Gidget Tvorca

Jaxion grew in ways I hadn't imagined. He's starting to realize that he needs to meet people half way. He apologized to the Xhoya and Lux. He's going to up everyone's kick ass. I'm pretty happy!   Of course, the down time lasted five minutes. For some reason this place is acting like our new command center. We're seeing ash sites, the wreckage created by the Gazelle. We were just talking about investigating the vessel he destroyed after we learned that the long dead but somehow alive BRN general was being manipulated by the Deremetru. (Apparently Jaxion is dropping bombs of all sorts!)   Then all of a sudden a threat is projected for Lux. At first it is just words, but somehow it becomes a holo-projection that can interact with us. It takes on the shape of Lux's body and tries to strangle her. It calls her a fraud. (Somehow they are tapping into the very systems that can heal his robot and using them against Lux! They who? Fuck if I know? It doesn't seem like the Deremetru would be after a pop star at a time like this. Unless they know she's trying to use her influence to change the world? That seems unlikely (at least for now).   Plot twist, who ever we've been traveling with isn't even Lux! Apparently, there was an incident of jealousy between Lux and Adrian, a competitor that wanted to be exactly like Lux Silvers. (Are identity crises worse for changelings?) A fire started on the competition show and Adrian was burned, then locked away for criminal insanity. Only Echo realized that a burned changeling can't change. Then she slipped when we were trying to relieve her guilt. I was trying to say that she isn't guilty she's sympathetic. Those shows put way too much pressure on young people, is it any wonder some of them crack? I was trying to say you never should have been put through that. (I think it is unethical. Making young people feel like they have to sing and dance or they aren't likable at an age when you aren't sure if there is anything to like about yourself. By the gods I swear show business has pure evil in it!) Ki' pointed out that it should be sympathy not guilt. "I've been Lux for seven years," she accidentally blurted and then she ran away. This is turning into a fucking TV drama.   Echo looked to see if the real Lux escaped from the asylum (or prison?) Is she a Psion? Is that how she is able to give her doppelganger nightmares? I was determined to figure out how she or they (who knows if Lux is working alone?) was able to interact with the hanger. Someone snuck something else onto Serge. This time it's on his bike. Tracking devices, a self destruct mechanism that was designed to blow him up balls first (heartless sons of bitches!). More devastating than this potential threat were the secret files. Including a Ghost Protocol. (Now we're in a spy/ action flick).   Jaxion is a fucking super soldier. He's 180 years old, has died and been rebuilt multiple times. His body has been replaced piece by piece, only 30% originally parts remaining. Ironic that his classic bike has more original parts. Gods my sense of humor is getting dark. I guess it's how I deal. (How the fuck did Zero have access to all this shit?)   I'm scared for Jaxion. That he has programing in his mind he doesn't know about. I'm worried there might be a piece of Echo he doesn't know about. (though he says his creator decided to give him free will I wonder if anyone else had a say?) I'm glad that we all want to comfort each other. Though, that feels kinda small right now. I'll do my best to make this bike as good as new with Echo. I'll be here if anyone wants to talk. I think Lux/ Adrian needs some space. My mind is reeling as I think about all the emotional fall out to come. A soldier with nothing to fight for, no one to come home to. If I pity him, he'll probably want to slap me more than anything and can I blame him?   Lux is a woman who so desperately wanted to be loved she was willing to be someone else. She's probably better off being comforted by a young woman who I'm barely on good terms with, yet care for more than she knows. She is so smart it baffles me and terribly kind. I wish Jaxion could hear the truth she so wisely speaks to deaf ears. I probably sound harsh and foolish trying to explain why we dumb adults cling to what we know, even when it is maladaptive as hell. Just like Lux clung to this false self. Will they both unravel? Do any of us have a strong enough bond to help them as they piece things back together?   Is that why a god appeared? Is that why we found out Zero is far more than we imagined? Kii always seems to imply that they are there for you in times of need. It has never happened before. Though maybe, just maybe, someone guided Pops to find me that day in the car wreck. A old crusty fart taking pity on a newly orphaned baby. He sure as shit didn't have to. I know that was a blessing, I'm just not sure why I was worth one.   Sometimes my brain feels like a seven layer cake of ,"what the fuck just happened?" It is glued together with, "I guess I will just have to do my best while trying not to freak out, doubting my own abilities and sanity frosting." In short every second feels like I am flying by the seat of my pants. I don't say or do things right half the time. (In fact I'm constantly trying not to win the foot in mouth asshole of the day award while pleading with people to get along, while failing to do so with half the people I hope to get along with.) Quite frankly I think I would rather be trying to piece the exploded far too aptly named Star Fall than dealing with the absolute cluster fuck that is about to befall us.   In the middle of all this a god asked me a question. My dumb brain wondered what a god can do and wanted to see a real fire dragon or something awesome. (I am a child at heart!) That seemed useless, selfish and blasphemous, even as more fantastic wonderings flit through my brain. Why am I so selfish? Why was the first thing in my mind that I wanted to see something amazing? Maybe because I want to forget the crazy for a moment and just have my mind blown? Like a knock your socks off rock concert that doesn't even let you think (lets just say I totally get Jaxion's taste in music).   Wow, I am the queen of digressions. A god asked me a Mother FUCKING QUESTION! My dumb brain rambled, glitched, and then when it was fucking silent, my heart could speak. My companions are hurt. I can't untangle the identity crisis that Lux is going through. I will, in time, try to give some awkward words. Something that I hope says she is beautiful as is and should decide who and what she wants to be a fuck anyone who doesn't see that she is amazing. Not for the pop or anything else. Because she is fierce, yet kind. She stood by Xhoya better than anyone and didn't let her fear get the better of her. Jaxoin might believe that she needs training (and we all do) but she could teach him a thing or two about how a true friend acts. She's loyal to her core. I hope to be the kind of friend worthy of that one day.   AHHHH! Get to the point Gidget! Sarge is hurt and a god asked me a question. So I answered with my heart. I whispered, "Can y0u talk to the dead? Someone I know is hurting and he needs to talk with his family." I half regret those words. The knowledge of what happened is burying him like a ton of bricks fallen from the semi that just ran his ass over and backed up for good measure. The "truth" that now submerges him in a truth that is as solid yet fragmented as my clumsy metaphor implies. I'm afraid he may drown. Will my request just add one more weight? Will my good intentions prove disastrous? FUCK!

