209 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
209 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO oOOOO OOOO. OOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" .OOOOOO OOOOOo OOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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OOOO oOOOOOOO OOOOOOO. OOOO oOOOO
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OOOO .OOOO OOOO OOOOOOOOo OOOO OOOO"
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OOOO oOOOO OOOO OOOO "OOOO. OOOO OOOOo .OOOO'
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OOOO .OOOO" OOOO OOOO OOOOoOOOO "OOOO. oOOOO
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OOOO oOOOOOOO..OOOO OOOO "OOOOOOO OOOOoOOOO"
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OOOO .OOOO"""OOOOOOOO OOOO OOOOOO "OOOOOOO'
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OOOO oOOOO ""OOOO OOOO "OOOO OOOOOO
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|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| There Ain't No Justice |
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| #92 |
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Foundation of Empire
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By Tal Meta
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In 1953, a Drallim scoutcraft crashlanded in the New Mexico desert. Military
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authorities recovered the wreckage and four bodies from the craft.
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In 1956, the scientists studying the wreckage accidentally activated the
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ship's distress beacon, bringing another scout to close proximity with the
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secret installation where the first craft was being studied. This craft was
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shot down. Four more bodies were recovered.
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In 1957, the Drallim opened tentative contact with the United States. The
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bodies of the 4 Drallim were returned to their people, in return for a
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nonaggression agreement between the US and the Drallim. The two wrecked
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scoutcraft were deemed to be complete losses, and the US was allowed to keep
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them for further study.
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In 1965, the Drallim returned to offer the US government a new treaty. The
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Drallim were at war with another race, (the Saathik) and were losing. Because
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the Drallm were not a warlike race, and Humanity understood war only too well
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(in the opinions of both races, let it be known), in return for the use of
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Human mercenaries, the Drallim would continue to supply Humanity with
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advanced technology as well as setting aside several of the nearest habitable
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worlds for Human colonization. Since the offer was valid only to the WHOLE of
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Humanity, the secret was kept by the United Nations Security Council. Earth
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agreed.
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In the years between 1965 and 2008, Human mercenaries piloted Drallim built
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starships, fought ground battles with Drallim built weaponry. The war which
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the Drallim had been losing slowed, then eventually began to reverse itself,
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as Human scientists among the UN Expeditionary Force studied and improved
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upon the Drallim's weaponry. The Drallim, who for the most part were a race
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of philosophers, were first pleased, and then slowly began to grow
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apprehensive as their Human allies showed more and more adeptness in
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improving the weapons the Drallim gave them.
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Veterans of the Drallim-Saathik War were not allowed to return to Earth. By a
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unanimous UN vote, they were given the right to be the first settlers of the
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new Human colony worlds. (The secret of the Drallim could obviously not be
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kept quiet if the millions of people who simply "went missing" every year
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suddenly began returning home with fantastic stories of wars among the stars.
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While the governments of the Earth were slowly acclimating their populations
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to the idea that aliens might indeed exist, none felt that the world was
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ready for THAT much of a revelation.)
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Study of the Drallim technology at home was stalled by several factors. Local
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wars, economic upheavals, and a simple stagnancy of ideas among the American
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scientific community stifled breakthroughs. It was not until UN pressure
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forced the United States to give up their monopoly of the Drallim ships that
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true progress began to unfold again.
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In 2047, The UNSS Pathfinder, the "first" Human built Jumpship left the
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vicinity of Sol and jumped to Alpha Centauri. There it was met by the
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Drallim, who hailed them and offered full contact between their two peoples.
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The two ships then returned to Sol, where the crew of the Pathfinder were
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acclaimed as heroes.
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In 2048, the TRUE story of the Drallim-Human Treaty was made known. There
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were few riots. Most people had expected as much for decades, anyway. Drallim
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starships that year also made contact with a race known as the Z'thar, who
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introduced them to the Vorsk, and the Yezzrim. The Z'tharii homeworld,
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situated near the center of the four expanding races, became a hub for
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interstellar trade.
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Over the next century, Humanity continued to expand, both in terms of
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colonies and knowlege. Human innovation led to a stardrive half the mass of
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the ones in use by the other races, and this, coupled with continued human
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mastery of weapon systems made them the natural organizers of a unified
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military force to protect the world of the burgeoning Confederation from the
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Saathik.
