This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 5%. (I'm a bot)

MOSCOW: Russia has struck a deal with neighbouring Belarus to station tactical nuclear weapons on its territory, Tass news agency quoted President Vladimir Putin as saying on Saturday.
Such a move would not violate nuclear nonproliferation agreements, Putin said, adding that the United States had stationed nuclear weapons on the territory of European allies.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long raised the issue of stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which borders Poland, Putin said.
"We agreed with Lukashenko that we would place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus without violating the nonproliferation regime," Tass quoted Putin as saying.
Russia will have completed the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus by July 1, Putin said, adding that Russia would not actually be transferring control of the arms to Minsk.
Russia has already stationed 10 aircraft in Belarus capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, he said.

Summary Source FAQ Feedback Top keywords: nuclear^#1 weapons^#2 Putin^#3 tactical^#4 Belarus^#5
Post found in /worldnews.
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>**What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.**
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Mainly playing CoD MW2 warzone, World of Warcraft, League of legends, New counter strike
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>**What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?**
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3000-3200$ USD
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>**When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.**
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I understand that purchasing as quick as possible maintains the prices, however I will be purchasing in 5 weeks, I am looking to get a good understanding of what to by and my budget can move a little based on fluctuation.
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>**What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc\)**
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Tower, OS, Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse
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>**Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?**
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United States, Texas and No
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>**If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.**
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None
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>**Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?**
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I dont really know what this is probably not
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>**Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)**
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I dont think so
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>**Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?**
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I want a clean build with some led lighting, I think a mid tower is best suited for cooling
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>**Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?**
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yes
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>**Extra info or particulars:**
I built this I like the keyboard mouse and stuff a lot but the PC components I have no idea if they are a good buy for my needs or if they will even work well together. At the build I have is it worth the extra 200 for 4080? https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jvf7Q6. This is my first desktop as im coming from a 8 year old Alienware laptop so I have a feeling anything will impress me. Thank you all for yalls help.

(I know I’m posting it in multiple subs, I just want someone to give me some advice. Everyone I know is confused on the matter and none of them wanna tell me that I’m probably gonna get killed) So I (18m) have a cousin (19f) and she’s friends with Randy (19m) well in 2019 Randy convinced this 6ft2 18 year old named Joe that I needed to die, so Joe finds me and I came very very close to dying, Joe took off because he thought I was dead and they were all online posting about it making jokes and then they all got really pissed when they found out I survived. And last year my cousins boyfriend cheated on her so I helped her break into his apartment to get her stuff back, then move it all to a storage unit, then to her parents house and didn’t even accept gas money, and I even caught her cheating ex in a gas station and he took off before I could even get a word in so I’ve been nothing but good to my family especially that cousin. (This has no relevance, just shows my loyalty to family)
So my cousin is still hanging out with Randy which I didn’t say anything about but made it clear he can’t come to my house because last summer he was here and told a couple people he was gonna call Joe and that Joe was ready to kill me until my uncle on the other side of the family heard and lost his shit. But my cousin, my best friend, my other cousin (this cousin is dating my best friend) were all hanging out and according to my best friend Randy was bragging about his involvement with me almost dying, saying I deserve to die and admitting that he’s still gonna get me killed and my cousin said nothing and acted like it was normal, my friend couldn’t say anything because he didn’t want to cause issues with my other cousin (his girlfriend) but I’m mad now
I told my parents and they don’t seem to know what to say anymore, my dad just told me if anyone shows up trying to do anything to me he’ll handle it
I don’t know what to do or say though, I haven’t brought it up to my cousin because my best friend told me not to, but at this point I’m at a loss for words, I don’t wanna die and as of recently I’ve been sticking to myself but these guys can’t handle that they just want me dead

So I (18m) have a cousin (19f) and she’s friends with Randy (19m) well in 2019 Randy convinced this 6ft2 18 year old named Joe that I needed to die, so Joe finds me and I came very very close to dying, Joe took off because he thought I was dead and they were all online posting about it making jokes and then they all got really pissed when they found out I survived. And last year my cousins boyfriend cheated on her so I helped her break into his apartment to get her stuff back, then move it all to a storage unit, then to her parents house and didn’t even accept gas money, and I even caught her cheating ex in a gas station and he took off before I could even get a word in so I’ve been nothing but good to my family especially that cousin. (This has no relevance, just shows my loyalty to family)
So my cousin is still hanging out with Randy which I didn’t say anything about but made it clear he can’t come to my house because last summer he was here and told a couple people he was gonna call Joe and that Joe was ready to kill me until my uncle on the other side of the family heard and lost his shit. But my cousin, my best friend, my other cousin (this cousin is dating my best friend) were all hanging out and according to my best friend Randy was bragging about his involvement with me almost dying, saying I deserve to die and admitting that he’s still gonna get me killed and my cousin said nothing and acted like it was normal, my friend couldn’t say anything because he didn’t want to cause issues with my other cousin (his girlfriend) but I’m mad now
I told my parents and they don’t seem to know what to say anymore, my dad just told me if anyone shows up trying to do anything to me he’ll handle it
I don’t know what to do or say though, I haven’t brought it up to my cousin because my best friend told me not to, but at this point I’m at a loss for words, I don’t wanna die and as of recently I’ve been sticking to myself but these guys can’t handle that they just want me dead

And I needed someone else besides me to know it. My divorce became final about two weeks ago. He threw mine and my kids things into a storage unit without any order or care because he already has someone else and didn't want me around what used to be our home. Today I got to see our dog for the last time. I can't afford to house myself and my kids so they have to stay with my older sister. I don't get to see them every day anymore the way I used to. I miss their voices and just having them be at home with me. Their biological father died 7 years before.
I am just working and living with my dad, trying to save money. My family is not a close knit one. So my dad basically just houses me. He doesn't really talk to me or notice how much pain I am in. He knows more about the bartenders down the road than he does about me. I have two siblings and the three of us don't really talk or hang out. My mother passed away years ago and she was really the glue for us all i guess. I have no real friends that I didn't share with my husband and I have abandoned social media because I am not prepared to see him with someone else. I am afraid it is someone I know and trusted. I am just alone and traumatized.
I work and come to bed with not a soul to speak to about how much pain I am in. Because absolutely no one gives a shit.

