AWF Chpt 81

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=Chapter 81=
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===Regrouping and Moving Forward===
DS Phaidin, Leopard Class 'Mech Carrier DropShip
In Transit
Necromo System, Capellan Confederation
April, 3030
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Anastasia heard the rhythmic thump of Selene's tail on the rolling door of the sleep compartment. She felt the rough wet tongue liking her face as she instinctively pushed the coyote puppy's head away. She got the puppy to settle down and curl up next to her. Anastasia knew this would last for fifteen to twenty minutes, but then she'd have to get up and take care of her coyote. She wasn't sure how long she had slept but it felt like several hours. In the dim light of the sleeping compartment she couldn't quite read Hap's watch.
Yesterday had been a long, and frustrating day. After a life threatening mission she barely managed to dodge an assassination and hijacking attempt. It culminated in her trying to fix the Leopard's damaged auto pilot and control the Leopard's control panel had taken hours.
In the middle of fixing the autopilot there was a harrowing twenty minute incident where Anastasia accidentally deactivated the life support and she and Henry had to rush to undo what she had done and manually restart it from the engine room. She had managed to disable the broken autopilot and bring up a backup autopilot system. Everything seemed to be performing properly but once they landed she was going to insist they restore the controls and wiring to the factory specifications before flying again.
After the life-support incident Hap insisted she stop and get some sleep. He all but carried her to the Mechwarrior's berthing area, gave her a ration biscuit, pushed her into the shower and then put her to bed. Somewhere in that process Joker and Mags brought Selene to them, apparently they had been playing with her, and just wanted to go to bed themselves. Thankfully this meant Selene was also ready for bed. Anastasia was annoyed with Hap at the time because she wanted to continue working, but once she was settled in her sleep compartment with her coyote and husband she knew it was the right choice to stop and rest.
Anastasia pressed herself closer to Hap. He half-woke up, reached over Anastasia and scratched Selene behind the ears then put his arm around Anastasia's waist and gave her a sleepy hug. Anastasia enjoyed the warmth and intimacy as she relaxed. Selene seemed to understand it wasn't quite time to get up so she responded with a yawn before putting her tail over her nose.
"You awake?" Hap asked.
"Yes." Anastasia said, "How did you know?"
"Usually when I give you a good squeeze in your sleep you mumble in French."
"I don't mumble, Harold." Anastasia corrected. "I sweetly murmur, s'il vous plait".
"Perhaps, if you please, I should say you lovingly purr." Hap said as he gave his wife another squeeze.
"Oui, mon mari bien-aime." Anastasia purred. She reached behind her to caress Hap under the jaw. "How often do you give me 'a good squeeze' while I sleep?"
"I dunno, sometimes I wake up and just need to remind myself that you're there, there are good things around me. It's good to be alive."
Anastasia put her arm on top of Hap's and intertwined her fingers. She pulled his arm more tightly around her and pressed herself closer to him. She knew her husband struggled with the loss of his friends and men he had led. She knew he feared losing her. When they got settled on New Avalon she would insist he get some counseling, honestly she was starting to suspect she needed some herself.
"Well I'm certainly not going anywhere. Is it good to be alive?" Anastasia said.
Hap gently kissed her neck and nibbled her ear, "I think so."
Anastasia turned over so she could face Hap. She was exhausted, physically and mentally, but the sudden desire to be intimate seemed so right and appealing. She couldn't help herself as she kissed him, "Why don't you put Selene in her kennel?"
Selene put her head on Anastasia's shoulder and looked at Hap. Hap nodded, and reached over both of them to open up the sleep compartment and climbed over his wife as he said, "Come on Selene, let's take a walk."
Selene jumped down and followed Hap as Anastasia laid on her back. She knew their first stop would be the head. They had taught Selene to relieve herself in one of the showers. Whoever was taking care of Selene could easily clean up after her and give the shower a quick spray of cleanser and then rinse the stall. It wasn't ideal but the other option was to take her to the mech bay and use the toxic spill kit. As much as the tech's liked Selene, they didn' care for her messes.
Anastasia felt guilty for asking Hap to take care of Selene, but she really didn't want to get up yet. She thought about the things that she needed to do when she finally did start her day, and it felt overwhelming. The auto-pilot seemed to be working, or at least they could turn it off now. She'd have to check with Hawkins or Kate and see if it was still working.
