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Lol my 3 part story is now 4 parts because work work work.
In this story, Telaroth cooks, Tano'rath talks to the IIS, and things are afoot.
As usual, please scroll down if you don't want to download the pdf.
Behind The Line | Part III
By Tanorath-drgn
Snr Captain Tano’rath
Cmdr, DES Defiant
“Charge the mass driver. We can’t let those troop carriers get through,” I snapped, glaring at the four ships on-screen. “Two escort frigates, yeah?”
“Yup, seems like they didn’t know that we’re here,” Talorath remarked with a snort, “Isn’t the mass driver a bit much?”
“The other two ships are dealing with a scouting party, no other way to even the odds,” I remarked, “The longer we remain undiscovered, the better.”
Talorath nodded as the lights dimmed a little, the mass driver charging up as he remained cloaked, moving to intercept as tactical lined up the best possible trajectory for the slug. “Sir, we’ll need to put a timed self-destruct on the slug, yeah?”
“Yeah, last thing we want is for it to keep going and hit something it shouldn’t. Do a time and a remote detonation,” I replied, rubbing my chin, “Divert any extra power we have to weapons and shields. Either way, this is going to be rough.”
“The frigates are bombarding the area with random gas molecules, sir,” Talorath remarked, “We can’t get any closer without being discovered”
“Hold position. What do we have, tactical?” I snapped, more than a little annoyed that our advantage was disappearing.
“I can get a hit on two of the carriers and one of the escorts, maybe,” he replied, rubbing his chin, “the last hit would be a very big maybe.”
“Detonate slug once it’s cleared the second ship then,” I snarled, “Power weapons and shields, bring the reactor back to full power. Prepare to drop cloak. All auxiliary power to weapons. If you want to pick targets, do it now.”
There was a chorus of grunts and nods as the admittedly tired crew went about their jobs.
Agent DC-05/N “Telaroth”
Imperial Intelligence Service
“They landed two troop carriers so far,” The Major remarked, sighing, “but your promise did come to fruit, there’s three cruisers in the system harrying the Alliance, but I doubt they’ll last long at all, Agent.”
“Sir, with all due respect, one of those ships is the Defiant. Named and captained as appropriate,” I replied, rubbing my chin, “They might buy us more time yet.”
“What, Tano’rath’s ship?” He replied, raising an eyeridge, “I’ve heard a few stories about those Daranakaan clan fellows…they true?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve seen it for myself, Major,” I replied, snorting as I poked at the map, “A few locals came in, claimed that the carriers half crashed, half landed about five clicks from here.”
“That’s literally our old base!” The Major exclaimed
I rubbed my forehead, “I hope you took my advice and booby trapped everything possible in there?”
In the distance, I heard an explosion and the Major simply grinned. “It would do us ill to ignore an Agent, even I know that. However, they’ll see our tyre tracks soon enough and we’re going to have to defend this little encampment of ours.”
“Little my arse…sir. We set up shop here and then everyone and their grandma came flocking over to get protection. If anything, it’s a city.” I replied with a snort, rubbing my forehead now, “Sir, I will admit that this is not what I’m trained for.”
The Major guffawed and nearly fell off his rickety chair, “Agent, you might not be, but you’ll bloody well learn, else you’re just as dead as the rest of us!”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, “I’ve worked enough generals to have a decent idea. They’re going to want a multi-vector attack. The Alliance always likes it because they think it’ll guarantee victory.”
“I can see why,” The Major replied, sighing again as he took a long pull from his tea, “We’re stretched thin as it is. They don’t like that we have this enclave and I doubt that’ll change anytime soon. Could the ships not send fighters?”
“I can ask,” I replied, glancing yet again at the map, “But I can’t promise anything.”
“What of your mission?” He remarked as he pulled out a fruit bar from a pocket and took a bite, “you know, the original objective?”
“Haven’t seen them. For all I know, they’re dead,” I replied, shrugging, “We…did not expect a leak, let alone this shitshow, sir.”
“Yeah, it’s fucked isn’t it?” The Major replied with a laugh, “Well, lets go help the boys shore up those walls. They’re not much, I know, but better than nothing.”
