Sentinel Op-Ed: The State of the Realm

Since the rapid rise and defeat of Antaeus, there has been a good period of stability on a global scale. Certainly, encouraging news for the average citizen. Even Director Nova of BADGE has allowed himself some rest and respite. It may be a stretch to suggest that some element of mirth has entered his personal lexicon, but hope springs eternal, as a certain rapid rodent may suggest.



Continuing with ongoings with BADGE, it appears that Agent Justin remains being the busiest worker bee this side of December's Saint Nick. With word of added staff members, who knows what new features will develop to aid the heroes of Earth?

At a league and superpowered humanoid level, we saw first-hand that the concept of a power vacuum emerging in a certain level tier was utterly destroyed by the rise of certain members of the Infected faction. The lesson to be learned by all is: there will always be a heavy hitter or two (an apprentice and that guy who copyright infringement may prevent me from typing?) ready to close a void before it even opens.

We saw at the last League War tournament that new factions such as Dark Dimensions are no pushovers. They claimed one scalp in landing a first division title, will others follow suit?

At the top of the proverbial heap, it's clear that top flight challengers are needed to take on the status quo, but there doesn't appear to be any on the horizon. We may very well see a variant of the Cursed Cats develop in response, but only a select group of people know for certain if that's on the cards.

Meanwhile, the development/emerging talent rung continues to showcase a variety of competitor styles and talents. Brand new entrants go through a difficult gauntlet, then have to make the decision to try and stick it out, or forge through and attempt to reach the mid-range, without getting discouraged along the way. It's a challenge for all but we suspect Agent Justin and staff will continue to encourage heroes new and present to give it their all in protecting the realm.

The State of the Realm remains solid, and long may it be a place of hope and drive for all.

ID: 10898

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LW Round 3 - KHRA Breaking News

(ID: 10898)



It was Chaos Theory doubling up WMD's total to continue their dominance in the leagues' most heralded rivalry, and claim another trophy for their collection. Colony followed through on their promise of delivering the thunder by putting up 174 against Super Freaks and claiming a bronze.

Division 2 turned into a cakewalk for WMD Outlaws who didn't break a sweat against 5th's Guardians, while Brute Squad won the battle of 1-1 sides with a steady victory over 5th's Traffic Cops. Not to be outdone, Fortress of Solitude put up 191 points of their own on their way to another title win in D3, stifling Super Freak Squad in the process. Angels of Sorcery showed no divine mercy to the Angels of Seraphim, and clinched a silver for their efforts.

There would be no upsets or close calls in D4 and D5, with Outlaws Inc claiming the D4 title and Battleborn a silver after convincing wins and Walking Dead and Infected zombifying their opponents on their way to gold and silver respectively in D5. D6 was also rock-chalk with PAIN winning at a canter and Stacked Deck holding serve to get itself a silver.

Bomb Squad secured their legacy as a dominant force with another championship in D7 after beating New Freaks. The FreakyDeak battle of the round saw the Nature variant win a relatively tight one over the Frequent variant. Academic of course, but if ever a division breakdown ended up with all-Freaks, I'd bet the party would last the entire month.

Suffering claimed a D8 title to pair up with big brother (sister?) PAIN, Meat Locker unable to pull the upset this time out. Freak Bux held off MacGregors in a keenly-fought third-place encounter.

The All-Chess-Pieces Bowl narrowly went to King's Gambit over Queen's Mate in Division 9 but the champions are yet again another Bomb Squad group. Aslan, Simba and Lion-O had no answer this time out.

Nine Planets completed a championship run in D10 in style, shutting out HEAT Team 1. SOB Overlord were too strong for Cursed Cats and will take a silver for their efforts.

Two very close contests settled the table in Division 11. Raiders edged Surfers by 3 to claim the title while Scavengers held off Scoundrels by 7 to grab bronze medals for their group.

It was not to be a close contest for the D12 crown as Spirits of the wacky characters thumped Nest of Vipers. Spirits, can consider themselves too as one of the tournament dynasties with their performances. Freak Fraggles - Fractles - overwhelmed Bridge to Nowhere in the other contest.

In Division 13 it was a straightforward procession for Lost Souls in their quest for the title, swamping Dueling Duo. Ivalice Alliance defeated Chuck Norris in the other match, leading to the rare three teams at 1-2 scenario.

