We continue the story. Jack has been abducted, and Optimus has put out the call for Captain Sari.
Sari was sitting in Autobot Central with Bumblebee.
"So how's things on Skybolt, Sar?"
"It's very exciting! We had our first training exercise. Bee, it was so real! I'd love for you to join us sometime."
"That would be terrific! Let's plan on it!"
Ratchet came in to the common area. "Sari? Urgent message from your father. You need to return to Outpost Omega One immediately. Jack's been abducted by the Decepticons."
"What?!" she exclaimed, and got up from the couch.
"Oh, Sar! I'm so sorry! Let me go with you to Sumdac Tower," said Bee. And the two headed straight for Isaac's space bridge.
"Hello, my dear," said Isaac as she and Bumblebee came up the freight elevator. "What terrible news! I'm ready for you," and giving her a hug, he turned and rushed to the console.
"Good luck," said Bee. "Let me know if we can be of any assistance."
"Will do, Bee!" And flying up to his arms, she gave him a kiss, and they embraced before the Cyber-Ninja turned to fly into the blue and yellow orb.
Coming out of the space bridge tunnel at Outpost Omega One, Sari was met by Optimus and Arcee.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Jack and I were at Ayers Rock investigating an Energon vein," said Arcee, "and when we came out, we were attacked by a new Predacon of Shockwave's. I didn't see it, but Jack told me through our SparkBond link. It has a claw on its tail that injects Mech-venom. It struck me first, on the back, then Jack. When I awoke, Jack was gone. He's on the Nemesis."
"I'm so sorry, Captain," said Arcee, "it's my fault. We were too relaxed after exiting the cave. I should have been more cautious."
"No, don't blame yourself, Arcee," said Sari.
"If Jack is on the Nemesis, we will initiate a rescue," said Optimus.
"But with its cloaking mechanism, finding it will be impossible!" said Ratchet from the bridge controls. "How can we get aboard?"
Sari closed her optics, sensing something.
"What is it, Captain?" asked Optimus.
"Can you bridge me to the location where Arcee and Jack were attacked?" she asked Ratchet.
"Of course," he replied, "but I don't see what good that will do. The Predacon is long gone."
"If you could please do so, regardless," she smiled. "I have a sense in my Spark that something is awaiting me there."
"Let me go with you," said Arcee, and Sari nodded. The two fembots stepped into the bridge. Exiting, they were met by Jarlie, the Aborigine wise man and friend of the Autobots. He was sitting by a fire at the entrance to the cave.
"Welcome, Sari! Right on time," he said, in his native Yir-Yoront.
"Hello, Jarlie! I sensed there would be a reason for me to come here. Please let me introduce a companion of mine. This is Arcee," Sari replied.
"Hello, Arcee! Always nice to meet another blue eyes," he smiled.
"Arcee, this is Jarlie, the leader of the local human population, and a very wise and powerful friend of the Autobots," Sari told her.
"Nice to meet you, Jarlie," she said.
"I am sorry about Jack. I sensed his abduction from that red eye flying demon, and came here to wait for you. I knew you would need some information about how to find him."
"Thank you, Jarlie. Any information you may have would be very much appreciated."
"Come, sit by the fire," he motioned to the two bots.
"Arcee, he wants us to sit around his camp fire," explained Sari.
"Sari, I don't see how…," but the Cyber-Ninja persisted. "There may be some things you don't understand, but please, trust me; Jarlie has helped the Autobots in many ways." And Arcee went over to the fire and sat down.
Jarlie threw a handful of dust-like material onto the fire, and with a bright flash, a mist opened up above the three. The mist became a window into a past event. It was when Sari was battling Megatron here in the outback.
"I remember this!" said Arcee. "Bulkhead and I were inside the other cave, mining the Energon, when you, Sari, Wheeljack, and Jazz started fighting. We finished up and came out of the cave. After the battle, we saw Starscream helping Megatron into a space bridge; his arm had been cut off – by you!"
"I had help," Sari smiled. "From Jarlie here. He had blinded Megatron."
"Thank you for lending a hand that time," Sari told Jarlie.
"One more thing, Sari," Jarlie replied. "Observe." And the image in the window became more focused. A thin mist could be seen coming out from the cave. Undetectable to anyone in the window, the mist swirled and worked its way over to Megatron, until it suddenly rushed into his stump.