TLDR: skip to BOTTOM LINE. Weird spasm knocks me to the ground and incapacitates me for days at a time.
So I have had some history of back issues. I’m a 28 year old male 6-00” and 195lbs and jumped out of planes in the army for 6 years. I’ve had radio frequency ablation and years of physical therapy, chiropractic, and massage therapy. I have gotten into a pretty good self-therapy routine that has kept me out of medical offices for a couple years.
Three years ago I had a severe spasm in my back that knocked me to the ground without warning as I picked up a coffee pot. I was given muscle relaxers and basically sat in bed for several days, and gradually and painfully returned to life.
Happened again a year later when I put my bag in the overhead storage on a 9 hour flight. Didn’t go to the doctor and just suffered through it until I couldn’t handle it anymore several months later.
Doctors did an MRI and blamed it on a mild bulging disc in the lower lumbar and sent me to more physical therapy, and also noted early degenerative disc disease. Physical therapy made it worse somehow. Tried chiropractic and had no result after months of faithfully going several times a week. Massage therapy and using a tens unit seemed to restore range of motion and relieve the pain.
BOTTOM LINE: Fast forward to today. I was cleaning a tent after camping, and was bent over to roll it up. I felt fine prior to this, then out of nowhere, an intense spasm exploded in my hip that immediately knocked me to the ground and left me unable to get up or move my left leg specifically but pretty much immobilized my lower body.
Went to urgent care, they gave me a steroids shot, 600mg ibuprofen, and told me to stay in bed. I’ve done some light stretching and tried to work on mobility while the steroids are helping me out. Used a lacrosse ball and did my best to pinpoint the problem spot. Seems like most of the pain is coming from near or about the quadratis femoris. I did have shooting sciatic nerve pain all the way down to my toes, but that has gone away somewhat since I worked with the lacrosse ball.
My question is this: every time this has happened I have been doing minimal risk, everyday, random tasks and there is no build up, no warning, just completely takes me down. What would you think the cause of this is? Therapists have debunked the idea that it’s coming from disc problems, stating that I have tightness in the deep six in my hips causing pressure on my sciatic nerves-and the benefit of massage therapy / stretching suggests confirmation of that theory. But these random spasms are brutal, and put me in danger of serious injury or death given what I currently do for work so I’d love to figure out what triggers them.

NWSL

Home	Away	Time	TV	Match Thread
Washington Spirit	OL Reign	4:00 PM	Paramount+	Match Thread
Portland Thorns FC	Orlando Pride	5:00 PM	Paramount+	Match Thread
Houston Dash	Racing Louisville FC	7:00 PM	Paramount+	Match Thread
Angel City FC	NJ/NY Gotham FC	9:00 PM	Paramount+	Match Thread

CONCACAF Nations League

Home	Away	Time	TV
Antigua and Barbuda	Barbados	4:00 PM	Paramount+
Cuba	Guadeloupe	4:00 PM	Paramount+
Puerto Rico	Cayman Islands	6:00 PM	Paramount+
Mexico	Jamaica	8:00 PM	Paramount+

UEFA Euro Qualifying

Home	Away	Time	TV
🇱🇮Liechtenstein	🇮🇸Iceland	12:00 PM	FS2
🇬🇧Northern Ireland	🇫🇮Finland	2:45 PM	VIX+
🇱🇺Luxembourg	🇵🇹Portugal	2:45 PM	FS2

USL League One

Home	Away	Time	TV
Union Omaha	Forward Madison	3:00 PM	ESPN+

MLS NEXT Pro

Home	Away	Time	TV
Crown Legacy FC	Huntsville City FC	3:00 PM	Apple TV
Philadelphia Union II	Orlando City B	3:00 PM	MLSNEXTPro.com
Inter Miami CF II	Chicago Fire II	6:00 PM	MLSNEXTPro.com
St Louis CITY2	Tacoma Defiance	6:00 PM	Apple TV
New York Red Bulls II	Columbus Crew 2	7:00 PM	Apple TV
Atlanta United 2	New England Revolution II	7:30 PM	MLSNEXTPro.com
Earthquakes II	LA Galaxy II	8:00 PM	Apple TV
Los Angeles FC 2	North Texas SC	8:00 PM	Apple TV
Colorado Rapids 2	Sporting KC II	9:00 PM	Apple TV
Whitecaps FC 2	Timbers2	10:00 PM	MLSNEXTPro.com

^{All Times Eastern}
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I bought a new 920+, 2 Toshiba 8TB HDDs, 1 Synology 400GB NVME, 4GB RAM SODIMM. None of this has been installed yet. I subsequently bought 2 Toshiba 12 HDDs and a 16GB RAM SODIMM stick. I have not set any thing yet (all still in box).
I want to maximize my storage, minimize risk of a single HDD failure, and have decent performance (I am not going to buy a 10GbE adapter from Synology).
My plan is to set up an SHR1 raid across the 4 HDDs, and format the HDDs using btrfs. The result should be a single pool and a single volume (I think…).
Later I may add a DX517 to reuse 2 older 8TB WD reds running in a DS212j (they would get reformatted to btfrs but that is not a priority. I also have 2 -1 TB HDDs that I might through in the expansion unit because they new (not sure the extra space is worth it).
My question is, when I do the initial 920+ install, does it matter what order I install the HDDs (I.e , install the 2 12TBs in slots 1 and 2 then the 2 8TB in slots 3 and 4? Should I do a complete 2 disk install, load DSM, the add 2 more HDDs as an expansion to the volume? If so, should install the larger 12 TB HDDs first, then install the smaller 8TB second? Or do it the other way around?
Or should I just install the 12TB and the 8TBs all at the same time in initial setup. It is the use of SHR and btrfs with mixed size disks on initial setup that has me confused.
Any advice appreciated… (The old DS212j in RAID1 was simple but limited the performance and wasted space…)

It features a man's descent into madness as he becomes obsessed with a murder that happens close to him.
Notable events include him finding writing in another language on the wall along a sidewalk but when he returns with a translator it's a soup recipe? He talks with some random homeless guy, harasses a shop owner, and he thinks a guy with a sign on the corner of a street is out to get him.
I believe the end is him breaking into someone's storage unit and finds someone or something that leads to his death with a cut to black with no credits.
I think I read somewhere that this film was made by one person, the main character, and that nobody featured were made aware that he was making a movie although the ending sequence wouldn't be possible if that were true since I think the ending was pretty weird.

Today we'll be visiting Europe for the first time in this series to the first ever campaign that I liked- Jan Zizka.
Zizka is the most difficult of the 3 Dawn of The Dukes campaigns which were released around the time I started playing, late 2022. These campaigns are all interwoven and the characters in them feature mutually between them. Not to show my hand too much but together they form a sort of anti-Teuton mega-campaign which is probably the highest quality set of campaigns from any expansion before or since.
In my view, a good campaign does the following things:

• Inspires the player to read more about a less-known part of history
  
• Showcases the civilization it features. This means instructing the player on how the civ is intended to be played. A good example of this is the Lithuanians campaign frequently throwing you up against Teutonic Knights and Boyars.
  
• Has engaging hooks to each mission, doesn't just repeat build+destroy over and over.
  
• Tells a good story. For example, Montezuma tells an incredible story and juxtaposes it with weak gameplay.
  
