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Tenuous Relations; Ixions
Topic Started: Apr 2 2010, 10:40 PM (294 Views)
Tempest
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The Storm Lord
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Aror Turan
Ixion
Main Civilisation Hub: Turanision

They stood at a standard height of five foot tall. Short. Shorter than most humans. In general, they were weaker too, but that didn't mean they weren't capable of reaching or even surpassing the muscular capacity of most humans.

As it was understood, they had evolved from a mountain dwelling species and their physiology was according. Their mild orange skin was tough and leathery, probably after centuries of ripping their flesh on razor ledges and sharp stone. Their hands and feet were made up of three digits, each one like a human thumb, just bigger and placed at triangular points at what could only be described as their palms and ankles respectively.

Of most interest were their limbs. The legs were inverted, like those of the goat, an old creature of Earth. Probably extinct now. Their arms were similar to humans, but both those and their goat-like legs were double jointed in a disturbing way, capable of bending both ways. While they had no need of such an evolutionary adaptation now, there was no doubt it was still a great boon to them.

Their torsos protruded at the chest and sunk at the stomach, if one could even apply such human terms to their anatomies. And their muscles were completely unlike those of a man, distended and peculiar in shape. They covered themselves in close fitting body gloves of little variation, save the colour and the symbols they displayed.

Then there were their faces. Flat, with skulls that sloped back at a slight angle. Nature had gifted them with one eye, that was actually three and all joined at the centre, much like the way their fingers were arranged. They had no pupils, just glossy black surfaces. However their eyes worked with such large irises, if they indeed were irises, was a total mystery to men.

Beneath that were their mouths, equally disturbing. Circular holes surrounded by three, stubby mandibles that twitched and swayed seemingly beyond their master's control. Watching them eat was a different experience altogether.

As for their olfactory and auditory organs, well that was a total mystery.

Turans. Gaius despised them with every fibre his being. He regarded the passing group with a look of utter disgust, much the way he would regard something that had just crawled from a gutter.

From the narrow corridor between habitation towers, they didn't see him. He was thankful for that. In the time that the two races had lived together, the Turans had learned about human expressions and had the most annoying habit of confronting anyone with an expression other than neutrality or joy.

Most said it was out of genuine concern. That didn't fool Gaius. He knew, behind those disgusting faces, there was something at work in their inhuman brains that just wasn't right.

He slid his hand round to the side arm tucked into the back of his trousers. It felt reassuring, knowing that he could pull it out and blow those wretched aliens into oblivion. Gaius retreated into the shadows of the alley, making sure his leather jacket, a relic from Earth, fully concealed his weapon. To be caught with a weapon would give those bleeding hearts on the Senate all the reason they needed to have him imprisoned.

That would ruin everything.

He was almost ready. All the pieces were almost in place. Soon, the only thing standing between humanity and revolution would be those members of the Senate who pitifully supported the Turan's unjustified rejection of human ambition. These traitors argued that they all owed their survival to the hospitality of the Turans displayed some thirty years ago. Gaius saw past that load of bullshit.

The Turans had seen the potential of humanity all those years ago. They had known that if they rejected the fleet, the humans would only go on to colonise another world in the system and eventually, grow strong enough to conquer the ones who had turned them away and left them in the cold of space.

By taking the human fleet in, the Turans had ensured control over them. The so-called hospitality they had shown had been nothing but a front for their fear and tyrannous desire to put a leash on this faction of mankind. If they thought they could so easily oppress humanity, they had another thing coming.

There was a change coming, a revolution on the horizon. Gaius stored away the thoughts of such glorious inevitabilities for the time being and made his way to the group of men that were waiting for him further down the alley.

He had a meeting to attend.
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Tempest
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The Storm Lord
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Aror Turan
Ixion
Main Civilisation Hub: Turanision


The estate was spacious and comfortable, but spartan; like most Turan designs. It was located on one of the higher floors of a habitation tower that had been handed over to human dwelling. Getting there had been easy, the grav-lifts of the Turan were magnificent creations, even if they had been built by aliens.

