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Post by Nola on Jun 7, 2018 22:17:01 GMT
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Rascal
Lore Committee
Posts: 120
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Post by Rascal on Jun 18, 2018 9:35:28 GMT
11806.17
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"You know what I hate? Huh? I hate the word 'dead'!"
Uneasy glances darted between the concerned faces of those present.
"Dead leads, dead ends, dead people, dead assistants, dead fucking fine officers!"
Marcus looked away, out of the deck one aft meeting room's windows, raised a hand towards his graying scalp, paused, balled it into a fist, thought better of it, dropped the arm and unclenched his fingers while shaking his head. Several deep breath-and-sigh cycles later, he turned back to face the few people from Team One remaining up and able. Four out of six only, with Mahassiné still K.O. in sickbay and Anne, well, yeah... He cleared his throat and got back to business, speaking just a tad bit softer than usual.
"Status, people?"
"Quarter sweeps before the blackout lead to a dea... were unsuccessful. Traces of relocated comm usage." Mark Martin said. "Smoke screens, nothing more than traces, rather." his adopted Bolian brother Turimi'n added. "As for post blackout traces? Well..." He just shrugged, seemingly apologising, and nodded "no".
Ado Krull, best skilled nerd on the boat, stood uneasy, visibly frustrated as hell for not getting anywhere after sifting through nearly every single cubit to be found on the Chiron, and then some. "Not even a blip, sir. I ran everything available, then ran it again using a dislinked shuttle's systems. No origin traces for those comms but those planted for us to find, no signs of tampering in anything beyond replicator recipes for drinks, no double passwalls, triple encryptions or multi-level matrix engram protoc..."
"Hold the techbabble, Ado, seriously... I need conclusions."
A cough. "Right, sorry, sir." a pause "As far as I can see, to the very edge of my capacity, our saboteur is either really really really good, or, eh... nonexistent."
Trev held his stare for an uncomfortable couple of seconds longer than needed, clearly conveying the message that Krull's dead end wasn't good enough. With a blink and a raised eyebrow, he turned away towards Davis, who'd sat down in one of them big comfy chairs around the meeting table, wholly and honestly oblivious to why he'd better remained standing. He just sat, playing with his fingernails and swivelling the seat from side to side.
"Nate?" Swivel. "Nathan?" Swivel. "Crewman Nathaniël Davis!"
Marcus took a step forward, fully intending the next move by his foot to be a kick at that chair, when its occupant raised his hand, then closed it to a fist and popped out his index finger.
"Sir. I know I'm not the smartest of the bunch here, but I do see things, too, y'know. Like, Mahassiné bleeding out of her leg when I carried her, like you barely keeping it together after seeing Anne bite it, ..."
Trev balled both his hands into fists and gritted his teeth, barely able to contain this flash of anger.
"... and like knowing for sure this sabo guy or whatever is definitely still around."
Davis stopped swivelling and looked up at his Chief, his face unfazed as usual.
"I'm not smart enought to help find 'm, I know. But when you able folks finally do?" The finger loosely gesturing at all present, "I'm gonna have a pop at 'm. With a rifle. On max stun, maybe on light slice. Capice?" He glanced at the others, then back at Trevanion, before looking away and returning to his fingernails and swivels.
The moment hung in the thick air for what seemed minutes, nobody quite sure what to say, where to look or how to keep their hands from trembling. Looking down at the plush floor, Marcus, pretty much completely agreeing with Davis' statement, scratched his scalp and let out yet another long and deep sigh.
"Right. You all know what to do, then. Sweep every speck of dust, deep-mine every gel pack, ask unappropriate questions, then run it all again, over and over, until something pops up. Relay with the other teams and get me some results, and no offtime until we do. Am I clear?" The fifty-something division head tilted his head back level and locked eyes with the others here, one by one, who responded with a determined nod each.
"Pile out, people, do your part and I'll do mine."
Four people sprung into action, into a brisk step towards the sliding doors, one chair left with some residual swivel momentum, all much determined in mind, and heart.
