Isiri Pudireach
Predictive text can go duck itself
Honestly I would avoid having the X just because of how problematic they are far the planet as a whole. There isn't really anything anyone else can do about them.
- Location
- Colorado
- Pronouns
- She/Her
... Fuck. Ziz brought back the X... this... is not good...
- Location
- CABA
no one is going to comment on the poor federation woman that got her brain turned to mush by Ziz? that was disturbing AF
JmonsterNEO
Spouter of nonsense
- Location
- The quest forums
All Phazon disappeared when Phaaze blew up, remember?
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
All Phazon we know about did, yes. It's not like the Federation is known for attempting dangerous biological experiments or anything.
- Location
- Italy
Still coherent enough to send an understandable message
Amazing. Did not expect that from Federation personnel
If there is actually any left, then I really wonder how the Federation managed to prevent that stuff from essentially ceasing to exist, as that is what I thought happened to everything that originated from Phaaze. Never mind the Fact that they somehow managed to capture an X without the darn thing getting loose and consuming the entire Research Facility (and whatever planet it might have been on, for that matter)...
- Location
- California
It took time for the X to get free in Fusion if I remember correctly. We know their protocols are insufficient in the long term, but always someone screws up.
Yes they did. And the only thing preventing the entire station from being immediately overrun is the security hatches bascially keeping them contained to certain areas since as soon as security hatches were opened any areas behind them that the X hadn't spread to was full of X in minutes.
And even that would have eventually failed since the Sa-X and other powerful infected creatures could just destroy the walls and hatches to let the X in anyway.
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Comeback 2.s (Shawn)
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Comeback 2.s (Shawn)
Shawn cracked an egg into the frying pan as he started on breakfast for Addison and him. His son had been doing well in class lately, and he'd been starting to save up some vacation time. A trip to Florida or California might not have been out of the question. Of course, he would have to clear the trip with the bosses, but there wasn't any real reason that he should be unable to go. There were times where the bosses would bend over backwards to support him. While he didn't really feel like that was completely necessary, it wasn't like he didn't appreciate it. That was one of the reasons that he took Danny up on his offers for dinner and drinks at times.
Yes, sometimes his girlfriend was there, but they were both tolerant of him and his issues. It helped that Danny and Karrin both were good with Addison, even if neither had children. Well. Danny had had a child, but things were complicated. It wasn't an easy subject to talk about, and it was a lot like talking about Kelly or Jennifer. After a few beers, both he and Danny could get melancholic about those they lost. Of course, Shawn would never get that far if Addison were with him. He never wanted to show that sort of weakness to his child, not because he didn't want to look weak, but because it reminded him of Kelly's parents.
There were reasons that she hadn't wanted their child to go to them. The cycle of abuse is only broken if someone chooses to stop it, and Shawn had. Heroically, some might say.
Shawn stirred the egg in the pan and went to the fridge, getting out the milk and some bacon. He started up another pan for the bacon and stirred the egg some more before cracking another pair in and starting to scramble. He had the time this morning, and he wanted to make sure that his son had the best possible breakfast before he went off to another day school.
Addison made his way into the kitchen, already dressed in his jeans and a blue hoodie with Shielder's emblem on the back. He'd gotten it as a gag gift for Christmas last year, but he really seemed to like it. Shawn liked that his son and Eric Pelham were friends the way they were, even if his son never developed powers of his own, at least he would be knowledgeable enough to survive in a world that had them.
"Smells good, Dad," Addison said, going to the cabinets and grabbing out a couple of plates. "What's the occasion?"
"I just had some time this morning and thought I'd make something for you," Shawn said. "This is a better breakfast than going for fast food or having a bowl of that cereal."
Addison laughed. "Guess it might be. Do you have to work today?"
Shawn nodded. "Director Piggot asked me to go to the PRTHQ this morning. I couldn't really say for what, but I assume I'll find out when I get there."
"And probably won't be able to tell me," Addison said.
Shawn shrugged, stirring the eggs. "You know I would if I could."
"I know," Addison said. "And it's fine, but I just wish I could find out more."
