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The sun had set as I look around the airfield, some patrols here and there, with several warbirds combat ready on launch pads, which sat on the middle of the airstrip. The plane had started it's engines and taken off as I walked towards the entrance, I still had the dog tags on the front of my shirt and anytime a military patrol would ask I would just flash them and say I was headed off base... while this was partly true, I wanted to get something first.
The moment I was out of sight of the third patrol I wrap my arm around the duffel bag and rush over to one of the nearby warbirds and check to see if no one saw, it was clear and I move the cargo hatch/only entry point of the middle warbird and hit the emergency release handle built in to the top right after dropping the bag, the seals and locks blew silently and it would have fallen back and crushed me if I hadn't been prepared for it. The hatch door was heavy... no doubt about it, but I stumble back and lay it silently on the ground... another check shows no-one around so I toss the bag inside and head in, the cockpit was dark and it needed to be that way so that I couldn't be seen.
"Now onto this." I grab the "Emergency kit" located under the pilots seat... a set of bandages and painkillers plus a...where is it? I rummage some more and find a small mag-light that was included in the kit... and now for the hardest part.
A system of tracking chips was used so it was pretty much an anti-theft, anti-loss system; there was a good flaw though that recall had helped me with. I get on my back and shift my left hand draconic and rip off a panel under the pilot's seat, exposing some serious circuitry. I move some wires around after shifting my arm back and find the circuit boards that I was looking for, I take one out and with very slow movements break off a tiny piece, it controlled the over-ride, now they couldn't take control of the vehicle. I take the other chip out and work on it, several more later I get off my back and pop my neck... was getting a painfull crick in it.
"And... Why am I talking to myself?" I mutter. It was a good question, but I couldn't focus on it now. I step out and look, a two-man patrol was coming this way, though they were on the other side, and couldn't see the downed door. I keep low as they pass... they looked bored, but it was guard duty so it figured... I almost expected a guard dog to be around too... but those were probably patrolling the fences.
I hear the roar of a jet, and I look to see a F-94, it's VTOL mode activated as it descended on a pad at the hangars... what if? I might need a distraction.. I watch the pilots climb out and start talking to each other animatedly, must've been out on a flying lesson. They go off into the barracks, and I make my way toward the hangars, more specifically one with a host of hawks on standby... war tended to make you prepare for immediate attack, and that made them keep hawks loaded and ready... just what I needed.
I get a cold smile as I round the door and see one of the drones, all prepped and ready to go. I check and see a guard just on the inside, smoking. Tobacco had been banned officially on 2036 and the replacement product, a mix of stuff almost as bad, was what they used now... the sick smell of peaches held in the air from it... he didn't notice me. So I creep behind the ammo crate he was leaning against... and he gets the odd chill in your spine that made him turn around to see if anyone is there... I hide behind the crate and I soon hear him sigh and mutter something about "Nerves" before he turns back... poor guy didn't know what was about to hit him. I stand and say...
"What's up?" He whirls around and I yank him by his collar onto the crate and slam my clenched fist into the back of his head, I hear a crunch as his nose broke... he was out... and I see he was still breathing. I roll him off the crate and snuff out the "cigarette" before turning my attention to the drone.
I look at the sleek paneling... no way could I replace it if I took it off. "There goes one idea... or maybe... Aurora check for remote access to nearby drones." I see a little text box open up [Searching... three drones found.] "Alright... Aurora display connection capable drones on visual display." My eye gets shocked again and the things highlight in red, the one I was standing next to along with two others light up... okay, might need to improvise on the plan.
"Lonner, you there?" I hear another guard approach, I duck out of sight behind the drone, dangerously close to the engines, and I grab the edge and hoist myself up
keeping an eye on the new arrival.
"Lonner... I know you're here, I can smell that damn smoke." I get on top of the drone and walk towards the front. He was looking around the munitions pile for the other guy, he was way off.
"Damn it! Stop hiding jackass." And now I was in range, I slide off the edge and get up behind him
"Fine the-ghhhhkkk" I wrap an arm around his throat and start choking him, after a minute or two he stops struggling. I hold on a few seconds more to make sure he's out before tossing him on the floor. I unseal his helmet and take it along with his rifle, going to need these later.
"Great, what's next? Half the base?" Then I think... "Probably." I needed to improvise here.
"Aurora, establish connection with all three and start diagnostic." I hear a little ding, and the tiny mobius reactors on each one whir to life, a screen pops up and shows the run-through, I see the miniguns spin up, and the flaps and stabs check themselves... I get a basic report on the screen... only the lead craft had ammo for the guns loaded... and now I needed to figure out what to do with.... wait I don't have time for this.
"Aurora, override all outside signals to drones and open command queue."
The drones were controlled by a command-line like way, post a command and once it's done it moves on, it was really easy when there was a small-scale battle going, but they could also be remotely controlled... useful thing to know. Three lines open up on a black background, okay... I tap the middle one and a little keyboard pops up,
[Start engine] And I watch the one in the back's engine fire up... wrong one, I type it again and this time the right drone starts... onto multi-tasking. I head out the hanger after checking there was no one, and I make a run for the warbird, still undiscovered. I l slip the helmet on and seal it. It turns on and gets a good lock, I sit in the pilots chair.
[Activate remote control] And the screen shifts, I get a camera view of the nose of the drone, a little bar sat on my right, which must have been the throttle... lets see how this works out. I drag the bar up a notch and it starts rolling forward... okay now to see if it can turn like I think. I touch my finger to the center and drag it to my right, and it goes left... inverted controls... huh. I correct and get it lined up on the runway. I do the same with the other two, and put them ahead of the first one.
"Time to party." Now guards were noticing, and a pair starts rushing towards the plane... what did they think they were going to do? Shoot at it? I open the control screen and throttle a drone to max, the roar of the engines sounds all the way across the base, I drag the screen and get airborne in seconds, but I aim for the best target, the tower, I hit it halfway and the screen goes dark, I type in a command to the two jets and they take their engines and go airborne... now it was my turn. I hit the engine and the thing purrs to life, Good thing I watched the jet pilot closely. I hit the throttle and lift into the air, once I get high enough I flick out of VTOL and start flying low across the landscape, I see turrets power up but it's too late, I was out of range, the noise from the engines was loud, and that's with the helmet on. I throttle back and slow, the drones slow beside me, following the typed command to escort an airborne warbird. The flight-nav was disabled because of my tinkering, but I didn't need it, I just use aurora and get a course set for the facility... Should be there in ten minutes.
I sigh and set the horizontal "cruise control" for the craft, most of this place was flatland, and it would auto-level out if there was any change in the terrain... unless it was a mountain.
"Aurora check for all IAP users within a hundred miles under the name Locke."
[Checking.... checking... user found, low signal.] "Display location." And a map of the immediate area shows up... yep it was him, still at the facility... I really didn't expect to get a signal.
"Aurora contact, but cut the connection if they start a trace or listen in." It paid to be careful.
-Beep beep beep- I listen as the connection is made.
"Who is this?" I hear Locke's voice, still the same old gruff sound.
"An old friend."
He stays silent for a few seconds.
"I can't believe it! You actually got out?"
"Yes, interesting fact, I was a clone."
"I knew you were, some of the details of the project were disclosed, but it didn't seem like a good idea telling you that... and i saw the original's body back here, Darwin is keeping the fact that it isn't you a secret. Why are you calling me?"
"You think I was going to run off and disappear didn't you?"
"Yes actually... what are you doing?"
"Oh, just about to raid a highly guarded research facility."
"You're actually going to... scratch that, you're crazy enough to come here again?"
"Not without a little planning... any help you could do on your side?"
"No, not unless you want to delay the ground troops... how are you even going to get into the facility?"
"Oh, my little friends are going to help with that... meet me at the bottom of the lift, around the first corner... oh and get ready-" I see the connection terminated sign light up the menu, at least I got enough through to him, still getting a little peeved at him knowing I was a clone... but then I wouldn't tell myself either.
I bring up the menus on the drones menus "Aurora open mobius generator settings on both drones." A little warning sign pops up, saying [Warning! tampering with mobius settings can cause overload.] "Aurora, display anyway." and several output meters and slides start popping up, I just max them all out and I see the needles slowly climb into the red. I quickly back out and head to the command queue. After typing several commands in I watch as the drones speed off towards the facility.
"Bet that'll be a wake-up call." I take off the jacket and put it in the bag stowed under the co-pilot's chair. I needed the most maneuverability possible to get in. I hear two faint booms and know the drones had found their mark. I pick up and check the rifle, full clip... hopefully I wouldn't need it, the goal was to get in without anyone noticing, but I needed something to do exactly that. I get back in the pilot's chair and flick off the little cruise control setting and get lower to the ground and flick the throttle wide.
I soon see the facility, a crater taking place in the middle of the wall and cutting off access, and another in between the first story buildings and all the lights were dark... looks like it worked. I pull in and almost shut the throttle completely off, I pull up and level out as I switch into VTOL and land right on the wall, balanced like a coin, I shut the engine off and rush out, You could hear boots pounding across the ground, any soldier outside would have heard or seen the warbird, I glance and see the crescent moon, shame it wasn't a new moon. But I hit a button on the side of my helmet and the world lights up in a crystal green. I look around and see about a dozen going around towards the crater dug and blown by the drone, but I hear someone run under me and I hop down on top of them, it was a guard... alright, I slam the butt of the rifle into the back of his head and it's lights out for this guy. I check him and take his chest armor, putting it on was a good idea, the rest of my clothes wouldn't disguise me but It'd be better to get hit by a bullet and have metal deflect it than the other option.
I kick him up against the wall for good measure and make a wide circle for the three-story building housing the lift... which wasn't hit by the EMP surprisingly because a reaper tank just rolled out onto the field, I could hear the clink as the co-axial miniguns spun... like he was trigger-happy, I had to keep out of that thing's sight, a blast from those cannons or miniguns and I was dead, dragon or not.
"Tanks... what the hell is next? A nuke?" And I didn't doubt it, but- whoah! A guard rounds the corner and gets the same surprised look that was on my face. I flip the gun, grab it by the barrel and slam it on his helmet, the visor shatters and the helmets dented, He drops with a small cry dying on his lips. I flip the gun back and keep running. I make it to the lift, I look out and see that they were looking around the bas still, someone calls out and a large group heads toward the wall, must have found unlucky bastard number one. I hear someone take a step away from the lift and I see an EVO walk past me, his vest the most obvious give-away, He was acting tired, probably got dragged out of bed for this... good thing he didn't notice me pressed against the edge of the entrance.
I whirl in and see no one, I find and hit the panel's big down arrow button and the lift silently comes to life and starts sliding diagonally. I check the rifle again, still workable. Now things were going to get violent if I'm right, and there's another group at the bottom of the shaft... hopefully there isn't. I slowly breathe in... out... in... out... I could hear my pulse begin to slowly rise, adrenaline beginning it's one-way trip through my body... fuck, there was a group at the bottom, five at least, one of them takes a look at me the moment I raise my rifle.
Boom, boom boom
I drop three with neck shots, the helmet would have protected them from a normal headshot, they go down as the survivors take to cover behind the walls at the T-junction at the end of the bay... then I realize I was completely exposed to return fire, I roll over the guard-rail and slide down the remaining space, the moment my feet hit the floor shots ring out, and I roll behind a cargo crate in the room. I hear the bullets bing into the metal, and they were taking turns, gap, fire, fire, gap... they were trying to draw me out from behind cover by mixing up the timing on their shots. I hear one of them start to reload and a final shot rings out before I hear the crunch of a neck snapping, then the thump as a body hit the ground. I roll out and see the guards both dead, one with his head twisted all the way around sickeningly and the others twitching leg gave me a sign that he was also dead.
I whirl and fire at the sound at see another soldier drop over by a powered down tank
how many of those where there? I turn back to the intersection to see Locke clear the T-junction, blank look on his face. He gets up a few feet from me and stops
"Why did you come back?" First words out of his mouth, not how are you? Or long time no see
just the question "why did you come back?"
"Oh to do a few things I said I would do, but I need your help to do that."
He gives a frown for a few seconds before saying "Where to?"
"The pit, I need to get there first."
Then he realizes part one of the plan. "You're going after the dragons aren't you?"
"Of course I am, the only problem was that you need to clear out when I get them, at least until I get them on their way."
"You realize that you might be sending them into a situation worse than before right?"
"I do, but being free and die young might be a better option than sitting here waiting to be experimented on."
I does his trademark huff and starts down the hallways, I follow up close behind him, I knew the path
but if they saw him first they will hesitate, and that would be the end for them
wonder why the alarm hasn't gone off?
"What else has happened since I was shoved into the military?"
"You don't want to know, they have been getting
creative, with their experiments, and keeping us further removed on their successes."
All right, years of progress at work, made my stomach churn at the thought. We round a bend and see three soldiers at a door. I don't stop as three rifle rounds find their mark. We reach the elevator and it opens to see an EVO inside, fully shifted into a
what the hell is it! It looked like a cross between a tiger and a cow, white and black stripes with big muscles and a set of short, forward pointing horns along with a tiger's head
but more importantly clawed hands and feet. he looked focused, which was a problem. He roars and charges us, we both dive out of the way as he reaches us and I roll over and start firing, I catch him in the leg and it's a full penetration shot, He goes down
and then somehow gets back up! I look at the wound and see it already healing
that's crazy!
"COME HERE!" He shouts and heads straight for me, much faster than a minotaur could, and I get a good shoulder bashing from him, I go and slam into the wall.
"AAACK." I hear a rib crack... the same one from earlier, He rears back with a clawed hand to rip my throat out but before he could deliver the blow he gets a sword shoved through his chest. This apparently annoys him because he drops me and whirls on Locke, sending him flying with a backhand. He crashes into the wall, but I focus back on the EVO I shift my arm and swipe at his leg, I tear out is calf with the strike and he goes down again... at least this time when he tried to get back up it was only to a knee. I leap on his back and wrap my arms around his throat, and THEN does he start bucking like a bull. I hold on my arms get wrenched badly, I about do a three-sixty on him from the force, This wasn't going to work so I let go and get flung across the ground... I scrabble my way to my feet and see the sword that was stuck in his chest fall to the ground as he stands again... what the hell is this guy made of? Nothing is supposed to regenerate that fast!
"The fuck are you?" I croak out.
"Something better than you obviously." he about growls it out, but he forgot one thing... Locke. Several shots hit him in the legs and he goes down roaring in pain, Locke steps up by my side and hands me a sword.
"Best way to kill a freak of regeneration?" He asks.
"Let's see if decapitation works, keep him down!" The rifle bursts into full-auto and rips holes in the EVO, still roaring in pain, but he was getting up nonetheless. Locke runs out of ammo and I rush forward, wincing in pain with each step, I draw the sword by my waist in a reverse fashion and put the full force into the swing, and he stands up just and the swing connects.
I missed... but I don't think it mattered, because I cut him in half... ish at any rate, he spasms and drops, nothing in this world could replace the blood as fast as he was losing it, Locke walks up and puts a bullet between the eyes of the EVO.
"You forget to mention THAT little detail." I say as I pick up my fallen rifle,wincing in pain as the rib made itself perfectly clear it was going to be a problem.
"I didn't even know there was a thing like that here, I thought hybrids were wishful thinking by the scientists."
"You realize that technicaly I am a hybrid right?"
"Yes, but I am talking about fused DNA, this and that here and there and get this, mix half and half and get all the ups but none of the downs sort of things. We had better hurry... and shift your arm back, you're trying to keep incognito remember?" Okay, I shift my arm back and we enter the elevator, we still had to go down and do a lot more.
"There might be a detail I forgot to mention." He says as the elevator decends.
"I only know ONE of the passwords, the guards are only entrusted with one part of the code." Wrench in the gears. I think for a second.
"Will there be any other guards down there?" I ask.
"It's a lockdown, guards at every possible post until the threat is found... which they probably have."
"How loyal are these guards?"
"That's an odd question, probably up until they are faced with a painful death, why?"
"Let's see if they are willing to talk, so try and keep them as alive as possible."
"You sound like my old CO. Ruthless bastard he was." I think that would be counted as an insult, but he was right, I was being ruthless... sadly sometimes you have to be. I get the sudden urge to get away but instead I strep to the side, leaving the door edge coering me, Locke loooks over and sees me do this, he mimics and stands on the other side... 3... 2... 1...
And a casscade of shots plow through the door as it opened, must have been several using the automatic version of the rifle.They stop and wait for something to pop it's little head out so they could shoot it off. I look and Locke holds up three fingers, and I nod, he edges forward, 1...2...3...GO!
And we both swing out with guns blazing, we were trying to be non-lethal but at least half of the dozen dies at the first volley, three go down in pain, bullets in their arm, leg, or foot... I even shot the gun out of one of their hands, the last ones drop their guns and pull out their swords, great... SS project. I barly had time to get a shot off before they were on us. my shot gets one and brings him sliding across the floor but he recovers and gets at me, I edge a sword off of the rifle and take a step back before hopping forward with a kick and sending him rolling. the second strike I had to block, and I lose the rifle completely,but when his sword clangs into the ground I chop him in the throat and grab him, then throw him overhead, I get a chill in my spine and sidestep, the slodier faltering as he missed with the full-force stab, I roundhouse and catch him in the visor, his head snaps around but he takes the momentum and delivers a round house of his own. I block it and he does a quick switch and tries to trip me, it works and I go crashing to the ground.
"Motherfu-" I roll and dodge his sword stabbing into the ground, I kick his knee and hear shearing metal, before he yells and goes down. I glance and see one of the regular soldiers in a crouching position aiming with his gun at Locke, who had wrapped an arm around one of his opponent's arms as theys stabbed at him, He breaks the guys arm and moves with him in the way of the downed guard's aiming, several bullets slam into the SS guard and he falls to his knees before collapsing on the ground, he was down to the last guard. I get back to my fight and grab the sword on the ground and make a good strike at the second guard, who somehow managed to get up after his throat got crushed by the chop. He slashes at me with the sword and I block, sparks flying everywhere I slide back a foot from the strike, I push back and kick him back, he stumbles and I follow with a upward slash. It connects and black oil sputters from the gash... what the? Sparks fizzle and he flails back before going into a twitching frenzy, I turn around to get greeted by the sight of the downed guard aiming right at me, the bullet hit straight onto the armored plate of the armor and the force makes me stumble back.
"HEY KENNY!" He looks back at Locke just as torn off robotic arm slams into his head, he goes down out cold. Locke's last opponent was laying on the ground with his head at an odd angle, and it was twisted pretty badly too. He stomps on the my third opponent and the SS jerks before going still, the first guard had grabbed a gun and was trying to aim it at us with a dislocated arm, I lift the sword over my head and throw it, It was a good toss, but he tilts sideways and it misses.
"Damn it just die!" Locke picks up a rifle and slams a bullet into the helmet, then a second bullet gets through and he goes down.
"Fighting for every inch aren't we?"
"Pfff, This is nothing compared to La Havanna, had to fight literaly for every inch. Who do we "persuade" first?" We go to the nearest one, he backs away when I approach, scared out of his mind.
"Pit door password, NOW!"
"I.. I....Icarus. Don't kill me!" He sputters out, I think he was about to faint.
"Wrong password, That's the one I already have." Locke wispers into my ear.
"Thank you for your cooperation, have a nice dream." I slam my fist into his helmet and he goes down with a big dent in his helmet. We walk over and find that one had bled out from a shot on his inner thigh, I sigh and move on, this was brutal, and I didn't like doing it... that video of me going berserk kept coming back to me. What hell would be unleashed if I went that way again? This one had a hole in his shoe, and subsequently his foot, but he kept a calm voice... somewhat layered in hate as well.
"You will get nothing from me, alterists."
"And you think we're alterists? Hey, he thinks we're alterists, how about that? Listen, tell us the password to the pit and I leave you alive, it's the best deal you will get, alterists wouldn't have even given you a choice... so what's your decision?"
