group, a lovable group, OH GOD WHY IS EVERYTHING ON VIOLET FIRE AND WHY ARE WE IN SPACE AGHHH!!!. The group that unleashed the Cacophonic Collective upon Broken Bonds, the group that started a TON of shit with the fireball incident. This is one of the if not the most unique and different campaign Arcadum has run on stream, ESPECIALLY after season 2, there's huge lore payoffs, incredible fights, the conclusion and start of multiple campaign expanding arcs and storyline in this grand adventure, spam your libidos and follow the clowns in their quest to save the universe.

A Tale of Two Towers(18 Episodes) -> Secrets in the Stone(11 Episodes):

@Rhabby_V aka Rhabby V as Claw
@DattosDestiny aka Datto as Dusty
@BlessiousPlays aka Blessious as Elwood
@Pterodactylsftw aka Pterodactylstfw as Gorrul
@travel_danielle aka Danielle as Tirsis
@Tiff_Tiefling aka Silvelle/Tiff as Ulm
A campaign that gets derailed by A LOT and very often. They are in the middle of some of the most important events in the current storyline and hold the other piece of Zorro. One of the players is Arcadum's wife, a previous Seven and the actoplayer for the Astral Traveler, they have one of the best note takers as players who ended ascending his character to be a translator. If you're interested in the lore of Verum Secrets in the Stones is a must watch.

Death and Debts(11 episodes) -> Steel and Silence(2 Episodes, currently ongoing)

@ProjektMelody aka ProjektMelody as Terryn
@MomoMischief aka Momo as Vaeri
@Bunny_Gif aka Bunny_gif as Madeleine
@zentreya aka Zentreya as Zara
@Iron_mouse aka IronMouse as Umi
@_Silvervale aka Silvervale as Revlis
Chaotic Horny. 2 word describe this group. These girls have a blast playing DnD and have become entangled in the main storyline as of their second campaign. If you want to feel nauseated from all the laughter and ways they find to break Arcadum then I recommend this campaign wholeheartly. DaD and now SaS were my main campaigns that I found solace in when things were going horribly wrong for the Tyre groups and all I could feel for 2 weeks was pure suffering. This is the most horny group you'll find in Verum while also having sprinkles of important lore. 3 words describe this grouip the best: "Bag of Nipples"

The Strange Roads(17 Episodes):

[REDACTED] aka [REDACTED] as [REDACTED]
@JesseCox aka Jesse Cox as Arcidamus
@Gallan aka Bikeman as Gallan Troth
@Timmac_ aka Timmac as Koordrin
@dexbonus aka Dodger as Zackarius
@Kelli_Siren aka Kelli as Mirage
A campaign that was deeply interlinked with Broken Bonds, if you liked the Boys from the Valloween fight then this is where they originate from and Nox also appears in it having one of her most epic fights in Verum yet. A campaign of a group of adventures travelling from one end of Kalkatesh to the other. Along the road they encounter a lot of different storylines and obstacles they have to take care of, if you care abou Kalkatesh's multitude of different ways of living then this is a great campaign as it provides an example of a lot of it's cities cultures in one packed campaign. The group dynamic is heavily RP, the players are almost always in character. The characters from this campaign make multiple cameos in other campaigns a lot of the time , also featuring a Violet Eye and a lot of lore on the patreons of Verum and their nature.

The Tearing Veil (13 Episodes, currently ongoing):

@sodapoppintv aka Sodapoppin as Flamewrath
@KingVigors aka Vigors as Vim
@DevinNash aka DevinNash as Wisp
@surefour aka Surefour as Nidhogg
@MOONMOON_OW aka MoonMoon as Angorn
@roflgatorOW aka Roflgator as Raber
The Unwise 6. A evil campaign focusing on a group of misfits following the commands of the Mad God Olokenhai. This is heavily chaotic group focused on doing evil acts to help the heroes of Kalkatesh against the ongoing plot in Orde. If you are into Town RP, political assasination, hobo killing, sneaking around and spy movies I would heavily recommend the Tearing Veil. The constant fear of their enviroment while combined with the unpredictable nature of some characters in the group makes a significant impact in the dynamic of this group with lots of yelling(in character , the players don't actually dislike each other, they're all friends). This campaign is marked with this quote "My only regret was not killing more of them!".