Senator Tobire welcomed Gaius and his retinue in with an uneasy manner. He was obviously anxious, as though he thought himself a conspirator. He wasn't, none of them were. How could you conspire against an alien? It was like saying you were conspiring against an animal when you discussed how best to hunt it.

'Please, sit,' he said, shakily gesturing to the seating area that dominated the estate's lobby. Gaius took one of the single chairs, facing the door through which he has just entered. The men that had accompanied him didn't sit. They stood by the door, silently.

Tobire regarded them for a moment, unsure. When they made no sign that they were going to sit, he gave up and took a seat himself; one of the sofa's that faced a huge window overlooking the hub, and Gaius.

'Would you like something to drink? Some food?' he waved a hand at the table, laden with bowls of fruit and cold meats and a container of amber fluid. Everything was made of a transparent material, like glass, but it didn't shatter when you dropped it.

'Thank you, Senator,' said Gaius graciously and poured himself a cup of the amber liquid. 'How are you today?'

'Well, thank you,' said Tobire hurriedly. 'And you?

'As well as one can be in such times,' replied Gaius, taking a sip of his drink.

'Yes, things do seem to be escalating, don't they?' the senator said, giving the room a cursory glance.

'It is necessary, Senator. If there is to be change, there must be revolution.'

The Senator seemed to jump at the very sound of the word.

'Revolution? My dear man you can't be serious!'

'Deadly serious, Senator. Come now, why do you think we are here?' asked Gaius, smiling.

'Well...'

'I know you've heard.'

Tobire glanced away for a moment, before his gaze settled uneasily on Gaius. 'How did you manage it?'

'It wasn't hard. These aliens are stupid. We hid them in crates of clothing and other supplies that we brought back from the ships.'

'I'm surprised there was anything in the way of clothes and supplies left on the ships at all!' exclaimed Tobire, laughing nervously.

'There wasn't. We took the stuff out there and brought it back.'

'Oh, I see,' said the Senator, and began to fiddle with his shirt. He was a portly man, balding, and Gaius thought he appeared quite comical in such a state. There would be no room for men like him once the revolution began. 'Do you have...you know?'

Gaius smiled and reached behind him to produce the side arm.

'Oh my,' said Tobire, his hand going to his mouth. 'How did you get it into the building?'

'What? You're not serious!' Gaius laughed as he returned the gun. It was a cruel, mocking laugh. 'They don't check us once we're inside! They'd never suspect us of being clever enough to smuggle weapons into the hub. Don't you see? They think we're just harmless animals. It makes them all the more sure in thinking that they can keep us restrained here forever.'

'How can you be so sure about all of this Gaius?' said Tobire sulkily. 'I mean, they've been nothing but good to us for thirty years! I'm sure there is a reason why they're being so stern all of a sudden, maybe it is just for our own good?'

Gaius threw his drink aside with an angry snarl and leapt to his feet, jabbing an angry finger at the fat Senator, who recoiled as though stung. 'How can you be so stupid? They're not human, Tobire! They don't think like us and they don't act like us! Just because the way they act seems like hospitality to us doesn't mean that is how they intend it! Don't expect any likeness from them, Senator, that was our first mistake. They're not human.'

The man fidgeted for a moment. Sweat was beginning to show through on his pale blue shirt. At length, he responded. It was a hoarse whisper, as though it pained him to speak. 'I suppose you're right, Gaius.'

Gaius softened and approached the Senator. 'Yes, you know that. You can trust me you know, I am human.'

'Yes, yes...'

'So. Can I rely on your support on the Senate?'

'Alright, yes, yes, you can,' mumbled Tobire, failing to meet Gaius' eye.

'Good man.' said Gaius, and he knelt beside the portly Senator, meeting his eyes and locking with them. 'This is the right thing to do, don't worry. You're saving humanity by doing this Tobire. When our descendants look back on this day they will know of Tobire the hero.'

A grin broke across the man's face and he nodded enthusiastically.