"Also,"
The four paused and looked back, well, three of them at least. Nathan didn't bother.
"Eh... When Chokri comes to, gimme me a shout, would you? Someone's got to walk down to sickbay and tell her she's lost her best friend."
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Post by Einar on Jun 18, 2018 12:34:57 GMT
man I feel for Trev here great log G
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Rascal
Lore Committee
Posts: 120
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Post by Rascal on Jun 21, 2018 21:10:25 GMT
11806.21
With Andrew as Miss Marr(ple?)
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"Please, have a seat. I'll be back shortly, with some water."
Master Chief Ado Krull slid back the chair for Lieutenant Marr's easy acces, nodded and walked out of the room, to actually get two servings of water from the replicator. Both hands full, he glanced at the other folks who had also come down there with him and his interrogee subject, hoping someone would hit the door control, as these places never open automatically. Trevanion complied wordlessly, confident about his most experienced crewman's abilities.
Marcus stepped back, taking up position by the unidirectional window, quickly checking if Hamlet or Tony were still present to observe.
Krull had already disappeared behind the heavy sliding entrance doors and walked around the desk, upon which he carefully placed the drinks. Sliding one over towards miss Marr, he lowered himself into the only other chair, and looked up at her.
Marr took the seat. She looked to Krull and calmly said, "Please make a note in your files of my objection to this process, and be aware I will be filing an official complaint to Starfleet. While I understand the situation, it does not warrant the breach of my basic rights."
She sat back in the chair, having said what she needed to say for the record, but deep down she knew it made no difference. They would carry on regardless. No doubt right now there were security officers invading her privacy, combing through her personal belongings in her quarters - and all because she happened to walk onto the bridge at the wrong time. She had seen early on that Adalberto hadn't been one to care about rules and rights, but she hadn't expected the command crew to go along with it.
"Ask your questions," she said.
The J'naii flashed a wry smile and sharply inhaled through his nostrils, while keeping his gaze locked with Marr's for several seconds.
"We lost several good people today, Lieutenant. Also, in case you hadn't noticed, we were one torpedo hit away from losing a hundred and fifty more, including the Captain, the nanny, me, and yourself, miss Marr, as a result of one person serving among us deciding to pull the power plug." Pause. "But, okay, if you genuinely feel more violated by the chance of a nosy crewman finding out where you stash your ..." Waving a hand through the air. "... toys?"
A shrug, then a few taps on his PADD.
"Sure, objection noted, I'll personally forward your complaint to HQ."
She returned his arrogant gaze, wondering whether during some moment of the battle she'd been swept away from Starfleet and was suddenly on a Maquis vessel.
"The integrity of our principles are tested during the most extreme challenges," she said. "And may I request you speak with more respect? I find your attitude disturbing in a situation where you should be impartial, assume innocence, and notice our difference in rank. If you want to ask questions, let's get to it, but let's do it respectfully, shall we?"
Krull froze his movement, even his breath seemed to pause mid-exhale, utterly incredulous to the load of bullshit he just heard tumbling out of the lady's mouth. Not that this was his first encounter with such an attitude in his twenty five plus years of service, yet her complete disregard for the seriousness of the core issue was almost beyond him. He continued breathing, as one must, then loosened his face into a broad smile.
"Ofcourse, ma'am, I sincerely apologise for my wholly disrespectful behaviour and my brief but obvious lapse in upholding the values of the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet. You may report my lack of regard for you as a clearly superior officer in your complaint to headquarters and the Judge Advocate General. I am truly sorry."
A glance towards the one-way window, a mirror from his side ofcourse.
"Would you please be so kind as to tell me upon which instance during our current conversation I might have implied anything other than your innocence, so I can amend my report to reflect our conversation truthfully, ma'am?"
Marr looked at Krull, then back to the desk, realising that the simple point had obviously gone straight over his stupid head. What a complete arse; there was no need to be rude. It felt like they'd already decided she was the saboteur and couldn't find the effort to even hide their disdain until any sort of evidence was available. It was a scary prospect.