• Has good enemy variety. Campaigns like Genghis Khan stand out because you have to overcome a broad slate of opponents. This also makes missions more engaging by forcing you to re-evaluate your strategy on a mission basis.
  

Jan Zizka 1: The One Eyed Wanderer
The intro scenario for this campaign frames Zizka's life before Jan Hus came along. Zizka is part of a mercenary band robin-hooding it up in the Czech countryside and tasked with Destroying the castle of Henry III Rosenberg. As you take over villages, they will provide you a steady trickle of resources to use to train your army in this no-villagers scenario. Unlike other missions like Manzikert which feature slow resource trickles, this one is actually pretty fun. One-Eyed Wanderer is much faster paced than Manzikert was, and your mentor Jan Sokol with periodically give you cool toys to play with, like Ballistics, capped ram, and eventually 2 trebuchets if you're particularly bad at the mission.
Zizka himself is a mounted Obuch, with 230 HP and 16 attack, he swings a giant mace and cleaves the armor off his targets. He's no Bayinnaung, but this is pretty awesome stuff.
You can crack the economic buildings in the villages you take over for a temporary cash infusion but a loss of the income of the village. If you do this for every village, you get an achievement (but you'll have to find some secret paths to actually pull it off).
I can't find any info suggesting that Heinrich was actually some sort of sadistic tyrant. The historical facts seem to be that he was the head of the Rosenberg house to lead the opposition to Bohemian king Wenceslaus IV and at one point had him imprisoned. Now with that being said, Wenceslaus himself was no angel, seems to have been chronically undiplomatic and unable to manage the various factions of his kingdoms at various points in his life. It was also his administration which chose to burn Jan Hus at the stake. Given that Zizka wasn't a Hussite yet at the time of this mission, I think it can be overlooked that he's fighting for a guy he most likely hated. There are some historical fudges here but it's clearly embellishing some details to help illustrate a period of our protagonist's life where there isn't a lot written.
My only real complaints about this level are that while it is a great, fast-paced intro scenario, it doesn't really give the player a chance to do anything particularly Bohemian. You don't have a university to get Chembows, you don't have a castle for hussite wagons, you can't train hand cannons, and you don't have villagers so free mining tech doesn't do anything. You are getting extra bonus damage pikes though, so that's nice. In spite of this complaint, its a strong start to the campaign.
Jan Zizka 2: Courage and Coin
This is the big bad pitched battle of this DLC. Grunewald is the central setpiece of all three campaigns, and it's kinda interesting that its contained in the Zizka campaign where it is arguably least relevant. In terms of pacing this is kinda weird- this feels like a level 6 finale and we're already upon it in the second mission.
Here you get semi-DM resources, start in imperial age, and need to take down waves and waves and waves of Teuton and Frank power-units. Unlike in Tariq, this is a mission where infinite resources feels like it makes sense and belongs. The player even gets something similar with resources that last much longer. Assuming you can keep your villagers safe you have something akin to 'infinite resources'. No castles are allowed in the mission. This makes total thematic sense, although I suspect the reason for this is to prevent the player from training Hussite Wagons, as the Hussite Wars haven't started yet. You still get Wagenberg Tactics though.
This one is tough. The first time I beat it took probably 3 hours in game time, back when I was pretty inexperienced. Playing it on hard now for this review still took me 1:55 in game time. So it's a knock-down drag out sort of fight. The enemies in this mission will get aggressive on you and ram or BBC down your base.
If you're like me and you really enjoy microing extra speed Hand Cannons and screwing around with Houfnice this one will be fun.
No complaints about this level, I think its great at showcasing the Halb+Hand cannon composition which is great fun and is quite memorable. It's not something you're going to be in the mood for all the time and from a pacing perspective it definitely feels weird, but its still really solid.
Jan Zizka 3: The Iron Lords
This mission introduces you to the main storyline of the campaign, with Zizka signing up as a rebel commander of a ragtag group of peasants, women, and children fighting for an unorthodox religious interpretation against the Bohemian nobility.
You start in the north of the map, making the treacherous trek to Tabor, the Hussite stronghold in Prague. I particularly love you go literally circle the wagons while hiding in the swamps in the path to Tabor. This seems to be how the developers intended the Hussite Wagon to be used, unfortunately it's rare in multiplayer for such fortuitous circumstances to show up.
Zizka does not regenerate HP in this section of the mission (at least on hard) to prevent you from pulling a Crossing the Pyrenees and cheesing the level with him.
Once you make it to the citadel, you learn that you are unable to build blacksmiths, upgrade (most) units, or train knights due to the lack of resources or nobility in your army. You can get acesss to some of these things by raiding the outlying blacksmiths scattered across the Czech countryside. To win, you need to defeat 2/3 of the castles of the Iron Lords.
This mission starts out strong, but becomes a bit dull and grindy once you settle into your fortress. I'm always a fan of side quests like these, but every campaign designer should have a sticky note on their monitor that says "BEING STUCK IN CASTLE AGE AND HAVING TO DESTROY CASTLES WITH ONLY RAMS ISN'T FUN".
Again, while there are a lot of things to love about this mission, such as that it does a pretty good job showcasing the Hussite Wagon, at least in castle age, it just becomes too slow once you actually get down to the business of taking out your enemy castles.
Although you can attain chemistry from one of the most remote blacksmiths, by the time you get it in all likelyhood you will have already won, so I file my same complaint here that I do with Zizka 1 (which is a better level overall and more forgivable) that the bohemian civ feels pretty generic here, although you do get to use your UU, which is nice.
Jan Zizka 4: The Golden City
Enter Emperor Sigismund, the main villain of our story. One thing I love about this campaign which is made clear by the opening slideshow is how Zizka is driven by a higher cause- ideas like people's right to determine their own religious views or interpretations.
In any case, this mission is a doozy. Coming from Devapala last campaign to this is something else- Zizka has to not only defend Prague during a siege but actively break said siege. You're going to be surrounded on all sides by Bohemians to the west, Italian Crusaders to the south, and Teuton HRE troops to the north. If you stop to focus on taking out any particular opponent, you'll get your ass whupped by the other two. You're going to really have to be able to balance 3 different fronts in this level.
This is made even more challenging by the fact that you won't get an economy. Zizka gets 10 villagers and can't train more under any circumstances. He can't put up any new fortifications or docks either. That last part is a really nice touch, as it prevents you from cheesing the level with endless bombard towers or going Fatslob on Emperor Sigismund. It makes every loss of a castle or wall feel real and permanent.
Scattered across the map are trade routes that periodically send shipments into Prauge to relive the defenders. Each route you free up massively increases the resources you'll get. With only 10 vils which will inevitably die over time, getting these caravans are of the utmost importance. The problem here is most of them are buried deep in enemy camps, meaning you'll have to make due with only 2 routes for most of the level until you can somehow engineer a breakout.
It's hard for me to say that this level showcases a particular unit or strategy for Bohemians because you're just not going to be able to force a specific unit mass. You've got hard scarcity here and are fighting extremely varied unit compositions. I found the best success with mass halberdiers paired with whatever other random crap I could afford at the given time.
This level's difficulty is highly variable based on the setting you play it on. Each difficulty level up takes away 1100 of your starting resources, which on hard means if you tech imperial age you're not going to be able to force focus a specific opponent.
One thing this level taught me is that Bohemians actually struggle a lot vs siege in setting where they aren't able to afford a good number of Houfnice. Italians send quite copious numbers of bombard cannons at you while Teutons and Bohemians hit you from the other sides with mass capped rams. Given terrible knights and Light Cavalry, this can be a real struggle. The italian bombard cannons and condotierri are particularly troublesome for a bohemian army comp.
The Golden City deserves kudos for providing a serious tactical challenge in a setting which does a great job of showcasing Bohemia's (near, but who cares about Heated Shot really?) perfect University and urban warfare/footsoldier focus. Sigismund's arrogant taunting also makes finally beating the level feel much more rewarding than anything in Devapala and much less pointless than anything in Tariq.
Jan Zizka 5: The Emperor's Fury
At this point, Zizka loses his other eye and becomes fully blind. Here you have to escape Kutna Hora, cornered and surrounded by Sisismund's army. You'll be fighting Teutons again, but also Poles and crusaders, who are now represented by Magyars due to Sigismund being the king of Hungary in addition to his HRE titles.
You'll need to build+destroy to kill the Polish and Teuton bases, although in this case it's mostly a destroy and destroy mission, as you get no villagers and are only tributed resources as you make progress against the crusaders.
More than any other, this level does a fantastic job of showcasing the core gameplay loop intended for Bohemians and letting you play around with Halberdiers, 50+ zoomy hand cannons and Houfnice, using Hussite wagons to block off bridges and otherwise physically protect your other units. If you love this civ like I do, consider returning to this mission when you don't want the stress of an RM game and want to get a taste of Bohemia in a nutshell.
From a pacing perspective, I would call this level a victory lap off Zizka 4. Although you do have to protect the Bohemian allied stronghold, it's really not very difficult and I think is more trying for a Tamerlane or Genghis Khan-style powertrip adapted to a low-mobility civ.
My only complaint about this level is a small one, because you're fighting Teutons and their teammates, you really don't get to use the Hussite Reform tech much here or in any other imperial age scenario in this campaign. I mean, you can make monks if you really want to, but 50 hand cannons tend to get the job done a lot more effectively. In spite of this, it's really a very good level even if it's a bit less memorable than Zizka 4 and Zizka 3 on the merits.
Jan Zizka 6: Warrior of God
As a last hurrah for Zizka, we learn that a faction of Hussites known as the Ultraquists have broken off from the Taborites and called upon Emperor Sigismund to return.
Funny enough, this final mission actually makes use of a Bohemian ability which hasn't done anything whatsoever in this campaign: faster working markets! It's not a super commonly used ability, but is a big part of Bohemia's team game appeal, so it's nice to finally use it.
Although the tooltip tells you that Hussite Reforms will be good in this scenario due to gold scarcity, this isn't really true. You'll be starting up a trade line anyhow so gold will not be scarce.
Otherwise, this is a big fat 1-2 hour build+destroy mission. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, but infinite resource build+destroy missions are a dime a dozen, so I generally feel this is the weakest level of the campaign all things considered. The anecdote about Zizka turning his skin into a drum is pretty cool though, and the ending line of "still leading his army from beyond the grave" is awesome.
** Final Verdict **
Jan Zizka is a different sort of campaign in a lot of ways. Most of the missions have some sort of unique twist and generally they all add something different and cool. It also delivers nomad-campaign level quality to a sedentary civilization. With the exception of the last level, the scenarios aren't too grindy. It tells a great story with a little-known protagonist (at least outside of central europe). It also does a great job of showing off some of the intended but odd and rarely used aspects of the civilization, such as using Hussite Wagons to block projectiles.
Zizka isn't perfect. The final level drags a bit and the pacing can sometimes feel a bit odd. But in spite of that this campaign delivers one of the most unique experiences out there, and I don't feel its flaws are enough to drag it down to A-tier.
Here's where we're at so far- https://imgur.com/a/3e5c1CR
Final Verdict: S

