This story is related to my previous one here: https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/13xxyz8/a\_pile\_of\_spent\_plasma\_cartridges\_and\_a\_red\_cross/ I sat on my bunk nursing a nasty looking black eye given to me by our “Gracious host”. It’s funny how humanity has sprung forth from its homeworld, and the best remedy for a black eye is still a frozen bag of peas. This is bullshit, I don’t want to be here anymore then they want me to be here. This whole idea of cooperating for the “good of all” isn’t panning out. I need to put—— my train of thought is interrupted by the sound of klaxons. I put down the mostly frozen bag of peas and reach for my gear. Having drilled for this thousands of times in my 4 years since being drafted. It took my less than 30 seconds to dawn my armor. As I lifted my helmet and activated the display I saw red text scrolling across. “HOSTILE FORCES IN SYSTEM, FLEET ATTEMPTING TO REPELL. CONFIDENCE LOW. PLACING ALL TERRAN FORCES UNDER THE TEMPORARY COMMAND OF LOCAL FORCES” Fuck, this couldn’t get any worse. I just got into a bar fight with these lizards and now I have to take orders from them? What is command thinking? A new text message scrolled across my display. “ATTENTION ALL TERRAN FORCES, UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE YOUR ORDERS ARE TO GARRISON THE CIVILIAN SHELTERS IN THE F’RIX DISTRICT. DIRECTIONS ARE BEING FORWARDED TO YOUR COMMAND.” Great, that didn’t take long. Bet the— my thought was interrupted by Captain Armstrong. “Alright D Company, Lets stow the attitude and get to work. Our assignment is approximately 10 kilometers deep in the city. Hurry up and mount up and let’s get rolling. We’ll decide all the details when we get there” I grabbed my rifle and medical kit and heaved up from my bunk. “Jesus St. John, you look like I feel” Corporal Blankenship said with mirth in his voice “Fuck you, let’s just get this over with.” He’s easily the most annoying member of my team. Being a Navy Corpsman in the Terran Republic Marines isn’t all it’s made out to be. On one hand, you become family to them. They treat you as a brother even if you aren’t “one of them”. On the other hand, you might as well be in the Marines. “ Hey corpsman, do you think the fleet is going to be able to prevent a landing?” PFC Thompson yelled over the sound of shuffling gear “ Oh jeez PFC, I Don’t know. Let me call up the Admiral and check. Right after I do that I think I’ll also wish the enemy away as hard as I can.” “Dick” he shot back I set towards the door with my rifle in hand. As I approached the threshold an APC skidded to a stop. Several tons of steel, the APC wouldn’t have been out of place in any old war movie. The best way to move troops on the ground was still a fast and lightly armored box with wheels. The loading ramp defended and I proceeded to stow my rifle in the racks by the entrance. I took my seat at the back of the APC. I hate riding in these steel coffins. Although if we get hit the chances of me making it aren’t any better if I’m here or sitting in the driver's lap.The tires skidded as the last troops loaded in and took their places. Limited conversations were taking place. With time to think about the situation we were in everything became so much more real. Marines are still Marines though. It didn’t take long for jokes to start flying and ease the tension. A new message scrolled across my vision. “FLEET FORCES HAVE FAILED TO PREVENT THE ENEMY FROM GAINING ORBITAL SUPREMACY. RETREATING TO FORWARD OPERATING BASE LINCON TO RENDEZVOUS WITH OTHER FLEET ELEMENTS.” Fucking great. The APC skidded to a stop in front of the main entrance of the emergency shelter.“Everybody out!” Yelled Sgt. Newman He is the saltiest Marine I’ve ever had the pleasure of serving with. Straight to the point and no time for bullshit.I Exited the APC to find controlled chaos. Everywhere seemed like it was filled with figures in armor running to some location. Sgt. Newman was instantly called to the small Command post immediately forward of the Shelter Entrance. After a short exchange, he jogged back to us.“ Alright folks, We have been tasked with taking up position in the outer defensive line. This means we will get all of the action if there is any to be had today. Lets hoof it up there like a couple of Marines on leave in a whore house” Everyone chuckled, even me. I’ve been around Marines to long. We jogged to our new position and set up. My job was essentially to sit back and wait until someone got hurt after I helped set up the squad's plasma gun emplacement. “ORBITAL LANDING PODS DETECTED IN UPPER ATMOSPHERE. APPROXIMATE LANDING LOCATION UNKNOWN. PREPARE FOR DEFENSE OF THE PLANET” Here we go.“They won’t land here right Sgt. I mean we are just protecting the civilians” said PFC Thompson said with a clear quiver in his voice.“Stow that shit Thompson, if they do we’ll handle it” Sgt. Newman fired back. He didn’t look so sure. I’d never seen him actually look nervous. “KLAXION FORCES HAVE ENGAGED THE ENEMY———“ The rest was cut off. What was that? I’ve never seen the tactical net go down before. “LOCAL COMMAND NET OVERRIDE: DROP PODS DETECTED WITH TRAJECTORY CORRESPONDING TO OUR LOCATION” The silence of my squad was heavy and thick. We all knew what that meant. We were cut off from joint command and on our own. No backup. “ LOCAL COMMAND NET OVERRIDE: KINETIC BOMBARDMENT INCOMING TAKE COVER “ I threw myself to the ground and tried to bury myself behind the thick concrete barriers originally intended to prevent vehicles from leaving the roadway. A sound lack thunder followed me there. The ground shook, glass broke in the buildings above and heat washed over me. A wall of dust and dirt moved through our position obscuring everything. As my hearing returned I raised my head to see that most of the squad had recovered and was preparing to repel the enemy attack that was surely going to accompany this. “CONTACT!” Screamed our plasma gunner. The world became a place filled with bright lights and sizzling bolts. I looked around to see if my services were needed anywhere. “CORPSMAN!” The sound that all corpsman dread hearing because it means that one of our charges is hurt. Possibly fatally. I rushed over to the huddled mass of marines.“Move over dammit” I yelled as I pushed past the two marines who called me over.“He took a piece of falling debris ”What I saw in front of me was a mangled mess. I looked up at the wounded marine. From what I could see it looked like whatever hit him shattered his chest.“ Alright, We need to get him back to the aid station in the shelter I can’t do anything for him here. I need someone to come with me because I can’t carry the stretcher on my own. “Sgt. Newman “ Take Thompson, radio before you come back” The look he gave me was one of resignation. It was bad, really bad. He knew it, and he didn’t expect there to be a position for me to return to.Thompson and I grabbed the stretcher from my aid bag and assembled it. Carefully we rolled the wounded marine onto it. “ Suppressing fire “ shouted Sgt. Newman. We launched to our feet and took off running as carefully as possible. Plasma bolts sizzled past us as we approached the second and then final defensive line. We hurried into the entrance of the emergency shelter alongside several other wounded. We placed our charge down on the floor in the hallway. At this point, our job was done and we were to return back to our post. As I turned to go back another Sgt. Blocked my way. “The first defensive line is gone. Corpsman, Stay here. We are trying to consolidate at the second line but it’s not looking good. PFC Stay here as well. I’m attaching you to the Final line of defense. I need more marines if they break through the second line” I glanced at Thompson who was already moving to obey orders. The shock of what we had just been told hadn’t had time to set in. The training was what kept us both moving.I rushed into the field hospital to see what I could do. What greeted me was horror. Men bleeding, screaming, and dying. A field surgeon grabbed me.“I need you to hold pressure on this wound so I can go prep a the Emergency OR”I stared at him in confusion. OR? What do you mean OR? We’ve been here maybe 30 minutes. How the hell did one get set up here so quickly? I obeyed regardless of my disbelief. The Marine screamed out in pain as I applied pressure. There was blood everywhere. The next couple of hours were a flash of gore and death. We were caught in the middle trying to fight back the Grim Reaper as well as this new foe. By nightfall, the enemy had broken through the second defensive line and had drawn back before taking on the final line.It was quiet, so damn quiet. I wandered around the shelter. I couldn’t sleep. A tail as old as time. I came to A large room with bunks and voices. Inside were the people we are here to protect. Lizards, that's what most of us described the Klaxions as. They were basically bipedal reptiles. However, I found something in my heart while watching them clutch their children to their scaled faces. This is the first time I’d seen any civilians. They looked, and acted like us. Yes, they appeared different but they still clutched their young to their chest. Still comforted the old. My entire worldview that I thought was stable as a concrete high-rise came crashing down on my head. I thought these people were vicious killers of men. All of them, but they just aren’t. They are afraid just like us. One Motioned me over and held up a device. “What is your name Terran” the device spat out at me “St. John” “St. John, will you join me for tea?” “I uh—“ “ Please, it's the least we can do”I sat as a cup was placed in my hand, the tea was warm and steaming. After the Klaxion was done pouring my cup I lifted it to take a sip. It was full of flavor causing my sharp features to scrunch up with surprise. “First time having traditional Klaxion Tea?” “ Yes, it’s uh. Really good *chuckle* “ “ I’m glad you like it, do you have any news from outside the shel——“ Three thunderclaps shook the shelter. Screams rang out in the crowd.“Everybody down!” I yelled as I ran back to the adjoining hallway I didn’t get far before I ran into retreating elements of the final defense line. “Corpsman, take up position in the doorway and prepare to repel the enemy”I looked at him in shock. “Do it now goddammit!” Plasma bolts started flying down after the retreating marines. At their rear was Captain Armstrong carrying what seemed to be…… Thompson, PFC Thompson. He looked badly injured. The Captain rushed him inside the main shelter room and laid him down. Immediately the Klaxion rendered as much aid as they could. Although physically different. Both of our species knew that fluids leaving the body in a hurry was bad news and to apply pressure. As I turned back to the Captain he took a plasma bolt to the face. There wasn’t anything left. What was left was all over my face shield. “Here they come!” Shouted someone from the hallway.I heard screams, so many screams. Screams of terror, screams of anger, screams of rage. In the end, my Plasma rifle ran dry. I looked around me, spent plasma cartridges lay in piles. I heard footsteps behind me. The walking wounded had armed themselves with knives, sticks, and sidearms. Then they came into the entrance. I threw myself in front of the civilians out of instinct. An instinct given to all humans. To protect the innocent. As the plasma bolts ripped through my body, one must have clipped my spine. I could feel the pressure of the shots but nothing else. The room grew dark except for one spot. This must be the light everyone talks about.I’m sorry I couldn’t do more, but we did all we could.

I'm not sure how specific I can be about this because I remember so little of the details, but I'm desperate to find this book!
I read it when I was very young (around 2005-2010), it was in my parents collection of novels from when they were kids. Most of the books were religious so I'm assuming this one was too- the only other book I can actually remember was Treasures of the Snow by Patricia st. John, so I'm assuming they're from the same time period as well.
The book followed two girls and one boy all hanging out at a junk yard. One of the girls was really poor and lived with her mom (possibly grandmother?) in an apartment over a grocery store. I do remember detailed descriptions about how she had very long gray hair. The other girl was rich, and if my memory is right at the end of the book it turns out the poor girl actually is related to the rich girl.
The other reason I think it's christian is because the kids find a box at the junk yard, I think a record player. It has pills in it and when they take them they grow wings. I wish I could be more specific about any of this, but if either of these details jog anyone's memory I'm extremely thankful!

Posts in the series

• First: Here
• Second: Here
• Third: Here
• Fourth: Here (Unplanned)
• Fifth: Here
• Sixth: Here
• Seventh: Here
• Eighth: This

Brief recap

In the previous post, we continued our analysis with a second round of eliminations of more religions that cannot reasonably be from a judging and fair God. At this point, only the Abrahamic religions remain to be analyzed, which we will do below.
--
The reason I wanted to analyze the Abrahamic religions together last is because they have many similarities. For one, they reference the same God and agree on many details: similar people, similar places, similar events and for the most part, even originated in the same region. In addition, two of them are the biggest religions in the world today, far ahead of all other religions in terms of adoption, nearly accounting for half of the people on the planet! The fact that they are spread out in time and that they reference each other, can at least in theory, represent a pattern of recurring communication. It's also possible that they're just copying from each others. Let's see!
The timeline of appearance of the Abrahamic religions from old to new is as follows:
Judaism

• Year of inception: 3500 years ago, approximately
• Location of inception: Middle East (Modern day Palestine)
• Messenger: Moses
• Referenced prophets: Adam, Noah, Abraham...

Christianity

• Year of inception: 2000 years ago, approximately
• Location of inception: Middle East (Modern day Palestine)
• Messenger: Jesus
• Referenced prophets: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses & other prophets.

Islam

• Year of inception: 1400 years ago, approximately
• Location of inception: Middle East (Modern day Saudi Arabia)
• Messenger: Muhammad
• Referenced prophets: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus & other prophets.

Druze

• Year of inception: 1000 years ago, approximately
• Location of inception: Middle East (Egypt)
• Messenger: Hamza Ibn Ali Ibn Ahmad
• Referenced prophets: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad & other prophets.

Mormonism

• Year of inception: 200 years ago, approximately
• Location of inception: New York, United States of America
• Messenger: Joseph Smith
• Referenced prophets: Moses & Jesus. Does NOT reference Muhammad (Islam) nor Hamza (Druze)

Baha’i Faith

• Year of inception: 200 years ago, approximately
• Location of inception: Middle East (Modern day Iran)
• Messenger: Baháʼu'lláh
• Referenced prophets: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha...

Can the Abrahamic religions be instances of communication from their common God? It’s possible, however some issues surface:

• Issue 1: The Druze faith stands out with its secretive nature as it is intentionally restricted. This not only opposes the intention of communication, but also contrasts with the other Abrahamic religions that are all open.
• Issue 2: Mormonism and Baha’i Faith both start nearly 200 years ago in different places while not being compatible with each other. They cannot be both instances of communication. One of them isn’t, or both aren’t.
• Issue 3: Mormonism doesn’t accept Islam nor Druze, while Baha’i Faith accepts all major religions, even Buddhism, which is incompatible with Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Let’s keep the issues above in mind and apply the same criteria to the Abrahamic religions in the same way we did to all of the others. We will analyze them in the chronological order of their appearance.

Judaism

Let's analyze the message of Judaism.