"Uluru lent a hand," explained Jarlie, "implanting a piece of itself in the red eye's body through his stump. He is detectable to me now, and I can show you how to find him, and finding him, you can find his ship, and thus find Jack."
Sari's optics opened wide! "Arcee! We have a way to find the Nemesis!"
"What? How?"
"The spirit of Ayers Rock implanted a piece of itself into Megatron's body when I cut off his arm. Jarlie is able to detect his location, and he will show me how." Sari turned to her friend. "Yes, Jarlie! Please show me how to find the red eye."
"Let us meditate," he replied, and the two closed their eyes. Jarlie led Sari in the spirit realm, and brought her to the domain of Uluru. She bowed before the Spirit.
"Thank you, Uluru, for letting the blue eyes harvest the crystals," she said.
"You are welcome, Sari. It is your food. Thank you for fighting the evil red eyes. They slaughter Jarlie's people."
"Here is the means to locate the red eye, whom I implanted with my soil." And Uluru endowed her with the means to locate Megatron.
"Good luck, Sari. I will lend a hand wherever I can."
"Thank you, Uluru." And Jarlie led Sari back to the campsite. They got up.
"You must go now," said Jarlie. "Good luck to both of you."
"Thank you, Jarlie!" Sari replied.
"Thank you!" said Arcee, and got on her comm. "Ratchet, bridge us back."
"So, when you cut off his arm, this Spirit implanted some soil in Megatron's body?" asked Ratchet, somewhat incredulously.
"Correct," said Sari, "and the Spirit – Uluru – has given me the means to locate Megatron by locating its soil. By locating Megatron, we can locate the Nemesis."
"Well," scoffed the medic, "forgive me, Captain Sari, but I'll believe that when I see it."
"Do not doubt the abilities of the Cyber-Ninjas, or this planet's spiritual sages," said Optimus. "There's much more than meets the optic."
"I have to re-assemble my team," Sari replied.
Raf was in his old room, reading a book to his little brother Miguel, when Pilar knocked on the door. "Hey, Raf? Captain Sari is here; sounds urgent." Concerned, Raf got up and went into the living room.
"Captain? What's happening?"
"Bad news, Raf. I'm afraid Jack's been abducted by the Decepticons."
"Dios mío!" responded Mrs. Esquivel.
"Give me a minute – I'll get ready!" said Raf, and ran back into his room.
"Raf? What's going on?" asked Miguel.
"Sorry, Miguel, but I've got to go. Jack's in big trouble, and I have to help."
"Aw! When will I see you again?"
Raf kissed him on the forehead. "Soon, I promise!" And grabbing his things, he rushed back into the living room.
"Goodbye, Mama, Pilar. Give the baby a kiss for me, OK?"
"I will, Raf!" and his sister hugged him.
"Oh, mi hijo! Take care!" And pulling his face down, his mother hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you!"
"I love you, Mama!" And turning to Sari, he said, "I'm ready." And stepping outside, Sari called Ro for the bridge to Skybolt.
"Now, I have to get Miko," said Sari. "Ro, please bridge me to Miko's house in Japan. And the Sirian Transport Tech set the controls.
"All ready for you, Captain," she said, and switching to "human" mode, Sari stepped in.
Leaving the bridge, she stood in front of the Nakadai house. Walking up to the door, she rang the bell. Mr. Nakadai opened the door.
"Captain Sari!"
Sari bowed low. "Good evening, Mr. Nakadai. Please forgive the interruption, but it is very urgent that I speak with Miko."
Mr. Nakadai returned the bow. "I am sorry, Captain, but Miko is at that 'Slash Monkey' concert."
"Oh, of course! It was tonight."
"I can drive you to the stadium."
"Oh thank you! You are most kind." And getting in their car, Mr. Nakadai drove Sari to the stadium where Slash Monkey was performing.
"This is the stadium, Captain, but without a ticket, you may find it difficult to get in."
"Yes, I may have to resort to other measures. Thank you very much for the ride. I will locate her." And Sari got out and bid farewell to Mr. Nakadai.
Security at the stadium was very tight. Lacking a ticket, she could find no way to get inside. The music was loud, even from outside in the street. The concert would be going on for at least another hour or so. Sighing, she thought, "well, let's hope they think this is part of the act," and transformed into "bot" mode.
