| Tarbos The years following the First Galactic War saw an unprecedented expansion into previously unknown space. As the Confederacy grew, so did the length of the border with the Grugell Empire. Despite the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Empire, there were many cross-border incidents. It was during this period that several thorns began to make themselves felt in the Confederacy’s side. The establishment of several colonies on the generally ignored planets of Wilson, Last Chance, and Jinx, known as the Rim Worlds, provided a safe haven outside the Confederate border for escaped convicts, murderers, traitors, and renegades from both Confederacy and Empire. All three worlds, situated as they were on the outer edge of the Galactic arm, were notoriously poor in water, metals, and other resources. The inhabitants of those worlds resorted to raiding on small colonies and undefended freighters to support what industries they managed to create. Perhaps more surprising was the discovery of a unique retroviral disease that had given rise to an ancient, almost forgotten Earth legend, and the fact that carriers of the disease still lived and traveled throughout the Confederacy even in the modern era. One such carrier was later discovered to have been influencing human history and events to his own benefit for well in excess of a thousand Standard Years. —Morris/Handel, University Publications, 2804 CE Chapter One “I have learned not to think little of any one’s belief, no matter how strange it may be. I have tried to keep an open mind, and it is not the ordinary things of life that could close it, but the strange things, the extraordinary things, the things that make one doubt if they be mad or sane.” – Bram Stoker Wallachia, 1462 CE It was a bright day in early spring, with a hint of winter’s chill still in the air. The Carpathians brooded over the tiny village as they had for centuries, caps of white still glinting on their peaks this April day. The wind regularly brought whispers of war to the valley, but to a teenage boy, the talk of war was a distant matter, hardly of any concern at all. “Belos!” It was his mother, calling for him from the back door of their tiny hut, a rude, thatch-roofed, two-room affair down a side alley of the tiny village. “You must go to the well for water! Hurry, boy!” “I’m coming, Mother!” As he hurried towards the hovel he shared with his mother, he heard the drumming of hoof beats. Riders frequently came and went through their tiny village, but this sounded different. Many horses were pounding down the road. Belos ran to the hut, retrieved the bucket from his mother’s proffered hand. “Mother! There are riders coming into the village!” His mother shook her head. “And your father away, fighting in Vlad’s Crusade,” she spat and cursed. “Evil plagues the land these days, Belos!” She stepped out, listened. “They’re stopping in the village square. Well, come on, boy, let’s go see what they want of our poor town.” In the village square, a rider in mailed armor was just now unrolling a scroll, which he read in a booming voice: “The Lord Vladimir Tepes commands that all males aged fifteen summers and older are to join his army under the banner of the Dracul to war against the infidel Turks, against the army of the barbarian Suleiman Bulut. All of you as such, in this village, will join our march at once. You will gather here in one hour.” He rolled up the scroll and tipped up his helmet’s visor to reveal a hawk-like face, long moustaches dangling. “Well, what are all of you looking at?” he snapped. “Get moving!” Belos walked his crying mother back to their rude hut. “But, Mother,” he assured her, “Father is in Vlad’s army. I will find him and fight at his side, and when the Turks are beaten, we will come home together!” “I will pray for it to be so, my son,” his mother sobbed. But it was not to be. At the edge of Grugell Space, 2356 CE “There he is! There he is! Target main batteries and fire!” An uncharacteristically agitated Group Commander Tottalastrik VI shouted orders at the flagship crew, who hurried to comply. While the helm officer drove their battle cruiser at the tiny alien ship, the weapons officer slaved the weapons systems of the three accompanying frigates to his own console and targeted the tiny, fleeing yacht. One long, clawed finger stabbed down on a stud, and nine bolts of green energy lanced out after the private ship. “Sir, he’s about to cross the frontier,” Subcommander Gorbagittid VII pointed at the view screen, where the flashing lights of the frontier marker buoys were now visible. “Fire again! Get him before he crosses the frontier!” the group commander screeched. “Get me a reading on his engine signature, and stand by homing torpedoes!” The first volley missed, but the second barrage lanced three beams of green flame through the tiny ship. The yacht was sent tumbling end over end, trailing sparks, spewing gases into space. It tumbled out of control, barely missing one of the flashing border buoys as it crossed the border into the Confederacy. “That’s a hit!” the weapons officer shouted. “Multiple hits! Enemy ship appears to be out of control, Group Commander! Ship is burning, sir, scans show engine failure, multiple fires on board.” “Good!” Tottalastrik ground out through gritted teeth. “Let the Confederacy deal with the remains of that monster. Whatever he is, he must have come from there.” He turned towards the helm console. “Take us back to station. Signal the Imperial Navy Command that the monster has been destroyed, and that his ship was blasted back into Confederate space.” The task group turned away. Behind them, a small but obscenely expensive private yacht wallowed out of control, trailing a comet’s tail of sparks and flame. To see more of Animal’s writing, visit his page at Crimson Dragon Publishing or Amazon. |
Sky of Diamonds: Blood Red – Part II
About The Author
Animal
Semi-notorious local political gadfly and general pain in the ass. I’m firmly convinced that the Earth and all its inhabitants were placed here for my personal amusement and entertainment, and I comport myself accordingly.