She sighed quietly, realising how they would no doubt interpret her comments so far - part of her considered exercising her right to remaining silent, but that would only make her look guilty in their eyes.
She took a quiet moment to drink a third of the cup of water and make sure she was composed.
"Just ask your questions."
A nod.
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Krull said as he tapped a few commands on the PADD, bringing up the maps to a few of Chiron's rooms and corridors and a line of numbers, then slid it over to Marr to see. "Are these onboard locations familiar to you, and have you ever, on or off duty, noticed usage or mention of this particular communications frequency in the past several weeks?"
Sat on her hands, she leaned forward to look at the PADD without touching it.
"Yes, they are various places around the ship. Corridors... maybe the Engineering labs, it looks like, but I can't be sure - lots of the corridors look similar on board." She paused as the PADD auto-scrolled through more images and details. "That looks like someone's quarters, but I can't be sure. Looks rather big, so probably a senior officer. I don't know about that frequency, but I've heard that we gained a frequency from the Granuaile crew, so I assume that is it."
She sat back and looked at him for the next question.
A nod.
"Well observed, miss Marr. Those rooms were the Ex Oh's and Ensign Brody's, both had traces of that frequency - which indeed was gained from the Granuaile crew - planted inside by our saboteur. Would you please take a second look at the third image from the top, the one with the door to engineering lab three?"
She leaned forward again, freeing one of her hands to take some more water, then placing it back again. "Yes?"
"Would you, if you remembered, be so kind as to tell me about your wherebouts around time index 21.32 on stardate 11805.17?"
Reaching out to the PADD, he brought up the turblift usage records, indicating her combadge's registered presence inside the bridgebound lift pod, moments later.
"Up until your boarding this 'lift, please."
Was this really a question? They could just check the combadge records he was pointing towards.
"I was in Science Lab 3, you can check the logs. I was also with Ensign's T'oba and Matsuo. When I left the lab, I went straight to the bridge."
"I'm sorry, I might have misheard. Was that Engineering lab 3 or Science lab 3? Just as confirmation, miss Marr. I'd rather have it from you than from a log entry."
"Science Lab 3." She gave a nod to the uniform on her shoulders. "Blue means science..."
A smile flashed on the face of the gold-uniformed Master Chief present. "Oh, that's right, I remember now. Silly me." He took back the PADD and noted her answer in text, which seemed rather unnecessary, but so he did.
"Would you excuse me for a short moment, Lieutenant?" Not waiting for an answer, Krull got up and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him with a slap on the controls outside, before turning towards his Department Chief.
"Trev, what the fuck is this about!? These are valid, confirmed records, right here..." Showing him the PADD which now displayed both crewlogged and internal sensor confirmation for exactly that which Lieutenant Marr had just told him. Trevanion blinked and frowned at it. "This was available right then and there, and has been ever since," Krull continued. "Now, I don't know what mister big shot Captain Intelligence over there," An arm with a rigid index finger extended towards where he imagined Tony Adalberto to stand, staring in at the questioning room or whatever. "... is up to, but he witheld it for fuck knows why!"
"Ado, cool it, I'm sure there's ..." The sound of the doors opening and closing behind the raging Master Chief caught him by surprise, Marcus' sudden startled gaze towards the glass divider sending a chill down his spine.
Slowly, step by hampered step, the frail and whimpering form of Chokri Mahassiné rounded the interrogation table, until she faced Lieutenant Marr and remained standing. Sort of. For a moment, she just stared at the seated science officer, a pleading, desperate look on her bruised face.
"C... can you help me? Please?"
Marr's eyes widened in horror and surprise as Mahassiné stumbled around, clearly suffering from injuries she gained in the battle. She stood up, took a step back and glanced to the mirror, "Is this some sort of twisted interrogation technique?" She shook her head in disgust, then turned again to Mahassiné, looked into her sunken eyes, and walked towards her, putting an arm around her.