Before Hap had dragged her to bed she had heard the comms were repaired. Henry and his associates returned to the port aerospace bay they found a complex jamming system rigged into the bay's comms terminal. Once they removed it internal and external comms were restored. Anastasia intended to look at the system later, but what she'd heard it sounded like star league tech. It was another data point that Det 3 and Colonel Norton were ROM or some ComStar organization sent to kill Anastasia. It was also looking like they intended to destroy McFinnigan and Sons as well.
Anastasia also wanted to see what they had stolen from the Capellans, but right now she wanted to just stay cocooned in her sleeping compartment and not address the problems around her for a few more hours.
Mike was dead, as was Dobson, the navigator she had never met. This was in addition to David who died back on Monhegan. Sarah could have permanent vision loss, but they wouldn't know for weeks, and the Phaidin was, for good or ill, a few hours away from docking with a JumpShip that would take them to god only knew where.
She felt this was all her fault. Intellectually she knew this was all ComStar's doing, but she was the reason they did it. Without her they wouldn't have brought this level of violence and misfortune to the McFinnigan and Sons mercenary company. The family, or company, didn't seem to think this way, but she was getting people killed. Eventually someone was going to resent her.
There was also the problem with Shafer or whatever her name was. She had somehow survived the attack from the Det 3 members. Doc Les had treated her wounds and, as Anastasia had warned, Doc Leslie kept Shafer restrained. On her way to bed Anastasia had heard that Shafer threatened Doc Leslie several times and Doc Leslie sedated her. Anastasia suspected Shafer was going to spend most of her time sedated.
Anastasia stretched as she heard footsteps coming down the hall, but they were coming from the wrong direction. She leaned over to see Roweyna coming toward her, "Ah, good yer awake. I need ye to get dressed and look at whatever it is we have in the aerobay."
"I was, well Harold and I-" Anastasia hesitated trying to think how to get Roweyna to go away, and give her and Harold some time alone. "Does it absolutely need to be done right now?"
"Yes. I need to answer Father's question while we can still communicate with him. I'm certain you and Harold can attend to yer personal business later." Roweyna said as she opened Anastasia's wall locker and threw a skirt and her silk robe at her. "We've re-established communication with Father, and he wants to know what the hell that bastard Norton had us steal and why it's worth killing all of us."
Anastasia nodded as she pulled on the skirt and put on her robe over her oversized McFinnigan and Sons nightshirt. As Anastasia dressed she looked over Roweyna, she was wearing loose pants and a cropped t-shirt that showed her midsection. This was quite a departure from her usual business attire. Her arm had been stitched up and she had several bandages on her wrists, arms, and another bandage above her hip. Roweyna looked tired, and her usual mischievous air was replaced by a sense of exhaustion.
Harold came down the hall, and saw Roweyna. Anastasia saw his shoulder droop in disappointment as he turned to his own wall locker and pulled out his coveralls and put them on over his shorts. Selene jumped back on the bed and nearly knocked over Anastasia. Roweyna grabbed her and pulled her close to her chest, "Come 'ere, ye four footed miscreant."
Joker opened up the sleep compartment he shared with Mags. "Hey Roweyna" he said sleepily "How you doing?"
"Oh fine, fine. Doc Leslie was about half way through stichin' me up when Anastasia here killed the lights and life support." Roweyna turned to Joker, "Might 'ave a scar or two, but I'll be right as rain in a few days."
"Scars are fierce." Mags said, "Like a tattoo but better, because it means you survived."
"I know ferocity is prized in the Camacho clan," Roweyna said, "but I was raised by a woman who said, 'ye should be like whiskey in a tea cup' Somethin' beautiful on the outside, warmin' to friends and kin, but a powerful surprise to the unsuspecting."
Anastasia stood up, tied her robe belt, and pulled her hair into a quick ponytail, "I apologize for what happened with the life support, but, given your normal modest dress, I doubt it will compromise your ability to 'surprise the unsuspecting."
Roweyna put Selene down and shrugged, "Then I'll continue to find other ways to disappoint mother."
"Where are we going?" Hap asked as he pulled his boots on. He offered Anastasia's her boots, but shook her head and had him pass her sandals instead.
