#fenixtj

The reports are in for Capitaz... and scary as hell. That trod was bonkers. NO protection, lots of energy. Dark things out to destroy it. And.. ."Kith we htought were dead and gone"

"Fuck. Sound like we lucky we got away with losin' Herkle an' th' ship. Speakin' of, I gotta contact that baroness, see if salvage possible."

"We salvaged what we could by hand but... maybe the struts"

She gives a low whistle. "Hell of a loss. But, like you said, coulda shoulda woulda been hella worse if we ain' had backup."

She leans back in her chair. "So...we got a clue how this trod got itself triggered open?"

"Yulestar created it ...we went to investigate ... we didn't expect a golden TROD mind you..."

"More like a golden road.."

"WHAT eves'

"Anyway when it opened, well we were in the dreaming but we tried to record what we could. Memories are hazy. SOme giant Cthulu somebitch telling folks to bow?"

"Well, that ain' okay." A frown. "Still...it over there, we over here. Can't make a Yulestar thing happen, looks like it ain' gonna do it 'gain for a fuck of a while." She rubs her chin. "We get any other info from scryin' that shard?"

"Centaurs confirmed" one of them says. The crew is healed now.. rested up. Save for the one who wakes to come to life again "Not just one seen at the fight, but signs on the trod. One other aspect... that golden road didn't protect those folks on it from being grabbed off or swatted... but.. we got reason to believe things tied to the fell BURNED when they touched it, or something like that"

"It was like.. elder dark kryptonite" Another nod

Her eyes get wide. "Any way we can bottle that partic'lar property?"

"Preserving magics are all that's keeping it fading from now. We might be able to recreate it in time, but... we need just about every mother's son brainstorming and crafting... if we can infuse the glamour into something more permananet.. maybe yeah"

"Aight, figger this -- if we c'n lock down some of that gold-trod juice, it may be one o' th' best things to come outta this fuckin' year. Specialized anti-thallain weapons? Hell yeah! This is big, boys 'n girls. You got enough brain matter left you c'n keep workin' on it?" She looks at the group with confidence and encouragement.

"Well we got that old fart boggan who is an expert in fuel and energy sources, we should bring him in to see if we can create an artificual suspension bath for it, buy us more time" one nods

She gives a narrow look. "You got somepin' 'gainst age 'n expertise?" she demands.

Donnelle, wh o is not a technically does have a suggestion "Is it possible others might have full details on where else it opened? I doubt there are other shards as big as this one... but residue ... should I have some of the non technically inclined investigate with devices to ken it?"

"Err... furk no" GULP

regarding age

A nod at the contrite one. "Get 'im on it, double-time."

Then to Donnelle, "Now that we gots our peeps an' th' shard secured, I be good with gettin' th' call out fer more info, yeah. Make it happen."

Donelle salutes and gets to work. Spock will see to it things are calibrated to that energy length

She looks at whoever is still in the room. "Anythin' else?"

and suddenly... Tweak is alone again, in that rare space between management and results

And someone hands her her favorite pregnancy safe drink. Nec looks at her "Hey, bitchqueen. How you doing?"

She leans back an' takes the drink, giving him an affectionate smirk. "I be in charge of a team what found a fuckin' miracle. How you doin'?"

he sighs "Taking out da hos like a pro" A frown "Covid did a drive by on another one of my bitches"

Her smirk goes away. "Fuck. How bad?"

"I dragged her out and had her shot to protet the others.." he says "Stupid ho. Gonna be off her ass when she should be on her back.. and three of her friends getting their nose fucked with cotton"

"Ain' 'xactly th' most socially-distanced profession, yo," she points out. "She kith, kin, or Karen?"

"Such a karen" he says "most of em are karens... or as they call them in Mexico, Karenlita"

"Ha!" Tweak gives a bark of laughter, then "Ooh!" An uncomfortable shifting.

And his hand is over her belly gently, "Kid using a machite in there?"

"Practicin' drop kicks," she grunts, then sighs. "We do this again, YOU carryin' th' next one."

"Shit baby, can I help it if my wrigglers don't just swim, they latch and crawl?" A BIT proud

"You keep braggin', I gon' go into th' birth control bizniz."

She nods where the others were standing before. "You catch much of that?"

"Like I ever butt into your business?" He snorts, then says "Fell fucker tech though? Nice."

"Yup. If'n we c'n get th' shit locked down...that be th' trick."

"you realize you find a way to create anti fomorian nukes... you gonna be a damn hero with Dem Besses of whatever"

"Fuck yeah." She frowns a bit at the problem, though. "I pretty sure we got a chance at stabilizin' some stuff to make one-time-use boomers. But they gonna run out. Bigger trick is figgerin' a way to replicate th' shit, be able to make it on demand. We c'n do that...shit...fuckin' game changer."

"You know what else be a game changer? You feed the kid.." He moves her to have a lunch. She hasn't eatten, he's sure, in hours

(TBC)

....

ANd Jessica gets back... feeling tired.

She sees to the settling of her people, and checks up on those who were in the second wave and those who came back first.

Nancy says "Everyone is doing pretty well given what happened. Food in bellies, Fonaine's been healing like crazy"

"Good. Good! Anything I need to know about, or work on?"

"Some nockers went STRAIGHT through, didnt' stop for healing, carrying some kind of chest. They came back later for healing though and got tended, before going back yet again. Something at Skyhook is going on"