"Let's get you back to Sickbay," she said as she gently steered her towards the door.
"No!"
She threw Marr's arm loose and staggered back a few steps, staring out through angry, tearful eyes. "My... my friend died today. I jus' wanna know, why...?"
Marr's eyes welled as she looked at the grieving officer in front of her. She clenched her hands into fists to stop them from shaking, not able to find any words, and knowing it didn't matter anyway. Another mind had already been made up. She just stood there for a moment. And another moment.
"Do you want to talk about her?" she said, "Do you want to talk about Anne?"
She didn't know what to expect next. Probably raging vitriol misdirected at her, but she wouldn't hold it against her. Grief was overwhelming, and if that helped her feel better, she'd stand there and take it. But she also wanted to offer a listening ear, if she wanted it.
"Y... yes, p... please?"
The second year freshwoman's lower lip was shaking too, utterly unsure about who this blue clad lady was; just that she was there, in that room with her, and hoped that she might know, something, anything.
Marr stepped forward again and helped her make it to the chair Krull had been using, moments before he'd left the room in order to spring this dirty trick on her. She moved over to the other side of the desk. "I didn't know Anne," she said, "Tell me about her."
Chokri let herself be guided and semi-absentmindedly took a sip of water from the cup nearest to her, before clasping both hands around it, as if it were a mug of hot cocoa.
"You really want to hear? It's not happy or anything..." Looking down between her hands, she didn't wait for Marr's answer. "We were in Bremen's team three, both. Y'know, that got crossfired at the O N K terrorist attack? Base sixteen? Been awhile. Only two survivors, lucky us..."
Another sip.
"Then, when Ensign Morello hadn't come back, she'd comforted me. He did turn up, though, we're married now, Anne was my witness." Something resembling a smile briefly appeared among Mahassiné's disturbed expression. "We asked for our careers to stay linked, you know, like they let couples do, but then different? She's my friend, you know, a real one, best I ever had. Was."
She fell silent, staring at and fumbling with this wee paper cup in her hands, unfolding its rim, squeezing its sides.
"A friend like that is hard to come by," said Marr, her voice full of understanding at just *how much* grief she must be feeling, as if validating it. She too fell silent again, waiting for Mahassiné to continue.
"Yeah, very hard." The fumbling continued. "I slipped out of sickbay, afwully busy up there, you know. I woke up, had asked the nurse about some names, but as I named Anne she fell silent. Get some rest,she said. I'm young and all, but I'm not dumb. I knew. I felt it."
Her left hand let go of the cup and wiped salty teardrops from her cheeks while glancing up. "Are your friends okay?"
"I didn't lose anyone close to me," Marr replied, but she knew the main reason was because she didn't have any close friends on board. She was a loner, and enjoyed her quiet privacy when she wasn't on duty - the privacy that was being breached even as they spoke.
It was better that way, though, wasn't it? If you weren't too close to people, you didn't have to suffer when something happened to them.
"You know, you should probably go back to Sickbay, make sure you get better. Would you like me to walk with you?"
After a lengthy stare, filled with doubts and uncertainties, Chokri looked down at the cup again and nodded hesitantly. "Will they let you?" She briefly glanced at the mirror, unaware of what was going on exactly, but the fact she found someone in here at all was usually bad news.
"We'll find out, I guess."
The science officer stood up and walked around the table once more, offering her arm and helping Chokri up. "That's it, nice and easy," she said as she took as much of her weight as was needed. They turned and headed towards the door, which slid open as soon as they had taken a step forward. In it, Krull stood still, both arms dangling alongside his body. In the background, some nondescript clattering and cursing could be heard.
The Master Chief stepped in and aside, stopping next to the now empty door frame.
A cough.
"You're free to go, miss Marr." He looked at the mirror to his left, almost apologetically.
She said nothing to Krull, just kept walking with Chokri. "I'm Chloe, by the way."