A special thanks to u/bluefishcake for the wonderful original story and sandbox to play in.
A special thanks to my editors LordHenry7898, RandomTinkerer, and Swimming_Good_8507
And a big thanks to the authors and their stories that inspired me to tell my own in this universe. RandomTinkerer (City Slickers and Hayseeds), Punnynfunny (Denied Operations), CompassWithHat (Top Lasgun), CarCU131 (The Cook), and Rhion-618 (Just One Drop)
Hy’shq’e Ay Si’am (Thank you noble friends)
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Chapter 21: A Prince, and a Pauper
Andy sat awkwardly in the middle seat of the back bench between Kalai and Sitry. He’d taken off his hat and had readjusted his blanket to wrap completely around his shoulders and chest before he’d been politely ushered into the flying vehicle. He sat silently watching the three parents fuss over their children with a stab of jealousy. Andy could feel a tension building, as he was grateful to be mostly ignored as the shuttle rocketed up towards whatever destination it was headed towards. He hadn’t quite caught where the rather intimidating rabbit man had told their pilot to go, but it didn’t sound like anywhere he knew, and he didn’t want to have to try and figure out how to get home if it meant booking a flight that he couldn’t afford.
“I want to thank you for saving me back there, If you wouldn’t mind, I’d just as soon be out of your hair. If you could drop me off at the old Bellingham airport, that’s closest to my home,” Andy voiced his concern when a lull had fallen in the conversation about ‘poor Naranjo’s cuts and bruises’. It almost made Andy laugh seeing the parents fuss over Naranjo, while Sitry and Kalai by comparison were told, in a kind and loving way, to suck it up. It was a sentiment he’d grown accustomed to hearing from his own grandmother, ever since they’d been reunited.
The man turned around in his seat towards the front where he sat with his wives and his son. “Nonsense, Alfred-”
“It’s Andy,” Naranjo interjected, ”And dad, you heard the woman!” He gave a worried glance back at Andy. Andy could feel the two girls beside him suddenly tense and shift ever so slightly away from him, as though they were afraid.
“Andy…I’m terribly sorry. I’m Rhaxiid Vaida and I-” The man continued jovially before Naranjo again interrupted his father.
“He means to say Don-Conde-Professing-Practitioner Rhaxiid Vaida. Granmaestro of Ecological Sciences, your highness.” Naranjo switched into High Shil and it took a moment for Andy’s brain to make the switch. He’d not touched High Shil since his last stint in solitary when he completed the advanced literature course. “Allow me also to present Dona-Marquite’-Professing-Practitioner Sakalbi Vaida, Maestra of Oceanographic and Environmental Restoration and my birth mother. This is Dona-Marquite’-Professing-Practitioner Aftasia Vaida, Maestra of Climatology.”
“My birth mother, your highness. I want to apologize for our behavior when we met; it was inappropriate,” Sitry added after Naranjo finished introducing the family. All had inclined their heads, save for Rhaxiid, and it suddenly hit him why they were suddenly all on pins and needles.
“Ok, please stop!” Andy spoke deliberately in Vatikre, and he could feel himself flushing a bit from embarrassment. He tried to get control of himself but he couldn’t quite keep the nervous laughter out of his voice. “I am not actually royalty, I’m not even nobility in any sense of the word. Char’dania is repeating a racist joke that I’m not entirely sure she knows is racist.” Andy didn’t want to have to explain the whole Indian Princess stereotype and how quite a few of the women of the local garrison had taken to using it to describe Andy and some of his peers in the tribe.
“I have no titles except what I am, and I am Andrei Shelokset. If you want to be very formal, my ‘Indian name’ is Tsu’ti’tsi’uqw, which was my great grandmother’s name, and I am of the Bear Clan Salish of the North Straits Salish Band. Everyone just calls me Andy, and it is an honor to meet you all.” Andy let the silence that followed his speech hang for a moment before he spoke again, hoping to break the tension and change the subject. “I can’t stress enough how very grateful I am for you saving me from Char’dania and the rest of her goons. I raise my hands to you.”
Andy brought his hands up in the traditional sign of thanks and honor. The last thing he wanted was to give Si’catreese or any Interior Agent any more ammunition to arrest him by having anyone actually think he was trying to claim noble status.
“But the Lieutenant called you…and she was going to have the Interior….and they’re the only ones that can arrest nobles….” Naranjo sputtered worriedly, switching back into Vatikre and fixing his parents with a fearful glance.
Kalai jumped in, her voice soft and shy, “Everyone at the Smokehouse was listening to you. You were the one giving orders and-”
“I’m a tumulh and those were stommish! Those trigger-happy idiots listening to me was just a cultural thing, it has nothing to do with me personally!” Andy could feel himself getting a bit defensive and fought to reign in his rising frustration and embarrassment. He didn’t exactly like being the center of attention, and outside of his training as a Speaker in cultural events or in a crisis, he hated public speaking and being in crowds.
“Well, young man, from the way these three tell it, you stood alone against a veritable army of cutthroats and murderers to save their lives. You tended their wounds, gave them clothes, fed them, and saved them multiple times in a single night. This might be an impertinent question, but do you have children of your own?” Aftasia’s tone was gentle and her encouraging smile was soft, putting Andy a bit more at ease. He could see the similarity between Sitry and her mother in their smiles.
“Uh, no…no I don’t, I’m still a bit young for that.” Andy felt himself blush, and was thankful that he wasn’t the only one. Sitry and Kalai both flushed different colors while Aftasia gave a knowing nod and a small chuckle.
“Then you don’t know how much we owe you.”
“Indeed. We’ve been beside ourselves with worry ever since this little burr sent her guards back to Seattle and gave us a false address to find her at!” Naranjo’s pale, white haired and red eyed mother Sakalbi shot a glare at Kalai that could have burned a hole through the shuttle and Kalai wilted into her seat. “Though this little embellisher seems to be a bit overwrought.” She turned to look at her son who sat next to her and Naranjo flashed her a nervous smile. “Narny seems to think you were being shot at, which is just silly…isn’t it?” Her abrupt tone at the end and the hard and piercing stare was turned on Andy and he instinctively sucked in his breath. He felt in that moment like he was staring down an angry Kodiak Grizzly Bear who’d caught him with her cub.
“No, thankfully we weren’t being shot at, but some of my cousins were.” Andy’s response was quick, and he instantly regretted adding the second part. He’d meant to be reassuring but instead it seemed to ignite her barely contained rage even further.
“You mean to tell me that there really was a battle in the islands last night?” Her voice raised two octaves, causing her three adult children to flinch. Even Andy felt himself quail underneath the invisible assault.
“My rifle isn’t for decoration, and it was more of a skirmish.” Andy recovered slightly, trying to stand his ground. Remembering that he was still armed was a bit reassuring, even though the weapon was just out of reach on the floor of the shuttle behind his feet.
“What exactly were you doing out there in the first place?” Sakalbi’s tone turned icy and her eyes narrowed at Andy. “The island ecosystem is still imperiled and the shock of humans-”
