Hello, my name is Jack.\u00a0 Pilots are a family, and we give each other names, callsigns.\u00a0 Whether we like them or not, we accept them if we know what is good for us, or our family will give us one we dislike even more.\u00a0 They tend to reflect our natures.\u00a0 When the Peloran gave us names, we didn\u2019t much like it.\u00a0 We already had names.\u00a0 But as time went by, we began to accept the names they gave us.\u00a0 You see, they reflected our natures too, even if it took us longer to recognize it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The colors of hyperspace twisted around each other, the chaos they revealed more deadly to life than any vacuum Jack had ever breathed.\u00a0 The deflection grids around every ship in the Peloran squadron held the chaos at bay, bubbles of control over gravity exerted by their powerful generators.\u00a0 For a moment Jack wondered how Tom had piloted through hyperspace without them, then decided he really didn\u2019t need to know.\u00a0 It would probably make him sick.<\/p>\n
The Cowboys pulled away from the gleaming white hull of the Guardian Light<\/em>, eddies of color in their wakes.\u00a0 Sixteen fighters in all, over a hundred drones flew to join them, becoming a solid wave of gravity washing over the natural ebbs and flows of hyperspace as they left the Peloran squadron behind.\u00a0 Jack let out a long breath as he realized they had as many combat craft in all as the Constellation had carried at Fort Wichita, and they weren\u2019t the Guardian Light\u2019s<\/em> entire complement.<\/p>\n The Cowboys passed through the wall of hundreds of drones screening the squadron and Jack shook his head in wonder.\u00a0 A few months ago, the Peloran would never have trusted so many cybers in command of their own fighters, with no genetic Peloran to mind them.\u00a0 And no matter the words they chose to dress it up as, it came down to trust.\u00a0 But he had to hand it to Hal.\u00a0 In the last month, the head of the Terran family of the cybers had truly gone all out in his decision to \u201ctest\u201d the fully cybernetic drones.<\/p>\n Jack examined the console of his fighter, where the small holoforms of the cybers controlling his eight surviving drones lounged around on imaginary chairs.\u00a0 It left the console very crowded, but as they weren\u2019t fighting at the moment, he was happy to see them interacting with each other.\u00a0 And of course they interacted with him, helping to keep them grounded to their genetic creators.\u00a0 He wondered if that was really needed anymore.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t imagine Betty, Jasmine, or any<\/em> of their copies ever going Berserker on humanity.\u00a0 Of course, they were born<\/em> to be partners, so that might shift matters.<\/p>\n Jack wondered what a cyber not born to be a partner would be like.\u00a0 He wondered if, after thousands of years of living with humanity, of so carefully making certain that they wanted<\/em> to be human, if it was even possible<\/em> for one of them to be born that didn\u2019t<\/em>.\u00a0 He\u2019d learned to trust them in the last handful of months, implicitly and without reservation.\u00a0 They\u2019d been created to be friends, not servants, and that imperative went so far that he doubted they could ever leave it behind now.<\/p>\n They truly were<\/em> friends.\u00a0 Jack had grown up in a world where cybers were rare, unknown, and otherworldly.\u00a0 In northern Minnesota, they simply had not been normal.\u00a0 Now he lived in a place where cybers outnumbered genies at least a hundred to one.\u00a0 They were everywhere.\u00a0 There were so few genetic Peloran on the Guardian Light that if you met someone outside the pilots\u2019 countries, he or she would almost always be a cyber.\u00a0 They did repairs, they fought, and they died hundreds of little deaths while defending their friends, and all they asked in return was the chance to interact, to be friends.<\/p>\n Jack smiled at the thought and nodded, eyes scanning Betty, Jasmine, and their copies.\u00a0 Each one was different from their parent or sister, whatever you considered them, and yet similar.\u00a0 They wanted friendship.\u00a0 He somehow doubted that humanity had anything to fear from them.\u00a0 Ever.\u00a0 Not as long as humanity continued to be friends.<\/p>\n Betty cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow at him.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you smiling about?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLife,\u201d he returned without a pause.<\/p>\n She pursed her lips, eyes showing that she was considering his answer very<\/em> carefully.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s an awful big thing to be thinking about.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, it is.\u201d\u00a0 Jack shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cWhat can I say?\u00a0 We might be going into battle.\u00a0 It makes me think about the important things in it.\u201d\u00a0 He looked at her, played his eyes over the other cybers, and then returned his gaze to her with another shrug.<\/p>\n \u201cAh,\u201d she answered with a smile.