The ‘Crescent of Embrace’ Flight 93 Memorial could work to the satisfaction of many if we are only able to look at it from a slightly different angle.
Of course you know, the crescent is a symbol of your friendly neighborhood religion of peace, Islam. The crescent symbolizes this whether the ‘artist’ is willing to admit or not. But its not all bad. We just add a couple of stars. Like so.
Assuming you remember ‘Let’s roll’, you may or not realize where I am going with this.
Archive of entries posted on 19th September 2005
shiver me timber!
A Story, Bit-by-Bit
Superego: Part 32 – Storming the Castle
BEGINNING OF STORY
PREVIOUS (PART 31)
I gave it 10 to 1 odds that the Randatti both knew about me from previous hits and figured I was a good candidate for the lone killer hired to take out Gredler. Thus, they would make sure their people knew what I looked like. Dip had some different odds, but I prefer my own analyzation for such things.
There were plans if I wasn’t recognized, but they were moot now.
Neither of the two thugs had finished fully drawing their guns before I drew both of mine and put a large hole in each of them.
“WHAT ARE YOU…”
“Three things,” I interrupted Diane, speaking quickly but calmly as I charged my blasters. “First, take note that they started to draw first. Second, if you have Zippy with you, I’d have him watch the door when we enter. Finally, there should be a lot of Randatti thugs shooting at us, and I suggest shooting back.”
What Diane did next was the wildcard. She could remain confused and get her pretty little head blown off, but my guess was she’d adapt. Dip didn’t have enough information to put odds on that one.
Hopefully she wouldn’t spend too much time trying to find her radio to call for backup since I already swiped it.
The charged blasts destroyed the front doors, and I ran in shooting, firing my guns before I even identified targets. There were at least a dozen low rent thugs in expensive suits waiting in the main room, and now they were scattering for cover while firing in panic. I took a lot down quickly but ducked by some cover as I moved for the stairway. A couple more shots and there was a moment of calm.
“Watch my back! I’m going upstairs to have a chat with the Senator!” I called to Diane. Her little robot was flying near the door to catch any exterior guards trying to run inside. She had her blaster out and seemed to be in battle mode, scanning the room ready to fire on any who came at us.
Good girl; save questions for later. I smiled as I headed up the stairs and heard Diane following behind me. If she survived this, it would really increase the fun factor of the next part.
More guards appeared ahead of me and fell dead before they could comprehend what they saw. I heard Diane’s blaster (different sound from the others) and the thuds of two bodies in the distance. That’s my killer.
If my guess was right about where the Senator would be hiding now, it was going to be a deadly run down a hallway. “Stay here and watch that no one comes up behind me. I’ll call you when I need you.”
“Rico! What…” she started to say, but stopped to fire at another thug across the room. I charged into hallway ahead of me, firing like a madman. I ripped up a lot of the walls and a few bodyguards in the effort. As I passed a few doorways, I switched to walking down the hall sideways, one gun pointed forward and one rearward, giving my peripheral a good workout as I tried to watch both directions. This slowed me down, but it wasn’t my nature to let someone else watch my back (namely Diane who I would guess was ready to have some huge emotional outburst soon as her life wasn’t being immediately threatened). A few more kills, a few more bodies to hop over, and I was to Senator Gredler’s room.
A swift kick sent the door flying open, and I fired upon the five bodyguards inside. I was as quick as possible, but they were waiting for me. They fell, but there was also smoke coming from my side. I think my jacket was just singed, but I wasn’t about to pause and check. I kicked the door closed and found Gredler huddled under a desk.
Corridians, like most alien species, look about all the same to me, but he had that arrogant air of a politician about him, even as he cowered below me. He knew there were more bodyguards outside about to rush me, but he also knew he was just one trigger pull away from dead.
“You’re making a mistake!” he yelled, “I’ll pay you dou… triple what the Corloni were paying you! You can name your price!”
