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Lux Animus posted:In reaction, I'm changing my vote to a synthesis of: Nobody likes my hostage idea so I'll change vote to these
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Sep 9, 2021 01:06
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sorry
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| # ? May 19, 2024 00:46 |
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The imagery of communist worm-riders is too good to pass up, I'm changing my vote.
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Sep 9, 2021 05:29
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Lux Animus posted:In reaction, I'm changing my vote to a synthesis of: this is very fair, i find this an acceptable compromise.
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Sep 9, 2021 05:59
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FROST-04: “VICIOUS is down - he took point on breaching the entrance and they were waiting for him, bastards.” ABSOLUTE-02: “Who was waiting? poo poo, if only I’d gotten here fast-” FROST-04: “Can the self-recriminations, he’s still alive. Get here quick - it’s the Reds.” I groaned and thumbed the acceleration toggle, though I was already blazing at top atmo velocity. The Resurrected Red Army, a paramilitary group clinging to ancient Terran doctrine promoting common ownership and the abolition of social classes and hierarchies. Anarchy, in other words - and unsurprisingly they found fast friends in the Six Moon Strike. I’d heard rumours of their involvement, but for all of their vaunted ideology their services usually didn’t come cheap. SMS must have something they wanted, or maybe they just wanted their own slice of the field free of “Pyramid’s Light”. Either way, it was bad news - they were well equipped, much better so than Six Moon’s scraps. ABSOLUTE-02: “What sort of numbers are we talking here, FROST?” FROST-04: “Count of twenty in skirmish MOWs; not as beefy as ours, but these guys are pros, and there’s only seven of us. And that’s not all - you need to see this.” She sent me some encryption-blurred footage that nearly stopped me cold. A massive, sinuous creature, half floating, half dragging itself across the stony terrain. I tried to zoom in but between the distance of the footage and the comm interference - and my utter disbelief - I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Was that a- FROST-04: “I’m not going to say that’s a Star Wyrm, but...” ABSOLUTE-02: “That is definitely a Star Wyrm. I thought they were just, like, a myth! How and why is there one prowling around our target?” FROST-04: “You’re not going to like this one bit. Peep this.” She flitted over a high-res snap taken through her scope of a red hammer embossed onto plate armour that had been riveted into place around what passed for the thing’s neck. This was too much; a tame (or at least controlled) Star Wyrm, working for the RRA, working for the Six Moon Strike. And aaalll of them here, now. I thought quickly. ABSOLUTE-02: “I’m almost there, keeping low to the ground. You say VICIOUS is still alive?” FROST-04: “They overwhelmed him after breaching and tore his MOW limb from limb. Still reading vitals in the central pod, but he’s a sitting duck out there… they’re just kicking the poor bastard around....” ABSOLUTE-02: “They’re toying with us, trying to get us to do something rash. If they wanted him dead, they wouldn’t be messing around with all this...” You wouldn’t send a force like this in just to take down a few Aces, even though we were pretty badass. Overwhelming odds like this, skirmish MOWs, a damned Star Wyrm with gun emplacements? They wanted us, but they wanted to bring us in alive, or close enough to it. I didn’t mean to figure out why that was. ABSOLUTE-02: “SQUIRREL and DOG are incoming; what’s the status on the others?” FROST-04: “I’m way out on the outskirts sitting on my drat hands; KESTREL ordered me to stay put as soon as things went south - but I think they’ve spotted me. CLOWNSHOE-07 went to ground immediately and took cover to reduce his profile and just started going wild with his HANCES - even the Reds aren’t crazy enough to try to dig him out with his Heavies going. The Wyrm is coming around to deal with him by the looks of it. As for KESTREL… she’s going in for a rescue.” I swore, even as I pulled up to the battlefield. Chaos. DO THREE THINGS posted:
Somewhere in my guts, I felt the embers of neon light pulsing through the coals. DO A THING posted:
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Sep 9, 2021 18:00
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123 1
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Sep 9, 2021 18:07
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956 3 
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Sep 9, 2021 18:14
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3, 5, 7 PLUS ULTRA (3)
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Sep 9, 2021 18:25
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10 10 10 3
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Sep 9, 2021 18:44
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317 1
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Sep 9, 2021 19:26
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9, 3, 5 - Pull attention from the troops and into sniper range for FROST-04, creating enough distraction for KESTREL-01 to complete her rescue. Get in there and help with her withdrawal as you go to tackle the Wyrm (hopefully with backup from CLOWNSHOE-07, et. al.) 3 - open the seal.
