Gambling Chips Pictures, Images and Stock Photos

Words by u/showstopperNL (Staff Writer) and u/Felix_670 (Lead Staff Writer)
With contributions by u/danielcoyle, u/TVinBlacknWhite, u/museproducer, u/layres3, and u/logicx24

The Finish: Heartbreak & Joy in DPi

With only half an hour to go in the Rolex 24, it all came down to the final sprint to the line. All the pit stops were done, and it was between the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura of Felipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor, Helio Castroneves, and Alexander Rossi and the #01 Chip Ganassi Cadillac of Renger van der Zande, Kevin Magnussen, and Scott Dixon. (Photo by Gustavo Oviedo)
When the DPi leaders came out of the pits for the final stint, the gap between the leading #10 driven by Alburquerqe and the chasing #01, driven by Van der Zande, was 7.9 seconds. In 10 minutes that gap reduced to 0.8 seconds. The Cadillac seemed to be en route to an overtake and a victory, but the old adage that catching up is one thing, but getting by is quite another still held true. Albuquerque made the most of the long oval sections and held Van der Zande to limited looks into the International Horseshoe.
It all seemed to be heading towards a final battle in the last moment of the race, but with 8 minutes left, disaster struck for the #01: a flat right rear tire forced Van der Zande to make a pitstop and made sure that #10 would go on to win the 2021 Rolex 24 at Daytona. (Photo by Ricky D)
Behind the number 10 in second place was the #48 Acura of Jimmie Johnson, Simon Pagenaud, Kamui Kobayashi, and Mike Rockenfeller, with the Mazda Motorsport #55 in third place driven by Jonathan Bomarito, Oliver Jarvis, and Harry Tincknell.
After an entire day of racing, it can seem cruel that a punctured tire should decide the race result, but there is no better illustration of the fickle nature of racing fortunes than a 24 hour endurance contest. This year’s Rolex 24 was no exception.

Danish Dynamite

After being left without a Formula One drive after 2020, Kevin Magnussen quickly found a new drive, joining Chip Ganassi Racing for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. During the Roar Before the 24 qualifying race last weekend, the Danish driver immediately showed how quickly he had adapted to the new category, looking as if he had been endurance racing for several years, though his inexperience with his particular machine showed in some minor incidents. But even these are not enough to deny a clear fact: we managed to see an excellent racing driver at work right from the off.
Magnussen first took the car over from Van der Zande in the third hour of the race, retaining the lead he had received and matching the pace of the rest of the front-runners while expertly finding his way through traffic. Just like we saw in his days in F1, he was very aggressive in his driving, especially at the restarts, slicing and dicing his way through the infield to line up for an overtake. Overall, his first shift went really well.
The same cannot be said for his shift in during the night, however. Coming back to the car around the halfway point of the race, Magnussen came into the pitlane too fast and had to serve a time penalty. The #01 then fell into a slump and neither Van der Zande nor Dixon could keep up the pace, the six-time IndyCar champion completing a monster quadruple stint.
It seemed like the nighttime conditions did not favor the setup the team was running, but the early morning saw the car regain its pace and, as a number of caution periods bunched up the field, the #01 was back in play for the win.
The early morning went as scheduled until Magnussen made the slightest of mistakes, but one with a severe penalty in IMSA. During a pitstop, he spun his wheels while still up on the jacks, which translates into a drive-through penalty. Magnussen regrouped and completed his stint without any other issues, but the team would now have to push hard to come back into contention.
Dixon’s final stint helped the team climb up the order until a puncture coming into the oval meant he had to crawl back to the pits at an excruciatingly slow speed to avoid damaging the car. The experienced New Zealander reached the pits just as a caution period was called, allowing the team to not go a lap down on the other DPis.
And finally, Van der Zande took the wheel and drove his heart out and recovered from 5th to 1st, looking very eager to stop his former team, Wayne Taylor Racing, from winning three in a row. The #10 Wayne Taylor car changed only the left side tires in a gamble to try to short stop and hold the lead for the win, and the final push to the line was on, but luck was not on the #01 team’s side today and the heartbreaking puncture in the final 10 minutes of the race sealed the deal and dropped Van der Zande to 5th. A strong effort from Magnussen, Dixon, and Van der Zande did not yield the result they wanted or looked likely to achieve.
Magnussen and his co-drivers showed their talent, with the endurance rookie clearly impressing, and they should have chances to win as the IMSA season moves along. What could have been a stellar début for the Danish driver, fate would not permit.

Other Class Winners and ex-F1 drivers

LMP2

Though the battle in LMP2 was not the nail biter compared to GTLM and DPI, the fight for the top spot in LMP2 was not devoid of drama. When the full course yellow in the 23rd hour came to an end, the #18 Era Motorsport Oreca car (sporting a touching livery drawn by hand by a young Canadian fan), was very enthusiastic to get going and prematurely put the pedal to the metal just that bit too early before the green flag. This got them a drive-through penalty and shook up the class order for a bit, but ultimately it would not matter in the end because the #18 would go on to win the LMP2 class, a great comeback for the Era Motorsport team.
The most relevant of the LMP2 entries for us was the #20 High Class Racing machine featuring Robert Kubica, but the Polish star’s maiden Rolex 24 challenge came to a premature end as the High Class machine ground to a smoking halt in the second hour of the race. The car went back behind the wall and would retire from the race.

LMP3

The battle in this class, like others, was filled with juicy drama. Instead of wheel to wheel combat, the drama was in the form of collisions. In the first hour of the race, the #6 Mühlner Motorsports America car tapped the #7 Forty7 Motorsports car into a spin, causing heavy damage all around. The two cars would then trundle back to the pits for lengthy repairs.
By the checkered flag, it was the #74 Riley Motorsports car that claimed the top spot of the LMP3 class. They did so by a sizable margin of over 10 seconds.

GTLM

Throughout the race, the battle for supremacy in the GTLM class was between the factory Chevrolet Corvettes and the team RLL BMW M8’s. This battle was filled with drama and fantastic wheel-to-wheel battles, the most significant occurred when Nicky Catsburg’s Chevrolet experienced big problems with getting drive after his pitstop in the 22nd hour. A bit later, the fight for the lead move to the pitlane, as the #24 RLL BMW took the lead from the #4 Corvette during a pitstop cycle.
And just when we thought this class battle could not get any more intense, the #3 Corvette of Jordan Taylor closed the gap to the #24 BMW and took the lead with a great move into Turn 1. The #3 Corvette would not look back and would go on to take the class win in a commanding fashion.
Timo Glock’s #25 RLL BMW squad finished 5th in class. (Photo by Ricky D)

GTD

The GTD class contributed a lot to the success of this motor race. This battle for sports car supremacy gave us several mechanical failures, sketchy moments, and fantastic wheel to wheel racing. Hour after hour, the margins across this class were slim, with cars battling for the lead separated by half a second in multiple points during the race.
It continued until the 19th hour, when the #57 HTP Winward Motorsport Mercedes AMG and the #21 AF Corse Ferrari made contact, the Ferrari getting a flat tire and needing to pit prematurely. (Photo by Gustavo Oviedo)
A few hours and more close battles later, the #57 Mercedes AMG would cross the line and take the GTD class win.
With the news of the GTLM class being dropped from the IMSA line-up, knowing that we could get more amazing racing like this from the GT class cars is something to look forward to.
Thank you for joining us on our brief foray into sports cars and endurance racing! We hope that we can hit the high points on the rest of the motor racing calendar this year, bringing value to you, our F1 readers. Be sure to stick around - between now and testing we have another motorsport event on the calendar and it’s even more off-pace for us open-wheelers and it’s right around the corner. Any guesses?
We had the excellent photographers below supplying images to us today, make sure to check out their work.
Ricky D
Gustavo Oviedo
Previous Coverage of the 24 Hours of Daytona from the Editorial Team:
A Not-So-Short History of the 24 Hours of Daytona
A Primer of the 24 Hours of Daytona
A Formula 1 Fan Guide to the Rolex 24 Drivers (Part 1)
A Formula 1 Fan Guide to the Rolex 24 Drivers (Part 2)

EDIT/UPDATE:
I read some of your responses with tears. Thank you to everyone who said something encouraging! I tried to answer some questions and hope I didn't miss any. I am not able to respond very fast; I still feel some emotional hangover just from sharing what I wrote. I initially made this as a one-and-done throwaway, but now I will keep this account active and hopefully share some more in the future, since some of your responses really got me thinking. I am truly grateful that this space exists. I still received some harassment (which I blocked), but I know the mods / automod filter out a lot more, and that level of safety was what encouraged me to speak up. Thank you!!
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(TW for self harm and abuse.)
I am a FDS membeposter. I made an alt to tell my story as a former sugar baby. I understand this might not go through because sex work is fundamentally anti-FDS. I am now anti-sex work and I hope this post has value here.
I won't go into childhood details, but I suffered from abuse and poverty from a very young age, so everything about luxury and having a sugar daddy appealed to me. I was also raised very patriarchal, and was told since birth that certain things were only achievable via a man, even if I was deeply ambitious when young. My own family tried to "match" me at age 15 with an adult family friend they felt was wealthy. Thanks to FDS, I now realize I was groomed and it was statutory rape. It was a major breakthrough when I told my therapist for the first time two weeks ago, and what sparked my motivation to write this post.
There was no clear "beginning" to my sw journey. I have always slept around casually. I also have always had rough/kinky sex. I was exposed to porn at a very young age. Eventually I happened into sleeping with richer men. But I became successful as a SB after I unknowingly implemented very strict FDS-like ground rules and demanded more. The irony was, after I started earning more, I got banned from several sex work/sugar baby forums. People thought I was lying about my standards and earnings. Even in the sw community, you had to be a deferential pickme to be accepted. Any high standards must be a lie. I was unknowingly lifting myself out of the sw fog, becoming more outspoken, and I was alienated.
I eventually managed to make a lot of money (bought my family a house). I had strict requirements that men provide verification of their identities (passport / work profile), and ability to provide. At my peak (financial peak and self-delusion peak), I abandoned my own career to do it full time, and even considered outsourcing the admin side of vetting + marketing myself like a product, to maximize earnings.
This was also a time when my self esteem was so chipped that I only knew one avenue of building it up: male validation and monetary reward.
Looking back now, even if money was there, everything else was bad. I traveled all the time. I was burned out. I still experienced FREQUENT sexual assault and rape without recourse, which I treated as "occupational hazard." I suffered emotional damage, extreme guilt and shame, loss of sense of self, loss of friendship, loss of sense of value regarding money and life. I spiraled to a point of being constantly suicidal. I was a shell. I drank a lot.
Finally, the most prominent of all: despite what I was telling everyone in my circle, I never could fully feel pride about my "work." I had a nagging sense that I was meant for something else, something not this, except who knows what though. It was like the part of myself I locked away was knocking from its cage. So I became more and more split psychologically. I dissociated a lot, where I literally floated up to the ceiling and "saw" my body going through the motions, even if it's not sexual and just a dinner at a nice restaurant. I was potentially losing my mind. I often imagined ending my life during a dissociated phase so I wouldn't "feel' it.
Yet, I continued to justify that all that was just normal work stress, because "sex work is work." My feelings must be wrong. I must have internalized slutshaming. This is the danger of that kind of rhetoric. Even if I entered it voluntarily as an adult, seemingly benefitted financially, I gaslighted myself about leaving and delayed it for far too long. My pickme self felt I was not like the others who were traumatized, and I was fine. In reality, I was in danger mentally and physically. I still feel this eerie brush with death when I try to imagine if I had never left.
I still have a very small circle of friends in the lifestyle and I make a point of talking to them about leaving whenever possible. I don't know if some of them will ever leave, though. I have to rebuild my social life as well.
Welp, that got long. I originally wanted to share some cheating red flags here, since many of my sugar daddies were married. I hope these help confirm everything FDS already says in the handbook. So here it is:

• Social media
  • Either no social media, or social media has very few wife-focused posts.
  • Takeaway: Your fears when he is not posting you prominently are not unfounded. No social media is not automatically green flag.
• Phone lock
  • All had locked phones. Some had two phones. Many often were able to keep up intensive texting with me even if they could not physically meet.
  • Takeaway: Heed your fears if he is glued to his phone in a secretive manner. Moving forward, I will never trust a man if he does not release his phone codes to me. Also the multiple phones were all "unintentional," as in, he "lost" his phone and had to get a new one, then "found" his old phone, so just kinda "wound up" having two phones, and if you tried to ask he would gaslight you about "overthinking."
• Business trips
  • Lots of travel. They took me along. Some even lovingly checked in with their wives/kids daily.
  • Takeaway: I am not sure. Not all who travel cheat. But business travels and conferences are a very easy way to maintain affairs.
• Cash withdrawals / Business expense accounts
  • And I mean large (over 10K) cash withdrawals. Or he puts expenses on his business cards and explains them as taking a client out.
• Turbulent at home
  • "Mandatory" family vacations such as birthdays, holidays, were often windows of fighting with the spouse, due to their resentment and guilt. The men also never planned stuff. They treated showing up as a gift to their families. And then they excused everything by attributing it to "holiday stress." I received calls from exotic vacation locations needing a listening ear (me). They told wives those were "business calls."
  • Takeaway: The common FDS red flags apply- low effort and bad attitude. The "holiday stress" is simply a myth and excuse to justify abusive behavior at major family occasions.
• Couples therapy
  • Yup. Useless. They come to meet me after a couple's therapy session. Or, they go into detail to tell me what transpired.
• Other addictions (alcohol / work / gambling)
  • Self explanatory
• Often cluster B types
• Gaslighting / accusations of wife being too sensitive, too controlling, too XY
• Has an unhealthy relationship to money
  • Uses it to buy sense of power, love, women, patch feelings of inadequacies
  • Takeaway: vet by having clear discussions about money. This includes their trauma, expectations, histories, etc.
• Family man image + powerful man image
  • The best way to describe this is perhaps the madonna/whore comparison. Some men genuinely believe being a man means keeping a good family/wife on the outside and a mistress on the side. They will give up neither.
  • Takeaway: Vet for misogyny and leave.
• Emotional hoover / vampire
  • They had an impressive ability to cry and appeal to wife's sympathies when found out. Many were "forgiven" and go right back to it. Or they 'take a break' and ghost me, then come back months later.
  • Takeaway: If you sniff a cheater out, you must leave.
• There is no one type of "cheated wife"
  • Some were beautiful stay-at-homes, some were in high powered careers such as elite surgeon or high-earning entrepreneur, some were overly codependent "will maintain the family at all cost," some are checked out and close one eye
  • Takeaway: A man who wants to abuse you will abuse you, it's not you.
• If he wanted to, he would
  • The bumbling idiot man who is clueless about how to organize a simple family outing could turn around and get elaborate gifts, efforts, and attention for someone else.
• If a man wants to cheat, he will. You cannot plug every leak. You cannot follow him everywhere. He could be going out for a run, he could be going on a business trip to earn money for you and the family. He could be sweet to you, or mean to you. He could frequent strip clubs, or never ever set foot in one. He WILL stay married to you to protect HIS financial interests. The only way to protect yourself is be clear with yourself on what behavior you will accept, what you won't, and have a clear backdoor for yourself to walk away. Always retain full transparency on all your joint accounts. Always have control of your finances. Always seek a divorce and pursue maximum damages and alimony.

That's all I can think of for now. I don't know if a healthy relationship with an age-appropriate man will ever happen for me. I have tried to date normally since my exit, but found that I struggle to vet as strictly as I did when I was a sugar baby. I have stopped dating. I do know I am now a radfem working on spending a life with myself if a man doesn't happen. I genuinely believe men, as a whole, abuse women, and we cannot categorically escape it, and must always watch our own backs. I am working up the courage to become more outspoken against sex work, and hopefully help younger girls out of the trap I fell in myself.
It's been 1 year since I last had a drink, and 1.5 years since I broke up with my last SD. My wish for 2021 is to rebuild my career and friendships. I start to feel low when I think of the last 5 years of a black hole, and how to explain that. I am working up the strength. When I was a young girl, I wanted to be a lawyer. I don't know if I have the gumption to follow through, but I can fantasize. I also have a couple of other fields I have interest in. I only need my self worth to catch up and open my eyes that I can achieve my dreams.
I wish you all a happy 2021.

All right, you guys. This is my next big play. Motherfuckin' ALPP.
Now, before you get all wet, remember: I'm a knuckle-dragging welder who swells whiskey and spews obscenities in my best of times, and if I could make good decisions with money? I wouldn't be here on reddit gambling my Christmas bonus away chasing the dragon of financial freedom. Yet, I've blindly stumbled into some good deals in the past, so on the recommendation of u/ibetternotsuck (and about a necks' worth of Crown Royal Rye), I've done some digging and came across some pretty promising shit here. Let's get to it.
Alpine 4 was started in 2014 by Jeff Hall and Kent Wilson. It’s a conglomerate organization that absorbs up and coming businesses that are on the cutting edge of budding industries. They’ve been on a helluva tear here lately, with the stock price surging from less than a dollar in November up to around $8 in February. Why, you ask? Because the companies they’ve bought have turned out some bad ass shit, and, Hall & Wilson have fortified their resources to include everything from automotive safety devices and control systems, to world class Drones and unmanned aIrcraft.
ALERT: HEAVY NERD READING AHEAD
Now you can go to the website linked above for all the holdings they have, but I’m most impressed with the drones, so let's talk a little about that. They scooped up two companies, and housed them under “A4 Aerospace”; Impossible Aero and Vayu. These two are setting the fuckin’ world on fire. Impossible is gaining fame from the US-1, a drone geared to 1st responders and military. It’s got a 70 min flight time, HD cameras with 30X zoom, thermo imaging, spotlight, etc. You know, all that high-speed, squared away fuckery that cops and soldiers need to have when they’re out doing the real world, tactical shit. It’s so awesome, that they just completed a $1,500,000 contract with the USAF, and I’m sure a few po po agencies are chomping at the bits for their chance to rut on it. Vayu is more on the humanitarian side with their X-5, which they are marketing as something to deliver supplies and resources to “distressed” areas and hard to reach places. Think Medical supplies to remote villages, tools to off-shore oil rigs, etc. It’s got vertical takeoff and landing, can carry 50 lbs @ 50 mph up to 30ish miles. (Are you with me, AMZN…? Hellooooo) If the X-5 doesn’t rustle your jimmies, try out their G1 and G2. These are the heavy hitters right here, son. The G1 is so fucking Boss that it’s about to set a New World Record for Distance, and by world record, I mean smash it harder than a virgin prom date by going 492 goddamn miles between two islands. Yeah. This bitch can carry up to 11lbs 497 miles @ 56 mph. Oh, that not good enough? Well, check out the G2. If the G1 is a boss, the G2 is a fucking Beast. 45lbs, 620mph, and at a speed of 110 mph. Ho. Lee. Sheeeeit.
Quite possibly the best part of this is that with the DJI blacklist, Alpine has a clear runway into the emerging markets, using in-house company QCI manufacturing the chips right here in the good ol’ USA? They are straight-up gonna stomp-ass on this set.
I could go on and on about the other holdings Alpine 4 has, like QCI (Quality Circuit Assembly), the sheetmetal companies Morris and Deluxe (who have been in the game for like 50 years or some shit), JTD Spiral, and Excel Fabrication, but I’m getting tired and sober, neither of which help my keyboard skills, so I’ll just tell you that they are spectacular companies that not only carry the weight in their own industries, but allow Alpine 4 to vertically integrate into any specific need that should arise.
The financials don’t seem too awful bad, either. The SEC filings do show some debt. Around $14M if I’m reading right, but they have strong revenue, promising growth, and the outlook from management’s most recent shareholder meeting give me warm fuzzies for the future.
Speaking of the future… Did I mention these guys are uplisting to NASDAQ in a week or two?! This is it, boys and girls. Get in where you fit in.
🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🌖
Disclaimer: As I said in the beginning; I’m a glue sniffing stoned/drunk jerk-off that knows fuck all about investing. You Do You. I do like to read while I’m in a self-destructive spiral of chemical abuse, however, and I’m dipping my balls into this one pretty deep with my GME winnings. I would like to make this a gang-bang with other fellow retards who like to get down in the old ways of WSB, and you Old Guard fit the bill. So…
Let’s make some fucking money.

If I’m being completely honest, Twisted Fate is probably the hardest time I’ve had trying to figure one of these builds and probably the least confident I’ve been on one, but mama didn’t raise no bitch and I’m shooting my shot.