The Herald's Call (7 Episodes, currently ongoing):

@jordanfisher aka Jordan Fisher as Riku
@shroud aka Shroud as Midas
@bnans aka bnans as Zada
@alexiaraye aka Alexia Raye as Azylea
@ShannonZKiller aka Shannon as Arienne Okash'd
@Sacriel aka Sacriel as Archael Sunspear
The Wise 6. The other side of the Orde struggle. This is the pollar opposite of the Tearing Veil group having a bunch of careful smart players that are very considerate in their decisionmaking akin to Heart of Tyre and Soul of Tyre. While being new to DnD they play very smartly and rp to a great level. I have nothing but good news to say about the Herald's Call, the only problem I've had with the campaign was a lore reveal for this campaign being in my opinion setup too early in comparison to the payoff of the other campaigns so I would not recommend watching this before catching up if you're currently watching any of the longer campaigns as this campaign and Weal and Woe are very frontloaded lore wise and reveals do not get built up as the players have to be caught up with the current events.

Weal and Woe (7 Episodes, currently ongoing):

@feliciaday aka Felicia Day as Mara
@Jae_Day6 aka Jae Park as Lily Pichu
@justkeshi aka Casey Luong as Laius
@poetristephanie aka Stephanie Poetri as Meni
@clintonkane aka Clinton Kane as Barbie
Newcomers to Verum with experienced DnD player Felicia freaking Day to play in what many of us call the "K-pop" group. I'm gonna be real, this campaign feels very homely to me, the variant mic quality , the dificulty to understand technology and the very different characters being in the same part feels distinctly like my games of DnD. This campaign is very frontloaded with lore so I would recommend waiting on catching up to the longer campaigns before tackling this, it has in my opinion some of the best maps Nurp has ever made and utilises maptools to a new extent of what Arcadum usually does. If you've watched the latest BB episode that dude Taladon, is who gives the Weal and Woe party commands and drives their cause, the main aesthetic for this group being movable objects and robots it feels distinctly different from a lot of other Verum campaigns as it focuses on the Folly of Maltos.

The Silent Knights(14 Episodes):

@ObliviousVR aka Oblivious as Alyla Aurora
@InvaderCristi aka Miss Universe as Jairx
@MNaiade aka Mara Naiade as Rochelle
@StarStainStuff aka Starstainstuff as Dr. Essler
@AH_Faelyix aka Faelyix as Rainbow After Rain
@__Mimiika aka Mimika as Nox N'varja "Nox" Ilven
Nox's original campaign, it focuses on the Alice storyline and the creation of the before-mentioned silent knights faction as in the protectors of the dream realm. It originally featured a violet eye that was later retconned as the player couldn't play due to scheduling issues. Heavy lore campaign obviously focusing on the Dream , it's function, it's history, it's creation and it's protection.

Wonders Within (11 Episodes):

@woops aka Woops as Inuchiyo
@sh1nym aka Sh1ny as Clyde
@Drekwiz aka Drekwiz as Derk
@_AnubisX aka Anubis as Wokou Kaizoku
This is a HEAVY lore campaign before this whole violet shit started happening and is very deeply relevant to the event's right now as much of the lore unpacked in this campaign has become increasingly relevant. Main theme for this campaign is the discovery and plundering of the great city Easmere and reestablishing it as a nation of Kalkatesh.

Ambitions of Avarice:

The second hardest boss Arcadum has ever run on stream , the number 1 still going on, these characters are all max level living world characters with insane items.

The Dilating One:

GLORY FUCKING SUFFER This is the hardest boss Arcadum has ever run on stream and we're currently fighting it.

The Traitor's Trial:

If you're not fully caught up with the Tyre campaigns do not touch this. If you are, you know what this is.