"Go fuck yourself." I stomp on his knee, it cracked based on the scream and the little crunchng sound.
"How about I just toss you into the pit after I open it?"
"Still, go to hell." He was losing resolve.
"Would you like the other knee broken as well? Or shall I start on the arms?" I wasn't really going to break them, but when you can scare somone with a threat, I was hoping it would work."
"Is that the best you can do? I'd-" And that's when Locke slams his boot into the guards head, and he goes slamming into the ground.
"How about we just forget this one and move on?" I nod my head and he punts the guard in the head, lights out buddy. We look at the rest, most of the guards with leg wounds had died from blood loss... I didn't like looking at them, the stillness leaving an odd chill at the base of my head... we finally find one still alive, a dent on her helmet, and a bullet to the arm... she pretended to be dead, but made a poor job of it.
"We know you're alive, so stop pretending."
"Just kill me then."
We look at each other before back to her. "You know what we want, you heard from the others, tell us the password and you get to live."
"Then why didn't you kill Zeke?" I look over at the KO'ed guard "We are going to give him a second chance if we can't get a straight answer that works."
"You're bullshitting, I can hear it in your voice." Ok, new approach.
"What's your name?"
"Not going to tell you that."
"A shame that you have dogtags then." I grab the edge of the chain and rip them off. "Well... Kaylie. What would you do if you found out you were experimented on, sent to your death in a war you barely understood, only to find out you are not even the real you? What would you do if the people who tortured you for years kept children and experimented on them? What would you do if you found out you were their only hope to avoid a long and painful death? ANSWER ME!"
I couldn't see her eyes behind the tinted visor, but I could feel her tense... she keeps quiet and I almost think that she would be dead if it hadnt been for her breathing.
"You wanted the fucking password, it's Pandora."
"Thank you then, but you should stay here." I stand and walk to the doors.
"Which one do you get?"
"Icarus." We stand on the far sides of the door and the little menu pops up, asking for the unlock code, I type in pandora as Locke does his... and the doors slide open.
"Locke, I need you to take the ones who aren't dead yet and get them out of the way, and I mean behind sealed doors."
"Are you sure that will be enough?"
"No, that's the problem. But I'll try to deal with that, what I need you to do is head toward the cells were they keep the phase-2's at afterwards."
"How are you going to find me?"
"Aurora lock onto Locke's IAP and track." A little text pops up [Tracking set.]
"Looks like you found a little toy, be careful." He says as I head out into the light of the pit.
I stop and look at him with a serious expression that I doubt he could see "You should be the one taking that advice." I say and start at a good run toward the forest below. The cracked rib was hurting less now but it still slowed me down, I get to the edge and start for a nearby clearing, I couldn't see any of the dragons when I get there and I was running on the clock here. I pull the helmet off and decide to do something and see if it would work, I feel heat spread it's way up my neck and head as I shift my head fully draconic. I let out a roar at the loudest I could go, which about made my pointed ears bleed. I shake my head as the ringing subsided some, I shift my arms too and lay against a tree, and wait.
I didn't have to wait long before a teal dragon with white scutes appears. I heard the wingbeats before I saw him, he came from behind and landed in the clearing, he turns and looks for where the sound came from, it took him a good ten seconds to notice me sitting against the tree. He gets a suprised look on his face as I get a better look at him. two horns curved ram style around his head and where as white as the scutes, and he was maybe a good 26 feet long... I also spot a collar around his neck made of black steel.
"Who are you?" He asks with a tone that said "Answer or I attack."
"Let's see, several years ago, kid that didn't get mauled by you dragons."
"I don't know what you are talking about, I've only been here for a good month... at least."
"Was hoping somone who knew me came here, but... Do you know where any of the other dragons are at?" I think I was creeping him out.
"Um, sure. they are all talking about the bunker doors in a clearing nearby." Now he was getting nervous, you could tell by the way he was shifting his feet... gotta bet that having something looking like me talking to you would be unsettling.
I stand up and brush the seat of my pants off "Mind heading there and telling them about me? Wait, better yet take me to them."
"What? How do you to expect to get there without-"
"Wings? I'll just hop on your back and hitch a ride." And he gets this look on his face that just said "This is completely crazy."
"Um, hop on?" He lowers his wings close to the ground, I hold the helmet, and leave the rifle, I would jsut get another one once we got to the doors again. I walk up and leap the distance up to his back, good thing the spikes were distanced far apart, I grab one and brace for the take off leap.
"And off we go." He takes to the air and I get to see the pit from a flying view, it didn't last long though... And I was sorely wanting wings after we land in a clearing of suprised dragons... I didn't see some of the others from my time before, and plus there were more of those collars, I had a bad feeling about them.
"Who's this?" Asks Jason, an eye ridge raised.
I shift my arms and head back to normal and say "Recognize me now?" I still takes him a second to piece two-and-two together, got to admit that years didn't exactly go well to me.
"You? We thought you were dead."
"Close, sent to a warzone to die after some brutal events... but... I managed to escape." That suprised them, but Jason contained his suprise with a question.
"Then how are you here? Or why?"
"Remember what I said before I left?" Those who had heard me that day think back and remember.
"You're breaking us out of here?" He says with a look of disbelief on his face.
"You and a lot more that are held here, why did you think the door's stayed open this long?"
"But what will we do if we get out?" Asks a maroon dragon.
"That's for you to decide, I said I'd take you out of here and here's what maybe the only chance."
There was some low mumbling, particularly from the collared dragons... starting to wonder what that thing did. I watch one break off and walk into the woods, no one noticed except Jason and me. Slowly another three leave, headed their own directions.
"Forget it, outside will be better than here, i'm going." Says one dragon... I recognize it as the eight year-old that I saw my first time here, he had grown much bigger over the years, over three-fold in size to maybe about 18-feet long... and he waas the only one of the old group that I saw had a collar on. Several others are quick to agree with him, and a two more leave, together this time. Slowly most of the others agree to go except one that was more vocal than the ones who left before him.
"The life outside isn't going to be any better than this. The humans fear us and will try to kill us on sight!" A dragon mumbled something that sounded like "Shut up." but this dragon doesn't seem to heed it.
"This isn't worth it!"
"Shut up! I would rather die outside in the actual world than sit here waiting to become a experiment for some insane doctors!" Says the one dragon who mumbled earlier.
"Take a look, you already ARE an experiment-"The other one rushes up and get's inches away from the other's muzzle and growls "How about you stay here while we all go outside and die then? Can't wait to see what they have planned for you." He makes one little snarl before turning away and flying towards the bunker doors.
The dragon just gives mme a glare, "You're leading them to their death hybrid."
"It's their choice, I'm not forcing you into coming, I saw enough leave to give you some company for however long you're alive in here." I turn to the rest of the dragons "Head to the bunker doors, I'll meet you there." The thunderous sound of wings filled the air and in less than a minute they were gone except Martin, Jason, and another dragon plus the objecting one.
Without another word the nameless dragons walk back into the forest, leaving us in the clearing.
"You know, I never got your name." Martin asks, I expected Juan to be here then I see the look in Martin's eyes, and I could guess what happened."
"And I just about never got one... but I guess.... I guess my name is Shane."
"Well Shane, you given me some hope, care for a ride to the bunker doors?"
"I need one, lacking wings and such" I flip the helmet back on and start it before hoopping onto Martin's back. I see Martin get ready to leap, but then stop when he see Jason laying down.
"Aren't you coming Jason?" He shook his head "No, I know anything of my past life is gone, and the other... downsides. Besides, someone has to keep an eye on any new arrivals around and help them out. Goodbye Martin."
Martin let's out a slow breath "Goodbye then, Jason." And we take to the air, a lot less energetic. We land at the base of the doors and I dismount and see them all looking at me. The bodies of the living had been dragged away, painfully at that, but they weren't here. Still, four out of a dozen seems to be a feat to them.
"You killed all of them?" I hear one dragon say to me from the crowd.
"With a bit of inside help, do any of you know the hallways enough to lead the others out?"
"No, We were usually doped to the point of dreaming when we were moved around." One small orange dragon says.
"Then how about somone who can remember everything that's said to them?"
"Not sure about the everything part, but I could remember enough." Says a yellow dragoness.
"Then I hope this is good enough." I start explaining the hallway's path that they all had to take, the lift to the surface, and to keep an eye out for tanks when they get out, also warning them to take the auto-cannons out when they make it to the surface, they might as well have fixed the damaged parts of those and got them running again. I take the lift up with them and they storm out into a set of very unlucky guards... Ever seen a group of vengefull dragons attack? Well trust me on this one and know that it was beyond vengefull, they storm off and I grab the rifle of one of the fallen guards, I check and see it was a full auto. I double check to see if anyone is around before saying...
"Aurora, Set LPS to Locke's position." The little yellow line shows up and takes a right. I follow the hallways and almost miss the sign, it was a computer server with a blue hexagon around it. I stop and back up, data storage? I couldn't pass an opportunity like this up so I try the door to find it locked< I kick it and make a small dent in the steel.
"Ragh! Aurora, open this door." A little text box pops up [Level three security detected, bypassing... bypass complete, altering restrictions... complete.] And the door slides open, revealing a large black screen on the right... wait the screen WAS the wall, it took up the entire space and there was a command menu on display.
I hear screams, gunshots and above all roaring... but I stop focusing on that and turn my attention to the room, black rectangles with no visible surface hold on the left in rows of two, they must have been storage servers... but the amount here would hold over a billion terra-bytes! How long have they been storing information here?
"I knew I would find you here." I whirl and point the gun, and see Darwin, even frailer than before standing in the doorway.
"And I knew you somehow would make an appearance." I say as I lower my weapon.
"Natrualy, I bet you're wondering what is on those servers?"
"And I bet you're wondering how I got away for europa." I tried, but matching his little words is a hard thing to do.
"Not at all, I already knew when they brought your donor's body in. Disgusing yourself as yourself, it's really something that hasn't been seen in a long time, be glad that they didn't want to autopsy your body... or should I say your donors."
"I really don't like that fact."
"We rarely do." He walks past me and slowly moves his arm to the board and types a password in along with the user I.D.
"There, take what you want, but your specific details will be in all files labeled DSP. I recommend hurrying." And with that he walks out the door, which shuts behind him... what is with him?
"Aurora download all files labeled DSP." I watch a text pop up [Downloading... Ecryption detected! Continuing download... two minutes remaining. Download speed at 2 gigabytes a second] Wow, two minutes... lot of files.
I hear pounding boots and I sidle up to the doorway, the stomping passes and I breathe a slow sigh. I check and see one minute remaining... wait this is wireless, I can keep going and not worry about the connection breaking! I facepalm and ready myself... and go! I open the door with a quick touch of my hand and rush out, the yellow line continuing to point it's way to Locke. I charge down that path hoping that I had a lot less people to deal with. Somone casualy walks out of an intersection and checks the wrong way, and add that t him being alone, yet another poor guy. I run by and grab his helmeted head and slam it into the wall, not even slowing down. He goes to the ground as I take a quick look back, out cold. I close distance and start to hear gunfire, I get close and see that Locke was pinned down, there was lines of doors streching left and right from the T-junction.I pass by an open door and see controls inside, I back up and take a closer look, these controlled the doors, A set of hovering displays held above the controls, showing mostly empty cells, but a good ten were occupied. I hit the buttons for them all, not being picky. I come back out and take a shot at an SS firing at Locke, I hit him in the back of the neck and it sparks before he goes down, I start firing and now the guards were caught in a cross-fire... it didn't take them long to go down.
"Locke! Looks like you were a bit occupied there."
"Don't be a smart-ass, we need to get these people out of here." I walk up to him, the people trapped in their cells coming out.
"I thought there would be more of them."
"There was."
"Explain was."
"The... Lockdown puts all phase one and two projects on ice... or for lack of a better term, liquidation."
It takes me second to figure it out "You mean that-"
"All the phase one and two's are dead, these are the phase three subjects... the ONLY ones left." I feel ice along my spine, how many did I kill just by attacking this base? The remaining subjects were close enough to hear me now...
"Do you all want to get out of here?" The two teenagers and the five adults nod their heads, the kids... kids only maybe six or seven in age also nod.
"Then follow Locke here." Then I turn to Locke "There is a warbird on the eastern wall, literaly, get them on and if I am not there in two minutes leave without me."
He doesn't argue. And as they leave I take the rifle and reload.
"Aurora, Locate Darwin." Somehow aurora locks onto the nickname and it shows a map, he wasn't far. I follow it to a room with double doors, I push one and it opens to reveal a breakroom, vending machines lined the back wall and Darwin was sitting at a table drinking coffee.
"I thought you would have left by now." He states bluntly after a sip from the cup.
"I'm wondering why you are still here, I'm sure you wanted to leave... so why not?"
"I'm old, there's no denying that, but I have nowhere to go, even if I got outside the Moderate's territory, the Advantists would crucify me and the Alterists would all but worship me and force me to create more twisted monstrosites... you should go now, I will be fine." And with that he makes a small cough, directed at someone behind me. I whirl and slam the rifle into a guards head, it snaps back as the visor shatters. He goes down and I take one last look at Darwin before leaving. I rush through the hallways and find the lift, it was already down and a squad of guards were about to board, I shoot all of their legs out as I run by and slam the up button on the lift, it gets to the top to see a picture straight out of a disaster movie, the tank had it's turrent ripped off and tossed into a building, guards lay around slain, brutally. The cannons were non-existent except for one that managed to get a little scratched. I see Locke at the doorway, taking down a wolf EVO that tried to climb the wall. I rush forward and get to the wall as the EVO crashes to the ground, headless.
"You're a minute late!" Locke says... well I expected him to wait for me... hoped was a better term.
"Too bad, we need to leave before reinforcements arrive."
"Then hurry, we're targets sitting up here." He lays down and extends his arm. I get a good sprint and leap at the wall with everything I had, I barely catch onto his arm I feel the muscles strain to lift deadweight off upwards, I manage to scrabble over the wall, we get up and we step into the cargo area of the warbird, Then we both hear the report of a rifle. I get shoved out of the way as A massive round ripped through where my chest used to be... and where Locke's now was. I watch him go down in a shower of blood as the rifle pinged out the front window, shattering even the bullet-proof glass, I look to see where the shot came from, over by the last auto-cannon he stood there, with a massive rifle, it was obviously anti-tank from the length of the barrel, he holds the rifle and gives me a look, I look back at him, he was wearing EVO armor, He was maybe just as old as me with the same black hair, though it was somehow a shade darker than mine and it was much longer, the bangs just above his eyes, which were an icy blue. We make eye contact, even from this distance, and I could see him smile, it sent chills up and down my spine, then he cheerfully leaps off of the wall. I roll over and see one of the adult phase 3's looking over him, I scramble and get up to him, the wound was large, and I was guessing the exit wound was larger, he wasn't going to make it... A blind man could see it... then why did I not want to beleive it?
"He's going." Says the man in a calm voice like he has seen this before. I see Locke's eyes, they were losing that spark of life, and he kept trying to say something, he wracks a massive cough that should have been impossible, but he manages to say...
"Wor.... worth it." And with that he moved on. I just crouched there, numb. The others were shocked into silence, and so was I. I feel my arm twitch... we were so close, so close to getting away, and he pays the ultimate price, and the bullet was meant for me...
"We should go before anyone shows up." Says the one phase three, it breaks me out of the numbness, and I stumble forward to the pilots seat, and start the warbird, the engines making a roar as we pull off, I just aim for the lights in the night, and was about to switch out of VTOL when the auto-cannon powered up, I could hear the lock-on alarm, I hit the throttle as we get forward motion, but we weren't fast enough to get out of range and several rounds pound into the left side engines, and I could vaugely hear a scream as we wen't down, but I tried to keep her in the air as long as I could, maybe a good forty miles away we crash, and my helmeted head slams into the control panel, now you know why helmets are always needed. I get star-struck as we hit again, and this time I grab the overhead rail and my arm get's wrenched but at least my brains wouldn't get scrambled any more. we make a last, weaker hit before sliding across the ground and create a trench. The rest of the window shatters and I get pelted by the glass... then silence.
I could hear my own breathing, heavy and slow, I could hear my ears ringing. I fall out of the chair and scramble to get up, I find cuts all over my body, splinters of glass were stuck in my arms but luckily nowhere vital. I hear somone groan behind me, I turn and realize I wasn't the only one in the crash... I see that most had died, or weren't here at all, probably bounced or sucked out the back, two took shrapnel and are more than likely dead, the only survivors were a little girl and the teenagers. The boy was Ko'ed and the little girl was too, the other teen was trying to get them up, he looked worse off than the others with the cuts across his face, but he didn't seem to notice.
"Are they...?"
"Alive, This one has broken ribs and a good amount of damage to the arm, the little girl will make it with rest, I sheilded her from most of the flak but the force still hit hard enough for a knockout and possably a concussion." He says this coldly, like he could care less... wonder what they did to him... Then again I don't want to know anymore.
"Where should we go from here?" I ask.
"Dallas is less than a sixty miles from here, we need a medical transport... that may be the only way to save him." I know they could trace and locate us but I was tired... beaten down, I didn't care anymore.
"Can we move him?"
"Possible, but it would take both of us to minimize damage... and we shouldn't leave the girl here." I get an idea and grab the used emergency kit, and hand it to him, which he starts methodicaly looking through the contents. I pull the duffel bag out also, it was still in good condition, which suprised me, but hose seats are ment to be secure and it did it's job.
"This should work." He pulls out something and holds it under her nose, the moment she breathes in she jerks awake, panic on her eyes. The teen calms her down with suprisingly effective words, he puts whatever it was back into the kit and pulls out the painkillers, he breaks a third off and hands it to the girl, who takes it, and she suddenly acted somewhat less injured.
"We can move him now, help me with him." I sling the duffel bag over my shoulder andhelp pick him up at the mid-section he got the chest and broken arm, I got the bottom half, we make it a slow movement across the plain towards the visible highway, the boy hisses in pain when the terrain changes height, and it did that often, We reach the side of the road and set him down.
"Aurora, call emergency services." I hold the device in the air as I get an immediate response.
"911, what it your emergancy?" Says a computerized voice.
"We found somone with heavy injuries, broken ribs and arm, and he maybe concussed also."
"Locking signal... a transport is on it's way, please wait for it to arrive." and the connection closes.
"What are you going to do now?" I ask the kid
"Go with the medical transport, the girl needs to be checked also, we can handle anything that may come our way... thank you for freeing us."
"No thanks are needed, I was in there once before." I tear off the armor and punt the helmet off into the grass somwhere along with brushing off most of the glass embedded in my skin.
"I.. I'll be leaving, headed towards Dallas."
"Why?" He asks.
"I need to be alone for a while, and I'll be a lot less noticed if I don't have anyone with me."
"Then that's your choice. Goodbye then." I turn to leave when I hear something unexpected.
The little girl says "Are we ever going to see you again?"
"Probably, just keep an eye out." I sling the canvas bag over my shoulder again and start walking towards the distant lights of Dallas.
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EVOlution 3: A old promise by Darkdrake0Watch
©2012-2016 Darkdrake0Mature Content
Yep, another action-packed episode, this may be the last one of these for a while, but now... onto civilization!
The ending... probably a bit extreme, but it's sad. And that was what I was looking for.
And who is the prick who shot Locke?
Thank you for reading, giving faves, and watches.
Story is (c) to me
The ending... probably a bit extreme, but it's sad. And that was what I was looking for.
And who is the prick who shot Locke?
Thank you for reading, giving faves, and watches.
Story is (c) to me
Just like a classical end, friend dies as usual
Nice Chapter, freed everyone that wanted to be free and avenged a few things. Hated Lockes death though, kinda liked that Charakter.
Keep it up.
Keep it up.
Intense and vivid. Promise repaid. Locke going as stoically as he lived. Hate the idea that so much of the complex was intact after the warbird departed.
Chapter 4 will be interesting. Take your time on it, you have set the bar very high.
Chapter 4 will be interesting. Take your time on it, you have set the bar very high.
Keeping a promise... Boy, that was a good chapter. ^^ And now its off to the world itself... and finding the guy who shot Locke, then avenging him.
this a great story so far! I will look forward to the next part!