• Every champion in these posts is getting built to a level 20 fantasy, but that does not mean you have to be level 20 to enjoy most if not all the important gameplay mechanics of the champion
  • Twisted Fate is completely enjoyable with most of his core mechanics by level 11ish. The high spell commitment is very restricting though
• Basic Champion Information
  • Image
    • Twisted Fate
  • Lore
    • Twisted Fate is an infamous cardsharp and swindler who has gambled and charmed his way across much of the known world, earning the enmity and admiration of the rich and foolish alike. He rarely takes things seriously, greeting each day with a mocking smile and an insouciant swagger. In every possible way, Twisted Fate always has an ace up his sleeve. (Twisted Fate Champion Page.)
    • Twisted Fate’s lore has jumped around a few times, but he’s a swindler, a cardshark, a master grifter and a gambling man who in my favorite version, sold out his best friend and accomplice, Graves to acquire magical power.
    • TF’s only major cinematic appearance was in the 2013 trailer, A Twist of Fate but he also features very prominently storywise in the 2015 Lore. Destiny and Fate Double Down. I honestly think the 2015 Bilgewater event was peak League content.
• Goals/Gameplay Mechanics we want to emulate
  • Magical Projectiles with extra effects
  • Divination
  • Teleportation
  • Sleight of Hand
• Background/Race/Stats/Class
  • Charlatan
    • Proficiency: Deception, Sleight of Hand, Disguise Kit, Forgery Kit
    • Equipment: A set of fine clothes, a disguise kit, tools of the con of your choice (ten stoppered bottles filled with colored liquid, a set of weighted dice, a deck of marked cards, or a signet ring of an imaginary duke), and a belt pouch containing 15 gp
    • Charlatan Feature: False Identity: You have created a second identity that includes documentation, established acquaintances, and disguises that allow you to assume that persona. Additionally, you can forge documents including official papers and personal letters, as long as you have seen an example of the kind of document or the handwriting you are trying to copy.
  • Variant Human
    • +1Dex +1 Cha
    • Metamagic Adept: 2 sorc points, Subtle Spell, Twinned Spell
    • 5’11 Medium Sized 30 ft movement
    • Languages: Common and one of your choice
  • Stats 15/14/13/12/10/8
    • 8 Str (You fight with your head not your hands)
    • 15 Dex (You know every card in your stacked deck like the back of your hand)
    • 13 Con (You’ve probably been roughed up on occasion for cleaning many a tavern out of coin.)
    • 12 Int (Can’t con people without brains)
    • 10 Wis (You’re a gamblin man)
    • 16 Cha (Lady Luck smiles at you for a reason)
  • 18 Whisper Bard/2 Archfey Warlock reasoning
    • The best I could come up with was Eldritch Blast to flavor as a consistent magic card attack and due to the simplicity of TF’s basic spells, we can take the Eldritch Invocations: Lance of Lethargy to simulate red card, and Agonizing blast to make sure that our shifty shenanigans dont kneecap our damage. Also at level 11, Our eldritch blast can be cast 3 times to replicate Wild Card. Besides that, Warlock doesn’t have access to Teleport (the semiglobal jump part of our ult), Sorcerer doesn’t have Scrying (the vision part of our ult). Since we need a level 7 and level 5 spell from different classes but also need to play up stats important to the character, Bard with a slight Warlock dip seemed like a decent compromise. Bard has access to both spells, a good chunk of whatever they want and Power Word Stun… let me tell you getting Gold Card specifically is the most difficult part of his kit because of how high the bar to entry on Stunning is for non-monks (mostly 8th level spells). I swear if it wasnt for 5th and 7th spell level requirements though, TF would’ve been an Arcane Trickster 100%.
    • With that out of the way… Whisper Bards further fit the Charlatan aesthetic. Another big problem for sorc and warlock was that almost no subclass in either fit TF’s usual MO. Whisper Bards however use the positive connotation of bards to slip in, get important info and use it against people. It’s a way to get an upper hand, and “Cheater is just a fancy word for winner.”
  • Warlock (all that being said, we’re gonna take those 2 warlock levels out the gate to get eldritch blast and avoid a downright horrendous early game.)
    • 9 Starting hp (8+con mod)
    • hp/level 1d8+con mod
    • Hit Die 1d8/level
    • Proficiency: Light Armor, Simple weapons, Arcana, Investigation
    • Equipment: Simple Weapon, Spellcasting Focus (Flavor as your deck), Scholar’s Pack
• Lv 1 Warlock
  • Spellcasting
    • Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
    • Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
  • Cantrips
    • Eldritch Blast
    • Chill Touch
  • Spells
    • (Lv 1) Charm Person
    • (Lv 1) Sense Emotion (Read that poker face)
  • Otherworldly Patron: Archfey
  • Archfey Spell:
    • (Lv 1) Faerie Fire
    • (Lv 1) Sleep
  • Fey Presence
    • Starting at 1st level, your patron bestows upon you the ability to project the beguiling and fearsome presence of the fey. As an action, you can cause each creature in a 10-foot cube originating from you to make a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. The creatures that fail their saving throws are all charmed or frightened by you (your choice) until the end of your next turn.
    • Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
• Lv 2 Warlock
  • Eldritch Invocations
    • Lance of Lethargy
    • Agonizing Blast
• Lv 1 Bard
  • Cantrips
    • Friends (you only need to keep your charades going until you leave with the money.)
    • Mage Hand (ngl I kinda took the subtle spell metamagic to see if I could pull some subtle mage hand shenanigans for pickpocketing or general cheating.)
  • Spell
    • (Lv 1) Heroism (Massage the ego of a teammate with some temp HP so they’ll tank for you.)
    • (Lv 1) Distort Value (Distort the value of whatever bargaining chip you have to get others to bet for more than it’s worth)
  • Bardic Inspiration (1d6) (Kiss one of your cards for good luck or play a song on the harmonica or something)
• Lv 2 Bard
  • Jack of All trades
  • Song of Rest (1d6)
  • Spell:
    • (Lv 1) Healing Word (You always know what to say)
• Lv 3 Bard
  • Eldritch Blast gets 2 shots
  • College of Whispers
  • Psychic Blades
    • When you join the College of Whispers at 3rd level, you gain the ability to make your weapon attacks magically toxic to a creature's mind.
    • When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to deal an additional 2d6 psychic damage to that target. You can do so only once per round on your turn.
    • The psychic damage increases when you reach certain levels in this class, increasing to 3d6 at 5th level, 5d6 at 10th level, and 8d6 at 15th level.
  • Words of Terror (Spook your opponents with a bluff they can’t ignore)
    • At 3rd level, you learn to infuse innocent-seeming words with an insidious magic that can inspire terror.
    • If you speak to a humanoid alone for at least 1 minute, you can attempt to seed paranoia and fear into its mind. At the end of the conversation, the target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or be frightened of you or another creature of your choice. The target is frightened in this way for 1 hour, until it is attacked or damaged, or until it witnesses its allies being attacked or damaged.
    • If the target succeeds on its saving throw, the target has no hint that you tried to frighten it.
    • Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short rest or long rest.
  • Spell
    • (Lv 2) Detect Thoughts
  • Expertise: Sleight of Hand, Investigation
• Lv 4 Bard
  • ASI +2 Cha (18 total)
  • Cantrip
    • Prestidigitation (Smoke and Mirrors)
  • Spell
    • (Lv 2) Hold Person (About as close as we’re getting to gold card for a hot minute)
• Lv 5 Bard
  • Bardic Inspiration (D8)
  • Font of Inspiration
  • Spell
    • (Lv 3) Clairvoyance (our first vision spell)
• Lv 6 Bard
  • Countercharm
  • College of Whispers Feature
    • Mantle of Whispers
  • Spell
    • (Lv 3) Slow (Red Card as intended, but no damage)
• Lv 7 Bard
  • Spell
    • Dimension Door (baby’s first Destiny/TF Ult lv 1)
• Lv 8 Bard
  • ASI
    • +1 dex (16 total) + 1 con (14 total)
  • Spell
    • (Lv 4) Freedom of Movement (It’s just too good)
• Lv 9 Bard
  • Song of Rest (1d8)
  • Spell
    • Scrying (Destiny part 1)
• Lv 10 Bard
  • Bardic Inspiration (1d10)
  • Expertise: Arcana, Deception
  • Cantrip
    • Vicious Mockery
  • Magical Secrets
    • (Lv 2) Misty Step
    • (Lv 5) Teleportation Circle
• Lv 11 Bard
  • Eldritch Blast gets 3 shots
  • Spell
    • (Lv 6) True Seeing
• Lv 12 Bard
  • ASI +2 cha (20 total/capped)
• Lv 13 Bard
  • Song of Rest (1d10)
  • Spell
    • (Lv 7) Teleport (Destiny part 2)
• Lv 14 Bard
  • Whisper Bard Feature Shadow Lore
    • At 14th level, you gain the ability to weave dark magic into your words and tap into a creature’s deepest fears.
    • As an action, you magically whisper a phrase that only one creature of your choice within 30 feet of you can hear. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. It automatically succeeds if it doesn’t share a language with you or if it can’t hear you. On a successful saving throw, your whisper sounds like unintelligible mumbling and has no effect.
    • If the target fails its saving throw, it is charmed by you for the next 8 hours or until you or your allies attack or damage it. It interprets the whispers as a description of its most mortifying secret.
    • While you gain no knowledge of this secret, the target is convinced you know it. While charmed in this way, the creature obeys your commands for fear that you will reveal its secret. It won’t risk its life for you or fight for you, unless it was already inclined to do so. It grants you favors and gifts it would offer to a close friend.
    • When the effect ends, the creature has no understanding of why it held you in such fear.
    • Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
  • Magical Secrets
    • (Lv 7) Plane Shift
    • (Lv 3) Fireball (Your choice honestly. I just picked Fireball for some accessible AoE)
• Lv 15 Bard
  • Bardic inspiration (D12)
  • Spell
    • (Lv 8) Power Word Stun (FINALLY! THE TRUE GOLD CARD)
• Lv 16 Bard
  • ASI +2 Dex
• Lv 17 Bard
  • Eldritch Blast gets 4 shots
  • Song of Rest (d12)
  • Spell
    • (Lv 9) Foresight (When you see all the cards, Destiny is truly in your hands.)
• Lv 18 Bard
  • Magical Secrets
    • (Lv 9) Gate (Kind of an easter egg since TF’s ult used to be on his E and called gate. It however is very precise teleportation/plane shifting that can take you to a specific person. So you can pretty much go anywhere)
    • (Lv 9) Wish (When luck is on your side, it’s really more of a command)
• Pros
  • Tons of vision to play around
  • Finding your way and tracking your targets shouldn’t be hard
  • If you can’t beat your enemies, cheat them.
  • Nice for roleplay
• Cons
  • Wonky Start
  • Probably bad in combat
  • I had a tough enough time thinking about this that I don’t think I very cleanly got him.
  • Needing such high level spells to emulate Destiny while trying to maintain his talents and personality felt really restraining. Definitely the most difficult feeling build I’ve had so far.
• As always, I look forward to your takes in the comments! Hopefully someone hits the mark on this one a little better.