I smiled, holstered my guns, and then attached a transmitter to the computer on Gredler’s desk. “Dip, send him my rates.”
NEXT
A Legendary Power to Be Unleashed
Ahoy! Tis be Dread Pirate J. once again. I never care much for the likes of judges, but the Parliament has practically been keelhauling John Roberts, him keeping his calm through the whole ordeal. Those scallywag Democrat Senators want a judge who could look at a treasure map and discover a right for free prescription drugs, but they’ll not get their wish.
So who will be the next judge to be nominated? I’ll share some information I had found in a parchment from a ship we plundered. The next nominee for the Supreme Court will be…
“YEAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!”
His Other Memorials
I’ve discovered some of the earlier works of Paul Murdoch, who designed the controversial Crescent of Embrace memorial for Flight 93.
Apparently he likes working with Red Maple trees… (see extended entry)…
Arrr! Where’s the Pork?
NOTE: This post complies with ISO 9001 and Talk Like a Pirate Day standards.
Avast! It be Dread Pirate J. Things were to be back to normal in the stormy political seas of Washington D.C. (there be dragons there), but some meddlesome bloggers are trying to spoil the plundering of booty! I ought to run them through with me cutlass! Arrr!
Aye, the port of New Orleans was a fun place to spend the doubloons between pillaging, and miss it I do. But some landlubbers think the colonies’ taxes should go to helping the citizens of Orleans instead of the usual treasures – treasures they dismissively call “pork.” I say they should worry less the pork and worry more the grog, but they want people (pillagees, I call them) to tell the Parliament to cut this pork so there be money for the flooded New Orleans. Leading this be Reynolds, scourge of the puppies, the scurvy Bear, and blog-wench Malkin.
Arrr! Fools! All of them! Sure, you go to ye member of parliament and tell him to cut the pork for your state, then that just leaves more for the rest of us! Har har! Everyone else will be getting freeways named after their Senators and bronze statues of their Representatives, and you’ll have nothing to play with but your bilge pump! But I guess you’ll be happy because ye be helping the less fortunate.
Har har har!
Gave me a hearty laugh, there. The less fortunate just means more fools to plunder, lest ye be too chickenhearted for a good pillaging.
Now, I’ll be signaling my Senators to keep bringing home the pork… lest I keelhaul the lot of them.
Furthermore: Arrr!
Still Not a Cat Person
This is a pretty accurate transcript from yesterday.
Yeah, since I rescued the kitten Sydney from my company’s parking lot in January, she’s grown on me, but to be honest, I still get more companionship from memories of the German Shepherd I had while growing up.
Plus, Lady never clawed my toes while I was trying to sleep in (though she would lick my face at my dad’s beckoning).
UPDATE: I forgot one thing – Arrr!
Meow Like A Pirate Day
And now, a message from our Resident Pirate:
Yarr! I be Captain Cattoy, Mateys!
I be huntin’ the Orange Tiger that goes by the name of Narrrrrrrrrdo. I hear tell his collar’s made of gold.
Join me crew, or I’ll keel-haul the lot of ye!
Don’t Tell Me You Don’t Know What Day It Is?
Tis be International Talk Like a Pirate Day!
Arrr!
This scurvy ridden pirate used up about all his piratey post two years ago (here be the archives for September 2003; you’ll have to scroll down to the 19th yerself – Arrr!), but today all ye landlubbers must talk like pirates in the comments. If you don’t, I’ll keelhaul ya!
Arrr!
Under New Management
The lovely and talented SarahK will be taking over administrative duties on IMAO and begin to finally update things that are probably more than a year overdue for updating. She also has full access to all posts and can correct my grammar mistakes as I post them.
Also, Links of the Day™ will be back with her running it. If you have a great post (it should be an especially good post you’re proud of – not necessarily humorous – or some post or link you stumbled on that you think deserves attention), then e-mail her. I don’t have an IMAO e-mail for her yet (I plan on having e-mails for all the bloggers here) so go to her site and use her e-mail there to submit your links.