Trident Tempest are officially a first-time champ after their win over Pathway Seekers in Division 14. Free City easily took silver after shutting out Spex on the Beach. Clearly, the beach is not the place to be this autumn.

We'll never know if Team Cobra felt a bit nervous at any time on their way to the Division 15 crown, their 5-0 over Kolor Crew going along with previous low-scoring shutout wins. Sextant Knights grabbed bronze by thumping Stepkids.

Sins didn't have to break a sweat after their win over Va Va Voom claimed the title, while the cricket-pun-themed TBHTBW side made Dream Combo's introduction to LW tournament play a bit of a nightmare.

So there you have it. 16 champion teams, the vast majority being legacy victors, the new triumph point awards offering incentives to everyone, and no lasting damage to the Orbital Arena. BADGE should be pleased with their efforts although in the wake of the revelations of Midgard's subjugation, will be putting it well on the back burner.

Congrats to all the participants. Each and every participant helped make the tournament a success. If you'd like to support my continued reporting, please send a gofund--- [audio crackles, then 20 seconds of silence] --- Back to you Samantha.

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LW Round 2 - KHRA Breaking News

ID: 10898



First I suppose I'd like to thank KHRA for offering me a deal to summarize Round 2 of this tournament. The circumstances leading up to this, I'd rather not go into detail on, plus they made me sign an NDA. Oh, sorry, Mr. Director. Oh we're live? Well, think of it as Reality TV Extreme. All the gladiator matches! More alliances than Survivor, more cash exchanging hands than the Millionaire show and more over the top drama than a Housewives episode! Roll intro music!

[10 seconds later]

As you can tell, I'm on a good mix of nanotech and adrenaline boosters, and will sleep very well tonight despite having my carcass mutilated by the WMD crew. They've always been a take no prisoners kind of outfit and tonight was no exception. Colony will be fired up to exert fury in Round 3 for sure. Super Freaks may wonder what they did to get stuck in D1 after CT obliterated them only to deal with Colony.

WMD Outlaws continued their assault in D2, blowing out the 5th's Traffic Cops. Meanwhile the Guardians tried hard to get their first win but fell to the Brute Squad. Something bizarre would have to happen for Guardians to upset Outlaws, no doubt.

In Division 3 the Fortress put up 151 - in rum terms that's known as Overproof, and a strong drink may be needed for their vanquished foes - to cement their claim to another trophy while AoS bounced back to convincingly knock over Super Freak Squad. Similarly, Battle Born in Division 4 took out Aussie Freaks to get back in the win column while Outlaws Incorporatted cruised over SOB Hunter Killer.

No close matches in Division 5; Walking Dead and Infected each strolled to comprehensive victories. Expect more of the same in Round 3 with the former adding to their collection of titles.

PAIN versus Stacked Deck was always going to be the closest matchup among the middle-level divisions and their Round 2 contest saw PAIN emerge on top yet again. They've yet again proved to be one of the elite pound-for-pound sides among all the leagues present and are a lock to win another trophy. SOB's win over the Warehouse will bring joy to that long-enduring franchise.

Freak Frequency couldn't quite achieve their heroic first round total, and fell to the Bomb Squad, in D7. In an all-freak (Freakydeak?) matchup, the Nature variant beat the New variant in comprehensive fashion.

Suffering and SOB Meat Locker continued their path to a winner-take-glory clash in Divison 8, each piling on big numbers against MacGregors and Freak Bux respectively. PAIN's younger brother (sister?) is likely favourites for gold.

In Division 9, there were low scores except for Pride of Lions who channeled their inner Simba/Aslan/Lion-O to put up 101 to vanquish Queen's Mate. Bomb Squad 3 awaits the feline crew in a matchup for gold.

Nine Planets continued their run to glory, brushing aside SOB Overlord, while Cursed Cats threw a massive 161-point score to dominate HEAT Team 1. The Division 10 crown, though, is a lock for 9PO.

Division 11 saw another set of low-scoring results. Raiders and Surfers and it sounds like a clash you'd see in one of those skateboard video games for the NES. Unfortunately for Gangsta Scoundrels and Scavengers, they have 2 wins combined across two rounds. Surely something has to give in their Round 3 clash?