So the battle was won. I hate that I had to play getaway driver instead of shooting assholes in the face, but so be it. Now we're staring at what they were after. A mammoth dragon like mech. Apparently Eldris' people created this thing. Weird that the keepers in this world had so much technology when the other keeper doesn't know what the fuck this is. I'm excited and terrified. Why do these things exist? Why are they worth blowing up a city for. Not that the people who are responsible really care, I suppose. They probably just want them to hasten the end of the world. I guess the Air Force is probably the largest threat to their domination. They seem to have a handle on the ground troops. Namely I'm pretty sure they have infiltrated the military. Given the fact that they were hiding the symbol on the bomb and Jaxion's orders seem hinky. Again they were also willing to blow him up rather than let him fall into enemy hands. They really want to cube and Echo. Something tells me it isn't for the greater good.   I'm half excited as we learn to use this mega machine. Guess I'm the left wing. It has guns so I'm good. The cat is my partner. My first thought before we got into it was I'm not sure how I feel about that. I think I can trust him, even though secrets are part of his craft. Thankfully, after it all went down, I feel better.   So yeah, we finally got into it. I was so afraid that everyone would start yelling at each other! I decided to open with my confession. I know that I really sucked it up the other day. Like I said, I let my fear get the better of me. I tried to explain that I think we all have moments of that without being too blaming. I appreciate that Echo said we weren't exactly wrong, even though we behaved badly. I really appreciate that Xhoya was willing to hear me out. For a young lady she is very mature. Hell she's less than half my age and sometimes she handles shit better than me, which is a bit embarrassing on my part!   I'm a bit frustrated that Sarge only half heard what the group was trying to say. Echo, Kii and Silas are right. We can't trust Jaxion if is first allegiance is to a compromised organization. I'm not saying all of the BRN are evil, but there is no way of telling where the orders are coming from. I wish he would take Kii's advice and fight for Beaumont. I wish he would see that Silas is right. Different people with different strengths might need to be mission commanders. Maybe in time, with practice, we can all start thinking that way?   I'm glad it seems I cleared the air with Kii. I'll do my best to have faith in her street smarts. She does seem to know people a hell of a lot better than I give her credit for and she has listened when we talk about our world. She's always been kind and I need to keep that in the forefront of my mind.   Lux started out as a mixed bag. I'm still glad she has Xhoya's back and I think she really heard that there is a big difference between choosing to feel indebted to someone and telling someone they are indebted to you. It takes a lot of strength to admit that you have room to grow. I really appreciate her vulnerability. I wish Sarge could see just how far she is leaning over to extend him an olive branch. I get that he's salty but he needs to water it down once people try to meet him in the middle.   I may have his back, but that doesn't mean I'm going to do what he says. I'm all for the team. Which means I may have his back by standing up to him. I think he's most likely to survive if he cooperates with the the rest of us, so I'll keep trying to worm my way under that armor. He's not a bad guy, but he's as bull headed as his double horns suggest. Maybe if we all get some combat training under our belts and some coms so we can communicate in battle things will get a little easier. He'll need some communication training. (Which will probably mean that we all have to hit him with different perspectives until it clicks.) I know we are fighting for survival a lot of the time and that soldiers are trained not to get out of "battle mode" but he's going to have to learn to lower his guard a little bit. Maybe he can start seeing that he's more than a soldier? (I mean he's worth more than his skill set. I kind get the feeling that he hasn't really be valued for much more than that. It's something I completely understand.   I have a feeling this group is different thought. At least, I hope so. Kii and Xhoya in particular really see the whole person. I think Lux does too, but she's cautious. Come to think of it, as a pop star, she probably hasn't had a lot of true friends. Maybe that idol image is more armor than I realize? I'll do my best to give everyone a chance and value their unique skills (Out loud not just in practice.) Everyone does have a lot of awesome in them. Maybe we can start making steps towards that awesome world Kii has talked about. I get the feeling that Xhoya may have experienced a more tight knit world where she comes from too. Not that Pops and the gang didn't have my back. Its just that, I learned from an early age that most of the world wants your skills first and you second. That's still kinda reality. I need to pull my weight in this team, but maybe, we can become friends along the way too? Geez, I guess the gushy stuff is contagious. I better call Sarg a pain in the ass a few times to assure myself I'm still me.   Finally, we got into our first ever battle in this mech. It's awesome and terrifying. How the hell can one tiny robot be so powerful? I mean, I've heard some men say size doesn't matter I used to think that meant that short men can be packing (and they can) till I found out it can mean other stuff. Anyway, the Gazelle is a pint sized pain in the butt that makes Sarg look like a sweetheart. I get that he has a cube but holy shit! You would not think his body could take such a beating. I fucking hate this guy... thing... whatever! Fuck the Gazelle! Even after a crap ton of tail slaps, breath blasts, wing strikes and claw rending he is still not completely down and out.   I guess any battle you can walk away from is a victory? Even so, I wonder how the hell it managed to shoot off so quickly after we "defeated" it? I can't help but think about the fact that the BRN had an actual ocean presence. Were they tracking the Gazelle? Did they some how get him a backup body or something else so he can keep being the terrible menace to the world he was built to be? Can our tiny group really change the world? Gods I feel so dumb! I used to read the Pack comics and think how cool it would be to save the world. Reality... is action packed but I wouldn't call fighting for your life fun. (That said, now that we are in the hanger, I am totally going to watch how the mech arms work to put this baby back together. I only need to sleep half as much as most people. Lucky Echo, he doesn't sleep at all! Maybe I'll learn something to up my game?!)   Well, I better get to learning or I'll miss all the fun! Memo to me, change the infusions on Echo and Jaxion to the Armor of Strength when we wake up! If they are going to be our shield guys they need a boost when shit gets real. I better find a way to augment Echo a bit further. I'm thinking hydraulic augmentation. We might even be able to build something into the ship itself so they can both have a built in advantage.   That's all for tonight!   Gidget  

I'm so dumb! Where to begin? I'm scared. I'm scared and I just wish things made sense. I guess I kinda get why Sarg keeps trying to shove everyone into his military box, he's afraid too. Not that I think he could ever admit that to himself. I'm not much better. I'm desperately trying to hold us all together and failing badly. Especially with the kid. How could we (Silas, Echo, Jaxion, and I) all fail to see that the kid was trying to admit she didn't end up out here of her own free will? She's been through so much and she's terrified. But she scared the hell out of me today. Just as much as Jaxion frightened me. They both want to take charge. He wants to walk out the door and she wants to steer the ship (literally).   What's worse there are too many secrets around here and I'm the only open book. How could I be so stupid.? The military doesn't give two shits about Jaxion, they want Echo and the cube. They know Jaxion is that last person who saw both. I've seen enough to know he's no ordinary android. He's a prototype, a one of a kind, and I'd bet money the military will chase him to the ends of the earth. That's why Echo wanted Jaxion to go get information. I'm sure the cat figured it out immediately. Of course that secretive fur ball probably decided we didn't need to know everything.   Seems like everyone on this damn boat is wanted for some reason or another. Except me of course... Sometimes I wish I could just walk away, but how can I? I never asked for any of this. I don't believe in chosen ones. Pops just says you have to do your best in any situation. I'm trying, and sucking at it. I want to have everyone's back but I don't feel like anyone has mine.   Kii is so focused on her "destiny" she can't see the here and now. She doesn't understand how frightening it is to travel with a being that could get us all killed or worse. Yet she wants to be fiercely "out there" like some bad girl power music video. I'm glad Lux has the kids back, but I don't trust her. Not for myself anyway. She's cold and aloof. Apparently I didn't make the cut. I guess I can't blame them. (Or can I? Lux keep lording the fact that she keeps lording the fact that she saved Jaxion over him. He died fighting to defend everyone in their group. She brought him back because she knew he would aid in their survivial. People around her just use him and his skill set when it is convenient for them. Then they yell at him. Just like they use me when they need a ride or someone to watch their six, then they ignore me.) Who would have thought I would be defending an asshole? Only, I know he isn't really a bad person and I don't want to see him get killed because of his own stubbornness. Plus I owe him my life. I have to repay him, no matter what he says, that's the code. Sometimes I wish I'd just stayed dead in that cave... I still have nightmares. No one else even acknowledges that I've got reasons to be scared too, but if I belly ache it will just make things worse. If I'm too emotional to work I'm useless. Wow, I'm pathetic.   I've got to stop feeling sorry for myself. The kid's had it so much worse... plus she's a kid. I'm going to have to bring it up, if there isn't a big yelling match (I'm not holding my breath that it won't go down.) I'm going to have to say that we all should have acknowledged how right Xhoya is to feel fear. We're all scared. I really hate that I don't feel like I can really trust anyone right now. Maybe I should just walk away? How can you try to hold a group together if none of them give a shit about you, unless you can fix something for them?   Ironic isn't it? The one thing that I thought would keep me sane. The one thing that I know and I resent that its all I seem to be. A gun smith. I want to go home.

Begin writing your story here...