The Heartless Ranger Chapter 19

Cover || First
Previously
O-O-O
Author's Note: I guess it's a blue moon because here's your second chapter this week! This chapter and the next are both dedicated to my late grandma, who’s favorite time of year was Christmas. She loved spending time with her family and I hope to capture some of that spirit in my writing. Enjoy!
O-O-O
1510, 18 December 2252, Clarke Hotel, Von Braun, Luna
“You did WHAT?!” Sam’s eyes narrowed with anger as she looked at the three of them.
“I-I c-can e-expla-in,” Lian stuttered while trying to appear as small as possible..
Sean held up his hand in front of the trembling programmer. “I’ve got it.” Sean took a deep breath and began to explain, “Lian found some juicy intel about the PFS goons we faced in some hackable Gold Horizon comms. We wanted to blow the whole thing open so we went where there would be more details about this.”
Sam ran her hands through her hair and asked, “What if you’d gotten caught?!”
Ana replied from the corner of the common room, “Nothing good.”
“I know!” Sam’s voice was undercut with an angry growl.
Matt raised his hands “Look, don’t you want to know what we found?”
“It better be fucking worth it.”
Lian looked up and said with a wavering voice, “Y-yeah, s-so...the whole thing with Gold Horizon selling mech d-designs...that’s just the b-beginning. T-there’s comms logs with encrypted c-contents that went to the PFS.”
It felt like the room dropped below freezing as Ana asked, “Why would Gold Horizon be communicating with terrorists?”
“They happened a few days before e-each attack. I t-think...they’re working t-together or s-something. They d-didn’t even obscure the a-address.”
“No...that can’t be....”
Lian swallowed and continued. “I a-assume it gets even worse if you can see the m-messages, but I haven’t d-decrypted anything yet.”
“Fuck.”
“Th-that still isn’t the worst p-part. Around the s-same time, Gold Horizon was also r-receiving messages from...somewhere e-else, hidden. I d-don’t know who it is or what they said, b-but they look a b-bit like o-orders.”
Matt collapsed into a chair as the strength left his body entirely. “Who would even be able to order them around?”
Sam walked to Lian and loomed over the cowering snow leopard. She asked, “How well did you cover your tracks?” as her voice wavered with fear.
“E-E-Extremely. They won’t know what hit them...or even that t-they got h-h-hit.”
Ana growled as she clenched her fists. “We need to go public with this.” Her tail lashed like a whip behind her. “They can’t get away with this.”
Matt shivered and replied, “Ana, we can’t do that!”
“Why not? Blow the fucking top off this whole fucking thing.” She gritted and then bared her teeth as she growled.
Matt shot back, “Because then they know their game is up! And we might not have perfectly covered our tracks!”
“I c-couldn’t completely erase our presence there....”
Ana sneered at Lian, “Well then that’s y—” Sam grabbed Ana’s shoulder and pushed her into a seat.
“Ana, cool off please. One at a time.” She let go of the irate snow leopard. “Lian, what’s the next step?”
“D-Decrypting the data I have. I found the k-key generation program and grabbed th-that first.”
“Once you’ve done that?”
“We act o-on whatever is in the files?”
“Okay.” Sam took a deep breath. “Ana, it would be very unwise to make any of this public. It can be linked to us if they really try, and if we blow the lid off...they’re gonna try.”
Her claws dug into the chair. “Fine.”
Sam shook her head. “I cannot stress this enough. This didn’t happen. Don’t mention this to anyone that isn’t in this room right now.”
Sean lounged over the back of a chair. “Spy shit is a lot more fun when it’s fake.”
Sam exhaled and sat down. “Lian, is there some way we can secure our comms?”
Lian chuckled nervously. “I thought you’d n-never ask.”
“Do that. As soon as possible.” Sam sighed as she leaned back.
Matt sighed. “So, was this worth it Sam?”
“I haven’t decided. In the future, stupid...shit like this should be a unanimous decision. I’m disappointed you did it behind my and Ana’s back.”
Lian’s gaze sunk to the floor as Matt nodded. “That’s understandable.”
“I’m glad we know now, but we need to be careful. They can make us disappear...and that’s just Gold Horizon. Whoever is giving orders...I don’t want to know what they can do.”
O-O-O
0930, 19 December 2252, Ana’s Room, Clarke Hotel, Von Braun, Luna
Ana blinked awake with a shudder. The world had been upended entirely and she felt sick. She dragged herself out of bed and began the arduous process of making her hair and fur presentable.
She began to brush her teeth and cringed at the strong mint taste. She spat the foam into the sink and looked in the mirror. Her sullen eyes stared back at her. Something was missing. She shook her head and got dressed. At least her sleep had been peaceful last night.
Ana looked at her terminal. The conversation she had with Sam weighed heavily on her mind, possibly even heavier than the revelation that the entire conflict with the PFS was a sham. With shaking hands she snatched the terminal and began typing a message to Matt. She deleted the message a few times and retyped it.
Can you come to my room? I’ve got something I’d like to talk to you about.
