Reading

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as supplies run low

I’ve been checking hardware stores the last couple of weeks, mostly because there are things I need, but a little because I’m watching their stocks fall.

Smaller hardware stores are having a harder time covering the stock gap than larger ones. That makes obvious sense; they have less to begin with, so the duplications and outright gaps are more clearly visible. Hand tools in particular are getting pretty thin on the ground at this point; screwdriver bit replacements – well, lots of particular varieties are no longer available. Stuff like that. It’s been a multi-week process, not all-at-once – though it will probably look that way in retrospect.

Today, though, I had a somewhat more pointed experience.

Yesterday, Home Depot had 34 of a particular China-made mini circular saw available. It’s inexpensive because it’s corded; it’s from WEN, who make very basic but generally adequate enough kit for people on a budget. A chonkier Ryobi, perhaps. And last night, they had 34 of these saws available for store pickup or delivery.

This morning, when I woke up, they had 17.

An hour later, they had 15.

I was going to buy this with credit union rewards points, but it seems that was going to take too long. So I shelled out the cash, buying it immediately instead. It’s not a big deal for me, we’re still within our current tight budget this month.

So now they have 14.

Maybe that big drop was a one-off, a fluke – an organic surge, rather than someone grabbing a set for their employees while they could. Maybe Home Depot’s remaining 14 are enough that they’ll still have 10 in another month.

Or maybe it was scalpers. I don’t know how quickly these things sell, as a rule.

But that… that was a surprise.

Most people won’t notice stock thinning, I don’t think. Not quickly. I don’t have a reason for that other than recent experience shows that most people don’t notice a single goddamn thing until it punches them, personally, in the face. They to go get a thing, and it won’t be there, and then they notice.

A lot more people are probably pretty close to that moment of noticing.

They’ll notice it even more when their Medicare gets its $350 billion dollar cut.

It’ll be a moment of awareness, a moment of panic. It won’t last long – the fascist noise machine will do everything it can to patch it over – but it’ll be there.

Are you ready to take advantage of that? Particularly with your Trumpy relatives?

Maybe you should be.

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

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Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #4

( Scans under the cut... )

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Detective Comics #654

Writer: Chuck Dixon

Pencils: Michael Netzer

Inks: Scott Hanna

Knightfall prelude.

Batman must deal with a punk kid and his gang shooting up Gotham City.

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Amazing Spider-Man #95

Writer: Stan Lee

Pencils: John Romita, Sr.

Inks: Sal Buscema

Gwen has gone to London to live with her uncle (and no other reason.) Peter follows, only to get pulled in to a terrorist plot.

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Final Fantasy XV 2025 Remix

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Uncanny X-Men #213

Writer: Chris Claremont

Pencils: Alan Davis

Inks: Mark Farmer

Welcome to the X-Men, Elizabeth Braddock. We hope you survive the experience.

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Wednesday Reading Meme & Books 28-32 of 2025

What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Brandy & Bullets (A Murder, She Wrote Mystery) by Donald Bain, And Justice There is None (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) by Deborah Crombie, All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries) by Martha Wells, Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries) by Martha Wells and The Dragon Tamer by Megan Derr.

What I am Currently Reading: A Fountain Filled with Blood (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries) by Julia Spencer-Fleming.

What I Plan to Read Next: Another library book or more Murderbot.

Book 28 of 2025: Brandy & Bullets (A Murder, She Wrote Mystery) (Donald Bain)

I enjoyed this book more than the others. Perhaps because it took place in Cabot Cove? ( spoilers )

This book is the best of the bunch so far, but I'm not sure if that's because the author is becoming more comfortable writing them or because it took place in Cabot Cove, as I mentioned. I'm giving it four hearts.

♥♥♥♥

Book 29 of 2025: And Justice There is None (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) (Deborah Crombie)

I really enjoyed this book. ( spoilers )

I think this series is getting better and better; I'm giving this book five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

Book 30 of 2025: All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries) (Martha Wells)

I wanted to re-read this prior to starting the tv series. It was so good! ( spoilers )

I look forward to the further adventures of Murderbot! I'm giving this novella five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

Book 31 of 2025: Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries) (Martha Wells)

I didn't have to read this book to start the tv series, but I couldn't resist seeing what Murderbot would do next. I liked it a lot. ( spoilers )

I look forward to seeing what Murderbot does next. I'm giving this novella five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

Book 32 of 2025: The Dragon Tamer (Megan Derr)

This was a cute little novella. ( spoilers )

I enjoyed this and recommend it if you’re looking for something to do for about a half hour. (I also checked out some of her other books and they look good.) I’m giving this one five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

Entry tags:

cake,
dessert

GIANT STRAWBERRY CINNAMON ROLL CAKE

GIANT STRAWBERRY CINNAMON ROLL CAKE
Yield: 8-10 SERVINGS total time: 3 HOURS OR SO

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE DOUGH:
1 package active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
3/4 cup warm non-fat milk (heated to about 120 degrees, about 45-60 seconds in the microwave)
1/3 cup + 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar, divided
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 - 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
Paddle attachment & dough hook for your mixer

FOR THE FILLING:
5 tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups diced fresh strawberries (about 3/4 pound)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar

FOR THE FROSTING
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 ounces cream cheese, very soft
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or milk

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X-Force #46

Writer: Jeph Loeb

Pencils: Angel Pollina

Inks: Mark Pennington

Where is Siryn?

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Absolute Martian Manhunter #2

That was part of my pitch, that maybe the DC Universe J'onn felt a little bit in between alien and human, in a way that wasn't a positive for the character, that wasn't a positive for readers. Where he is a little too alien to be relatable to, and maybe a little too human to really be awed by the alienness of him. And so that's part of why I separated the two characters and made John Jones a human being that we can relate to, and make the Martian this really strange alien consciousness that that has strange ideas that maybe that are not so relatable to us, and that's okay, because they're not really relatable to John either, and John's our way in and through John, hopefully we'll come to see whether those ideas are palatable or not. -- Deniz Camp

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fandom: music

Music Tuesday

Watch on YouTube

The CBC keeps playing this at me for some reason, and it's really pretty.