'I'll see you at the next Senate meeting, Tobire.' Gaius said, straightening.

Tobire continued to nod as Gaius left.
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Tempest
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The Storm Lord
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Aror Turan
Ixion
Home Field


The name given to the rolling fields of white grass east of Turanision by the human inhabitants of Ixion was Home Field. They called it such for it was the location in which their fleet had finally set down on land for good, or at least that was what it had seemed like then.

From the truck window, Gaius looked down on the huge, grey ships that dominated a large basin in the fields. They were old, having been constructed over seventy years ago, but they filled him with pride in human achievement and technology. No doubt, the rest of his race back home and wherever else they had spread to had developed their space fairing vessels, but they had been denied that privilege by malign alien intelligences.

The convoy of trucks, also remnants of human technology that had been taken from aboard the ships, made a wide circle down towards the grounded fleet. As always, they had been allowed to leave the Hub to fetch necessary items from their fleet, or at least that is what they had told the alien scum.

Gaius wondered how much longer he could get away with it, but remember he didn't have to worry. This was their last journey. Over the last few months they had been back and forth, smuggling guns and other military supplies into the Hub, as well as smuggling people into the fleet.

They had run their operation on the edge of a knife, but they had succeeded and now they were on their final run. In the cargo holds of each truck was a dozen or so men, former ship crew or technology specialists. They wouldn't be on the return journey. In their place, the last of the required weaponry from the fleet arsenals would enter the city and the welcome hands of those thirsty for revolution.

Gaius surveyed the fifteen ships that dominated the terrain depression. The largest of their number, the three capital ships, sat at the centre, with the rest of the vessels clustered about them. They hadn't seen use in some thirty years, but Gaius had seen to it that they would be ready for when the time came.

The trucks curved round the inside of the basin and made for a well used path in the white grass that led down into the city of ships. Were it not for his necessary presence elsewhere, Gaius himself would lead the revolution from the helm of the Perpetual Pioneer, the flagship of their fleet. Unfortunately he could not, he would leave that glory to others.

It didn't bother him. His turn for glory was fast approaching.
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Tempest
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The Storm Lord
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Aror Turan
Ixion
Main Civilisation Hub: Turanision


The convoy pulled up in front of the Hub gate; a large oval affair set into the high, smooth and sloping wall that surrounded Turanision. Strangely, it was closed. Immediately, Gaius knew something wasn't right. In the thirty years that humanity had lived under the oppression of the Turans, he had never once known the gates to be closed.

A group of Turan guards were clustered about the checkpoint booth by the side of the road and a pair of them broke away to approach the convoy. That was also wrong. To see more than one or two Turan guards was a rarity, and here was what looked like a squad. Despite their peaceful demeanour, their guards were testament to the fact that at some point or the other, the Turan's had known war.

They wore segmented plates of armour that looked like hardened plastic and their weapons were sleek creations that slotted neatly about their hands and forearms. Gaius had never once seen one fired and wondered just what they were capable of.

'Send a message to the rest of the convoy to be on full alert,' he said to the driver and opened the truck door. Stepping down on to the road, he walked calmly up to the pair of guards.

One raised its empty hand uncertainly, obviously unused to this kind of situation. The second guard stepped up as Gaius stopped and spoke. Whatever words were spoken behind the helmet Gaius could not hear, instead, he heard human words filter through the automatic translator built into the mouth piece. Another product of 'species collaboration'.

'We must make a search of your vehicles.'

Gaius nodded his head. 'That is fine, that is how it always happens. Please, go right ahead.'

The alien nodded, Gaius' words translated by another translator located in the helmet's earpieces. The guard turned to the squad and waved it over. Hurriedly, they approached the convoy. Yes, something was definitely amiss. The aliens were worried. Something had happened. Gaius felt his pulse quicken. Had they been discovered?

'Might I ask if everything is okay?' he said, trying to keep his voice calm and normal. The guard cocked its head to one side for a moment, as though pondering.

At length, it replied. 'You may.'