Powering up the plasma boosters on her pedes and servos, she flew over the wall and entered the stadium.
"Whoa! What's that?" yelled one of the Japanese concert goers, "someone flying with a jet pack? Cool!"
Looking down, there was no way for Sari to make out Miko from the thousand or so screaming fans. "Knowing Miko, she's probably moshing," and tried looking closer to the stage. Scanning for a few seconds, she wasn't having any luck. "Oh boy," she sighed, and decided on a desperate maneuver. Landing on stage, she looked down.
"Miko! Are you down there?" she yelled. But the fans just screamed back in ecstasy, drowning out her voice; they assumed this was all part of Slash Monkey's act.
"Sari?" yelled Miko, seeing her on stage. She tried getting closer, but security pushed her back. "Hey!" she yelled at them.
Meanwhile, Slash Monkey had stopped playing, seeing this strange robot land on their stage. Sari looked to the side and saw security rushing toward her. She ran to the lead guitarist's mike and yelled, "Miko! If you can hear my voice, transform and follow me!" And before security could grab her, she took off back into the sky.
Miko meanwhile, had been trying to force herself on stage, and was – as usual – getting in trouble. Several security guards had grabbed her, trying to pull her down. "Get off me, dudes!" she yelled at them; then, she heard Sari's call to transform. With a devilish grin, she looked at her assailants and yelled, "OK, you asked for it!" and with a yellow flash, transformed into her Predacon form! The security guards all got thrown back, in shock! Smart phones flashed all over the stadium, snapping pictures of this whole scene. Loving every minute of it, Miko gave a toothy Predacon grin, and yelling "Hey! Be sure to get my good side!" spread wide her pink and purple wings and took off into the sky.
"Dude! What the heck was that all about?" asked the drummer, talking to the lead guitarist.
"Beats me! Must be one of those Japanese special effects things. Next song! One! Two! One two three four!..."
Miko followed Sari back to her parent's house. Transforming to "human" mode, she griped, "the concert was only half over! Why'd you take me away?"
"Miko, Jack's been abducted by the Decepticons."
"What?! For real?"
"I'm afraid so. I've already got Raf. We've got to formulate a rescue plan."
"Oh, God, Jack!" She cried. "I'm sorry I was angry, Captain! Let me get my things," and ringing her doorbell, she went in to gather her belongings and say goodbye to her parents. Sari contacted Ro to open a bridge, and the two returned to Skybolt.
The Skystrikers, Agent Fowler, and Colonel Mitchell met on Skybolt with Optimus, Arcee and Bumblebee to plan a rescue.
"I can locate the Nemesis, and Colonel Mitchell can bring Skybolt right beside it," said Sari.
"Won't the Decepticons detect your ship's approach?" asked Arcee.
"Not with our Slipstream capability," said Colonel Mitchell. "Thanks to Raf, we've got that under control. "We can operate completely outside of phase, and sidle right up to the Nemesis without them seeing us."
"Have they done anything to Raf since his capture?" asked Optimus.
"Right now, he's in their prison hold," said Arcee, "with stasis cuffs on his wrists and ankles. He's been in Knockout's operating room as well as Shockwave's lab, but only for examinations – so far."
"The rescue team will consist of the Skystrikers, Bumblebee and Arcee," said Fowler. "Raf, as soon as you get on board, use your cloaking device to find your way undetected to a console and disable their warning systems. Jack also spoke about using him for some experiments. Try to search their databases to uncover what they have in mind."
"Roger."
"Sari, you and Arcee find Jack," said Optimus. "Use your connections to him to detect his location. Bumblebee, provide cover for them, and get him out of there."
"Acknowledged," they said.
"And Miko, we've learned that Shockwave's created a new Predacon. Should it attack the rescue team, I want you to protect them from it," said Sari.
"Yes, Captain."
Using the knowledge gained from Jarlie, Sari guided Colonel Mitchell as he piloted the Skybolt to where the Nemesis was orbiting. Using the slipstream technology, they were able to approach it in stealth.
"Jack! We're about to board the Nemesis! Where are you?"
"I'm being brought to Shockwave's lab!"
"He's with Shockwave," she told them.
The rescue team bridged over near that location. As soon as they boarded, Raf touched the controller on his arm and faded until he disappeared. He left the team and headed down a hallway, looking for a console. All had maps of the Nemesis, either in their processor, or in Raf's case, in his Agent X helmet.