"I need someone to tell me what we took in the raid, and since it's high end miltech and Anastasia has worked around high end miltech, we think it's best she examine it." Roweyna said.
Mags and Joker mentioned they wondered about what they had stolen too, and quickly got ready and followed as Roweyna led them to the Aerospace Fighter Bay. When they got there they found Henry, Smyth, and Lucas waiting for them standing between the Karnov transport VTOL and the large shipping container. Smyth had a large bolt cutter across his shoulder.
"You don't think those Det 3 guys booby-trapped this thing?" Joker asked, pointing to the large container.
"I doubt it." Henry said
"They left the air crew to guard this as they moved through the ship with some stupid lethal overconfidence." Hap said, "They didn't seem to think anyone but the Mechwarriors would fight back. They left the air-crew "just in case" but probably because they didn't think much of their combat abilities. I doubt they'd consider the need to protect this thing any more."
"That makes a lot o' sense." Rowena said, "I'm generally impressed Hap, ye've-"
"After everything with Ashley I've been trying to do better about paying attention and keeping my head in the game." Hap said.
"Don't be too hard on yerself, ye had a wife to marry and you were meetin' her mother." Roweyna said, "I mean everyone knew Ashley was trouble but still."
Henry gave Smyth a gentle shove and he awkwardly positioned the long bolt cutters on the lock. The doors had the centuries old standard four bar latch and cam action to secure the door. The doors had two handles, and the door on the right had to be opened before the door on the left. The right hand handle was secured with a large steel lock that Smyth was straining to cut.
Smyth managed to cut the lock and smoothly tossed it aside. He then started to open the doors with Lucas's help. The two men struggled with the doors which seemed to be rusted and possibly damaged or warped in the transit process, or just from years of neglect.
As they struggled to open the door Henry mumbled, "Complete amateurs, those Det 3 bastards. Everyone knows if yer goin' to take a DropShip, ye split yer crew in half with one group hustlin' to the engine room while the other hauls ass to the bridge. Ye don't split into little groups causin' mayhem, like those fn-" He stopped as Smyth and Lucas finally got the doors opened.
Anastasia stared at the inside of the container. She could see several large pieces of non descript 'mech or ship hardware strapped down to the inside of the container. They were large boxy components. There were also several rugged plastic boxes and a large pile of cables, and antennas.
Anastasia took Henry's flashlight and walked around the inside of the container. The devices were dark gray and seemed to be made to be connected together through cables that were wrapped up with devices. Anastasia had to squeeze herself between the wall and the large devices to see everything. Whatever it was it took up most of the container. There seemed to be several warnings on the system, but they were in Chinese and Russian. The device's purpose was a mystery to her.
As Anastasia walked around trying to find anything that would hint at the device's intended us Hap grabbed the nearest box and pulled off the lid. It contained several manuals and more cables. Anastasia saw the books and was immediately drawn to them. They were also written Russian and Chinese, two languages she couldn't read or speak.
Joker grabbed another box, this one contained tools, random papers, a coffee cup, and a family picture. "Did the Det 3 clowns just grab everything they saw. This looks like they just shoved all of some guys desk into the box."
"Probably" Hap said, "They were in a hurry and didn't know what was important." As he spoke Anastasia got close to Hap and leaned over his arm to look at the book.
Anastasia coyly rubbed up against him. Hap raised an eyebrow, "You want this?"
"No. You're fine." Anastasia said as she turned a few pages.
Hap raised his arm so she could get between him and the book. She moved his arms so that they settled into a loose embrace and she could examine the book's contents. He rested his chin on top of her head "Comfortable?"
"Quite" Anastasia answered, "Although I was more comfortable back in the bed chamber."
"Yeah. I was too." Hap said, "As a matter of fact I'd like to go back there."
She nodded, "As soon as were done with this-" She stopped at a page with multiple equations.
"Any idea what we're looking at?" Hap asked
"These are equations for calculating waves, and their reciprocal counter waves, but I'm not sure what the purpose of that is." Anastasia said.
"Like water waves?" Joker asked, "Is this a machine for generating waves in a pool or something? Can we use this thing to make a zero gravity pool?"