Vote Animal/STEVE SMITH 2028!
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I bought the books and read them already. Great story.
There you go believing that if something g is good it’s worth paying for. Are you some sort of objectivist?
So say we all. A fun ride.
Space vampire?
Obligatory.
Space Lord – Monster Magnet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCAIBmf_9kY
NSFW – explicit version
I would have been disappointed by any other link. Well done, Sean.
Upon review, I would also have accepted this.
🙂
Does Grugell sunlight immolate Earth vampires? Do lasers count as sunlight?
Thank you Nick.
Now I’ll have to put Last Patrol on and crank it.
That is the obligatory response for my generation. 🤨
Indeed and it wasn’t a Simpsons episode.
Are the homing torpedos made out of wood, or silver?
Can a stake of Grugell wood kill an Earth vampire?
or Redjac
I randomly got something in my feed about some American math bullshit called doubles facts and that cant be real what kinda of bull is that to teach children.
It’s as real as gender
You just have to believe hard enough.
No idea what that is supposed to be.
Thank god he wrote this before COVID.
OT, but it’s the Bee so it’s cool. Except maybe for our Iowans.
https://babylonbee.com/news/dante-confirms-first-circle-of-hell-is-iowa
Ill keep the OT here.
Not Adahn, yes, if only 51 Senators show up for a session, it is in session and can perform their duties. It never has as the Senate operates on the assumption of quorum unless a present member challenges it.
Then you get the whole send out pages and aides to get people in or Sergeant-at-Arms forces them in.
I believe only the House has ran into this issue.
So at the next DNC lawmakers retreat, they can just declare Congress in session and pass whatever laws they want since they’ll have a quorum of both houses?
No, it would have to be at the Capitol during normal sessions as established after their first meeting, in which Vance has to preside.
OBE, I wonder where the requirement that it be at the Capitol, VP presiding, etc. comes from. If that’s just Senate rules, then a majority can change them.*
*you hear that, you stupid Republican fucks – you could have changed the filibuster rule all by yourselves
Well. Not exactly wrong, but it fails to describe life in the Jan to Feb stretch of frozen levels of hell.
RC -from the dead thread – Alton Brown changed his eggnog recipe to basically remove the possibility of salmonella. He explained it on his you tube channel.
The first step keeps the alcohol percentage in range and duration that was academically studied to eliminate the bacteria. However, he basically gives a wink and nod that its not required in the same video.
I wondered if it was something like that from the footnote.
As always, thanks Animal for these.
I thought I had all of your books, but did not remember this.
I checked and don’t have it, so I bought it.
My wife is annoyed at me. I accidentally acquired a 4th vintage bike frame. Oops.
Hey, it was only 90 bucks.
The frame is missing both the french-threaded bottom bracket (easy to replace) and the french-threaded headset (impossible to replace). They paint is in terrible condition, but all the chrome looks pretty good. So, 90 bucks for an unfixable bike. I offered the minimum bid 10 minutes before it closed. No one wants this frame.
Except, when I was trying to figure out wtf the 3rd frame was, I discovered just how easy it is to buy a replacement fork in English threading. ebay has vintage Reynolds 531 forks available as well as more modern ChroMoly forks.
So, yeah. You loose the original fork. But a ChroMoly fork performs similarly (that’s what AI tells me), and you get a vintage Reynolds 531 Tour De France for cheap. Both the frame and fork can can get powered coated and will look awesome.
This bike will probably need to get sold next year. The stable can only hold so many horses.