BUT ALSO: what is that piano intro reminding me of? I'm thinking late'90s with a female singer, but it might just have been... something I listened to a lot in the '90s.

(no subject)

* I just got caught up in my D&D homework and refreshed myself on how to multiclass with wizards. Both my characters are multi-classed, but one is way more complicated then the other. The irony is that at the end of the chapter Leyfarers is switching from the original 5th edition rules to the 2024 redo of fifth edition, so I am going to need to redo everything and relearn everything.

I am going to need to figure out soon if I am re-speccing either of them, because the rules changeover will be a one-time chance to change classes and other stuff. And right now I really don't know.

* I really need to do glamour shots of my dice and also stop buying dice.

Entry tags:

books

Books

* The Left Handed Booksellers of London - I wasn't familiar with the author, Garth Nix, when I picked this up. He does a lot of books aimed at younger readers. I feel like the start of this book was more serious, and then devolved into whimsy and random exposition. 1980s London, gender fluid character, booksellers who monitor the occult, and a plot that hooked me. I really wanted to like this and should have DNF'd it sooner.

Trying to avoid making a powerpoint presentation on the complexities of YA as a marketing term and how it makes my life harder. I don't want to double check everything to see if it's considered YA and discount it based on that, because a lot of stuff that isn't gets categorized that way. Sarah J Maas' ACOTAR being a prime example.

* Hell Bent - The sequel to Ninth House and the middle book of what will be a trilogy. It sounds like we should heard about the final book soon? Very excited. On one hand, I love the writing and am already looking forward to rereading both books in prep for the final one. On the other hand, the occult elements didn't feel as solid as in the first book. I loved it, but it's not to the bar of the first book. Middle books of trilogies are like that sometimes.

Of course try to look up anything about Ninth House and every website gets even more convinced that I want to see Gideon the Ninth stuff. On Amazon it's listed as The Ninth House Series. I think 'Alex Stern' is used as a alternate name to deal with disambiguation, but that only helps so much. The lesbian necromancers in space are inescapable!

* Blood Trail - I liked it more than expected. I am determined to read this series, but how often I was told to start with the later books was worrying. It drags a bit in places, but also it's an early urban fantasy book so I don't mind.

It is an amazing time capsule of that time in the 90s when technology became more part of our lives, but no google or cell phones yet. People needing to stay in for phone calls, discourse about whether screening calls with an answering machine is anti-social, etc. Also, cities being very gritty and dangerous. Obviously it wasn't intentional, but it's a very dense capsule.

Reading it so soon after a Di Tregarde book was funny because in the Tregarde books, Di is a romance novelist partially to deal with her odd schedule as Guardian, but in Blood Trail the vampire is a romance novelist to deal with his odd schedule. They are both writing similar sounding books involving sea captains. Also, both in cold cities and dealing with the cold winds, etc. There's a lot of notes in common, which may be them both riffing on the same thing or being plugged into the same trends. To be clear, the similar notes are interesting and amusing, not anything else.

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Movies: Doctor Mordrid, The Passenger, Bring Her Back

Doctor Mordrid (1992). A researcher for the NYPD discovers her neighbor (Jeffrey Combs) is a sorcerer whose nemesis has just arrived to destroy the Earth. The credits say this is "Based on an idea by Charles Band" which is a very funny way of saying "This was supposed to be a Doctor Strange adaptation but the rights expired during pre-production" (lol).

This is very short, a tight 74 minutes, and extremely cheesy. Nobody gets much development or depth. I saw someone describe this as feeling like the pilot to a 90s procedural, and yeah, that feels about right. The main appeal is of course Jeffrey Combs, who honestly feels fairly awkward in the role of hero main character. To be fair, none of the direction or anything else is doing him any favors.

All that said, this DOES have a stopmotion battle between a T-rex skeleton and a triceratops skeleton, and that's pretty great, honestly. I'd say that probably was worth the price of admission all by itself.

The villain looked vaguely familiar, and I looked him up and found the actor went on to play Luke in the Buffy pilot and then the Judge in S2. Neat.

--

The Passenger (2023). A shy, awkward fast food worker in his early 20s (Johnny Berchtold) gets kidnapped by his cowoker (Kyle Gallner), who vacillates between gunning people down with a shotgun and providing his own fucked-up version of therapy in hopes of teaching our main guy to stand up for himself.

I somehow had osmosed a very different premise for this movie; I was maybe conflating it with He Went That Way, or some other carjacking movie? Some kind of "violent sadist terrorizes innocent person" story, which is extremely not my jam. This, however, is weirder and more complicated than that, and overall I enjoyed it a lot, especially considering it clearly didn't cost much to make. The dynamic between the two guys is interesting (I can totally see why there's a few hundred fics on AO3), and there are some genuinely very nice shots. I especially liked the opening sequence of driving through town just before dawn, and how the movie comes to a climax at nightfall. I also appreciate the movie's commitment to an extremely late 80s aesthetic for its fast food joint. Overall, a pleasant watch.

I do find it funny that I've seen Kyle Gallner in exactly two things (not counting his SPN appearance as a kid), both recently, both opening with him trying to kill people with a shotgun. He does have a real stereotypical redneck look about him, especially with the mustache.

--

Bring Her Back (2025). Directed by the Philippou brothers, who made Talk to Me, this is about a teenage kid and his younger, visually impaired stepsister who, after their dad dies, go to stay with a foster mother (Sally Hawkins, ie Elisa from The Shape of Water) and her extremely creepy other foster child.