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): PASS. Judaism warns of judgment day and explains the conditions for success and failure. This makes it unsafe to dismiss! It's the first religion to pass this criteria.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. While anyone can technically convert to Judaism, it seems like it was specifically destined for Hebrew people, who later became the Israelites. Many prophets after Moses were specific to the Israelites it seems. The beliefs themselves are universal, in that they don’t have anything in particular that caters to a specific group. Still, it seems restricted to the ethnic Jewish group.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): PASS. Judaism references previous prophets of monotheism who were supposedly sent by the same God. Prophets like Noah and Abraham. This means that before Judaism came along, there were previous instances of communication, which is necessary for a judging and fair God.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): PASS. The idea that a God created everything and is testing humanity here on Earth is plausible and does align with the reality we are living. Almost all humans share a common life track: birth, weakness with need of care, strength and autonomy, weakness with need of care again, then death. Moreover, all humans have a certain level of free will. While no absolute free will of action exists, the free will to think and accept or reject ideas is guaranteed. This makes the judgment of such free will possible.

Now let's analyze Moses, the founder of Judaism.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): PASS. He was a leader to his people, the Hebrews. He saved them from the oppression they were living in under the Egyptians (1). He was known for his sense of justice and courage (2). Many of his stories are told in the Bible as well as in the Qur’an.
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): PASS. Moses is the first to pass this criterion. Every single founder of religion who was mentioned previously, was publicly involved with either an existing religion that served as a launch pad or had a profession or interest that prepared the terrain for their claim. Moses was raised by the Egyptians, but never adopted their religion, nor was he involved in any other religion that he publicly taught or engaged in. He also wasn’t known to have any profession where he produced thought or knowledge.
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): PASS. Moses killed an Egyptian who was mistreating one of his people. According to Britannica, Moses voluntarily killed the Egyptian after making sure that no one was looking (3). However, according to the Qur’an, Moses killed the Egyptian by accident after hitting him, and was instantly regretful asking God for forgiveness (4). Regardless of which version of the story is true, Moses fled because he feared for his life. Now here’s the sudden life direction change, he came back after a while by his own volition claiming to be sent by some God who was unknown to the Egyptians, then confronted the Pharaoh himself!!! No sane man would do such a thing! And not just that, he survived everything and won in the end!!!
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. Moses came back to a place where he feared for his life, put forward the exceptional claim that he was sent by a God he wasn't involved with when he left, confronted the ruler, and succeeded against incredible odds!
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): PASS. The message of Moses had and still has a big influence on this very day! There probably aren’t many people in the world today who don’t know who Moses is, regardless of their beliefs. He is one of the most important prophets in many major religions. His legacy is still a part of the Bible as the Old Testament.

If there is a judging and fair God, Moses is highly likely to be one of his messengers. He passes all the criteria while explicitly making the claim of being sent by a God. If he was a fraud, he would have had an existing history of it, and he wouldn’t have dared to come back to a place where he killed someone and feared for his life, then challenge its ruler and win! If he was a deluded self-appointed leader to his people, that delusion would have been his demise. He would have been killed, as other religious founders have. Instead, he and his people, although an oppressed minority without any military power, were able to escape their oppressors and defeat them! This is impossible without some powerful external assistance.
One can reasonably claim that the story of Moses is just a myth that is made to look impressive. That would be fair, except it had more impact than what a myth can fathom. That being said, even if we accept that it’s all a myth, or at least a heavily augmented truth, it is still told by other Abrahamic prophets who happen to have had similar or more impact than Moses did. This makes his story as valid as theirs can be. So, let’s continue our analysis.
Sources:
(1) From Britannica: Moses... Hebrew prophet, teacher, and leader who, in the 13th century bce... delivered his people from Egyptian slavery...
(2) From Britannica: ...When he found an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew, probably to death, he could control his sense of justice no longer...
(3) From Britannica: ...After checking to make sure that no one was in sight, he killed the tough Egyptian overlord...
(4) From the Qur’an (translation): ˹One day˺ he entered the city unnoticed by its people. There he found two men fighting: one of his own people, and the other of his enemies. The man from his people called to him for help against his foe. So Moses punched him, causing his death. Moses cried, “This is from Satan’s handiwork. He is certainly a sworn, misleading enemy.” He pleaded, “My Lord! I have definitely wronged my soul, so forgive me.” So He forgave him, ˹for˺ He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Christianity

Let's analyze the message of Christianity.

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): PASS. It does warn of an upcoming judgment and details the conditions of success and failure. This makes it unsafe to dismiss.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): PASS. It is definitely universal. Anyone can be a Christian, and it’s easy to find Christians from different countries, different ethnicities speaking different languages. It doesn’t get as universal as this!
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): PASS. It references previous religions and prophets, like Noah, Abraham, Moses, and many others. All of them being sent by the same God.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. Some concepts in Christianity don’t align with reality well. Christians view Jesus as the son of God, but also as a part of God. God being three different entities, but still one: God the father, the holy spirit and the son. A concept called the trinity. Christians believe that God sacrificed his son in order to absolve humans from their sins. This doesn’t quite make sense for many reasons:

1: If God sacrificed his son in order to absolve us of our sins, judgment wouldn’t make sense. Also, why does a God have a son? Mortals have children to continue the species and to provide for them when they grow weak. A God doesn’t need a son...

1. If God sacrificed his son, also a part of himself, it should have been the final act of life here on Earth. Instead, he let Muhammad come after and be so successful in reversing this idea, all while claiming to be sent by him!!! And what about the people who died a long time ago and never knew about this important sacrifice?
   
2. The idea that God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving doesn’t stand for a judging God. It simply isn’t possible for him to have these 3 attributes at the same time. If he is all-knowing, then he knows that many humans will fail his judgment and be severely punished. Consequently, if he is also all-powerful, being all-loving would have him not resort to judgment and not punish anyone. Since he insists on judgment with a heaven and hell, then he isn’t all-loving. Muhammad also happens to correct this idea.
   
3. The conditions of success and failure in the upcoming judgment are not particularly fair. It’s not about what actions one does during their life, rather, it’s about accepting Jesus as savior. One can be the most ruthless killer, then just accept Jesus as savior in order to be absolved of all wrongdoing. Also, what about all the people who lived and died before Jesus was even born? They didn’t know Jesus; how can they accept him as savior? Haven’t they spent their lives following other rules? Isn’t that unfair to them?
   

Now let's analyze Jesus, the founder of Christianity.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): PASS. Jesus had a notoriously flawless social reputation and was known for his noble morals.
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): PASS. He was raised Jewish, however he wasn’t particularly involved in any public religious activity, nor did he engage in any activity that produced thought or knowledge. He was a carpenter by trade (1), until his mission started. After which, and this is critical, he was immediately at odds with the existing Jewish teachings to the point of being in danger!
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): PASS. He was known to be a carpenter, then he suddenly turned into an itinerant preacher at odds with the established teachings (2). If he had been publicly learning or teaching Judaism before his claim, he would have failed this criterion, as almost all others have. However, it’s not the case, and the transformation is self-produced and puzzling! How does a carpenter who isn’t involved with religious matters nor any knowledge or thought producing profession, suddenly become an itinerant preacher with enough difference to the established faith to become a threat and a target?
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. He died for his mission (the Christian version is in contrast with the Islamic version here). There is no better test of devotion. He also was at odds with the established Jewish religion, which made him a target. Most of the founders of religion that we have seen, never entered in conflict with the existing religions at the beginning, rather, they built upon them and benefited from their involvement with them.
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): PASS. Christianity is the biggest religion today! Nearly 25% of humans are Christians, and the rest know or have heard of Jesus. Now this, is communication!!!

Similar to Moses, if there is a judging and fair God, Jesus is highly likely to be one of his messengers. His feat is even more impressive than that of Moses. His mission and success in correcting and complementing the existing Jewish faith against incredible odds, adds more credibility to his claim. Jesus changed the world and continues to do so today!
Sources:
(1) From Britannica: ...Joseph is said to have been a carpenter (Matthew 13:55)—that is, a craftsman who worked with his hands—and, according to Mark 6:3, Jesus also became a carpenter...
(2) From Britannica: ...As a young adult, he went to be baptized by the prophet John the Baptist and shortly thereafter became an itinerant preacher and healer (Mark 1:2–28). In his mid-30s Jesus had a short public career, lasting perhaps less than one year, during which he attracted considerable attention...

Islam

Let's analyze the message of Islam.

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): PASS. Islam clearly warns of an upcoming judgment and details the conditions of success and failure. Consequently, it’s not safe to dismiss.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): PASS. Islam is universal. Anyone can be a Muslim, and it’s quite easy to find two Muslims who are from different countries, ethnicities and don’t share the same language. The yearly pilgrimage where millions of Muslims gather is proof to how diverse Muslims can be.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): PASS. Islam references many past prophets (25 in total), including but not limited to: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, David, Jacob, Jonas, Moses, Jesus... It clearly states that God has been communicating since the beginning out of fairness, so that people wouldn’t find any excuse when judgment comes!
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): PASS. Islam insists on monotheism, and clearly reverses the trinity concept that has gotten into Christianity, as well as the idea that God is all-loving, on top of being all-knowing and all-powerful.

It aligns with reality well by describing reality as a test of free will. Life is neither the suffering Buddhism makes it out to be (which it isn’t), nor is it the joyous life Tenrikyo claims it should be (which again, isn’t). Every single human is continuously tested through good and bad. When it is something bad, it is their patience and acceptance that is tested. When it is something good, it is their capacity of being thankful and generous that is tested. Everyone’s life is a mix of good and bad. Exceptions exist and are accounted for.
Islam states that God has been sending prophets since the beginning in order to remind people that judgment is coming. It states that people who didn’t get the message will be tested again. Those who got the message of the prophet of their time, accepted it and followed its guidelines, shall pass the judgment. Those who rejected the message after receiving it clearly shall fail.
Now let's analyze Muhammad, the founder of Islam.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): PASS. Prior to his claim, Muhammad was highly regarded by his community and known for his trustworthiness (1).
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): PASS. Again here, Muhammad was not involved in the pagan polytheist religion of his community, even though it was popular, nor was he involved in any other religion. He was a successful merchant (2) and notoriously illiterate (3). He didn’t have any profession or interest that produced thought or knowledge.
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): PASS. Muhammad’s life changed drastically after he supposedly received revelation. The first contact shocked him greatly (4). After telling his wife what happened, she took him to her cousin who was knowledgeable about the Jewish faith. He told Muhammad that what happened to him was similar to Moses, and that a day will come when his community chases him away.
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. Muhammad suffered a lot for his claim and was under constant threat of death (5). He used to request to be guarded at night, however upon receiving revelation that God will protect him from people, he sent the guards away from that moment on (6). He was never harmed even while having many enemies who wanted to kill him.
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): PASS. Muhammad, an illiterate person living in a remote desert, without any special means or skills, was able to spread his message everywhere, and he predicted it from the start (7). He created a civilization that would change the world in just 23 years. Like Christianity, Islam is found almost everywhere, and almost everyone has heard of him and his religion. It’s not by chance that the most popular male first name in the world today is “Muhammad” (8).

If a judging and fair God exists, Muhammad is highly likely to be one of his messengers. He was leading a normal and regular life in a polytheistic society for 40 years, then suddenly started preaching monotheism, suffering for it and even going to war for it.
Sources:
(1) From Wikipedia: ...Due to his upright character he acquired the nickname "al-Amin" (Arabic: الامين), meaning "faithful, trustworthy" and "al-Sadiq" meaning "truthful" and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator. His reputation attracted a proposal in 595 from Khadijah, a successful businesswoman. Muhammad consented to the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one...
(2) From Wikipedia: ... It is known that he became a merchant and "was involved in trade between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
(3) From Wikipedia: ... Because he could not read and write himself...
(4) From Wikipedia: ...Muhammad was deeply distressed upon receiving his first revelations. After returning home, Muhammad was consoled and reassured by Khadijah and her Christian [sic] cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal. He also feared that others would dismiss his claims as being possessed...
(5) From Wikipedia: ...Regardless, several attempts were made at Muhammad's life...
(6) From Qur’an. Aisha said: "The Prophet was being guarded until this verse وَاللَّهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ النَّاسِ (Allah will protect you from mankind) was revealed." She added; "The Prophet raised his head from the room and said; «يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ انْصَرِفُوا فَقَدْ عَصَمَنِي اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَل» (O people! Go away, for Allah will protect me)"
(7) From Sunnah: Miqdad reported that he heard God’s messenger say, “There will not remain on the face of the earth a mud-brick house or a camel’s hair tent which God will not cause the confession of Islam to enter bringing both mighty honour and abject abasement. God will either honour the occupants and put them among its adherents, or will humiliate them and they will be subject to it.” Miqdad said, “God will then receive complete obedience.”
(8) https://www.thebump.com/b/muhammad-baby-name

Druze

Let’s analyze the Druze faith!

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): FAIL. It’s not an extinct religion, but it is intentionally restricted and doesn’t accept conversions to it. How can this be a communication from a judging and fair God if the people being judged cannot have access to the material they need to succeed? If it stated that only a specific audience was targeted, that might have worked, but it doesn't say that, at least not when it started.
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): PASS. Since Druze references other Abrahamic religions, I’m giving it a pass here, even though it’s not clear what the Druze actually believe.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. It’s far from being universal. It doesn’t want to be, and it’s not.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): PASS. It does reference other religions, even though it’s not clear in what capacity. Are the previous religions considered as previous instances of communication? Or does it complete its worldview with their knowledge? I’ll give it a pass.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. Its closed nature makes it impossible for it to align with reality.

Now let's analyze Hamza Ibn Ali, the founder of Druze.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): FAIL. The Druze faith was named after Al-Darzi, who might have been either a disciple or a teacher of Hamza. A rivalry appeared between the two. Al-Darzi disputed the role of Hamza as the leader of the movement. They were both acquiring followers and engaged in regular brawls (1). So in summary, God supposedly sent Hamza as a messenger preaching that the current ruler was the embodiment of said God (If God is the embodiment of the ruler, why need Hamza at all?!!), then another man entered in competition with this messenger, who was also tolerated by the ruler, and even ended up giving his name to the movement, all the while the followers of each man fought each other. Then after said ruler was killed, the movement disappeared from its place of inception, but survived elsewhere and became a restricted religion. This doesn’t show anyone involved in a good light, especially not Hamza.
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): FAIL. There isn’t enough information about Hamza Ibn Ali before he entered Egypt in 1017. However, he fails the non-involvement rule, as he was appointed as a preacher in his own mosque before he started claiming that the reigning caliph was the embodiment of God (2). Rather convenient since that granted him support and favors (3).
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): FAIL. He supposedly received revelation, however that didn’t seem to cause any change in his life whatsoever. Receiving an unexpected contact from some God is supposed to cause a noticeable drastic change in one’s life, unless such revelation was expected or planned. Suffice it to say that he was already a preacher before supposedly receiving revelation.
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. Hamza definitely feared for his life but continued with his claim. He went into hiding, which seems a little bit cowardly for a prophet. In contrast, Moses came back to a place where he feared for his life, because he believed there was a God protecting him. The same happened with Muhammad who confidently sent guards away after revelation. However, since Hamza continued with his claim, considering this as a pass seems fair.
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): FAIL. Hamza Ibn Ali failed to spread his message even though he initially set out to (4). If one is to say that the message couldn’t spread because of persecution, well, the same persecution occurred for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and yet, these messages spread everywhere despite everything.