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Sep 9, 2021 19:29
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1,2,3 3 It's big hero time
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Sep 9, 2021 19:33
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956 2
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Sep 9, 2021 19:57
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999 3 THE NEON BECKONS, SISTERS AND BROTHERS, LET US SUCCUMB TO ITS MAJESTY
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Sep 9, 2021 21:45
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123 3 Get everyone and 
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Sep 9, 2021 21:46
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8 (Radio DOG and SQUIRREL; ideally ask them to hook up with FROST first, then head towards CLOWNSHOE) 7 (Get/Destroy the Macguffin, complete the mission, then we can all cheese it) 3 (Rescue/Assist KESTREL like the Big drat Hero we might be) 1 (Time to ride the lightning.)
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Sep 9, 2021 23:31
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Here are approximate chances for possible rolls if we go beyond, based on 10,000 tries: 1: 25.2% 3: 30.3% 5: 21.2% 7: 11.1% 9: 6.3% 11: 3% 13: 1.4% 15: 0.7% 17: 0.4% 19: 0.2% 21: 0.1% 23: 0.1% The average is 4.3. And for option 3 the odds are 50% for 1, 25% for 3, etc, so the average result is 3. And of course for option 2 it's 50/50 and the average is 1.5. But I have no idea what the result numbers would mean in terms of actual outcomes given the situation. AJ_Impy posted:10 10 10
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Sep 10, 2021 01:19
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Careful 3 voters, this is a classic "protagonists team gets slaughtered while they try and save them" moment to set us up for going berserk or getting a tech upgrade.
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Sep 10, 2021 01:56
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chin up everything sucks posted:Careful 3 voters, this is a classic "protagonists team gets slaughtered while they try and save them" moment to set us up for going berserk or getting a tech upgrade. Sounds like a good story!
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Sep 10, 2021 15:58
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HBar posted:What's your Something Else? Three entirely different something elses, whose defining characteristic is not being any of the prior options. Let the neon catch ablaze in a way entirely inappropriate for a noble gas.
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Sep 10, 2021 18:19
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AJ_Impy posted:Three entirely different something elses, whose defining characteristic is not being any of the prior options. Let the neon catch ablaze in a way entirely inappropriate for a noble gas. WE ARE ONE WITH THE NEON, THE NEON IS WITH ME
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Sep 10, 2021 18:34
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Okay. Okay, okay. Things were a little… fraught at the moment, but they could be salvaged. No one was dead, yet. The RRA. The Star Wyrm, damnit. The pieces of this scene floated through my mind like shards of broken glass, and I struggled to assemble them into something whole. FROST-04: “Yeah, they’re on to m- poo poo! Too close. Returning fire! Stay clear, stay clear! Pull back, no need for all of us to go d- damnit. See how you like thi-” I muted her. I could see her down there on some outcropping, flitting out death with her LANCES. The Red MOWs were quick, but she was a drat good shot. One of our best… and she was dead unless I could figure something else. The glass kept spinning. I fell towards her. The sharp white hot edges of the shards shaded to pink and blue, bright, actinic. My breath came hot and sharp in my chest, and I fumbled for my pills. I couldn’t save them all. I couldn’t… Operations: 2d2o2k1 9 ...couldn’t LET HER