\u00a0 \u201cThe important<\/em> things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe things that make it worth living,\u201d he added with a wink.<\/p>\n Betty laughed, her smile one that said she knew what he was doing.\u00a0 \u201cAnd now<\/em> you\u2019re just flattering,\u201d she said with a shake of her head.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing but truth,\u201d he returned, a hand raised over his heart to show his sincerity.<\/p>\n Betty shook her head again.\u00a0 \u201cYou can be impossible, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack waggled his eyebrows.\u00a0 \u201cThe difficult I do on command.\u00a0 The impossible at will.\u201d<\/p>\n She smiled and leaned back, letting him get away with his bravado this time.<\/p>\n Jack relaxed back in his seat as well, pulling in a long breath and letting it back out.\u00a0 In the comfortable silence that followed he returned to watching the other cybers at their rest.\u00a0 He really hoped they wouldn\u2019t have to do anything today.<\/p>\n \u201cJack?\u201d\u00a0 Betty asked and he turned to look at her again.\u00a0 She looked embarrassed.<\/p>\n \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know those upgrades we were talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack raised an eyebrow, deciding not to pry it out of her.\u00a0 He just waited, knowing his sense of time and her sense of time would force her to break the standoff first.<\/p>\n She cleared her throat.\u00a0 \u201cThe missiles, the extra grav cannon, the lasers?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI also remember better armor and shields,\u201d he supplied.<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0 She looked bashful, her gaze falling away from his face.<\/p>\n He considered her body language for a long moment.\u00a0 It spoke volumes, and his slight suspicion woke up into full-blown knowing<\/em>.\u00a0 \u201cBetty?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes?\u201d\u00a0 She looked over at the other cybers, her body language suggesting that she wanted to join them and disappear.<\/p>\n Jack pursed his lips and held his gaze on her.\u00a0 \u201cDid you upgrade our fighter without telling me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe.\u201d\u00a0 She looked at him, then shifted her eyes away from him again.<\/p>\n Jack sighed.\u00a0 He could keep grilling her and keep getting evasive answers, or he could just sit back and accept it.\u00a0 Not that he would really complain about having more weapons of course.\u00a0 And from one point of view, it was<\/em> her body.\u00a0 He smiled at the thought and shook his head in acceptance.\u00a0 \u201cSo how much of it did we get?\u201d<\/p>\n Betty\u2019s expression brightened with joy.\u00a0 \u201cOh, everything<\/em>.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got the improved armor, the laser turret is back, another grav cannon, and we actually made the missile launchers<\/em> work,\u201d she finished with an expression betraying pure ecstasy.<\/p>\n Jack frowned in thought.\u00a0 \u201cSo, just curious, but how much of the ship we got on Earth is actually left<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n Betty made a show of tapping her chin and considering the question.\u00a0 \u201cUm\u2026you\u2019re sitting in it,\u201d she finally answered with a bright smile.<\/p>\n Jack snorted.\u00a0 \u201cWell, at least we kept the best part of it,\u201d he said with a wink.<\/p>\n Betty sniffed.\u00a0 \u201cMen.\u00a0 Always thinking the place to sit down is the best.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u201d Jack protested.\u00a0 \u201cNever forget the fridge.\u00a0 You didn\u2019t<\/em> forget the fridge, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n Betty smiled.\u00a0 \u201cOops.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack covered his heart with one hand.\u00a0 \u201cYou wound me,\u201d he whispered in a pained tone.\u00a0 \u201cWhere am I supposed to keep my beer?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t drink<\/em> beer,\u201d she said with a raised eyebrow.<\/p>\n Jack sniffed.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe because I don\u2019t have a fridge to keep it cold<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo maybe<\/em> you\u2019ll never have a fridge in our fighter<\/em>,\u201d she returned with a hard glare that spoke far more eloquently than her soft tone.<\/p>\n At that moment, Dorothy flickered into existence on the console in the same small mode that the other used, wearing the long black Victorian dress that was her preferred clothing.\u00a0 Jack shifted his gaze to her, wondering if all of the cybers dispensed with their uniforms once inside their fighters.\u00a0 Every one he\u2019d seen so far did.\u00a0 She looked back and forth between them with an appraising eye.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you two quarreling about today<\/em>?\u201d she asked in a pointed tone.<\/p>\n Jack snorted.\u00a0 \u201cShe<\/em> won\u2019t install a fridge<\/em> for me,\u201d he answered, pointing a thumb at Betty.