A few minutes later Matt knocked at her door. “I’m uh...here.” She walked to the door and opened it, seeing her copilot standing there in exercise pants and a tee shirt.
Ana sighed. “Come in.”
“What’s up?” Ana shut the door behind him and tried to calm her storming emotions.
Ana ran her hands through her hair and shook her head. She sank to the bed with a sigh. “You’re too kind to me. I really don’t deserve it.”
Matt tilted his head slightly. “We have to support each other, or else we’d get shot down.”
Ana groaned as she looked down at her paws. “There you go again.”
Ana felt the mattress sink slightly as Matt sat down a respectful distance away. “I forgive you. I’ve got a pretty good idea why you were so...prickly back then. It can’t have been easy....” Losing your sister, she filled in the unspoken conclusion to the sentence.
Her spotted tail whipped behind her, one of the only indicators of her raging emotions. “It wasn’t.” Ana stood up and paced around the room. “You’re really okay with how I treated you?”
“I mean...it sucked. I almost quit, but I decided I wasn’t letting my chance go, and now I know what you went through. It won’t heal the scars, but it does make them hurt a bit less.”
Ana’s face flushed with shame as she sucked in a breath through her teeth. “Scars...shit. Did I scar your shoulders?”
“A little bit, yeah. You can barely see it unless you know where to look.”
Ana sighed again. “S...sorry.”
Matt nodded and stood up. “Have you had breakfast yet?”
“No.”
“Let’s fix that.”
O-O-O
Matt walked out of Ana’s room and into the common area. Ana grabbed a protein bar from the counter before sitting down on a couch and tearing into it. Matt’s stomach rumbled as he grabbed a breakfast pocket from the fridge. He stuck it in the reheater and sat down at the table. His model of the ROMEO stood complete, with cockpit hatches opened. Barely visible inside were miniscule figures of himself and Ana. The thought still brought a slight smile to his face in spite of the circumstances. Sean yawned as he walked out of his room into the common area, the sound of a flushing toilet echoing before the door slid shut.
Ana asked, “Has anyone seen Sam?”
Sean nodded. “Yeah, she went out to get some decorations. Said we were going to spice up the place.”
Matt took his breakfast out of the reheater and said, “Well bringing the Solstice spirit inside would help the mood.”
Ana replied sullenly, “Maybe.” Matt finished eating in silence then stared into the table. His terminal buzzed with a message. He pulled out his glasses and powered on the overlay. It was from Sam.
Could you guys come to the lobby? I could use some help getting some decorations upstairs.
Matt typed a quick reply and said, “Sam’s got the decorations in the lobby, she wants help to get them up here.”
Ana grunted as she stood up. “Fine by me.” Matt walked to the elevator at the end of the hallway and pushed the call button. Motors hummed above them as the elevator doors opened with a chime. The car descended slowly before the doors slid open again.
Matt’s eyes went wide as he stepped out of the elevator car. There was a colossal amount of stuff in the lobby. “Sam, where’s all this from?”
The lynx smiled weakly next to a container almost as long as she was tall. “I used to live here. All this was in a storage unit in case I came back.”
Sean whistled. “Damn, you must have had a big house.”
She nodded wistfully. “I did. Let’s get this stuff put up.” Sam waved them over and began directing them to carry the boxes into the elevator.
O-O-O
Matt looked at the decorated common room with a smile. It had taken the better part of a day, with a break for lunch, but the room oozed vaguely Christmas-y spirit. The entire room smelt faintly of pine, while a tall dark green tree stood in the corner, wrapped with multicolor lights. Holiday music rich in brass horns played from a speaker in the corner as Sam put the finishing touches on the table. A red tablecloth covered the cheap plastic table and electric candles flickered pleasantly.
Sam grinned, though something seemed off with her expression. “Good job guys. This really feels like home now.”
“Glad to have helped.”
Lian stepped into the common room and murmured, “Wow,” as his head spun around.
Matt gestured to the room and said, “Happy holidays, Lian.”
Lian grinned and replied, “You t-too.” After a moment, he coughed and said, “I’ve not been able to crack it yet. T-There has to be some vulnerability, s-somewhere.”
Matt patted the shorter snow leopard on the shoulder “You’ll get it eventually.”
“I have to.”
Sam walked over to them and said, “Lian, try and relax, this is supposed to be a break.”
Lian exasperatedly raised his hands and exclaimed, “B-But it’s an interesting problem!”
Sam sighed. “How much do you actually need to be by your computer for it to decode?”
“That’s...not important.” Sam motioned ‘go on’ as Lian sighed, “I don’t need to be there once it starts.”
Sam tilted her head and asked, “So why don’t you spend some time with us?”
Lian sighed again. “Fine.”
O-O-O
1650, 20 December 2252, Clarke Hotel, Von Braun, Luna
Matt grinned as his parents resolved onscreen. He had the time after helping Sam remove the storage boxes of decorations to touch base with them. His dad asked, “How’s it going, son?”