Nest of Vipers and Spirits with the weird characters continued their march to a clash for the D12 crown. Freak Fractles (who I kind of want to call Fraggles) will hope to get off the mark against Bridge to Nowhere in Round 3.

Lost Souls are 2-0 after pummelling Ivalice. It's like the undead from the Nabreus Deadlands rose up and decimated the old kingdom of Nabudis at the height of the Archadian invasion of Dalmasca... you had to be there. Dueling Duo fell to Chuck Norris Approved, denying viewers of a battle of 2-0 sides to settle Division 13. In Divison 14, Trident Tempest continued their winning form, brushing aside Spex on the Beach. Free City bounced back to put aside Pathway Seekers. May be last chance saloon indeed, for the latter.

Cobra is quietly relaxing their way to a Division 15 crown. They may very well claim an unblemished perfect ride to the title, and setting a record for fewest individual wins to clinch. Kolor Krew stands in their way, but on the face of things it looks like another mismatch.

Division 16 is shaping up similarly for the Sins, although they've put up a good number more points on the board in their two shutouts. Can Va Va Voom spoil the party? With the currently low levels of players on both rosters, it's possible things could shift in an instant, but Sins have the advantage of one much higher-level combatant on their roster.

Anyway this is you-know-who, signing off. If they haven't terminated my contract, look for me in a subsequent report. KHRA - All the Heroes, All the Time. Back to you Samantha.

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LW FAN-FICTION: Round 1 - Heard Around the Horn

LW Round 1 - Heard Around the Horn:

[Message overheard from Aflima's comms device - the auto-record functionality possibly accidentally triggered, and diverted to the live feed of KHRA's sports studio. We believe the victim of the beating was undergoing hallucinations at the time and hope he gets the medical attention he needs]

Oh, Dev,... Got drafted as a floater... only to take inhumane levels of beating in the Orbital Arena. Yes it's not my first time duelling among heavyweights but never before has the disparity been as immense. Think of it as a zebra foal being tossed around by hungry crocs. Scratch that, nobody needs that image in their head.



My left eye has almost swelled shut, but I did take a look at the notice board. CT and WMD remain a class of their own and while my current colleagues are certain to hold fort to claim bronze, it will be difficult for myself to maintain footing by the time Round 3 begins.

Elsewhere, I see WMD's Outlaws branch pretty much having as easy a path as you could imagine, to a division title. The 5th Precinct has two teams together but you could take an all-star crew among these two and Brute Squad, and still Outlaws would be expected to dominate.

My right eye is a bit blurry now. I called Burning Daylight Labs to get a tech over here... BADGE med teams are apparently overwhelmed. The Divison 3 scorelines suggest Fortress of Solitude should have a path to another title, with a decent clash for silver in prospect between AoS and SFS.

Division 4 is probably settled after another Outlaws team claimed a low-scoring Round 1 win. SOB and Aussies put up big numbers but are probably in for a world of pain (I'll get to PAIN later) in later rounds.

Can probably speak the same in D5 as Avengers 51 Walking Dead look to march to yet another belt. These middle divisions are as rock chalk as you can get, no matter the format. Infected, despite their loss, would expect to waltz to silver.

Ouch... Shinobi tried to pat me on the back in a show of encouragement but I think it only helped to shift my scapula down a couple of inches. Must remember for Round 2 to pack some kind of nano healing capsules in my belt. Waiting for help is excrusiatingly long. Meanwhile, the D6 scores rolled by and there's PAIN as mentioned... Stacked Deck is historically a quality outfit but I'd imagine they can't stop the PAIN just yet.

Holy tamale, Freak Frequency put up 214 in their first match in D7. Bomb Squad of course the class of the division and will take the trophy at a canter. In D8, Suffering has a strong chance to go undefeated although Meat Locker won't let them go unscathed, I think. D9 is the other Bomb Squad's for the taking and Pride of Lions aren't going to miss out on silver. Wonder if a Champions Cup should be considered for the Pains, Bomb Squads and Walking Deads of this event. They hardly break a sweat in regular tournament play.

Teams are getting crushed at love in D10 and 9Planets... I don't think they're the same people as that 9 Planets crew from that other realm, although they're just as tough on a pound for pound basis... would be expected to continue to fill their trophy cabinet. There's a good SOB squad in that division that may press them a little.