This is in fact not out yet, but I got to see it at the Monday Mystery Movie showing last night. It also is not the sequel to Talk to Me (even though I swear the title is a line that appears in Talk to Me). There is a sequel to that movie greenlit, it's just not this movie. Just to clear all that up!

Anyway, I liked it a lot. The two main kids are great, and especially the kid playing the older brother puts in a great performance supported by some pretty nuanced writing as he tries to navigate this escalating situation that is so much worse and weirder than he realizes. Sally Hawkins is fantastic, and what's going on with her character is satisfyingly horrible, I feel, with some glints of pretty fun black humor. I also appreciated that the story arcs here don't map directly onto real life issues the way the demons in Talk to Me were basically a one-for-one swap with drug use. This story is too weird to allow that kind of straightforward interpretation.

The star of the show here has got to be the creepy other foster kid, Ollie, who starts out mute, staring, and occasionally banging on things, and then gets a lot weirder from there. The entire concept of his character is executed really well, just very effective and fresh with images that will stick with you. I love the angle this story takes on the trope.

FYI the foster mom's cat experiences some harm (although not super obviously, I missed it and someone had to tell me after), but as far as we know it survives the movie.

Current Mood: lazy

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Outer Wilds

I've watched (or "watched") so many Outer Wilds playthroughs I figured I'd try to remember the ones I liked in case I want to find them again. I've already been unable to find some that are not in my watch history for whatever bizarre reason. I'll probably be editing this post as I re-find the players I remember.

Oliver @ About Oliver (main game supercut & echoes supercut)
An astrophysicist plays Outer Wilds! An easygoing player who enjoys and discusses the science and space details of the game, with little anecdotes on what's accurate to real life and what's not. He notices the time differential when warping and talks about macroscopic quantum behaviour before the game mentions both, and gets excited when the game validates his theorising.

Liera (main game supercut and echoes supercut)
Liera is a very pleasant player, easygoing and cheerful, and thoughtful as she talks out her understanding of the lore. Interestingly, she's thorough but not traditionally methodical, which means that she sometimes finds secrets in the wrong order, which is fascinating (eg. she finds the probe tracking module before ever exploring the remains of the orbital probe cannon, and she finds ALL the burned slide reel rooms before finding the guide in the tower). In playing the main game she develops the Nomai timeline correctly through her notetaking.

Adam @ King Adam XVII
Adam is a fun player, he's not particularly focused but comes into the game with appreciation and commentary on the music (trends, influences, etc. plus he points out that the Prisoner's theme at the end uses a suspension). He sometimes pauses the game to play the music on his own instruments, or perform his Outer Wilds-inspired work, and he loves messing around with the mechanics of the game and seeing what he can do with its physics.

Becca @ BeccaBytes (main game supercut and echoes supercut)
Becca is a cheerful player who has nice reactions and figures out the emotional weight of the game, I think she's the one who calls the anglerfish cave the "place of sadness". She's not a very efficient player and misses some elements of the main game that she fills in with the dlc, but she does figure out some things other players don't (like the Stranger's movement), she gets a very good closeup of an owlk when the dam breaks, and she gets so frustrated with the sneaking that she makes a word doc plan that leads her to solving all three dream locations by entering from different points.

Ryan @ lil indigestion (main game supercut)
I've got this on right now, he's a cheerful, meticulous player who takes his time to look at things and pontificate appreciation for the lore, so he sees a lot of detail (he figures out Solanum grew up in the system before he even recognizes her as the Quantum Moon pilgrim) but also wanders a lot and struggles with the time-sensitive and platforming sections.

Allie @ AllieCat (main game supercut and echoes supercut)
Player with good energy and engagement in the Hearthian and Nomaian lore, and she loves Solanum! Her talking through the story is fun to listen to, though she wasn't as engaged with the Echoes DLC.

Mapocolops (main game supercut and echoes supercut)
Good energy dude, I can't remember other details.

Lukael @ Lukael Plays
I can't remember specific details but I do remember that this player was very pleasant to listen to.

Cohh @ CohhCarnage (main game supercut and echoes supercut)
Another one I can't remember details but that he had good energy and I liked listening to him. I just rewatched a bit and he stumbles into the Ash Twin completely by accident and way too early!

(no subject)

The Cast of Corbies review is going be delayed until the weekend probably. Sorry!

Current Mood: busy

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Current fandom status

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Star Wars Time Travel Fix-It

Sending Family Back (5975 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano
Characters: CT-7567 | Rex, Ahsoka Tano, Bultar Swan [Star Wars Prequel Trilogy], Original Character(s)
Additional Tags: Force Shenanigans, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, Kriffing Sith Pans, Background Character Death
Summary:

After The Adventure of Buckethead and Little Bit, Ahsoka gambles everything on a Force ritual to send Rex and Atin back, to undo it all.

Sending Family Back

When Ahsoka Tano was subdued, Rex worried. He wanted to just enjoy the fact he was with her and their child, away from all of the other demands on their time, but something was wrong. It wasn't even in how firmly she dominated their loving, when Little Bit was asleep. It wasn't in the fact Rex kept catching her studying something on her data pad, or the sad looks at Little Bit and Rex when she thought Rex wasn't paying attention.

Something had happened, something had changed for her, and he had a bad feeling about how this family time would end.

His first indication that he'd been correct to worry was Little Bit whimpering as the ship was starting its landing approach. Ahsoka was flying solely by sensor, or maybe Arseven was handling more of that since his wife seemed to be not quite there. Rex put a hand on Little Bit's small montrals, reassuring her by touch, but he wasn't unharnessing her until they were firmly settled on the ground.

Ahsoka wasn't as out of it as he thought, because once they were down, she was the one to release their daughter's harness and scoop the girl up, tucking the child to her chest.

