(08-25-2024, 08:28 PM)Bob Schroeck Wrote: My Life as a Teenage Juggernaut (Worm/Marvel), chapter 9

Yrsillar Wrote:Ling Qi adjusted the tightness of the string. Better, but still misplaced. "Is it wrong to keep trying to reassure everyone? Hanyi noticed that I’m faking some of it, but she's with me all day."

"I don't think so. Course you aren't happy being stuck like that, but nobody is gonna be happier if you're acting miserable. Not even you."

"You could say it's unhealthy. I feel that since everyone is doing their best, I have to as well, even if it means fibbing a little." She felt that twinge again, deep in her chest, as she played. "There's a place for unvarnished, unmerciful truth. You need that at the highest levels where Cai Renxiang focuses, all turning gears and duty and obligation."

"But you gotta fib sometimes to make people comfortable?" Sixiang turned over on the couch. Resting their elbows on the arm of the couch, he looked up at her. "How'd that work for me?"

"Poorly. It was the intent of that lie that let me forgive you."

It was hard to find a single bright line here. All the same…

Sixiang blew out a breath. Their features rippled briefly, showing off the blank wooden plate beneath. "I get what you're saying. The Summit would’ve collapsed if everyone just baldly said what they meant and wanted without any cushion… And most of art is a lie of sorts. There’s music to make you see and feel what isn't there, fiction to paint worlds that don't exist, or poems to stir the soul with nothing but ink on a page…"

"I understand now why the Duchess breaks people who come under her scrutiny for too long. With no lies at all, the world is just too painful."

That awful conquering sword and twisted steel giant burned in her mind, and the cruel heat still smoldered deep in her bones.

Cruel was the wrong word. It would be better if it was cruel. No, those flames were merely horrifying in their utter unswerving certainty that they were burning for a righteous cause.

(08-27-2024, 08:23 AM)Norgarth Wrote: Beware of Chicken (original recipe)
https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/beware-of-chicken-xianxia.910799/page-2009#post-104355667

tealruby Wrote:I think we need to have a long overdue talk regarding your intentions towards this world…

They’ve been two enigmas ever since Hermione’d joined the Justice League. Absolutely professional, exceedingly competent, and consistently respectful, they’re among the few who understand her new job. So why can’t Hermione understand what two officers from the elite Thanagarian Hawk Police are doing stationed for years on a backwater, distant planet called Earth? It’s high time for Hermione to fetch a deerstalker cap and exercise her little grey cells…

---

Notes:
Thanks for reading, and apologies for the late issue. For those who are Hawk-fans, this is my acceptance of the challenge to detangle the mess that is their continuity. Along with elements from multiple comics, tv shows, miniseries, and more. As for several new plot points scattered throughout; as always, they won’t be forgotten.

(08-29-2024, 11:56 PM)Norgarth Wrote: Beware of Chicken (Original recipe)
https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/beware-of-chicken-xianxia.910799/page-2013#post-104441347

Yrsillar Wrote:The comb tugged at the strands of her hair, causing a faint prickle on her scalp.

"You have gained another inch. An immortal body's vitality truly is unmatched," her mother, Ling Qingge, observed.

She was managing to sit up without support today. Though she could feel her focus and energy trickling away from the strain, it was a worthy effort. She sat on her bed beside her mother, hands folded in her lap as Mother tended to her hair. It had been many, many years since they had done this.

"I'm glad. I don't want to think how long it would take to grow my hair back, otherwise," Ling Qi said.

"Ah, there is another spark." Ling Qi winced as she felt her mother pat the flame-resistant damp cloth to her head, extinguishing it.

"You're taking it much better than the first time I was injured."

"My daughter has been teaching me to cultivate my nerves."

She bowed her head in acknowledgment of the mild rebuke. "The sparks are a good sign that the medicine is cleansing the fire qi from my channels."

"Indeed, so long as your head does not catch fire."

Dr. Zyn ch'Mordan Wrote:Resources always attract empires – Seamus Devenish

(...)