It’s extremely unlikely that the Druze faith is a communication from a judging and fair God. Its founder fails a combination of some important criteria.
Sources:
(1) From Wikipedia: ...Indeed, in his epistles, Hamza is critical of his colleague, both for al-Darzi's disputing Hamza's role as the leader of their movement, as well as for his followers' over-zealous, extremist and provocative actions, which revealed the movement's ideas prematurely and placed it under danger of attack... During this time, the followers of the rival leaders engaged in regular brawls in the streets of Cairo, cursing one another as infidels.
(2) From Britannica: ...Almost nothing is known of his life before he entered Egypt in 1017. He became a spokesman for the religious convictions of the Fāṭimid caliph al-Ḥākim (the Fāṭimids were the ruling dynasty in Egypt), who was already accorded the position of imām, a divinely appointed and authoritative spokesman for Islam...
(3) From Wikipedia: ...According to the medieval chroniclers, he too enjoyed signs of favour from al-Hakim: when he complained to the Caliph that his life was in danger, he was given weapons, which he demonstratively hung on every entrance to the Raydan Mosque...
(4) From Britannica: ...Considerable resistance to these doctrines appeared when they were first preached in 1017, and Ḥamzah went into hiding until 1019, when al-Ḥākim was able to move vigorously to support the new religious movement... Ḥamzah claimed to be representing not just another sect but rather an independent religion, one that superseded traditional Islam. Al-Ḥākim disappeared in mysterious circumstances in 1021, and, much persecuted, the Druze cult all but ceased to exist in Egypt...

Mormonism

Let’s analyze Mormonism:

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS.
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): PASS. Mormonism is built on top of Christianity and Judaism, to which it delegates a vast chunk of knowledge. Consequently, I’ll give it a pass here.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. It is far from being universal. If it was God’s way to bring Christianity to its rightful state, the least we can say is that it didn’t happen. Most of Mormons are still in Utah (U.S state), where they went after Smith was killed.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): PASS. Mormonism references both Christianity and Judaism. This makes it pass this criterion, however, the fact that it doesn’t reference Islam is problematic for its worldview.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. Being based on Christianity, Mormonism inherits some of the same issues. It corrects some, but also introduces some of its own. For example, Mormonism states that there are three separate divine entities, God the father, Jesus Christ and the holy spirit. They’re not three in one, as Christianity says. This doesn’t solve the issue of sacrificing one divine entity for the sins of humans while still judging them. It only adds complexity. Are these Gods equal? What if they don’t agree on something? This also goes against Judaism, which Mormonism references, and with Judaism comes the whole legacy of monotheism! Mormonism corrects the idea that salvation only depends on accepting Jesus as savior. It adds the fact that deeds play a role, which is fair.

Now let's analyze Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): FAIL. Smith’s reputation was less than stellar (1). His treasure hunting profession isn’t exactly the most honest of professions. Also, eloping to marry his wife, attempting to marry already married women, escaping justice, dying in a shoot-out with the mob...
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): FAIL. He fails the non-involvement rule on many accounts. He was heavily involved with public religious activity and even magic, in a place and time where religious revivalism thrived (2).
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): FAIL. Supposedly receiving revelation in 1823 via the angel he called Moroni, didn’t surprise him, nor seemed to have much effect on his life direction. He continued treasure seeking using questionable methods and leading the same life.
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. Smith was extremely devoted to his cause. He never gave up until the end!
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): FAIL. If Mormonism was God’s way to bring back Christianity to its rightful state, then the mission simply failed. It seems like Christianity enjoys far more universality than Mormonism. In this regard, Smith failed his mission, as most of the followers of the religion are still based where their ancestors ended up after the death of Smith.

Sources:
(1) From Wikipedia: ...Meanwhile, the Smith family faced financial hardship... Family members supplemented their meager farm income by hiring out for odd jobs and working as treasure seekers, a type of magical supernaturalism common during the period. Smith was said to have an ability to locate lost items by looking into a seer stone, which he also used in treasure hunting, including, beginning in 1825, several unsuccessful attempts to find buried treasure sponsored by Josiah Stowell, a wealthy farmer in Chenango County, New York. In 1826, Smith was brought before a Chenango County court for "glass-looking", or pretending to find lost treasure; Stowell's relatives accused Smith of tricking Stowell and faking an ability to perceive hidden treasure... Although Smith had abandoned treasure hunting, his former associates believed he had double crossed them and had taken the golden plates for himself, property they believed should be jointly shared. After they ransacked places where they believed the plates might be hidden, Smith decided to leave Palmyra
(2) From Wikipedia: The region was a hotbed of religious enthusiasm during the Second Great Awakening. Between 1817 and 1825, there were several camp meetings and revivals in the Palmyra area… Smith said that he became interested in religion by age 12… With other family members, Smith also engaged in religious folk magic, which was a relatively common practice in that time and place…

Baha'i Faith

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS.
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): UNKNOWN. Baha’i Faith claims to be a unification of all the major religions. The issue is that some of the religions it references speak of judgment, like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, while others don’t, like Buddhism and Hinduism. While Baha’i Faith speaks of a day of judgment, it doesn’t seem to view it in the same way. It speaks of deeds being judged, but not according to each religion’s standards, rather, according to Baha’i Faith’s standards, which I have failed to find after multiple searches. If the conditions of success and failure aren’t clear, the God of Baha’i Faith cannot possibly be fair. I’ll mark this as unknown, but it’s actually closer to a failure.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. In theory, Baha’i Faith should be universal, as it calls for the unification of all the major religions. It attempts to please everyone, but even while doing so, its numbers remain low, and is mostly unknown.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): FAIL. Baha’i Faith references all major religions, but not as past instances of communication. It essentially claims that there is only one religion, and that the major religions were manifestations of God, but don’t necessarily represent said unique religion correctly. It references all major religions only to change their core beliefs in order to achieve unification. Said another way, this One God, has left people to be duped by false religions since the start, and only thanks to Baháʼu'lláh in the 1800s, did he think to show the truth to people. What about those who died long before Baháʼu'lláh was even born, and who followed Buddhism for example without ever believing a God existed?
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. This is a big failure. Baha’i Faith doesn’t make much sense, to the point of being revolting, to me at least! It attempts to be everything to everyone. Its founder claims to be Christ returned for Christians, the second coming of Jesus for Sunni Muslims, the Imam Husayn for Shi’a Muslims, the reincarnation of Krishna for Hindus, and the fifth Buddha for Buddhists. Never mind what each one of these symbols means in the context of its own religion, it just takes the concept and runs with it. It disregards most of what is associated with these symbols, it only needs its acknowledged existence. Let’s not forget that most of these religions do not agree with each other! It attempts to reconcile worldviews that are incompatible with each other. It picks and chooses what it wants from each major religion and disregards the rest.

Now let's analyze Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of Baha'i Faith.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): PASS. Coming from a wealthy family, he was known to give considerable amounts of time and money to charity.
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): FAIL. The founder of Baha’i Faith, Baháʼu'lláh, as well as the founder of Bábism, Siyyid Ali Muhammad, known as the Báb, and who laid the foundation for Baha’i Faith, both fail the non-involvement rule. They were both heavily involved in public religious matters before and at the time of their claims (1) (2). We are not talking about regular religious people going about their day, then making an exceptional claim out of nowhere, no! It’s practically the same scenario every time: a person is deeply involved with religious matters, or actively pursuing a profession or an interest, which leads them either by opportunity or by delusion to their claim. It’s the same here!
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): FAIL. Baháʼu'lláh had already set the course of his life and was already deeply involved in religious matters before he supposedly received his first divine revelation, which was in prison. From then on, not much had changed.
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. He stood by his claim and spent most of his life in prison. It’s important to note though that he wasn’t initially imprisoned because of his claim. Rather, it was because of his involvement with Bábism.
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): FAIL. If Baháʼu'lláh was sent by the one and only God in order to unify all major religions, such unification hasn’t happened successfully.

It's highly unlikely that Baha'i Faith is a communication from a judging and fair God.
Sources:
(1) From Wikipedia: Some of his earlier writings suggest that he did not enjoy the business and instead applied himself to the study of religious literature… He was constantly absorbed in his own thoughts, and was preoccupied with repetition of his prayers and verses… In 1841 the Báb went on pilgrimage to Iraq, and for seven months stayed mostly in and around Karbala. There he attended lectures of Kazim Rashti and became his follower… As of his death in December 1843, Kazim Rashti counseled his followers to leave their homes to seek the Mahdi, who, according to his prophecies, would soon appear. One of these followers, Mullá Husayn, after keeping vigil for 40 days in a mosque, traveled to Shiraz, where he met the Báb…
(2) From Wikipedia: Soon after declaring his spiritual mission to Mullá Husayn, the Báb sent him to Tehran to deliver a special tablet to one whom God would guide him to. After learning about Baháʼu'lláh through an acquaintance, Mullá Husayn felt compelled to arrange for Baháʼu'lláh to receive the tablet—this news brought great joy to the Báb when Mullá Husayn wrote to him about it…

Summary

After analyzing all the religions, the ones that are highly likely to be communications from a judging and fair God if one exists, are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They are the only religions that satisfy most of the criteria. In fact, their founders are the ONLY ones who satisfy all the criteria, specifically the criterion of non-involvement prior to their claim of a contact with a God. All the other founders were involved in one way or another, making their claim a possible result of either fraud or delusion.
It is important to note though: we haven't proven that a judging and fair God exists, and we haven't proven that these religions are actually communications from him, not at all. All we did was to reasonably prove that if a judging and fair God exists, then Judaism, Christianity and Islam are highly likely to be communications from him.
In the next post, we will continue our research and see how we can reasonably prove that a judging and fair God exists.
Until next time!