"Shh, only here a bit, Little Bit," Ahsoka reassured. "Rex, grab that pack please?" she asked, indicating the rather larger than usual one to her. That she asked him to, that she wasn't just lifting it in the Force, and instead carrying their daughter toward the hatch had all of his warning beacons on high alert in his tactical mind.

"Tell me what's going on, 'Soka," he said, gruffly. It was not his first appeal for information, but this time he was going to stand firm on getting answers.

She paused, turning so she looked him dead in the eyes.

"I'm going to make everything right. Or, rather, I am going to make it possible for you to fix it all. All of my notes on who enabled, who profited, who tried to help, are in that pack," she said with deadly seriousness.

"And we're on … this world, that makes our daughter forget how fearless she is, to do this? Unless you have some way of changing the past, there is no making it all right again, only undoing what we can!" The way her markings shifted above her eyes made Rex listen to what he'd just said, and his own eyes went wide. "That's impossible, even with the Force!"

"Not here, not where so much was destroyed, not where so much of the Force bled into the Dark Side itself," Ahsoka said quietly. "I can open the way. You can fix it all, both of you."

"But… why not you?!" Rex demanded, glimpsing the idea that their family was being torn apart by this mad plan of hers.

"I… will have to make the path. And when you succeed, all will be as if it never happened. So … I must be here, not then, or I cannot open the way." Her eyes pleaded for understanding.

Rex's head hurt, but the sorrow on her face was too strong for him to question finding a different way. He didn't even question that he would do this. She thought he could… and she'd made sure he would have their daughter, even if he couldn't have her at his side, leading him on this.

"Who are you sending me to?" he asked, even as he realized she'd been putting their daughter to sleep with the Force while talking to him.

"Not sure of that part yet, Rex. Can't even be sure of how much time I will be able to give you, but I'll do my best to put you both somewhere you'll be able to work from quickly."

"Not our unit, or Cody's," Rex pointed out, half a question.

"No. Not after… no. We were right. So be careful of that," she said, remembering the fear for their daughter when they'd found her gone.

Rex grimaced; he'd been fairly certain. He grew quiet, letting her lead, the pack firmly in place and he snagged his helmet as they reached the door, having already been in his modified armor, just like Ahsoka was.

"The biggest pain is going to be watching us do that idiotic dance," he grumbled, trying to lighten the mood.

"Necessary one," she corrected. "We were both too young and inexperienced to even think about it, no matter what my past self would have wished at a younger age."

Rex chuckled, then sighed. "Point. Though Little Bit here is going to make that a bit different."

"So it will, but. They'll have a different future to decide for themselves, because you will win." Her faith in him was rock solid, and he took a deep breath. He felt like he'd been backed into a corner, yet… she was sending him on this desperate mission because they all needed to believe a better way was possible.

That she was giving up their daughter, sending the child back with him…

…well, he was no scientist, but maybe when he changed things, she simply would not be, and would not have to miss them as much as Rex knew they would miss her.

Rex understood now why Ahsoka had put Little Bit to sleep before sending them back. He wanted to retch up his entire last week's worth of meals as the world unmade itself around them, and then remade itself on a ship in hyperspace.

He couldn't be that weak though, dropping to a knee to get their daughter tucked more into his protection, because there were vod'e snapping alert all around them, and even the Jedi's hand strayed near her lightsaber. He squinted through the readings on the HUD, focusing on that one, not his long-lost brothers, and dragged in a breath at recognizing the Kuati woman.

"General Swan, ma'am, asking you to touch the Force right now, and acknowledge how strange our arrival is," he said quickly, because his brothers were very itchy at an invasion, even if he had taken a purely defensive pose.

"I don't know you, but I do know the Force is roiled, and … something allowed you to arrive." There was a pause. "Both of you… and one a youngling."

"Yes ma'am," Rex said, slowly raising up enough to reveal the Togruta-blooded child who was no longer asleep, but had followed her training to remain still and silent. Amber eyes that were a match to those of nearly every man present, looked at the Jedi with awe.

"Bultar?" she chirped, because Rex had relaxed, and there were no longer any blasters aimed his way, because the Jedi was calm.

"You know me, little one?"

Little Bit gnawed at her lower lip, realizing she might not should have said that.

"Pardon, ma'am, but my daughter's not quite old enough to grasp all of the strangeness of our mission." Rex met the woman's eyes, even though his helmet was hiding his features. Still, it was his helmet, and he knew Little Bit favored her mother enough that this Sentinel Jedi was putting pieces together rapidly, as impossible as they all had to seem.

"Bultar Swan, Jedi Knight. Commander Thrust is to my left, and further introductions will take place later for my men," Bultar said easily enough.

"Improbable as it sounds, my name is Rex, and this is Little Bit — or Atin — and I need to deliver intel to you, ma'am," Rex said after a heartbeat. If she insisted on including Thrust, this was going to get tricky, when he really needed to speak alone to the general.

"Let's say I am inclined to agree. But we are in a hostile situation, and my men will wish reassurance, as they do not have the Force to hear your honesty."

Rex set Little Bit down on her own two legs, then reached up to swipe the helmet off… and he could all but feel the men around him go rigid to see the age written into his face, more than they had been reacting to the change in his body from hard living and the aging before Ahsoka had beaten that back.

"I would trust any man here with my daughter, ma'am, while I speak with you," he said firmly, knowing none of the men would doubt his intentions being honorable, not when he was basically surrendering his daughter as surety against their general's safety.

Bultar proved, in the next moment, that she was worth the faith Ahsoka had put in her. "Little Bit, would you be willing to keep the Commander company while I talk to your father?"

"Elek," she answered cheerfully. Every man here was an uncle she hadn't met yet, and Rex almost pitied them as she was bound to steal their hearts right away.