"Remote console found, Captain," reported Raf, "entering Decepticon systems now. Disabling their warning systems."
"Acknowledged, Raf," said Sari.
"Alright. Shockwave's lab is down the hall and around this corner," said Arcee. "Let's go."
"I'll never transform for you, Shockwave!" Jack yelled, "You'll never get my DNA!"
"Your DNA is not necessary," replied Shockwave, as he plunged a syringe into the left side of Jack's helm.
"Aaah!" Jack screamed.
"Oh!" groaned Arcee, holding the side of her helm. "They just stuck something into his helm."
"Let's hurry!" yelled Sari.
Turning the corner, they were met by Starscream and a platoon of Vehicons.
"What…? Autobots? Attack!" he yelled. And a battle ensued. Miko transformed into her Predacon form and sprayed fire on the front line of Vehicons. Arcee, Bumblebee and Sari returned fire at the remaining Decepticons.
Starscream ran to a wall unit to sound the alarm, but he found it inoperable. "What is this?" he yelled, banging his fist on the wall. He then got on his comm to reach Megatron, but could not hail him. "Lord Megatron! We're under attack!" Nothing. "Shockwave!" Silence. "Knockout! Are you there? Anyone!" Sari had used Processor-Over-Matter to shut down Starscream's comm.
"I'm done with him, doctor," said Shockwave. "There is sufficient CNA for the procedure."
"Procedure? What procedure?" demanded Jack, groaning from the pain of the injection.
"None of your business, boy!" Said Knockout, holding a glowing black and blue cable, with a connector at the end.
"My turn!" Said the Decepticon medic gleefully, shoving the connector onto Jack's helm. The cable was connected to a large monitor, and prods in the connector worked their way into Jack's processor. He immediately sensed it accessing his memories.
He tried resisting, but he couldn't.
"Oh, what's the matter, Jack?" Knockout laughed, "having trouble keeping my cortical psychic patch out of your processor?"
"Jack began falling into a trance, his optics staring straight ahead. "Cortical..psychic…patch?"
"Yes! A lovely little device, developed by Shockwave here. Originally designed to allow the mind of one Transformer to be joined with another, but with a few modifications, we can also use it for some, shall we say, data mining?"
"Data…mining?"
"You're getting rather monotone there, Jack," mocked Knockout. "Little side-effect of the procedure," he chuckled. "Now! Let's see. What shall we mine for here…oh, I don't know! How about…the location of the Autobot's base?"
"No…won't…let…you."
"Oh! But that's your problem, Jack! You see, since you've been here, I've learned something about you! At first, I wondered about those odd expressions you'd make – almost seemed like you were talking to someone! Then when I examined you, I discovered – aw, isn't it sweet! You're SparkBonded! And SparkBonded bots no longer have the ability to resist the probing of the patch."
"So tell me, Jack – I'm dying to know, who's the lucky bot? Oh!" he laughed. "Don't bother; why, I can find out for myself!"
"Knockout, logic dictates that information of that nature is secondary to finding the Autobot base," said Shockwave.
"Yes, yes, I know; I was just teasing," said the medic. "Base first, sweetie pie second."
"No…please."
"Arcee… cortical psychic patch…learning location…Autobot base."
"Oh no!" said Arcee, in the middle of the battle.
"What is it?" said Sari.
"It's Jack! They've put the cortical psychic patch on him! He'll give them Intel on our base!"
"I've got to stop him!" And Sari reached out to Jack's Spark.
"Jack, I'm sorry to have to do this." And she used her Cyber-Ninja powers to shut down his processor and lock his Spark.
"Sensei? What…are…you…doing?"
"I'm sorry, Jack…sorry, Jack…sorry, Jack" her communication to him faded from his consciousness.
Jack's POV
Emergency Shutdown Commencing…
Mechanical Systems Offline…
Weapons Systems Offline…
T-Cog Offline…
Internal Systems Offline…
Backup Systems Offline…
Spark Shutdown…complete
Processor Offline…
Sari then put a cold stasis on Jack's Spark, effectively shutting him down completely. All the Vehicons were dispatched, leaving only Starscream. Sari flew up to his face. "Remember me? I picked you up and slammed your face into the sidewalk! Shall I do it again?" And used Processor-Over-Matter to levitate him.