With that, the both of us went to help reinforce our makeshift walls around the ragtag group of civillians and soldiers that had accumulated around our hastily thrown together camp. People were still streaming in, preferring to stand their ground with us rather than gamble their safety with the Alliance.
Snr Captain Tano’rath
Cmdr, DES Defiant
“They did what?” I snarled, the deed having done and us having dealt with the second wave of troop transports. My ship, however, hadn’t fared all that much better. Most of our main systems were running off the tertiary backups and the bridge was a mess, with bits of burnt plating everywhere, dead bodies from a mindless boarding rush earlier and wires dangling everywhere. “Make sure the sensors aren’t tripping out again, surely they couldn’t have gotten a signal out!”
“No, it’s pretty clear, sir, despite the noise, one of them made it through,” Talorath replied, sighing, “They dumped power into their transceiver and fried it after that, but yeah. What are your orders?”
“Get a damage report and pull back closer to that moon and stay behind the damned thing. Notify the other ships on short range comms about what’s happened,” I replied with a sigh, rubbing my forehead as I leaned into my blood-soaked chair, the blood was courtesy of an Alliance trooper that I had stabbed to death in said chair. “Get those primaries back on line and patch up the hull with whatever debris that’s useable. If we find any weapons or turrets that are useable, grab them and splice them in. Anything of use, I want to see in the cargo bay. We’re on our own out here.”
Talorath nodded as he sent my orders along before he paused and looked at his screen, “We have an incoming transmission… it has an I.I.S. signature…”
“I’ll take what I can get. Route it to my office.” I replied with a snort as I got up, flicking bits of debris and soot off my armour.
Talorath nodded as I walked off and after a bit of walking and tossing aside bits of random debris, I sat down in my slightly singed chair in my office and took the call.
“Captain,” On-screen was Lieutenant Telricktus, the I.I.S. officer who had taken an interest in my ship, though whether or not that interest was healthy remains to be seen. However, he was in proper combat armour, with the black armour plates and shield module. I’d never seen him in that getup before. The first thing he did was squint and raise an eyeridge at me. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine. The blood isn’t mine,” I replied as I shifted in my seat, “What’s your business here, Telricktus?”
Telricktus, for the first time, hesitated before he replied, “I can’t say more, Tano’rath, but we are working the situation. You’re not alone.”
“I bloody well hope so, Lieutenant. We’re stretched pretty thin. If you could…assign others to the same mission, it would be much appreciated,” I replied, sighing as I took the opportunity to demolish a biscuit, “I trust that you’re doing your part?”
“Yes, we are,” Telricktus replied, nodding. It was clear that he wanted to say more but couldn’t. “I’ll do as you ask, but no promises, Captain.”
“That’s more commitment than I’ve had since we retreated. I’ll take it,” I replied, snorting, “But sooner or later, Telricktus, I might stop asking.”
Telricktus nodded, his expression grave, “I understand. I’ve heard about your situation. We’ll see, Captain.”
“Thank you. Now, I have a ship to fix. I’ll be seeing you. Tano’rath out.” I replied as I waited to hear Telricktus sign off before I closed the connection.
With that, I grabbed a toolbox and pitched in to help repair the bridge while waiting for the rest of the departments to report in. The odds hadn’t been great, even if you squinted, but at least we weren’t dead. The other two captains criticised me for being too reckless, but they both shut up when I asked them if they rather I let the Alliance land troops.
Agent DC-05/N “Telaroth”
Imperial Intelligence Service
The fight was, as expected, neither civilised nor easy. We spent more time fighting hand to hand or knife to knife. Rifles were used as clubs and pistols thrown at people. It was a mad, almost frantic fray to keep the Alliance troops away from the refugees, even after the ships in orbit managed to send a few fighters down. Even then, it really didn’t matter, since each side was equally desperate.
I was sent into the riskiest encounters and I honestly didn’t know why, since I hadn’t told the Major anything about what I could do, but he seemed to be gambling on my ability to survive and come back. Then again, though, everyone in this solar system is gambling at this point: us on the ground and Tano’rath with his two other ships out in space.
We’re fighting a losing battle and we all knew it. The news about a distress signal having made it through from one of the Alliance ship made it that little bit more hopeless. Yet, Captain Tano’rath refused to back off and if he stays, I stay.