"A lot of it is pretty boring," Shawn said. "Yeah, other parts aren't, but most of what I do is prepare my items. Yesterday I managed to somehow miss out on the minor gang altercation that happened near the docks."
"The one where Hookwolf got taken down by that guy in armor?" Addison asked. "It was so cool how he was helping Ratcatcher out. I really don't know how he could have beaten Hookwolf otherwise. Kept him distracted, maybe, but rats and a bat against that guy?"
"Wait, where did you see that?" Shawn hadn't even really had the chance to look at the official reports on that yet. He hadn't been in the office since his shift ended the previous day, and he had dedicated his focus on various bits of paperwork that his son had needed. There were things that Jennifer had left behind that he had packed up, and he'd been planning to send them off to her. He just hadn't had any time to look to see what there was about the incident.
"Someone posted a video online of the fight," Addison said. "It's not great quality, but the angle gets a good view of that armored guy shooting something at Hookwolf, and it goes until Hookwolf gets taken down. If you ask me, it's about time."
Shawn nodded. "He's not an easy person to take on. I've gotten a few lucky hits in, but he seems to be able to come through it most of the time."
Addison nodded. "Is it okay if I go over to Eric's after school?"
"Assuming you get your homework done afterward, I'm cool with it," Shawn said. "Eric might be able to help out."
Addison nodded. "If not him, his older sister's supposed to be back from college for a bit. She should be able to help."
Shawn smiled. "I'll have to call Sarah and let her and Neil know that you've got my permission."
"Thanks, Dad," Addison said. "So, if I were to become a cape, what kind do you think I'd be?"
"It'd depend on a lot," Shawn said. He still didn't really want to talk with Addison regarding triggers. Hell, he didn't even really fully understand them. He just knew what he had gone through in order to get his powers, and he would definitely not want that for his own kid. Maybe if it ended up similar to how the kids in New Wave got their powers, he would be okay, but even still, a trigger event was a trigger event. "Your powers might be similar to mine, or there's the chances that they would be completely unique. Powers tend to follow from the events that surround how you get them."
"That why you have yours?" Addison asked. "When you saved me?"
Shawn nodded. "More complicated than that, but that's the basics, really. You and your mom were there… Never mind. It's a bit of a boring story. I saved you, that's what matters." If only he'd been able to save Kelly too. She would have loved much of what he'd been up to, but alas, she passed away not long after giving birth to their son.
"I don't really think it's boring Dad, but I know there's reasons you don't want to talk about it." Addison patted his chest. "Eric's mentioned how he got his powers, and well, he told me about triggering. I don't really want to go through it, even as a potential second gen, but I know it could happen."
He would need to bring up acceptable conversation topics when he spoke with Sarah and Neil. Sure, it was well within Eric's right to explain the whole situation to Addison, but it still felt like it was stepping on boundaries that he had wanted.
"Honestly, I don't really want it for you either," Shawn said, and he started serving breakfast. The eggs and bacon went on a plate with toast and some jam, and he quickly made up two plates so that he could bring them to the table.
"Don't worry about it, Dad, I got it," Addison said, taking the plates over to the table. Shawn grabbed the silverware and followed his son to the dining room.
They both took their seats, and Shawn smiled. It was good to have breakfast with his son.
"So, what do you make of her?" Director Piggot asked, gesturing at the footage of the armored cape who had helped Ratcatcher against Hookwolf. The footage posted online was placed next to the compiled footage that Armsmaster generated with whatever program he'd used, and Dauntless studied her actions. The woman's movements were far more fluid than any newly triggered cape would have, and even more fluid than someone who likely would have had their powers a while. Something was strange here, but how she acted with Ratcatcher… he recognized that sort of protective instinct. He'd seen it in his own son, and he'd felt it for Addison, Kelly, and even Jennifer, once upon a time.
"She's got skill," Dauntless said, starting diplomatic. It really wouldn't do to anger the Director. "But beyond that… I really don't know. I don't know enough about her."
"Armsmaster did a report, based upon the interview he did of her," Piggot said. Of course, he did. Colin was notoriously meticulous, and Dauntless could bet that the man cared enough to investigate things further. However, that didn't mean his investigation was thorough enough on its own. "Assuming that her story checks out, she's an ex-cop turned mercenary and bounty hunter."