He thought for a moment and then replied, “It’s been okay, dad. My mech is in for repairs. We had to eject in our last fight.”
A few seconds passed while the data crossed the hundreds of thousands of kilometers before his mom leaned in and asked, “How bad was it darling? We couldn’t find any clear videos.”
Matt blew air out and chuckled. “You probably don’t want to know. The mech is in one piece...now...mostly.”
His mother’s piercing gaze still was effective from several light-seconds away. She asked, “But you weren’t hurt, right?”
“No. Nothing major, just some bruises from getting a bit knocked around.”
His mother frowned and shook her head. “This is why I was worried. Didn’t I say that Simon?” She tapped his father on the shoulder as she sighed.
“Yes you did dear, but we’re supporting him now, right?”
She nodded and asked, “Is your Ranger okay?”
Matt remembered her limp form curled in his arms after they ejected. “She...had a bit of a bad reaction, but I calmed her down. She’s actually...kinda nice when you get past her prickly exterior.”
His mother’s expression softened. “Well that’s good to hear.”
His dad sighed and asked, “You’re sure that you can’t make it home for Christmas?”
“Yeah, they’ve got us locked down because of the...recent PFS activity. That was who we fought last Thursday by the way.”
His dad nodded. “It was on the newsfeeds. We could barely see what happened.”
Matt remembered the nauseating spin that their mech had been left in before they ejected. He nodded. “Probably for the best.” Matt opened his mouth to mention the opposition he had fought and then thought better of it. “We pretty much...lost.”
“I’m sure you’ll do better next time.”
Matt solemnly nodded and said, “Hopefully yeah.”
Deftly changing the conversation, his dad said, “So you said you’re staying at Von Braun? I’ve got some friends there in the CLLSS department of dome...12? I don’t remember.”
Matt chuckled. “I don’t think your life support nerd friends are really gonna be the people I want to talk with here.”
His dad shook his head and tried to keep his grin from being too obvious. “I’m hurt, really.”
A message popped up on his screen. “Wait a second.” He opened it and quickly read it. “Sorry, I need to head out to get some groceries for the team dinner.”
“Good luck!”
“Thanks. I love you guys.”
“We love you too! Bye.” Matt smiled as he hung up the call. He took a moment to grab his backpack and a hat to hopefully disguise himself enough to avoid recognition. Walking into the common area, he passed Ana and Sam preparing something that smelled delicious. Lian waved awkwardly from the couch at Matt.
Sean announced his presence with an exaggerated, “Let’s go do some shopping!”
O-O-O
Sam sprinkled seasoning into the pot of broth. Ana had volunteered to help with the pot roast for tonight’s dinner. It was the perfect opportunity; just send the three men to get groceries and Sam and Ana had privacy again. The snow leopard was to her left and was chopping potatoes. Sam turned to Ana and said, “You should really talk with your family again, Ana. They probably miss you.”
The snow leopard quietly responded, “I don’t know if I can,” as she dumped a mat full of diced potatoes into a bowl.
Sam chuckled as she looked at the recipe in front of her. “You’re one of the strongest people I know. You fly something in hard vac expecting it to get shot full of holes. You can do this.”
The knife thudded as it sliced a few millimeters into the cutting mat. “That’s different and you know it.”
Sam asked, “Do you want your parents to lose both of their daughters instead of just one?” Ana gritted her teeth and softly hissed as her frown grew, baring her fangs.
With a wavering voice Ana said, “Stop. Just...stop. Please.” She put down the knife on the counter and stood in stagnant silence. Sam looked back to the pressure cooker. Ana walked away from the counter. Her voice was tinged with pain as she said. “I’ll do it. Just...stop.” Sam didn't turn around as Ana exited the room. She hoped that pushing that point would be worth it.
O-O-O
Ana wished the door to her room could slam. The lynx was right. Of course Sam was fucking right. She sank to the bed and grabbed a pillow to scream into. The soft pillow muffled her scream to a barely audible whine.
Ana picked up her tablet. Her hands shivered as she navigated to her chat application and opened the chat with her mother.
Mom, I know it’s been a wh—
Ana shook her head as she deleted the message. That wouldn’t do. She tried again.
Hello again mother, how have—
“No.” Her finger pressed against the delete key. She began to type again, her fingers flying over her tablet.
Can we talk, mom? I know it’s been a while. Just us.
Ana looked over the message. That would work. Now all she needed to do was hit send. Her finger hovered over the button, trembling. Ana sat there, frozen in place. With a grunt of frustration, she flipped over, driving her face into the bed and blindly stabbed at the button.
Her shoulders shook as she raised her head slightly to gaze at the tablet. A few minutes passed before the screen flared to life with a message.
Of course Kisa. Does now work?