Cover || First
Previously
O-O-O
Author's Note: I guess it's a blue moon because here's your second chapter this week! This chapter and the next are both dedicated to my late grandma, who’s favorite time of year was Christmas. She loved spending time with her family and I hope to capture some of that spirit in my writing. Enjoy!
O-O-O
1510, 18 December 2252, Clarke Hotel, Von Braun, Luna
“You did WHAT?!” Sam’s eyes narrowed with anger as she looked at the three of them.
“I-I c-can e-expla-in,” Lian stuttered while trying to appear as small as possible..
Sean held up his hand in front of the trembling programmer. “I’ve got it.” Sean took a deep breath and began to explain, “Lian found some juicy intel about the PFS goons we faced in some hackable Gold Horizon comms. We wanted to blow the whole thing open so we went where there would be more details about this.”
Sam ran her hands through her hair and asked, “What if you’d gotten caught?!”
Ana replied from the corner of the common room, “Nothing good.”
“I know!” Sam’s voice was undercut with an angry growl.
Matt raised his hands “Look, don’t you want to know what we found?”
“It better be fucking worth it.”
Lian looked up and said with a wavering voice, “Y-yeah, s-so...the whole thing with Gold Horizon selling mech d-designs...that’s just the b-beginning. T-there’s comms logs with encrypted c-contents that went to the PFS.”
It felt like the room dropped below freezing as Ana asked, “Why would Gold Horizon be communicating with terrorists?”
“They happened a few days before e-each attack. I t-think...they’re working t-together or s-something. They d-didn’t even obscure the a-address.”
“No...that can’t be....”
Lian swallowed and continued. “I a-assume it gets even worse if you can see the m-messages, but I haven’t d-decrypted anything yet.”
“Fuck.”
“Th-that still isn’t the worst p-part. Around the s-same time, Gold Horizon was also r-receiving messages from...somewhere e-else, hidden. I d-don’t know who it is or what they said, b-but they look a b-bit like o-orders.”
Matt collapsed into a chair as the strength left his body entirely. “Who would even be able to order them around?”
Sam walked to Lian and loomed over the cowering snow leopard. She asked, “How well did you cover your tracks?” as her voice wavered with fear.
“E-E-Extremely. They won’t know what hit them...or even that t-they got h-h-hit.”
Ana growled as she clenched her fists. “We need to go public with this.” Her tail lashed like a whip behind her. “They can’t get away with this.”
Matt shivered and replied, “Ana, we can’t do that!”
“Why not? Blow the fucking top off this whole fucking thing.” She gritted and then bared her teeth as she growled.
Matt shot back, “Because then they know their game is up! And we might not have perfectly covered our tracks!”
“I c-couldn’t completely erase our presence there....”
Ana sneered at Lian, “Well then that’s y—” Sam grabbed Ana’s shoulder and pushed her into a seat.
“Ana, cool off please. One at a time.” She let go of the irate snow leopard. “Lian, what’s the next step?”
“D-Decrypting the data I have. I found the k-key generation program and grabbed th-that first.”
“Once you’ve done that?”
“We act o-on whatever is in the files?”
“Okay.” Sam took a deep breath. “Ana, it would be very unwise to make any of this public. It can be linked to us if they really try, and if we blow the lid off...they’re gonna try.”
Her claws dug into the chair. “Fine.”
Sam shook her head. “I cannot stress this enough. This didn’t happen. Don’t mention this to anyone that isn’t in this room right now.”
Sean lounged over the back of a chair. “Spy shit is a lot more fun when it’s fake.”
Sam exhaled and sat down. “Lian, is there some way we can secure our comms?”
Lian chuckled nervously. “I thought you’d n-never ask.”
“Do that. As soon as possible.” Sam sighed as she leaned back.
Matt sighed. “So, was this worth it Sam?”
“I haven’t decided. In the future, stupid...shit like this should be a unanimous decision. I’m disappointed you did it behind my and Ana’s back.”
Lian’s gaze sunk to the floor as Matt nodded. “That’s understandable.”
“I’m glad we know now, but we need to be careful. They can make us disappear...and that’s just Gold Horizon. Whoever is giving orders...I don’t want to know what they can do.”
O-O-O
0930, 19 December 2252, Ana’s Room, Clarke Hotel, Von Braun, Luna
Ana blinked awake with a shudder. The world had been upended entirely and she felt sick. She dragged herself out of bed and began the arduous process of making her hair and fur presentable.
She began to brush her teeth and cringed at the strong mint taste. She spat the foam into the sink and looked in the mirror. Her sullen eyes stared back at her. Something was missing. She shook her head and got dressed. At least her sleep had been peaceful last night.
Ana looked at her terminal. The conversation she had with Sam weighed heavily on her mind, possibly even heavier than the revelation that the entire conflict with the PFS was a sham. With shaking hands she snatched the terminal and began typing a message to Matt. She deleted the message a few times and retyped it.
Can you come to my room? I’ve got something I’d like to talk to you about.
A few minutes later Matt knocked at her door. “I’m uh...here.” She walked to the door and opened it, seeing her copilot standing there in exercise pants and a tee shirt.
Ana sighed. “Come in.”
“What’s up?” Ana shut the door behind him and tried to calm her storming emotions.
Ana ran her hands through her hair and shook her head. She sank to the bed with a sigh. “You’re too kind to me. I really don’t deserve it.”
Matt tilted his head slightly. “We have to support each other, or else we’d get shot down.”
Ana groaned as she looked down at her paws. “There you go again.”
Ana felt the mattress sink slightly as Matt sat down a respectful distance away. “I forgive you. I’ve got a pretty good idea why you were so...prickly back then. It can’t have been easy....” Losing your sister, she filled in the unspoken conclusion to the sentence.
Her spotted tail whipped behind her, one of the only indicators of her raging emotions. “It wasn’t.” Ana stood up and paced around the room. “You’re really okay with how I treated you?”
“I mean...it sucked. I almost quit, but I decided I wasn’t letting my chance go, and now I know what you went through. It won’t heal the scars, but it does make them hurt a bit less.”
Ana’s face flushed with shame as she sucked in a breath through her teeth. “Scars...shit. Did I scar your shoulders?”
“A little bit, yeah. You can barely see it unless you know where to look.”
Ana sighed again. “S...sorry.”
Matt nodded and stood up. “Have you had breakfast yet?”
“No.”
“Let’s fix that.”
O-O-O
Matt walked out of Ana’s room and into the common area. Ana grabbed a protein bar from the counter before sitting down on a couch and tearing into it. Matt’s stomach rumbled as he grabbed a breakfast pocket from the fridge. He stuck it in the reheater and sat down at the table. His model of the ROMEO stood complete, with cockpit hatches opened. Barely visible inside were miniscule figures of himself and Ana. The thought still brought a slight smile to his face in spite of the circumstances. Sean yawned as he walked out of his room into the common area, the sound of a flushing toilet echoing before the door slid shut.
Ana asked, “Has anyone seen Sam?”
Sean nodded. “Yeah, she went out to get some decorations. Said we were going to spice up the place.”
Matt took his breakfast out of the reheater and said, “Well bringing the Solstice spirit inside would help the mood.”
Ana replied sullenly, “Maybe.” Matt finished eating in silence then stared into the table. His terminal buzzed with a message. He pulled out his glasses and powered on the overlay. It was from Sam.
Could you guys come to the lobby? I could use some help getting some decorations upstairs.
Matt typed a quick reply and said, “Sam’s got the decorations in the lobby, she wants help to get them up here.”
Ana grunted as she stood up. “Fine by me.” Matt walked to the elevator at the end of the hallway and pushed the call button. Motors hummed above them as the elevator doors opened with a chime. The car descended slowly before the doors slid open again.
Matt’s eyes went wide as he stepped out of the elevator car. There was a colossal amount of stuff in the lobby. “Sam, where’s all this from?”
The lynx smiled weakly next to a container almost as long as she was tall. “I used to live here. All this was in a storage unit in case I came back.”
Sean whistled. “Damn, you must have had a big house.”
She nodded wistfully. “I did. Let’s get this stuff put up.” Sam waved them over and began directing them to carry the boxes into the elevator.
O-O-O
Matt looked at the decorated common room with a smile. It had taken the better part of a day, with a break for lunch, but the room oozed vaguely Christmas-y spirit. The entire room smelt faintly of pine, while a tall dark green tree stood in the corner, wrapped with multicolor lights. Holiday music rich in brass horns played from a speaker in the corner as Sam put the finishing touches on the table. A red tablecloth covered the cheap plastic table and electric candles flickered pleasantly.
Sam grinned, though something seemed off with her expression. “Good job guys. This really feels like home now.”
“Glad to have helped.”
Lian stepped into the common room and murmured, “Wow,” as his head spun around.
Matt gestured to the room and said, “Happy holidays, Lian.”
Lian grinned and replied, “You t-too.” After a moment, he coughed and said, “I’ve not been able to crack it yet. T-There has to be some vulnerability, s-somewhere.”
Matt patted the shorter snow leopard on the shoulder “You’ll get it eventually.”
“I have to.”
Sam walked over to them and said, “Lian, try and relax, this is supposed to be a break.”
Lian exasperatedly raised his hands and exclaimed, “B-But it’s an interesting problem!”
Sam sighed. “How much do you actually need to be by your computer for it to decode?”
“That’s...not important.” Sam motioned ‘go on’ as Lian sighed, “I don’t need to be there once it starts.”
Sam tilted her head and asked, “So why don’t you spend some time with us?”
Lian sighed again. “Fine.”
O-O-O
1650, 20 December 2252, Clarke Hotel, Von Braun, Luna
Matt grinned as his parents resolved onscreen. He had the time after helping Sam remove the storage boxes of decorations to touch base with them. His dad asked, “How’s it going, son?”
He thought for a moment and then replied, “It’s been okay, dad. My mech is in for repairs. We had to eject in our last fight.”
A few seconds passed while the data crossed the hundreds of thousands of kilometers before his mom leaned in and asked, “How bad was it darling? We couldn’t find any clear videos.”
Matt blew air out and chuckled. “You probably don’t want to know. The mech is in one piece...now...mostly.”
His mother’s piercing gaze still was effective from several light-seconds away. She asked, “But you weren’t hurt, right?”
“No. Nothing major, just some bruises from getting a bit knocked around.”
His mother frowned and shook her head. “This is why I was worried. Didn’t I say that Simon?” She tapped his father on the shoulder as she sighed.
“Yes you did dear, but we’re supporting him now, right?”
She nodded and asked, “Is your Ranger okay?”
Matt remembered her limp form curled in his arms after they ejected. “She...had a bit of a bad reaction, but I calmed her down. She’s actually...kinda nice when you get past her prickly exterior.”
His mother’s expression softened. “Well that’s good to hear.”
His dad sighed and asked, “You’re sure that you can’t make it home for Christmas?”
“Yeah, they’ve got us locked down because of the...recent PFS activity. That was who we fought last Thursday by the way.”
His dad nodded. “It was on the newsfeeds. We could barely see what happened.”
Matt remembered the nauseating spin that their mech had been left in before they ejected. He nodded. “Probably for the best.” Matt opened his mouth to mention the opposition he had fought and then thought better of it. “We pretty much...lost.”
“I’m sure you’ll do better next time.”
Matt solemnly nodded and said, “Hopefully yeah.”
Deftly changing the conversation, his dad said, “So you said you’re staying at Von Braun? I’ve got some friends there in the CLLSS department of dome...12? I don’t remember.”
Matt chuckled. “I don’t think your life support nerd friends are really gonna be the people I want to talk with here.”
His dad shook his head and tried to keep his grin from being too obvious. “I’m hurt, really.”
A message popped up on his screen. “Wait a second.” He opened it and quickly read it. “Sorry, I need to head out to get some groceries for the team dinner.”
“Good luck!”
“Thanks. I love you guys.”
“We love you too! Bye.” Matt smiled as he hung up the call. He took a moment to grab his backpack and a hat to hopefully disguise himself enough to avoid recognition. Walking into the common area, he passed Ana and Sam preparing something that smelled delicious. Lian waved awkwardly from the couch at Matt.
Sean announced his presence with an exaggerated, “Let’s go do some shopping!”
O-O-O
Sam sprinkled seasoning into the pot of broth. Ana had volunteered to help with the pot roast for tonight’s dinner. It was the perfect opportunity; just send the three men to get groceries and Sam and Ana had privacy again. The snow leopard was to her left and was chopping potatoes. Sam turned to Ana and said, “You should really talk with your family again, Ana. They probably miss you.”
The snow leopard quietly responded, “I don’t know if I can,” as she dumped a mat full of diced potatoes into a bowl.
Sam chuckled as she looked at the recipe in front of her. “You’re one of the strongest people I know. You fly something in hard vac expecting it to get shot full of holes. You can do this.”
The knife thudded as it sliced a few millimeters into the cutting mat. “That’s different and you know it.”
Sam asked, “Do you want your parents to lose both of their daughters instead of just one?” Ana gritted her teeth and softly hissed as her frown grew, baring her fangs.
With a wavering voice Ana said, “Stop. Just...stop. Please.” She put down the knife on the counter and stood in stagnant silence. Sam looked back to the pressure cooker. Ana walked away from the counter. Her voice was tinged with pain as she said. “I’ll do it. Just...stop.” Sam didn't turn around as Ana exited the room. She hoped that pushing that point would be worth it.
O-O-O
Ana wished the door to her room could slam. The lynx was right. Of course Sam was fucking right. She sank to the bed and grabbed a pillow to scream into. The soft pillow muffled her scream to a barely audible whine.
Ana picked up her tablet. Her hands shivered as she navigated to her chat application and opened the chat with her mother.
Mom, I know it’s been a wh—
Ana shook her head as she deleted the message. That wouldn’t do. She tried again.
Hello again mother, how have—
“No.” Her finger pressed against the delete key. She began to type again, her fingers flying over her tablet.
Can we talk, mom? I know it’s been a while. Just us.
Ana looked over the message. That would work. Now all she needed to do was hit send. Her finger hovered over the button, trembling. Ana sat there, frozen in place. With a grunt of frustration, she flipped over, driving her face into the bed and blindly stabbed at the button.
Her shoulders shook as she raised her head slightly to gaze at the tablet. A few minutes passed before the screen flared to life with a message.
Of course Kisa. Does now work?
Her mother was still calling her kitten. That was probably a good sign? She didn’t seem mad, but she could seem calm even when she was boiling with emotion. Ana’s stomach roiled with nervous energy as she walked to the bathroom. She needed to look a bit more composed. She ran a brush through her hair and combed her facial hair into some semblance of order. Ana walked back to the bed, and grabbed her tablet, propping it up on the small desk before sinking into the chair.
Ana took a deep breath before hitting the ‘Video Call’ button. It began ringing, then a few seconds later, the call connected. Ana recognized the room immediately. It was her mother’s reading room, on the second floor of her home. The dark faux panels provided a high contrast for her nearly white hair.
Irina’s muzzle warped a bit as she smiled. “It’s been a long time since we’ve talked, Kisa.”
Ana flinched. “Don’t call me that. I’m not a cub anymore.”
There was a noticeable time delay before she responded. “You’ll always be my cub dear.” She shook her head and laughed. “I won’t talk about work with you. Why did you choose now to call me, dear?”
Ana lowered her eyes to the desk and coughed. “I wanted to apologize.” She took a deep breath and steeled her emotions. “I failed to protect her.” Ana choked back a sob and whispered, “Sorry.”
Ana heard her mother gasp before she sternly said, “No. Absolutely not. We both know it was bad luck. Don’t blame yourself for chance.”
Ana shook her head as her eyes watered. “That random chance wouldn’t have happened if I was a better Ranger.”
As Ana looked back up she saw her mother’s expression soften. “Kisa...Ana. Don’t think like that.” She sighed, reaching towards the screen, as if to caress her daughter. “Thinking that way only leads to insanity and madness. You can change the past as much as you can breath vacuum.”
Ana didn’t say anything in response but weakly nodded. Her stomach twisted into knots as she asked, “Who hates me now?” As the round trip timer ticked down, she braced herself.
Irina’s eyes widened in surprise. “Hm? None of them do, Ana. They miss you.”
Ana went limp and flatly asked, “What?” It felt like there was a fight in her body and all the sides were losing.
“You’ve not sent messages or called since March. I don’t know how my daughter is doing.”
“Poorly.” Ana reached up with a shaky hand and said, “I’ve got to go,” before jabbing at the red button.
Ana saw her mother reach towards the screen with an open hand as she frantically said, “No, wait. You can’t leave yet.”
With a shiver Ana let a slight whine escape her mouth. “I...mom, I feel like I need to be sick.”
Irina reached towards the screen again before stopping herself with a slight sigh. “Nerves, Kisa. They will pass.”
Ana looked down, averting her gaze. “I’ve felt like this since Matt and I got shot down and...we had to bail out. I don’t think it’s passing.” She looked back up into her mother’s pale icy irises.
Her mother nodded sympathetically. “That makes sense. Would you like to know what helped me with feeling like that?”
Ana felt her eyes water. She had missed this. “Please. Anything that could help me.”
Her mother thought for a moment past the communication delay. “Find an anchor.”
“What?”
“Find someone or something that you can lean on. You need to weather the storm of your feelings, and it’s difficult to do that alone. Everyone’s anchor is different, and people can have more than one. Yours was Annika and you were hers. Now you need to find another.”
“Alright...I can do that.” Ana took shuddering breaths to calm herself. “How’s it been back home?”
“Oh it’s been pretty good all things considered. Your father blew up an engine test stand last month....”
O-O-O
1845, 20 December 2252, Clarke Hotel, Von Braun, Luna
Sam dumped the vegetables into the pressure cooker and pushed the lid down, locking it in place with a metallic click. Her tufted ears twitched as a door slid open behind her. That could be only one person. She began cleaning the kitchen’s surfaces, pretending she didn’t hear Ana’s soft footsteps coming back to the kitchen.
Ana said “Thank you,” so quietly that Sam almost didn’t hear it over the running sink.
Sam turned around and gently asked, “It went well?” Ana nodded. “I could use some help with the cutting mats. They’re a bit dirty, and I don’t want to stain them.”
Ana nodded slightly and said, “Sounds good.” Sam sighed in relief. The snow leopard seemed to be doing better. Her gamble had paid off. She didn’t like seeing Ana’s raw pain and hopefully, this was a step towards healing for the hurting Ranger.
O-O-O
Matt walked into the lobby of the hotel and asked, “Why did Sam send all of us out? It’s not like this is too much for two people to carry.” His single bag clinked with two bottles of red wine. “If I was careful, I could carry this all myself.”
“Many hands make light work. It’s what my grandpa used to say.” Sean was carrying a loaf of bread and gingerly held a whole watermelon under his left arm. Lian nodded in agreement. He was carrying a bag with a large package of chips and an imitation cheese dip.
Matt pressed the elevator call button and stepped in as the doors slid open. The elevator moved smoothly up. The doors slid open as the wonderful smell of Sam’s cooking hit Matt like a delicious wall. The aromatic scent washed over him in layers. As they stepped into the common area, Matt noticed something had changed with Ana. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was definitely something different with the snow leopard. Maybe it was her stance or something about how she held her tail, but he could tell, even when her back was to him and she was washing dishes.
“Ah perfect!” Sam held out her hands to Sean. “You were able to find a watermelon!” The redheaded man gently handed the round green fruit over.
“I almost dropped it when we were leaving the store.”
“I’m glad that you didn’t.” Sam laughed. “That would have been a bad loss.” Sam sat the watermelon on the counter next to a large dish and began to cut into the sweet fruit with careful motions. She said, “The roast is done, I’ll get it out once I’ve cut the watermelon. Feel free to seat yourselves.”
Matt sat down across from Sean and narrowed his eyes slightly as Ana sat next to him. It had only been a few months since they were constantly at each other’s throats. He much preferred this.
“Dinner is served.” Sam reached in and sat a large pot on a hot pad in the middle of the table. “If there’s no objections, I’d like to have dinner by candlelight.” A chorus of affirmative murmuring answered her as she dimmed the lights. Sean stood up to pour everyone a glass of wine as Sam moved the other dishes to the table.
The serving dish made its way around the table, each team member serving themselves a generous helping of the main dish. Matt stabbed a chunk of synth beef and a potato cube and placed them in his mouth. It tasted even better than it smelled. Rich, multi-layered flavor from all the components in the roast exploded onto his tongue.
Matt chewed the roast, savoring it, then swallowed. “That’s good. You’ve outdone yourself.” Sam smiled at the group’s appreciation. Matt tried to eat slowly, but in what seemed like no time at all, the food in front of him was almost gone, only a broth left. He served himself a piece of toasted bread to soak up the juices.
Sean laughed as he told a story to Sam. The contrast to the first time Matt had eaten dinner with these people was remarkable. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed even Ana had a grin on her face.
Sam looked around the table, and seeing that everyone was done with the main course, proclaimed, “Time for dessert!” She stood up and grabbed a stack of small bowls along with the bowl of pale red fruit. “Now don’t eat this quickly please. You’re going to want to savor it.”
Matt bit into a cube and tasted sweet juice spill out of the fruit. No wonder this is so expensive. “As far as first impressions go this is probably one of the best I think I’ve had.” In a few minutes, everyone had finished their deserts. Matt leaned forward to see if there was any watermelon left in the bowl. He leaned back with a disappointed sigh. Matt felt gas bubbling up from his stomach as he raised his hand to his mouth. After a quiet belch he said, “Great food Sam.” Sean and Lian echoed their own compliments, while Ana sat in contemplative silence. Matt noticed the flickering candlelight in her wide pupils before looking away.
O-O-O
Ana leaned back in the chair as she stretched. “That food was very well made.”
Sam beamed at the compliments. “You’re welcome.”
“Shall we have a toast?” Sean held up a piece of toasted bread in his left hand before chuckling and holding out his wine glass. The electric candles flickered, reflecting off the glass as Ana sat back up and raised her glass. Sean said, “To getting to the bottom of things.” Ana echoed the sentiment vigorously
Sean vaguely gestured to his left. Sam raised her glass and proclaimed with little time for thought, “To family.”
The table echoed Sam. “To family.” Sam looked in Lian’s direction. Lian waved his free hand at Matt frantically.
The human raised his glass, and said, “To friendship.” A connection formed in Ana’s brain with a flash. Matt was her anchor. He had brought her back from the brink. It had to be him.
Sean nudged her arm causing Ana to jump. She repeated the toast a few moments after the rest of the table. Matt looked in her direction, the flickering light reflecting off his brown face. Ana raised her glass and said, “To victory.”
Ana watched Matt nod as he said, “To victory.”
They all said in unison, “Cheers,” before beginning to sip their drinks.
Sam finished the last of her glass and asked, “Would anyone like to watch the Von Braun University Orchestra’s solstice show? It’ll be live broadcast in....” Sam checked her watch, “Seven minutes.”
Matt replied, “Sounds fun.”
Sean stood up and stretched. “I’ve gotta take a leak, I’ll be back in a sec.”
Ana blinked slowly and sarcastically said, “Thank you for the extremely important information.”
“I can get the d-dishes.”
Matt sank into the couch and looked at the vidscreen. Sam sat on the other end of the couch and began fiddling with the remote. In a few moments, a standby image with snowflakes drifting down occupied the screen. Matt watched Ana sit on a recliner a few feet from him and put the footrest out. Sean and Lian ended up on the two-seat couch a few moments before the broadcast started.
The camera focused on the back of a brown-furred canine man wearing a white suit and holding a baton. He raised his arms as the dozens of people in the pit readied their instruments. They launched into a slow tempo beautiful song.
O-O-O
2055, 20 December 2252, Clarke Hotel, Von Braun, Luna
As the final note of the final song decrescendoed into nothing, Matt yawned. “I think I’m going to bed.” He stood up and stretched, feeling his back pop. “Thanks again for dinner, Sam.”
“It was my pleasure.”
Matt turned on his heel and said, “Good night guys. Sleep well.” He opened the door to his room and slowly changed into his sleepwear. He sat on his bed for a few minutes, pondering the information Lian had found. The motive didn’t make sense. The PFS was violently anti-corporate, so why would they be listening to Gold Horizon? And for that matter, why would Gold Horizon communicate with a group that opposed their existence? Unfortunately, the programmer still hadn’t made any progress on cracking the encrypted data. Shaking his head, he got up and ambled into the bathroom. Matt began brushing his teeth before he heard someone knock at his door. He spat out the minty foam and walked to the door. With a press of a button, it slid open, revealing Ana in black sweatpants and light grey tank top.
“Hey, Matt.”
Matt furrowed his brow and replied, “Uh...hi Ana.”
“May I come in?”
Matt wondered what she was doing here. He stepped aside and said, “Sure.” Ana fell into his desk chair and rested her head in her hands. Matt shut the door and walked towards her. “Is something wrong?”
She raised her hand to stop him from getting closer. “I don’t know...I don’t think so.”
Looking at her slightly trembling form, he said, “It sure seems like something is wrong.”
She blew air out of her nose and took a deep breath back in. “I talked with my mother earlier today.”
Matt smiled slightly and asked, “How did that go?”
Ana shivered. “She misses me, and so does the rest of my family...but that’s not why I’m here.”
Matt swallowed and asked. “Why are you here then?”
“I used to lean on Ani when I was feeling lost. I...can’t do that anymore.” Ana took a few rapid breaths and continued. “She was my anchor. I think you’re....” Her volume fell off rapidly and she practically mouthed the last words.
Matt strained to hear the end of her thought in vain. “I’m what?”
Ana looked up and took a deep breath. “I think you’re my new one.” She sighed. “My new anchor.”
Matt tilted his head quizzically. “What does that mean?”
She closed her eyes for a while before opening them and answering, “You brought me back from the edge when we...after we had to eject.”
A vision of Ana’s suited body in the fetal position formed in his mind’s eye. “I remember.”
“You brought me from panic to...well...less panicked.”
“I’m glad to have been able to help.”
“I’m still...fuck, look at me. I’m shaking like a leaf.” Ana raised her hand and looked at it as it shook. “I’m still feeling...freaked out. With everything that’s happened I...I just feel so...scared.”
“I do too. These are frightening times.” Matt sat down on the edge of the bed. “Can I do anything to help you feel less scared?” Ana mumbled something with the word ‘hold’ in it, but he wasn’t able to make out much else. “What?”
“When....” her ears twitched profusely, “when you...held me. After. It made me feel safe for the first time since...then.” Matt’s face flushed with heat as he looked at the similarly embarrassed snow leopard.
“You...want me to hold you?”
“If that’s okay.” She quickly added, “If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”
“I’d be okay with trying that.” Matt coughed and added. “To make you feel safe again, of course.”
“Of course.” Ana stood up and looked around the room, her ears twitching every few seconds. “How would we...do that? There’s a bit too much gravity for me to float.”
“I can probably lift you pretty easily....you can’t weigh more than a fifteen-kilo weight in one gee right now.”
“Oh right.” Ana shuffled towards him and narrowed her eyes. “If I...hm.” She rubbed her chin. “Catch me.”
“What?” Ana jumped slightly into the air and curled into a ball before she started to descend. “Oh.” Matt stuck out his arms, wrapping them around Ana’s shoulders and waist respectively. He felt Ana relax in his arms as tension leaked out of her body.
A low rumble built in her chest as she said, “Mmmmm...this is nice.”
Matt’s hand began slipping up her body. “Uhhh...you’re not as easy to hold on to as a fifteen-kilo weight.”
Ana murmured quietly, “You could hold me on the bed....”
Matt’s face flushed again as he swallowed. Suddenly his mouth was very dry. “Alright.” He gently sat the curled snow leopard on the large bed and laid down beside her. “Where would you like me to—oh.” Ana pulled his arms around her abdomen as her tail rested along his leg.
Matt could feel her heart racing through his hands as she asked nervously, “Is this okay?” He felt the tip of her tail tap him on the foot as she tensed the muscles in it. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say that it had a mind of its own.
Matt spat a few strands of her hair out of his mouth “Now it is.”
Ana turned her head and asked, “Room, could you dim the lights to ten percent?” The lights dimmed to near darkness as Ana shuffled back. She whispered, “I feel safer already.”
O-O-O
Next (Coming Soon)

