The Gamma Hounds POV

  Without waiting for an order or any sort of response, Evan launched one of the largest payload explosives he had into the back of the asteroid with the biggest group of pirates attached to it. Even with his preemptive shot, the pirates had already swarmed like hornets, erupting from the opposite side of nearly every asteroid like someone had hit their nest with a rock.

  Evan detonated the explosive, taking the asteroid and all the pirates still on it with the press of a button. No less than fifteen pirates were taken out by the high-powered explosive, with another six being unfortunates who were too close to dodge the shrapnel.

  But Evan paid little attention to his kill count as Emerald’s voice came over the com screen. “We’ve got Outcasts and Reavers! We’re looking at a strong mix of Hewards and Talons.”

  Shortly after her announcement, Galvus’s voice came over comms. “Focus the Talons, the Hewards can be dealt with as we go! There’s a reason Reaver trash stays on the rim.”

  The nobles present scrambled to follow Galvus’s order, all the while more ships continued to spew from the asteroid field.

  Blaster beams of varying power erupted from the advancing noble groups, their Argonauts and limited number of Hewards focusing solely on the Talons. Which worked to some extent, as each group took out three to four Talons! Sadly the rest of this skirmish went rather poorly as the ignored Hewards were able to focus uninterrupted fire on the flanks of each formation of nobles.

  If not for the fact that within moments explosions began erupting in the noble ranks, as the ignored Hewards focused fire on the fighters making up the edges of each formation.

  Friendly IFFs began disappearing from the navigation console. Signal Lost started to form an artificial border around the varying squads of each noble.

  “Hounds, focus on those Hewards!” Emerald ordered as the Hounds went on the hunt.

  The first to attack after Evan’s initial explosion was Ratchet. The fennec’s smaller-form Argonaut zipped forward, without firing off a single blaster shot. Instead, he cut off a group of close to ten pirates. The speed and suddenness of the act caused the Talons and Hewards to delay for a fraction of a moment before targeting him. It was enough time for the fennec to reroute his shields entirely to the direction of the now pursuing pirates. The act bought him a few moments as opposed to leaving his shield on the standard 360 formation.

  It was enough time for Ratchet to flip a switch, dislodging a mid-sized canister from the top of his Argonaut.

  The pirates maneuvered to dodge it, thinking it another bomb they tried to dart for the nearest astroid past it, but after a moment it expanded into a large monofiliment net, visibly crackled as arcs of electricity shot off of it, some of them arcing into the Talons and Hewards, completely frying the internal circuitry and sending them right into the net, where upon their forward momentum wrapped it not only around them but the fighters around them. Caught in the trap, and unable to change direction the ships slammed into each other erupting into a brilliant explosion.

  “Two on my tail!” Ratchet said into his comms as he looped back around to the rest of the Hounds.

  In pursuit were two of the ten ships, a Talon and a Heward, who rather than boost forward opted to swing back behind nearby smaller asteroids. Within moments a stream of death erupted from the Alis, slicing through the cockpits of the pursuing Heward and Talon. There was no explosion, but with the pilots undeniably dead the ships veered off course and into the void of space.

  “Lord Galvus, they’re closing in on me!” a pampered-looking lab dressed in finery said in a panic over the larger channel. The navigation console showing that all nine of his hangers-on were now dead and debris.

  Emerald let out a frustrated snarl as she listened. “Good play, Ratchet, but the idiots we’re saddled with lost six more in the meantime,” Emerald said as she and Nia darted around the perimeter of the noble formation, trying to keep the panicking nobles alive.

  The two of them danced a spiral around the formation, their high-grade blasters tearing through the kill-hungry pirates left and right, able to maintain a one-to-one shot-to-kill ratio as their lasers pierced through the unshielded flanks of the countless Hewards.

  Each of them racking up no less than eight kills before pulling back, only doing so when the noble in question erupted into a scream before the now familiar Signal Lost flashed across, taking the place of his IFF on the nav console.

  Emerald cursed to herself before signaling to Nia to turn around. Unlike their push toward the target, however, there were now Reavers and Outcasts moving to intercept them. Unfortunately for the pirates, that exposed their backs to Evan and Ratchet.

  The two Hounds moved in and unleashed their blasters on the exposed flanks of the pirates. Two down, but more moved to intercept, prompting Evan to once again use the chain gun, taking down three more and creating the opening needed for Emerald and Nia to regroup.