text:
March 15, 2013
A New Phase & A Very Long Trip
Jeff has been offered a salaried position with a company based in Texas. They made us a very good offer which includes an admirable benefits package. Shockingly good really. Offers like this haven't come around since before the dot com bubble burst. There's so much to be said about this, but I can't find the energy right now.
We will continue to live here in Taos, and we will have the income to do the things which we have been trying to hard to do all along, but first we have to go live in a corporate apartment for two months while Jeff integrates with the company.
It's been a lot to wrap our heads around. We have a good family who will be caring for our home and animals in our absence, but we're trying to prepare, not just for the move, but also for the cultural and environmental shock. We will not be able to have a garden this year, and we have filled our freezers with three goats, and a half dozen chickens. We'll have only our dogs, laying hens, and a pair of milk goats now.
A corporate apartment in central Texas, ya'll. I'm trying to think of it as a vacation... an escape from the last of Taos' cold, but any way I cut it I'm stuck in the city with three kids. It's a scary thing to go back to where you came from, even if it's only temporary. I know what it feels like to live in a drywall box with conditioned air... to be in a hurry everywhere you go, because everything takes forever... to know no one, and be a part of a culture that thinks eating out and shopping is a great past time.
Thirteen years in Texas, and I never acclimated to the heat. Never. People joke that Texas has two seasons: Winter, and Hell. I'm not sure it was a joke. Everything that I most wanted to get away from is there, from the oppressive heat and pollution, to the noise and consumerism, all trapped inside of a heat radiating, behemoth, steel and concrete universe. Road rage, speeders, helicopter parents, and crime.
I haven't been out of the desert for four years, where I have lived at 8,200 feet. Humid, hot, sea level is sounding like a very drastic change. We took a day trip to Colorado a couple of years ago to pick up one of our livestock guardian dogs, Zeppelin, and it was such a shock! We couldn't believe the humidity, and the hot stagnant air. Where we live it is always cool in the shade, you can get away with a light cardigan most of the summer, and you had better have one when the sun starts to go down. The inability to escape from the heat was strange, and frustrating. The feeling that the air was thick with moisture felt like our skin couldn't breathe.
Taos... the desert... I acclimated to that. Never having to speed, be honked at, or avoid crazies on the raod... I acclimated to that. Having everyone know my name from the post office to the grocery store... I acclimated to that. Seeing people hugging in the street and in the stores every day... yeah, I acclimated to that.
It's all a lot, but here's the truth... the thing that is actually scary to me... I don't want to be away from the mountains. I can't explain it. It's home, yes. They're beautiful, yes. But there is something else. I can't say what. I just know that the thought of not seeing them all around me feels scary. I know that on the rare occassion when the fog is so heavy that it obscures the mountains in all directions, leaving it to look like we live in the prairie, I have this uneasy, depressed feeling. I don't like it at all, and I find myself searching the sky for a hint, an outline, a shadow of those mountains, and when the wind blows it all away, and I can see them again, I am filled with this deeeep sense of relief.
What's that about? I wish I could say. I know this though, there is a power, deep and quiet, in those mountains. People talk to them, pray to them, offer to them. They draw people from all across the globe, and they change you.
I haven't left yet, but I have been homesick for 6 weeks already. I don't want to go. I don't want to miss the Lilacs, the apple, pear, and apricot blossoms raining down, the sweet scent of a wild space in the spring.
But this is a great opportunity for our family, and this is, in truth, the best way for us to ease into the transition of Jeff being tied to a desk for 40 hours a week. We are headed back to the place where Jeff and I took our first vacation as a couple. There will be multi-story libraries to explore with the children, and new museums. We're planning a weekend trip up to Dallas-Ft.Worth to walk through the Botanical Gardens, the art museums, and to see family.
We will be able to prepay our lease here in Taos, and to build the fences that have been needing to be built all along. We will finally be able to afford to do our garden right, and to get a proper barn built. We can build a root cellar, an underground greenhouse, and invest in the things that would have kept us from this had we had the money before. The kids will be able to take more classes, we can finally fix our truck, and get that fuel efficient family car that we've been needing.
It's all good, we're just a little scared. It's very new, and it's a lot to take in.
Jeff's company is footing the bill for our travel expenses, housing, and car, so aside from missing Jeff, it will be like a paid vacation. Right?
11 comments:
- SedonaMichelle said...
oh, what a bittersweet blessing for you all! I really understand the feeling of connection and security from the mountains - especially up in Taos. You are so wise to frame the 6 weeks as a vacation/transition, etc. It will be whatever you make it to be. Its temporary and its beautiful. Congratulations and many blessings!
- March 16, 2013 at 12:07 AM
- Kimberly said...
Holy Cow that is a lot to take in! I'm overwhelmed just reading about it.... it sounds like it will be weird, very weird and at times miserable... but I think you're right that if you keep it in your mind as a vacation it will be ok.... will you have time to come back home on weekends if you want?
- March 16, 2013 at 11:22 AM
- moyra scott said...
wow that is a big change. good luck with it all
- March 16, 2013 at 2:35 PM
- Unknown said...
heh, it'll be hot, and yes it's grown a bunch since you've been there, but, remember, it's only 2 months. take solace in the fact that you get to return, only better off. 2 months? I'll be there every weekend if you're willing to have me :)
- March 16, 2013 at 4:19 PM
- Aimée LeVally said...
@SedonaMichelle - "It will be whatever you make it to be" - This is exactly what I keep telling myself. :)
@Kimberly - Sadly it is a 13 hour drive (17 with stops for kids) so it is too far to be able to consider going home on the weekends, plus someone will be staying in our home while we are gone.
@Moyra - thank you!
@Unknown - do I know you?
- March 16, 2013 at 6:59 PM
- Allyson Szabo said...
You have worked long and HARD to get where you are. While two months is a long time, it isn't forever, and it means so many new opportunities! Hold onto your priorities... eat well, live well, experience all life has to offer. What you've gained in the desert can be brought with you to Texas, and perhaps the heat and moisture will make it "rise and double" so you have something new and exciting to take home at the end. :) All change hurts, but it isn't all bad so long as you keep your end in sight. Good luck to all of you!
- March 17, 2013 at 11:28 AM
- plumdirt said...
If you should want for some earth to dig in while you're here, let me know. I don't have much but it's more than enough to get under your fingernails should you feel the yearning. I missed the mountains and the ocean terribly when I first moved here. Viscerally. Anxiously. Pedernales Falls helped the most of anything. Hopefully the two months is sooner rather than later? Both to end the apprehension and for avoiding July and August. And also, hopefully, you'll happen upon some seedlings and perhaps find a way to nurture some variety you may not have had the season to grow without a heated hiatus.
- March 17, 2013 at 10:27 PM
- Unknown said...
I hope to see you guys!!!
- March 20, 2013 at 7:09 PM
- Jenn said...
Bend and flow as the graceful willow my friend. Miss your faces and lovin you as always.
- March 20, 2013 at 9:32 PM
- Jenn said...
Bend and flow as the graceful willow my friend. Miss your faces and lovin you as always. Hugs from Kansas :)
- March 20, 2013 at 9:34 PM
- Little House On The Mesa said...
Aww...it will be fine and what an opportunity! You all will have the resources to "live simply" quicker than most people I know, sad that something so simple requires so many initial investments.
I have a funny superstition myself that if I leave Taos I won't be able to get back. I felt that way last year in Texas and I swear something in the air changed when we hit the NM border.
I can understand how you feel about the mountains. I know I will never afford to live here and the prairie has a different kind of rugged beauty with its open expanse. It freaked me out tonight when I heard the wind blow through the trees!
- March 21, 2013 at 10:04 PM