Her mother was still calling her kitten. That was probably a good sign? She didn’t seem mad, but she could seem calm even when she was boiling with emotion. Ana’s stomach roiled with nervous energy as she walked to the bathroom. She needed to look a bit more composed. She ran a brush through her hair and combed her facial hair into some semblance of order. Ana walked back to the bed, and grabbed her tablet, propping it up on the small desk before sinking into the chair.
Ana took a deep breath before hitting the ‘Video Call’ button. It began ringing, then a few seconds later, the call connected. Ana recognized the room immediately. It was her mother’s reading room, on the second floor of her home. The dark faux panels provided a high contrast for her nearly white hair.
Irina’s muzzle warped a bit as she smiled. “It’s been a long time since we’ve talked, Kisa.”
Ana flinched. “Don’t call me that. I’m not a cub anymore.”
There was a noticeable time delay before she responded. “You’ll always be my cub dear.” She shook her head and laughed. “I won’t talk about work with you. Why did you choose now to call me, dear?”
Ana lowered her eyes to the desk and coughed. “I wanted to apologize.” She took a deep breath and steeled her emotions. “I failed to protect her.” Ana choked back a sob and whispered, “Sorry.”
Ana heard her mother gasp before she sternly said, “No. Absolutely not. We both know it was bad luck. Don’t blame yourself for chance.”
Ana shook her head as her eyes watered. “That random chance wouldn’t have happened if I was a better Ranger.”
As Ana looked back up she saw her mother’s expression soften. “Kisa...Ana. Don’t think like that.” She sighed, reaching towards the screen, as if to caress her daughter. “Thinking that way only leads to insanity and madness. You can change the past as much as you can breath vacuum.”
Ana didn’t say anything in response but weakly nodded. Her stomach twisted into knots as she asked, “Who hates me now?” As the round trip timer ticked down, she braced herself.
Irina’s eyes widened in surprise. “Hm? None of them do, Ana. They miss you.”
Ana went limp and flatly asked, “What?” It felt like there was a fight in her body and all the sides were losing.
“You’ve not sent messages or called since March. I don’t know how my daughter is doing.”
“Poorly.” Ana reached up with a shaky hand and said, “I’ve got to go,” before jabbing at the red button.
Ana saw her mother reach towards the screen with an open hand as she frantically said, “No, wait. You can’t leave yet.”
With a shiver Ana let a slight whine escape her mouth. “I...mom, I feel like I need to be sick.”
Irina reached towards the screen again before stopping herself with a slight sigh. “Nerves, Kisa. They will pass.”
Ana looked down, averting her gaze. “I’ve felt like this since Matt and I got shot down and...we had to bail out. I don’t think it’s passing.” She looked back up into her mother’s pale icy irises.
Her mother nodded sympathetically. “That makes sense. Would you like to know what helped me with feeling like that?”
Ana felt her eyes water. She had missed this. “Please. Anything that could help me.”
Her mother thought for a moment past the communication delay. “Find an anchor.”
“What?”
“Find someone or something that you can lean on. You need to weather the storm of your feelings, and it’s difficult to do that alone. Everyone’s anchor is different, and people can have more than one. Yours was Annika and you were hers. Now you need to find another.”
“Alright...I can do that.” Ana took shuddering breaths to calm herself. “How’s it been back home?”
“Oh it’s been pretty good all things considered. Your father blew up an engine test stand last month....”
O-O-O
1845, 20 December 2252, Clarke Hotel, Von Braun, Luna
Sam dumped the vegetables into the pressure cooker and pushed the lid down, locking it in place with a metallic click. Her tufted ears twitched as a door slid open behind her. That could be only one person. She began cleaning the kitchen’s surfaces, pretending she didn’t hear Ana’s soft footsteps coming back to the kitchen.
Ana said “Thank you,” so quietly that Sam almost didn’t hear it over the running sink.
Sam turned around and gently asked, “It went well?” Ana nodded. “I could use some help with the cutting mats. They’re a bit dirty, and I don’t want to stain them.”
Ana nodded slightly and said, “Sounds good.” Sam sighed in relief. The snow leopard seemed to be doing better. Her gamble had paid off. She didn’t like seeing Ana’s raw pain and hopefully, this was a step towards healing for the hurting Ranger.
O-O-O
Matt walked into the lobby of the hotel and asked, “Why did Sam send all of us out? It’s not like this is too much for two people to carry.” His single bag clinked with two bottles of red wine. “If I was careful, I could carry this all myself.”
“Many hands make light work. It’s what my grandpa used to say.” Sean was carrying a loaf of bread and gingerly held a whole watermelon under his left arm. Lian nodded in agreement. He was carrying a bag with a large package of chips and an imitation cheese dip.
Matt pressed the elevator call button and stepped in as the doors slid open. The elevator moved smoothly up. The doors slid open as the wonderful smell of Sam’s cooking hit Matt like a delicious wall. The aromatic scent washed over him in layers. As they stepped into the common area, Matt noticed something had changed with Ana. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was definitely something different with the snow leopard. Maybe it was her stance or something about how she held her tail, but he could tell, even when her back was to him and she was washing dishes.