Woke up this morning after dreaming about a beautiful tall motherly woman. (but she didn't have pointed ears. Surely she isn't mine.) Lets just add it the list of weird shit that randomly happens to me. I feel well rested, so I guess that is a bonus. The "Captain" has some serious Dad on a road trip energy. We're packed up and God damn it we are leaving on time, with no breaks!   Tempers are randomly flaring in here as we deal with the new reality. We're facing a nuclear style winter. Acid rain started to fall and now the Cindy's shields have to run full time to keep up safe.   Our "Captain" suddenly got a shit ton of messages from his superior. Its pretty questionable. At the end of the world, why is this guy yelling at a Sargent? His mission can't be so crucial that he can't be replaced. I'm wondering if he is who he says he is?   Jaxion decides he need to check in at the nearest point, otherwise the BRN will be on our asses. We need to figure out what the hell is going on. Echo, Silas and I agreed that we need more info. Xoya was so frightened she tried to hijack the Cindy. (I'm installing a kill switch as soon as we get out of this rain. I instructed MAT to stop anyone who tries to change our course. She is rightfully afraid. We find out that she was to be kidnapped into a super soldier breeding program. Jaxion is skeptical of all this, and not immediately willing to abandon a system his family has participated in for generations. Fair enough, but he needs to start asking questions. He seems willing to do so and he flat out said that he won't abandon the Kid. She's so scared she keeps trying to take control of the situation. I'm getting pretty sick of this shit. If it wasn't for the acid rain, I swear we would all be walking. I feel like a parent who needs to take away a toy. My patience is fraying and my trust is waning.   Our butler bot is currently driving while I weld tracks to the top of the Cindy. I'm trying to play the middle ground. The kid has been treated like shit. The "Captain" has made sense of the world through his work. Echo and Silas are pragmatic like me. Lux, is scared too. She is afraid the others will be discovered, in spite of our plan to keep the Cindy out of danger. She tried to kick Jaxion and the others off my ride and I had to set some boundaries.   I feel like a rift is growing between me and half of the party. I want to keep everyone safe, and I'm not willing to take sides. Right now the Kid and Lux are bonding. No doubt Kii will comfort them too and I'm left working and pretending it's fine. I'm just one of the guys, again. I know they'll have my back in a fire fight, but outside of that... well it would be nice to feel like I had friends not just allies. I guess Echo sort of feel like a friend. Its only been a few days, but already the other women of our party seem pretty close.   I did my best to repair some rifts with honest talk. We need to realize that all shots fired hit someone. It is a strain to stay in the middle, but it is important. I think Silas is also a good voice of reason. We understand that consensus is best. That we will do all we can to make sure everyone is safe.   It is heart breaking to see the level of devastation at the blast sight. So many refugees. Many more dead. Even if we do succeed, it will take years for the world to recover from this. I hope we can reshape things for the better, but right now we are focused on survival. As I watch the soldiers helping the survivors and think about all we have learned today. The fact the the BRN, Black Axe, and portions of Kiquo have been compromised, I sincerely hope that we can trust each other. Does everyone else realize that in this chaos we really need to cling to each other?             We finally got the majority of people to agree to approaching an unexpected check point after we siphoned fuel (now I need new hoses). When we reached the check point everyone was already dead.

We hit the jackpot! We've got some sweet supplies for upgrades! I'm going to build a mega battery for the Cindy. (Who knows how long magic will be able to power her?) I'll use Umbrosine on MAT's lets so he can sneak. The treds will be too hard to silence. I hope we can experiment with Gravianium so MAT and the Cindy can be made lighter. Hopefully they will give us a day to try things out?   Mercinite will repair MAT and the Cindy if needed, Cinderslag will let us heat her legs and the inside of the cabin. Echosilver and Thunderass will build an alarm system for MAT, the Cindy and anything else. Flux gold (when we can grind it with Tremerium plates) will help me build fireworks and flairs. Crython will build a freezer on the Cindy for long term storage. Athersteel will repair my mech suit. Arcanite will help us build better blast cans (hopefully).   I also snagged some docent models and I hope to figure out is some crazy person is trying to capture souls into these spheres? (or goodness knows what?) Why would they want to make that particular fiction into reality? I love De. but I can't help but worry that the people responsible are just as nefarious as the Opolds who created sentient slaves. (fuck those fictional assholes!)   Lux told us she found out that she is part werewolf. Apparently her great great grandfather taught at this school and told her so? He gave her a werewolf dowsing rod so she can find others of her family/ kind. Made of a finger. (what the fuck is it with fingers lately?)   We were loading the Cindy/ starting to weld guns to her (as we should). Speaking of guns, Sargent Stick up His Ass became Captain Come Look at This Shit. (What the fuck is happening to people? Feathers changing, people freezing and growing their hair way long in seconds. People talking about pregnancy at random...Is this normal behavior for tall men? At least Echo is solid. Due is cool and calm.) I barely had time to wrap my head around the latest screw coming loose when suddenly there was a Funk Moo. A large, ridiculously strong gentlemen who can somehow produce music at will with the clench of a butt cheek. (Yes I just said that). I have stopped trying to understand the weirdness. truly. He loaded the Cindy with no effort at all. He dances and creates stages, food, and magical effects without effort. I think he's a demi-god. How can this not be the weirdest day I've ever had?   But welding needs to happen. Echo and I managed to put the eight guns on the Cindy. So while I ate some delicious food, I did not choose to dance the night away with some of our party. Time is always of the essence these days. I feel like we will be walking into a lot more danger and I have to prepare while we can.  

It was a normal day. Which means, weird shit happened. Some of it was fun and awesome and some of it was worrisome. We met Jewels this morning. (Not sure why we didn't invite him to stay with us. I guess in the wake of getting shot and all that we lost sight of our manners?) After a brief conversation we decided to explore the Evocation wing. We found four rooms, one for each year an Evocation-ist spends in school. The first was for Sorcerer's only. Second looks like an awesome testing ground where you can cast whatever you want without using blast cans (I wish we could take it with us) The third with automatons and metal. (My favorite room) And a room where unique spells were created. Under the third room we found a portal that goes deep underground. We found out that whoever was here was experimenting with with metals. Not too scary at first, but we found the all too familiar lotus and the red metal they discovered/ created. We also found something that looks like a docent and a heart (what the fuck is that?) . It looks like they found a way to capture a shit ton of energy that you can power an automaton with and, you can also cause that being to create a massively destructive spell. A bomb that you could hide in a tiny space, placing it in a B-U unit or gods knows what. Along with the portal technology that can allow you to cast anywhere we now know that these bombs can be placed and activated anywhere at any time.   We found a crap ton of unique metals, their locations in the world and how to create them. We found purchase orders and figured out a possible connection between Magana Vasquire and the Deremitrue. The fact that they have been extorting people for years points to a possible revenue source.   Of course when we brought everyone down to that "office" underground shit got crazy. We found out that the box holding the heart was made by a dryad. Who knew those were real? Ki' touched it the heart (of course) The heart was the heart of a keeper. Apparently someone tried to bring the keeper back to life. The dryad sacrificed itself, allowing itself to be torn apart to then encase it's own heart rather than telling any secrets.   Z'kar is the masked person who seems to have perpetrated this atrocity. What secrets do the keepers hold that the Deremetru so desperately need? I was willing to build a gauntlet to allow us to put the dryad out of it's misery. Fortunately, Ildrus had a better idea. Use the magic suppression system to remove the curse on the heart so the dryad was no longer suffering. Even in that altered state, without the fire there was sudden joy.   (Things to do next time - see if there is any research related to the docents and snag the models. Snag some security cameras for the Cindy/ recording devices from the monitoring room. Build some hollow point projectiles in my spare time, rig the larger cannon to the Cindy and create docks for the droids or just mount their guns on the side with swivel capability.)