"If you're sure," Thrust said cheerfully, even as he regained enough composure to look Rex in the eyes, promising a slow death to him if this was some ploy. He approached them, and offered a hand to the girl, who fearlessly took it.

Then again, the child had survived being a 'guest' on Mustafar with the monster of the Empire. What did she have to fear, Rex mused, following Bultar to her ready room.

Once they were in there, and the door was shut, Rex sagged a little from his militant response to being back near a unit of his own brothers, then indicated the pack.

"May I take this off? Fulcrum said all of her notes were in here, and knowing she picked you to send us to makes me want to get them in your hands faster," he said. "As you, ma'am, are one of the strategists, and intel gatherers, from what I remember of this time."

"I'm curious about 'Fulcrum', but go ahead." Bultar waited patiently in her chair for him to do so, looking for the world like she was perfectly at ease. Rex pulled out an actual flimsi pad, one of the fancier kind with the locking binder around it. He put his thumb to the lock sensor, said the passphrase, and the binder popped open.

"Fulcrum is who you know here and now as Ahsoka Tano," Rex said. "And yes, Little Bit is her daughter."

"But with your eyes, and a darker cast to her skin," Bultar said evenly. "Togruta hybrids have always been rare."

"The Force had opinions," Rex said with a half-shrug. "Wasn't planned, but wouldn't change it for anything, not now." He kept the notebook in front of him for the moment. "Ma'am? There's intel in here you will not want to believe. You cannot tell it to Thrust or any vod until after a certain technological issue is dealt with.

"And you absolutely must not involve Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Pong Krell, to name three that I have reason to believe would cause things to go a lot worse." He hesitated, knowing at least some of the next was personal, for his General's sake, but he knew how to phrase it. "And not Windu, not when he's balancing the whole damn Order in this mess."

Bultar did frown then, but she seemed to accept the addendum of the Master of the Order easily enough. "Your own General — here and now, anyway — and your former one. I have had little to do with Master Krell, so have no basis to object there, yet the first two? I wonder."

"Kenobi is more because he'll handle Skywalker wrong," Rex admitted. "Krell… has either already Fallen or will in the near future, given what he did that I know about. I'll tell you that bit later, but it's secondary, has to be, because of the real problem."

"And Skywalker?" she pressed.

He slid the notebook over. "After you flip through the first few pages, you'll understand more, but I'll add my piece after."

She took it, but did not start to read until after she had fully centered herself in the Force, and shielded herself adeptly. Whatever the notebook contained was going to be troubling, to say the least.

The notebook was not in Basic, but the code used for it was one that she, Lissarkh, Kit Fisto, or Areen Jepet could have read like Basic. A handful of other Sentinels, or those trained by them, maybe, yet Bultar was fairly certain Ahsoka had to have had one of them in mind all along. Granted, Rex had translated a few spots, just to verify for Bultar what she was reading.

It held a timeline, warnings about certain events yet to come in the near future — and the part about Pong Krell had clarified Rex's choices — and a plea to get Skywalker out of the Chancellor's direct shadow. The names of those who had risen to power, who were known to have benefited were useful. More so, the names of those who had been eliminated swiftly and those who Ahsoka could vouch for from this Rebel Alliance would give them potential allies to work with.

"What a bucket of bantha spit you handed me, Commander Rex," Bultar said, after many minutes of just meditating to lock all of her knew knowledge down. "I know the end, but must find a path to get us there that is perfect, allowing nothing to start the endgame as he sees it."

"We fix the chips, that's one step in making certain it can't happen," Rex said. "And please, General, I barely wore that rank for one campaign. Best to just call me Rex, or Leverage if you need a call sign. Ahsoka's choice, to match her being the Fulcrum of the Rebellion."

"Apt." Bultar never, ever wanted to see any of this come to pass, but the idea of her tiny 'sister' growing up to take that kind of burden before her eighteenth year was horrifying on a different level from the rest of it.

No, she admitted to herself; she kept circling back to that because she could not conceive of how the rest had come to pass, even after seeing the way Ahsoka had mapped it out for her.

"Leverage, then, to prevent confusion with your younger self." She stood, realized how late it is. "I am certain Thrust would have fed your daughter by now, but are you hungry?"

"Could eat. Need to see her more," Rex admitted, a wry half-smile that was counter to his sad eyes showing.

Bultar closed and locked the notebook, handing it back to him. "Keep that safe. I intend to invite a Sentinel who has more experience, that I would trust with the lives of all our men, to come and she will wish to read it."

"Yes ma'am." He placed it back in the spot inside the pack that would protect it from most damage. He then stood, turning to the door, and letting her precede him so that Thrust and his men would calm down. No sooner did he clear the bulkhead than Little Bit flung herself off a console and ran to him, climbing his armor adeptly to nuzzle into his face and neck.

Rex didn't need to see it, knowing that had done a lot for his brothers. Bultar did see it, and felt some of her resolve tighten further, to give these wonderful men a chance to know a future that held children in it.

Bultar let herself eat with her men, using the time to further lock down her visceral horror. Not for the first time, she cursed her first master for getting himself killed. She needed to think as clearly as he had, if she was going to save everyone. Perhaps, she would be wise to ask for better expertise, from someone more distant to the full conflagration.

Even as she was planning, she was observing the way the child was affecting her men. Some were uncertain of what to do or say with her, but many laughed and smiled, playing games. The games all seemed to be dexterity things, with Little Bit herself familiar with them. Bultar surmised the child had access to other troopers than just her father. The journal had hinted at hidden safe spots for those like Rex.

When the meal came to a close, Bultar designated one of the younger troopers to show father and daughter to the other cabin with a 'fresher.

"Atin," Rex called, and the girl immediately came, climbing his armor in that adorable way of hers.

"Stubborn, is it?" Thrust asked.

"Takes after her mother," Rex answered blandly to that.