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Nov 13, 2009 11:30 AM
Call us crazy, but the new Dell Inspiron Zino HD (starting at $229) looks awfully familiar. But even if it were "inspired" by a certain mini computer, the Zino has enough pizazz -- and a rainbow of fruit flavors -- to help it escape the ersatz mini label. With 1080p HDMI output and an optional Blu-ray drive or TV tuner, the Zino makes a cute little home theater PC that's great for streaming Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, iTunes, and Boxee, and for playing Blu-ray discs, should you go that route. In addition to the flashy colors and Blu-ray player, the Zino's other hardware options are a lot more upgradeable than that other computer, plus it runs Windows 7, which'll make you think you were using one, anyway.
If you've got a product or service that you'd like to promote on Outblush, click here to find out about our advertising opportunities.
Outblush is a blog for girls who love to shop. Our staff digs up the best clothes, home stuff, beauty items, and more. New items are posted every day — bookmark us and check out:


text:
Meet Dr. Larian
Read more >
Out Of Town Patients
- Do Salivary Stones Require Surgery?
Salivary gland stones, or sialolithiasis, are small calcium deposits that block the flow of saliva, which if not removed can lead to swelling of the salivary gland, inflammation, infection, Read more >
- Why a Parotid Tumor Requires Immediate Medical Attention
Many people have experienced swollen glands at some point in their lives. However, if you have a lump close to your ear that lingers for more than a couple weeks, Read more >
- How Expert Surgeons Perform Parotid Reconstruction
If your parotid gland function has been impaired for any reason, such as a parotid tumor, you may need surgery. Read more >
Parotid Cysts
What are Parotid Cysts?
A parotid cyst is a swelling, or mass, that forms in the major salivary glands known as the parotid glands. It is unknown what exactly causes parotid cysts, although there are several theories, but we do know that parotid cysts are common in patients with HIV. Parotid cysts are quite rare and only account for about 5% of salivary gland tumors. They seem to present equally in both men and women and generally begin as a painless swelling of the area. Fortunately, parotid cysts do not usually attach to the facial nerve.
When a patient experiences a swelling of the parotid area (near the ear), they need to seek medical attention to be evaluated. Parotid cysts are usually diagnosed through a physical examination, imaging tests, and fine needle biopsy. The biopsy can determine whether or not the mass is cancerous or filled with cystic fluid, but excision and histopathology examination are the only ways to definitively diagnose a parotid cyst. While medical professionals may not agree on the exact cause of parotid cysts, most agree that they need to be removed when they get infected frequently or if the continue to grow.
Treatment of Parotid Cysts
It is important that patients with a parotid cyst visit an expert parotid surgeon, as the proximity of the parotid gland to the facial nerve brings the risk for facial nerve injury when surgery to the area is performed. Dr. Larian is a world-renowned head and neck surgeon who has performed more parotid surgeries than most doctors in the country. He is known for his minimally invasive parotid surgery techniques in which he treats a number of parotid conditions through a tiny incision and the use of an endoscope. This technique causes little to no damage to the surrounding tissues and results in a quicker, easier recovery for the patient.
When Dr. Larian removes a parotid cyst, he believes in a team approach to ensure the best possible outcome. During this procedure, Dr. Larian works with world-renowned facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon Babak Azizzadeh, MD, FACS to remove the cyst and reconstruct the area using the smallest incision possible and maintaining the safety of the facial nerve. Dr. Larian and Dr. Azizzadeh have a track record of success and they take every precaution necessary to reduce the risk to the patient. They are leaders in their field who have perfected minimally invasive parotid surgery techniques.
Contact the Parotid Gland Expert Today
If you are living with a parotid cyst, or suspect you may have a parotid cyst, schedule a consultation with parotid gland expert Dr. Babak Larian to see if you are a candidate for minimally invasive parotid surgery. Dr. Larian is one of only a few doctors in the country to perform parotid gland surgeries on a regular basis and he is a leader in the field. Contact his office at 888.574.0178 today to schedule a consultation.
For more information on parotid cysts, contact our office in Beverly Hills today.
Next, learn about fine needle biopsy.