So we were exploring this "deserted" magic school so we can get some more info about exactly how this magic in a can situation works. You know writing that makes me realize just how insane and artificial the idea is. Especially after seeing some people just cast naturally. Will I ever be able to do that?   Anyway, we stumbled across a test chamber. The kid and Captain not so Cranky Pants found some really interesting intel. Though I haven't had a chance to delve into it myself. All I can say is, I kinda wish I could attend school here. Let call it an apocalypse contingent goal. IE, lets prevent the shit and the fan from hitting and then we'll hopefully circle back.   Of course, right as our colorfully feathered pretend prisoner pal Ilris got down to business some punks showed up. I should have know shit like this would start happening pretty quickly. You see it all the time on the tougher parts of the streets. When law enforcement is stretched thin or just doesn't want to deal with an area they deem too dangerous and shitty to save, that's when the opportunists show up. Don't get me wrong, I am all for looting, but I am not going to shoot someone over it. Okay I won't fire the first shot. (Unless it's my shit you're stealing. Then I'ma turn your ass into Swiss cheese faster than you can beg your moma's forgiveness for going through the trouble of giving birth to your dumb ass only to get kissed in a hail of lead!)   Where was I? Oh yeah, asshole punks. So now we're playing protect the project the Keeper. Which sounds a lot more fun than it is. We were holding our own till another damn cannon on legs shot through the door and damn near blew one of my lungs out. Thank goodness for Ki' and a good ol' stim pack! Why the fuck is it always me? Then poor Lux lost fingers! I hope our resident paladin can get some after battle emergency triage going.   Anyway, we're still in the thick of it. Blew off some doors with a grenade. Took one guy down myself. We overkilled the god damn cannon. (And she's intact! I am totally mounting that baby on the Cindy. With luck I will find more! Afterall, when your ride 1/2 our transport and 100% our bunker/ gear storage she needs some defenses. We're gonna play pimp my ride, military style baby!!!   Anyway, wish us all luck! Hope to see you on the other side!   Gidget!  

We've released some "Do It Yourself" episodes. Water reclamation/ purification , how to cook and heat a space without magic. For the advanced viewers we've got one on communications/ building a HAM radio etc. with Cowboy Creative C.C. for short (Echo ) and Tinker- bell or Tink (Gidget). Family friendly posts from a do it yourself account that is featured on the Sanctuary website while we remain anonymous. I'll create computer simulations for our kid friendly version. 1. Situational Awareness, 2. Avoid Conflict 3.Family, Friends Allies, 4.Even the Odds. 1. info provided by Xhoya, 2. Ki' 3. Lux 4. Silas and Jaxon. We'll record a bunch of these videos and release them over time to try helping the world. First priority is water, then food. SAFE needs to come out when things get bad (which is soon).   We loaded up the Cindy with a crap ton of supplies. Started traveling along the mountains via our kind Xhoya's beetle friend. We began our journey by solidifying our BRN identities before anyone questions our party. Our "mission" is to gather intel regarding recent world shattering events. They say the best lies have a grain of truth. Even so, I'm hoping his mean (fictitiously promoted) mug and cranky attitude will lead to few questions. That and the fact that eight people probably don't look like a serious threat. (Cross your fingers, cross your toes, cross your eyes and here's to hope!)   I began experimenting with my blast can and eventually brought my other party members in. (I may have frozen some fingers for a minute). It looks like there is an additive in our magic that protects us from it's effects or maybe feeds living magic? We hope that we use our cans more efficiently or even better, stop using them altogether. Are we able to learn to cast differently? Can we teach the world to do that? Now is the time. Right now, is when the world needs this change. I hope we will succeed.   As luck would have it we've stumbled across the magical school Chelicerey. Maybe they will have the equipment to aid us in our quest? If we can stop the world from depending on refined magic, maybe we can get the mines shut down? (Even as I write that I know how overly optimistic that sounds.) No that's probably a long term goal. Even so, I hope we can reshape the world. Rebuild it so people can freely cast magic without canisters and currency. Sure would make everyone's life easier. Not to mention lifting a whole lot of people out of poverty.   One step at a time. One project at a time. I've got to arm the Cindy just in case shit goes down. Make bullets with Echo. Create a magic syphon (I'll bet the college will have something worth snagging for that or other projects. Looks like I'm back to daily scrapping and repurposing.) So much to do and thankfully we've got travel time. Even so, its hard to know what to prioritize. Magic is going to be a limited commodity. If we can find a way to lower our expenditure or protect ourselves from the raw shit (hopefully while we learn to channel another way) we may be able to extend our supply long enough to see us through the hell we are about to enter.   That project will take time and I think we'll have to take it in stages. The rest of my days will have to be arming the Cindy I think. She may be "invisible" but it pays to be ready before shit goes down. Motion activated turrets are just the ticket! While I love MAT to pieces, I don't want him in pieces. No way am I leaving my beautiful buddy on patrol without some serious backup! Some people call it overkill, I question if that is even possible? How can a bad guy be too dead? I mean, now that bullets are at a premium I'm willing to admit that precision has to be better than raining bullets (hard times make conservationists of us all) Still, if you can leave a blood stain where a body once stood, sends a very clear message. So it always pays to have a few big guns. Besides, if you look bad ass enough, most people won't even bother to test your metal and I mean to have a walking fortress fit for this hellscape.   I'll end with a tinker's prayer. May you have ever have the parts you need and the creativity to use them! If you are burned, let it be by the passion of discovery not the mishap of calamity! May your gear be strong and your friendships stronger! May your gun never jam and your metal never rust! Give your life before your loyalty! Praise Tinkers Puau! Amen!   Gidget  

How did I become the idealist of the group. I guess I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the world that will be. I have to find some way to help as we move. If it's transporting supplies, helping to rebuild communications, while Lux sings... I've got to try. I know there are eight of us. I know we can't fix everything, but we just saved the world. We need to try. We have to do something. Maybe we can set up trade routes as we travel? Tell people hey, they need medial supplies here but they can trade food... hope that people with cooperate instead of warring with each other? I'm scared. It feels like we're on an island, or maybe in the eye of the hurricane. Blissfully unaware for the moment of how bad it's going to get the moment we leave this city.   So, I'm helping a friend. Echo needs a mouth. So I'm throwing myself into what needs to be done here and now. Taking things one step at a time. I'm going to do something. I swear. I don't want to die, but I won't let fear rule me to the point of doing jack shit. That is what they want. They want us scared and looking out for only ourselves. Unless the world comes together, the people we have left, we a well and truly fucked.   Maybe we have to wait for communications to come back online so we can start some greater coordination efforts? But mark my words, we aren't doing bupkis! No offense to Lux, but singing isn't going to fix anything. We need to bring real hope, somehow. Maybe I am willing to risk my neck, just a little to do that, within reason.   In the middle of it all Ki' told us she really is a princess and she wants to lead. I counselled her to be the kind of person worthy of following. I also warned her I'm standing next to her not behind. I don't know if she really is the chosen of the Gods (though that wouldn't be the weirdest thing that has happened this week and she seems to be a keeper) As long as she is willing to try to make a positive difference I'm with her. Group effort and all that. At least continued conversation seems to indicate that we have to help the people who are left work together. We'll see.   We found out that the BRN was loosely working with the Derimetru when a bomb was found in the Helix Hold subway. They tried to hide that fact by disguising the lotus symbol and red metal of the bomb. So our first expose shows the discrepancies. The truth will out! At least everyone knows to look underground. I just wonder if they can really disarm this shit? It doesn't seem like they know what the fuck they are doing.   Was our post enough? Will people believe us? Those were my questions as we went off to bed. But it seems to be off to a good start. The world is believing us and they believe Ki'. The world isn't ending, as long as we act. Surprise surprise, the Vox Ultima are on our side.   While scrounging for materials and making an emergency contact glider (battery powered propeller and radio guidance system). I realized this do it yourself/ reclaim thing attitude will be the way to go for a lot of people right now. So, Echo and I are going to create how to videos for survival. We'll start with water purification and go from there! (No risk and we can make a difference) People need to know how to live in a world with very little magic. Maybe we can create long lasting differences. (i.e. less dependence on magic.) Right now, we need to focus on immediate need.   We woke in the morning and a special delivery came from Zero came. We have gold (1150) a full blast can, gas masks, passports, instructions and a new holo disk for Silas. Sounds like we are off to our first burn site.   That's all for now,   Gidget  