  Already the Gerralian nobles were down to around sixty ships, having lost forty.

  “We losing numbers too fast. We may need to pull back,” Nia said after checking the nav console.

  “Too many between us and any potential retreat. We’re not boxed in, but the only direction we have open is towards the research station,” Evan stated, firing off a charged shot and taking a banged-up Talon.

  Galvus’s voice came over the line again. “All remaining fighters behind me, retreat and regroup. Those cut off, push forward to the research station. They’ve been notified and will support any incoming Gerralian ships!”

  “Shit,” Emerald cursed as she saw they were firmly in the latter category.

  “Only way out is forward, cap,” Ratchet said, as he forwarded potential routes to the rest of the team.

  “Scorpion formation. Carve a path through that asteroid field, now!” Emerald said to her squad.

  Up ahead, several nobles and what little remained of their entourages tried to force their way through at breakneck speeds, only to crash into intercepting pirates—or, if they overestimated their abilities, into the asteroids.

  For a moment, Emerald had considered lending aid to the nobles—if not for them, then for their entourage and guards, who were just men and women trying to make a living. But a growing disadvantage, and the tendency of drowning men to drag others with them, forced her to stay her hand.

  Taking formation, Emerald became the forward, Nia and Ratchet took up the left and right flanks respectively, while Evan flew at the rear, taking a higher position relative to his squad members. It placed him in the most danger, but the Alis’s 360 maneuverability allowed him to take the most advantage of the position.

  “Advance!” Emerald ordered, and true to command the Gamma Hounds accelerated further into the asteroid field, all the while more of the hapless nobles’ IFFs changed to Signal Lost.

  Including those left on the other side of the pirates, the initial force of around one-hundred Gerralians was down to just twenty-seven. The pirates, on the other hand, still numbered close to 110. While the numerical disadvantage had shrunk slightly, those still alive mostly included Galvus’s group, and a few nobles who had left their guards to die. It also included the Gamma Hounds, who were now far behind enemy lines.

  Initial resistance to the Hounds’ forward push was light, as they only encountered two Talons who had hung back in case of a situation like this where the Gerralians tried to push through. They were dealt with easily enough by a quick volley from Emerald and Nia, who barely gave the Outcasts time to take aim.

  Unfortunately the pirates likely received a similar Signal Lost notification, as the response was immediate, with dozens of pirates breaking their pursuit to come after the Hounds.

  The first group tried to gun it straight for the clustered Argonauts, flying right under Evan, who immediately laid a stream of chain gun fire into the pursuing Hewards, nearly sawing them in half and breaking the reactor of one of them, causing an explosion that tore chunks out of the asteroids around them. Evan maneuvered around them easily enough, but another set of pursuing pirates weren’t so lucky, spelling the end for two more Reavers.

  But the number of pursuers kept increasing, so they didn’t slow down. Evan sent out a scan pulse and picked up three Talons skirting the side of their group.

  “There must be a low-density area to our right flank. We have three Talons overtaking us—expect company, Nia!” Evan called out over comms.

  “I got you,” Nia practically purred in response as she dove down.

  Not a moment later two Talons zipped between two asteroids on their right flank, shooting past Nia’s former position and going straight for Emerald, only for a charged red blaster bolt to hit the right Talon’s left wing, forcing the left Talon to bank out of the way to avoid it. Emerald took advantage of the misposition and quickly dispatched the Talon with a volley of her own.

  “Scans show we’re coming to the edge of the field,” Nia announced as the right Talon finished careening into an asteroid.

  “The coordinates from our debriefing are showing it should be a straight shot to the research station,” Ratchet added.

  Evan checked his nav console. “Looks like the rest of our pursuers are breaking off.”

  Emerald frowned. “Reavers peeled off?” she said in confusion.

  Evan’s helmeted head appeared on the communication panel. “Worse. Outcasts peeled off.”

  Ratchet’s big-eared head soon joined Evan’s. “Why’s that worse?”

  “Outcasts are former military. Their group is known for its discipline,” Evan explained. “Which makes it all the more worrying that they suddenly and cleanly backed off.”

  Nia’s face joined the group now. “I can hazard a guess.”