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Post by spacedaisy on Jun 21, 2018 21:34:05 GMT
That was so good you guys! I think I need to start locking patients in the sickbay at this rate. Seriously though, well done!
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Post by Einar on Jun 22, 2018 7:08:04 GMT
very nice you guys! Marr is such a 24th century civil rights activist
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2018 7:34:00 GMT
it's sad she has to be... ::looks at Tony::
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Post by Einar on Jun 22, 2018 8:19:28 GMT
I think its also sad how little she cares
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Post by aoibheni on Jun 22, 2018 9:15:31 GMT
Ok, soooo, if it's not Marr, who is it? Or is it her?! I need more information, dammit!!
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Rascal
Lore Committee
Posts: 120
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Post by Rascal on Jul 22, 2018 9:13:53 GMT
Featuring CJ as Captain Sara Sumner.
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The ready room door slid shut, thereby cutting out the humdrum of the dozen or so 'base technicians and their clunking repair tools who'd swamped the Chiron bridge as soon as they were docked. "Captain..." Marcus nodded.
Sara jumped at being addressed, apparently not noticing Trev's entrance. Fatigue was evident in her slouched posture, sitting in her chair with her jacket unzipped. "Marcus," she greeted, straightening a bit. "What's up?"
The older guy held up a PADD, somewhat loosely in his hand, "Final report on the, eh, investigation." He took a step towards Sara's desk and placed the device on her desk, atop what he figured to be the to-do pile, then let out a slow sigh and shrugged, then stood somewhat at attention looking more out the window behind Sumner's chair than at her directly.
"That good, huh?"
Sara picked up the PADD and skimmed the various sections of the report, returned to her slouch. "That good," she answered her own question. She set the PADD down and briefly rubbed her eyes before looking his way.
"So we know they're good. Too good for Maquis?"
"Yeah. Way too good for even es-ef-eye, apparently." A deep breath. "I keep getting flashbacks of the Bremen about this crap. You know, when I was approached by that Section agent who handed me a copy of the Lincoln Report? This feels eerily similar."
"Course," she huffed. She reluctantly got to her feet, taking a moment to stretch her back before slowly pacing. "So, Section 31 has or had someone on the ship. Not surprising. They chose to hamper our search for and apprehension of the Voltaire. Is that convenience? Was it to destroy us? Are they working with the Maquis? Maybe just Oseth?"
She clasped her hands behind her head and looked to Marcus.
"You did a good job, Marcus," she offers. "This is now above all our pay grade."
Trevanion closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, speaking in a half mutter. "Good job, eh..." He sighed and looked Sumner in the eyes for a second or two before speaking with an obviously anger laden tone. "I'm sure Anne was also doing a good job, eh Cap?"
Sara stopped her pacing, staring hard at Marcus. She stalked around her desk and stood face to face with him, her gaze stern. "You're god damn right," she whispered. "And before you say something you'll regret, Marcus, I'll remind you that she gave her life to protect innocent people, and that is an oath we all took, so you bet your bitter ass that she did a good job."
"Gave her life, eh..." His mind flashed back to the instant when power went down, mid-engangement, and he instantly knew he'd failed. Too sloppy, too soft, too eager to catch that Sovereign, too trusting in Adalberto... "I have never served along a more dedicated person than her, Cap. And then, I failed her." His trembling apparent in voice and nostrils.
"I couldn't protect her, Sara. I couldn't do the one fucking job I had..."
Her expression softened as she realized what he was saying, and she instantly regretted her zeal. She dropped her gaze and put a hand on his shoulder before moving to lean against her desk. "You and me, both," she offered.
"Yeah, we sure did..." Marcus looked down at the floor himself, mirroring Sumner in that aspect. He then unclipped his combadge and played with it, seemingly absentmindedly. "Mahassiné's quit, moving back to Earth to live with her guy. Understandable. Turimi'n and Mark have requested a transfer to the frontlines, and I found Krull's badge and wings lying on the table in TAC HQ." Tossing his own communicator in the air, then gripping it tightly in a white knuckled fist.