HOW WE GOT HERE:
Brad Holmes is a wizard. What he has done as the Detroit GM in just 3 years has been a playoff push away from being quite remarkable, especially considering the context of succeeding prior general manager Bob Quinn which ended in typical Lions losing fashion. Brad Holmes would immediately come out swinging and first transaction as general manager was trading longtime franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for two first round picks, a third round pick, and quarterback Jared Goff. At the time, it was bittersweet for fans, as Stafford was the practically the lone bright spot in the last decade (outside of Megatron), but the haul they got in return was at least something. Stafford was injured and already likely leaving to chase a Super Bowl and Detroit was going into full rebuild mode so Detroit fans were just happy with what they could get. Brad ended up hiring a one time Head Coach, Dan Campbell. A pick made purely on the potential he would be able to change the culture with his grind it out, Football attitude Campbell was known for. All in all, it was business as usual for Detroit as they begin yet another rebuild....
​
Oh parity in sports.... You never cease to amaze us....
Somehow and someway, In Holmes' first draft, Penei Sewell falls to Detroit at #7 and the Lions draft room goes bananas on camera! At the time we did not know it, but Detroit just landed their future Pro Bowl leader in the trenches. In round 4, the Lions scoop a literal Sun God in Amon-Ra St. Brown. Little did we all know the impact both of these players would have today. Both players are arguably top 10 in their position.
Fast forward to 2022 and the Lions are coming off one of the most promising 3-13-1 seasons that you could ever ask for. The team and coaches have bought in to Dan Campbell's grind it out style of Football. The culture seemed to finally be changing and it felt like Jared Goff turning into a solid Stafford replacement, despite being considered a throw on by most in the Stafford trade.
The 2022 draft Brad Holmes' statement to the NFL. It does not matter where you take guys. If you know how to evaluate talent, you go for YOUR guys and you can be successful. Holmes was able to draft Aiden Aiden Hutchinson at #2 (some say he should have been #1), Jameson Williams (best receiver in the draft at 12 via trade), Kerby Joseph (who picked off Aaron Rodgers THREE TIMES IN ONE GAME!), and drafted James Houston and Malcolm Rodriguez in the 6th round. Both players are looking like future defensive stars. Dare I say the best 6th round success since the Pats drafted TB12? Don't @ me lol
The Lions followed up the draft with a MUCH improved 2022, landing a 9-8 winning record and going 8-2 in their final 10 games. Jared Goff is looking like the guy who took the Rams to the Superbowl, every position has young talent and this upcoming 2023 draft is looking like it could seriously push the Lions into serious playoff contention if the cards are played correctly.
​
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Key Offseason Additions:
CB Cameron Sutton -- Signed to three-year, $33 million contract
CB Emmanuel Moseley -- Signed to one-year, $6 million contract.
RB David Montgomery -- Signed to three-year, $18 million contract
OL Graham Glasgow -- Signed one-year, $4.5 million contract
S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson -- Signed to one-year, $8.5 million contract
WR Marvin Jones -- Signed to one-year, $3 million contract
​
Key Offseason Losses:
Safety DeShon Elliott -- Signed to one-year, $1.77 million contract with Dolphins.
Running back Jamaal Williams -- Signed to three-year, $12 million contract with Saints.
WR DJ Chark -- Signed to one-year, $5 million deal with Panthers.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
​
Round 1: No. 12 (from CLE through HOU and ARI) – Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Alabama
Flashback! Remember that Stafford trade where they got got the Rams draft pick? You know that pick that was supposed to be in the upper 20s because LA is so good and are coming off winning a Super Bowl? Yea, well they sucked.... Somehow they sucked so bad that that pick turned into the number 6th overall pick.
Odds makers had the Lions grabbing Devon Witherspoon as their secondary was a big need. However when Seattle took him at 5, who knew what would follow? Well, the last thing fans expected.... The Lions ended up passing on Tyree Wilson, Jalen Carter, AND Bijan Robinson by trading down to 12 to take Alabama running back, Jahmyr Gibbs. Hindsight is 2020, but reports now show the Lions wanted Jahmyr over Bijan, which means Holmes and co. got THEIR guy.
​
Immediately fans realized the inevitable. Fan favorite and oft injured running back, DeAndre Swift, was going to be cut or traded. Almost immediately they traded D'Andre Swift and a 7th round pick for the Saints' 2025 fourth-round pick and a 2023 7th round pick.
​
This pick is exactly why you and I are sitting on the couch and Brad Holmes gets paid the big bucks. "HoW cAn YoU dRaFt a RuNnInG BaCk ThAt hIgH". Well, the dude is a straight up baller. If I asked you who led Alabama in receiving last year you would probably say some 5 star Wide Receiver. It was Gibbs. Gibbs is being compared Alvin Kamara in the way he can run and catch. He was listed as running a 4.36 at the combine. Gibbs transferred to Alabama last season after spending the first two seasons of his career at Georgia Tech. He carried the ball 151 times for the Crimson Tide in 2022, averaging 6.1 yards per carry and scoring seven touchdowns. He also caught 44 passes for 444 yards and three catching scores. With the departure of Swift and the newly acquired bowling ball back in Montgomery, Gibbs is going to be an immediate impact as a "weapon" and less of a conventional running back. The thunder and lightning combo the Lions will have will be fun to watch behind their top 5 O Line.
​
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
​
Round 1: No. 18 – Jack Campbell, LB, Iowa
"HoW cAn YoU dRaFt a RuNnInG BaCk ThAt hIgH" made sense with the Gibbs pick, but drafting a Linebacker at 18 with other glaring needs like lineman and secondary left Lions fans a bit puzzled by this pick. It hurt a little less when you remember this was their 2nd pick in the first round. Also, many people had Jack Campbell on their board for later in the draft so in terms of liking a guy for who they are, very few people are against this pick. But like I said before, Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell go after guys they have faith in. Until they screw up, fans cant complain too much!
But who is this guy and what makes him so good? Well if you care about RAS or "Relative Athletic Score" Jack is outstanding. He scored a 9.98 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 6 out of 2600 LB from 1987 to 2023. He possesses rare athleticism for being 6-5 and that allows him to be exceptional in coverage. PFF rated him as the highest coverage grade since 2018 Devin White at LSU. He also has great leadership skills as he was Iowa's team captain and won Big10 Defensive Player of the year.
Jack Campbell is going to join a much improving linebacking core that is led by team captain Alex Anzalone and 2nd year stars Malcolm Rodriguez and James Houston. The Lions will likely play him on the outside because off his athleticism but I am certain he will be moved all around the field.
​
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
​
Round 2: No. 34 (from ARI) – Sam LaPorta, TE, Iowa
This is getting a bit out of hand for the Lions fans that appreciate positional value when you draft. Clearly Holmes has totally thrown conventional wisdom out of the window. However, tight end IS a need. Of all of the positional units Tight End is probably the weakest. In 2022 the Lions trotted Brock Wright, James Mitchell, and Shane Zylstra....WHOOOO?!?! Exactly...they needed help. Outside of when they took him, most pundits are pretty happy about this pick. Not only did the Lions get their second Iowa captain, but Sam might have landed the best tight end in the entire class.
​
With LaPorta, the Lions get a player that can do a variety of things. He can play in the slot, in-line or even out wide. This is EXTRA important when you remember that Jameson Williams is suspended for 6 games due to gambling. During his career at Iowa, he had 513 snaps in-line and 304 snaps out of the slot (per PFF). It really wouldn’t be surprising if LaPorta walks into Detroit and earns the starting tight end spot. He has the talent to do it and by being the 34th overall pick, there is going to be some high expectations for him.
​
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
​
Round 2: No. 45 (from DET) – Brian Branch, S, Alabama
For the first time all draft it felt like a player fell to Detroit and they werent reaching for their guy (for better or worse). At 45, the Lions were already drafting their 4th player and wasnt even the end of the 2nd round. Scouts said that Branch was one of the safest picks in the draft due to his lack of a jarring weakness. Branch is siad to have extremely high football IQ which led him to play all around the defense for the Crimson Tide. Branch has primarily handled nickel coverage, but has the range and instincts for single-high or split safety looks. He’s quick, fast and strong with the ability to match up with shifty slots, bigger possession receivers and pass-catching tight ends. Branch is also tough and gritty which makes himu a perfec fit for this Lions team. He has a nose for the ball and is capable of making game-changing plays. He had two interceptions and two forced fumbles during his freshman season at Bama.
Branch made headlines on draft day to be the only guy to stay into day 2 in the greenroom as he was projected to go in the first round. I think that shows how much he cares about this opportunity and has his heart in it.
Also, Branch as a great opportunity to learn from newly acquired Safety, Chauncy Gardner-Johnson who is one of the best young safeties in the league.
​
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
​
Round 3: No. 68 (from DEN) – Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee
You ever feeling a little uncomfortable and then you let out a massive fart and all of your uneasiness washes away? Yea, well thats the feeling Lions fans got when they landed Hendon Hooker with the 68th pick. QB wasnt a terrible need, but once we got him, a sense of relief was felt across the fanbase. When the Lions ended up getting Goff in the Stafford trade, it was sort of unsaid that Goff was just the bridge before they draft a QB of the future. However Goff has played way better than expectations and less and less fans are calling for a replacment. So, instead of using one of their first round picks on a QB, they waited and got a guy with first round updside! Now, they are in a much more confortable position at QB with a very solid back up.
The Lions used the 68th pick in order to take the former Tennessee quarterback. The pick came just before the Rams and Raiders were scheduled to pick and been teams have been seen as possible landing spots for a quarterback in this year’s draft. Hooker is recovering from a torn ACL, but his doctor recently informed teams that he is expected to be ready to go by the first week of the regular season. With Jared Goff in place as the starter in Detroit, there won’t be any need for Hooker to rush back for what will likely be a redshirt season if all goes according to plan in Detroit.
This pick was safe, exciting, and sets the Lions up with a solid back up QB. The first time that they can say that since they had Shaun Hill.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
​
Round 3: No. 96 (from ARI) – Brodric Martin, DT, Western Kentucky
​
Before the draft, a need that was discussed as a hole in the Lions defense was interior line. They got their big boy in the middle with nose tackle, Brodric Martin. After starting his career at North Alabama, Martin transferred to Western Kentucky to play his final two seasons at the FBS level. Since 2021, Martin has played in 26 total games, and has managed to contribute 62 total tackles to the Western Kentucky cause. He’s piled up six tackles for-loss as well as four sacks, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble. This move with help the Lions run defense that ranked 4th to last in the NFL last year.
​
It is no surprise that winning is won in the trenches. The Lions have done a great job of drafting players to build out this line with the likes of Alim McNeill, Isaiah Buggs, and John Cominsky, but with big interior guys like Martin, they usually operate best in a rotation. This move should be huge in terms of depth and opening up even more opportunities for Aiden Hutchison to get to the QB.
This move didn't feel flashy, but it felt needed.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
​
Round 5: No. 152 – Colby Sorsdal, OL, William & Mary
​
The Lions had to finally wait a bit before this pick due to moving around in the draft and trading away their pick round 4. They elected to add depth to their O-Line by taking Colby Sorsdal out of William and Mary. Sometimes its fun being the big fish in the small pond. Sorsdal started in all 46 games he appeared in during his five-year stint at William & Mary. He spent the duration of his college career at Right Tackle. Sorsdal is the first Tribe player to be drafted since 2016, when the Chicago Bears selected safety DeAndre Houston-Carson in the sixth round.
Serving as an offensive co-captain and starting all 13 games at Right Tackle, Sorsdal anchored an offensive line that helped the Tribe rank third in total rushing offense and fourth in fewest sacks allowed. Behind one of the best offensive line units in the country, the Tribe accumulated an 11-2 record and won the CAA Conference Championship for the first time since 2015.
He will be joining a elite O-line led by Penei Sewell, Frank Ragnow and Taylor Decker. Colby wont start, but he will add in needed depth for a team that's success will only goes as far as their line will take them.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
​
Round 7: No. 219 (from HOU through MIN via PHI) – Antoine Green, WR, North Carolina
With the Lions last pick in a very intense draft, they selected Wide Receiver, Antoine Green out of UNC. Most projected Antoine to be signed to a team after the draft so it is a but of a peculiar pick. In the late 7th round, you are just hoping to take a flier on a guy and hoping they pan out.
The 6-foot-3, 199-pound receiver impressed Detroit's coaching staff at the East-West Shrine Bowl, and has the opportunity to compete for playing time his rookie season. According to NFL Draft Bible, Green is a "technically sound, fluid athlete that can give you a little bit of everything as a wide receiver. Green runs routes, it is as if he is attacking his defender rather than going about his route without considering what the defense is doing. Green has a good release off the line of scrimmage and does not get held up too much when facing press coverage. He uses his hands well to reduce contact against the press and accelerate off the line. He analyzes coverages well and makes quick decisions on how to break down his defender throughout his route. He can read zone defenses and has a knack for finding spaces to make himself an easier target."
With Jameson Williams missing 6 games to start the year, there is an opportunity for Green to poach snaps away from anyone not named Amon-Ra or Marvin Jones. There is also a chance he doesn't make it out of camp. Unlikely, but we will see.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
​
Conclusion:
​
The 2023 NFL draft for the Detroit Lions was a resounding success. They were able to draft 6 times....BEFORE THE FOURTH ROUND!! The extra picks allowed Detroit to really control the draft and move around in a way to get the guys they wanted. They did not care about who they got and when. They just simply got the guys they wanted. After reflecting on its entirety, they landed a lot of great talent. They were able to add a player at every single positional unit and several will end up starting and making an immediate impact.
​
Look, the Lions are going to Lions so hold your breath a little longer, however Brad Holmes and Jack Campbell have really turned this franchise around and are making them a legit playoff contender. Right now the Lions are favored to win the NFC North for the first time since god knows when. I am projecting a record of 12 and 5 and a NFL North Division Win.
​
GO LIONS!!!! (FTP)

Matchup: Old Glory DC (5-7-1, 33pts, 2nd in East) vs NOLA Gold (5-8, 26pts, 5th in East)
Venue: The Gold Mine, Metairie, LA Weather: 89 F, 32 C, Clear Sky with a possible chance for rain
Broadcast: The Rugby Network, MASN, YurView Louisiana
Kickoff: 6:00pm ET, 3:00pm PT

Old Glory	Number	NOLA
Jack Iscaro	1	Jarred Adams
Nic Souchon	2	Pat O’Toole
Kyle Stewart	3	Sean Paranihi
Tevita Naqali	4	Cam Dolan (c)
Kyle Baillie	5	Liam Hallam-Eames
Lautaro Bavaro	6	Malcolm May
Alejo Daireaux	7	Moni Tonga’uiha
Niko Jones	8	Tom Florence
Danny Tusitala	9	Luke Campbell
Gradyn Bowd	10	Rodney Iona
Marcos Young	11	Cael Hodgson
Doug Fraser	12	Ross Depperschmidt
William Talataina	13	JP du Plessis
Peni Lasaqa	14	Harley Wheeler
Joaquín Díaz Bonilla	15	Jordan Trainor
Reserves		Reserves
KoiKoi Nelligan	16	Eric Howard
Quentin Newcomer	17	Matt Harmon
Cali Martinez	18	Dino Waldren
Langilangi Haupeakui	19	Billy Stewart
Collin Grosse	20	Alex Lopeti
John LeFevre	21	Sebastiano Villani
Thretton Palamo	22	Reece Botha
John Rizzo	23	Dougie Fife

Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Allen Alongi (USA) & Rob Halcomb (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)

I'd love some feedback on this excerpt from a story I've been writing (especially on the prose and the dialogue). The story focuses on a young woman, Sylvie, who thinks her local pub might be a sort of 'truck stop' for time travellers. It's set in the UK, in the present day. In this excerpt, she's sitting in the pub with her pen and notebook, trying to figure out whether there are really time travellers among the pub's patrons.
Thank you so much for reading!
..........
Over the course of the afternoon, Sylvie recorded the comings and goings of eight customers: four sixty-something men who arrived together, drank together, and left together; a young couple dressed in matching Christmas sweaters; a dour-faced woman and her equally dour-faced Mastiff; and an elderly man who nursed a single cup of tea for nearly an hour. They all looked twenty-first-century-ordinary. No Brylcreemed pompadours. No bell bottoms. No spiral perms. But to get a proper sense of where—when—they were from, appearances alone wouldn’t suffice.
The old man looked to be the most approachable of the bunch. Sylvie ordered another lemonade at the bar and, as she headed back to her table, she stopped to speak to him. ‘Excuse me. Do you have the time?’
‘Oh—er—yes.’ He pushed back his sleeve and peered at his watch. ‘It’s just after eight.’
‘Thanks,’ Sylvie said. It was two in the afternoon.
‘You’re an early riser, too, then?’ the man said.
‘I suppose I am.’
‘You know what they say—the early bird gets the worm.’ He smiled, and the crows’ feet at the corners of his eyes deepened. There was something so exceedingly good-natured about him that Sylvie couldn’t help but smile back. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘I’ve not seen you here before.’
‘I haven’t been coming here long. Have you?’
‘Oh, yes. I come by for breakfast nearly every day.’
‘Do they serve a nice breakfast here?’ Sylvie asked.
‘To tell you the truth,’ the man said, glancing over at the bar, ‘the toast is a bit soggy. Just between you and me, of course.’ He tapped the side of his nose conspiratorially. ‘Have a seat, if you’d like.’
‘Thanks,’ Sylvie said, accepting his offer. ‘What brings you here, then? If the breakfast isn’t up to much, I mean.’
He scrutinised her. Sylvie got the sense that he was trying to make up his mind about something. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘let me show you something.’ He opened his wallet and held it out to her with a trembling hand. Inside was a small black-and-white photograph. It featured a young man wearing a military uniform. He was handsome—full-cheeked and bright-eyed, with large, elfin ears. He was smiling, but only a little, as if he was trying to suppress it.
‘This,’ the man said, ‘is my boy. Edmund. He’s been dead—let me think—forty-five years, now.’ He shook his head. ‘You’re going to think I’m mad. Goodness knows I do, sometimes.’ He paused and looked at the photograph again. ‘I saw him in here. Only once. Years ago.’
‘Do you mean…?’
‘Yes. After—after he died. Years after. But it was him. I swear it was him. I’d stake my life on it. I know my boy. I was on my way in, and he was on his way out, and by the time I’d clocked what I was seeing, he was gone. Just like that.’ He snapped his fingers, and the silence and stillness around them lent the small sound a strange, resonant quality. ‘Well, I went after him, of course, but it was as if he’d vanished—right into thin air.’
‘That’s strange,’ Sylvie said, softly. She felt a pang of some difficult-to-identify emotion—guilt, perhaps. Part of her wanted to divulge her suspicions to this grieving father; another part of her, however, was afraid. Afraid that she was wrong about all this. Afraid of giving him false hope. Afraid of giving herself false hope.
‘I’ve been coming here ever since. Never seen him again.’ He looked down at the contents of his teacup, which must have been stone-cold by now. ‘Still,’ he said, looking back up at Sylvie with a smile, ‘I live in hope.’
Sylvie smiled back. She pointed at the teacup. ‘Can I get you another?’
‘No, no—thank you, but no. I should be off. I need to pick up a newspaper and get back to Rosemary. She’s a Maine Coon, you know, and she likes to eat. She’ll be looking for her brunch now.’ He got to his feet with some difficulty and took up a battered walking stick. ‘Perhaps I’ll see you in here again soon. What’s your name, my dear?’
‘Sylvie. What’s yours?’
‘Nice to meet you, Sylvie. I’m John.’
‘Nice to meet you too, John.’
‘Have a nice morning, now. And if you see that boy of mine, tell him I’m looking for him, won’t you?’