  Emerald, who was now starting to get a clear picture, sucked in air through clenched teeth. “How many aces did you guys see?”

  “I’m sure you know what my guess is,” Nia said as a scowl formed on her face.

  “Their aces are either on the base already or lying in wait,” Emerald concluded. “Think we could get out of the asteroid field and skim it for a bit before diving back through into the Gerral system?” she asked.

  Evan’s helmet shook in the negative. “The Talons that left didn’t head straight back, so they’re more than likely forming a perimeter. We can try, but standard Poluxi tactics would have them start sweeping towards the center, meaning we’d likely run into a wall of fighters and be forced back into the asteroid belt, where I reckon a number of Reavers will be waiting with another ambush.”

  “We only have one real option then: push forward and try to break through their aces, or hope they left a token force while the majority engage their ground assault on the research station,” Emerald said with finality.

  A round of approval and confirmation came from each of the Hounds as their heads disappeared from the display.

  As one, the Hounds advanced forth, weaving through the last bit of the asteroid field before finally breaking through to the other side.

  Each Hound acted with varying levels of surprise to the sight that greeted them. Dead ahead of them, the research station was visible in the distance. But what surprised them was the scene between the Hounds and their quarry.

  In between them, a three-way battle waged on between Gerralian light-blue Argonauts, black-and-red Outcast Talons, and rusty-brown Reaver Argonauts.

  “What on Earth?” Evan said, his voice keying into the comm channel.

  Nia and Ratchet were too absorbed watching the scene in front of them to pay attention to the terminology. Emerald, on the other hand, felt her grip tighten as her head whipped in the direction of Evan’s Alis.

  Oliver POV

  Oliver watched the battle below as he continued to fly a perimeter around the carnage. The group of Talons were clearly piloted by the aces of the Outcasts, as even with the loss of the element of surprise they were putting up a decent fight. At one point they almost seemed to be turning the fight around. This was done when the Talons had baited six Argonauts into a killzone, quickly taking out three of them.

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  Considering the research station had only fielded fifteen Argonauts, losing six would have been a significant blow.

  Except one of the Argonauts began to take on an almost purple hue and charged into the line. Then the violet haze erupted from the ship in a wave, almost like an expanding bubble. Strangely enough, both the Argonaut and the Talons forming the killzone simply stopped moving. They appeared online, but it was as if the pilots simply ceased to exist.

  Oliver swallowed what little saliva was left in his mouth after that display and was unable to suppress a shudder.

  The move had taken out roughly half the Talons, leaving the group with just ten. Still a numerical advantage over the Argonauts, but considering the experimental weapons…

  Just as it looked like all hope was lost for the Outcast aces, he heard Huey’s voice key up on the radio. “I dun fancy takin on dat weapon wit jus us. Whad’ya say we move in an ‘help’ our friends, afore sweepin this board clean?”

  At that, the Reavers all detached from their perch and shot towards the ongoing dog fights. Immediately the Reavers opened up with a volley of blaster fire, taking out the two surviving Argonauts from the killzone.

  However, the Outcasts had lost two more of their remaining ten Talons.

  Upon seeing the Reavers’ arrival, the Outcasts immediately moved to build up the force’s perceived reinforcements, and for now that perception was correct. Seeing the new numerical disadvantage, the remaining Gerralian Argonauts shot back towards the research station. The remaining pirates moved to pursue, but the Reavers slowed down ever so slightly to give the Outcasts a lead.

  “Olly, stay back, we’re going to let the Outcasts leave the Slicer’s range for a moment.”

  The group was getting extremely close to the research station now, but the moment the Outcasts left the signal dead zone provided by the Slicer, a number of mounted gun emplacements made themselves known.

  Within seconds a salvo of blaster, kinetic, and explosive fire turned the Talons into debris.

  “Hmm, Olly looks like we gunna need you fo a safe landin,” Huey said, right as one of the flanking Argonauts exploded.

  “Da hell wus dat?” Huey sputtered as the Reavers all turned to address the threat.

  However, as they did so, three familiar Argonauts zipped past them and past the Slicer’s range. The base must have had some way to identify them, as after the emplacements aimed at them for a moment they turned back towards the general direction of the Reavers.

  “Damn, lookin like our field worked against us there,” Huey said with a shake of his head as he tried to place the look of the pure white Argonauts that zipped by.