“So what’s the plan now, Major?” I remarked as I walked into the tent, “I hear that they Alliance managed to get a word out…”
“Nothing confirmed, but we’re assuming that they did,” He replied, sighing as he shook his head, “There’s an abandoned shelter not too far from here, I’d like us to move there and send the civvies down.”
“Major, that’ll mean dismantling our defences here,” I replied, shaking my head as I grabbed a cup of water, “Might be better to hunker down here.”
“I am aware, Agent, and I’m torn between the two options,” he replied, pausing to flick through a tablet on his table before handing it to me, “but I think I have an idea.”
The tablet detailed a plan to stage a false evacuation and retreat to draw out the remaining Alliance forces from hiding so that we could pick them off, along with Fleet support from the three ships in orbit. Not much, but better than nothing. I quickly looked through the plan before nodding, “Sounds like a good idea, sir and I doubt we have any other options open to us at this point.”
“Tell me that after it works,” He replied dryly, chuckling, “but lets take advantage of the lull for now, would you be up for cookhouse duty?”
“I don’t mind, sir.” I replied, nodding, “I have to report that I found my target among the dead earlier, they are no use to me now. I shall be at your disposal, sir.”
“Alright then, I hope you can cook as well as you can create tactics,” He replied with a snort, “If you are, the troops will love you for it.”
“I’ll do what I can, sir,” I replied, nodding, “I can cook. How well is subjective.”
The Major nodded and gestured to the door, “Good enough for me. Report to the mess tent, this lull isn’t going to last long and don’t forget to feed yourself.”
“Of course, Major. I’ll keep some extra for you,” I replied, knowing full well that he wouldn’t turn up unless I had said that.
He nodded as I strolled off.
I ended up spending the next hour or so helping to cook various dishes, including stews and the like and serving it to the troops. Most didn’t particularly care about how things tasted, but I got a few compliments here and there, which was nice. It’s not hard to make things taste passable, but given our non-existent supply situation, it was a real challenge. I ended up having to go out and pick herbs to make the food at least tolerable.
However, the troops didn’t agree. The cook we had was terrible and that was my being charitable. My food was apparently downright gourmet compared to their usual fare and I had people coming up to thank me for cooking and such, the officers included. For a while, the mess tent was a jovial place, with the food and drink flowing and people chattering.
That was until the siren went off and someone burst in through the doors, “Attack! Southwestern sector!”
Snr Captain Tano’rath
Cmdr, DES Defiant
“They’re sending a what?!” I snapped, glaring at Talorath, are you sure the sensors aren’t malfunctioning again?
Talorath shook his head, “Not this time. That’s definitely a battlecruiser on long range scanners. They’ll be here in a matter of minutes. What are your orders, Captain?”
I felt my grip on my armrests involuntarily tighten as I gritted my teeth. “What’s the status of the other two ships?”
“Not all that much better than us,” Talorath replied, shaking his head, “They’re asking for orders too.”
“Battle stations. Cloak the ship,” I snapped, snarling, “Tell them to get ready for battle and to cloak. Divert all auxiliary power to weapons and shields. Tell the Doctor to expect casualties.”
“Done,” Talorath replied, nodding, but I could see the doubt in his eyes. “All ships report ready.”
“Tell them to clear the arrival point, stand ready to fire on the ships on my mark,” I snapped, “Engineering, begin overload sequence of reactor one. Authorisation Tano’rath-one-seven-beta-destruct.”
“Sir?” Talorath demanded, “I can’t confirm this if I don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Simple, I’m going to shoot the reactor at them,” I replied flatly, “The idea is to eject the core into their path at the last moment.”
“You know that we won’t have enough power to jump away if this fails, right?” Talorath replied, snorting, “It’s a hell of a gamble.”
I snorted, shifting in my chair, “If you have an alternative, lets hear it.”
“Instead, Talorath rattled off his authentication codes and the destruct sequence was initiated. “Forget it. This had better work, Captain.”
“Yeah. I know.” Was all I could manage as the ship moved towards the projected entry point of the Alliance battlecruiser and its four frigate escorts, “and before you ask, Telricktus did not send anyone.”
“Well then. Lets hope that’s wrong.” Talorath replied as we looked at the sensor readouts grimly…
In this story, Telaroth cooks, Tano'rath talks to the IIS, and things are afoot.