This chapter was a labour of love, heists are hard. Big thanks to u/eruwenn for helping tidy up this bag of snakes.
First / Prev / Next
 
 
“Ranjaz K’Lua, you thieving scumbag!” the Kah’Ree in the purple suit exclaimed loudly as he spotted them across the busy room. “As I live and skral, I never thought you would have the Jolos show your face here again!”
Two J’Rami in suits detached themselves from the lobby wall, walking towards the Kittran and his friends. “Alfor, my old friend!” Ranjaz smiled broadly. “No need for the welcoming party, I’ve got your credits” —he gestured to Cygna— “and a sweetener, for all the trouble I caused last time.”
Alfor paused, lecherous eyes assessing the Fae’Dan. “You know I have a thing for purple.” He chuckled at his own joke and waved the guards back to their posts. “How about we have a drink, and discuss your forgiveness.” He pointed to Thor and Eruwenn. “Brought your own security, or are these Gal. Fed. goons? Everyone knows about your probation.”
The Kittran gave a broad grin. “I got a Tulseria-damned pardon, a new ship and a very lucrative opportunity.”
The Kah’Ree smiled. “How’d a thieving cat like you get a pardon?” He gave Ranjaz an appraising look up and down. “Oh? Now, let me guess, you need something from me and my brother?”
Ranjaz fired his finger guns. “You were always the smart one Alfor, that’s why you run the casino floor.” The Kittran stepped in close. “The item, do you still have it?”
Alfor tilted his head back and away from Ranjaz. “Your little guarantee?” He looked back down at Ranjaz. “We have it somewhere safe. Had some unusual people come by after you got caught. Asked a lot of questions. Made a lot of threats.” His face contorted in anger. “We got audited thanks to you.”
The Kittran smiled. “If only they knew you better, they could have simply paid you for the information.”
“We give nothing for free.” The Kah’Ree gave a sinister smile. “House rule.”
Ranjaz walked forward to put his his arm on Alfor’s back. “Let’s go see your brother. Have a few drinks, maybe gamble a little, and discuss our future riches.”
 