So... Phish is number one in my heart. But...
Love the Dead, of course. Saw all the variety of spin offs but too young to see Jerry... But never have seen Dead and Co with John!
We have Tix to SPAC Sat night but not sure if we can make it now. Are we totally blowing it? Is it so amazing? Will we regret not ever seeing them?
Or... Do we feel like it's okay to miss it.
Plz help!

Sonny Gray leads American League pitchers with a 2.6 bWAR, which good for fifth overall in the American League, and tied for ninth overall in Major League Baseball. He only trails Marcus Stroman (2.8) in bWAR amongst pitchers throughout Major League Baseball. He has a great chance at his third All-Star, and more importantly, the American League Cy Young.
Joe Ryan is eighth amongst AL pitchers (2.0). He was at around 2.3-2.4 before the Houston start but if Joe keeps up his great start, he’ll be an All-Star and hopefully receive some Cy Young votes.
Bailey Ober is ninth amongst AL pitchers (1.9). After starting the season in St. Paul, his potential breakout season has been incredibly helpful for the Twins due to injuries to Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle.
In conclusion, the Twins have one of the best rotations in Major League Baseball and if the offense gets it together, they could win their first playoff game since John Kerry was a presidential candidate.
Source: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2023-pitching-leaders.shtml

Atlas Srugged. I've heard about it many times across my life--as, i'm sure many people have heard of Ulysses, or Satanic Verses--but never read this, and so wanted to be able to say "yeah, I've read it and...___" I started with a healthy bit of skepticism. It's taken me ~2 weeks to get to the end of chapter 7.Dagny and James taggert, owners of a railroad company, have a strange dynamic. James begrudges his sister the talent and capability of running a company, and seems to relish in causing managerial havoc as long as it causes Dagny anguish. Something something american economy is collapsing, and James wants to give to the poor. BAD, BAD JAMES LIKING MEXICO; it's only looters there or something like that. Where have we seen this in recent popular culture? Eddie Willers likes trees, Dagny is haunted by music. So were all of us, Dagny, until YouTube was around. It's OK.
Hank Rearden's family seem to be unlikeable charicatures; they don't seem to be made without much effort. There's SO MANY great ways that first family scene could have been depicted with more depth, but it feels like an impressionistic equivalent of a slash of paint topped by a circle to represent a person in the distance, intentially portrayed as forgettable and umimportant; we are being trained to think that "unsuccessful" people such as Paul & rearedn's mother (was she ever named?) are not worth remembering. Dangerous narrative posturing.
The government is headed towards anti-competition and the "looters" are going to anyone that benefits from govt handouts (?) We, the readers, are being maneuvered to think that, in a(n unrestricted) capitalist society, activities will eventually be prodigiously productive and beneficial to all. The term "progressive" in this book seems to be slant-term for...progress towards government control?
We see an ever-increasing number of people quit their positions, adding to the idea the book's original working title was "the strike." We see a strange legislation title: the "Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule."Don't we see similar behavior contemporaraily, in Verizon/AT&T/T-Mobile/Comcast, then with our streaming networks? Very strange that these predictions, feared by Rand, would have been precipitated by Alan Greenspan, one of her "disciples".It feels oddly like, with the idea that the government, with the sanction of the general public, in passing this strange anti-competititve legislation, i'm being maneuvered into a thought of "it's good to reject the consensus of the mass of people." Still, why have so many "conservatives" that endorse Ayn Rand's principles still look to christian religion? Am I missing something?!?
Francisco D'Anconia is touted as a genius; this is why he wasted $15 million dollars to stick it to James Taggert and Orren Boyle, those conspiring men who wanted to "loot" from the handounts from Washington. Aight, cool. Musk bought Twitter for reasons, one among them so he could have a little more cover from journalists that have dogged his activities for years. And he's touted as a genius (or at least a genius-thief). Aren't many creators just thieves of ideas?
I struggled through some narrative choices on the first "lovemaking" scenes:"They were both incapable of the conception that joy is sin" [...] "She knew, even though she was too young to know the reason, that indiscriminate desire and unselective indulgence were possible only to those who regarded sex and themselves as evil" (page 106). When was this book first published? 1957? Had our religious values been that oppressively...catholic in austerity towards sex back then, or is this more deliberate narrative steering?
What's the most depraved sort of human being? "The one without a purpose." Interesting idea. A person who has no goal to strive for can easily find their course altered by someone with a larger context, thus swept away by collectivist thought. I actually find this idea to be valuable. A nugget, perhaps?
By this point "Who is John Galt?" feels like it's a narrative MacGuffin. After all, he found Atlantis, the place where heroes live in happiness unknown to the rest of the earth (Ouray, Colorado is generally accepted as where John Galt will lead us to). By the way, Here's the music we're supposed to hear for Halley's fourth symphony.
Chapter 6 is strange. Hank's only way of coping with a wedding is to project himself into a flow-like state, but the narrator perpetually drifts back to business. Lillian throws a party for their wedding...anniversary, but invites a bunch of "looter intellectuals" to use Dagny's words. Dagny happily exchanges her diamond-bracelet for the rearden-steel one. Hankey deals with guilt over having sexual urges, cause he doesn't need the wife, he just wants a woman's body to use the spooge. What is the purpose of this chapter? I imagine John Oliver screaming, YOU GOTTA LIVE A LITTLE, HANKEY!! FEEL SOME GODDAMN HAPPINESS!!
The employees treat Dagny worse as the book goes on. She's their boss, and they're second-guessing her left and right. Frightening that this still happens. Later, Dagny philosophizes with bums at a diner..hank rearden talks to a State Science Institute guy..Dagny and Eddie bemoan the circumspect criticism published about Rearden Metal, and a confrontation with Dr stadtler reveals a man bereft of personal conviction (effectively, the institute he runs issues a statement, but won't retract it despite the fact he disagrees). Odd that, in juxtaposing the hopeless wanderings of the bums--still perscpicacious enough to form an idea of morality--with Hank engaging a slimy and abstruse scientist--then the vague criticisms of metal, we're being primed to see or read "social impact" or "social welfare" and gain an impression of the exchanges and evaluations as being entirely irrelevant to useful measures such as practical business value or material wealth. Once again, as a reader, we're being maneuvered into thoughts that "government and science are bad" because they can interfere with--or limit--businessmen, and thus corporations.
Here's an odd quote: "Contradictions do not exist. whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises." (188). I guess Ayn Rand wasn't a fan of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Or the idea that I can hang out with a childhood friend, see them as they are now, but in my mind's eye, also them as they were when we'd first become friends; the two are different in time, character, and form, but also not.
And then we have Ragnar criminal. A guy who really robs from the looters..?
IDK if I can read any more past chapter 7. Send help.