I can't wrap my head around the losses, truly. Right now I'm numb, as we debate our next steps. It is clear to me that the Derimetru are diving everyone. They've attacked all but 11 countries, mostly capitals and cities with a heavy military presence. The others think they are trying to drive us into hiding underground. I think that may be the end game, but in the mean time, they are cutting off supply lines, leadership, coordinated military response, and possible alliances. Even though they have announced themselves, people will still wonder if the Derimetru live in one of the 11 countries. They won't be looking underground. They won't think it's an effort that has been slowly growing beneath them like cancer beneath the skin. Fuck these guys! After much debate we've decided to alert the world to the truth. This is too much for us to handle alone. We're the doctor who points out the disease. The world has to be our scalpel. We can't cut this shit out alone. We can spread hope and gather information through a network built off Lux and the Black Axel's contacts. At least the ones we can trust. If we can get people to look in the right direction (mainly down) we might be able to stop these assholes.   I'm fixing the Cindy, painting my war suite, putting treads on MAT, and pretending to be part of a "Hope Tour". Lux will try to bring encouragement in these dark times and should allow us to move freely. We've agreed that she will secretly repost the info about the danger beneath our feet. I hope enough people try to find the truth. I hope they can find the tunnels I don't doubt lay under every major hub. Why they didn't blow it all up at once I don't know. I think it has more to do with some predetermined time table than ability. Although, I hope they aren't 100% ready just yet. If people have taught me anything, it is that they work right up to the deadline. Lets hope ending the world is not exception. Afterall, they still need the magical veins.   We need to find out who ordered my guild's equipment to make all the murder robots. Maybe we can determine who is funding this shit? Always follow the money. These people aren't just underground, their roots are there, but they have tendrils chocking all corners of the world, clearly. Though I honestly feel like we're fighting termites weaking our foundations. They've already done a great job of it. We can't rebuild what we've lost, but I know we can fight back. We've got a year.   We figure out how to separate our decoy cubes from the real ones. We need to keep giving hope and pointing the finger at info that leads people to the truth. I hope we can sus out the truth from the conspiracy theories. We're going to post the Derimetru symbol so people can be on the look out for their shenanigans. Hopefully, that will help us thwart them and help us verify the legitimacy of a few plots.   We've got a computer, phones and equipment that are impossible to track thanks to Zero and Ildris. Supplies thanks to Silas and Black Axel. We're starting the you don't know where hope will appear tour to mask the reason for our movements. Though I'm not entirely sure which direction we are headed now? We aren't going to the "Ash Sight". We aren't going to Savior. We're directionless for the next two days as we grapple with reality.   Speaking of speculating, we think that magic is either purposely tainted with poison (which has become stronger over the years because Ki's blast can is less tainted than our new ones) or there is an infection within the wells of magic, caused by our drilling. I'm going to take the risk, using purified magic from my blast can. I hope it doesn't harm me. I'll go slow and see what happens. It could also be that we draw just enough magic when we get it from nature, but we draw too much when we use the concentrate. That could be enough to hurt us, like too much electricity feeding a machine, eventually it burns out. Does magic in the air naturally not have some sort of taint, but drilled magic has some sort of natural poison, to prevent us from overtaking? So many theories. I want to find the answer.   Step one, I need to create a new blast can with a converter. I'll make sure that only a little can come out by a time, like we have on the Cindy, just smaller. Hell, the technology is on the blast cans too. It just needs to be refined.   Last but not least, maybe there is someone from Ki's world who is preaching here? Maybe they think that this world would be a utopia like Ashari if we'd let everyone die? I don't know why they would be here in the first place? Maybe they didn't have the power they wanted? Maybe they are a crazed outcast? I'm so sick of conspiracy theories! The answer should never be that everyone just has to die. That means an epic failure on someone's part!   I guess I will close out with a prayer for everyone tonight. To those who are gone, I hope you are in a better place. To those who are left, especially everyone who has lost someone, may hope and support find you in the days to come. I will do my small, but growing part to protect our world. It is worth fighting for and I like I said, I don't believe anyone has the right to erase us! May the Gods watch over us all until we find a world of peace, amen.   Gidget Tvorka  