  “That’s the Hounds!” Oliver yelled into his radio as soon as he recognized the fighters.

  Huey winced and rubbed an ear hole. “I hear ya, muh fren. But cha don have tah scream it.”

  “That’s not what I mean, Huey, there were only three. Where the fuck is Shadow?” Oliver said in a panic.

  At the mention of that particular hunter, the aces scrambled and looked every which way. Then, as if waiting for that moment, a very familiar four-winged fighter darted through their formation and gunned it for the station. Its boosters blazing a deep red as the ship pushed to its limit to quickly outpace the pirates.

  “Should we chase him, Boss?” Torgan asked, his thrusters flaring to give pursuit.

  “Nah. We gun follow at a distance, find da landing dock an make our way inside. Olly’ll provide cover fo us, and once we close ‘nough to see the dock? Dey gun be too scurred tah fire on us.”

  Evan POV

  I felt my heart race as I flew past the pirates, not stopping until all my systems came back online. Then, as if trying to send me into cardiac arrest, dozens of gun emplacements turned towards me.

  “Stop, he’s with us!” Emerald’s voice yelled over the open channel.

  Not wanting to leave room for doubt, I keyed up my communication console. “This is Evan August of the Gamma Hounds. Moniker….” I paused for a moment to let out a huff of frustration. “…Black Shadow.”

  A snort escaped from a new speaker. “Really?” she asked, an accent I would associate with French leaking into her voice.

  “Haaaah, yes, really,” I confirmed sadly.

  A bout of laughter erupted over the open channel.

  “Oh, you poor thing. Must’ve really pissed someone high up in the Association,” she said, with genuine concern after her jubilant laughter died down. “Go ahead and land at docking station B, darling.”

  A route was sent to my navigation console shortly after that statement, sending me into what would no doubt be a nasty crossfire if any unfriendlies were to try and land here.

  As I got closer, a large set of heavy blast doors came into view. Just when I began to think I might have to come to a stop, they began to open.

  I landed without issue and found myself inside a large landing bay. Looking around, I found myself more than a bit confused as I failed to see any of my squad mates’ fighters. What instead greeted me was a group of four power-armored Gerralians of varying builds, and a poodle woman in a lab coat, her fur trimmed in a manner similar to a show dog. None of them took threatening stances, though the power-armored individuals were spread around the poodle.

  Seeing no immediate threat, I decided to hop out of my Alis.

  “Welcome, Mr. Shadow. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person,” the poodle greeted. “I am Dr. Eva Vlask.”

  Evan gave the woman a queer look—not that she could see anything other than the slight tilt of his helmet. “Odd thing to say considering we only just met to begin with.”

  Eva Vlask laughed as she walked up to Evan. “Now… now, no need to be shy. It’s an honor to meet Black Shadow,” she said with a playful snicker.

  She then caused me to go stiff as she placed an unexpected hand on my chestplate. “I kid, of course. Thank you for coming to our aid. Your squad mates landed in the hangar that houses our Argonauts.”

  She then looked me up and down as if noticing my now stiff posture, as a predatory smile landed on her face. “Come, we’ll get the gang back together, so to speak. Then you can give us an idea of the overall situation.”

  The woman then slid to my side and placed her hand on my back, leading me towards an entrance to the base proper as the large blast doors began to slide closed, the vacuum film rippling from the vibration of the massive doors.

  As we began to walk, the guards formed a perimeter.

  “So, where are you from, Mr. Shadow?” she said, putting emphasis on my shitty moniker.

  “That’s a bit of a personal question,” I said, slightly put off by the choice of query.

  “Ahh, let me rectify that then. I am from Parin near the equatorial zone of Gerral. Most poodle types are. Now your turn,” she said with another predatory smile.

  As I pondered a response, the doors exiting the hangar slid open automatically. Passing through, I found myself in a decently furnished hallway, one which reminded me of a corporate office. I shuddered involuntarily as memories of unhappy times flowed into my mind.

  “We’re gunna need you to stay late again. The Osma files are way behind,” Nigel says from the entrance to my cubicle.

  I turned to him with a frown. “I stayed late yesterday. I already made plans.” My tone firm and leaving no room for argument.

  “Susan and Becky already have plans as well, and they talked to me first,” my supervisor said, obviously trying to curry favor with the office idols.