"Aaah! Put me down, wench!"
"As you wish." She touched his Spark Chamber to paralyze him, and let him drop to the ground with a thud.
"Ow! Release me at once!" he yelled.
"Not likely," she replied, then landing, turned to look at Arcee. She was leaning against the wall with one arm, grimacing in pain, her other servo over her Spark Chamber. Bumblebee came up to her.
"Arcee? Are you alright?" he asked her.
"No," she replied.
"It's the SparkBonding," Sari explained. "I had to shut Jack down to stop the cortical psychic patch. When I put a cold stasis on his Spark, I'm afraid it would feel to you the same as if he died. I will revive him once we get him back to base."
Inside Knockout's lab, Jack's optics went dark. The cortical psychic patch stopped glowing.
"What? What happened?" asked Knockout. He examined the Technorganic. "Nothing! No Spark, no processor; did we…kill him?"
"Shockwave stepped up to examine the Technorganic. "It would appear that his life systems are no longer functioning."
"Well, I did manage to get some information out of him," sighed Knockout. Examining the data, he grinned. "Ah ha! Something good indeed!"
"The Autobot base?" asked the Decepticon scientist.
"Looks that way! I ought to be able to piece things together! So…what do we do with…him?" looking at the seemingly dead Jack.
"Logic dictates that he not go to waste. I can use his parts in my experiments."
Just then, the door to the lab opened up – courtesy of Sari. All weapons turned to the two Decepticons. Miko's mouth was open wide, glowing bright yellow and charged to the hottest temperature.
"Hand over Jack!" demanded Sari.
"You're outnumbered!" yelled Arcee.
"Don't shoot!" cried Knockout. "Besides, you're too late! Jack's dead."
"Then you won't have any problems returning him to us," said Bumblebee.
"Oh? You want him?" said Knockout, picking Jack up from the operating table. "Well, you see," he said, pretending to walk to the Autobots, but inching close to a hatch, "oftentimes, when my partner here has experiments he no longer needs…he throws them in HERE!" And he quickly lifted the ejection hatch and threw Jack in!
"No! Jack!" yelled Arcee, reaching out a servo.
"Oopsie! I'm afraid Jack's on his way out the Nemesis, and down, down, down! Oh! Arcee! I should have guessed!" Knockout laughed. "You're the sweetie!"
"Damn you!" she replied, and lifted up her blaster to strike the medic, but during the distraction, Shockwave had lifted up his blaster, and blew off Arcee's arm!"
"Aaah!" she screamed!
"Retreat!" yelled Sari, and they ran out of the lab. Sari shut the door and put a lock on it to keep Knockout and Shockwave from leaving. She got on her comm, "Colonel! Jack's been ejected from the Nemesis! He's unconscious! Emergency bridge!"
"Acknowledged, Captain," said Mitchell, and piloted Skybolt to locate Jack's falling body, while Ro initiated an emergency bridge under him.
"Now how do we get out?" asked Miko.
"We fight our way," said Sari.
"That won't be necessary, Captain," said Raf.
"Raf? Where are you?"
"I'm on Skybolt with Jack. I detected the ejection hatch, and when I heard your transmission, I left the Nemesis and used my jet pack to fly down to catch him. Ro is opening a bridge for you now." And a bridge opened up for them inside the Decepticon ship.
In the Skybolt sick bay, Sari removed the stasis from Jack's Spark, and rebooted his systems. Arcee immediately began recovering from the "death" sensations. Jack's optics opened.
"Hey there," said Arcee, looking down at her Sparkmate. "You gave us quite a scare."
"Oh, hi," said Jack weakly, smiling. "Where am I?"
"You're on Skybolt, in sick bay," said Ratchet, "and you'll be here for a while. I've got to take care of those holes in your helm. That vapor trash of a medic Knockout doesn't give one whit about the side-effects of his so-called medical efforts. But I'll have you back together soon enough."
Jack looked at Arcee's temporary arm. "Arcee! What happened?!"
"Little battle wound I got while rescuing you," she replied. "But it was worth it, to have you back with us," she smiled. "Red Alert's protoforming a replacement for me."
"Sensei," said Jack, turning to Sari, "Shockwave took my CNA."
"He drilled far into your processor," said Ratchet.