As usual, please scroll down if you don't want to download the pdf.
Behind The Line | Part III
By Tanorath-drgn
Snr Captain Tano’rath
Cmdr, DES Defiant
“Charge the mass driver. We can’t let those troop carriers get through,” I snapped, glaring at the four ships on-screen. “Two escort frigates, yeah?”
“Yup, seems like they didn’t know that we’re here,” Talorath remarked with a snort, “Isn’t the mass driver a bit much?”
“The other two ships are dealing with a scouting party, no other way to even the odds,” I remarked, “The longer we remain undiscovered, the better.”
Talorath nodded as the lights dimmed a little, the mass driver charging up as he remained cloaked, moving to intercept as tactical lined up the best possible trajectory for the slug. “Sir, we’ll need to put a timed self-destruct on the slug, yeah?”
“Yeah, last thing we want is for it to keep going and hit something it shouldn’t. Do a time and a remote detonation,” I replied, rubbing my chin, “Divert any extra power we have to weapons and shields. Either way, this is going to be rough.”
“The frigates are bombarding the area with random gas molecules, sir,” Talorath remarked, “We can’t get any closer without being discovered”
“Hold position. What do we have, tactical?” I snapped, more than a little annoyed that our advantage was disappearing.
“I can get a hit on two of the carriers and one of the escorts, maybe,” he replied, rubbing his chin, “the last hit would be a very big maybe.”
“Detonate slug once it’s cleared the second ship then,” I snarled, “Power weapons and shields, bring the reactor back to full power. Prepare to drop cloak. All auxiliary power to weapons. If you want to pick targets, do it now.”
There was a chorus of grunts and nods as the admittedly tired crew went about their jobs.
Agent DC-05/N “Telaroth”
Imperial Intelligence Service
“They landed two troop carriers so far,” The Major remarked, sighing, “but your promise did come to fruit, there’s three cruisers in the system harrying the Alliance, but I doubt they’ll last long at all, Agent.”
“Sir, with all due respect, one of those ships is the Defiant. Named and captained as appropriate,” I replied, rubbing my chin, “They might buy us more time yet.”
“What, Tano’rath’s ship?” He replied, raising an eyeridge, “I’ve heard a few stories about those Daranakaan clan fellows…they true?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve seen it for myself, Major,” I replied, snorting as I poked at the map, “A few locals came in, claimed that the carriers half crashed, half landed about five clicks from here.”
“That’s literally our old base!” The Major exclaimed
I rubbed my forehead, “I hope you took my advice and booby trapped everything possible in there?”
In the distance, I heard an explosion and the Major simply grinned. “It would do us ill to ignore an Agent, even I know that. However, they’ll see our tyre tracks soon enough and we’re going to have to defend this little encampment of ours.”
“Little my arse…sir. We set up shop here and then everyone and their grandma came flocking over to get protection. If anything, it’s a city.” I replied with a snort, rubbing my forehead now, “Sir, I will admit that this is not what I’m trained for.”
The Major guffawed and nearly fell off his rickety chair, “Agent, you might not be, but you’ll bloody well learn, else you’re just as dead as the rest of us!”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, “I’ve worked enough generals to have a decent idea. They’re going to want a multi-vector attack. The Alliance always likes it because they think it’ll guarantee victory.”
“I can see why,” The Major replied, sighing again as he took a long pull from his tea, “We’re stretched thin as it is. They don’t like that we have this enclave and I doubt that’ll change anytime soon. Could the ships not send fighters?”
“I can ask,” I replied, glancing yet again at the map, “But I can’t promise anything.”
“What of your mission?” He remarked as he pulled out a fruit bar from a pocket and took a bite, “you know, the original objective?”
“Haven’t seen them. For all I know, they’re dead,” I replied, shrugging, “We…did not expect a leak, let alone this shitshow, sir.”
“Yeah, it’s fucked isn’t it?” The Major replied with a laugh, “Well, lets go help the boys shore up those walls. They’re not much, I know, but better than nothing.”
With that, the both of us went to help reinforce our makeshift walls around the ragtag group of civillians and soldiers that had accumulated around our hastily thrown together camp. People were still streaming in, preferring to stand their ground with us rather than gamble their safety with the Alliance.