"Bounty hunter." Dauntless shook his head. Given that he hadn't heard of this Hunter person before, something was off about that too. She handled Hookwolf and Cricket too well to be new to her abilities, but she didn't have any reputation to lean on. Yet. If she continued with helping to capture high profile villains, that reputation would grow. That said, if she wasn't using lethal tactics, independent heroism or vigilantism was not exactly something that would merit this kind of response. "Okay, and why exactly are we caring so much about a vigilante?"
"Normally, I would say that we wouldn't," Piggot said. "Obviously we should try and recruit her, but I can think of a few uses for a heroically-inclined mercenary."
Dauntless nodded, looking around the back office of the PRT building. Something about that statement didn't ring entirely true to him, but he'd play along. "And you want me at the meeting with her?"
"Not as yourself," Piggot said. "Challenger will help with this a little, but we're going to put some prosthetics on you, Shawn, and you're going to pass as Renick."
"I'm not sure I can pass as the Deputy Director," Dauntless said.
"You're the right height and build," Piggot said. "She's an unknown, and you're a known quantity. I know that I can trust you to do what is right."
That made some sense. Well, not having Renick in the room at the same time as the Director. There needed to be contingencies in place if, for some reason, Piggot were to be incapable of performing her duties as Director. That said, playing the Deputy Director was not exactly something he was comfortable with. He'd do it, he supposed, if Challenger could do the right sort of work.
Dauntless nodded, taking off his helmet. "I guess that could work, but I'm really not sure about it."
"She doesn't know exactly what Renick looks like, but I don't want to give away your face to someone who only might be Ratcatcher's kid. Not unless you're comfortable with that sort of thing."
Shawn shook his head. Prosthetics it would be. Wait.
"Ratcatcher's kid?" Shawn asked. "You mean this woman could be…" Shawn looked around, and he lowered his voice. "Taylor? How?"
"I'll give you a transcript of Armsmaster's interview with her," Piggot said. "Honestly, I hope she is who she's claiming to be. It'd be good for Ratcatcher, and I think it would be good for cohesion. Maybe he'll finally go in for that redesign now that she's here."
Shawn snorted. "Maybe pigs will fly. I'll help with the interview."
"Good," Piggot said with a smile. In that moment, seeing that smile, Shawn prayed that his son would never get powers. Unfortunately, it was always a possibility.
"Sarah," Dauntless said, trying to make himself heard over the klaxons of the Endbringer siren going off behind him. He moved to an area he hoped would be quieter, but he still needed to shout. "Sarah, listen. Can you and Neil do me a favor?"
"Shawn?" Sarah Pelham's voice was barely audible to Dauntless over the alarm. "Are you okay? What's going on?"
"Sarah, I need you let Addison stay over with you for the next few days, please," Dauntless said. "I just want to make sure he's being taken care of."
"Shawn, I hear the alarms, what's going on?" Sarah asked.
"The Simurgh," Dauntless said. "She's descending on Canberra, Australia."
"And you need… Shawn, you're going? How are you going on this one? You're not on one of the emergency response teams!"
"Piggot's sending me, Ratcatcher, and Velocity over on Hunter's ship," Dauntless said. "She's Ratcatcher's kid, apparently, but that's not the point. Can you and Neil watch Addison?"
"Yes, of course," Sarah said. "Eric would be glad to have him over longer. When are you leaving? How are you leaving? You said ship? There's no way you'd get there in time across the water."
"Hunter has a genuine spaceship," Dauntless said, pulling his shield up to create a force field to block the klaxon sounds. "I've got maybe three minutes before we need to go. Can you put Addison on?"
"Of course," Sarah said, and he heard her call his son over.
"Dad?" Addison asked. "Mrs. Pelham said you wanted to talk."
"I love you, Addison," Dauntless said. "I just wanted you to know that."
"What's going on, Dad?" Addison asked. "I mean, I love you too, but… what's going on? What's that noise?"
"I'm going to fight the Simurgh," Dauntless said. He let out a sigh. He didn't really want to have to tell his son that. "She's attacking Australia's capital, and I've been tapped to go."
"Do you really have to?" Addison asked.