“Ah perfect!” Sam held out her hands to Sean. “You were able to find a watermelon!” The redheaded man gently handed the round green fruit over.
“I almost dropped it when we were leaving the store.”
“I’m glad that you didn’t.” Sam laughed. “That would have been a bad loss.” Sam sat the watermelon on the counter next to a large dish and began to cut into the sweet fruit with careful motions. She said, “The roast is done, I’ll get it out once I’ve cut the watermelon. Feel free to seat yourselves.”
Matt sat down across from Sean and narrowed his eyes slightly as Ana sat next to him. It had only been a few months since they were constantly at each other’s throats. He much preferred this.
“Dinner is served.” Sam reached in and sat a large pot on a hot pad in the middle of the table. “If there’s no objections, I’d like to have dinner by candlelight.” A chorus of affirmative murmuring answered her as she dimmed the lights. Sean stood up to pour everyone a glass of wine as Sam moved the other dishes to the table.
The serving dish made its way around the table, each team member serving themselves a generous helping of the main dish. Matt stabbed a chunk of synth beef and a potato cube and placed them in his mouth. It tasted even better than it smelled. Rich, multi-layered flavor from all the components in the roast exploded onto his tongue.
Matt chewed the roast, savoring it, then swallowed. “That’s good. You’ve outdone yourself.” Sam smiled at the group’s appreciation. Matt tried to eat slowly, but in what seemed like no time at all, the food in front of him was almost gone, only a broth left. He served himself a piece of toasted bread to soak up the juices.
Sean laughed as he told a story to Sam. The contrast to the first time Matt had eaten dinner with these people was remarkable. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed even Ana had a grin on her face.
Sam looked around the table, and seeing that everyone was done with the main course, proclaimed, “Time for dessert!” She stood up and grabbed a stack of small bowls along with the bowl of pale red fruit. “Now don’t eat this quickly please. You’re going to want to savor it.”
Matt bit into a cube and tasted sweet juice spill out of the fruit. No wonder this is so expensive. “As far as first impressions go this is probably one of the best I think I’ve had.” In a few minutes, everyone had finished their deserts. Matt leaned forward to see if there was any watermelon left in the bowl. He leaned back with a disappointed sigh. Matt felt gas bubbling up from his stomach as he raised his hand to his mouth. After a quiet belch he said, “Great food Sam.” Sean and Lian echoed their own compliments, while Ana sat in contemplative silence. Matt noticed the flickering candlelight in her wide pupils before looking away.
O-O-O
Ana leaned back in the chair as she stretched. “That food was very well made.”
Sam beamed at the compliments. “You’re welcome.”
“Shall we have a toast?” Sean held up a piece of toasted bread in his left hand before chuckling and holding out his wine glass. The electric candles flickered, reflecting off the glass as Ana sat back up and raised her glass. Sean said, “To getting to the bottom of things.” Ana echoed the sentiment vigorously
Sean vaguely gestured to his left. Sam raised her glass and proclaimed with little time for thought, “To family.”
The table echoed Sam. “To family.” Sam looked in Lian’s direction. Lian waved his free hand at Matt frantically.
The human raised his glass, and said, “To friendship.” A connection formed in Ana’s brain with a flash. Matt was her anchor. He had brought her back from the brink. It had to be him.
Sean nudged her arm causing Ana to jump. She repeated the toast a few moments after the rest of the table. Matt looked in her direction, the flickering light reflecting off his brown face. Ana raised her glass and said, “To victory.”
Ana watched Matt nod as he said, “To victory.”
They all said in unison, “Cheers,” before beginning to sip their drinks.
Sam finished the last of her glass and asked, “Would anyone like to watch the Von Braun University Orchestra’s solstice show? It’ll be live broadcast in....” Sam checked her watch, “Seven minutes.”
Matt replied, “Sounds fun.”
Sean stood up and stretched. “I’ve gotta take a leak, I’ll be back in a sec.”
Ana blinked slowly and sarcastically said, “Thank you for the extremely important information.”
“I can get the d-dishes.”
Matt sank into the couch and looked at the vidscreen. Sam sat on the other end of the couch and began fiddling with the remote. In a few moments, a standby image with snowflakes drifting down occupied the screen. Matt watched Ana sit on a recliner a few feet from him and put the footrest out. Sean and Lian ended up on the two-seat couch a few moments before the broadcast started.
The camera focused on the back of a brown-furred canine man wearing a white suit and holding a baton. He raised his arms as the dozens of people in the pit readied their instruments. They launched into a slow tempo beautiful song.