Talk about "Dancing With the Stars". The kid went missing and was some how dancing in the sky with Ip. I'm not sure if my last screw has come loose, cause the wheels came off tonight! The kid and Princess seem to know this tiny God, who replaced Xoya's arm with his own (only its big some how?). Apparently he is old friends with Ki' and her family? The princess (who is actually a princess. Nailed It!) just keeps getting weirder. I can't say I followed most of their stories. Something about Ip and Okq being created from the body of their father after he was stepped on by a horse? Then more fantastic stories of their lives being saved by the sun goddess back in the day? It was strange to say the least. One story did have an odd bit sense to it. The idea that there are other worlds with other people. The fact that the voices of the gods put imagination and inspiration into our minds. (could the PACK really be real?) I can't say that I have felt many gods, but Tinker's Puau has called to me since I was a child. Somehow, when I was down, when I would sit next to his image and chat, I felt better. When I was really lucky, I found inspiration. I hope I'm not crazy or that I didn't just drink really bad water. I'd like to believe I can meet Puau in 28 days.   Now it's time to save the world or die trying. Xhoya and Ki' scouted ahead (they need a little training in that regard. You don't let yourself get so far out of range when people are offering you cover fire. Sarg and I need to give them some more guidance so our maneuvers are better next time.) They found a good entrance to the mine, after a false scare. We trapsed down the holes that formerly contained the massive chains that held the scorpion in place. Rusty, my new trusty bat scouting the way. We got a little lost and some "kind" rust mites helped to show us the way.   Arriving on the upper level we were able to convince some cultists to come "help us" in the corridor. They went down quickly, but unfortunately the droid gave us more trouble. Xhoya, Echo and I figured out how to control the collars on the slaves so they don't have to breath on the chains. We shut down the rest of the machines (then I destroyed a few when we knew it wouldn't hurt the dragon born. No sense in allowing the cultists to continue on business as usual if they we fail. From the discovered password they don't seem to really know how this equipment works or how to read primoradial, despite the fact that it is all over their consoles and (later were found out) tattooed on their bodies. A perversion of the names of the Gods. )   The smokey asshole, known as the ghost appeared and I'll admit I was nervous. Luckily, Lux, Xhoya and I all landed some spells and his ass was frozen to the ground, literally, shocked and laughing his ass off against his will. He still had the nerve to try threatening us. Lux and Ki, decided to turn his plan against him and gave him some flying lessons. Too bad he was too enchanted to learn and he did a great impression of a Jaxon Pollock on the floor, so expressive! Jaxon went down to kick some ass while the rest of us used our range to our advantage. One by one the droids and cultist assholes (who can climb walls and became less than human) fell.   Just when we thought we had won it seemed like the ultimate bad guy was going to fight us, but he was just a captive of the most beautiful mech suit on earth. (which made on sense a the time) Until we found that project X was a keeper who'd been held against his will. He was nearly dead from mana sickness and Ki' was beside herself with grief, seeing one of her ancestors treated so terribly. I wasn't sure what I could do, I'd hoped the cube could drain him of the magic overload, but Xhoya said it doesn't work that way. Unexpectedly, Gambit traded his immortality to save him. It looked like he would pay the ultimate price, when I remembered that Ki mentioned the power of prayer. Lux used her influence to get millions of followers to help us give G-man the strength to live. Lux also revealed that she is part wolf.   We talked about what the world might be and how it might be a good idea to bring the gods back in a real way. We chatted on and off during the about Lux using her platform to start a movement where people practice gratitude and embrace their authentic selves. I think we are slowly starting to open up to each other. (Is this what girl talk is like? I really didn't grow up with many gal pals and I'm 52 now, so... better late than never?) Anyway, I hope that we can all be a positive influence in the world. I'm okay if my part is a little less public.   Speaking of my part, I think I'll need to get in touch with Pops about our supply chain. The free market means our shit can end up in all sorts of hands. Our larger guild (also the GSG Gnome Smith' Guild, metal division (MSG sounded too shady) is responsible for all things metallic, more or less (we even sponsor a few metal bands!) Anyway, we need to do some tracking on the supply chain end of things for some serious smelting equipment. This industrial shit isn't cheep and it is hard to transport. There has to be a record of it going somewhere. I know we think they are controlling info (I'll get to that in a sec) but I'm willing to bet they didn't think to shred their receipts and clean up the whole digital paper trail. People aren't usually that meticulous. I can't tell you how many times the police have proven premeditation just by the date of sale we provide on a fire arm. (Take it from me, if it's within a few months, shit is super suspicious!)   Now we are finding out that there are powerful cult people who want the world to be like it used to be, black and white. They live underground in an undercity. Could they be the ones tainting magic? Is it just the magic we drill? Is it all magic? It's not clear. Are the cubes themselves responsible for this?   The more we talk the more we try to figure out the balance of power. It sounds like the black axel must have the "missing" cube. How else can they keep the balance. How and when did they erase the knowledge of the cube? Although they are in a unique place to manipulate information, I still think this plan and this organization has been going for some time. Eldris Highwater (the keeper who was in the hurt locker and used for his magical abilities) has been trapped for 8,250 years. He's been in the same place, and the people who were "behind it all" seem to have been working on this shit for some time. (Same robes just many generations later? Unless to freaky robes give you longevity? Either way, talk about being a slave to a cause! Who the fuck signs up to have a living cloak hook and tentacle it's way into their body? I'm guessing that isn't a day one sort of commitment.) Any way, long story short it sounds like these zealots are attached to these underground people (or one and the same?). I think the black axel is just the latest name for their influence in the world and Zero definitely seems to be a part of it. Anyone who can "magically" get you everything you need ASAP is up to something (though I'm not convinced Zero is just one person or perhaps not even a person at all? Maybe someone build a dooms day program to help the end of the world? That's what I would do. If I was evil and stuff... )   So what are we up to next? Apparently we're going to try establishing a corporation named after the goddess of magic Sanctuary Inc. Though I'm not sure how we can make magic free to people without drilling? Maybe Ki' will have some answers by way of old tech or maybe we'll need to pray (literally) for a whole new way of doing things.   It also sounds like we are going into BRN territory to find out more info on this cult. (what the heck am I going to do about my alliance? Do I joint the Black Axel Cartel knowing about the corruption? I'm not a gnome but I'm still a proud guild member. We do trade all over the world, but people will know who we side with. I'm feeling a little lost right now.   Oh, but it isn't all bad news! I met the man of my dreams, and surprise he's tall, made of metal, and holds one of the most beautiful guns I've seen per date! When he holds me it feel oh so right! Who would think he'd be from the BRN? That's right, we've got a mech suit! I can't wait to give that paint job a nice wash and buff! (Between you and me, I love blue, but so do the boys who like to steal my tools! So pink just sorta grew on me, again, literally)   Gosh, it has been such a whirlwind the last few days, I must be forgetting something? Oh yeah, we made two fake cubes under the strict guidance of Xhoya. (That little genius is giving all of us a run for our money! It is so nice to see Xhoy-Xhoy coming out of her shell!) Anyway, when we put them in the old rock tumbler/ magic pump we accidentally linked them. I'm wondering if that could be a good thing? If we can find a way to separate them. Probably using the hurt locker on the real thing, we might be able to use their seeming magnetic attraction to one another to our benefit. Maybe we can physically draw the Gazelle into a trap after he envelopes one of the false cubes? I wonder if the hurt locker could contain something like him? I wonder if we could use it to suck some power out of the bastard and return it to the earth where it belongs? Of course then I get a little worried. We are assuming that he is a bad guy, not a good guy controlled by bad people. What if there is a sentient being in their like Echo with no voice of his own?   (Sometimes I still wish I would wake up in the hospital after bonking my head) Shit is so complicated, but you know what, part of me has been fed up with the way things are for quite some time. I hate that poor people get the short end of the stick. I hate that so many kids who are orphans didn't catch a lucky break like I did. Don't get me wrong, I worked my ass off for what I have, but still. Those street kids, those bums could have been me, with some minor adjustments. When Ki' talks about this world she comes from, my heart wants to believe it is possible. I mean, I know we can do better than this. Even if it isn't perfect, isn't it worth trying to make things better? So, I'm gonna pray more. I already know Puau, now I'll learn about the others and see where that takes me. I was born to build, and something tells me I can build a better world with this crazy bunch of people, or at least that it is worth a shot. After all, we just saved the fucking world!   Gidget  

So the cat is out of the bag, (no offense to Silas) or rather the Kelien. Sarge is oddly okay with it and no one else seems to give a shit. Lux has created a fake persona for her so she can pass as not frightening, just really rich. Which is half right. Project EMP is up and running., it was part way done when the kid scared the shit out of everyone in the middle of the night screaming, for joy thank the Gods. Xoya somehow figured out how the cube works-ish, I don't know how that big brain keeps on cooking in the middle of the night. That next morning surprise, surprise Sarge was impatient to get going. Our travels turned street racer and we found the tunnels his superior told us about and passed by some shady mega gambling city in the middle of no where's ville. (Its got me wondering if there are two sides to their military? The goody toe shoes, straight laced, probably mean well sorts like Sarge and then the rest of them. That's the lot I worry about. They're generally pulling the strings and most often for their own gain.   Speaking of strings, we landed in the land that time forgot and Sarge's patience was apparently thread bare, so we went wandering. Hell of a time for a walk about! I am laterally sticking a tracking device to his ass, or somewhere near it. We met an nice, albeit weird gal who ran an inn, but kept disappearing and we decided to sleep in the pocket dimension that the princess had on her person. I wish I could say it was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen, but a somewhat blocky poly pocket reality is just another drop in the bucket of random weirdness that is our daily existence.   We woke up to find that someone had guarded us during the night and it turned out to be a Tabaxi druid named Little Orange Man (Don't shorten it! No pun intended). He kindly led us to a dragon born who breathed rust and kindly gave us a coating to protect ourselves from himself and all the other metal eroding critters that seem to love this area. We chatted about the cave we're looking to enter near scorpion point, where all the bad shit is supposed to go down. You know, a cult unleashing a giant monster of the apocalypse, who has enslaved a bunch of people to free the monster. It sounds like they are guarded by a bunch of robo enforcers and who knows how many flesh and blood bad guys. So, were sneaking in.   That means we have to brave rust mites (which won't work on the Gazelle but might come in handy), rust breath (sadly not bottleable) and some sort of zombie plague you can inhale (I'm not touching that shit with a 10 foot pole). So It was up to us gals to devise a plan. Xoya, Lux and I crafted some sweet gas masks with the help of the Cindy and some salvaged glass pains. (My poor guild's baby is going to be nothing but bolts when this shit is done!) Though it was nice to tinker in peace for a minute!   Then With some help from our odd new friend, ever vanishing inn keeper we made some disguises. She can and can't talk, moves fast then has something else to do, and somehow bought our story that we are here to study migrating rocks. Echo and Lux are going to pretend to be smokey the people stealer and the rest of us are going to try blending with the scenery.   Hopefully we can find a way to take command of the robot army, free the slaves, defeat the cultists, and keep the beasty from getting free. Oh and also build a fake cube from the metal we find so we can set a trap for the metal murderer known as the Gazelle. Honestly I keep wondering if this plan is so crazy it just might work or if we've all just gone straight off the deep end and don't know it yet? Maybe a bit of both?   I think I need to sign off by saying hope to write another day! Bye for now!