"Ratcatcher and Velocity are going as well, along with Hunter, that cape you were talking about this morning."
"You met him?"
"Her, actually. She's Ratcatcher's daughter," Dauntless said. "She's got a way to Australia for us, and I already said that I would go."
Addison let out a breath. Dauntless could just tell that his son was getting worked up, that he was going over things in his head. He didn't want to have to leave his son there, but he'd already said he'd go.
"If you have to go," Addison said. "Come back to me, Dad. I know that the Simurgh's got some messed up things but come back to me."
"I'll do my best," Dauntless said.
"Not good enough, Dad," Addison said, and Dauntless heard his son's voice breaking a bit. "Come back alive. I love you, Dad. I can't lose you too."
"You won't," Dauntless promised.
Dauntless landed in front of a pair of Wards-age Australian capes. He didn't recognize them, but the older of the pair, a girl dressed in tight brown leather pants and fishnet sleeves under a leather jerkin and an opaque blue visor over her eyes, with her red hair pulled back into a ponytail, looked to be around Gallant's age, and the other, a young boy dressed in sleek power armor with his mouth exposed under his helmet, looked around Vista's. The girl had a drum emblem on her chest, and the boy had a big letter Z. The girl snapped her fingers twice at the "Space Pirates," causing shockwaves to head toward them, while the boy dashed faster than Dauntless could see around a red one, causing him to shoot his companion.
"Why are the two of you here?" Dauntless asked, planting his shield between the girl and a burst of rifle fire. The plasma bounced off the forcefield of his shield, and as one charged, he slammed his Arclance into it, driving through the creature's exoskeleton-like armor. The physical force blew it back, and the electrical charge shocked it to the ground. No hole was left behind as he pulled back the Arclance, and then he extended it again, straight into the creature's weapon, forcing it to blow up.
"It's our home, mate," said the girl as she bowled another Pirate down with her power's shockwaves. "Looking for stragglers that didn't make it to the shelter. Zoomer ran 'em to safety. But he can't get 'em all."
Dauntless nodded. The kids were doing what they could, but ultimately, they could only do so much with just the two of them. "How many civilians are there?"
"Don't know," said the girl. "Mostly people who came in early for their studies, or some tourists in the museum. Some of them have been here longer than we have. We've been keeping the bastards out of the buildings though."
More plasma shots came, and Dauntless slammed his forcefield between them and it, with Zoomer stopping behind the girl in his run. He lashed out with his Arclance at a Pirate in blue armor, and it fell backward off the nearby building's wall. Another in red armor called out to his compatriots in whatever language they were speaking. Dauntless thought the portal had been closed already, but more kept popping up. Another Arclance extension took out another Pirate, but he knew that he wasn't doing more than just knocking them out. He didn't have enough charge in his Arclance to do more yet.
"How much time do you have?" Dauntless asked, as his armband gave a brief warning beep, calling the fifteen-minute mark. He wasn't sure how long the kids had been here, but it might have been longer than he had. Zoomer clearly moved faster than he did. Perhaps not quite as fast as Velocity, but certainly faster than what Dauntless was capable of.
In the back of Dauntless's head, the Simurgh's scream continued.
"Not too much longer," Zoomer said. "But I can get Timpani and me to a safe distance pretty quickly. We'll know when we have five minutes left."
The nearby Pirates let out a scream.
"Here they come again, mates," Timpani said, and she snapped her fingers, creating another shockwave. None of the three of them had particularly lethal powers, but Dauntless was able to defend from the blasters, and Zoomer could quickly get out to move people as needed.
Then four more pirates jumped down off the nearby university library, two red armored, a blue and a black armored one. One carried a canister, and when Timpani struck the Pirate, the canister came loose.
The canister popped up into the air before sharply being slammed down into the ground between the Pirates and the three of them hard enough that it kicked up some dust. The dust turned blue and what looked like static electricity passed between parts of the dust cloud.
The hairs on Dauntless's arms stood up under his armor, and he felt like he could add another charge to something. So, he chose his Arclance. As he did so, the white lightning spear turned a brilliant blue, and he changed his grip on it.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Zoomer asked. "Fuck!"