“IT WAS CRAZY! There was dancing, and drums, and costumes like I’ve NEVER SEEN BEFORE! He said that it’s their environmental and ecological record dating back thousands of years!” Sitry’s excited outburst crashed like a wave on the shore, breaking the invisible hold the woman had on Andy. Sitry leaned in, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder as she physically moved herself in between Andy and her Kho-mother, taking her attention away from him.
“Well that can’t be true, can it? Human records in this area are only around one hundred and fifty of this planet’s years old, two hundred at the most. There was no written record prior to that.” Rhaxiid spoke tentatively, as if suddenly he wasn’t exactly sure of something that had been a fact up until that moment.
“That’s technically true, Don-Konday? Forgive me if I’m mispronouncing-” Andy spoke again, as Aftasia cleared her throat pointedly at Sakalbi, causing the irate woman to turn back around.
“Oh please, it’s Rhaxiid, sir. No need to stand on ceremony,” he responded jovially, waving a hand as though shooing something away from his face.
“Well, written language was only introduced to my people around two centuries ago, that part is true, but our traditions, sacred sites, and cultural practices have been passed down since time began.” Andy found himself again in the position of trying to explain his people’s history, but given how it seemed to have been misconstrued, he suddenly wasn’t as sure about talking to these aliens about it as he had been the night before.
“Humans have only had written language for two hundred years? How is that possible? You’ve gone from preliterate to an advanced industrial society in only-”
“My people, being the Salishians. The indigenous race of humans from these islands and the surrounding mainland,” Andy clarified. Rhaxiid smiled as he made an “oh” sound and nodded.
“Our studies indicate that humans were an invasive species to this continent. That your species originated from one of the larger continents on the other side of the planet.” Sakalbi spoke without turning around. There was something in the woman’s tone that rubbed Andy the wrong way. An undercurrent of resentment and superiority in how she spoke that reminded him of so many of his teachers. Andy fought hard not to let his hackles go up.
“You’ll find burial sites and remains of villages between twenty five and twelve thousand years old, and my people are as indigenous as Cedar trees, bears, salmon, and bald eagles. We’ve been living in this place long before the Imperium united under the Tasoos, and we’ll keep fighting to protect our ancestral homeland until the very last of us is no more.” Andy’s jaw tightened as he rattled off an old defense of his people’s rights and threw a shot back that he knew would get a rise out of any Imperial. Sakalbi simply scoffed in response.
“You know Imperial history?” Aftasia asked, giving her Kho-wife a hard stare and a curt shake of her head.
“Courtesy of your empire’s fine residential school out in Nebraska. It’s where I learned to ‘speak good Shil,'” Andy responded, bitterness creeping into his voice.
“So you’re a graduate? Wonderful! Tell me, at what level did you achieve?” Rhaxiid replied brightly, and beside him he could feel Kalai and Sitry turn in surprise.
“I finished the Imperial Assimilation course in five Earth years, and graduated from junior academy in another two.”
“YOU WHAT?” The chorus from all six aliens at once was deafening.
“You graduated in only two human years?” Rhaxiid’s voice took on a tone of awe and respect, and Andy felt suddenly self conscious as the eyes of everyone were suddenly glued to him.
“Well it helps if you don’t get vacations…or weekends…or free time. Besides, there wasn’t much else to do in solitary for repeated escape attempts, so I just put my nose in the school omnipads and just banged the coursework out. The classes were pretty easy once I figured out the language and the math system, then it was all just spitting out the answer the teachers wanted.”
“Are you some kind of genius?” Sitry asked breathlessly, and the excited smile that lit up her face made Andy’s heart skip a beat. Whether it was fear or something else, Andy wasn’t sure. He turned to look at Kalai and saw the same look mirrored from the other side of him and Andy couldn’t help but pull into himself and blush. He looked down and began studying his feet and spoke in a bit of a self deprecating tone.
“No…no, I’m no genius. I was just motivated to not get hit anymore, and to keep from going crazy in the little oubliette they kept sticking me in and I-” Andy stopped as the mood in the shuttle drastically changed, and he at the looked up to see all the looks of admiration turned to looks of confusion and horror.
“I’m guessing you’re not too aware of what they did to us after they kicked us out of our homes, are you?” Andy ventured shyly, and he saw them all shake their heads almost in unison.
“I’m sorry, I’m having trouble understanding a few things, you said ‘escape attempts?’ As in, prison? Were you convicted of a crime?” Sakalbi asked tentatively, her ears swiveling back defensively.
“No, unless you count ‘Being Indian in the Twenty First Century.' I hear you can get two years in Walla Walla for that.” Andy tried to turn the very painful memory of red garbed Interior thugs pulling him away from his screaming grandmother into a joke. He fought against the rising panic as the memory of those goons throwing him into an alien bus with about fifty other crying children before being carted away from the internment camp in Oklahoma washed over him.
“That can’t be…using a school as a prison…that’s horrific! I can’t even begin to fathom how you could…You poor dear.” Sakalbi’s voice was small for the first time, and full of pity.
“I’d rather not talk about it right now, if you don’t mind. To tell you the truth, I’ve been roughly on my own except for my grandma for the past five years. Before that, I spent just over seven in a residential school for human boys, courtesy of Governess Ta’naios and the Interior. They tried to make us good Shil’vati by any means necessary, and that’s all I’ll say about it.” Andy felt his hands start to shake and he clenched his fists. His mouth started to feel dry and his heartbeat started to quicken as he took short, shallow breaths. He thought about the half pack of Lucky Strikes he still had in his pocket, but decided against it for now. As soon as they dropped him off, he’d find a drink and kill the rest of the pack.
“So you’ve held a Junior Academy diploma since you were…?” Rhaxiid left the question hanging as Andy felt Kalai shift and hold out her hand to him. He looked down in the silence that hung for a moment and he tentatively placed his hand in Kalai’s, and she gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“Around nine in Shil years. Thirteen or fourteen in Earth years.” Andy shrugged. “The Empress ‘pardoned’ us, or something and then they just kicked us out with a bus ticket to anywhere we wanted to go. So I wrapped up the last of my classes and got my diploma online or whatever and I came home and found grandma trying to put the pieces back together. Since then, I’ve been running around trying to get those of us that were lost, found; and keep my people out of trouble. My grandmother runs our government in exile with what’s left of the Council-”
“I’m sorry, what? Government in exile? So…you ARE a prince.” Naranjo interrupted.
“No, it’s…she….” Andy’s train of thought was completely derailed at the sudden return of the topic.
“Your grandmother runs the government in exile, you said. That sounds like that makes you a prince-” Naranjo pressed while Sitry stifled a giggle.