O-O-O
2055, 20 December 2252, Clarke Hotel, Von Braun, Luna
As the final note of the final song decrescendoed into nothing, Matt yawned. “I think I’m going to bed.” He stood up and stretched, feeling his back pop. “Thanks again for dinner, Sam.”
“It was my pleasure.”
Matt turned on his heel and said, “Good night guys. Sleep well.” He opened the door to his room and slowly changed into his sleepwear. He sat on his bed for a few minutes, pondering the information Lian had found. The motive didn’t make sense. The PFS was violently anti-corporate, so why would they be listening to Gold Horizon? And for that matter, why would Gold Horizon communicate with a group that opposed their existence? Unfortunately, the programmer still hadn’t made any progress on cracking the encrypted data. Shaking his head, he got up and ambled into the bathroom. Matt began brushing his teeth before he heard someone knock at his door. He spat out the minty foam and walked to the door. With a press of a button, it slid open, revealing Ana in black sweatpants and light grey tank top.
“Hey, Matt.”
Matt furrowed his brow and replied, “Uh...hi Ana.”
“May I come in?”
Matt wondered what she was doing here. He stepped aside and said, “Sure.” Ana fell into his desk chair and rested her head in her hands. Matt shut the door and walked towards her. “Is something wrong?”
She raised her hand to stop him from getting closer. “I don’t know...I don’t think so.”
Looking at her slightly trembling form, he said, “It sure seems like something is wrong.”
She blew air out of her nose and took a deep breath back in. “I talked with my mother earlier today.”
Matt smiled slightly and asked, “How did that go?”
Ana shivered. “She misses me, and so does the rest of my family...but that’s not why I’m here.”
Matt swallowed and asked. “Why are you here then?”
“I used to lean on Ani when I was feeling lost. I...can’t do that anymore.” Ana took a few rapid breaths and continued. “She was my anchor. I think you’re....” Her volume fell off rapidly and she practically mouthed the last words.
Matt strained to hear the end of her thought in vain. “I’m what?”
Ana looked up and took a deep breath. “I think you’re my new one.” She sighed. “My new anchor.”
Matt tilted his head quizzically. “What does that mean?”
She closed her eyes for a while before opening them and answering, “You brought me back from the edge when we...after we had to eject.”
A vision of Ana’s suited body in the fetal position formed in his mind’s eye. “I remember.”
“You brought me from panic to...well...less panicked.”
“I’m glad to have been able to help.”
“I’m still...fuck, look at me. I’m shaking like a leaf.” Ana raised her hand and looked at it as it shook. “I’m still feeling...freaked out. With everything that’s happened I...I just feel so...scared.”
“I do too. These are frightening times.” Matt sat down on the edge of the bed. “Can I do anything to help you feel less scared?” Ana mumbled something with the word ‘hold’ in it, but he wasn’t able to make out much else. “What?”
“When....” her ears twitched profusely, “when you...held me. After. It made me feel safe for the first time since...then.” Matt’s face flushed with heat as he looked at the similarly embarrassed snow leopard.
“You...want me to hold you?”
“If that’s okay.” She quickly added, “If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”
“I’d be okay with trying that.” Matt coughed and added. “To make you feel safe again, of course.”
“Of course.” Ana stood up and looked around the room, her ears twitching every few seconds. “How would we...do that? There’s a bit too much gravity for me to float.”
“I can probably lift you pretty easily....you can’t weigh more than a fifteen-kilo weight in one gee right now.”
“Oh right.” Ana shuffled towards him and narrowed her eyes. “If I...hm.” She rubbed her chin. “Catch me.”
“What?” Ana jumped slightly into the air and curled into a ball before she started to descend. “Oh.” Matt stuck out his arms, wrapping them around Ana’s shoulders and waist respectively. He felt Ana relax in his arms as tension leaked out of her body.
A low rumble built in her chest as she said, “Mmmmm...this is nice.”
Matt’s hand began slipping up her body. “Uhhh...you’re not as easy to hold on to as a fifteen-kilo weight.”
Ana murmured quietly, “You could hold me on the bed....”
Matt’s face flushed again as he swallowed. Suddenly his mouth was very dry. “Alright.” He gently sat the curled snow leopard on the large bed and laid down beside her. “Where would you like me to—oh.” Ana pulled his arms around her abdomen as her tail rested along his leg.
Matt could feel her heart racing through his hands as she asked nervously, “Is this okay?” He felt the tip of her tail tap him on the foot as she tensed the muscles in it. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say that it had a mind of its own.
Matt spat a few strands of her hair out of his mouth “Now it is.”
Ana turned her head and asked, “Room, could you dim the lights to ten percent?” The lights dimmed to near darkness as Ana shuffled back. She whispered, “I feel safer already.”
O-O-O
Next (Coming Soon)

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Guarding our assets: Victor Oladipo and the franchise's path forward