Gaius refrained from sighing. He mustered all his calm and patience. 'Is everything okay?'

Again, the silent moment of thoughtfulness.

'An incident had occurred within the Hub. We must search your vehicles.'

'Might I-' Gaius paused and then started again. 'What is this incident?'

'Three Civilians have been murdered. Their wounds are not from Turanision weapons or devices.'

Gaius felt his heart skip a beat. Instantly he knew what had happened. He had even contemplated it when he had first begun to draw up his plans. One of his supporters, most likely one of the more...energetic ones, had snapped and turned his weapon on the aliens.

He knew there was little he could do about it. He had been forced to begin distributing the weapons before they took action. If he hadn't and they declared their separation from the Turan's, it would take far too long to arm his supporters and begin the revolution while they still had the momentum of morale and confidence on their side.

He nodded curtly. 'I will help your men with their search.'

The guards regarded him with silence, but he didn't worry about that. The Turan's had no concept of nodding. He turned sharply on his heel and almost ran to the where the guards had spread out around the back of his truck and moved on down to the others in the line.

His men had allowed the Turan's into the cargo hold, thinking that this was normal routine. Gaius swore beneath his breath and pulled himself up to where his men held the tarpaulin cover open. He shot them each a warning look.

'We're in trouble. Make sure everyone knows,' he hissed, and moved into the dark cargo hold. One of his men leapt down and hurried off towards the other trucks, ignored by the alien guards.

Gaius could barely suppress a nervous chuckle as a pair Turan guards hauled a crate down from the stacks with visible effort. They pulled off the lid and looked blankly at the assortment of clothes before them. Gaius slid his hands into his jacket.

'See? Nothing but clothes?' he said with a smile. The guards looked up at him, their thoughts unreadable behind their helmets. They would have been even without them.

'Yes.' The reply was abrupt and wholly without elaboration. They remained standing about the crate. Gaius felt his hand wander over the handle of the pistol tucked into the back of his trousers.

The aliens returned their unreadable gazes to the clothes once again. All they would have to do was lift a couple of those folded shirts. Just a couple and there would be an arsenal of weapons staring them in the face.

There they were, just staring. Gaius slowly slid the pistol from his trousers. One of the guards reached down towards the crate. A bead of sweat pressed itself from Gaius' brow. The other guard turned to regard him, almost quizzically. Had he noticed something in his expression?

The guards hand closed about the lid and pulled it back over the crate.

'Thank you for your co-operation.'

The breath left Gaius' lungs in a great sigh of relief. He could have slapped his hand to his mouth at the stupidity of it.

'Are you having problems with your respiration?' asked one of the guards, Gaius couldn't tell which. He could have laughed at their sheer ignorance of human mannerisms.

'Yes,' he laughed, 'it’s a little stuffy in here, shall we step outside if you're finished?'

The guards proceeded without a word, making their way from the truck's interior. Gaius saw the harness that had fallen when they had pulled down the crate and watched, helpless, as it looped itself about one of the Turan's legs. The alien continued without notice, but the other end of the harness had been trapped beneath the crate.

The outcome was gut wrenchingly clear before it even occurred. The guard tripped. It stumbled into Gaius and he quickly lifted his hands to steady the alien, more so that it wouldn't take them both to the floor than out of any real concern.

'Thank you,' said the Turan, but its voice was bereft of emotion. The alien straightened itself and made to leave as though nothing had happened. It paused. Gaius paused. It looked to its fellow guard. So did Gaius. It was looking at the floor. Gaius looked to the floor. They all saw the handgun that had fallen from Gaius' grip.

The two aliens looked suddenly and sharply at him. They clearly knew what a human weapon looked like. Gaius smiled and punched the closest alien in the throat, where the segmented armour provided no protection. The guard stumbled back with a garbled noise from its mouth piece, but Gaius wasn't paying attention.

He spun round as the second guard made to grab him and delivered a heel kick to its protruding chest that sent it toppling backwards. Gaius scooped up the handgun and snapped it round to face the first guard, still clutching at its throat. There was nothing else for it now. He pulled the trigger and painted the tarpaulin cover in crimson.