“It’s NOT a hereditary position! She was the last elected Chairwoman of the Tribal Council and she’s been trying to get Ta’naios to recognize us ever since the Empress tore up our Treaties and exiled us from our homelands! The Chief of my clan is my grandfather who is…not here in this region. I’m not lying or being untruthful; there is nothing ‘princely’ about me!” Andy leaned forward and his blanket slipped down a bit, revealing his shoulders and chest. The sudden embarrassed squeaks from Sitry and Kalai, coupled with the hard stares from their parents as Andy pulled his covering back up as Sakalbi flicked Sitry’s ear and Aftasia fixed Kalai with a hard stare that made Kalai twist her whole body away from Andy.
“So then when your grandfather, the Chief, passes on, then your father… or mother takes over making you the…?” Aftasia asked, seemingly letting Kalai off the hook.
“Both are gone, so it would fall to my older brother who is also…not here in this region, and since there’s only the four of us in the Clan left, it’s a bit of an empty position, if it ever even was one to begin with.”
The adults traded inscrutable looks while Sitry’s wide and mischievous smile caught his eye. “I AM NOT A PRINCE!” Andy shouted, and pulled the blanket up to try and hide in.
Rhaxiid spoke earnestly and leaned towards him after another glance at his wife Aftasia. “Please forgive us for being obtuse, it’s just we haven’t had an opportunity to speak to very many humans, and we’ve never spoken to a Salishian before. Our ignorance of your people and your customs is not born of malice and we are genuinely curious. Please, sub-chief Andrei-”
“Please just call me Andy, or Mister Shelokset.”
“Alright, then Mister Shelokset, We’d like to insist that you allow us to host you for a day. I wasn’t being facetious when I said there’s a prospectus to write. We’ve been trying to study Hydras, or…Jellyfish…and all the other species in your people’s biome, and it has not been going well. Sitry says you’re immune to their venom, and that the antivenom is readily available to you?” Aftasia spoke quickly and leaned in beside her husband, her ears swiveling forward.
“Kalai was also very insistent that you are well versed in the unique ecology of this region, and that you know why we’ve been having trouble finding the natural equilibrium. As much as it pains me to say it, we don’t know why our efforts to restore the ecology are creating such mixed results. Would you mind if we asked you to speak with us about what you know and how we can improve?” Rhaxiid added with a nod, his floppy ears twitching as he adopted a similar posture to his wife.
Andy felt relieved at the change in the conversation, and emerged slightly from where he’d been trying to make himself as small as possible. “You mentioned invasive species. What others have you identified?”
“None, there are no extraplanetary creatures allowed on earth save for military service animals, and all those must have IUDs to prevent unauthorized breeding,” Sakalbi answered with pride, her own ears still pulled back as she gave Andy a side eye.
“We’re very proud of the fact that to date, there have been no reports of any problematic species transfers to Earth,” Aftasia added, happily. “Have you noticed any extraplanetary flora or fauna that may have escaped our quarantine procedures?”
“Well that explains a few things,” Andy huffed as he felt his confidence returning. “Let me ask you, as a litmus test if you will…can you tell me what the difference is between an Atlantic Salmon and a Pacific Salmon, and which one belongs here and which doesn’t?”
Andy noticed that Sitry, Kalai, and Naranjo looked at their parents’ general confusion as they quietly conferred with each other. The two looked to Sakalbi and she turned to look Andy in the eye. “They’re both trouts, aside from the name being dissimilar, there isn’t much else that is fundamentally different at all between the two species.”
Andy couldn’t help the sigh that escaped him and he nodded. “Yes they’re both ‘trout,' but Atlantic salmon are ‘salmon’…while ours are Yommich and Chinook for Kings, Suh’key for Sockeye, Huh’nun for Humpies, Kuh’ch’ks for Cohos, and Kwa’lukh for Dogs. You see, we have names for them, ancient names because our people have cultivated and harvested them for generations. We have no Salishian name for Atlantic salmon. It was introduced as a farmed fish less than one hundred years ago, and due to mismanagement by underregulated fisheries, they got out. They taste like hot garbage and they’re small as hell compared to the giants that are native to the waterways here.”
The look of surprise on the adults' faces was gratifying and Sakalbi looked like she was going to speak, but Andy continued. “Let me guess, you’ve been trying to farm the Atlantics but when you release them, their fry keep dying en masse and the adults you release just starve to death and cause all sorts of problems when they do, right?” Sakalbi’s mouth was open and she was blinking, as if she couldn't believe her ears. Rhaxiid was doing his best to suppress a smile but his eyes twinkled happily while Aftasia put a hand over her mouth and silently chuckled.
“Another example, and one I gave to Naranjo.” Andy leaned forward, finding it easier to talk now as he jerked a thumb at him. “Did you know there are two kinds of blackberries here? One is native, and the other is an invasive species. Do you know how to tell the difference?”
There was a slow shaking of heads from the adults, and Andy smiled. “The native species is a crawler. It stays low to the ground and sends out tendrils. Its thorns are small and relatively soft, and the berries are small as well. The invasive one, the Himalayan Blackberry, is a menace to the forest. It forms thickets six to even eight feet high of brambles and their thorns can gouge flesh! These damn things will choke out all the native groundcover and restrict movement of the bigger animals. It’ll even cut off the smaller animals from their old habitats and it will outcompete a lot of indigenous animals’ food sources. I know you’ve been having problems with animals that usually stay out in the forests, because they’re wandering around in the open and causing problems in town," Andy continued excitedly.
“I’m also guessing you’re having problems accessing those areas that are getting taken over by the brambles and you’re losing a whole lot of plants to them, right?” Andy looked at Kalai and Sitry, both of whom were looking from him to their parents while Rhaxiid and Aftasia stared pointedly at Sakalbi, who had folded her arms and pursed her lips angrily.
“And you and your people know all this because of your language…” Rhaxiid made it a statement as he looked over at Aftasia and raised an eyebrow, quirking a half smile at her.
“We have the stories, ancient and modern, that record the memory of our homeland and how we survived as a part of the whole system. How we managed it and cultivated it,” Andy finished proudly. Here, finally, was a person who seemed to be listening, and he felt the last vestiges of his fear and nervousness melt away.
“Stewards and caretakers, from the Song of the First People," Kalai volunteered, and Andy felt his heart glow and he gave her a look of thanks.
Aftasia flashed her eyes at Sakalbi and gave her husband a small nod. Rhaxiid turned and fixed Andy with an appraising look before speaking. “Andy, would you…” he paused as though considering his words. “I would like to formally offer you a role as a contractor with the Vaida Warren and the Ministry of Sciences, to advise us and to tell us more about your homeland and your people’s stories.”
“Sugar, you CAN’T be serious!” Sakalbi squawked, looking at her husband in surprise.
“I’ve never been more serious in my life! The ancient Erbians recorded ecological management and transference in the same manner!” Rhaxiid spoke with conviction, silencing his white-haired wife. “Please, Mr. Shelokset. No human in this area will work with us, and our Warren’s fortunes and reputation are on the line. We’ve been working for close to twelve of your years. While we’ve been making great strides with repairing the climate damage globally from fossil fuels, our restorative efforts with the biomes are becoming…fraught with failures. Help us, help you. Come work for us as an ecological advisor. Help us identify these invasives that don’t belong in your biome, and we can use our expertise to remove them ‘leaf, stem, and root’! How does a thousand credits a week, plus benefits sound?”