"Language," Timpani said, and she slapped both of her hands together, creating a shockwave, blowing the dust away and toward the Space Pirates. "It's a fight, but you're only twelve…"
"Fuck off!" Zoomer said, and his suit hadn't been blue before, Dauntless was sure of it.
Three of the Pirates hit by the dust cloud let out screeches of what had to be pain. They reached toward the crater where the canister had landed before collapsing to the ground.
Dauntless frowned as other Pirates started collapsing too.
"Sir… uh… what was your name?" Timpani asked.
"Dauntless," he replied, and he turned to look at her. Her lips had turned a blue and the veins on her face could clearly be seen through her skin.
"Dauntless… I don't feel so good…" Timpani fell forward.
"Timpani down, B-8." Dragon's voice came over the armband. Seconds later, Zoomer collapsed as well. "Zoomer down, B-8. Timpani deceased, B-8. Zoomer deceased, B-8."
No. Fuck. No, that wasn't… it wasn't right. Why did they have to die? They were just kids!
Dauntless took to the air with his blue Arclance, and he charged the nearest group of Space Pirates. He landed in the middle of them with an explosion of energy. Whatever the Pirates had grabbed had killed those kids, but it hadn't killed him. Or perhaps it hadn't killed him yet. Either way, he needed to make the most of what time he had, and he'd deal with these Pirates. His Arclance powered through the head of one Pirate, and he drove another into the ground with his shield.
Hunter appeared behind him, shooting the pirates he wasn't handling in melee. She fired missiles, charged up whatever her arm cannon was, and she used the same grapple she'd used on Cricket. She threw Pirates at Dauntless, who met them with his Arclance. Together, they decimated the Pirates in the area, and then they repeated.
Then Hunter tapped Dauntless on the shoulder, and in a flash, they were fifteen feet away, just as a large statue came crashing down on their former location. Hunter pointed upward toward the Simurgh.
"My Arclance won't do anything to her," Dauntless said. Despite what he wanted, he couldn't do anything directly to her. He knew he didn't have much time.
"Trust me," Hunter said softly, and she held out her free hand, placing it over Dauntless's hand that held the Arclance. A bluish aura passed along her arm and into her suit. Hunter's visor that had previously been glowing green started to turn blue itself, and the cannon on her right arm transformed into something far more pointed and blue instead of black. She aimed it up at the Simurgh.
Dauntless pressed the override button on his armband. "Blasters, get ready to shoot everything you've got at the Simurgh! On my count. Three! Two! One!"
As Dauntless watched the light show, he thought of how much his son would enjoy it, seeing the Endbringer get lit up. Somehow, as the sound of her scream faded, he knew…
They'd won. He'd get to go home and see his son.
Maybe a little bit more of that energy would help him be even more effective.
Maybe.
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Isiri Pudireach
Predictive text can go duck itself
For the most part a solid chapter but I'm not really a fan of your throwing everything and the kitchen sink plan for this. Its just making a mess when you already had everything needed for a good story. This feels like jumping the shark for no reason other than fandom points. Does the story you want to write really need phazon or the X to be any good? I would like to believe the answer is a resounding no, but I am not you, that is an answer only you can give.
And that's not even going into the question of why they were on GF Earth in the first place. The Federation, for all their stupidity, had consistently shown that they were smart enough to keep such things isolated to space stations well away from civilian planets when they could.
And that's not even going into the question of why they were on GF Earth in the first place. The Federation, for all their stupidity, had consistently shown that they were smart enough to keep such things isolated to space stations well away from civilian planets when they could.
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
So, I genuinely do have a plan. And it involves everything I have used. And the base was not on Earth. Portals don't necessarily have to directly connect to an alternate Earth.
Edit: Also, the X Parasite was red for a reason.
I just didn't have it be in a fish.
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Mikowmer
The Dragon Down Under
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
Um, no, Dauntless, I don't think you have won. I think you've just merely become a pawn in a Simurgh Plot...
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
Phazon will not solve your problems, Shawn. It has never solved any problem, ever. At least, not any problems that it didn't cause first.
Ganurath
Literal Enthusiast
- Location
- A Valid Location
- Pronouns
- He/Him
CITATION!