text:
Skip to comments.Facebook Users: Don't Click on Barack Obama
Posted on 03/11/2009 5:07:55 AM PDT by far sider
Yesterday, I noticed that a friend's Facebook page said that she "became a supporter of Barack Obama." I was surprised by this, because I know her well enough to know that she would never support what Obama promotes and stands for. So out of curiosity I clicked on "Barack Obama" to see what was on his Facebook page.
I spent less than a minute there. I didn't sign or click anything or accept any requests to be an Obama supporter, friend or fan. When I got back to my own page, there was an entry saying that I was one of 5 million plus Obama supporters. I immediately deleted the entry.
I just wanted to let fellow Freepers know about yet another deceptive tactic of the shameless Obama campaign. Never click on Obama!
What is "Facebook"?
It asks you to click on the picture if yo want to be a fan of Barry. All you have to do is remove it, not a big deal.
Oh, yea have you joined the Free Public page?
Just as long as NOBAMA doesn't try to Friend me ... it would be so much fun DEFriending which I don't think I've done to anyone...
Now that you're an Obama supporter you have to resign from Free Republic. Sorry - those are the rules. ;o)
Thanks for the heads up! I keep hearing about Facebook nightmares lately and now I am getting "Facebookparanoia." lol! I am not a member and I feel like once you sign up you are in a precarious world. Fox had one of their reporters hacked and they represented themselves as relatives in need of money in an emergency. They advise you to contact your friends relatives off of Facebook if that should happen.
**Sorry - those are the rules.**
Although it is a typical Liberal tactic .. If you don't take the time to read it ... Liberals are that stupid.. and the LIBERAL LEADERS KNOW IT.
Is there a Free Republic page on FB?
It's just the 21st century passing you by. Now, back to your hole.
It's sooooo comnfortable here in my technological black hole.
I've got my HP41CV, Programmable, Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) calculator here with me. I've got my IBM 8088 PC, with 4 (count them FOUR) raging MHz of clock speed, not one but TWO 5-1/4" floppy drives, and to top it all off, its runnning MSDOS 1.1, not that out-moded v1.0!
AND, I've got an Atari game system with more than 20 game cartridges, including the Pole Position car racing game - which is only the BEST racing game EVER!!!
I'm all set.
Didn't have the Atari though. I went all the way with the TI99 4/A. What a screamer.
Yes there is....as a matter of fact several.
I'm glad to know that I'm not the only person who doesn't do facebook or any of those sites. I don't want to spend that kind of time on the computer.
Facebook has every group you can imagine...FOXNEWS, RUSH, etc.,
Ya. Its not like FReepers spend hours upon hours a day here.
Yes...you're right...it does. Probably even some we don't want to hear about too. :-)
I only use facebook to check news of teaparty events...Definitely won't get me even near anything like that!
Most of the social networking and such type of things do. It gets amazing what niche interests there are out there...
I don't spend hours and hours here either especially when the weather is nice. I enjoy FR a lot but not 8-10 hours a day............unless I happen to be working!
Yes. Just type in freerepublic in the search. There are lots of antiFR also.
I still miss Intellivision.
Great. Now you tell me. :(
Is this in the 'causes' application, or the 'pages' section? Because for the Pages, an official Facebook application, you have to click on 'become a fan' to add that page to your list. However, in the third-party 'causes' application, as soon as you click on a 'cause' (organisation, political figure, etc) you automatically 'become a supporter' of that cause and they don't tell you outright. So then you go to your homepage and you'll see "far sider is now a supporter of 'Let's knit 1000 sweaters for homeless kittens' on Causes" (or what have you) in your status, just because you thought it looked funny and clicked on it to check it out...
Nevertheless Vista awaits you on the distant horizon :)
Besides, Vista won't run Autocad 9.0, will it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