D11 may not have the combined scores for all three rounds even approach that Freak Frequency first round number, as Raiders and Surfers each won while scoring under 10 points. This is the section of the competition where teams are trying to minimize points in order to avoid 'graduating' to the tier where 9Planets and Bomb Squad reside.

Another set of thrashings at love in D12 with Spirits with the weird spelling looking for yet another trophy and Nest of Vipers carrying that SOB banner proud. It can't be easy business for the betting shops though, the teams expected to win are always heavy favourites.

I hear footsteps, I really hope it's the BDL tech and not another CT guy. I like some of the CT guys no problem, but they hit hard and with little mercy... and in this arena I can't outspeed any of them. Arrgh. The D13 scores are up, though. 'Shocking', more zeroes on the board. Lost Souls and Dueling Duo are poised for a clash for all the marbles. Might make for a good contest compared to some of the others here. I think Lost Souls has a longer track record but it's really hard to recall the names and faces of these competitors.

Division 14 has teams actually putting up points. Maybe guys here are enticed more by the new Triumph points than the dreaded XP? And whoa, a tight match between Trident Tempest and Free City... and a wild comeback? Free City were probably favourites as they have previous titles to their names. We may yet have a first-time champ after all? D15 on the other hand is probably Team Cobra's to win without much fuss, the chase for silver may be more interesting.

The last division up for grabs, 16, has both victorious teams putting up 37 in different circumstances. This division is probably going to Sins if only because they have a more well-known trope. That other realm had a bunch of Sins too, although they were definitely much higher level than these folks. These guys are more like micro-Sins... hmm, wonder what Citizen Sin has been up to...

[the audio fades at this point, replaced by some inaudible mumbling and muttering. We believe the defeated warrior was injected with a tranquilizer at this point, and wish him well for the remainder of the tournament]

(ID: 10898)

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Sentinel Op-Ed: The State of the Realm

From "Magmaform"

Its been a stable last few weeks in the realm with the main threats being of the natural disaster variety. BADGE had been well prepared for such and under the guidance of Agent Craig, have neutralized every incident, preventing them from being calamities. Sources within BADGE expect the frequency of these dangers to remain steady at best, but for the civilian population to remain calm.

While conditions for the populace remain stable, the concern within BADGE and its affiliates remains high, due to Director Nova not being available for the past few months. The acting Director appears to keep his cards close to his chest with regard to action plans but with Shadow Krampus sightings now confined to distinct areas in the vicinity of Ka'an Dorado, the main concern is determining how to neutralize Lady Echidna, believed responsible for no fewer than 250 combined deaths in the US, Ka'an Dorado and Sweden alone.

We believe Lady Echidna is not done trying to summon or harness beings of massive power as her goals seem to be nothing less than global domination.

On a local front, it has been heartening to read the stories of individuals coming through the ranks. Many of the Letters to the Editor are full of praise and encouragement for these heroes of varying age and experience..

A few, notably the beloved Krystal Fae and the up and coming Madame Marvelous, are seemingly out of spotlight of late. We trust that they are continuing their journeys with care, and in the case of the former, the child to be born remains in a healthy situation.

May the heroes of the realm remain steadfast and may they help usher in a peaceful future for us all.

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The Hanzo Ninja Clan Presents: Raid Raiders!!!!

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Raiding has made a huge impact for those players willing to break away from traditional toon building "rules". Unfortunately, I see so many players ingrained in the old way of building, where you either had to patiently wait for an eternity to develop a strong toon, sacrificing play time, enjoyment, and overall power as other players level past you, or spend a large amount of money to allow you the freedom to level without outgrowing your power base. Raiding has given us the ability to level almost with impunity and actually grow our toons as we do. No more are we required to level into empty levels which then need to be filled with powers. Raiding has allowed us to gain powers as we level.

Now, to be fair, Raids are far better for players as they increase their levels than they are early on for developing toons. This is because experience points are given for each hit, rather than the amount of damage done. Since lower level toons tend to be weaker, their hits tend to do less damage. So they are going to be gaining more experience for the same amount of damage as a toon that does more damage per hit, because the other toon is using fewer hits for the same amount of damage. Because of this, lower level and weaker toons will have a lower reward per experience ratio than stronger hitters. But as your toon gets stronger and learns how to do more damage, your rewards per level increase will increase dramatically.