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All was not peacefull in the Confederation, however. While the Drallim, a
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race of physically amorphous beings capable of limited changes in general
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shape, had ceaded several worlds between themselves and the Z'thar to Humans,
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three worlds settled jointly by Humans and Dralllim remained in Drallim
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control, effectively cutting off direct trade between Earth's colonies and
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any of the other races. Any Human ship wishing to trade on Z'tha had to pay
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tarrifs at each of the stopovers. More; as the Drallim are a race whose
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primary field of study had always been philosophy, peace left them with an
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extended period of time to study their new neighbors. Many were alarmed to
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discover that Humanity was a race of thousands, if not millions of
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philosophies, while others rejoiced. Drallim Philosophers, studying Humanity,
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sometimes went mad, others, embracing Human ideologies, went rogue.
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The Vorsk, an insectile race comprised of several forms designed for
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individual functions, the primarily visible ones are called "Mediators".
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Their culture is based extensively around trade; each hive is in effect a
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corporation, with markets and agreements stretching back centuries. The
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sudden influx of two new trading partners created... opportunity, as well as
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conflict. Drallim philosophies were easily adapted as tradegoods, as were
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Human innovations in technology. Humans bought Vorsk bioengineering
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techniques extensively, at first, but then began encroaching on Vorsk markets
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with improved methods of doing things.
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The Yezzrim, a race who physically had the most in common with Humanity (they
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resembled a cross between a monkey and a flying squirrel), were perhaps the
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most diversified race in the mix. Like humans, they excelled in many areas,
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but they often tended to become obbsessive in their endevours, a racial trait
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burned into their delicate biochemistry. Yezzrim scientists often died of
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starvation, Yezzrim warriors ignored orders to retreat, so enraptured were
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they with the tasks at hand. With the aid of Human computer technology,
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(widely acknowleged as better than anything the other races had ever created)
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and several breakthroughs in Human biotechnology, a Human scientist learned
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that the Yezzrim "Monomania" had in fact been increasing slowly over the past
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centuries, with a cause linked to bio-agents planted in Vorsk trade goods.
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Tensions between Yezzrim and Vorsk increase, making for several violent
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incidents. (Meanwhile, Human attempts at reversing the damage was in fact
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making it worse, causing certain elements of the Yezzrim to become violently
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monomaniacal.)
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While at home, the synthesis of Human computer technology and Vorsk
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biotechnology has resulted in a melding of man and machine. On some of the
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Human worlds, these developments, coupled with Drallim philosophical
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principles, have resulted in Humans and other bioforms designed from the gene
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up for one purpose: cheap biological labor. Earth's governments, united at
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last, are now faced with the fracturing of the colonies into individual world
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and system states. In an effort to present a united front to their neighbors,
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an independant Militia is formed to police the space surrounding Human
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worlds. The Militia goes on to found its own, independant chain of colony and
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outpost worlds, hidden not only from the collective Human member states but
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their alien allies as well. Human shipwrights are double dealing as well,
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selling the Confederacy allies "Cruisers" that are so lightly armored and
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underarmed that the lightest of Militia's Corvettes could destroy them in
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minutes.
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In 2203, just as the Human Coalition's ships were silently gathering in an
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uninhabited star system a single jump away from one of the contested Three
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Worlds, the Saathik struck at the heart of the Confederation, Z'thar. Only
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now the Saathik starships were of a radical new design. Previously, the
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Saathik used ships of a design similar in principle to those of every other
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known starfaring race... ships requiring a huge, supercooled hyperdrive
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engine, that moved by jumps of at most 30 light years at a time between
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recharges. These new Saathik starships appeared to use a completely new
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principle, freeing them from the need to re-enter the physical universe a
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discreet distance away from any gravity source. It also allowed them to
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strike anywhere, without tripping the standard Jump-Signiture sensors every
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inhabited solar system kept watch over. Their new starships were also larger,
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more heavily armed, and carried defensive energy screens, a technology
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unknown in the Confederacy.
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The Second Saathik War lasted four years. While the Saathik had a
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technological edge, they had chosen precisely the wrong moment for their
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invasion. While their first tentative probes along the edges of the
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Confederacy had brought them in contact with Confederate Navy ships, those
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battles had all been with the ships supplied to the Confederacy by the Human
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Coalition. With the bulk of the Human Militia's TRUE strength scattered in a
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narrow arc merely two jumps away from their initial point of invasion, their
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technological superiority was rapidly crushed by ships easily their equal in
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armor, and in most cases outmatching them completely in firepower. While
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their defensive screens easily turned away missiles and naval autocannon,
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they only partially deflected lasers and actually ATTRACTED the Human
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Militia's new particle cannons.
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Eventually, the Saathik retreated to wherever they'd come from, leaving the
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Human Coalition to explain why they'd had that kind of strength so close to
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the Drallim Expanse. A new balance of power and position was struck in the
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Confederacy....
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<20> <20><> <20> <20> <20><> <20>
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<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> PO Box 174 <20> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
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<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> <20> <20> tanj@pms.metronj.org <20> <20> <20> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
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