HAVE ALL THE FUN! I was wired now, flying red hot and burning, the shards of glass melting down into sparkling motes of glory. I shifted into battle configuration in a flourish of acrobatics, throwing off ablated scales of heat shielding in a halo of mist. I thumbed off my encryption and called out to the assembled forces, friend and foe. ABSOLUTE-02: “Warriors of the Six Moon Strike, honoured guests of the Ressurected Red Army, it is a delight and a joy to bear witness to this surprise party you have thrown for us!” FROST-04: “-at are you doing Figh-ABSOLU” SMS-02: “-knew it would be h-” SQUIRREL-06: “Uh, I don’t kno-” DOG-03: “YEEEEEAA-” RRA-01: “-um of the White Star capita-” KESTREL-01: “-n’t do it, this is an or-” DOG-03: “AAAAAHHH-” ABSOLUTE-02: “Let’s see if you can keep up!” There! Simple. I had made it so complicated, when it was so simple! Now, they were all looking at me. Which means they weren’t paying attention to the others! Kestral would be cross with me after this - but drat it, I got results, and she would take advantage of the distraction. Now, for FROST. I tightbeamed her. ABSOLUTE-02: “Stay FROSTY down there - I’m coming to heat things up!” FROST-04: “What are you doing? Stay back, I’m compromised!” ABSOLUTE-02: “I'm not leaving anyone behind!” I made a dead dive towards her position, sighting the trio of Reds approaching her. I shifted into Beta configuration, rapidly gaining speed, the atmosphere screaming off me in glittering contrails. She was saying something in response, but I kept my eyes on the prize. Operations: 2d2o2k1 3 I blew through their midst, passing dangerously, recklessly close to them at blistering speeds so that they broke before me. The Reds might have been well trained, they might have been well equipped, but they’d never seen anything like me in my glory. Before they could even counterattack, I snapped into Alpha configuration, my MOW’s limbs coming to bear, bristling with White Stars’ finest tech. I drove a PIKE into one of them at speed, hopelessly impaling them while I used my LANCES fields to hold the others in place. As expected, shots soared out of the horizon like paleo-birds to shred their MOWs to bits. I disengaged my PIKE, kicking my ruined opponent to spiral to the surface of the planetoid, and gave a salute to the distant FROST-04. FROST-04: “ABSOLUTE, you crazy son of a bitch, I owe you one. Let’s get the hell out of here!” ABSOLUTE-02: “Not yet, stalwart ally! I have a dragon to slay!” FROST-04: “I don’t think… you know what, whatever. I’ve got your back, you lunatic.” Bouncing in my cockpit, heat and neon running through my veins, I tried to focus enough to take in the scene. DOG and SQUIRREL were inbound and close, FROST was clear, KESTREL had taken control of VICIOUS’ downed pod (attagirl!), and CLOWNSHOE was just going nuts with his cannons… and judging by my sensors just about everyone else was inbound on me. That was fine. That was better than fine, it was great! I shot into the air, firing off flares that spread out around me like wings of light. The Star Wyrm’s great leonine head swung up towards me, breaking off from its approach on CLOWNSHOE, and several of the RRA MOWs took up positions on its back. From here, I could see that the creature had been heavily augmented, armoured and armed for combat. This was also fine - the bigger they are, the harder THEY FELL! Operations: 2d2o2k1 3 I opened up with my LANCES, scoring several direct hits on its… eyes? It bellowed in pain or rage, and from its multi-jawed mouth flew a cloud of seeking missiles! I kept rising, evading their targeting, and sniping them out of the air where I could. Down below, FROST did the same, easing my load. I had a string of priority messages from KESTREL, but I ignored them for now. I could do this. I could take this vile beast down and rout their forces in one blow! I would be a hero, drat what my mother said! I would be the hero that White Star deserved! EXCITABLE, MUCH? posted:When your Protagonism flares up, you tend to get bombastic and confident. Over-confident? Is