"Tell me why I'm still here, Cap, 'cause I honestly don't know anymore."
Sara pinched the bridge of her nose. This was the first she'd heard of the exodus - she'd been content to let Raqiin handle the crew assignments. She couldn't imagine that did much for Trev's morale. As for his question... "You're here because you're a good man," she said, continuing before he could disagree. "And Starfleet needs good people. It needs people who see their comrades like you saw Anne. Not as pieces on a board, but as someone invaluable and irreplaceable, a-and who takes it hard when they're gone."
She tightened her jaw, clinging desperately to some semblance of composure.
He kept looking at her, unblinking, as the moment rung out, painfully extended, then turned his face aside. "Starfleet, huh... Do *they* need that?" A blink and a swallow. "Or do *you*?"
"Probably both," she admitted. "I can't... I can't be any other way, Marcus. The moment I stop seeing the people under me as people is the moment I start treating them like some, some resource to consume. Meat for the grinder. And that's not right. It's not supposed to be who we are. So, yeah, I need you, and people like you, who can't just up and move on without this hurt.
A deep breath.
"That said... I wouldn't blame you for leaving. That's the cost, right? That's the trade off for not being a cog - it's easier to break. To be broken. So I understand if you can't do this any more."
Trev nodded slowly, still looking to the side at whatever was there, a plain bulkhead apparently, breathing deeply and slowly through his nose while biting his lower lip. He then inhaled sharply, stood straight, looked Sumner in the eyes again, and tossed her his 'badge.
Sara managed to catch the badge after a small bobble and took a moment to inspect it, running her thumb over the Tactical insignia.
"Keep that somewhere safe for me, would you? Just so I can't ditch it while I'm busy challenging racers, getting drunk and talking to women." With a nod, the greying fiftysomething man turned about and took a few steps towards the door. He halted just before the detectors would woosh it open for him to pass through, and spoke over his shoulder.
"Aldebaran. I'll be back in two weeks."
"Hey," she called. "If you get in a fight, just make sure they throw the first punch, huh?" Marcus Trevanion merely nodded and held up a thumb as he exited the ready room.
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Post by Einar on Jul 22, 2018 18:19:48 GMT
oohh that was awesome!
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Rascal
Lore Committee
Posts: 120
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Post by Rascal on Aug 23, 2018 17:32:59 GMT
Doubts - Part 0 Startdate 11807.23
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"IF I come back...", Marcus muttered under his breath. He'd just left his badge with Sara, along with a promise, no, a statement of his planned whereabouts and a rough timing of when he could potentially be expected to return.
Across the Chiron bridge, bluntly ignore the Starbase technician trying to be polite, smile, nod and Sir and all, onwards to the nearest 'lift.
"Docking port!" Buzzz. Oof...
In his mind, a pretty dark brown place at the time and not exactly expected to lighten up, all he did was set a time beyond which Sumner need not hold on to any hope of her chief of tactical ever returning. Took away those doubts, future, potential doubts at that moment, is all he did.
ZZZZzzzzzssstop. Woosh!
Out of the turbolift, past three other yet equally polite techs, grab the duffel bag and exit through docking gate one.
Trev never looked at anyone as he made his brisk way across the crowded station, where he boarded the nine-oh-three to the only planet he'd told himself he could be at least a little more at ease. He did tell himself many things that didn't hold water that day, or the next several days, or those before, for that matter.
The bag slung loosely over his shoulder, Marcus Trevanion glanced up exactly once, to confirm what he already knew was being displayed on the scrolling sign above port seven:
Aldebaran. Civilians only.
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Post by Einar on Aug 23, 2018 18:11:15 GMT
more please
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Post by spacedaisy on Aug 23, 2018 18:14:36 GMT
I agree
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Post by aoibheni on Aug 24, 2018 9:54:09 GMT
Oh my god wow.
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