Andy couldn’t believe his ears. His mind spun around at the offer that the dark haired rabbit man had just made him, but a dark cloud appeared in his mind. “I’m not sure, I’ll not be some token Indian to be used as a prop to sell out my people and my homeland, will I?”
“Of course not! No, I’m offering a true advisory position, not a mouthpiece. Young man, the Empress charged our Warren with the restoration and safeguarding of this world’s environments. With you to advise us, I’m sure we could put it back to the way it was, and restore it to its former beauty and diversity.”
“I…I’d need to discuss this with…with my grandmother.”
“Of course, we’ll draw up a contract, and you can discuss it with your quee…er…grandmother. I don’t suppose you have an omnipad stashed away in your…blanket?”
“Uh, no. I don’t have one…at all.” Andy felt the embarrassment return in force.
“Why not? Everyone has one! I mean they’re not that expen…oh.” Naranjo spoke hastily as Aftasia rounded on him and he found both his ears flicked at the same time by his kho-mother and his father.
“You can…send me a message on the datanet. I’ll get it, eventually. I’ve a buddy or two with an old smartphone, and I’ve a head for remembering things like phone numbers. If you give me your omnipad for a sec, I’ll add my old email.” Andy held his hand out and quirked a half-smile. The looks of pity he got from Sitry and Kalai immediately got under his skin. “Look, I may be poor, but I’ve never gone hungry and I do just fine, thank you. I don’t need your pity.” Andy felt suddenly defensive and his tone was challenging.
“Of course you don’t, Mr. Shelokset. You have our respect, and our thanks for coming to our childrens’ rescue.” Rhaxiid was conciliatory, and he emphasized the word as he shot his icy glare at Kalai and Sitry. “All of our contractors are issued an omnipad. One of the many perks of working with the Vaida Warren, we spare no expense when it comes to planetary restoration and shilforming. We take very good care of our people and we only use the best equipment.”
“Our Warren’s the best in the empire-” Sitry started in but Andy held his hand up to stop her.
“Whoa, wait, hold on a second. I’m not exactly clear what a Warren is, in this context?” Andy looked back and forth between the aliens. “What is it, a company?”
“Not quite,” Aftasia jumped in, “It’s more like the whole of our family network. In terms of people, it’s all of our blood relations and their spouses. It’s their businesses and their contacts, resources, educational expertise, job experience…everything. It’s the sum total of our family, our wealth, and our connections.”
“You sound more like a nation, not a company,” Andy observed. Kalai’s description of who his hosts were was suddenly becoming a bit more real to him.
“You’re not entirely wrong. Before our people were annexed by the Shil’vati, Warrens were essentially nations. The Vaida Warren, our Warren, is one of six that are formally recognized by Her Imperial Majesty. Our Warren is known for its expertise in planetary engineering. Almost every colony world founded and colonized in the last five centuries had Vaida engineers and scientists managing the shilforming processes at various levels. The few that weren’t, were taught by us.” Sakalbi deigned to speak then, fixing him with a superior stare.
“If you’re so good, why do you need my help?” Andy answered her back, raising an eyebrow at her.
“I appreciate your candor,” Rhaxiid jumped in as his wife huffed and looked away. “The truth is, almost every colony world has to be engineered from below the ground up. We are experts in creating a system from scratch, and we’ve turned it into an artform. Earth’s challenge is that it has multiple complex ecosystems, in various states of ecological health, interacting with an industrialized nuclear powered civilization that we don’t quite…understand yet.”
“Climatewise, your world had a run-of-the-mill fossil fuel based greenhouse effect throwing off the natural warming and cooling cycle, topped off by a ruptured ozone layer and some residual radiation contamination in areas around nuclear waste disposal failures. In planetary engineering terms, it’s a relatively easy fix," Aftasia bragged for the first time, smiling proudly. “Where we struggle is with the xenobiology and xeno-ecology of Earth. Up until about ten minutes ago, we’d assumed certain things about the global spread of certain species. We'd also made assumptions about the management and extent of the ecological transference of various species. In just what you’ve told us, and based on what Narny, Sitry, and Kalai have said of your evening, certain observations of ours are making much more sense.” Aftasia smiled brightly as she weighed in, and Rhaxiid nodded at her assessment.
“And that’s why you want to hire me?”
Rhaxiid canted his head to the side. “Yes. The fact that you stood up to your own people to save these three’s lives tells me that you would at least be open to the possibility of working with us. The fact that you were able to navigate the islands at night with no instruments tells me you know this area quite well and would be an excellent guide to areas we may not know about. The fact that you were able to silence my wife…” Rhaxiid looked over and gave Sakalbi a loving wink, “...tells me that your expertise may be able to fill in the gaps that we know we’ve been missing.”
Andy could still hardly believe what he was hearing. All he could do was blink. If grandma signs off on this? The money alone is…it would be worth it, even if I’m just their token Indian! That kind of cash could really help! But…working with the Purps….or rabbits…this Warren? We need this, though! We could finally move forward with our plans!
Andy spoke slowly and deliberately, looking to either side of him to see an encouragingly nodding Kalai and an excited Sitry who was gently vibrating in her seat. “I think it might be best, then, if I were to speak with my grandmother sooner rather than later. I appreciate that you’d like to host me, but the last any of my people saw was the four of us sailing out of a…sticky situation…and I was headed towards an Imperial military base after having broken several laws and ordinances.”
“Ah…oh I see, yes. I agree that perhaps our return home to Victoria can take a small detour in the interest of building a working relationship with your family and your people.” Rhaxiid wrung his hands as a look of dawning comprehension crossed his face.
“I know I wouldn’t wish the last twenty four hours we’ve had on even our worst enemy. We’d be happy to take you directly to your home in order to make it as easy as possible for you to let your grandmother know you’re safe,” Aftasia stated firmly.
Andy nodded and smiled. “Bellingham Airport…well, the Militia base at ‘Fort Bellingham’ now, would be the smartest. From there I can get a vehicle that doesn’t make me look like an Imperial lackey or a hostage and we’ll have a better shot at receiving her blessing.”
“That might be for the best, sugar. We need to get Kalai to a hospital soon. She’s already missed one dose, a second missed might be fatal.” Sakalbi added, looking over at Kalai.
“PILOT! Change of plans! Land at Fort Bellingham and then take us to St. Joseph’s Hospital!” Rhaxiid banged on the wall separating the cab from the cockpit, and the shuttle began a slow bank back towards the mainland.
​
First:
https://www.reddit.com/Sexyspacebabes/comments/yz0u3h/the_cryptid_chronicle_chapter_1/
Previous:
https://www.reddit.com/Sexyspacebabes/comments/11u8h8y/cryptid_chronicle_chapter_20/
Next:
To be posted 4/2/23