 
Ripley stood in the shadows of the staff shuttle bay, watching as the numerous employees of assorted races came and went. Loud laughter caught her attention, and a very strangely dressed Niham broke away from a small group and walked towards her. Ripley tried to maintain her low profile as the scantily clad female strutted towards her in long black boots with pointed heels that clacked loudly with every step.
Deliberately avoiding eye contact the Awakened tried to will herself into the wall but it was too late and a voice called out to her. “Hey Darling! You must be the one I’m looking for.”
Ripley shook her head. The Kittran had said the contact was an Ashi pirate captain, a master gambler and expert in procuring the unusual. “I don’t-”
“Listen cutie,” she interrupted, “you’re the one lurking in dark corners drawing attention to yourself. I’ve got your security card. You tell that fluffy little stud he owes me. And more than a bottle of Fae’Dan wine and a good time, if you know what I mean.” She held up the card between her fingers, just a little out of Ripley’s reach.
The Awakened considered the phrase ‘fluffy little stud’ and decided that, despite her hopes, this was probably her contact. “You’re Captain Whiplash?”
The Ashi laughed genuinely, the jiggling of tightly squeezed breasts bursting at shiny black restraints making Ripley nervous. “Oh, Darling! Only my little pets call me that! You may call me Sho’Na.”
Ripley was momentarily confused. “So, you aren’t a pirate captain?”
“I’m anything they pay me to be.” She smiled at the silver-haired woman's naivety. “You really are new to this.”
Ripley, caught off guard, simply nodded, then replied, “I’m a quick learner.”
“Good for you, Darling.” Sho’Na handed over the card. “Just make sure you get paid up front, and don’t use your real name with clients. Ruins the mystique.”
Ripley was unsure of what was being said. Turning the card over in her hands she saw that the holo-image on the front was of a male Arkellian. “This isn’t me?”
“Honey, I was given half a cycle to get you a level three security card. Just be glad it’s a biped.” Sho’Na looked Ripley up and down. “Our mutual acquaintance told me you were some sort of master of disguise who could even trick Selva Blaster.”
Ripley paused, then smiled. Her appearance had become such an integral part of her identity she had forgotten that it was entirely optional. “It won’t be a problem.” She looked at the card again. “Unless the owner comes looking for it.”
Sho’Na gave another bosom-trembling laugh that threatened to spill out at any moment. “Oh, don’t worry, he’s tied up at the moment.”
The Awakened considered the risk. “Hmmm, but for how long?”
The few strips of shiny black material that comprised Sho’Na’s revealing outfit strained under her amusement. “Don’t you worry, Darling. He paid for the whole night.”
 
 
Eruwenn had reassessed her opinion of Ranjaz many times since meeting him. The criminal. The loyal friend. The lazy trouble-maker. All were true, but now she was seeing something new. He sat opposite Toran, the brother of Alfor, in a game of dalcho she wished she could have taken part in, but was equally glad she did not.
At first she had thought the Kittran was outmatched, a few reckless mistakes costing him dearly as the Kah’Ree deftly selected his tiles. Toran was clearly a seasoned gambler, using a blend of the Remee Le’Bow Gambit and the Kowals’Kee Analysis she hadn’t seen before. It seemed to be dismantling Ranjaz’s tiles before he could even prepare his cards. A few fortunate dice rolls and he had taken a strong lead from the outset. The Kittran appeared desperate, playing any tile available to try and slow the defeat.
It had all been a ruse, she saw it; Ranjaz had saved his best tiles and carefully thrown hands to manipulate the cards. In just a few rounds he would be able to dominate the board and raise the stakes, recouping his losses and changing the course of the game entirely. She had encountered few players who could manipulate the game so deftly, using memory and layers of strategy to corner their opponent. It was magnificent.
Eruwenn couldn’t tear her eyes from the board as she stood beside Thor. The Awakened had shown no interest in the game, studiously watching the opposite door as Toran’s staff came in and out. When a waiter entered and began preparing drinks at the small private bar in the executive gambling room, Thor coughed. It was a strange thing for an Awakened to do, and Eruwenn finally looked up from the table. “Are you ok?”
Thor nodded. By the time he had looked towards her, she had returned her attention completely to the game. “You don’t seem concerned about your friend?” he asked.
The Anatidae watched as Ranjaz used a blind double feint, and the sheer audacity of such a move made her swallow hard. She didn’t look back to Thor, but mumbled a response. “I’m very confident in her abilities.”
The waiter was methodically placing drinks by each of the players, but when they stood behind Ranjaz the Kittran surged to his feet, shouting, “Hey! No cheating Toran! Getting your waiter to look over my shoulder? That’s a dirty move I’d expect from your brother!”
Thor had reacted faster than Eruwenn, pinning the arms of the Arkellian waiter in a vice-like bear hug. Toran slowly stood. He was big, heavily muscled, and the veins on his neck bulged as his anger rose. “Don’t accuse me in my own place.” He cracked his knuckles and glowered down at Ranjaz. “I run a straight game.”
Fearlessly the Kittran walked right up to the Kah’Ree and stared up into his face from waist height. “Don’t try and intimidate me, you son of a Vogel.” Ranjaz puffed out his chest and began pushing the burly casino owner. “Nobody cheats me!”
The blow caught Ranjaz across the cheek and sent him sprawling across the room. Eruwenn winced at the impact, but maintained her composure. Toran laughed. “Watch your tongue or I’ll add it to my collection.” He walked round the table and kicked Ranjaz in the stomach, glaring at Thor and Eruwenn, daring them to act. “Know your place trash. You’re at this table because you put credits up front. You are a dishonest thief, begging for scraps, and cosying up to me any my brother to get your little trinket back.” He returned to his seat. “Why would I need to cheat against the likes of you?”
Ranjaz stood, brushing himself off. “Fine, fine.” He waved a hand and Thor dropped the Arkellian. Ranjaz tapped him on the chest. “My mistake.” He sat down and picked up his cards once more. “You’re right Toran, you run a clean game. I’m just a sore loser.” He shuffled the order of the tiles that were still face down on the table. “To show my sincerity, how about we double the buy for the rest of the game?”
Toran snorted. “Double?” He looked at the Kittran, scrutinising his opponent. The game was already over; he had control of the board and his tiles occupied the three prime positions. Was the thief trying to buy his favour, he wondered? How much was the trinket he wanted truly worth? He decided it was worth testing. “Triple, and I’ll forget you dared touch me.”
The Kittran swallowed hard, his ears flat to his head. Toran momentarily worried he’d pushed for too much but a decision seemed to be reached. “Fine. Triple.” The look of defeat was delicious to the Kah’Ree.
 
 
Cygna had done her part and lured Alfor to a private room away from his security. She had danced, skipped and side-stepped his groping hands so far, maintaining a playfulness that ensured he complied. This sort of thing was not new to her; she had spent time undercover in the past. Fortunately, there had been little call for it since she had joined forces with Eruwenn.
Alfor’s eyes scanned her body once more. “The Kittran has very good taste.” He licked his lips, a small amount of drool escaping and running down his chin. He wiped it on his sleeve. “Now, I brought you somewhere quiet. How about you show me how sweet you can be?”
The Fae’Dan smiled coyly and continued her dancing just out of reach, glancing to the doorway where Alfor’s two guards stood watching her. “With an audience?” She raised her eyebrows expectantly.
With a sly grin he waved the guards out of the room. “Now come here and let me satisfy you like only a Kah’Ree can.” His eyes wandered over her body once more.
Cygna smiled, her own eyes moving from the Kah’Ree’s hands to his shoulders, then up towards his neck. An interesting fact about the Kah’Ree was the thick blood vessels on the side of their neck. They often bulged when a Kah’Ree was angry or excited, like Alfor’s were as he leered at her. She danced closer. Another interesting fact was that their brains were not as efficient as those of other species, hence the requirement for additional blood flow; more oxygen per limited thought.
He leaned forward, his eyes locked to her swaying hips. Cygna turned slowly, and his head tilted to appreciate her assets. The third, lesser known, fact about the Kah’Ree was that an interruption to the blood flow while they were in this excited state caused them to lose consciousness rapidly as their brain burned through the available oxygen. “My eyes are up here.” She smiled as he looked up at her with his head still tilted.
He sneered. “Who ca-”
The Fae’Dan struck the side of his neck with the edge of her hand, targeting the throbbing blood vessel with a powerful blow. The interruption to his brain's oxygen supply worked perfectly and he fell face forward onto the ground at her feet. She let out a sigh of relief and looked down at his unconscious body. “Thank you, that was particularly satisfying.”
She walked over to the door and peeked out, finding the guards standing either side. “He said to order us some drinks.” One of the guards nodded and immediately put his hand to his lapel communicator.
Back inside the room, Cygna used her foot to roll Alfor to his back and began searching his pockets. She came up empty. Her eyes caught a glimmer from his collar and she found a heavy gold chain, at the end of which was his security key. She removed it just as a knock came at the door. A deep voice from the other side called out. “Your drinks, boss.”
The Fae’Dan quickly messed up her hair. Using the back of her hand she smeared her lipstick sideways, and then pulled the strap of her dress down off her shoulder. She opened the door and, to her surprise, was faced with an Arkellian waiter. The bodyguards noted her dishevelled appearance and shared a smirk, and she said, “Oh, I wasn’t expec-”
The waiter pushed the trolley into the room. “Don’t keep the boss waiting, lady.” Before Cygna could reply they were inside and the door closed. “Relax, it’s me.”
Ripley’s voice sounded bizarre coming from the male Arkellian form, and Cygna’s eyes went wide in shock. Her sharp mind quickly adjusted to this new information. Of course the Awakened could change their physical appearance; she had just never seen it. They all seemed quite attached to their chosen human forms. “Neat trick.” She held out Alfor’s key. “Did you get the other one?”
Ripley nodded. “The Kittran played his part well. I didn’t see him take it, and didn’t feel it when he placed it in my pocket. Now that was a neat trick.”
The Fae’Dan smiled. “I think I’ll pass on that dalcho game.”
The Arkellian Ripley smiled. “Probably wise.” Turning, she slipped the key into her pocket and headed back out of the door.
 
 
Ripley entered the elevator to the owner's private offices on the top floor. Thanks to the distractions downstairs, the two large desks in the centre of the room were empty. She walked straight past them to the large leokas painting on the wall and swung it forward. Behind it was a Fae’Dan safe; she took out the two keys and a small homemade device the Kittran had given her.
Attaching the device to the bio-lock and standing before the safe, she elongated her arms to reach both key positions at once. There was more than one reason she was the one chosen for this task. The device beeped twice and small lights above each lock lit up. She simultaneously turned both keys, and there was a satisfying clunk.
She raised an eyebrow. The device had worked. The heavy safe door swung open and she began her search. Ranjaz had been very specific: while there was one item she had to get, she was to grab as much as possible to obscure their true target.
Quickly grabbing as much as she could she retrieved the keys and ran back across the room towards the elevator.
 
 
Cygna hauled Alfor back onto the seat, putting him in a more natural position and messing up his hair. She looked away as she began unbuttoning his clothes, pulling his trousers around his ankles and opening his shirt up to bare his chest. From a secret pocket inside her dress she pulled out a lace thong, setting it on his head like a bandana. She also had a small box which she opened, inside of which was a replica mouth with lipstick that matched her own.
Cygna carefully applied kiss marks all over his exposed skin before popping the fake lips back into the secret pocket. She took the Fae’Dan wine and partially filled two glasses, making sure to take a long drink from one and leave more lipstick marks. The rest of the wine was poured into the ice bucket.
She heard the sound of voices outside the door. The guards were arguing with someone, refusing them entry, but when the name Toran was mentioned it was Ripley who entered, still in uniform but now looking much like her usual self. She smirked at the Kah’Ree in his derobed state. “I can see you had fun.”
The Fae’Dan chuckled. “That’s the idea.” She looked at the Awakened in her true form. “You look… better.”
Ripley cocked her head. “It would be strange if the waiter came back to deliver a message.” She tossed the necklace key to Cygna, who replaced it on Alfor’s neck.
Reclining on the sofa and picking up her glass, Cygna took another long drink. “Get the other one back to Ranjaz quickly. This one won’t be napping much longer.”
The Awakened gave an almost Ranjaz-like grin. “You could always hit him again.” Before the Fae’Dan could reply she had ducked back out of the door. She caught the eye of one of the bodyguards and gave a head tilt back towards the room. “The boss is really enjoying himself!”
As the suited pair chuckled, the larger of the two got a message in his ear piece. “Hey, silver hair.” He grunted. “Boss has an important guest. Meet them in the foyer and bring them to the dalcho room.”
Ripley was relieved – she needed a reason to get into that room. “On my way.”
 