[←Chapter 54] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 56→]
The silence that hung over the tent was absolute, with only the slight wind in the bows breaking it up. Naia sat with the faintest of smiles tugging at his lips.
“And what, exactly, is that meant to imply?” he said, the smile coming out in full.
“Plainly, then - it’s foolhardy to send your most valuable assets into the fire with an under equipped force,” said Efrain, his patience with this game already up.
“Yes, it must,” Naia said, “alas, the mystery of the church is not to be readily questioned, especially if one wants to reach a position of understanding it.”
‘It was an open secret among those in higher society’ Efrain translated.
“Then why you?” he said, “you hardly seem like an uninformed man.”
“Allow me to divulge a little secret, Efrain, though it must not go outside this tent,” said Naia, “originally, the crusade was to be lead by a lesser noble’s son, who, I unfortunately must say, is not in the favour of society at the moment.”
‘It was doomed from the start so they elected to kill two birds with one stone.’
“And yet, here we are,” said Efrain.
“Indeed. Me and mine saw it for the honour it was. Frankly I was shocked that nobody else did.”
“I see. A lapse of judgement among nobles? I’d never thought I’d see the day.”
“Far be it from me to speak ill of the administrators of our great society. Their duties keep them quite busy. As for my superiors, how could they not take notice? The church was asking for armed men, afterall.”
“And out of all the people they could’ve sent, they sent the young commander with ‘unorthodox’ recruits.”
“Why, they thought it was a great way to prove myself, as did I.”
“It must be hard,” said Efrain, “getting such a difficult job assigned to you.”
“I do what I must, though, I must admit this has had its fair share of headaches. Wonderful surprises too.”
Efrain stopped for a moment, to consider the conclusion that all of this pointed to. It was something so large, so at odds with everything he understood about the church, that it seemed almost impossible. But he had to be sure, absolutely sure that they were on the same page.
He put up his hand onto the table, and felt magic return to him. It was stronger, more definite than before, almost… wilder. Pushing that sensation aside, he remembered crowded inns and temples, the clamour of people, all fading into the background. The air around the pair shimmered ever so slightly, and Naia blinked.
“What did you just do?” he said, looking around.
“Nothing major. Stay in close, or it’ll break. Our conversation will be just a little less intelligible for prying ears.”
“Ah. Useful,” said the captain, nodding in appreciation.
“Hardly,” Efrain said, “anyone with any knowhow could break this with ease. I hope you don’t have another secret mage hiding in your retinue who’d listen in.”
“I’d be surprised,” said Naia.
“Very well,” Efrain said, leaning forward and preparing to drop the axe, “so, why is the church so eager to get rid of its oh-so-special Bequeathed?”
The silence returned once more, slightly distorted through the muffling charm Efrain had cast.
“You’re certain that this,” Naia said, waving around them, “is intact?”
“Quite. Answer the question, commander,” he said, “perhaps they’re not as valuable as I was led to believe.”
Naia sat for a few moments, mulling over the blunt truth, then took a deep breath.
“They are valuable. Incredibly so. They are living, breathing symbols of the faith, but that’s not all.”
Efrain nodded, waiting for the captain to continue.
“If half the stories of their battle prowess is true, then they are golden military assets. Though they haven’t been used as such for a very long time.”
“Ah,” Efrain said, as the pieces began to fall into place, “so that’s why they sent you.”
“I may or may not have been selected for this reason,” he said, the smile more dry than knowing.
“And if anything went wrong, if the precious Bequeathed came back with all these strange ideas about the church, they could blame the unorthodoxy of the commander.”
Something twisted in Naia’s smile - Efrain had touched on something painful.
“Precisely,” he said, “although I would like to believe that they chose me because they knew I’d avoid doing things so crudely.”
“So, they want you to… what, drive a wedge between the Bequeathed and the church? Subtly, of course.”
“You know, I was planning to tell you this all after you agreed to join me,” Naia said flatly.
“Ha!” Efrain said, “age and experience, young man.”
“Clearly,” Naia said, spreading his arms in defeat, “so, I stand before you, uncloaked. What do you think?”
“I think that there would be at least one member of the church disguised in your retinue, no?”
Naia’s smile grew cold and thin at the mention.
“The man wouldn’t listen to reason. We counselled him to stick with our company, but he had other, more pious ideas about wandering in the wild forest.”
Efrain nodded - he hadn’t really expected anything else.
“And what about the paladins, do they suspect anything?” he said, sitting back.
“Lillian is of high birth. I don’t doubt she hasn’t heard something that might make her suspicious. Niche might’ve but he’s… well stupid would be a disservice to both of them. Niche is certainly more naive than Lillian. As for Sphernt, she’s vanished, but, of course, you wouldn’t know her.”
“Another paladin?” Efrain groaned, trying to drive home the exasperation to cover him.
“Indeed, and far less pleasant than the others,” Naia laughed, “I know, a charming prospect. She was bullheaded, refused to listen or wait, so I sent her on ahead. As far as I know she’s buried under a snowdrift somewhere. We were going to search for her, but Aya’s finding threw everything into disarray, even her fraternity dropped it.”
Efrain almost let out an audible sigh of relief, but he managed to catch himself at the last moment.
“Well, in any case that makes your ultimate job easier, if you so choose to join me,” Naia said.
“Hold up,” said Efrain, “let me guess. You can’t act because questioning the authority of the church would compromise your personal position, as well as make the children suspicious. Given that I am potentially the most unorthodox person you could employ, you would use me to get to the children, and then foist the blame on me if anything went wrong.”
“Phrased it better than I could,” Naia said.
“Well, I can certainly see the appeal,” Efrain said dryly, “but what makes you think I would agree to that? Say, hypothetically, I went all the way to the silver city with you. You suddenly blame me for corrupting the children, then its my head.”
“A fair point, but consider - I am so close to being outcast that I need you, and if the children spoke out in your defence, they might well eclipse my influence. In addition, who would it reflect badly on if I did so? That would only worsen my position by leaps and bounds.”
“Fine,” Efrain said, “so what role did you have for me?”
“Oh that? Simple. You’ve been doing it already by most accounts,” Naia said, “teach them magic.”
Efrain stopped to consider it for a moment - no doubt he’d been briefed in full after the church incident. The fact that Naia hadn’t executed the mage for that alone spoke volumes to his intentions.
“And if, if, I were to take you up on this offer, well, first off, how far would this arrangement go? Secondly, how would I get around the paladins? I imagine they’ll be hostile.”
“That would be your job. From the sound of it, you’ve already got Aya on your side. Arrange meetings, teach her subtly - I’m sure someone of your ‘age and experience’ could figure something out. As for how long, if you have no desire to come to Angorrah, why not until we set sail? That should give you ample time.”
“And what’s in it for me, then?” he said, “Seems that I’m taking an awful lot of risk for simple promises.”
“What, a prospective general as a friend is not enough?” laughed Naia.
“Prospective. I’m not inclined to weigh reward on the whims of other unknown people,” Efrain snorted.
“A reasonable concern, though it’s only a week or two of work for a potential lifetime of benefits.”
“Granted. And what are you to say if I did not find the prospect of using children as pieces appealing?”
Naia arched an eyebrow at this, but the smile remained.
“This is the world we live in. In a way, if they should happen to throw their lot in with us, as it were, they’ll be getting a better life. The army is not quick to dispose of such valuable tools, unlike the more capricious elements of the church. They would not have to live by scripture and ceremony.”
“By throwing them at enemies, until they’re spent?” Efrain said.
The silence in the tent took on another character, something colder and heavier.
“You’ve said your knowledge of Angorrah was out-of-date. Do you know what they did to bring the merchant cities of the coast in line?”
Efrain shook his head.
“It’s quite simple. The palaces of Ennen’alla? Smokey marble with brass accents. Beautiful, beautiful buildings. Angorrah chose them to be their examples - now they’re little more than ruins and dust. From the other cities, rather than go to war, they offered up noble children as wards. I’m sure you can imagine; Hundreds, thousands of days, living under suspended sentences? A sword hanging over your head, waiting, begging to fall, based on the slightest provocation you have no control over.”
“This is supposed to be a positive comparison?”
“The Bequeathed, whether or not they and their guardians realise it, are living under the exact same sentence. Welcoming them back into the church might delay it for a time. The military is ruthless, I won’t deny, but it’s interested in service. Which is better? That the children are a pawn of the faith, used in political games across the continent, liable to be sent to a bitter end based on whim? Or, they live a tough but honoured life, and, in time, might rise to see the power and freedom to dictate their own destiny through generalship?”
“I can see why they sent you, commander,” Efrain said, “you’ve got quite the tongue.”
“I offer simple truths in pretty prose, that’s all,” Naia said, “if you want to look out for their wellbeing, then it might be best you align with me anyways. As for other rewards, I’m a commander, which comes with privileges. If you want gold or valuables, I can probably get them with time. Access to influence, knowledge? Those are easy enough, with the right friends, which I’ve made a point of making. All this potential for a few days of work, Efrain.”
The cloth rustled slightly in the breeze.
“And I’ll be free to go, alive, unharmed, not immediately killed for knowing your secret?” Efrain said.
“Guaranteed.”
Efrain examined the man’s face in depth, noting the lines that gave away his age. The dark hair with just a hint of blue mingling with the black, although whether that was dye or somehow natural he could barely guess. It was a dangerous gambit, predicated on the word of a man who by his own confession was willing to murder and scheme to get what he wanted. Still, he couldn’t deny the sway of the promise - a general of Angorrah who owed him a personal favour, that would be a very potent tool indeed.
This was again, assuming the man kept any kind of faith, which Efrain had mixed evidence to show for it. Still, if he was only going as far as the port, that would be fairly safe, or so he hoped. Maybe perhaps, if he could gain some trust with the paladins, play them off eachother…
This was getting too complicated for his taste, and the dangers of a company of soldiers around him didn’t sweeten things. Still, there was also the commandment of the River, and he was interested in the children and their talents. If Naia spoke the truth of its word, then there could be very good reasons for him to work with the commander. Then again, it’d also warned Innie of his death should he pursue this course, maybe this offer was that threat recast.
“Well?” said Naia.
There was nothing for it, Efrain surmised, at least until Karkos.
“It’s a deal. I’ll do what I can, until you sail,” Efrain said, holding out his hand and shaking it with Naia in the Karkosian fashion.
“Good. I would lay out the mission and your role, but you’ve guessed all you need to know already. This all stays between us and no one else, not even my captains. On pain of death, Efrain.”
“Understood, commander,” said Efrain, fully conscious of the irony.
“As for a method of approach,” Naia said, “the paladins have taken charge of much of the children’s education. However, I’m sure I could come up with an excuse to educate them on something. Maths, perhaps, or military history. We might be able to arrange them to have time away from the paladins.”
“So you want me to teach them the arts,” Efrain said, “and so doing, shake the foundations of the church.”
“More or less,” Naia chuckled, “you should return and recover your strength. Your companion was quite worried.”
“Oh really?” Efrain said, dispelling the charm, and leaving the tent.
He walked back to the circle of waggons he’d found himself in not twenty minutes ago, reflecting on the conversation he’d had. When he made it back to the one he’d slept in, he heard the sounds of voices within the canvas. Peaking in, he found Aya sitting before Innie, chatting away.
“I see you two have become good friends,” he said as he clambered in.
“Oh!” she said, “friends? I don’t know. Maybe not friends.”
“Stop teasing her and sit down Efrain,” Innie said.
“Fine, fine,” Efrain said, lowering himself onto the wooden slats.
“Now, as I was saying dear, “ Innie continued, “the talent of ‘seeing’ magic is much more about feeling it than actually using your eyes. You could use your ears, or nose, or tongue for that matter. It’s about the communication, much less about how you receive it.”
“You mean people can taste magic?” Aya giggled with a note of awe.
“Taste, and hear, and smell. More attuned beasts use their nose, like with everything. Humans tend to use their eyes, hence they tend to ‘see’ magic. Well, with some exceptions.”
Innie turned judgemental eyes to Efrain.
“I was a beginner,” Efrain said, “besides, I quickly grew out of it.”
“Why?” Aya said, “what is he talking about?”
“This one,” Innie said with relish, “started smelling when I first taught him.”
“That’s true?” Aya said, eyes wide, but with an amused smile creeping onto her face, “what does magic smell like?”
“Alright, you’ve had your fun,” said Efrain, “it can smell like many things. It depends on the magic, it depends on the wielder. I ran into a fire wyrm once and everything smelled like burnt flesh for days after. Magic stinks for better or worse.”
“That was about the time you switched over to seeing. I guess you learned your lesson,” Innie said.
“But that’s not all magic can convey. Sensory information is but a pittance. More complex things, emotions, moods, entire concepts can be compressed into magic. The language we spoke to the trees in the pourjava’s hollow? You can express much more with magic, much faster, than with mere language alone.”
“The language you spoke in the-”
“Tematek, a kind of template, a mould which magic creatures developed various dialects from. Most magical creatures with the intellect to speak a language will speak Tematek or some variant of it.”
“So does that mean we’re speaking it right now?” she said, the whites of her eyes shining in the dim light.
“No, I speak human tongues as well,” said Innie, “the process of learning Tematek is a long one. You’ll simply learn how to see this way.”
“Could I learn it?”
Oh, this is too easy, Efrain thought, hearing Naia's voice echo about ‘opportunities’ falling into laps.
“You certainly could. It would be as hard as learning any other language however. And there’s the fact your paladin guardians are rather… possessive of you.”
“Well, they’re not here right now, I checked,” she said, and Efrain thought he saw a glimmer of pride at the deception, “they’re sleeping. Niche tried to keep watch but sleep caught up.”
“So, you’re saying you want to go behind the back of the church’s representatives to practise magic. The penalty for which could be death,” he said flatly, “that’s an impressive commitment.”
“That’s all they’ve said for the past few days,” she said without pause, “‘magic is dangerous’, ‘mages aren’t to be trusted’, ‘the Lost this’. Maybe they’re right.”
“And yet here you are.”
She nodded.
“They took me away from my home, my family. I don’t know anyone here, I don’t know what they’re planning for me. If I trusted you, would I be going on more than trusting them?”
Efrain chuckled.
“No, I suppose not,” he said, “although I think I do have one advantage.”
“What?”
“Your mother asked me to take care of you, if I could,” Efrain said, “I met her, before I ran into your group.”
To the girl’s credit, she held her expression, though the explosion of shock in her eyes were unmistakable, as well as the quiver in her jaw.
“You-you did? Is she- is she alright?”
Efrain paused. Maybe it was an old kindness that stirred below lost memories. Maybe it was mere self-interest, to pursue a relationship by putting the girl at ease.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” he lied, “but, we’d best get started, before your minders get up.”
[←Chapter 54] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 56→]

So I'm a physician that has been kept up at night because of similarities between myself and John.
I never worked in cassville, but I've worked in a lot of the other small towns in the Missouri / Arkansas / Southeastern Oklahoma area. And I've also been subject to irrational child support and maintenance demands from this area as well.
A lot of these small towns and small hospitals are very rewarding to work in, both in terms of professional satisfaction and financially. There is quite a bit of subsidization by the government to keep clinics and hospitals open, to the point where at a rural health clinic you might literally get $78 for a Medicaid patient that you might make $14 on in a city. But, you also get the chance to do a lot more procedures and Hands-On stuff. Whereas a family doctor in the city might just see coughs and colds all day, in this area they may deliver babies or do vasectomies in the office at 500 bucks a pop. And, especially if you live in the town, you become kind of the Old country Doctor affecting the lives of many of your neighbors, and are part of the community.
It's a lot of fun, and financially rewarding. I always drew in the top 1% of specialty specific physician earnings, as did my colleagues. So John's crypto involvement notwithstanding, there is a lot of money involved, and the amounts cited are not unusual.
But the lifestyle can be brutal. You're on call most of the time, and hiring partners or even getting replacement coverage to go on a vacation can be very difficult. Therefore, a lot of facilities rely on travel physicians, which John may or may not have been. A lot of the smaller facilities also don't have on call rooms anymore, so it's not unheard of for doctors to drive a couple of hours to a travel location, or have an RV to sleep in in order to save on hotel fees in the like, even though travelers get more compensation on average.
So bottom line there, even if you're making a crap ton of money you often don't get a chance to enjoy it. But whoever you're married to usually will... And doctors have a notoriously high divorce rate due to practical problems like not being available to their spouse due to 80 hour weeks, as well as personality conflicts and the like.
And that's where I found myself. I was married for about 10 years, and made the mistake of getting married young, which prevented both of us from not really knowing what we wanted in life, but also prevented me from seeing my ex-wife's mental illness, which manifested in her late twenties. Even though the stereotype is domestic violence against women, this was a case of someone with borderline personality disorder and delusional tendencies being emotionally as well as physically abusive against a man. One of her delusions was that, because her birth experience did not go the way she wanted it to, "her doctor raped her." Yes, it is as odd as it sounds, but unfortunately being someone who delivered babies, it was physically dangerous for me to be around her. And unfortunately due to my medical training, I saw it as an illness rather than a criminal or personal failure, and so I was not as assertive as I should have been in either getting her help, or enforcing boundaries.
Anyway, after a while we separated, and the ex-wife took my two children. Despite the history of abuse, because of the significant differential in our pay, I was ordered to pay about $10,000 a month in combined maintenance and child support. It wasn't that big of a deal to me at first, because I wanted to make sure the kids were taken care of, and I again was used to not being able to enjoy high earnings anyway due to the time commitment. But I had to continue to work to pay that. When I first got out of residency, my ex-wife would gaslight me into taking extra shifts, etc in order to " pay down student loans or get a jump start on the mortgage or start some investments," but looking back with a more mature vision, I should not have done that. I was exhausted all the time, to the point where it was potentially dangerous ( if you go 24 hours without sleep, your cognitive and physical abilities are at least as impaired as somebody that blows a point one on a breathalyzer. If I'm impaired enough that I should not be driving, I surely should not have taken care of patients). But even though I argued that, it became my "demonstrated earnings potential."
Unfortunately, and fortunately, two things then changed: I burned out, and financial obligations be damned, took a new job which paid a lot less. I am thankful that even though I was working potentially dangerously, I never had a bad outcome. But it would only be a matter of time, and I refused to put people at risk anymore.I also got engaged to a wonderful young lady.
Two consequences came from this, the first is that it set off my ex-wife to the point where she literally stalked my fiance, sending pictures of our house to her ex-husband, making threats against us to " ruin our lives" and even calling her work supervisor to get more information on her. Basically, anytime I made an appropriate motion in court, she would respond with an extra judicial retaliation. And what is most concerning is that as part of her borderline diagnosis, once she zeros in on somebody who she perceives to have slighted her, it's all or nothing, and she never stops. So, I've been having to deal with that.
But working through the divorce modification process and children's division courts has been a nightmare. In the rural circuit court system it usually takes at least 3 months to actually get an issue decided, and in the interim you have to make sure that you don't fall behind on payments and such. My new job, after taxes, would barely allow me to make the divorce payments, and did not even leave me enough to pay my $3,600 a month in medical malpractice insurance. So, I argued the fact that marital abuse notwithstanding, my ex-wife was capable of working, the amount of alimony I've already paid ( 7 years) in terms of years exceeds the reasonable and customary durations of payment, and the job that I had at the time of the divorce 7 or 8 years ago was a unicorn, and those positions just aren't available to switch to on a whim, and most importantly it is dangerous for me to continue working at that level. The response that the court gave was "if you're a professional blackjack player, you'd better make sure that you continue to have a lucky streak to meet your obligations."I am still fighting this, but in the meantime have had to exhaust investments and retirement funds just to keep up with child support and maintenance obligations.
And why? Because in Missouri, if you fall behind more than $3,000 or 3 months, whichever is less, you lose your professional license (you also have to be up to date on payments in order to renew it). And if you fall more than $5,000 behind, it's felony non-support, and a felony conviction would ensure that you essentially could never work as a doctor again. And although I understand the states aggressiveness for child support enforcement to prevent deadbeat dads, the reality is that it would take most people months to years to fall behind on those kind of numbers...But I would fall behind in a matter of days, and I presume that John could have as well.
And so, it is exceedingly easy to get into a cycle where you cannot pay your child support, but by not paying child support you're not able to work professionally at the job that allows you to pay the high level of child support. And it has been my experience that the courts have been rather indifferent even with significant circumstance changes.
So I don't know, maybe he had significant revenue from his crypto business, but I doubt it. Even with crypto dropping so much over the last few years, if there was an asset division a couple of months ago, a lot of that would probably have gone to his ex-wife, and if he was using that money to make money, he would not have access to that capital to continue that revenue source.
So, I have to conclude that the similarities between his case and my own experience, and that this happened just a little while after the child support ruling, I could easily see him getting into a cycle of despair, because there really is no way out if you were to get into that situation (my attorney and my fiance keep telling me that things will get better, but we're a year and a half into this now, and they have not, and my position continues to worsen). Combine that with the significantly elevated rate of suicide in physicians, and I think that's a likely explanation, and feel for him because I understand just how bad it is to go through that process and not see a way out due to a broken system (and before you ask, no I'm not suicidal, it's just a crappy situation).
Or, maybe he had a crazy ex-wife as well.
I do think it is odd that there was a second vehicle involved, and run through the scenarios in my mind. Sure, it could be a foul play or something else is going on situation, like a secret affair, or someone pointing a gun at him and telling him to get in and driving him away from town.
But, it's also equally likely that it was by his own volition, and the driver actually had no idea what he had planned whatever it was. It might have been someone he knew and trusted and met up with that gave him a ride (if he was a travel physician that usually drove an rv, he probably did not have a car of his own in town, and folks that I know like that are pretty good at asking friends to drive them to the next city over if they need to run an errand, and didn't want the hassle of driving the rv), or even getting an Uber or private taxi (there aren't any real taxi companies in these small towns, but a lot of private drivers provide long distance transportation for hire, particularly for Amish and Mennonite workers, so it really wouldn't be weird for him to hire somebody to drive him an hour away). So, a lot of doctors kill themselves, but a lot also tend to be smart in planning, and want to prevent the additional trauma to family members of discovering the body, or seeing a lethal wound. So there is a disproportionate number who simply "disappear," or who use unusual methods (a few years ago there was a trend amongst med students and doctors to use inert gas asphyxiation by helium). My gut feeling is that this is one such situation.
So yeah, i apologize for the trauma dumping, but I hope that it also may be illustrative of how something so routine and boring as working through a child support process when you're already overextended and mentally exhausted can actually be as dangerous and damaging as any nefarious crypto gang scenario.