your condition making you more excitable and rash, or is it just allowing you to express how you actually feel? As I kept climbing, the battle below fell away. The others would all be together now, facing off against an unbalanced, distracted foe whose heaviest hitter was now several kilometers above them. Heavy fire pinged off my chassis, but it wouldn’t be enough to take me down. I took a deep breath, feeling the bright fire burning in my heart pulsing in my fingertips… then stooped for a final strike. I drove down towards it, firing shots into its maw and its armored belly. Most skittered off, but some (enough, I hoped) sank in. It turned in the air to chase me, but I reached out with my LANCES field, right arm burning, and pulled Operations: 2d2o2k1 7 Light Accelerating Neodynium Controlled Energy Systems were designed, first and foremost, to fire projectiles with pulsed magnetic fields. But that wasn’t all they could do. Anything in range that could have a charge run through it could be seized and manipulated, revectored and accelerated. Proprietary White Star tech, part of why we were so fearsome. The Claddenfield Device was designed to be the next iteration of this, an expansion on its themes… but I didn't have one. I didn't have the range or power that would give me - but I could fake it. Getting this close, almost close enough to stroke the great thing’s belly, would obviate the range component. And besides my overloaded LANCE, the power would come from its sheer inertia. I reached out, and pulled. The shots I fired into its gut, the rivets in its armour, the trace metals in its body. All of them, in an instant, stopped in their tracks. It kept moving in the same direction. There was an insane cacophony of sound - its maddened roar of mortal pain, metal tearing, the desperate shots of the Red fighters clinging to its back, the multiple stress fractures in Shirley's right arm and LANCES unit, my bloodlusty cry if triumph - and then it was falling towards the planetoid’s surface. I felt wrung out, but elated. I'd done it. Just as I knew I would, haha! KESTREL-01: “ABSOLUTE, do you copy, Pyramid drat you!?!” ABSOLUTE-02: “Yes ma'am.” KESTREL-01: “Where are you? I've been hailing you - I just heard your frankly court-martial worthy declaration and then saw you fly away-” ABSOLUTE-02: “Star Wyrm down, flight leader.” KESTREL-01: “-and then I get a critical damage alert from your unit and- wait, what? Say again?” ABSOLUTE-02: “Star Wyrm down, flight leader.” KESTREL-01: “...” KESTREL-01: “Just get down here so we can reassess the situation.” DO A THING posted:
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Sep 18, 2021 11:37
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5 that's enough neon for now. Time to get back to kestrels plan
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Sep 18, 2021 11:48
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Slaan posted:5 that's enough neon for now. Time to get back to kestrels plan Exactly this. If we can actually prove our control over it, that makes this salvageable.
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Sep 18, 2021 14:51
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5 Exactly this. We can demonstrate controlled neon outbursts as a viable military asset and then rein them in afterwards. We do what is necessary to salvage the situation and get everyone out of the trap, and resume normal protocol right after.
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Sep 18, 2021 16:08
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5quote:When your Protagonism flares up, you tend to get bombastic and confident. Over-confident? Is your condition making you more excitable and rash, or is it just allowing you to express how you actually feel?
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Sep 18, 2021 16:25
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5 of course
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Sep 18, 2021 17:13
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5 Agreed!