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- Forum: Classic Menswear
- Thread: chromexcel?
Quote: Originally Posted by DWFII The thing is...and make no mistake I think it is a fine leather...is that chromexel is an "oil stuffed" leather. What does that mean? Abandon all hope of a high shine...or even more than a gleam. Chromexcel won't take a shine like shell, but it shines up pretty well.


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It's been nearly four years since I first wrote about nested formsets. When I wrote about nested formsets, I must have been using Django 1.1 (based on correlating dates in the release notes and the original blog post), which means what I wrote has had four major releases ...read more
Other articles
Destroyed 0003
I'm blogging my way through Gary Bernhardt's excellent Destroy All Software series of screencasts. If you write software, you should probably go buy it today.
In Episode 3, Gary builds a simple version of RSpec, using TDD. I'd seen him do something similar at the Testing in ...read more
Hieroglyph 0.6
I just uploaded Hieroglyph 0.6 to PyPI. This release contains a handful of new features, as well as fixes for a few bugs that people encountered. Some highlights:
- Doug Hellmann contributed support for displaying presenter notes in the console using the note directive.
- tjadevries contributed a fix for the ...
Destroyed 0002
I'm blogging my way through Gary Bernhardt's excellent Destroy All Software series of screencasts. If you write software, you should probably go buy it today.
Episode 0002 of Destroy All Software talks about nil in Ruby. I'm not a Rubyist. I may be someday, but I'm ...read more
Destroyed 0001
Some people blog their way through Knuth or SICP. My attention span is somewhat shorter lately. I've recently begun watching Gary Bernhardt's excellent Destroy All Software screencasts, and I thought it'd be fun to blog my way through it with a series of short posts on what ...read more
Emacs & Jedi
Brandon Rhodes delivered the keynote at PyOhio yesterday[1]. He talked about sine qua nons: features that without which, a language is nothing to him. One of the things he mentioned was Jedi, a framework for extending editors with Python autocompletion, documentation lookup, and source navigation. I say "editors", vaguely ...read more
Draft Work: "Fast Pass"3" x 5" two plate linocut print
Last week when I was printing my line study, I had a couple extra hours in the studio. I'd previously drawn the plates for a Fast Pass double-plate print, so I quickly carved it as a ...read more
Effective Django at OSCON: Post-Mortem
I've been on the road a little more than a week now, back to back conferences. On Tuesday I presented my Effective Django tutorial at OSCON. I've recently updated it to cover integrating static assets with your project, and re-organized some of the view information. The biggest challenge ...read more
Coffee Cup line study
4" x 5" linocut print
I wanted to practice using lines to describe, rather than outline, shapes and surfaces, so I took a picture of a coffee cup on a sunny day and decided to try and make a print from ...read more
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Wesley Sneijder
Midfielder Galatasaray
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June 30, 2014 Wesley Sneijder News
RotoWire Fantasy Analysis
Sneijder scored in the 88th minute of the Netherlands' 2-1 win over Mexico in the round of 16 at the World Cup on Sunday.
Sneijder has mostly sat back and watch Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben handle the scoring load in Brazil, but he blasted a rocket off a second pass in a set piece to start the Mexicans' heartbreak. Only four minutes later, Robben drew a foul in the box and Klaas Jan Huntelaar banged home the penalty to give the Dutch a quarterfinal spot against Costa Rica.
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Wesley Sneijder
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Wesley Sneijder: Past News Updates ( ▲ View most recent update )
June 13, 2014
RotoWire Fantasy Analysis
Sneijder picked up an assist in Netherlands' 5-1 win over Spain in their World Cup opener Friday.
Sneijer joined the attack led by Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie, who both had two goals against the reigning champions. The Dutch put themselves in a great position for the knockout stage, potentially avoiding a second-round matchup against Brazil.
December 24, 2013
RotoWire Fantasy Analysis
Sneijder said he is happy at Galatasaray and has no desire to leave in January, reports the Daily Mail.
Sneijder has been linked with a move to the Premier League in January, but made sure to squash any rumors as the winter transfer winter approaches.
January 21, 2013
RotoWire Fantasy Analysis
Sneijder has officially left Inter for Turkish power Galatasaray after a long period of negotiations, Football Italia reports.
Inter can now move on without one less headache.
December 21, 2012
RotoWire Fantasy Analysis
Sneijder's wife has confirmed they plan to leave Milan in the next month, Football Italia reports.
Sneijder has been injured much of this season so his loss won't be felt as hard.
November 28, 2012
RotoWire Fantasy Analysis
The often injured Sneijder has been dropped by the club unless he agrees to a reducation in his salary, Football Italia reports.
Inter and Sneijder need to figure out what is best for the club.
November 14, 2012
RotoWire Fantasy Analysis
Sneijder has returned to practice with the rest of the team after being out of action for a few weeks, Football Italia reports.
Sneijder's return would give Inter a boost.
October 29, 2012
RotoWire Fantasy Analysis
Sneijder has returned to training but is not expected to play this weekend against Juventus, Goal.com reports.
Sneijder is certainly a difference maker for Inter.