 
Toran was seething as he watched as the Kittran flipped his final tile. Why would he have waited so long to play the Wings of Tulseria tile? His stomach sank, and he couldn’t hold back his anger any longer. “Damn you!”
Ranjaz gave a full-fanged grin. “Looks like my luck turned at just the right moment.”
“Luck!” Toran’s tile snapped between his fingers. Why had he let the damned cat goad him into constantly increasing their bet? The cycle had started with him owing the brothers a million credits plus interest, and now the infuritating Kittran had won nearly forty times that. “Nobody is that lucky.”
“Woah!” Ranjaz held up his hands. “I would never cheat, well... certainly not a second time. After you caught me, I’d be a fool to try.”
“Hmm.” Toran looked at the two behind the Kittran. The big one would be a problem, but the Anatidae looked to be nothing special. “How about I give you back your little trinket and we call it even?”
“My trinket?” Ranjaz shook his head. “I had to convince you it was worth the million I owed. Why would you think I’d trade it for thirty eight million credits? I’ll pay what I owe, take my trinket and my winnings and leave.”
Toran folded his arms and looked across the dalcho board at Ranjaz. “And why would I let you do that?” The atmosphere in the room changed as the two security guards changed their stance. “Transfer the credits back to the house.”
Ranjaz dropped the grin, replacing it with a defiant glare. “What happened to you running a straight game?”
“The game was straight. You won, didn’t you?” He leaned forward, his eyes cold and hard. “You’re just in no position to collect.”
The Kittran was about to argue when the door behind Toran opened. He looked up as Ripley entered, and his eyes widened in shock. She wasn’t alone. “Toran, you bastard! You sold me out!”
“For ten million credits.” Toran stared hard at Ranjaz. “Care to make a better offer?”
Eruwenn’s eyes blazed with anger as the grey-suited Niham pulled up a seat and sat down beside Toran. “Now, now, you lied to me about having the item before. Don’t double cross me.” Sentinel Krast placed his hands together on the table, interlacing his fingers. “I’m not somebody who forgives easily.” He looked directly at Eruwenn. “Isn’t that right, former Councillor? A little far from your new Ambassador position, aren’t you?”
Ripley stood back against the wall. She had no idea who the newcomer was, but this most definitely was not the plan. The golden green Anatidae walked forward to stand behind Ranjaz. “Oh, I had a little vacation time saved up, and decided to spend it with my good friend here.” She placed a hand on the Kittrans shoulder. “And what brings a Sentinel here?”
Krast’s lips curled in what might approximate a smile. “I’m also acquainted with Mr K’Lua. In fact, we go back a very long way.” He turned to look directly at Ranjaz. “Now, return what is mine.”
Toran looked from Ranjaz to Krast. “Yours? You don’t look like the tiara wearing type.”
The Sentinel didn’t turn his head. “Ah, so you hid the data chip inside some shiny bauble. As inventive as ever, Mr K’Lua.” The Niham finally acknowledged Toran by looking at him. “Bring. It. Here.”
The Kah’Ree sucked air through his teeth. “Well, seems like we have something mighty important, and two very interested parties.” He stood and walked to his two security officers, who drew their weapons in unison. “Now then, I believe you” —he nodded to Krast— “offered ten million. How about it Ranjaz, old friend? What’s your counter offer?”
The Kittran had been sitting, silently seething at his double cross being double crossed. He looked at Krast. “Were you the one?”
Toran was surprised at being ignored, but before he could reply Krast answered, “The one?”
Ranjaz’s eyes narrowed, his ears alert, his tail swishing aggressively. “The one who took my friend!” he snarled as he felt Eruwenn’s hand holding him back gently.
Krast’s eyes glittered as he saw the impotent rage in his opponent’s eyes. “Ah, the poor deceased human?” He smiled his mannequin-esque smile. “And if I was?”
Toran snatched a pistol from one of his men and fired a blast at the ceiling. “Your quarrel can wait. Let’s settle our business first and you can kill each other after I’m paid.” He paused, then added, “but, not in my casino. Body disposal costs extra.”
Eruwenn’s hand gripped Ranjaz’s shoulder harder, and he braced himself. In one smooth move she both threw him backwards and to the right, and kicked the dalcho table up and forward into Krast's face. The Sentinel fell backwards as a blast from Toran struck the table, but Eruwenn was already on the move, sidestepping left and ducking forward into a cartwheel. Toran's gun had been following Ranjaz, but as her leg swept down it knocked the weapon from his grip.
Once she stabilized, her fist, already primed with momentum from the cartwheel, struck Toran below the ribs and knocked the wind from him. The guard, whose gun the Kah'Ree had been holding, lunged forward to grab Eruwenn but she simply deflected his hand, pairing his forward momentum with her rising elbow to swiftly render him unconscious.
The second guard had just begun to raise his weapon when a huge fist struck him in his chest, sending him careening backwards into the wall. Thor loomed over him, shaking his head as he retrieved the energy pistol. “Too slow.”
Ripley helped Ranjaz to his feet as Krast pushed the table off his chest. Toran was coughing and struggling to breathe as Ranjaz pressed the retrieved energy pistol to his forehead. “Double cross me?” He dragged the Kah’Ree forward. “I want to see the item, then I’ll pay what I owe.” The two of them awkwardly made their way back towards Krast, so Ranjaz could point the gun in his face. “Then we can talk about your body disposal fee.”
Krast stood, and his phony smile was gone. “You can’t kill me. The Sentinels will tear this place apart, hunt you down and kill you. You think I came alone? My ship is in orbit and waiting for my orders!”
Ranjaz grabbed him by the jacket, pulling him down to his level, and struck him in the face with the butt of the pistol. Thor cooly kept his stolen pistol pointed at Toran and the one conscious guard. By the third blow Krast’s face was bloody, his nose broken and he began to struggle against Ranjaz’s assault.
A muted boom caused everyone present to stop in their tracks. Alarms began to sound and Toran swore loudly. He pulled out his communicator, ignoring Thor’s pistol. “What the hell was that!” He held the device close as he listened. “My office?” He patted his pocket. Finding his key in place, he looked to Ranjaz and then Krast. “Seal the casino! And where is my brother?”
Ripley suddenly understood why the Kittran had told her to leave his device on the safe door. After a brief further moment of shock, which she kept from showing on her face, she realized that she had been carrying an explosive without being told. If they survived, Ranjaz was going to need to explain himself. Thoroughly.
Eruwenn, Thor and Ranjaz had backed away to the opposite side of the room, standing by the door. Krast stood alone, holding his profusely bleeding nose. The opposite door soon opened to reveal scrambling casino security, with Toran and his guard standing nearby.
The unconscious guard was carried out without comment, and the Kah’Ree turned to Ripley. “Why are you still here?” She nodded and slipped out of the door, leaving one less concern for the remaining three. “Alright, which one of your skrolg-licking bastards broke into my private safe?”
Krast spat blood onto the floor, pointing at Ranjaz. “He’s the thief. You and I had a deal.”
The Kittran smirked. “I’m a better thief than blowing up a Tulseria-damned safe. If I wanted to steal it, I would have done just that. I would not have announced my arrival and sat down to a game of dalcho.”
Toran looked between the two of them. “He’s got a point.” One of his men handed him a pistol, and he continued to talk a little distractedly into his communicator. “Well, check everywhere!”
Ranjaz stirred the pot. “He’s the bastard who double crossed me, why would he honour your deal?”
Eruwenn nodded. “A government agent can’t be seen working with criminals.”
Krast's face contorted in rage. “Don’t be a damned fool, Toran!” He pointed at Ranjaz. “This is clearly some convoluted distraction.”
Toran shook his head. “They had the upper hand. You were the one getting your face ruined.”
 
 
Cygna watched nervously as Alfor began to stir. Things were taking a lot longer than expected. Finally, her signal came; it was not as subtle as she had been led to believe. As soon as the explosion went off the two bodyguards quickly came into the room, glancing from Alfor’s sleeping body to her. She staggered forward, wine bottle in hand. “We need more drinkshh!”
The guard ignored her as he saw the condition of his boss. “Not again,” he groaned. “Toran will kill us for letting him get like this.”
The second guard stepped out into the corridor. “I’m not dressing him! Last time he tried to kiss me!”
Cygna paused, not having expected it to go this way. The first bodyguard walked out as well. “He pissed on my new shoes the time before that. I’m not moving him.”
Their communicators went off and their faces became more serious. Bodyguard two spoke first. “Damn it. Toran wants him.”
The first turned to look at the increasingly bewildered Cygna. “You!” He smiled. “You got him undressed. You can dress him.”
Cygna spotted Ripley running down the corridor towards them, causing her confusion to grow further. The Awakened shouted one word. “Sentinels!”
The Fae’Dan’s mind raced. The plan was clearly blown, and they had to get out. Fast. As the guards were now facing Ripley, she took the opportunity to kick one in the back of the knee. He fell forward, and as the second turned he was met with the upward swing of a wine bottle. The first guard discovered first-hand the shocking truth of how hard the knee of an Awakened could be, and both were unconscious by the time they hit the ground.
Cygna smiled at Ripley. "Thanks."
The Awakened gave a swift nod of acknowledgement. “A Sentinel turned up, so Ranjaz set off the diversion he promised. The other brother is busy trying to figure out whether it’s us or the Sentinels robbing him.”
Cygna took on board the new information quickly, knowing she needed to help the others. “I have an idea. Lie over there and look dead.” She ran back into the room, where Alfor was groaning and starting to move. She slipped the chain from his neck and dropped it into the ice bucket, where it sank out of sight below the dark Fae’Dan wine. She began to slowly shake him.
“Huh,” he grumbled, and slowly opened his eyes. “Wha.. what happened?”
Cygna clung to him tightly. “Oh thank goodness! I thought they killed you!”
“Killed?” Alfor’s head was pounding, his memory blurry. “Who-” He caught sight of his downed guards in the open doorway. “What the hell happened?” He began pulling at his clothes, and swiftly checked that his trousers were dry.
“While we were.. You know…” He nodded; he was buttoning up his clothes. He didn’t remember, but he knew. “Some scary men burst into the room and shot you! I was so scared.” She hugged him tight, pressing herself against him.
He put his arm around her. “What men? Be brave, and tell me what happened.”
She looked up at him, trying to make her eyes as big as possible, adding a lip tremble to really sell it. “I don’t know! They wore grey suits. And one of them took your necklace!”
“My necklace.” He clutched at his chest where it should have been. “Damn Sentinels! I told Toran we couldn't trust them!”
He stepped into the corridor, where Ripley lay on the ground with a terrible energy weapon burn on the side of her face. He pulled out his communicator. “Toran.” He instantly got hold of his brother. “I didn’t answer because I was knocked out. Damn Sentinels took my key, killed some of our guys.” He looked around. “Nobody important, just some waiter.” He finally pulled the underwear from his head. “I’ll go to the security room and look at the video.”
He ended the call and turned back to Cygna. “You stay here.”
She smiled. “Sorry, we can’t let you check the security footage.”
“Wha-”
Ripley struck him from behind and he crumpled to the ground, her fake burn melting from her face. The Awakened looked around, rechecking that all was clear. “I think that’s all we can do; we should get out of here. Come with me, my shuttle is in the staff bay.”
 
 
Toran closed his communicator and motioned to a guard. “Search him.”
Eruwenn wished she had some way to capture the look on Krast’s face when the remote detonator was pulled from his pocket. She'd have to hug the light-fingered Kittran later.
The Sentinel grit his teeth. “That’s not mine.”
“Sure, sure,” Toran agreed, while simultaneously shaking his head at the Sentinel. “Looks like you really didn’t come alone.”
Krast was furious, yelling, “I’m telling you-” He broke off when Ranjaz shot him in the leg, falling to the floor.
The Kah’Ree pointed his pistol at the Kittran. “Can’t let you kill a Sentinel in my casino, even if they did just rob me.”
Ranjaz was surprised the Kah’Ree had believed them so easily. “What about us?”
Toran sighed, lowering his weapon. “Take your winnings and get out. If you stole the thing once, I’m sure you can steal it again.”
Eruwenn and Thor both made to leave. Ranjaz paused, knowing he might not get another chance. “And him?”
The Kah’Ree looked at the Sentinel holding his wounded leg. “We’ll send him back to his ship. As much as I hate it, the Sentinels are untouchable.”
Ranjaz raised his pistol. “He took my friend.”
“And we’ll get him back,” Eruwenn said softly. “Then we’ll all deal with him, and the rest of the Sentinels.”
Krast sneered and spat blood once more. “Your human is dead.”
Ranjaz fired.
Krast screamed and grabbed his other leg. “You bastard!”
Toran and his men raised their weapons as the Kah’Ree yelled, “Get the hell out of here!”
Ranjaz turned and followed the others out of the door, but just as it was about to close he poked his head back in. “Oh, one last thing.”
Toran could be seen looking up just as the Kittran fired again, but he ducked out of sight before the true outcome of his shot could be seen. The shrieks of agony, however, followed the trio down the corridor as they broke into a run. Eruwenn spared a glance down at Ranjaz during their retreat. “What did you do?”
The full-fanged grin had never been larger. “Made sure we’ll see him again.”
On the floor of the dalcho room Krast was screaming in agony. He turned over to stare at the closed door. “I’ll kill you! I will hunt you down and kill every last one of you!”
Toran spoke into his communicator. “Tell the Sentinel ship to come get their man. And, bring a doctor. A really good doctor.” He nudged one of his guards and finally let out a chuckle. After all, the Sentinels had just robbed him. “You double-crossing scum always get what you deserve.”
The J’Rami guard raised an eyebrow. “Not sure anyone deserves getting shot in the balls.”
 