Begin writing your story here...

I'm back baby! Aaaaand I owe sarge big time. We took down the asshole mech dog who turned me into BBQ. Scored a sweet gun for his ride (motorcycle) and MAT, from a walking blast cannon. We rescued some survivors, found some engines digging under the base and destroyed them, then tidied up and GTFOed. The smokey bastard who kidnapped me and caused all this destruction is attached to some obscure cult the Deremitru. Apparently, they think they can wake the scorpion. Legend says it was once a titan like monster. It seems like these people are truly hell bent on ending the world ASAP with as much help as they can get. I guess the Gazelle might not be strong or fast enough. Is this a back up plan or do they just want to cause destruction on as many fronts as possible? My guess is the latter.   Its getting hard to see sides anymore. Maybe that's a good thing? Sarge and his men are as I expected, just men who want to get home safely. I bet their side has fed them a lot of bullshit and I wonder how much I've ingested? At least for now, it seems we're all in this shit together. I just hope they see things the same way?   I'll tell you one thing, I didn't expect to guard bodies in the snow next to the Cindy, not that it wasn't the right think, just grimmer than I expected things to get, at least so soon. It pisses me off seeing anyone mindlessly turned into cannon fodder by some dumbass cult. I am all in for kicking the shit out of these people.   I spent the evening welding guns onto Sarge's ride. Can't believe I owe a BRN soldier. That said, for a hard ass he's a solid guy. He's got my fire power behind him for now.   As I shuffle off to bed, I'm left wondering how many other cites they might try to tap to cause mayhem? For that matter did we really thwart the Deremitru for good the Scorpion? I guess the BRN will have to cover our asses on that front.   Goodnight for now!   Gidget  

Dear Diary,   Random money making ideas, the kid beating any tough guy or gal in a spice related contest. Scorpion wrangling, (apparently Kiillien is a Scorpion whisperer, Sargent cranky pants scares everything, Lux and I rocked the picnic blanket and echo will get it down some day. The team building continues? How did we get roped into catching creatures at 4am?   And then we were suddenly sent to find 4 husbands 2 sons and a brother, all military officers. All MIA and all I can say is thank god for the bard. Wives and sisters approach our sergeant who immediately states they are probably dead. I kicked him in the shins, tried to reroute 1/2 succeeded, then flat our shut the bastard up. I appealed to our only ray of hope, Kiiellien. Somehow our backpacked compadre, talked them down.   Thank goodness he had the sense to contact his commanding officer. I guess these guys were shipped off to war. Not great, but at least their absence can be explained. Amazingly, he approached tact the second time around, but Kii did the heavy lifting.   So now we're off to invesitgate the base. (Guess whose vehicle came in handy? The GSG. Aaaaaannnnnd, Gambit has offered to help me fix her up. Things might be shaping up alright.) At least that's what I thought...   We were met with smoke billowing out of the scorpion's eyes and holes punched from the inside out of the base. A clear sign that something decidedly unfriend took place, and from my analysis, something with some serious fire power was in play. Now I'd normally get excited about such a thing, but not when those big guns might be aimed at me. The only good fire power, is your own firepower! (Purchased or re-appropriated)   We crept in together, trying to watch each other's backs. Sarg, is just about as gung ho as I expected, which is to say I don't know if it's bravery or sheer stubbornness that drives the man forward. I think he'd bit a bullet, spit it out, and then criticize it for not doing a good enough job trying to kill him. Oddly, I think I kinda like the guy, as long as he's not being diplomatic. Something tells me he means well... kinda an odd thing to say but I guess we're technically on the same side... I wonder how much propeganda bullshit we've both been fed? Me and myself, I have more of a head for tinkering than getting all hot and bothered about politics. It always seems to me people will find any excuse to shoot in a direction if they think it will benefit them. In other words shoot first, rationalize after and I'm no idiot, if I'm not makin em' some one else will.   But I'm yammering, we crept in, got in some good shoots and some bad ones. Two metal double gun barreled bastards had us under fire. Then suddenly I'm nabbed by a damn ghost person and staring down the barrels of the bad ass who blew the holes in the wall, I put my hands up to signal I was no threat, this thing looked like more than I can handle.....   (record paused)

Dear Journal,   What do an international superstar, a metal man, a cranky purple sergeant and our own unlikely group of friends have in common? Apparently, a murder robot, a cube of power, and some moles. I don't mean the furry kind either. The infiltrate your agency trying to bring about the apocalypse, crazy religious fanatics kind. Most probably the Deremitru. So just another Feldfest? I swear, if I ever complain that life is boring again, I am kicking my own ass!   The mystical cube we just learned about, the one that seems to be able to ripe magic from the world has suddenly appeared. Three cubes exist in the world. One resides within the bastard known as the Gazel. One is used by the Mona Co Mona company extract magic from the world. One is in our possession. If he gets it, he can acquire the last one and bring about the end of the world.   Lucky us, we are all accidentally flung from our respective agencies. We can assume that none of us are moles and thus, the mysterious Gambit, apparently connected to Vox- Ultima (Voice of the Gods) has use for us. Mainly, he wants us to stop this thing.   So naturally, we went out to lunch to eat spicy hearts? I guess it was an interesting bonding exercise? I guess I couldn't take the heat, but the kid and princess did a great job! As things go forward, I hope we are all as resilient as our famous little fire eater. It seems like we are going to try to save the world.   Gidget    

Dear Journal,   The plot thickens. We confirmed that the Gazel, (the freaky ultra-advanced Warforged) knows where we are and had the black box from the Starfire delivered to us. This confirms that there is a mole in the Black Axel cartel. Why did it send us the plans to what seems like a weapon? Why is Xoya seeing it in her dreams? Can it really use souls for power? Why is everything in my life suddenly so weird?   What is clear is this. The fighting near the shore of the eastern peninsula near the scorpion tale mountains can't be a coincidence. The BRN stands to gain trade routes that don't go through the Black Axel. This war was declared too quickly, someone has planned this for a while. We need to follow the money, the power, and figure out who this "fourth party" is.   Now we are waiting to meet more mysterious party members and planning to wrestle some sort of weapon from it's creator before the BRN gets their hands on it. No problem with motivation there.   All while we hear about sky scrapers burning in the city of Alcyon, located in Cambrial to the east. Its the Gazel. I'm getting the impression that he is the Warforged equivalent of a skeleton key where programing is concerned. He can take control of systems with a touch. That seems to be his only limitation. Is it because we could track him if he used remote communication? I'm thinking all this while I realize that tens of thousand of people have just perished. This one machine is turning the world upside down, and unlike the fictitious D, he doesn't seem to have a conscience, although he appears to be sentient.   I have no idea what will happen with me and my unlikely companions, but I am feeling more protective than ever.   May the Gods look out for us all!   Gidget