"No,." Anastasia said. She flipped a few more pages and was frustrated by more Cyrillic writing and even a few handwritten notations in Chinese. She leaned on Hap's chest as she went back to the page of equations.
"So ye have no idea?" Roweyna asked.
"I'm sorry but no, it's all Russian and Chinese." Anastasia said.
"We don't happen to have any crew members that can read either of those languages?" Hap asked.
Roweyna looked to Henry. Henry nodded gravely, "Aye we took on a new aerospace technician back on Monhegan. Dmitry Khmentsky, He can certainly speak and read Russian, but I'm not too certain about how well he speaks English."
"Let's go find him." Roweyna said. "If father hired him it cannot be as bad as all that."
"You sure?" Joker asked, "because sometimes when your dad and you getting going, I'm not sure you guys are speaking English."
"Perhaps because we're speaking Gaelic." Roweyna said. "Or perhaps ye have a learnin' disability."
"I don't have a learning disability." Joker snapped.
"Are you sure? Depending on the severity of your disability you might not know." Anastasia said.
"Hap tell them I don't have a learning disability" Joker said.
"Sorry, but AFFC regulations state I can't talk about a Soldier's medical conditions in public." Hap said.
Henry suggested they start looking in the other aerospace bay. They walked across the hall and entered the other bay. There was loud music that was a mix of traditional folk-style instruments and synthetic dance beats. There was also a strange harmony of melodic chorus of women and a man half singing half shouting in Russian. Kate was there with a tall stocky man with blue-gray eyes, close cropped hair and a few days old beard.
The man was wearing an oil stained sleeveless tank top with multiple burn holes, his pants were military issue utility trousers with reinforced knee pads. His shirt exposed most of his chest and arms revealing numerous tattoos with religious iconography, military symbols, and Cyrillic words. Most prominent was on his left breast was the virgin Mary and on the other was the house of Davion Sword and Sun burst. In the center was an elaborate cross with a crucified Christ.
The man was smoking a cigarette while using a torch to cut off pieces of armor and was carelessly tossing the broken pieces on the deck. He seemed oblivious to the people entering the bay. His dark welding goggles made it difficult to see anything but what was in front of him.
"No, Dmitry, we need to replace this whole piece. Look, over sixty percent of this panel is damaged." Kate shouted at the man.
He looked in her direction and took his cigarette out of his mouth, "Is fine. We patch."
"I don't think that's going to work."
Dmitry turned off his torch and walked over to a pile of laminated armor sheets. He motioned for the pilot to join him. Kate walked up and glanced at the short stack of armor sheets. "Are there any other armor sheets?"
Dmitry shook his head.
"Oh! We will have to patch where we can then." Kate said, "And you're sure you can make the patches aerodynamically sound? I don't want to enter the atmosphere and have half my wing peel off."
Dmitry looked annoyed, "You have problem last flight?"
"No." Kate said slowly.
"Dah", Dmitry hit his chest, "My patches good shit."
"Okay. Apparently your patches are good shit." Kate agreed, as she helped Dmitry pickup a sheet of armor and heft it onto his shoulder.
Roweyna looked around, "What are ye doin'? I thought ye were resting."
Kate started to drag another sheet off the pile, "I called down to ask Dmitry how long it would take to repair the Stuka's armor, and when he didn't respond I realized he was already working it. Given our current situation I thought it was wise we got the Stuka FMC as quick as possible, which means I gotta spend some of my rest time replacing armor."
"God bless ye Miss Berlin, but ye need to be rested before ye get behind the controls of the Leopard. Ye know that." Roweyna said. "If we get killed, have an accident, or if the shuttle is damaged or destroyed there will be an investigation, and if ye haven't had yer 8 hours of crew rest I may lose an insurance claim."
"Wait. You can insure combat vehicles?" Joker said.
"No I can insure transport vehicles for accidents and destruction not related to combat. Now quiet down, learnin' disability."
"It's Kind of hard to sleep in these circumstances." Kate answered sheepishly as Hap helped her by picking up the other end of the armor sheet and followed her to a wing section pock marked with laser and missile holes.
"Be that as it may, I need Mr. Khmentsky to help us in the next bay over, and Miss Berlin, ye need yer crew rest." Roweyna said.
Dmitry slammed the sheet of armor on the wing. "Dah?"