Before we get into how to do more damage or get more rewards, let's take a minute to look at Raid Etiquette.

In order to be successful at raids, it's important to find a like minded group of players to mob up raids with. These players don't have to be part of your team or league. They can be anyone your group of raiders feels is right for the group.

Aside from just hitters, you also want players who can hunt down summon items and AMA parts for raid tokens. In my own group, all of us fit this category. Try to do your part in collecting tokens and summon items. Many players use multiple utility alts for this purpose.

Once you have a good group together, you'll discover not everyone is adding summon material for every raid. That's ok. As long as they all are always trying, it will even out over time. Some days you will hunt all day long and get back minimal returns. Other days, summon material will seem to be behind every corner. That means some days your friends will carry you, and some days you will have to carry them.

BUT........ when this happens, pay careful attention to who has added summon material to the raid. Learn what their damage requirements are and let them get what they need before claiming any for yourself. That doesn't mean wait till they are done. It simply means that if each of the 3 players that added summon material want 200k damage a piece, make sure there is enough left over when you are done to allow them to get that damage in, and a little more for an overages cushion. How much damage you can do should be agreed upon beforehand with your raid team. You should also consider what your own needs are from the raids, and discuss this with any potential raid partners. This will be critical on how much damage you need to do, and how much damage you need to do is critical in determining how many toons can be in a raid and everyone effectively get everything they want. Some players are looking for gear. Some are trying to fill their decks with every card they can. Some are hunting specific cards. How much damage they need to do plays a huge factor on building raid teams. Generally speaking, the gear is by far the 1st thing most players really hunt for. But most of the gear require huge damage at low return rates. But, even though the cost is high, the premium gear from raids very much hold their own against uber gear from the Nova Shuffle. And for players that already have their fill of such gear, the MP resell value can put some decent MP in your toon's pocket. The power cards and cons are also of great value. In order to get your best chances at getting ALL the drops, I recommend doing 1/3rd of the total damage required to kill the raid. But if you are only looking for specific pieces, you'll need to do a little math. Look at the piece you want 1st off. What is the damage requirement to obtain a chance at it? The Windswept power gives a 2% chance per 6000 damage done. That means for the 1st 6000 damage I do, I get a 2% chance to win that card. But thanks to progressive rewards, those odds increase each time the reward threshold is met. So when I get to 12000 damage, I now have made a 2% roll and a 4% roll. If this is the card I am hunting for, I want to do damage in damage increments of 6000, because 6000 is the damage requirement for a roll to get it. IDEALLY, you want to get to a 50% roll. That's not going to be easy. For Windswept, that would be 25 x 6000 for 150,000 damage. But if you want all 5 that are available, you will have to do that 5 times, for a total 750,000 for the absolute guarantee. But I have found that 11x for 5% drops, 26x for 2% drops seems to do the trick. After deciding what kind of rewards you're hunting and which raids are best to get them from, start tallying up your damage requirements per raid with your raid team. You don't want a team that needs more than the raids provide. So limiting participants is important. Only have enough members on your raid team so that they can all get what they are looking for. After an agreed upon time limit or after all members have gotten their desired damage in, go ahead and share with others.

While it might seem like a good idea to make these raids public by inviting everyone on your friends list, consider instead leveraging these raids to other raid teams, in return for the ones they are finished mining. Your team is your 1st raid wave. Your raid trade partners are your 2nd wave. And vice versa. If you still need more hitters after 2 different raid teams have taken their swings, go ahead and release the raid to the rest of your friends list, or list it on the player's page, or finish it off with utility alts.

The biggest problem with being a successful raider are the massive energy requirements. You only have a maximum of 48 hours to do all the damage in a raid as you can get in. Daily energy gifts only give 480 energy. You're probably going to have to start looking at upping your energy stat skill points. Mine has 100 sp in energy. That gives me 110 energy. Combined with my HQ bonus, I get 120 energy. Using the 5 point energy refill option, now becomes worth using. Furthermore, the mp cards and gear I get from raids, that I don't want, can be sold for the MP I buy refills for. Between the gear and the large numbers of power cards, using raids to build a strong competitive toon is extremely possible. My main toon is almost entirely built off raid and bux cards. The amount of power cards one can acquire is relative to the amount of work one is willing to put in towards it. The gear is absolutely great.