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Sep 18, 2021 17:26
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5
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Sep 18, 2021 17:50
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Sep 18, 2021 20:50
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4 Confirming the kill seems especially important when the kill is a space dragon. Otherkinsey Scale fucked around with this message at 02:16 on Sep 24, 2021 |
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Sep 18, 2021 22:51
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5
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Sep 19, 2021 04:33
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Otherkinsey Scale posted:4 
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Sep 23, 2021 14:31
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Otherkinsey Scale posted:4 This
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Sep 30, 2021 04:00
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A smug one-liner burned behind my lips, bubbling like neon lava and aching to burst free… but I clamped it back, snagging that blazing fire in my belly like a paleo-horse in a lasso and holding it back. Only then did I speak: ABSOLUTE-02: “Acknowledged. On my way.” KESTREL-01: “... Alright. SPEARPOINT, we’re extracting. Star Wyrm is confirmed downed, coming down on the facility. DOG, use up the rest of your compound explosives. CLOWNSHOE, FROST, suppressing fire on the Reds as they try to get clear of the Wyrm. SQUIRREL, you’re on VICIOUS duty - he’s in no state to travel on his own. ABSOLUTE, you back her up and help carry - set up a tandem-carry configuration. I’ll take the rear and cover our retreat. Any objections?” I had many. Evac, now? When we were so close to their base? Leaving now would give the Sixers a chance to work on the prototype. From your stolen data, I knew that sooner or later they would figure out the kinks in the Bellon Ampumetr and deploy it. Unless I BROKE IN THERE IN A DARING RAID AND SEIZED THEIR EQUIPMENT AND got killed because Shirley’s reactor was blaring warnings at me and Shirley was down an arm. One LANCE system remaining, and that at 58% capacity. ABSOLUTE-02: “None from me. SQUIRREL, Tandem-Config on my mark.” Spreapoint Unit fled from the facility at top speed in an awkward convoy, sticking low to the ground to limit our cross section. The Sixers seemed fine to let us go (or else they were desperately trying to put out the Star Wyrm corpse-fires that ravaged their ‘brilliant ambush’, haha), but the Resurrected Red Army aces’ pride had been hurt, and they hounded us desperately. Hampered by our wounds and our disable comrade, we fired back. Operations: 1d2 1 My LANCES capacity dropped further as we went, and in the end I wasn’t much help. SQUIRREL managed to wrest control for a crucial moment before then got it back, and it was long enough for us to make up some distance. As we began to outrange them, FROST’s long distance weapons made further approach difficult, if not outright suicidal… and then, just like that, we were in the clear. We risked a brief moment to prepare ourself for gravity traversal, then broke up and out through the Gravbank and towards the Limpets. They didn’t follow, so we traversed as quickly as we dared until we met up with our recovery vessel, care of DOG and SQUIRREL’s earlier efforts. I felt grey, totally drained of colour. As the decontam crew stripped our MOWs off and peeled away our flight suits, I just went along limply, going through the motions by muscle memory. Kestrel hadn’t said anything else that wasn’t mission related, but we’d locked eyes as we were being unrigged. There was something in there that made me curious, something bordering on concern, but frankly I was far too tired to pursue it. Time for the debrief. ---[ONE EXHAUSTING THIRTY METER WALK TO THE DEBRIEFING CHAMBER LATER]--- The others were already here in synthwool jumpsuits, relaxing according to their various idioms in the spacious room. The chamber had been made to house much larger flights of fighters, pilots, and staff, but us aces had the whole thing to ourselves right now. It was strange to see them all out of uniform - several of them I’d never properly met. Well, I had a second now to do that, if I wanted. DO TWO THINGS (AND ANSWER ALL QUOTED THINGS) posted:
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Oct 4, 2021 22:08
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1, 9
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Oct 4, 2021 22:13
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HBar fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Oct 6, 2021 |
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Oct 4, 2021 22:25
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8, 9 Squirrel's name is Capella Biara, though she goes by Capy to her friends. She gets along with just about anyone around her and enjoys hot baths when she gets a chance for R&R. Not very aggressive though, hence her cautious typing in battle.
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Oct 4, 2021 23:07
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quote:DO TWO THINGS (AND ANSWER ALL QUOTED THINGS) posted: 4 - Squirrel Kryptina Rawtooth - Small, timid, and feisty genetic experiment designed to better coordinate with her LANCES. 7 - Clownshoe Sergei Clogovich - Grandson of a powerful revolutionary whose political movement was absorbed into the greater Terran diaspora
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Oct 4, 2021 23:31
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1, 9
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Oct 5, 2021 00:58
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| # ? May 19, 2024 00:46 |
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9, 8 in that order. Priority first, then family.
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Oct 5, 2021 03:17
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