"While my kinswoman has been known for that tendency, I rather doubt she is mismatched by you in those tendencies." Bultar's claim on kinship was deliberate, to set the stage for kin ties to help her men accept the difficult days ahead. It was even true, from a certain point of view, given that Plo Koon was Bultar's second master and Ahsoka's Finder.

"Perhaps."

While Atin — the girl both preferred that name from any one not her father and lived up to it — was stealing the hearts of all of her men, Bultar was using secure channels that only the Sentinels knew existed to get Areen Jepet, her grand-Master, to join her with a trusted healer. They were on a recon mission, picking up data from listening stations, so it wasn't that difficult to linger long enough for Areen's smaller ship to make it into the cruiser's hangar.

The Falleen and Devaronian arriving set Thrust's worries even higher, but Rex had told him he'd be told in due time.

Due time was after a brief unconsciousness, and as Thrust stared at the chip with its spider-like attachments, he was brought fully up to speed. Three others, all first years and possessing slicing skill, had also been 'ambushed' for surgery.

Only one of them got physically ill to hear the intel aired, while all three Jedi did their best to be soothing.

"We shift our listening," Thrust said, once they moved to the brainstorming session on how to unravel the tapestry of deceit. "Concentrate more fully on trying to intercept the Count's communications."

Areen sighed. "That will not work. I am long familiar with his ways, and he is unlikely to trust any means of direct communication. The routing would be tricky enough to be easily suspect of manipulations to make it appear as if they had connected to Coruscant."

Thrust frowned, closing his eyes to try and find a better path.

"We'll be investigating those who profited, trying to find the links of graft and corruption that tie back to him," Areen soothed.

"I have contacts among the press," Knight Krieth Nimpur, the Devaronian, said, smiling with malice for the enemy. "If I can arrange to acquire a trace of his blood, rumors of Force ability could go out with a midichlorian count."

Bultar rolled her eyes, but nodded. "First strike in raising credibility concerns, even if there is no consensus on that theory."

"But first," Rex said firmly, "we slice the damned chips and find a way to use its carrier signal to short them out!"

"Absolutely," from Areen married to Bultar's "Of course!" and Krieth's "Yes," soothing all of the men present.

Thrust was on an enforced rest break, and had been 'trapped' on the floor by Atin falling asleep on his chestplate. He turned his head, catching Rex's softer look at his daughter.

"Not planned?" Thrust asked softly. "Your little one."

"No. The Force was meddling, Ahsoka swore. She was going through a final growth spurt, putting together the nucleus of the rebellion for those senators that stayed loyal, and got whammied with realizing she had caught.

"Togruta don't typically hybridize, so I have to agree with her."

Thrust considered that, considered his own carefully kept crush on his general. "Can I ask how you two… ya know."

Rex snorted. "We'd grown close, vod, but not like that. Not until after… though she'd been waiting for both of us to catch up on experience. Seems she'd known, like she knew about the nightmare, about us in general, that I was eventually going to be the one. I gave her so much grief over how reckless she could be, but turned out that youngling knew how to keep her heart cloaked, to protect us all."

"Commander Vod'ika, I hear," Thrust said, acknowledging clone gossip about the 501st's padawan-commander.

"Think it was Jesse first called her that," Rex said with a lump in his throat. "For what it's worth? Once we get things moving, don't wait forever to tell her, vod. No tomorrow is promised, and I've got good intel that says she feels the same, just… power balances."

Thrust let out a breath, as this older brother, this man who had been a legend to them on Kamino even, said that. "Trust in that, yeah," he agreed, making plans to have a private talk with his general, once they cracked the chips' coding.

Areen was the one to insist that Plo Koon be the one to handle the Jedi High Council, once they had shorted out the chips en masse by using its own carrier signal. That meant he had to be briefed, which led to him arriving with Sinker and Comet as his fellow ARC crew.

Atin had, without warning, followed Rex and Bultar to the bay, but her presence would be one more confirmation of the story that had to be told. She watched the Kel Dor and his Wolf Pack members step off the ship, before making a disgruntled sound.

"What is it, Little Bit?" Rex asked, even though he suspected. His own chest had twisted up at the idea of who might be with the Jedi.

"Hoped for Uncle Growly," she chirped, and Plo Koon really looked at that older vod holding a child not much bigger than Little 'Soka had been in her first year at the Temple.

"Master, it appears that your Foundling went and found a way to save us all," Bultar said, while Plo was processing everything.

"I… wish I could say that I see, but I am completely at a loss," Plo Koon admitted.

"General Buir, if I hadn't lived it, I'd be as lost," Rex said, encouraging Little Bit to move to his shoulders instead of his hip. She looked over at the very tall Jedi from that lofty position and suddenly brightened.

"I'm going to be older than Pel, yes?" she demanded, head hanging over Rex's to peer at him from above.

"Believe so, and you're not to remind xie of that once xie is born," Rex said, getting a pout.

"Wouldn't be right. Won't be my Pel from then, but will be my Pel now."

"Sorry, General," Rex said watching the sensory organs flex. "Your friend Lia's child is… was from this new point of view… her best friend."

"And with this exchange, I find myself quite intrigued… and hopeful." Plo had been mildly strong-armed into granting that request, because of the war, and Lia was not yet delivered of the child.

"Good," Bultar said firmly. "Because we broke a piece of it and now we need the High Council brought onboard with our plans to end this war."

Comet and Sinker, having slowly processed that yes, that was Captain Rex, but older, could only stare, especially at the biter gleefully using Rex as her vantage point.

"Let us get to work then," Plo said firmly. "You are… a Rex? From some point of the future?"

"Yes sir. And this is Atin, now she's chosen her own name. Might hear me call her Little Bit, though."

"I am glad, if shocked, to meet you both."