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Permanent URL to this publication: http://dx.doi.org/10.5167/uzh-45305
Schirra, C O; Weiss, S; Krueger, S; Caulfield, D; Pedersen, S F; Razavi, R; Kozerke, S; Schaeffter, T (2010). Accelerated 3D catheter visualization from triplanar MR projection images. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 64(1):167-176.
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One major obstacle for MR-guided catheterizations is long acquisition times associated with visualizing interventional devices. Therefore, most techniques presented hitherto rely on single-plane imaging to visualize the catheter. Recently, accelerated three-dimensional (3D) imaging based on compressed sensing has been proposed to reduce acquisition times. However, frame rates with this technique remain low, and the 3D reconstruction problem yields a considerable computational load. In X-ray angiography, it is well understood that the shape of interventional devices can be derived in 3D space from a limited number of projection images. In this work, this fact is exploited to develop a method for 3D visualization of active catheters from multiplanar two-dimensional (2D) projection MR images. This is favorable to 3D MRI as the overall number of acquired profiles, and consequently the acquisition time, is reduced. To further reduce measurement times, compressed sensing is employed. Furthermore, a novel single-channel catheter design is presented that combines a solenoidal tip coil in series with a single-loop antenna, enabling simultaneous tip tracking and shape visualization. The tracked tip and catheter properties provide constraints for compressed sensing reconstruction and subsequent 2D/3D curve fitting. The feasibility of the method is demonstrated in phantoms and in an in vivo pig experiment.
4 citations in Web of Science®
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|14 Feb 2011 11:49
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Today, Nicki Minaj released a new remix featuring the viral new song by young hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd. The video for the song "No Flex Zone," has gone viral after being released in May of this year.
The song has already been remixed by big names such as Kid Ink, Slim Thug and even Busta Rhymes. Rae Sremmurd is a group of two young rappers originally from Mississippi. The duo has been signed to Mike Will Made It's record label Drummer's Ear. Coincidentally Mike's label is the duo's name backwards.
It has been rumored that the next remix for the viral song is going to come from Nicki Minaj and Pusha T. On Nicki's Soundcloud today she released a verse to the song but has given no hint if her verse will soon be accompanied by a Pusha verse.
Minaj is continuing on her mixtape style releases enhancing her anticipation for her next studio album 'The Pinkprint' which has no official release date but is expected to debut this year. Looking at Nicki's newest song releases and verses, and even her acceptance speech at the BET Awards, it seems that Nicki is taking her iconic standing as a female rapper very seriously and is continuing to come out with spectacular verses and songs.
In Minaj's verse for the 'No Flex Zone' remix she emulates her confidence in a singing breakdown,
Running this game for five years
Guess that's why my feet hurt
Wonder when they bite me
Do they teeth hurt?
Yes I am an icon
That's me on your t-shirt
Thought you knew better
Do your f***n' research
This release only solidifies Nicki Minaj's high standing in the rap game and that her album 'The Pinkprint' is going to be one of the most respected hip-hop albums of the year.
Check out the Nicki Minaj remix to "No Flex Zone" here.
Suggested Links
- Nicki Minaj 'Pills N Potions' preview shows a special guest
- Nicki Minaj releases new single for upcoming album
- Two music websites experience drastic yet progressive changes this week
- New hip hop releases including tracks from Jay Z, Eminem, Chris Brown and more
- Highlights from the performances at the 2014 BET Awards


text:
The Voice, the student newspaper at UW-Sheboygan, needs:
- Reporters
- Photographers
- Editors
- Designers
- and a Business manager
Enroll in CTA 104 Applied Journalism-Newspaper (1 credit) or volunteer (co-curricular activity). See the current course schedule for meeting times.
Join the staff today. Build your skills, experience, and resume.
Information: firstname.lastname@example.com
Attention businesses!
Advertise with The Voice. Request current advertising rates from: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Oh how I wish I could buy a new Colt for $70 now.
This is a discussion on Some ads are timeless within the Off Topic & Humor Discussion forums, part of the The Back Porch category; Tis the season colt.jpg...
Tis the season
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations James Madison 1788
Oh how I wish I could buy a new Colt for $70 now.
I have a very strict gun control policy: if there's a gun around, I want to be in control of it.
Clint Eastwood
That's great! I love seeing old ads!
Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.- Mark Twain
So, what year is that? ~1958-ish?
Your best weapon is your brain. Don't leave home without it.
Thoughts: Justifiable self defense (A.O.J.).
Explain: How does disarming victims reduce the number of victims?
Reason over Force: Why the Gun is Civilization (Marko Kloos).


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Feb 6, 2013 10:20 AM
We just barely missed the grungy kinderwhore thing the first time around, and we sure are glad that popular fashion has made it okay to dress like a hungover Wednesday Addams again. This Skater Dress in Mesh with Contrast Detail ($61) has the same feel of those 1990s dresses, but with a lot more polish.
If you've got a product or service that you'd like to promote on Outblush, click here to find out about our advertising opportunities.
Outblush is a blog for girls who love to shop. Our staff digs up the best clothes, home stuff, beauty items, and more. New items are posted every day — bookmark us and check out:


text:
The Fruity Wrapper is a software interface/layer between instrument / effect plugins and FL Studio. The control options (1, 3 & 4) are common to all plugins (FL native, VST & DX format), while the plugin options (2) only appear on Wrappers that are hosting VST & DX format plugins. The Wrapper provides compatibility with the VST and DX plugin standards (the screenshot below demonstrates the Fruity Wrapper hosting a fictitious 'Poi Poi' VSTi plugin). More information on plugin formats can be found here. For more information on installing and using 3rd party VST/DX plugins, click here.
There are two versions of the Fruity Wrapper, Effect & Generator. FL Studio will select the appropriate wrapper depending on the plugin type loaded. There are several control options:
Click on the screenshot Settings, Processing or Info tabs below to see the help for that tab.
See help for tab: Settings, Processing, [Presets], Info
NOTE: If you are troubleshooting plugins, see the section on 'Plugins behaving badly' for more tips.
Plugin Credits: Frederic Vanmol, Didier Dambrin


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On Wednesday, February 12, hundreds of Bank of America employees in the area will lose their jobs. According to a KSDK report, Bank of America is cutting 280 jobs out of the approximate 2,200 current employees in the St. Louis area.
The most recent job cuts will take place at the St. Charles location where less than 100 employees will be left after the layoffs take place. The St. Charles layoffs will affect 280 workers in the mortgage operations division of the bank.
A Bank of America spokesperson, Jumana Bauwens, reportedly explained that the layoffs are a direct result of the decline in the number of delinquent mortgage loans that were part of specialized programs, which the bank currently services. Additionally, there is less demand for refinancing. She said that the bank is working with these soon to be former employees to help locate other job opportunities for them. Some of these opportunities could be within the bank in a different department.
Don't copy this article, share it! Be sure to get the most up-to-date job search news in the St. Louis area by going to the top of this article and subscribing to this Examiner and then like the Frugal Savings, Job Search Facebook page to make sure you don't miss a thing.


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Skydiving.com now has a network skydiving location serving Twining and Arenac County in Michigan. Call Skydiving.com at 1-800-617-7948 for details, free information and specials on skydiving in Twining, MI today!
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Sign up for our newsletter and receive updatesand specials on skydiving across America!


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Joined IHG® Rewards Club at a Hotel?
Joining is easy and free
Earn points at over 4,700 hotels
Redeem points for free rooms and more
Contact your local IHG® Rewards Club Customer Care to source your PIN
and to update your profile with your email address. When you receive your PIN
you can also update your email address via www.ihg.com/updateemail.
Reward Nights
When redeeming points for a Reward Night, you may only book one room at a time.
Once you complete your Reward Night reservation you will be given the option to duplicate this reservation.
* Requires affiliation in the respective organization.
** Best Available Rate Search does not include affiliation rates.
To book more than 9 rooms for one stay or request a quote, please use our Easy Meetings tool, call 1-800-MEETING (in United States, Mexico and Canada) or contact a Global Sales Office.
With our triple-glazed windows, air conditioning and high-speed Internet in every guest room make your stay as productive and refreshing as you need. Holiday Inn
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With our triple-glazed windows, air conditioning and high-speed Internet in every guest room make your stay as productive and refreshing as you need. Holiday Inn London-Heathrow offers a welcoming environment for doing business and is within easy reach of the M4 motorway and five minutes' drive from Stockley Park and Bedfont Lakes business parks. All of our 10 fully equipped meeting rooms have natural daylight and wireless Internet access. Do business or unwind in the restrained elegance of the Wings Bar with TV sport, news coverage, complimentary newspapers and wireless Internet access. In the evenings, relax in the adjoining restaurant, sip a cocktail on the sundeck, or work out in the Mini Gym.
Why not extend your stay to take in nearby attractions, from exotic Kew Gardens to Royal Windsor Castle? Our friendly 24-hour front desk staff can tell you more about the great offers taking place in central London, Legoland theme-park package and any other sightseeing excursions. Central London is only a 15-minute Heathrow Express train ride away.


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Hayden Humes Named to NABC's `Honors Court'
July 17, 2013
CHICAGO - For the second-straight year, UIC men's basketball forward Hayden Humes has been named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) "Honors Court," the organization announced from its Kansas City-based headquarters. Humes, the Flames' leading returning scorer next season, graduated with a 3.21 cumulative grade-point-average in UIC's Management program in May. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
The NABC Honors Court awards college basketball players who excelled in academics during the 2012-13 season. The NABC Honors Court also recognizes the talents and gifts that the student-athletes possess off the court, and the hard work they exhibit in the classroom.
Humes averaged 10.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in leading UIC to its first postseason berth since 2004. He ranked seventh in the Horizon League in both field goal percentage (.473) and three-point field goal percentage (.400), and 10th overall in minutes played (33.2 mpg).
The senior-to-be scored 15 or more points eight times, and corralled at least eight rebounds in seven individual games. Humes, who transferred to UIC from Toledo prior to the 2011-12 campaign, enters his senior season with 781 career points at the Division I level.
NABC "Honors Court" members must be academically a junior or senior and a varsity player, carry at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA and have matriculated at least one year at their current institution.