"Yes, you." Roweyna said, "We're trying to figure out what we took in the raid. Everything about it is written in Russian and Chinese, seeing as how it's Capellan, so if ye could help us read what we have, it'd be quite ah help to the family."
Wordlessly Dimtry nodded. He turned off his music system and grabbed a leather jacket. Anastasia noted Dmitry's jacket had the patch for the Sixth Syrtis Fusiliers RCT and the gray "scars of the sword" of corporal in the technical corps. They passed into the other bay and Anastasia led him into the shipping container and motioned to a data plate on the largest piece of equipment.
Dmitry nodded, "Is komplekt elektonnykh kontrmer".
"What is that?" Anastasia asked, "Electronic what?"
Dmitry said it again slower and louder.
Anastasia shook her head, "I don't speak Russian."
"Dah, no problem, is like electronic-ah maskirovka system-chah."
"It's an electronic listening device for Maskirovka?"
"Nyet, no. Not Maskirovka." Dmitry made a throat cutting sign across his neck, and then shook his head. "Not Maskirovka." He repeated as looked around the room at a loss.
"I warned ye about this." Henry quietly sang to Roweyna.
Roweyna took a step into the container next to Anastasia, "Maskirovka can also mean disguise, like a mask. Dmityr, are yer sayin' it's an electronic disguise system?"
Dmitry nodded as Anastasia tilted her head to the side, and thought for a moment. "We were briefed that the Capellans had done significant work on an advanced Electronic Counter Measure suite-"
"Dah, Dah" Dmitry agreed with Anastasia. "System-chah Elektonnykh Kontrmer" As he spoke he pointed to the words on the systems data plate.
Anastasia looked around the container, "The system I heard of was designed for a light 'mech. I believe it was a 30 or 35 ton 'mech code-named Lueduo. Father and I offered to create a similar suite for NAIS, but we were told if the AFFS high command wanted it, they would steal it, or salvage it from a battlefield. This looks too large for a light or even heavy 'mech though. It does explain the guide to waves though, as that is one technique to create an electronic counter measure. Still it seems so large, perhaps it's a prototype."
Dmitry pointed to the cover of the book in Hap's hand, "Is for Cosmos vessel."
"Like a DropShip or Aerospace Fighter?" Anastasia asked.
Dmitry shrugged.
Anastasia looked over at Roweyna, "It appears to be an electronic counter measure suite for a space vehicle. It doesn't make sense for it to be a DropShip because no amount of electric countermeasures is going to hide a DropShip entering a planet's atmosphere, and calculating where a DropShip will land based on its entry profile is relatively simple. Might help on the approach I'd guess.
"It also appears too big and bulky for a fighter. It could be for a jump ship, but jump ships don't move, and are considered non-military targets by nearly everyone. Further jumping into a system creates a very detectable anomaly. All this to say, I'm at a loss as to why the Capellans would build this."
"Well that's more than we knew. Besides, if ol' Maximilian Liao is as insane as some say, perhaps we shouldn't ask too many questions about the why, and focus on what we can do with it. If this system is for a DropShip, can ye hook it up?"
Anastasia looked around the container as Dmitry shrugged, "Probably. But it would only hide our electronic signature, anyone could look outside of a window and see us. It would make targeting us very difficult, though. However, given my recent experience with the ship's power systems, I'm a little hesitant to connect something so large, and quite frankly, experimental."
Henry looked like he was about to correct Anastasia, he cleared his throat, and addressed Roweyna, "Mum, the Phaidin is a good ship, but my lady is correct, is best jest to let sleepin' dogs lie, at least till we're planet side and give the primary power plant and wiring a proper overhaul."
"Very good. Let's go talk to father, ye may as well come if he has any other questions." Roweyna said as she nodded with her head toward the bridge.
Kate checked her watch, "Dmitry I gotta get some sleep before I relieve Hawkins. I'm going back to my rack."
Dmitry nodded, "Dah, I patch the Stuka."
"I have every confidence in your patches. You want me to ask some of the 'mech techs to help you?"
"You want lose wing in atmosphere?" Dmitry asked
"No, that is something I do not want." Kate said.
"I'll talk to Father about getting more aerotechs, but remind me of this and I'll be sure to include a bonus in yer pay." Roweyna said as she left the Aerobay and turned toward the bridge.