"""
Sure, I'll give it a shot! Here's an alternative ending to Game of Thrones:
As Daenerys approaches King's Landing, Jon Snow realizes that he can't allow her to continue with her plan to burn the city to the ground. He confronts her and pleads with her to show mercy to the innocent civilians, but she insists that it's the only way to establish her power.
In the end, Jon realizes that he has no choice but to stop her by force. With the help of his loyal supporters, including Arya, Sansa, and Tyrion, he stages a coup and takes control of the city.
But instead of executing Daenerys, Jon decides to send her into exile, hoping that she'll one day come to understand the gravity of her actions.
With peace finally restored, Jon is crowned the new King of Westeros. He rules justly and fairly, with the support of his friends and advisors.
Meanwhile, Sansa Stark is declared the Queen of the North, and she works to rebuild her ancestral home and forge new alliances with other kingdoms.
Tyrion Lannister, having played a crucial role in the downfall of Daenerys, is appointed Hand of the King. He uses his intelligence and wit to guide Jon's rule and prevent future conflicts.
And as for the Iron Throne? It's destroyed, symbolizing the end of an era of brutal warfare and power struggles. The Seven Kingdoms are united under the leadership of their new rulers, who pledge to work together for the greater good.
In the final scene, we see Jon, Sansa, and Tyrion standing together on a balcony overlooking the newly rebuilt King's Landing. They look out over the city, knowing that there will be challenges ahead, but confident that they can face them together. The camera pans out to show the vast, beautiful countryside of Westeros, hinting at a bright future for the realm.
Overall, this ending aims to provide closure to the characters' arcs and bring a sense of hope and optimism to the story. It acknowledges the mistakes of the past while charting a new course for the future. """