Next

The NBA season is nearly over: be it 1, 2, or 3 more games left. With the offseason looming around the corner, we've been looking ahead with our OFFSEASON BLUEPRINT series. In each entry, we preview some big decisions and make some recommendations for plans of attack along the way.
Like the NBA, we've officially come to the end of the road and to our final team, the Los Angeles Lakers.
step one: know it will never be All Quiet on the Western Front
The Los Angeles Lakers have plenty of fans, but also plenty of people who enjoy watching them struggle (some even run their own sports websites.) It feels like they've been a punching bag for almost a decade now. Even when the team landed a coup and signed LeBron James, there were plenty of skeptics and haters picking at the roster and fanning the flames of front office tension. Even when the team followed that up with a trade for Anthony Davis, there were STILL doubters and haters camped at the gates.
At the end of the day, LeBron James and company only had one way to shut them up: win.
Now, no one can criticize them anymore. Whatever they did to get here -- it worked. LeBron James deserves a huge amount of credit for this presumptive title (no offense, Miami) but there's plenty to go around. Anthony Davis reminded the world that he's a friggin' beast. Frank Vogel did a great job getting the defense to play on a string, especially on the perimeter. The maligned bench with Rajon Rondo, Markieff Morris, and Kyle Kuzma even stepped up in a major way on the road to the Finals.
While the team may be drenched with champagne by the time you read this, they still won't be satisfied. LeBron James went back to Cleveland to win a title. He didn't go to L.A. and recruit Anthony Davis to win a title. He wants to win multiple titles. He may get his 4th ring after this year, which means he'll only be 2 away from catching Michael Jordan. If he can do that, then there won't be any doubt about his GOAT status. And honestly, it's possible. James still looks like a top 5 player (if not 1 overall), and Anthony Davis is in the heart of his prime. With a decent supporting cast around them, they're going to be in title contention for the next two or three years.
However, the Lakers can't get complacent. They deserved this title, but they didn't exactly beat Murderers' Row to get here. In fact, their playoff opponents had the weakest seed value and weakest W-L percentage of any title team since 2000. Next season may be tougher sledding. The L.A. Clippers could be a real threat with better coaching and better rotations. The Milwaukee Bucks could be a real threat with better health. Health permitting, the Brooklyn Nets have the star power and the depth to be a force themselves. It's going to be a dogfight next season. The Lakers still may be the top dogs in that fight, but they're going to have to scrape and claw to get that bone again.
step two: convince your free agents that It's a Wonderful Life
LeBron James is a champion for player empowerment, but that concept is going to put his L.A. Lakers in a precarious position this offseason. Some decisions with be out of their hands. The team has an inordinate amount of player options for next season, with 5 separate players having the right to opt "in" or "out" of their contracts. Let's take a look at each of those one individually.
The most important, of course, will be Anthony Davis. He has the choice whether to opt in to his $28.7M salary. It's weird to say, but $28.7M is a bargain. Davis is a 27-year-old superstar. He deserves the new max and then some. From the Lakers' perspective, the only question will be timing the extension in the best interest of Davis and the team as a whole. If they wait until next offseason to give him a full max, they may have some more wiggle room in salary to bring in extra free agents (in Offseason 2021, not Offseason 2020.) Perhaps they can convince AD to wait until then to accrue more years. At the same time, uncertainty isn't their friend. If the Lakers disappoint next season and LeBron James hits a wall (unlikely, but theoretically possible) then perhaps Davis doesn't want to stay tethered to this older roster for the long haul. Perhaps his relationship with James -- great now -- bleeds into resentment over time. Who the heck knows. Superstar pairings don't always end with "happily ever after." Even that remote concern would make me push for a max extension for AD ASAP.
The second most important player option will be Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. When the Lakers first signed them, it raised some eyebrows and potential tampering conspiracy theories. These days, his $8.5M player option looks like a good value. KCP shot well this year and played hard on defense. Effectively, he looked like the player that Danny Green was supposed to be. Your hope here is that the Lakers have built enough goodwill with KCP and his representatives to make this a friendly negotiation. Whether that means he opts in, or whether that means he signs a long-term deal, it's a relationship that needs to continue.
step three: but convince others to ride off like Shane
Conversely, there are a few player options that the team may try to talk players out of taking. Avery Bradley missed the bubble for personal reasons, but the Lakers' backcourt did just fine without him. At this stage in their careers, Alex Caruso is probably better at the 3+D guard role. Still, it's going to be up to Bradley whether to return or not. He can opt in to his $5.0M player option. The value is OK in the broadest sense, but perhaps the Lakers are rooting for him to test the market elsewhere. The Lakers should take a hard line here and not offer him extra years; if Bradley leaves to chase a long-term deal, so be it. If he opts in, he may be used as a potential trade chip.
Meanwhile, JaVale McGee has a $4.2M player option himself. McGee started 68/68 games in the regular season, but he didn't always look like their best option in the playoffs. As he ages (now 32), he'll continue to struggle with certain matchups. I don't think McGee can match that $4M anywhere else, so trying to convince him to opt out may be a losing proposition. Again, if McGee opts in, then the Lakers need to consider utilizing his salary as a potential trade piece.
Some of those decisions -- whether they want to keep Avery Bradley and JaVale McGee -- may hinge on some other free agents on the team. Backup PG Rajon Rondo has his own player option of $2.7M. All season long, I'd been talking about Rondo as a potential liability for the team. Instead, he justified some of that "Playoff Rondo" talk. Between Rondo and Caruso, you'd prefer Caruso getting extended minutes. Between Rondo and Bradley, it's more of a debate. Rondo deserves more than $2.7M, so I expect him to opt out. Presumably, he appreciates the role and limelight here in L.A. and wouldn't play hardball. If he's amenable to a short-term, reasonable deal, then you'd want to keep him in house. If his playoff hype spirals into outsized offers (anything over $6M or so) then you should thank him for his service and wish him well.
The Lakers should treat backup C Dwight Howard (an unrestricted free agent) in a similar way. Now 34, he's become a role player. Moreover, his role -- as the more traditional center -- is no longer a valuable one either. Still, he's pretty good at that role -- arguably better than JaVale McGee. The team shouldn't over-invest in this one-two punch though. If Howard wants to re-sign for a bargain basement deal, great. If he expects a mid-sized contract or an extra year, then he may be on the move again. For both Rondo and Howard, I'd stand firm on 1 year deals. However, the team can potentially add in "team option" years on top of that. The purpose would be less to entice them into staying and more to make them potential trade chips (in terms of salary matching) later on down the road.
The Lakers will have more free agents to discuss. Markieff Morris is an interesting one; he looked like a shell of himself after some injuries, but he showed signs of life in the postseason. If that's legit, then he could potentially be a good rotational player for the team (when they go "small" with AD at the 5.) The verdict from team doctors will be crucial to determining his value. Alternatively, vets like J.R. Smith and Dion Waiters don't appear to have any value at all. Fortunately, they don't have player options either.
step four: solve the mystery of The Third Man
All season long, we heard that the Lakers would need a third star to emerge if they were going to win the title. Kyle Kuzma never got there, but it didn't matter. Perhaps we've just defaulted into a more familiar era of the NBA. Shaq and Kobe won without another "star." Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen won without another "star" (Dennis Rodman was more of an ultra role player.) With Kevin Durant removed from Golden State, perhaps the bar has been lowered back to reasonable heights for NBA title teams.
Still, the Lakers need to figure out who Kyle Kuzma is, and what his role should be. He averaged 16-6 as a rookie, but showed some signs of a "good stats / bad team" kind of player. That fear hasn't gone away. Since then, Kuzma's shot 30% and 32% from three over the following two years, and played poor defense overall. ESPN real plus/minus metric graded him as a -0.4 and -0.7 defensive impact, while box plus/minus had him at -1.2 and -1.0. That same BPM metric graded him below replacement level overall (-0.2 VORP).
Kuzma has played OK in these playoffs, but he hasn't had a major role. In fact, his minutes per game is down to 23.2 in the postseason so far, with 0 starts drawn. It's clear that Frank Vogel and the team don't believe he's the 3rd best player on the team. He may not even be the 4th or 5th best player.
You may ask: who cares? Kuzma isn't a world beater, but the Lakers beat the world anyway. Still, it's an important question hanging over their heads. Kuzma is under contract for one more year, and then will enter restricted free agency (at a time when they will be a lot of cap space out there.) Based on name value, he's going to get a decent contract.
If the Lakers don't believe he's worth decent money, it may be time to trade him now. (Realistically, the time to trade him was last offseason, but what can ya do.) Kuzma's $3.5M salary is easy to move, and the team can attach other contracts like McGee, Bradley, and Quinn Cook ($3M) to match a deal anywhere from the $3M-$15M range if need be.
What can the Lakers get for Kuzma on the open market? It's hard to tell. He's a polarizing name, so it may depend on whether their trade partner reads reddit or not. I'd call up Detroit and ask about Luke Kennard. If Houston's blowing it up, I'd ask about Robert Covington. If Minnesota's locked into Anthony Edwards at # 1, maybe they'd be open to trading Malik Beasley in a sign and trade. If you want to play dirty, you can tell Portland that Gary Trent Jr. (newest client of Klutch) is going to sign with the Lakers next season no matter what, so they may as well recoup something for him now. Fair? Ethical? Ehh. But hey, it's proven to be effective before.
step five: encourage others to hunt for the Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Lakers don't have much cap space this offseason, but that's not a major problem. They're not going to have to list job openings on monster.com -- available players are going to flock to them. The most obvious reason to join the Lakers would be to chase rings. However, it goes deeper than that. There's not a lot of teams with cap space this offseason, but there are plenty with space next season.
If you're a free agent who's not getting a lot of attention, there's one great way to get attention: play with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. You can inflate your stock for next offseason, when hopefully you cash in.
If I ran the Lakers, my first call would be to a veteran like Darren Collison. Collison took the season off to pursue his faith, but reportedly he may return next year. If so, he'd be a dream fit for this Lakers' rotation. Collison can run the point when LeBron James rests, but he can also serve as a complementary spacer. The former UCLA standout has become a very reliable shooter -- hitting over 40% from deep in his last four seasons. He's undersized and sometimes outmatched on D, but the team has Alex Caruso ready to match up with bigger guards. Collison's skill set would merit $10+ million in a good market, but perhaps NBA teams are going to want to see him "prove it" after his extended absence. If that's the case, the Lakers can thank their lucky stars and Jehovah for delivering him into their laps.
Other veterans who may be drawn to the Lakers like a moth to the flame would include: the underrated E'Twaun Moore (NO) and likable vet Courtney Lee (DAL). Moe Harkless (NYK) could probably get more elsewhere, but he may decide to bet on himself and inflate his price for next season.
Since Anthony Davis still prefers playing PF, depth at center will be more important for the Lakers than other teams. As mentioned, JaVale McGee will probably be back (barring a trade) and Dwight Howard may be as well. If not, the team could try to recruit a player who wants to boost their stock. Nerlens Noel (OKC) could benefit from the spotlight like that; better yet, his agent happens to be some dude named Rich Paul.
Overall, the Lakers need to keep pushing and trying to improve, be it through free agency, through trades, or through the draft (where they have the # 28 pick.) This team may have been good enough to win the title, but as mentioned, one title isn't going to satisfy this star, this team, and this fan base. Hollywood's all about excess, and the goal will be to overindulge over the next few years.
other offseason blueprints
ATL, BKN, BOS, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, HOU, IND, GS, LAC, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NO, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHI, PHX, POR, SA, SAC, TOR, UTA, WAS