Snr Captain Tano’rath
Cmdr, DES Defiant
“They did what?” I snarled, the deed having done and us having dealt with the second wave of troop transports. My ship, however, hadn’t fared all that much better. Most of our main systems were running off the tertiary backups and the bridge was a mess, with bits of burnt plating everywhere, dead bodies from a mindless boarding rush earlier and wires dangling everywhere. “Make sure the sensors aren’t tripping out again, surely they couldn’t have gotten a signal out!”
“No, it’s pretty clear, sir, despite the noise, one of them made it through,” Talorath replied, sighing, “They dumped power into their transceiver and fried it after that, but yeah. What are your orders?”
“Get a damage report and pull back closer to that moon and stay behind the damned thing. Notify the other ships on short range comms about what’s happened,” I replied with a sigh, rubbing my forehead as I leaned into my blood-soaked chair, the blood was courtesy of an Alliance trooper that I had stabbed to death in said chair. “Get those primaries back on line and patch up the hull with whatever debris that’s useable. If we find any weapons or turrets that are useable, grab them and splice them in. Anything of use, I want to see in the cargo bay. We’re on our own out here.”
Talorath nodded as he sent my orders along before he paused and looked at his screen, “We have an incoming transmission… it has an I.I.S. signature…”
“I’ll take what I can get. Route it to my office.” I replied with a snort as I got up, flicking bits of debris and soot off my armour.
Talorath nodded as I walked off and after a bit of walking and tossing aside bits of random debris, I sat down in my slightly singed chair in my office and took the call.
“Captain,” On-screen was Lieutenant Telricktus, the I.I.S. officer who had taken an interest in my ship, though whether or not that interest was healthy remains to be seen. However, he was in proper combat armour, with the black armour plates and shield module. I’d never seen him in that getup before. The first thing he did was squint and raise an eyeridge at me. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine. The blood isn’t mine,” I replied as I shifted in my seat, “What’s your business here, Telricktus?”
Telricktus, for the first time, hesitated before he replied, “I can’t say more, Tano’rath, but we are working the situation. You’re not alone.”
“I bloody well hope so, Lieutenant. We’re stretched pretty thin. If you could…assign others to the same mission, it would be much appreciated,” I replied, sighing as I took the opportunity to demolish a biscuit, “I trust that you’re doing your part?”
“Yes, we are,” Telricktus replied, nodding. It was clear that he wanted to say more but couldn’t. “I’ll do as you ask, but no promises, Captain.”
“That’s more commitment than I’ve had since we retreated. I’ll take it,” I replied, snorting, “But sooner or later, Telricktus, I might stop asking.”
Telricktus nodded, his expression grave, “I understand. I’ve heard about your situation. We’ll see, Captain.”
“Thank you. Now, I have a ship to fix. I’ll be seeing you. Tano’rath out.” I replied as I waited to hear Telricktus sign off before I closed the connection.
With that, I grabbed a toolbox and pitched in to help repair the bridge while waiting for the rest of the departments to report in. The odds hadn’t been great, even if you squinted, but at least we weren’t dead. The other two captains criticised me for being too reckless, but they both shut up when I asked them if they rather I let the Alliance land troops.
Agent DC-05/N “Telaroth”
Imperial Intelligence Service
The fight was, as expected, neither civilised nor easy. We spent more time fighting hand to hand or knife to knife. Rifles were used as clubs and pistols thrown at people. It was a mad, almost frantic fray to keep the Alliance troops away from the refugees, even after the ships in orbit managed to send a few fighters down. Even then, it really didn’t matter, since each side was equally desperate.
I was sent into the riskiest encounters and I honestly didn’t know why, since I hadn’t told the Major anything about what I could do, but he seemed to be gambling on my ability to survive and come back. Then again, though, everyone in this solar system is gambling at this point: us on the ground and Tano’rath with his two other ships out in space.
We’re fighting a losing battle and we all knew it. The news about a distress signal having made it through from one of the Alliance ship made it that little bit more hopeless. Yet, Captain Tano’rath refused to back off and if he stays, I stay.