This is Saint's perspective on Dragon's feeds. FURTHER CITATION!Interlude 26 Fucking Saint said:
For those not fond of Google Maps, this is an area of 3-4 square miles cut out of a city that's substantially larger than 3-4 square miles. Order of magnitude larger, easily.Migration 17.6 said:
While it's entirely plausible that the part of Canberra that the Simurgh actually impacted got domed, I suspect that Saint was too preoccupied with trying to find a way to thwart the apocalypse to pay much attention to the minutae of Simurgh containment.
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
So is this supporting my claim here? Or disputing it? Because in a way it seems more like the former. Though I really do wish I'd checked those streets before I started writing this fight because uh... the fight here is on the other side of the lake from there.
Ganurath
Literal Enthusiast
- Location
- A Valid Location
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm supporting what you said, that Canberra got domed. I'm disputing how what you said will likely be interpreted, that the entirety of Canberra got domed.
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Yeah. It's not feasible to dome an entire city. Now doming an area affected by either X or Phazon, otoh? Keeping that sort of thing contained...
- Location
- Painting, Peach's Castle
Ah fucknuggets.
Fucking fucker fucknuggets.
Ridley, X, AND Phazon!? Cheese and RICE, doesn't Earth Bet have ENOUGH shit going down?! You just added three massive threats at the same time! Any of these could destroy a city in DAYS!
Phazon could fuck the entire planet, what in the name of Quiet Robe's feathery ballsack was on that research station?! Was the owner swimming in a pool filled with SPACE CRACK every morning?! Was there a belt line of Kraid clones ready to jump through the portal?! Maybe they were about to throw Mother Brains Bodies through like UPS!
Samus is going to smack the fucking idiots on Space CNN once she gets back.
Although that Red X is interesting...maybe...SOMETHING positive happened here? Hopefully? Fuck's sake, I just hope it isn't some sort of Ultra Combiner Robot of Ridley, Mother Brain, and Six E.M.M.I.s at this point.
Fucking fucker fucknuggets.
Ridley, X, AND Phazon!? Cheese and RICE, doesn't Earth Bet have ENOUGH shit going down?! You just added three massive threats at the same time! Any of these could destroy a city in DAYS!
Phazon could fuck the entire planet, what in the name of Quiet Robe's feathery ballsack was on that research station?! Was the owner swimming in a pool filled with SPACE CRACK every morning?! Was there a belt line of Kraid clones ready to jump through the portal?! Maybe they were about to throw Mother Brains Bodies through like UPS!
Samus is going to smack the fucking idiots on Space CNN once she gets back.
Although that Red X is interesting...maybe...SOMETHING positive happened here? Hopefully? Fuck's sake, I just hope it isn't some sort of Ultra Combiner Robot of Ridley, Mother Brain, and Six E.M.M.I.s at this point.
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JadeKaiser
Uninspired Custom Title
- Location
- Under Your Bed
Well, the way it's written does seem to imply that by using phazon enhanced weapons they might have actually killed Simmy, so that would be a positive thing. Or it might just be that they drove her off before she screwed too many people's heads up, or she used it to fake her death, or something.
I'm not sure what the X parasite being red would imply, though. Aside from the one that infected Quiet Robe and voluntarily gave itself to allow Samus to regain control of her metroid abilities, I don't know anything that makes red X special in a way that would mean something good here. They're the stronger ones that make the most enhanced versions of the things they infect, and they give more energy and ammo to Samus when she slupees them, but that's about it to my knowledge.
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Mandabar
Waifu of choice is Rem. Give that girl some hugs!
- Location
- Florida, USA [Yes. Florida *FacePalm*]
Ah sweet summer children.
Coughs in red
Edit: Huh.
Red herring - Wikipedia
Red Herring - TV Tropes
A clue that leads in the wrong direction. A red herring is a good red herring when it interweaves itself into the story's events. For example, the murder victim may have been a philanderer. His wife has no alibi. Aha! It was the wife! The wife's …
tvtropes.org
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Mikowmer
The Dragon Down Under
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
She achieved her objective: get Dauntless interested in the Phazon. It was over the moment he joined the fight.