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Festival Flashback
MARCH 7:On this day in 1964, the mighty Arkle landed his first Cheltenham Gold Cup following a mighty battle with his old foe Mill House.
Irish voices brought the house down as their hero led over the last and rocketed clear to land the blue riband in a record time at odds of 7-4.
Perfect ten set for Champion Hurdle showdown
Hurricane Fly will face a maximum of nine rivals when he aims to regain his crown in the Stan James Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday.
The Willie Mullins-trained nine-year-old landed the two-mile championship in 2011 and although he was beaten into third when odds-on 12 months ago, he has looked better than ever so far this season.
The three main hopes for the home team are last year's winner Rock On Ruby, now trained by Harry Fry, Paul Nicholls' improving Zarkandar and the Nicky Henderson-trained Grandouet.
Henderson could also run 2010 champion Binocular, as well as the runner-up of that year, Khyber Kim.
Last year's Supreme Novices' Hurdle winner Cinders And Ashes and Triumph Hurdle hero Countrywide Flame add further strength in depth.
The field is completed by Balder Succes and Cotton Mill, although the latter looks more likely to stick to handicap company in the County Hurdle.
Simonsig heads Arkle dozen
Hot favourite Simonsig heads a field of 12 horses left in the Racing Post Arkle Trophy at Cheltenham on Tuesday following the confirmation stage.
The Nicky Henderson-trained grey is odds-on with the bookmakers to take his 100% record over fences to three after impressive wins at Ascot and Kempton.
Although he has not run since slamming Hinterland by 35 lengths at the latter track at Christmas, the seven-year-old grey has been delighting connections with his homework.
Simonsig bids to supplement his gains in the Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle at last season's Festival and the main obstacle to that objective could be Overturn.
Donald McCain's admirable gelding was runner-up in the Champion Hurdle last year and also takes an unblemished record over fences to the meeting.
He has won all his three starts and will attempt to find any chinks in Simonsig's armour.
Champion Irish trainer Willie Mullins has three possibles in Arvika Ligeonniere, Aupcharlie and Marito.
The Mouse Morris-trained Baily Green and Benefficient from Tony Martin's stable make up the rest of the Irish contingent.
As well as Simonsig, Henderson has Captain Conan, who is a leading fancy for the Jewson Novices' Chase on Thursday week.
Completing a highly-talented list of entries are His Excellency, Majala, Tap Night and Viva Colonia.
Cheltenham prepared for cold snap
Cheltenham officials are preparing to take precautions against a forecast cold spell ahead of the start of the Festival.
With frost predicted for the first half of next week, the team at Prestbury Park are getting ready to put down frost covers on all vulnerable areas, including the take-offs and landings.
And if even colder weather comes into the equation, the entire course will be covered.
However, milder conditions should come in for the last two days of the meeting on Thursday and Friday.
"The forecast hasn't really changed since the beginning of the week, which is rain (on Thursday) then bits and pieces until Monday so we're looking at between 12 and 14 millimetres," said clerk of the course Simon Claisse.
"But it is getting cold at the beginning of next week. We are looking at dawn temperatures on Monday/Tuesday of minus 3C, minus 4C. We had minus 4C on Tuesday and were schooling horses on the cross-country course by 10am, so it shouldn't be any concern for us.
"However, just as a precaution we are using frost covers for take-offs and landings on the chase and hurdle courses for Tuesday.
"They will go down on Sunday together with other vulnerable areas and parts of the cross-country course.
"If that weather forecast deteriorates by Friday we may take the decision to do a full course deployment on Sunday. It's a little bit early to make that call.
"We are geared up to do that as it looks to be a prudent measure given that it is going to turn cold again before getting mild again for Thursday and Friday. There is no frost forecast for the end of next week."
The going is described as good to soft, good in places (chase and hurdle courses); good to soft, soft in places (cross country).
Monksland "almost certain" to miss World Hurdle
Trainer Noel Meade has confirmed it is "almost certain" Monksland will miss next week's Ladbrokes World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival after suffering a setback.
An impressive winner on his first start over three miles at Leopardstown's Christmas meeting, the six-year-old was set to line up at Prestbury Park as a leading contender for the staying hurdle crown in the absence of four-times winner Big Buck's.
Meade said: "He had a setback (on Tuesday) and although we don't think it's anything too serious, looking at him I'd say it's almost certain he is not going to make Cheltenham.
"I don't know whether his season is over yet, we'll just have to see on that, but we're obviously gutted it looks like Cheltenham is out."
Update from @MirrorRacing on Twitter:
"Mouse Morris says it's still "50-50" whether First Lieutenant runs in the Gold Cup or Ryanair Chase next week?"
Jamie Codd angling for Cheltenham glory
Having missed last year's Cheltenham Festival through injury, Jamie Codd is itching to get back in the saddle at Prestbury Park next week.
One of Ireland's leading amateur jockeys, Codd broke his Festival duck with a masterful ride aboard the John Quinn-trained Character Building in the 2009 Kim Muir.
He was back in the winner's enclosure a couple of years later after partnering David Pipe's Junior to win the same race, and looks set to ride for the Pond House trainer again next week.
Codd said: "I missed it last year, so I can't wait to get back there.
"Hopefully we'll get through the weekend and then I'll look forward to riding there Wednesday, hopefully.
"I definitely ride one of Mr Pipe's in the four-miler (National Hunt Chase), either Buddy Bolero or Goulanes.
"Plans haven't been completely decided yet as I don't think they know which races Goulanes is going to run in.
"I also ride Backstage in the Foxhunter and I'm not sure about the Kim Muir yet, we'll see on that one.
"I can't wait to get back there."
First Lieutenant latest
Mouse Morris insists it is "50-50" whether First Lieutenant contests the Ryanair Chase or the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup at next week's Festival.
After being beaten just a head into second in the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown in December, the County Tipperary trainer was looking forward to a crack at National Hunt racing's blue riband.
But with owners Gigginstown House Stud already responsible for a leading Gold Cup hope in Sir Des Champs, the shorter Ryanair Chase has come into consideration for First Lieutenant.
Another obvious draw is the fact Gigginstown owner Michael O'Leary is the boss of Ryanair.
Morris said: "It's still 50-50 which race he'll run in.
"He'll be left in the Ryanair and the Gold Cup at the confirmation stage and we'll look at the fields in both races before we make a decision.
"He's in great shape."
First Lieutenant is a best-priced 9-2 for Thursday's Ryanair and around 12-1 for the Gold Cup the following day.
Mouse gives Rule The World a squeak
Mouse Morris remains quietly confident about the chances of Rule The World in the Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival next week.
Although his Willie Mullins-trained compatriot Pont Alexandre is all the rage for the two-mile-five-furlong contest, three-time winner Rule The World has rather crept under the radar, despite his most impressive win at Naas in early January.
The six-year-old also holds entries in the two-mile Supreme Novices' Hurdle and the Albert Bartlett over three miles, but Morris has confirmed Rule The World will run over the intermediate distance on Wednesday.
"He's done nothing wrong and he'll definitely run in the Neptune," said the County Tipperary trainer.
"He's going over there in good fettle and we're looking forward to it.
"I'm not worried about the ground - I don't think it makes any difference to him."
Rule The World is a stand-out 10-1 with William Hill for the Neptune.
Fergie's in with a shot in the Bumper
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is due to be on hand as his runner I'm Fraam Govan shoots for glory in Wednesday's Weatherbys Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival.
The five-year-old features among 35 confirmations for the Grade One heat, with trainer George Baker's eyes firmly set on the prize.
An impressive victor over subsequent Listed hurdles winner and Grade One-placed runner Easter Day on his racecourse bow last May, I'm Fraam Govan was only fifth as an odds-on favourite on his reappearance at Lingfield in January.
However, Baker felt the all-weather track was not quite to the gelding's liking that day and retains plenty of faith in his Festival contender.
"The plan is to go to Cheltenham next week," said the Wiltshire handler.
"His last run was very disappointing but hopefully it was just a blip.
"They had been harrowing the track a bit deeper than they did that day for the jumpers for bumpers meetings and the surface was just a bit too quick for him.
"He just didn't let himself down on the ground and I think it's best to put a line through that and judge him on his first run at Worcester.
"He was a hard-held winner over Easter Day on that occasion and that form has worked out well.
"The plan was always to put him away after that and miss the summer ground before coming back for Cheltenham.
"We did think about running him again after that last outing but after talking to (handicapper) Phil Smith, we decided not to as he seemed to think he was likely to get in without another run.
"Nicky Henderson kindly invited us to his gallops on Monday after we couldn't work at Newbury and he did a lovely piece of work there.
"The owner is attending on Wednesday and hopefully we can put a smile on his face.
"It's a huge ask to win one of these championship event but it's just lovely to be involved and hopefully he can run well."
Aidan O'Brien's Shield, ante-post favourite Golantilla and leading home hope Empiracle all feature.
Shield booked his ticket with a win at Leopardstown last Sunday and could be O'Brien's first Cheltenham runner since the triple Champion Hurdle hero Istabraq pulled up in his defence of the race in 2002.
The Tony Martin-trained Golantilla was a winner at Cork in January, when in the care of Sean O'Brien, while Jeremy Scott's Empiracle has not run since breezing home at Huntingdon last October.
Willie Mullins has his usual clutch of entries to choose from, including leading fancy Union Dues, although big-money recruit Moyle Park is not among the possibles.
Liz Doyle's Le Vent D'Antan and the Anthony Honeyball-trained Regal Encore also stand their ground.
Hambertin set for Friday engagement
Owner Roger Stanley reports Gevrey Chambertin to be on course to fulfil one of his novice engagements on the Friday of the Cheltenham Festival.
The David Pipe-trained runner has a clutch of entries next week, including in Wednesday's Coral Cup, and both the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle and Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle on the final day of the meeting.
However, Stanley believes his three-time hurdles winner, who is nicknamed Geoffrey, will go for one of the latter two events.
He wrote in his blog on rogershorseracingworld: "Geoffrey will go on Gold Cup day - either the Gr1 nov or The Martin Pipe. DP says its up to me - either come 6th in the Albert Bartlett or 1st in the MP!! Trainers have a way of putting things!"