  “I could care less what plans they had. I stayed late yesterday, and unless you have some substantial incentive I’m not staying,” I respond, only to hear the distinctive clack of heels on office tile as one of the women in question rounds the corner.

  “Bullshit, Evan, I heard you tell Keith you didn’t have anything planned today!” she accused, her resting bitch face changed to an active one.

  “First off, that was a phone conversation in the men’s bathroom. Second, who do you think I made plans with?” Shaking my head, I stood to leave, only to earn a yelp from Susan.

  Thinking back on how I was reprimanded for “intimidation,” my mood soured even further.

  “Mr. August?” Vlask asked, her teasing tone gone as she looked at me with concern.

  “Sorry, what were you saying?” I asked, trying to reorient myself.

  Vlask gave me an appraising look for a moment, like a scientist observing a test subject. But as quickly as it came on, the look passed.

  “I was asking where you’re from again. Of course, this was after I told you where I was from. Now you can go without feeling pressured,” she said with a smile.

  “That’s not how that works.”

  She frowned in an exaggerated manner as she continued to lead me deeper into the facility. “Come now, you need to at least pretend to play along. Tell me a sweet little lie.” She fluttered her eyelashes as she said the last bit.

  Fortunately, as we passed the next door I immediately locked eyes with Emerald, who was standing next to the second biggest bastard in power armor I’d ever seen, and by far the largest Gerralian.

  Pouting slightly at my continued dismissal of her question, Vlask plastered a large smile on her face as she addressed the gargantuan canine. “Ahh, General Noskar. I’ve with me the last of the Gamma Hounds,” she announced, gesturing towards me like a reward on a game show.

  At her call to attention, the big bastard turned towards me.

  “Ahh, a pleasure to meet you, Mr. August. I’ve been reading and watching your exploits for a while now.”

  Seeing an opportunity to separate myself from the handsy poodle, I immediately took it. “Pleasure’s mine, general,” I said, stepping forward and holding out a hand.

  The general stood for a moment before grasping the outstretched limb and giving it a firm shake. Up close, I could see he was actually bigger than I thought, standing a solid number of inches above me, placing him at nearly seven feet.

  “Your captain was apprising me of our current situation,” Noskar said, nodding to Emerald, who now wore a relieved grin upon seeing me—an expression that I mimicked under my helmet.

  After holding my gaze for a moment longer, Emerald turned back to the general. “The current situation is rather poor, General. We were sent in with a force of close to one hundred hunters sourced exclusively from Gerralian nobility. We were sent to provide aid to your station, but upon reaching the asteroid belt two well-known space pirate groups were lying in wait. After an intense engagement only thirty of our hunters were left, and that includes us four.”

  The general nodded. “Which two groups?”

  “The Rusted Reavers and the Polluxi Outcasts,” I interjected.

  “And their numbers?”

  “They started with close to three hundred, but were whittled down to somewhere between ninety and one-hundred. Not including their aces,” Emerald said, holding out her datapad which currently had a recording of the navigation console.

  “With numbers like that they could still overwhelm the weapon emplacements. We also only have around ten remaining trained pilots, but only a handful of usable Argonauts.” Noskar pulled out a pad of his own, punching in a few digits as he worked out our current logistics.

  “The best I figure is we provide air support for your weapon emplacements and deal with anyone who gets too close,” Emerald suggested.

  “Any word on possible reinforcements?” Noskar asked.

  “With how hush-hush the whole operation has been, I doubt it,” Emerald said with a shake of her head.

  Noskar nodded before tapping away a few more times on his pad. He then looked up at us—or rather, me specifically.

  “Before I continue, which noble house are you with?”

  “None. That would be our captain,” I answered, redirecting him to Emerald.

  The general locked his visor on me in silence for an uncomfortable amount of time. Enough to where I broke the silence. “Yes?”

  “That power armor isn’t something most people would ever be able to afford,” he finally said. “In fact, most nobles wouldn’t be able to afford precursor armor.”

  It was stated plainly, but the words felt like a bullet tearing through me. Looking over to my teammates, Nia and Ratchet were wide-eyed at the statement, while Emerald looked contemplative. Knowing my fox, she was more than likely putting together that information along with everything else I had told her so far.

  While I felt a near uncontrollable urge to tell Em the truth then and there, I knew admitting details about my past in front of high-ranking followers of the Gerralian Crown would most likely be a bad idea.