“So what’s the plan now, Major?” I remarked as I walked into the tent, “I hear that they Alliance managed to get a word out…”
“Nothing confirmed, but we’re assuming that they did,” He replied, sighing as he shook his head, “There’s an abandoned shelter not too far from here, I’d like us to move there and send the civvies down.”
“Major, that’ll mean dismantling our defences here,” I replied, shaking my head as I grabbed a cup of water, “Might be better to hunker down here.”
“I am aware, Agent, and I’m torn between the two options,” he replied, pausing to flick through a tablet on his table before handing it to me, “but I think I have an idea.”
The tablet detailed a plan to stage a false evacuation and retreat to draw out the remaining Alliance forces from hiding so that we could pick them off, along with Fleet support from the three ships in orbit. Not much, but better than nothing. I quickly looked through the plan before nodding, “Sounds like a good idea, sir and I doubt we have any other options open to us at this point.”
“Tell me that after it works,” He replied dryly, chuckling, “but lets take advantage of the lull for now, would you be up for cookhouse duty?”
“I don’t mind, sir.” I replied, nodding, “I have to report that I found my target among the dead earlier, they are no use to me now. I shall be at your disposal, sir.”
“Alright then, I hope you can cook as well as you can create tactics,” He replied with a snort, “If you are, the troops will love you for it.”
“I’ll do what I can, sir,” I replied, nodding, “I can cook. How well is subjective.”
The Major nodded and gestured to the door, “Good enough for me. Report to the mess tent, this lull isn’t going to last long and don’t forget to feed yourself.”
“Of course, Major. I’ll keep some extra for you,” I replied, knowing full well that he wouldn’t turn up unless I had said that.
He nodded as I strolled off.
I ended up spending the next hour or so helping to cook various dishes, including stews and the like and serving it to the troops. Most didn’t particularly care about how things tasted, but I got a few compliments here and there, which was nice. It’s not hard to make things taste passable, but given our non-existent supply situation, it was a real challenge. I ended up having to go out and pick herbs to make the food at least tolerable.
However, the troops didn’t agree. The cook we had was terrible and that was my being charitable. My food was apparently downright gourmet compared to their usual fare and I had people coming up to thank me for cooking and such, the officers included. For a while, the mess tent was a jovial place, with the food and drink flowing and people chattering.
That was until the siren went off and someone burst in through the doors, “Attack! Southwestern sector!”
Snr Captain Tano’rath
Cmdr, DES Defiant
“They’re sending a what?!” I snapped, glaring at Talorath, are you sure the sensors aren’t malfunctioning again?
Talorath shook his head, “Not this time. That’s definitely a battlecruiser on long range scanners. They’ll be here in a matter of minutes. What are your orders, Captain?”
I felt my grip on my armrests involuntarily tighten as I gritted my teeth. “What’s the status of the other two ships?”
“Not all that much better than us,” Talorath replied, shaking his head, “They’re asking for orders too.”
“Battle stations. Cloak the ship,” I snapped, snarling, “Tell them to get ready for battle and to cloak. Divert all auxiliary power to weapons and shields. Tell the Doctor to expect casualties.”
“Done,” Talorath replied, nodding, but I could see the doubt in his eyes. “All ships report ready.”
“Tell them to clear the arrival point, stand ready to fire on the ships on my mark,” I snapped, “Engineering, begin overload sequence of reactor one. Authorisation Tano’rath-one-seven-beta-destruct.”
“Sir?” Talorath demanded, “I can’t confirm this if I don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Simple, I’m going to shoot the reactor at them,” I replied flatly, “The idea is to eject the core into their path at the last moment.”
“You know that we won’t have enough power to jump away if this fails, right?” Talorath replied, snorting, “It’s a hell of a gamble.”
I snorted, shifting in my chair, “If you have an alternative, lets hear it.”
“Instead, Talorath rattled off his authentication codes and the destruct sequence was initiated. “Forget it. This had better work, Captain.”
“Yeah. I know.” Was all I could manage as the ship moved towards the projected entry point of the Alliance battlecruiser and its four frigate escorts, “and before you ask, Telricktus did not send anyone.”
“Well then. Lets hope that’s wrong.” Talorath replied as we looked at the sensor readouts grimly…
Category Story / Fantasy
Species Western Dragon
Gender Any
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File Size 122.7 kB
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