When news of the calamities on Berengaria and Denobula reached the halls of power in the Coalition, many suspected that Coridan was likely to be the next target.[fn8] It was perhaps the most tempting target in the entire galaxy. It was good, then, that the Vulcans and Andorians had placed so many soldiers and so much materiel there to defend it. The Vulcans had placed a squadron of eleven top-of-the-line D’kyr-class cruisers in orbit and three full-strength divisions – nearly 150,000 Vulcans-at-arms – on the planet, under the overall command of Admiral K’Tar.[fn9] The Andorians, for their part, devoted eight Khyzon-class battlecruisers and 200,000 Andorians to defend the system, under the overall command of General Hol sh’Yara.[fn10] Notionally, the Vulcans commanded the space defenses and the Andorians commanded the ground defenses.[fn11] However, this cooperation was still new and quite untested. When this force was first constituted in March 2156, virtually every decision was subject to squabbling about strategic direction and tactical posture. Even something as seemingly simple as routine cargo ship inspections for contraband required hours of shouting and, more often than not, both the Andorians and Vulcans conducting independent, duplicative searches.[fn1]2 Even the question of “which party should make their search first?” was open to debate. Still, the joint Vulcan-Andorian-Coridanite forces had some successes in the early months of 2156. In April, the joint forces successfully captured the number-two man in the Purple Flame dissident group.[fn13] In May, they stopped a bombing by the Shining Sword religious zealots at the Nutaar Mining Consortium facility in the Bendacon Mountains on the western edge of Tessen, which could have killed thousands.[fn14] Unfortunately, there was little time to build on these successes, as they were quickly overshadowed by news of Romulan attacks in multiple systems all across the quadrant. Everyone knew it would only be a matter of time before the war reached Coridan.

footnotes

8. Thom Hodge, “Op-ed: Where Are the Fleets?” San Francisco Chronicle, (June 10, 2156).
9. Vulcan High Command, Table of Organization and Equipment – Coridan Sector, (ShiKahr, Vulcan; May 2156).
10. Andorian Imperial Command, Coridan Sector Assets and Liabilities, (Laikan, Andoria; April 2156).
11. Memorandum of Agreement Between Andorian Imperial Guard and Vulcan High Command On Defense Responsibilities in Coridan Sector, (Mardan, Coridan; March 2156).
12. Daniel Fox, “Dilithium Hauler ECS Guangzhou Stopped Twice For Inspection During Routine Trip to Coridan,” New Berlin Zeitung (March 17, 2156).
13. Mota Shagan, “Byman Zahari: Dastardly Purple Flame Leader Killed in Massive Joint Raid,” Mardan Truth, (April 9, 2156). One should note that “official” media sources from Coridan at the time were beholden to the Kalev government for their continued existence. As a result, their reporting should be taken with some skepticism.
14. Kuvan Leshev, “Thousands Saved as Joint Task Force Foils Cowardly Shining Sword Assault on Nutaar Mining Complex,” Mardan Truth (May 12, 2156).

Kenainath Wrote:The first thing I see is a giant spiraling staircase at least two dozen li away, winding around a central pillar at least sixty li high. The staircase rises through four floors, and through the square-shaped openings in those floors to permit the staircase through, I see massive floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. At each floor, a bridge of ice reaches out to the staircase, allowing people to make their way out onto the desired floor.

Similar bookshelves cover the entirety of this floor, and every single shelf is absolutely filled with scrolls piled high. There have to be at the very least hundreds of millions of scrolls and books here, if not billions. On this floor alone. I glance at my storage rings, consider exactly how many spare storage rings I have on me, and glance back at the shelves. Even if we were going to try and loot this place, there is no way in hell that our group has anywhere near enough space available to make so much as a dent in this massive library. I step forward, and find my face smashing into the air, which has hardened into an invisible barrier. The invisible barrier is hard enough to give me a bloody nose, droplets of red falling to the icy floor.

My Qi reacts with a sudden rush of heat throughout my body that quickly rushes to the injury, stemming the flow of blood and subsiding the pain in one moment of thought.. As if triggered by my attempt to enter the library, a pedestal of ice next to the door starts glowing with an internal light. Projecting characters into the air that draws my attention.

The Library welcomes the Honored Guest to the Black Turtle Floor of the Library. The Guest's access has been set to Spiritual-level access. Entry to the library proper is prohibited until such time as Guest is granted Prince-level access. Records will be retrieved as required for the Guest via the Library sorting system. Strongest skills recorded as elemental Qi manipulation, formation techniques, Spiritual Herb growth, and Intent. Interest noted in historical records and medical techniques. Retrieving suitable information from the Archives…