FUCK YOU! Stupid flying metal asshole mother fucker!!!!!! Who the hell blast holes in a freaking transport to warn it to turn around! You shoot near! You blast a warning! You use a freaking com-system! Apparently anything short of total antihalation is gentle!   We aren't in purgatory we are in hell! Somehow in a time of peace we wandered into a war zone, where apparently it's just fine to shoot at people to tell them to go away, instead of saying go away. I'm going to try that. To hell with words, I'm using lead! Oh wait, I'll go to jail... If I ever meet that megaton asshole again, I'll rewire him from here to next week! I'll turn him from a war machine to a barista bot with a pink paint job!   I had to spend two days semi-patching the guild transport. I can't freaking go home like this!!! They will skin me alive! Somehow, we made it to town. Traveling by night on a beetle. This kid is smart and handy. I gotta say I like her style. The cat... he's growing on me. Princess is still an odd duck, but she means well. Even though she is the back seat driver of all things battle related. Here I am trying to save us from magic sickness and boost our shields, then defending us from danger and she's yelling at me! Who does that? Who takes the time to criticize you while you are fighting a metal tiger and a death ray?   Don't get me wrong, she and princess toad. Mostly princess toad... saved our bacon. So I owe her a big one and I'll look out for her. She's a gal, she's new to everything, and the wings are a problem. Thank the gods for that weird backpack that makes her look like the most beautiful overly prepared backpacker on the planet. Reminds me of tinking camp when one of the kids brought nearly every tool he had. Damn thing was bigger than he was so he just built legs for it. Not sure why he strapped it to his back? Eh, kids will be kids.   As the day winds down I'm glad the cat agrees that something fishy is going on inside Black Axe. He's no dummy. Plus he has access to some sweet tech. I get the feeling that working with these people might be pretty enlightening, if I don't wind up well and truly dead. But, I have two girls to watch over, oddly I am less worried about the teenager, at least when it comes to holding her own... and a cat whose skin I am now oddly worried about. Someone set him up and he kinda reminds me of myself. I get the feeling that he's like me, just trying to move his way up the ranks and prove himself. Now he's wanted and I've got to redeem myself and the transport. Looks like I'm sticking around for a while.   Let's end today with what I'm grateful for... I'm alive, I have a new gun, and I had ice cream.   Good night!   Gidget

Let me start by saying that I blame the cat. I don't give to shits how fluffy and innocent that suit wearing, whisker face appears! Alarms blaring, bodies everywhere, and this fuzz ball is trying to stop some creepy futuristic war forged from sabotaging the ship. Which he already had a head start on. And I mean he was pretty much done before the cat realized what was what.   Anyway, it was decision time, do I try to save the shipment, or do I try to save the ship? Well, the shipment won't float and neither will my transport so that decision was made. Then of course there was the kid. She needs to survive no matter what. If I can save she ship she's golden, if not... well she has to make it to a pod no matter what. That was my thought. Turns out we were heading in the same direction, thank goodness.   The control/ engine room was... lets just say dead on arrival. A complete lost cause. The culprit was way more than any of us could handle. Which leaves me with questions. Why the heck was one lone cat guarding something like that?! Someone is pulling strings where they shouldn't be. Someone, who knows about this weapons shipment I'd wager. A coincidence is when you and your buddy wear the same T-shirt on Feldfest, this was planned.   So hey, we had some good fun joining forces, fixing the last beat up escape pod for dear life. It was a real group trust exercise from hell. I'll be sure to talk with HR when I get home. If I get home...   Oh yeah I might be dead! We made off the ship and into the water... and then it got weird. I thought the burning ship murder robot was going to be the weird part. Never underestimate a day, I guess? A freaking DRAGON with a winged lady appeared and carried us to safety.   Did I hit my head? Probably? Was I high on adrenaline after barely steering us out of the way of nearly certain death... that I'm still not convinced didn't certainly happen, despite pinching? It is highly probable! What I will say, is the after life isn't what I thought. I'm cold, the cat and the girl are still with me. Not sad about the latter, the former better watch his toe beans, I don't know if I can trust him. Still, we are better off working together to survive. Us and this... Aerial who is trying to fool us into thinking she's from out of town.   What do we have so far? She's from another country (at the very least). Eccentric doesn't cut it. Ancient technology and her Dad has her in contact with the richest companies in the world. She's at the very least a corporate daughter, basically a freaking princess. That's what I'll call her. It fits.   Of course all this is assuming I'm not dead and that our landing on some god forsaken cold ass shore wasn't just us getting thrown into limbo. I certainly wasn't perfect, but I wasn't a bad person. Still, I'm sure some of the guns I made did bad things. Maybe they don't know where to put me know that I'm dead? Seems the cat and the kid are in the same boat... well we were on the same life boat... then dragon... I'm going to pinch myself again... "Fuck!" still hurts. Well, I'm going to try to get us to civilization because apparently we are still alive... I hope I feel more that way when we get there... if we get there...   Gidget Out!  

Dear Diary,   The journey started smoothly and had a few odd bumps... but I made it to my destination. Just stick to the track and it will all go smoothly, Pops is always right... Except as I'm writing this next part... there's a girl in my room. I don't know her story, but I know fear when I see it. Something bad has happened there, something really bad. She's alone with a knife, hiding under a table talking about "them". I don't know who them is, but them will get a face full of lead before they lay a finger on that girl. Zoya she said.   I can't say I've ever seen anyone like her before, though I can't see much. Her face is delicate, like the few other fey I've seen, but her skin holds the beauty of late evening. She's just a teenager. I know the younger races might think that means she's near to being grown, but we longies know better. Heck, I'm not really sure humans ever truly mature, their bodies just slow them enough to force them to think before they act... somewhere around 60 or 70 for most of them, though some never learn and most of those don't make it that long. Sadly, they are also some of our best customers.   I can't say I know much about this kid. She's a Pack fan. I felt silly bringing that figurine as a good luck charm. Supersicious non-sense Pops would say. It's probably a security blanket thing... That silly night light Pops and I built in gave me so much comfort growing up. Well the D1000 is glowing for a new generation now. I'm praying to Tinker's Pau that I can keep her safe long enough to figure out who she is, where she came from, and how to get her home safely.   May whatever Gods are listening help me!   Gidget

Dear diary,   I'm finally doing it! I'm off to make a name for myself! Pops always said if I put in enough elbow grease and sweat I'd rise through the ranks. This is my first big assignment! I've never been allowed take a shipment alone before. Individual orders sure, but this is the BIG ONE! Of course, I'm not really alone, I've got MAT. I couldn't ask for a better companion. Its funny, the longer he's online the more I'm certain of it, he really is starting to develop a personality. To be honest, I'm kinda relieved about that. Maybe I'll feel less crazy chatting to him all the time? Don't get me wrong, me and the boys love talking tinker, but most of the women folk prefer to raise the kiddos or do more intricate work. They do all the pretty custom jobs, the intricate gun handles, the ladies bracelets that secretly hide an electric zap. Although some are the opposite. Real grease monkeys. We've got a ton of female mechanics and choppers. No so many in the gun department. Not really sure why.   Of course everyone has their own projects, so there isn't much time to chat anyway. Plus, most of the boys would rather be making something and I get stuck doing counter duty at the shop a lot. They all like to joke that I'm "built for it". I know what that means! I'm 52 for goodness sake and a lot of our clients are men, the lot of them are about as subtle as a wrecking ball at 6am on a quiet weekstag . Boys!   Well, wish me luck!   Gidget