A ripple of heat flared past the back of his head with a whoosh and Gaius spun round to see the remaining guard, its weapon facing right at him. Stupid and a bad aim. Gaius shot it three times in the chest, knocking it to the floor dazed, but the rounds clearly hadn't penetrated the chest plating. He walked over and put a bullet through its neck.

'Damn that felt good.'

Behind him, the tarpaulin went up in flames. As he leapt from the truck, he mused that at least he had discovered what the alien weapons were capable of. His men stood, weapons drawn, staring at the burning tarpaulin cover, a second pair of Turan guards dead at their feet.

'Don't just stare at it! Tear it down!' he shouted, as more sounds of gunfire began to spread along the convoy.

His men leapt to work, hauling the truck's covering from its metal frame. Around him, a gunfight was breaking out. Rippling hazes of heat flashed by and the sharp reports of human guns rung in his eears. It was a beautifully liberating noise.

The guards that had first approached the convoy rounded the corner at a run and lifted their weapons, garbled and guttural noises issuing from their helmets. Clearly whatever they were saying had failed to be translated. It didn't matter either way. Gaius lifted his pistol. A wave of heat washed over his arm and he screamed as he felt his skin blister and boil beneath the intense heat.

The most excruciating pain he had ever felt filled his arm, as though every single one of his nerves was on fire. He looked down and was almost sick as he saw his skin, bubbling and ruined, slough from the bone. That didn't last long either and just like that, his lower arm was gone. A fused ruin of charred flesh at his elbow was all that remained.

Gaius felt his world blur and begin to spin erratically out of his control. The sensation of falling overcame him and his vision dimmed. The last sounds he heard before the world went black were of alien screams and the roar of automatic gunfire.
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Tempest
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The Storm Lord
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Aror Turan
Ixion
Main Civilisation Hub: Turanision


Gaius awoke to darkness, utterly still and silent, filled only by a throbbing pain that pulsed up his arm in slow, cruel strokes. Blurred memories swirled in the wake of consciousness; the sharp report of gunfire and the screams of agony. Was it his own screams that he now so chillingly recalled?

He lifted his hands to rub clear his eyes and paused when he felt only one against his face. More memories came back to him, the dark stuff of nightmares, and in unbelieving horror he turned his eyes upon the bandaged stump where once his lower arm had been.

Gaius screamed until he fell unconscious once more.




His rest brought some measure of calmness back to him. He could not undo what had been done and if this was to be the price for freedom, he would gladly pay it a hundred times over. This would not stop him. No, if anything this only clarified his purpose.

He found a new meaning in his actions, a fresh motivation to replace that which had staled after months of scheming and brooding. Now, his reservoir of hate was deepened with the desire to reap revenge.

A shaft of light fell suddenly across him. It stung his eyes, made sensitive in the dark and he lifted an arm to shield his eyes. No hand eclipsed the light. A pang of despair brought tears to his eyes; tears of fury and hate.

A figure, silhouetted against the harsh light of day stepped into what Gaius now recognised as the cargo hold of one of the trucks. Surprisingly for the first time, curiosity reared its head from the bitter swamp of his soul and brought questions to mind. What had happened? Where was he? How long had he been out?

He tried to give voice to his queries, but could not find his voice.

'Sir, are you awake?' said a voice, questing and uncertain. In the darkness, Gaius nodded. The figure seemed to notice and came closer to kneel beside him.

'I'm a doctor,' said the voice slowly. To hear a voice after so long was unnerving, but that it was full of anxiety was comforting. He nodded again. He felt a hand lift his head and the contents of a mug filled his vision. 'Drink this, it'll help.'

He complied. He tasted water mixed with the sour taste of whatever medicine this doctor thought appropriate. Gaius didn't care. Only now did he realise how soar his throat had become and to feel cool liquid running down it was a welcome sensation. He turned his head away and spat the phlegm from his mouth. The powers of speech returned to him.