Company Name	Title	City
United States Secret Service	Officer (Uniformed Division)	Alexandria
United States Secret Service	Officer (Uniformed Division)	Arlington
Kaiser	CDU RN, Part Time - Caton Hill	Burke
Aveanna Healthcare	Aveanna Private Duty Nurse LPN	Centreville
L3Harris Technologies	Director, Program Management	Chantilly
L3Harris Technologies	Program Manager	Chantilly
L3Harris Technologies	Technical Program Manager	Chantilly
Wegmans Food Markets	Janitor	Charlottesville
Wegmans Food Markets	Prep Cook	Charlottesville
Wegmans Food Markets	Food Services General Worker	Charlottesville
Hilton Garden Inn Virginia Beach Oceanfront	Chief Engineer	Chesapeake
Aveanna Healthcare	Aveanna Private Duty Nurse LPN	Chesapeake
Cargill	Mixer Operator	Dayton
Cargill	Tech Poss	Dayton
United States Secret Service	Officer (Uniformed Division)	Fairfax
Aveanna Healthcare	Aveanna Private Duty Nurse LPN	Fairfax
UnitedHealth Group	Field Based Community Health Worker	Front Royal
Aveanna Healthcare	Aveanna Private Duty Nurse LPN	Hampton
VCU Health at Home by BAYADA	Registered Nurse (RN), On Call, Home Health	Hanover
Capital One	Senior Software Engineer, Back End (python, java)	Harrisonburg
L3Harris Technologies	Enterprise Solution Architect – National Airspace System (NAS)	Herndon
Allied Universal®	Security Officer - Secret Clearance	Herndon
L3Harris Technologies	Director, Program Management	Herndon
Erickson Senior Living	Director of Facility Operations	Leesburg
Neibauer Dental Care	Dental Hygienist	Leesburg

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings , feel free to comment here if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

John asks for permission, for a change, to do something unorthodox. Does he get permission? Does it work? I hope you enjoy!
The next chapter will be out on Tuesday.
Terran Space Story: The Lieutenant Saga
Academy Days First Previous Next
Chapter 118: Master Escalator
1 Day Later. March 13th, 2267. 08:00 Slip Space – Captain’s Ready Room
John was sitting in his chair pleading his case to Admirals Dufresne and Dickinson. He had a hard time reading the men as they both had steeled themselves to reactions. Neither man appeared happy with the situation they were in. John wasn’t responsible for the situation, but it was undoubtedly clear- he was the one that lit the match.
“Sirs, now more than ever the Icarus needs to die. We kill her and this bullshit pirate alliance ends,” John said.
“How would you presume to do this,” Admiral Dickinson said, “The Icarus isn’t going to attack you if you have battlecruiser or battleship support.”
“Give me two more cruisers and four frigates. We ought to be able to make do with that,” John said.
Admiral Dufresne was the first to show a bit of emotion, “How are you going to pull that off?”
“There’s a large pirate base in the Altair system. If Naval Intelligence data is to be believed, and frankly I have no reason to suspect otherwise, it’s their primary staging point in this sector. It’s also lightly guarded at the moment because the pirate fleet is elsewhere.”
“So, you mean to toss gasoline onto the fire,” Admiral Dickinson nodded, “That could work. It does carry a fair amount of risk though. What if the pirates attack a colony.”
“Civilian sentiment leans strongly on us but it’s a simple majority at this point,” John said, “If they attack civilians then that sentiment is pegged against them.”
“He’s not wrong. The sentiment against them will grow slowly over time if they stick to attacking military assets. And frankly, we have far more of them than we do ships to guard them,” Admiral Dufresne said, “The problem is the request for ships. We don’t have any ships to give you.”
“There are six ships in the Altair system already,” John said pointedly.
“Which are there defending the military installation located there,” Admiral Dickinson said, “What would you have us do? Shut it down and transfer the crew?”
“Yes. For an inner-core system, it’s a shithole. The pirates built this base years ago but abandoned it. They came back recently, and we’ve tolerated their presence instead of snuffing it out,” John said, “I’m also going to need several prison transports rerouted. I see four empty ones within a day and another six that could be used for the same purpose that is two days out.”
“Can you work with Lieutenant Cohen again? You came down hard on him before,” Admiral Dufresne.
“It is unexpected, but I need his help more than I dislike him as a poor captain. It seems my critique of his actions has at the very least improved his ability to captain his ship though.”
“You have a go,” Admiral Dickinson said, “If this doesn’t work out in your favor this could end very poorly for us all.”
“Then I’ll have to ensure that it doesn’t, sirs,” John saluted then before ending the communication.
He had the green light and acquired more ships. Would it be enough? Time would tell. Even with their reinforcements, there was no guarantee that it’d work. But John knew his abrasive personality would get under his enemy’s skin. At a bare minimum, this action would draw out some of the pirates.
March 15th, 2267. 01:00 Altair System – In Orbit around the moon of the second planet
The pirates had not expected a fleet of Confederate ships to attack their base. In the past several months the Altair system served as a fuel stop for passing ships. Warships, of which dozens upon dozens came through the system, were there briefly and then left. The pirates were confident their reactivated base would be safe.
How wrong they were. Then again, how could the pirates predict the Confederacy to go on the attack so quickly? Their typical response was to pull back and guard, then push out. There was always time following an attack to breathe and generate momentum. This time though, that was not the case, this was not John’s way of responding to an attack.
Their base had been brutalized by orbital bombardment. All defensive weaponry, down to the last missile battery, had been utterly destroyed. There was nothing but wishful thinking preventing an assault on the base from happening. The pirate’s morale was low, but they were already prepared for an assault and had dug themselves in.
They were going to make the Confederates pay for each foot of the base they took. Heavy weapon platforms had been erected in the base’s hangars. They knew about the super-heavy power armor and were prepared for it. Or so they thought.
Leading the charge was a brash lieutenant with a somewhat bloodthirsty mood toward pirates. Even more scary, for the pirates that is, is that he was leading the charge on the base. John’s armor had been repainted pitch black. One knee pad was checkerboarded with white and red squares. His helmet was painted bronze, and its face shield had that distinctive white skull he always bore.
The Confederate attack on the enemy base didn’t go according to how the pirates presumed it would occur. Sure, they stormed the docking bays, but they did so after a team of Confederate scouts gained access to the base from a secret entrance on the surface of the moon. Those very same scouts’ mission was to disable the docking bays’ atmospheric shields. An inelegant manner of attack, but none of the pirates were wearing void suits.
Why fight a dug-in enemy when you can simply space the lot of them? Facing heavy weapons deep inside the base was unlikely. In the docking bays though? There was plenty of space to fire them without worrying about the structural integrity of the base. John’s plan was as cunning as it was ruthless.
The transport ships came in quickly and disgorged their armored cargo. Seven hundred and fifty power-armored foes began to fan out into the base. Fifty stayed behind to dismantle, or destroy, the heavy weapons and ensure the pirates don’t do anything to their rides home.
John led the charge down one corridor, “With me, we’re going to rush their central command.”
A squadron of marines, all wearing the older and diminutive suits of power armor, fell in behind John. They charged down the corridor. Unlike John, they did clear the intersections just in case. Some small arms fire came from in front of John, but the moment the pirates saw the hulking mass run towards them they bugged out quickly.
John arrived at the door to the central command of the station. It didn’t open when he pressed the console button in the frame. It also didn’t open when he smashed the button with a closed fist. That gave time for the Marines that were with him to catch up to him.
With his fingers extended John’s right hand shot forward at the point the two doors met in the middle. Both doors bent slightly inward because of the force imparted onto them. John followed that up with his left arm and forced the doors open.
No matter the number of protestations the door’s locking mechanisms gave, the Broadsword’s power was overwhelming them. The locks then succumbed to the imparted force, and the broken doors were wedged into the door frame.
John stepped inside and drew his battle rifle deftly, “Hands up, compliance or death, your choice.”
The guards on either side of the door jumped backward in shock. They immediately dropped their guns and held their hands up. Virtually everyone in the room did that save for the two men sitting at the central console.
“Last chance assholes, hands up,” one of the Marines barked.
“This is a…” the presumed leader said from his seat.
John wasted no time and fired a single round from his rifle. It was a through and through, though thankfully there wasn’t anyone else behind the man taken out as collateral damage. The man that was standing to the side of his boss looked at John, then at the console, and back at John.
“Flinch and you're dead,” John growled.
“Everyone back the fuck away from your stations,” another Marine said as he walked along the outer edge of the room to John’s left.
The second in command tensed up. John reacted almost instantaneously to the man’s action. Whether he was or wasn’t going to do something didn’t matter. In that moment the presumption was he was going to do something bad. John fired off another round. He fell backward, gasping on the ground for a few moments before his life gave out.
John walked over to the console. The self-destruction screen had been pulled up but had not yet been activated. He hovered his hand near an input port. Eve then directed the suit to connect its external cable from John’s wrist to the port.
“Eve, lock out the pirates from their systems and share with our friendlies the locations of all hostiles,” John said calmly.
“Understood,” Eve said as she was already well underway in taking control of the station.
“This Falchion Leader to all teams, the central command is ours. Tactical readouts are to be shared momentarily. Continue with mop-up operations.”
“Sir, the room is secured. All weapons have been taken from the prisoners,” the sergeant of the squad of marines said.
“Excellent,” John said as he carefully removed his helmet, “Now then, who’s going to spill the beans on what y’all are planning and doing?”
“Why should we talk to you?” one of the guards answered.
“Your choice is talking to me instead of Naval Intelligence. I’m a whole lot friendlier to deal with.”
“I doubt that you just merced both our bosses,” another pirate said.
“True, but I ain’t going to make you suffer. I at least have the decency to put you down in one shot.”
“Some comfort that is,” an older-looking man from the rear of the group said, “I’ll take my chances.”
“What can you offer me?” the youngest-looking member of the gaggle of pirates said.
“Don’t you dare tell them anything Tiffany!” huffed another one.
John made a couple of gestures to the Marines. All of the pirates were ushered into a conference room. Two of the Marines watched over them. Tiffany, the traitor pirate, looked confident standing in front of John. Perhaps too confident for John’s taste.
Her corroboration of events wasn’t actually needed. John looked at his wrist and noticed that Eve already pulled highly detailed information on the pirates’ activities. But if there was an opportunity, she really was looking for leniency, John wouldn’t overlook free intel.
“Speak, now,” John said as he loomed large over the young girl.
“This is merely a waystation. We acquire goods and ammunition for pirate vessels. We aren’t…”
“Spare me that bullshit. This isn’t just a waystation. This is home to three different pirate factions,” John hissed, “That’s your first strike. You won’t get another one.”
The young girl took a small step back. Her confidence had left her. In place of that was pure terror. She didn’t know what to do or say anymore. Her eyes darted around the room, in fact the room felt considerably smaller than it had just moments before.
“What do you want to know?” she said as she looked at the floor in shame.
“The truth,” John said before leaning down to get closer to her, “The whole truth.”
“The Alpha and Omega, Pirate Brothers, and the Void Sovereign groups used this as their base. There was an uneasy alliance between the three. None were big enough to take out all their rivals, so an odd partnership formed here.”
John turned and walked near a console, “All of this is known to me.”
“They also made this a port of call of sorts for other pirates. They were charged an arm and a leg, but it brought a steady stream of money and recruits in. When the Confederacy announced their anti-pirate actions, they shut the station down cold and we all left to parts unknown,” the girl continued to stare at the floor, “That was until the hunting appeared to have ceased. We returned and reclaimed our base. At that point, a decision was made to be less boisterous about our base.”
The girl took a deep breath before speaking again, “The Icarus came to visit. She was in rough shape. They called in favors from all three groups and began retrofitting the ship here. My group had to deal with them in the past, and some sizable debts incurred to the Icarus.”
“This is the base that retrofitted the Icarus?”
“It is, yes,” the girl said, “We acquired a retrofitting dock several years ago. We’ve done a fair amount of business using it.”
“Where are the records of this retrofit?” John asked sternly, “I presume you kept detailed records of their upgrade.”
“It should be on our mainframe, or it could be partitioned off into some secret storage. They clearly didn’t want any records of what was being done to the ship kept anywhere.”
John grinned as he turned to face the young girl, “A request your leaders clearly and flagrantly disobeyed.”
She nodded.
“Who knows where that information is?” John said as he looked at his wrist’s holographic outputs.
Eve was listening to the conversation and was already searching for the hidden data. If this story was true and a copy of it was saved it could be an amazing coup of data intelligence. That is if it were true. But the dejected look of the young girl suggested to John that she was telling the truth.
“Jamis. He’s the tall black guy with the grey beard.”
“Corporal, take her to a more secure place away from the rest of her ilk. I’ll decide what to do with her later.”
“You said…”
John raised a finger to shush her, “I promised nothing. You tried to offer me false intelligence. You and I are far from done speaking.”
“Private, bring Jamis from that room, we need to have a conversation.”
The corporal saluted John and walked over to the room. The door on the room’s right side opened. In walked another squad of marines. Their sergeant was leading the way.
“Sergeant Decker, how goes containment?”
“Fighting is contained to a single sector. The pirates there have chosen death over life. We should be completed with the operation within the hour.”
“Excellent. Begin transporting the prisoners to the ships immediately. None of the adults, irrespective of their age, are to be included with the women and children.”
“Sir, even the eighteen-year-olds? There’s a number of them…”
“Include them with the rest of the men. The courts can settle the matter of their punishment or guilt.”
“Understood,” Sergeant Decker saluted John and turned around.
“Jamis, I hear y’all had an interesting guest a while back,” John said to the tall man being held firmly in place by two marines in power armor.
“What do I get out of helping you? And what assurances do I have that you’ll hold your end of the bargain?”
“Clever strategy,” John grinned as he had Eve activate the communication systems, “Hey Mark, how’s life?”
Mark Wilhelm, John’s one-time boss at Naval Intelligence’s Miami Base appeared on screen, “What can I do for you?”
“What criminal history does a Jamis Miles, one-time Alpha Centauri citizen and current pirate affiliated with the Void Sovereign group, have?”
Mark looked down at his console. He then split the communication screen in two. Jamis’ profile appeared on the right side of the screen. A litany of crimes he had committed began to be displayed on the screen. About a third of them he had served his time successfully for but there were some pretty serious charges on the list that had not been adjudicated yet.
“Seems your bargaining position is a bit dubious. There are at least five charges that we can put you away for life,” John said.
“Thirteen actually given his age,” Mark added in his normal monotone way.
“I need a deal and assurances that you will follow through with it,” Jamis hissed back.
“What kind of deal would NI offer?” John asked.
“What are we getting in return?” Mark quipped, “You kind of brought me in mid-conversation as you normally do.”
“Ahh, that’s my bad. Supposedly detailed information on the Icarus’ most recent refit.”
Mark nodded and looked deep in thought. Jamis looked at both men’s emotionless exteriors and didn’t know what to expect. As the silence continued, the more worried and agitated, he grew. He didn’t feel comfortable in his bargaining position. More than that, he trusted none of these men at all. Especially the man in the large suit of armor. There was a callous viciousness underlying his actions that rubbed Jamis the wrong way.
“It’ll depend on…” Mark began to speak but was quickly interrupted.
“No, I get assurances on a deal before I say one goddamned thing.”
“The clock is ticking Jamis. My VI is searching for all known servers and data feeds. If I find it before you do there won’t be a deal,” John said as he turned to face a pair of Marines in the room, “On that note. Corporal, go to this man’s quarters on the station. Flip the place apart, I want every square millimeter scanned and checked for any hidden compartments.”
“Yes sir,” the corporal quickly saluted John.
He and another Marine quickly left the room. John turned to look at Jamis. He loomed large over the man.
“Tick-tock, Jamis.”
“I won’t quite be the antagonistic asshole my former associate is, but ultimately the deal we make with you is going to depend on what you have. What we glean from it is ultimately going to determine the degree of leniency you receive.”
“I want the deal in writing.”
“Which you’ll get, but you are going to have to give me something to work with so I can propose a deal. I won’t be offering any deals, and my superiors certainly won’t sign off on anything, without you telling me what intel you have. Once we receive it and it checks out to what you tell me now, then we can affirm the proposal.”
Jamis shook his head. He wanted more. So much more in fact. But he was not in a position of power. He had some leverage but not much. The concern he had was what could he bargain.
“I want to walk.”
“Not happening,” Mark replied instantly, “That’s not realistic given your checkered past. Were it not for these serious charges I could consider it. But your history warrants a prison sentence.”
“Minimum security, no hard labor. Ideally on the frontier,” Jamis said.
“If you provide us sufficiently detailed information on the Icarus, I’ll remove hard labor from your location. And super-max facilities. We will not offer more than that.”
“Five-year sentence. I want a chance to get out before I’m old and crippled,” Jamis said.
“Minimum fifteen-year sentence, with a parole hearing guaranteed after year five. NI will recommend parole at that time provided the data checks out and you have received appropriate good credit during your stay with us.”
“Three years till the hearing.”
“Five. But I’m going to defer the charging of several of the more egregious ones. If you get out and fall back into your pirate ways we’ll throw the book at you,” Mark stared down the pirate, “No matter how old you may be.”
“Make it five years on parole with a caveat that the remaining charges are expunged permanently, and I’ll agree.”
John smiled. This attack would provoke a response from the pirates. Instead of waiting, like they presumed they’d do, the Navy attacked immediately. Worse, the pirates lost an important staging ground for their attacks. And thousands of prisoners and family members were taken. This would no doubt anger the pirates, but it would also attack the morale of their fleet too.
By the end of the day, everyone would be transferred off the station. A substantial amount of stolen goods was reacquired by the Navy and shipped away to a nearby station. Farther eroding the pirates’ capabilities to wage war.
The last thing John did before they left the system, they detonated several warheads they brought over from the transports within the station. One more station was forever taken from the pirates. If they were lucky, they’d find out exactly what systems the Icarus was upgraded with. With that knowledge, they could develop an attack plan to precisely defeat the Icarus. Now they needed a bit of luck to draw that accursed ship out and engage it in a proper battle.