  With no other option, I decided to bullshit. “Thalls tend to be better at repurposing precursor artifacts.”

  Noskar continued to stare me down for a few more moments before letting out another hum. He then turned to Emerald.

  “Putting that aside for now, what noble house are you with?”

  “Strauss, though saying I’m with them is a…”

  Noskar held up a hand to stop her. “Your name explains enough. There are plenty of nobles who find that whole debacle… distasteful. Adding to that, there are plenty of nobles who find Adam Gault to be a blemish on our name.”

  Emerald gave the general a questioning look. “My apologies, but I was unaware of a Noskar family.”

  The general then reached up and pressed two fingers into the back of his helmet. With a hiss, the pressure seals released, allowing him to lift it off. The head underneath was of a white comparable to Emerald’s. Though rather than a vulpine face, it was lupine. I admit I was rather surprised to see that there were, in fact, direwolf Gerralians.

  “That would be the point, Lady Strauss. My family has long served the will of the Precursors and, by extension, the Crown, from the shadows. When we do enter the public it is usually with an alias and with some form of identity concealment. Only the nobility know of our existence.”

  Yet he was completely comfortable speaking about it in front of two non-Gerralians and what his people would disdainfully call a commoner.

  “That being said, I trust the name you and your team have built for themselves. So I am willing to extend the use of our newer and more experimental weaponry to aid you in defending this station.”

  This wolf ticks all the wrong boxes.

  As that thought passed through my head, he took a moment to glance at me. I felt exposed as I saw an expression similar to Emerald’s earlier one dance across his face—the look of someone who had just found a missing puzzle piece.

  “Thank for the offer, General. Why don’t you show us some of this equipment so we can figure out how to best utilize them?”

  Noskar nodded to Vlask, who stepped forward. “I’ll attend the emplacements and get our stationed troops ready. Dr. Vlask will show you the weapons that are ready for immediate deployment and installment.”

  With that said, the general turned and walked away, half of Vlask’s guards splitting off to follow him. As he reached one of the exits, he once again stopped to look at me. I locked his gaze for a moment, before I saw the ghost of a grin dance on his face. But as soon as it appeared, he turned and stepped through the door.

  The poodle in question stepped forward, then clapped loudly to get everyone’s attention. “If you’d all come with me, I’ll be happy to show you the results of our research.”

  Once again the poodle placed herself near me and invaded my personal space with a hand on my back. Only this time Emerald was present and stepped between the poodle and myself, throwing an arm over Vlask’s shoulder.

  “Why don’t you describe some of the things you’ll be showing us? Build up the excitement.”

  All professionalism that had been present in Emerald was now out the window as I saw her normal abrasive self start to surface.

  For the first time since I met her, the poodle seemed thrown off by the sudden contact, and I saw her lips raise for a fraction of a second. But she suppressed the snarl before it came out. Instead, she stopped, reached up, and removed Emerald’s arm from her shoulder. Her face then went passive, as well as her demeanor.

  “Follow me.”

  So we did, and as we did so I felt the gazes of Ratchet and Nia bore into the back of my head as they slowly began to draw the same conclusions I’m sure Emerald herself already had.

  After a few minutes of silent strolling, we came to a high-security door. Vlask approached a small console on the side of it and fished a plastic card out of her pocket. Flashing the card over the console, then placing her paw flat on top of it, caused the door to start rumbling as multiple locking systems disengaged.

  The door opened to reveal a massive chamber filled with dozens of clear glass containment cells, each holding some sort of animal.

  “This is what we call the zoo. It contains no less than thirty of the most dangerous plants and animals in the Nova Galaxy. Much of our research for ground-based weaponry involves isolating some of their more dangerous traits and figuring out effective ways to imitate them,” Vlask explained as she led us past the vast menagerie of dangerous animals.

  As we neared the far exit, I caught a color out of the corner of my eye.

  Turning to look at it more closely, my feet stopped in their tracks. I could feel dread and bile rise out of my throat as I subconsciously moved towards the containment unit. Before I knew it, I had crossed half the room and could clearly see the purple flowers.

  My throat dried as I tried to figure out how these nightmarish things could even be here. My head swam and my breath became hard to find as the objects of my personal hell bloomed silently in front of me.