'Where are we?'

'I'm not sure I am the best person to answer your questions sir,' said the doctor. 'I think you should rest more and-'

'No!' he barked hoarsely and attempted to push himself into a sitting position. There was no strength in him and he fell back with a grunt of pain and frustration.

'Please sir, you must rest!' urged the doctor, placing a restraining hand on his shoulder.

Gaius shrugged it off, hot anger spilling into his chest. He shrugged the hand away harshly and reached up with his arm to weakly grab hold of the man's collar. Had he more strength he would have throttled him.

'Bring me Cutter! Now!' he hissed.

'Alright, alright! Just please don't wear yourself out! You need your rest!'

'Go!' Gaius roared and slammed his fist into the ground, something he would come to regret.

The doctor scrambled from the truck and left Gaius in dark silence once again. He rolled his head back into the pile of clothes bundled beneath him and took a deep breath as a dizziness overtook him.

He tried to take stock of the situation. They were still alive and the convoy, or at least some of it, appeared to have survived. That much was encouraging. The fact that they were still in the convoy meant that they were not in the Hub though. That wasn't encouraging. Gaius knew that these latest occurrences would force him to greatly speed up his plan and for that, he needed to be inside the Hub.

The tarpaulin flap was pulled open for the second time and the familiar form of his second in command, Cutter, climbed into the truck.

'Good to see you're awake sir,' he said, sitting on a crate beside the makeshift bed of clothes.

'What's happened Cutter? Where are?' Gaius said, rolling on to his side and painfully propping himself up on one arm.

'Well sir, after you went down I gathered up the lads about you. We made those bastards pay alright.' He paused. Gaius knew that pause. It was the pause before bad news. 'But...sir, they've got things we ain't never seen. Weapons that came out of the walls. Such weapons... Blew up three of the trucks before I could get us out of there.'

'Where are we now? Are the ships alright?' Gaius felt a slow panic begin to gather in his gut. The prospect that everything could be lost teetered at the edge of his mind.

'I honestly don't know sir,' said Cutter with an apologetic shrug. 'I first thought of taking the convoy there, but I knew it wouldn't be safe.'

'Where are we then damn it?' he yelled, his panic mounting.

'In the forest sir, right up against the south wall of the Hub.'

Gaius' mind took a moment to process the information. He felt as though his thoughts were wading through water. 'What? How?'

'Well I ordered the convoy out of sight of the gate and then took us off the road. I knew they'd sweep it before long and I remembered the forest we used to use to smuggle in supplies before we started using the trucks.'

Gaius slumped back down. He felt so tired.

'We need to move Cutter, we can't wait any longer, not now,' he said, his voice a whisper.

'You give me the word sir and I'll get it done. I'll do it right now if you want me to sir,' said Cutter and Gaius knew he wasn't lying. An ex-military man, Cutter was loyal to the core.

'Assemble two teams, Cutter, your best men. Then report back to me immediately.'

'Yes sir,' Cutter said. 'We'll get this done sir, I swear it.'

Cutter got to his feet and left the truck. Gaius nodded to himself slowly and fell into a restless sleep.
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Tempest
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The Storm Lord
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Aror Turan
Ixion
Main Civilisation Hub: Turanision


Ixion's sun dipped into the horizon, splaying the land with an amethyst light and leaving the sky in darkness. Like pools of ink, darkness welled between the great towers of Turanision and spilled into the streets, broken here and there by shafts of light from a high window or the passing of a vehicle's lights.

Under the cover of darkness, a band of men entered the city. Where the wall met with the woodland, plants and alien vines had pulled themselves up the smooth surface and formed a network of handholds. Once on the other side, they threw down ropes and scaled the steep inside of the wall.

There were no subtleties now. The men carried their weapons openly; assault rifles and shotguns, rocket launchers and explosives. Like wraiths, they shot through the darkness. For a while they progressed together, avoiding alien patrols and open areas. Then, seemingly at random, they split into two groups and parted, heading in opposite directions.

By sun rise, everything would be different.
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