Anastasia and her lancemates followed Roweyna as Dmitry went back to the other aerobay. Kate also left the group as they passed by the air crew's berthing area.
When they entered the bridge Anastasia was surprised to see Sarah sitting at the navigator's station listening to the ship's telemetry and passive radar. Her eyes were still bandaged, but she seemed better than when Anastasia had seen her last. She turned as everyone entered.
"It's jest us and the Coyote Lance." Roweyna said. "Ye have anything to report?"
"No Ma'am. I think the other Leopard is still next to us, and they are periodically pinging us, and I can hear the long range navigation beacon from the jump ship, but I don't believe there is anything else out there."
Anastasia looked at the radar terminal. There was a marker close to the Phaidin following the DropShip just a few kilometers off starboard. Several thousand kilometers away was the Jumpship. It looked like Sarah was hearing everything the Phaidin was detecting. Roweyna squeezed the young woman's shoulder, "Good work Sarah. Keep us informed if ye hear anything else."
"Yes Ma'am." Sarah answered.
"Hawkins are ye alright?"
Hawkins shook himself awake, "Yeah, yeah." He looked at his watch then checked his navigation systems. "We're still a few hours out before we dock with the JumpShips."
"Good." Roweyna stood by the communications station, and put the headset on. She flipped a few switches and began talking. She spoke mostly in Gaelic, Anastasia assumed it was to make things more difficult for anyone who might be trying to listen to them. Roweyna nodded as she spoke, she asked a question and raised her eyebrows in surprise at the response. When she was done she turned off the radio and took off her head set.
"Alright ladies and gents. We're going to keep moving toward Norton's jump ship, and it looks like we're about to jump into St. Ives." Roweyna said.
"How did Commander McFinnigan figure that out?" Anastasia asked.
"As you were sleeping I went through Norton's briefcase and found a data stick. All the files were encrypted, so I sent it all to Father to see if Cody or Mal could decrypt it."
"What did they learn?" Anastasia asked
"Not as much as ye'd like. They only managed to decrypt a few files, but we were able to confirm that the White Tails, Det 3, and that bastard Norton were ComStar agents. Also Mal found the ex-filtration plan which included every jump from here to Rigil."
"So Willard and his boys weren't in on this?" Joker asked.
"Nay." Roweyna said, "Seems in the age of BattleMechs everyone hates tankers. Bastard Norton hired them to be disposable and likely die on the field of battle, or in this betrayal. Given how Willard effects people I'd wager he'd pissed off Norton in a past assignment."
"I will add Father tells me Willard and his boys were helpin' with fire suppression and manning guns. Father may not think much of Willard, but him and his armored calvary have certainly redeemed themselves."
"Wait. Did you say Rigil?" Hawkins asked.
"Aye, but if it's up to me, we'll be getting off at St. Ives, find a way back into Federation or Commonwealth space, and make our way to Donegal, or meet up with Father along the way. Father has already managed to arrange a jump back in AFFC space. If he finds another way to link up with us, he'll let us know. Right now we've decided we cannot trust ComStar so unless we happen to find ourselves in the same system, we're not likely to see them again till we get to Donegal."
"How'd Kelly manage that?" Joker asked.
"After the engagement he started moving the Tir na nOg toward the Necromo jump point and reached out to the vessels recharging their K-F Drive. He found a crew that was willing to jump across the boarder and, jest like everything a mercenary does, they agreed to a price. If we had the fuel, and it wasn't likely to create a runnin' gun fight we'd be joining them."
"What did he say about the ECM suite?" Anastasia asked.
"He said to hold onto it, and he'd know what to do with it once we were together again."
"I have a question." Hawkins said, "How exactly are we going to convince the jump ship to just release us when we get to the St. Ives system?"
"Well we can try to bribe them, it's how father secured passage." Roweyna said, "but I had the same question because it's likely these are some highly indoctrinated ComStar weird beards drivin' the ship. After all they were willin' to do a pirate jump." Roweyna paused, "Father had another suggestion if the crew isn't easily persuaded by a monetary offer."
"What was Commander McFinnigan's other suggestion?" Hap asked
"Pray the JumpShip crew is easily motivated by money, Mr. Calahad." Roweyna answered.
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