"But he said getting my human DNA was not necessary, Ratchet. Why do you suppose that is? I would have thought he would be trying to make another clone, like Kālī, but to do that, wouldn't he need both?"
"I can provide information about that," said Raf. I retrieved all of Shockwave's records regarding his latest project. There's a great deal of data to sift through, but it appears that he and Starscream are planning on a new type of Decepticon force, using your CNA."
"What? How?"
"I'm going to study all the data, and put together a report."
"You can learn about this in time," said Ratchet. Right now, I want you to rest. The Skystrikers and Team Prime will meet to discuss this about the time I release you."
After Jack's recovery, he rejoined the crew and both groups met on Skybolt to hear Raf's report.
"Shockwave and Starscream have begun a new project," Raf began. "It involves building an army of Technorganics."
Everyone was shocked! "Technorganics? How? Have they found Sparkling Protoforms?" asked Sari.
"No," he replied. "They will create these Technorganics from human volunteers, who will agree to have their bodies altered to make them such."
"But, then won't they be cyborgs, like they had done with my mother?" asked Jack.
"Not cyborgs, no," said Raf. These humans will be converted into full Technorganics, with T-cogs, processors, and Sparks. They will be able to transform from "human" mode to "bot" mode, and be endowed with various weaponry, as had been done with Kālī."
"Shockwave believes that one reason for Kālī's failure was her inexperience. She was newly "born", and this contributed to her reckless, wild nature. That is why Starscream will enlist Earth teens to join the Decepticon cause.
"Recruiting Earth teens to keep their Technorganics from being reckless and wild? They don't know human teenagers very well," laughed Miko.
"That's where Jack's CNA comes in," explained Raf. "In their 'bot' mode, Shockwave will ensure that Jack's more calm, rational nature will take over."
"Where is Starscream recruiting from?" asked Jack.
"Runaways, abandoned kids, teens living on the edge of society. He will promise them a place where they can feel welcome – if you consider being among Decepticons a welcoming place – and grant them incredible powers, as long as they pledge allegiance to Megatron."
"This is terrible!" said Sari. Has he begun this?"
"Yes. He's begun recruiting, and has a few interested applicants. The last piece of this project was getting enough CNA from an existing Technorganic. That was where Jack's abduction came in, I'm afraid to say."
"How many recruits does Starscream have?" asked Optimus.
"Shockwave's most recent entry indicates that Starscream has found five potential recruits: four males and one female."
"You allowed Autobots on to the ship?!" yelled Megatron to his lieutenant.
"I, I assure you, my lord, we had no idea!" Said a cowering Starscream. "There was a malfunction in the detection systems! When they were found, I tried to alert you and the crew, but nothing happened!"
"At least, we were able to get valuable information from that Technorganic using the cortical psychic patch!" And he turned to Knockout.
"Yes! Look what I was able to retrieve, my liege! Data on the location of the Autobot's base!" And he turned to a video screen, which crackled to life. The image at first was hazy, but then, became crystal clear. There were bright lights and flashes, and loud music, with musicians on stage! While hacking in to the Decepticon's systems, Raf had replaced all of the data downloaded from Jack's processor with a live "Slash Monkey" concert!
"What…?" Knockout and Starscream looked on, horrified at the replaced data!
"What is this, some kind of joke?" Megatron picked both of them up by the necks. "Do you take me for a fool?!" And threw them out of the throne room.
"You said you'd retrieved the data!" yelled Starscream at the medic.
"I did! It was in there!"
"And I assume you remember what you saw?"
"Uh, no. I was, er, too busy…looking for the name of Jack's…Sparkmate."
"Aaargh!" yelled Starscream, and slapped Knockout across the face.
So at least the location of Outpost Omega One is still a secret, thanks to the Skystriker's hacker! But now both they and Team Prime have a new opponent to concern them: these Technorganics, manufactured from human recruits and fashioned by Shockwave.
NOTE: The idea for these Technorganics come from another FanFiction writer, TheSealer. Many thanks! Once I introduce you to them, I will give you more information on TheSealer's incredible work regarding these characters – including art depictions, but I don't want to spoil it yet. Stay tuned!
(Oh, and saving the Miko / Ripclaw battle for a later chapter. It deserves a bit more story than will fit here).
Thanks for reading. Please review.
NOTE: As much as I would like, I'm not able to respond to Guest Reviews.