"Save the 'shock' for the meeting," Bultar said glibly, leading them all back to the space they had turned into the 'war room' for undoing the future Rex and Atin came from.

Rex and Atin stayed with Bultar's unit as the others moved out to begin the arduous task of breaking the spider-web of deceit tying the galaxy into an unwinnable war.

It took months, but as Bultar's unit was small, gathering intelligence, and only occasionally fighting in space, it was the safest way to keep the source of their knowledge out of sight of all. Bultar's quartermaster even manufactured a full set of plastoid, with basic communication and sealed systems for Atin, welcoming the challenge.

She immediately descended on the 'art' cabin, and painted it with 501st blue to show her allegiance, splashed by an orange mixed to match her mother's skin. The symbols made no sense to the men — but Bultar recognized them as Kel Dor symbols for 'peace', 'clan', and 'honor'.

"Her best friend is — was and will be? — a child of master Plo's, she sometimes fusses in the more basic Kel Dor words, and now this?" Bultar teased Rex. "Care to tell us more about life that brushed Dorin?"

Rex smiled fondly. "General Buir either has or will ask for the second moon to be tunneled and sealed, large enough to house two legions," he said. "Ahsoka found out about it when she went to ask for a Sage to help her learn more of the Force. So we had somewhere to fall back to, somewhere to put the brothers we stole back, or the ones we found that had overcome the chips.

"Healer Lia became our primary point for helping be certain the men would live, as she was adept with psychological trauma. We never asked her to come up; Wolffe would take them down to her, and the quarters that had been the General's were converted to support the effort." His eyes twinkled. "You were a cute youngling, General," he said with amusement.

She groaned. "All of his holos," she said, nodding as Atin's recognition of her made even more sense.

"We learned a lot, and it helped Ahsoka heal past the betrayal, mostly, though she still wondered at how he'd ever agreed to go along with it. Him and General Ti were the worst for her."

Bultar winced, remembering the conversation about Ahsoka not being a Jedi. "It would be. Finder and Hunt-Mother." She shook her head. "Not happening now. Even if, in the end, it was likely what saved her from being killed to break Anakin further, there's not going to be a reason or chance now."

"No ma'am," Rex agreed. "I didn't have any of your men, but with the tasks your unit has, they would have been quickly assimilated. You, however, we knew did not die in that first wave."

"And yet I was not with Ahsoka," Bultar said resolutely. "Do you have any idea? I find myself morbidly curious."

"What little we could make of the rumors, you lured the Emperor's mad dog into a cortosis mine. He survived, and you nor the others in your group did not," Rex said simply. "Apparently Knight Koon also faced him, on Coruscant. That filtered into one of our Senator's spy rings, and was passed on to her."

"At least we tried," Bultar said. "And don't you dare repeat that platitude of the Jedi."

"Never," Rex said. "Though I did finally realize what it meant. 'There is no try' means only to put all you are into any effort, and even if you fail, you did do it."

Bultar smiled broadly, nodding. "My first Master managed to lead me to understand that," she said, letting herself remember the good years, not that last agony of him dying so far from her.

"Interesting man, from all I ever heard," Rex offered.

"Yes, he was. I bet you heard some intere— "

"General, Commander Rex, to the bridge," came an alert, and the only thing that soothed Rex as he shoved his bucket on to accompany her was that the lighting didn't dim to throw power at shields and weapons.

Even Jedi swiftness didn't out-pace Rex's space-eating stride, and they arrived together, Bultar's eyes going to Thrust immediately.

"Secure comm waiting for you, General," Thrust reported. "Coruscant origination. Encrypted."

"Thank you, Commander." She moved to her work space, keying in her codes to bring it up on the display there. She had to read it twice, before drawing in a deep breath.

"Livewire, keep your arrays out listening for any unusual motion or comms from the Separatist side," she said firmly. "Count Dooku is confirmed dead on Serenno, assassinated apparently."

"That… is a distinct change," Rex said, shocked. "We learned, from a source I'd rather not mention, that a Sentinel was there, with that mission, but… he wasn't protected enough from the Dark Side, not until he found the ally I prefer not to mention."

Bultar's lips thinned, before she looked him dead in the eye. "Vos?"

Rex nodded once.

"Maybe he touched something or someone that let him hold onto hope," she murmured. "Force knows what he had to be getting when he touched one of you."

Thrust jerked, and then he nodded sharply. They'd had Vos aboard a couple of time, dropping intel, and it had always been difficult.

"I'll hope so; Cody liked him well enough," Rex said to that, and he meant it. This certainly had to have some sort of fall out on the side of the Jedi saving his brothers, and themselves.

Atin drew in a gasping breath, coming up out of deep sleep with her hands scrabbling at her own throat, sounds of distress in the shrill Togruti pitches. Her eyes were unfocused, and it was all Rex could do to get her into his arms and trap her hands once he could tell there was nothing physically wrong.

Just as quickly as it had hit, it subsided, and Rex felt a phantom ache in his chest, almost like the scar was throbbing with energy. He pushed that aside, just stroking his daughter's head, trying to soothe her from the crying that had settled in.

"Buir!" Atin managed to sob out, and Rex realized he was catching a phantom Force feeling off whatever had just happened in the 501st's area of operation. Only… how were they going to find out, and was Ahsoka of this time alright!

Thrust was the one to answer his burning questions, and Rex was glad of that. Atin was occupied by the General — she'd come with Thrust and offered to do Force lessons with his daughter — and Thrust had settled on the bunk.

Rex took the hint and came to sit next to him, not protesting the arm slung around his shoulders.

"Despite all of your warnings, Skywalker and the 501st wound up on Coruscant at the Chancellor's beck and call," Thrust began. "Details weren't shared officially, but a Lieutenant Tok was too enraged to not put some of it across our coded channels."

"That's 'Soka's company leader," Rex said, his chest tight with apprehension.