Last updated: 06/03/23 09:48:13 EST

LEGEND

Note	Description
Italics	Pitched previous day or twice in last 3 days.
Strikethrough	Pitched back to back days.
Bold	Recent transaction.
L3:##	Number of pitches thrown in last 3 days.
***	SP first start.
**	SP yet to reach 5.0 innings in a game.
*	SP yet to surpass 6.0 innings in a game.

BULLPEN USAGE

Team	Opp	SP	CL	SU8	SU7	MID	LR
ARI	ATL	Ryne Nelson*	Miguel CastroL3:15, Andrew Chafin		Scott McGough	Austin AdamsL3:35, Kyle NelsonL3:19, José RuizL3:23, Kevin GinkelL3:12	Drey Jameson
ATL	@ARI	Spencer Strider	Raisel IglesiasL3:6	Nick AndersonL3:12	Collin McHughL3:7	A.J. MinterL3:13, Jesse ChavezL3:3, Joe Jiménez, Kirby Yates	AJ Smith-Shawver
BAL	@SFG	Kyle Bradish	Félix BautistaL3:16	Yennier CanoL3:19	Bryan BakerL3:25	Mike BaumannL3:32, Danny CoulombeL3:27, Cionel PérezL3:23, Keegan AkinL3:25, Austin VothL3:58	Bruce Zimmermann
BOS	TBR (2)	Garrett Whitlock, Kutter Crawford	Kenley JansenL3:13	Chris MartinL3:31	Josh WinckowskiL3:40	Kutter CrawfordL3:24, Joely Rodríguez, Justin GarzaL3:19, Ryan Sherriff	Nick PivettaL3:28
CHC	@SDP	Drew Smyly	Mark Leiter Jr.L3:27, Adbert AlzolayL3:21	Michael FulmerL3:4	Brandon HughesL3:13	Jeremiah Estrada, Julian MerryweatherL3:39, Javier Assad	Hayden WesneskiL3:59
CHW	DET	Dylan Cease	Kendall GravemanL3:15	Joe KellyL3:24	Reynaldo LópezL3:18	Keynan MiddletonL3:9, Aaron Bummer, Liam Hendriks, Gregory Santos	Garrett CrochetL3:27
CIN	MIL	Graham Ashcraft	Alexis DíazL3:13	Buck FarmerL3:22	Ian GibautL3:18	Lucas SimsL3:42, Alex YoungL3:34, Fernando CruzL3:23, Eduardo Salazar	Kevin HergetL3:29
CLE	@MIN	Logan Allen	Emmanuel ClaseL3:9	James KarinchakL3:7	Trevor StephanL3:37	Eli MorganL3:15, Enyel De Los SantosL3:13, Sam HentgesL3:33, Nick SandlinL3:41, Hunter GaddisL3:14	Xzavion CurryL3:21
COL	@KCR	Austin Gomber	Pierce JohnsonL3:21	Justin LawrenceL3:16	Jake BirdL3:37	Brent SuterL3:44, Daniel BardL3:25, Brad HandL3:21, Matt Carasiti	Peter LambertL3:59
DET	@CHW	Michael Lorenzen	Alex LangeL3:21	Jason FoleyL3:22	Will VestL3:32	José Cisnero, Chasen ShreveL3:33, Tyler Holton, Mason EnglertL3:21	Tyler Alexander
HOU	LAA	Cristian Javier	Ryan PresslyL3:13	Bryan AbreuL3:36	Hector NerisL3:15	Ryne StanekL3:10, Phil MatonL3:25, Rafael MonteroL3:18	Seth MartinezL3:43
KCR	COL	Daniel Lynch*	Scott Barlow	Aroldis Chapman	Taylor ClarkeL3:18	Josh Staumont, Carlos HernándezL3:28, Jose CuasL3:18, Nick WittgrenL3:30, Jackson Kowar	Mike Mayers
LAA	@HOU	Patrick Sandoval	Carlos Estévez	Chris Devenski	Jacob WebbL3:30	Ben JoyceL3:10, Aaron LoupL3:22, Chase SilsethL3:39, Sam Bachman	Tucker DavidsonL3:54
LAD	NYY	Michael Grove*	Evan Phillips, Brusdar GraterolL3:16, Caleb FergusonL3:14			Yency AlmonteL3:14, Shelby Miller, Victor González, Alex VesiaL3:13, Justin Bruihl	Phil BickfordL3:37
MIA	OAK	Eury Pérez*	Dylan Floro	Tanner ScottL3:19	Huascar BrazobanL3:25	Steven OkertL3:20, JT ChargoisL3:18, Andrew NardiL3:13, George Soriano	Bryan HoeingL3:34
MIL	@CIN	Colin Rea*	Devin WilliamsL3:29	Peter StrzeleckiL3:25	Joel PayampsL3:39	Hoby Milner, Elvis PegueroL3:39, Trevor MegillL3:13, Jake Cousins, Jake Cousins	Bryse WilsonL3:17
MIN	CLE	Sonny Gray	Jhoan DuranL3:26	Brock StewartL3:28	Jorge LópezL3:16	Emilio PagánL3:33, Jovani MoranL3:13, Griffin JaxL3:12, Cole Sands	José De LeónL3:16
NYM	TOR	Tylor Megill*	David RobertsonL3:22, Adam OttavinoL3:6		Brooks RaleyL3:39	Drew SmithL3:8, Jeff BrighamL3:30, Dominic LeoneL3:9, Tommy Hunter, Stephen Nogosek	Josh Walker
NYY	@LAD	Gerrit Cole	Michael King, Clay HolmesL3:19, Wandy PeraltaL3:22			Ron MarinaccioL3:5, Albert AbreuL3:17, Tommy KahnleL3:29, Jimmy Cordero	Ryan WeberL3:29
OAK	@MIA	Luis Medina*	Trevor May	Shintaro FujinamiL3:19	Sam MollL3:5	Richard LoveladyL3:14, Lucas Erceg, Austin PruittL3:23, Sam LongL3:26	Ken WaldichukL3:23
PHI	@WSN	Matt Strahm*	Craig KimbrelL3:12	Seranthony DomínguezL3:16	Matt StrahmL3:41	Gregory SotoL3:15, Connor BrogdonL3:19, Jeff HoffmanL3:23, Andrew VasquezL3:31, Yunior MarteL3:14	Dylan Covey
PIT	STL	Luis L. Ortiz	David BednarL3:17	Colin HoldermanL3:18	Dauri MoretaL3:3	Jose Hernandez, Rob ZastryznyL3:32, Yohan RamirezL3:20	Cody BoltonL3:46
SDP	CHC	Yu Darvish	Josh HaderL3:18	Nick MartinezL3:15	Steven WilsonL3:39	Tim HillL3:14, Tom CosgroveL3:33, Brent Honeywell, Domingo Tapia	Drew CarltonL3:23
SEA	@TEX	Bryan Woo***	Paul SewaldL3:11	Justin TopaL3:19	Trevor Gott	Matt BrashL3:15, Gabe SpeierL3:9, Tayler Saucedo, Matt Festa	Chris Flexen
SFG	BAL	Anthony DeSclafani	Camilo DovalL3:19	Tyler RogersL3:22	John BrebbiaL3:11	Taylor Rogers, Scott Alexander, Ryan WalkerL3:17, Luke JacksonL3:11, Jakob Junis	Sean Manaea
STL	@PIT	Jordan Montgomery	Ryan Helsley, Giovanny GallegosL3:20	Jordan Hicks	Andre PallanteL3:17	Génesis CabreraL3:17, Drew VerHagen, Chris Stratton	Steven Matz
TBR	@BOS (2)	Trevor Kelley**, Tyler Glasnow**	Jason AdamL3:24, Colin PocheL3:12, Kevin KellyL3:16, Jalen BeeksL3:13			Jake Diekman, Calvin Faucher, Trevor Kelley	Joe La Sorsa
TEX	SEA	Andrew Heaney	Will SmithL3:7	Grant AndersonL3:14	Brock BurkeL3:33	José LeclercL3:11, Jonathan HernándezL3:6, Josh Sborz, Cole Ragans	John King
TOR	@NYM	José Berríos	Jordan RomanoL3:22	Erik SwansonL3:18	Nate Pearson	Tim MayzaL3:25, Trevor RichardsL3:25, Adam CimberL3:19, Yimi García	Anthony BassL3:18
WSN	PHI	MacKenzie Gore	Kyle FinneganL3:58, Hunter HarveyL3:50		Carl Edwards Jr.L3:42	Andrés Machado, Mason ThompsonL3:11, Chad Kuhl, Erasmo Ramírez	Thaddeus Ward

TRANSACTIONS

Date	Team	Player	Category	Description
6/2	BAL	Bruce Zimmermann	PROMOTION	Recalled from minors
6/2	KCR	Jackson Kowar	PROMOTION	Recalled from minors
6/2	MIA	George Soriano	PROMOTION	Recalled from minors