I accidentally acquired a 4th vintage bike frame.
“It followed me home!”
😀
Thankfully, it sounds like you at least have enough space to (temporarily) house all 4…
Frames without components don’t take up much space.
Fully assembled bikes are a different matter.
This is actually a way to get rid of excess parts without having to sell them piecemeal on ebay.
I have the mid-tier wheels I bought and decided not to use. I have a freewheel and chain that I bought for these wheels but became excess when the wheels became excess.
I have the Suntour Vx deraillers and shifters from the the old bike. They are nice but have been upgraded.
and a few other things
Keep telling yourself this and the wife of course.
I’m practicing here.
“See, honey, for just $500 I can make this bike saleable and get rid of some of these extra parts! How much can I get for it? Oh, probably $400.”
RC is spilling all the secrets
He’ll be able to make it up on volume, R C
A man’s gotta have a hobby.
I’ll watch for signs to your Bike Barn when driving in Eastern Iowa.
The welcome mat is always out.
“what? no, i have always had this gun, it has just been in the back of the closet…”
I’m trying to corner the market on vintage, unmaintainable Gitane bikes.
My wife owns four vintage Singer Featherweight sewing machines. If you’re into quilting, you know the significance of. I bought her 3 of those 4 as Christmas gifts.
These are in addition to multiple quilting machines and sewing machines — some at home, so at her studio.
She glared at me and asked how many bikes I needed. I asked her how many Featherweights she needed.
We are at a truce at this moment. The next bike would most likely break the truce. 😉
I suppose I should start looking for another Featherweight for Christmas.
The stable can only hold so many horses.
At least you’re not stockpiling Citroen 2CVs.
Former Biden Ass AG Kanter was just on Power Lunch talking about anti-trust for NVIDIA. God help the economy if D’s win in 2028.
God help the economy if D’s win in 2028.
Revenge of the Trust Busters!
This and national parks is why I hate Teddy Roosevelt.
Let me tell you about Trump’s NP declarations…
P=NP?
“NP is P, no doubt about it. The best, classiest P you’ve ever seen”
Yeah.
Not as bad but that they exist is bad.
I was reading about how the Democrats are going to lower prices by breaking up monopolies in the food sector.
Also by restoring al the cuts to food stamps and other assistance programs.
Sounds like a winning formula!
/sarc
Oh no it’ll pay out in retirements and votes.
One of the finest uses of AI in the history of man:
https://x.com/greghunkins/status/2119641962026344853
Wanna guess which GPUs were used to make that?
Oh, I know. That just makes it all the better.
Nice.
LOL
Who is the gentleman being manhandled into the car?
Jensen Huang
It’s Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s face superimposed on this classic clip: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Manifest
(Jensen was cheating on his wife with a Chinese spy. Who was a succulent Chinese meal…)
thanks
I’ve seen the name in the press. But I have not been paying attention.
Ah! A meme I don’t know combined with a person I don’t know.
Now, get off my lawn.
Related:
mert
@mert – 9h
asked my russian gf (who is way out of my league) if she is secretly a spy after the jensen news
she laughed hysterically for a few, paused, and then said:
“you trade animal coins with retarded ppl on the internet”
somehow this is even worse than if she were a kgb agent
I like a lot of what Massie has done for the past couple of years and agree with him on a lot but he kind of went off the rails. He has the right to be peeved about getting outspent on his primary race but his comment about kissing the wall and now impeaching Hegseth is counterproductive and ruining his legacy.
Agreed, and it’s a shame. He should have focused what little political capital he has left on getting the Prime Act through before he’s gone. Ah, well.
I hate to say this, but it feels like once his first wife passed away, he just sort of went off the rails. I’m not saying he should have kissed Trump’s ass but shit man, have some sense be politically astute like Rand Paul.
And his bullshit antics also hurt libertarianism. I was talking with one of my good friends who is all about the DSA and I told her that while I’m not the biggest fan of the DSA and find many of their view’s deplorable, I’m lowkey impressed with how they slowly starting to somewhat influence the Democratic Party. I wished Libertarians did the same thing but Libertarians despite believing that they are logical has no sense nor discipline to play the long game and slowly infiltrate the Republican Party.
Agreed, the loss of his first wife seemed like a real turning point.
If anyone wanted to impeach Hegseth over hos grooming standards rules I would back that.