Thrust nodded. "The Chancellor, braced with evidence by the Security Council inside the convened Senate, ordered Skywalker to prevent the intended arrest. Tok says the general resisted, until the sleemo implied Amidala would also be implicated and dragged down with him."

Rex closed his eyes, leaning harder into Thrust's hold.

"Commander Tano reacted to Skywalker's submission to the manipulations, and … Skywalker used the Force against her."

"Kriff!"

"Tok's half-squad, and the half-squad under Arc Trooper Fives reacted admirably, vod," Thrust said firmly. "They stunned the general, and even a Jedi can't shrug off or defend eight blasts from hand-picked troops."

Rex shifted to actually look at Thrust. "Ahsoka?" he asked softly.

"Was dropped, thought to be unconscious, as pandemonium broke out," Thrust told him.

"Thought to be?"

That got a small laugh. "The Guard got their buckets on straight, and went after the real traitor, the Chancellor. Somehow, Fox and Thire still up and aiming, when the Chancellor threw lightning in their direction — and Commander Tano managed to intercept and hold it on her crossed lightsabers, buying them the chance to make the kill."

Rex drew in a deep breath, then let it out. "Always with the save," he murmured. "I thought she was out when Grievous nearly killed me, and she intercepted him then too.

"Skywalker?"

"Jedi custody for evaluation and treatment. As the war is not officially over, but the Senate ordered defensive actions only, Tano and your younger self are commanding the 501st with Admiral Yularen's vote of confidence backing the choice."

"That's a hell of a thing," Rex said, not letting his concerns over Yularen crop up; the man, at this point in history, had still been loyal to the Republic. And Ahsoka — his Ahsoka — had believed that Yularen might have been trying to curb the Empire from the inside. He'd roll with that idea for now.

"I told my general, and she felt the Force disturbance from Little Bit the other night, so she decided I'd better tell you Tok's story ahead of whatever official announcements come down the lines," Thrust told him, squeezing.

"I appreciate that," Rex said, even as he wondered just how things would go from here.

"…rex…"

The voice was so faint, and yet it pulled at Rex, drawing him out of his sleep, even as Atin stirred on her bunk.

Why did the Force make demands when they were sleeping?

"rex…"

That was Ahsoka, his Ahsoka… he knew her voice, knew that she was weakening against whatever this was.

"Atin, reach for your buir with all your heart!" he told his daughter as she sat up, her eyes big and hope shining in them. Rex focused on Ahsoka, on the smell of her, on the feel of her muscles coiled for action, on the brilliance of her mind. He didn't know if Atin could focus the Force the way they needed, but they had to try.

A flash of energy that left dancing spots in his vision, and then there was another body in the cabin with them, collapsing against Rex's waiting arms. Atin wavered, half-fell off her bunk, and stumbled over to them both. Tears and quiet murmurs of 'I have you', 'You're here' followed… which was how Bultar found the family when she overrode the quarters' lock to see what had happened.

Slowly, Ahsoka turned her face to the Jedi, unashamed of the hold she kept on her mate and child.

"Thank you, for believing," she said in a hoarse voice, making Rex actually notice she was injured, scorched and bruised all over.

"Kind of hard not to," Bultar said in her driest tone. "You need medical."

"Probably," Ahsoka admitted, and Rex did his best to help her fully to her feet.

"You came back to us," he murmured.

"Can't leave my clan to face the future alone," she answered, even as Bultar scooped Atin up, to keep her from climbing one of her parents.

They were a little wobbly all the way to medical, with Ahsoka explaining the Emperor had attacked her in that place, suspecting her aim to destroy the universe he had built. She quieted long enough to let Bultar look her over, then finished the tale.

"When he was killed at this point, the universe began to fold in on itself… and I reached for you both."

"Did he … manage something like that?" Bultar asked in worry.

Ahsoka smiled. "No… he'd already been made one with the Force."

Rex could only stare, as she reaffirmed how deadly she could be.

"Well, I guess we get to figure out a galaxy that has twice the trouble of a Tano in it," Bultar said with amusement.

Their laughter was a needed draught against how close they had come to losing her in that other timeline, the one they had worked to undo.

Somehow, Rex thought they might actually not find trouble for some time… because they'd given far too much of themselves already to stop it all.

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"The Dawnhounds" by Sascha Stronach

This week I finished The Dawnhounds, the first book of the The Endsong series by Sascha Stronach.

This book has been compared to Gideon the Ninth, which I think does it a disservice, because while there are enjoyable things about it, if you go into it expecting The Locked Tomb, I think you're going to be disappointed. They are not on the same level.

Protagonist Yat's homeland—the port city of Hainak—is implied to have been colonized and fought a revolution to escape that, but while some of the changes have been welcome—the embrace of "biotech," freedom of determination—her home is in the throes of sliding from one abusive regime to another. They have thrown off the yoke of colonization, but as Yat comes to slowly realize over the course of the novel, what they replaced it with isn't much better.

Yat is in a prime position to realize this. A former street rat turned cop who joined the police in hopes of making a positive change for people like herself, she's been slowly worn down over the years into someone who simply closes her eyes to the worse abuses by the government and partakes herself in the lesser offenses. The kick-off for the story isn't any of that though—it's that Yat is demoted after her coworkers learn she's patronized a queer bar. She's blundering through the fallout of that—continuing to patronize that same bar, and using drugs to cope—when the fantasy plot hits her in the head.

Unfortunately, here is where the novel began to lose me. I think the comparisons with The Locked Tomb arise from the way The Dawnhounds throws the reader into the plot with the promise of revealing more information later. Except that where TLT is a masterclass in subterfuge and gradual reveals that make perfect sense in retrospect, and in some cases reframed entire characters and story arcs, The Dawnhounds just...never really reveals the information.

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