Raiding certainly isn't for everyone, especially those who wish to polesit in the lower levels. But if you plan on taking your toon to over level 500 cheaply, Raids certainly are a great way to compete cheaply.

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FAN-FICTION: AFTER SPRINGLOWER

So, you loyal readers of the Sentinel may have been wondering what happened to your favourite Realm Defender (and his allies) after the untimely explosion of the Springflower after League Wars XIII and during the height of the madness caused by the World Corps?

Finally, the story is revealed! Find out what happened to Aflima and his team and the next steps to be taken!

*****

Analisa gingerly held her daughter's hand as they walked to the makeshift conference room in an old building not far from Charlotte, North Carolina. It had been three days since the explosion of the Springflower, and Rosa had no major injuries of note - shock and exhaustion were the main concerns of the medical team. As for her colleagues, Rosa was surprised that each of her teammates were not only safe and sound, but carried no significant injury of their own. Aflima was the worst-looking of the lot, but still carried a grin on his face and he gave Macaia and her daughter a wink of greeting.
On seeing Turian, the large man beat a fist to his chest and chuckled, "Will take more than a bomb to dent me, youngster."

Flashbulb punched Turian. "If I didn't catch you after saving Rosa, the ground would have had something to say about it, big guy."

They both laughed, then took a seat. Rosa gave a small smile to her godfather, who looked relieved yet deep in thought. She then sat down herself, and tried to relax. After all, she was in the presence of her nearest and dearest friends.

Her godfather's next words shook her.

"We need to split up," said Tri-blade, looking towards the table instead of his teammates.

Nobody spoke.

"Sorry to throw everyone for a loop," he continued. "Director Nova of BADGE reached out to us not too long after the incident and after giving him the briefing of everything that occurred, we agreed on one particular thing.

"World Corps have continuously held an advantage over BADGE, and by proxy, over all the individual leagues. The situation with Torfield has added another factor to the equation. Torfield may not have been able to destroy us, but we don't know if she was able to infiltrate our own intelligence networks or any key data during her time with us."

Rosa's mouth dropped.

"Until the World Corps is rooted out and former Agent Torfield apprehended, it's in our best interest to disperse for the time being," Tri-blade continued.

"Why, though?" asked Aflima. Another voice spoke up, and everybody turned to look at the screen behind Tri-blade, where Ability Mage appeared, alongside Aflima's fiancée, Devra. "Before this incident, it was thought that we were in a position where we needed to disperse anyway, to create the appearance of being disparate from BADGE while helping to investigate World Corps' activity," he said in a monotone.

"This situation, while tragic for Agent Janice and her loved ones, might have expedited the process. If BADGE thinks the Realm Defenders is no more, then we may be able to operate independently without arousing attention from World Corps.

Tri-blade added, "Nobody's obligated to venture out on their own, of course. There's been some word of a future tournament of a bigger scale, and one where we each could make additional alliances while at the same time tapping into any leads into World Corps - or any other threats that may be out there.

"Guys," he continued. "This is not the end, or anything approaching it. Please keep your heads up even as you mourn Janice Rollin. We are here to protect and defend. Feel the love within you and from each of us. Let it spur you to keep pressing on."

He got to his feet, just in time to meet a rushing Rosa, arms out, tears falling down her face. She hugged him tightly, burying her face in his upper chest.

"I don't,... know where to go," she cried quietly.

Tri-blade brushed Rosa's hair softly. "I got you. There's a good group of eager guys known as the Freaks leagues, I think you'll fit in well. I'm also recommending spots for some of the other folks. Don't worry, Rosa. Aflima and I will be just as accessible as ever... especially when something wild goes down."

"Like every two months," chuckled Rosa as she wiped her eyes.

"Yeah," Tri-blade smiled. "Your mom will help too, you know. Go to her."

Rosa gave a last squeeze, then walked away, miserably failing at trying to look calm and collected. She left the room just as Aflima was asking Devra why she didn't fly to meet him while Rosa's mother did. Rosa smiled briefly, glad to know her embarrassing moment was about to be eclipsed for the time being.



ID: 10898 (Forum post by ID: 10890)

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