<\/p>\n Dorothy smiled towards Betty.\u00a0 \u201cGood girl.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack grunted in disappointment that she was taking Betty\u2019s side.\u00a0 He crossed his arms and made a performance of acting put upon.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you,\u201d Betty said with a knowing smile.<\/p>\n Dorothy turned her full attention to Jack, assuming a posture that said she was all business now.\u00a0 \u201cDo you know the Vanguard<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack cleared his throat as his body made an approximation of coming to attention while still strapped into the seat.\u00a0 His mind ran over the word she said like a name, considering what she meant.\u00a0 Only one thing came to mind.\u00a0 \u201cThe British dreadnought?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d Dorothy answered with an approving smile.\u00a0 \u201cCharles wants your division protecting her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGot it,\u201d Jack said and aimed a sloppy salute at her.\u00a0 \u201cThanks Silver,\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGo get \u2019em, Jester,\u201d Dorothy returned with a smile and flickered back out.<\/p>\n \u201cBring \u2019em up,\u201d Jack said with a nod towards Betty.<\/p>\n She waved a hand at a display and he examined the ships making up the British Second Fleet\u2019s Third Battle Squadron.\u00a0 He reached out and grabbed the holographic representation of the Vanguard<\/em> in one hand, spinning it around to look at her far flank.\u00a0 He nodded, reached towards another display to grab his flight, and pulled it over onto the Vanguard<\/em>.\u00a0 He released the dreadnaught and grabbed one of her escorting battleships, the Thunderer<\/em>.\u00a0 He examined it for a bit before grabbing Jessie\u2019s flight and bringing them together.\u00a0 Finally, he reached for Ken\u2019s flight and dragged it to the Ajax<\/em>, last of Vanguard\u2019s<\/em> larger escorts.<\/p>\n \u201cDoes that look good to you?\u201d Jack asked as he saw a British scout fighter fly out of a particularly bright gravitic wave into view of the Cowboys.\u00a0 The British fleet wasn\u2019t far away.<\/p>\n She considered the assignments for a moment before nodding.\u00a0 \u201cThat should work well.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood.\u00a0 Division please,\u201d he requested as they passed by the fighter.<\/p>\n \u201cDivision on,\u201d Betty answered.<\/p>\n \u201cOK boys and girls.\u00a0 You get the idea?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStay tight on your six, right?\u201d Katy asked.<\/p>\n \u201cAlways,\u201d Jack answered with a chuckle.<\/p>\n \u201cSounds to me like you want the easy job for yourself while we protect the weaklings,\u201d Ken added.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019d call a battleship a weakling,\u201d Jessie interjected.<\/p>\n \u201cGood point,\u201d Ken answered.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll keep the BBs safe, Boss.\u00a0 You just make certain nobody kills Vanguard<\/em> if the balloon goes up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll do my best,\u201d Jack said, suppressing a smile as the first British destroyer screen came into view ahead of them.\u00a0 \u201cNow let\u2019s get in and see what we can do,\u201d he ordered, grabbed the throttle and stick, and pushed the throttle forward, watching in approval as the other fighters held pace with him.<\/p>\n \u201cRoger that,\u201d Jessie returned.<\/p>\n \u201cGot it, Boss,\u201d Ken added<\/p>\n \u201cAll over it,\u201d Katy transmitted to his console.<\/p>\n \u201cBreak now,\u201d Jack said and penetrated the British formation, passing escorting corvette, destroyer, and cruiser squadrons waiting in hyperspace.\u00a0 Fighter squadrons road the gravitic waves, weaving with them as the much larger warships simply drifted through them.\u00a0 Jack frowned, wondering what they were waiting for as the Cowboys approached the battleships and dreadnoughts at the heart of the British fleet.\u00a0 Then he shrugged.\u00a0 It honestly didn\u2019t matter much to him.\u00a0 His job was to sit back and wait, much like those fighter pilots behind him riding the waves, until the big guns decided it was time to bring the pain.<\/p>\n \u201cJack?\u201d Betty asked and he glanced at her, then down to the display she was eying.\u00a0 He saw the comm. system blinking, ready to transmit, and smiled at the not-so-subtle hint that he really should be talking to one of those big guns right now.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is Captain Jack of,\u201d he paused as he looked at the icons blinking in one of the displays, showing them the transponder symbol of a Hart.\u00a0 Betty smiled and nodded, urging him on.\u00a0 \u201cHart Flight to the HMS Vanguard<\/em>,\u201d Jack finished, trying not to sound too awkward about it.\u00a0 \u201cAneerin has volunteered us to escort you in.\u201d<\/p>\n A man appeared on one of the displays, wearing the uniform of a British admiral, arms clasped behind his back.\u00a0 The officer looked like a shop owner considering how much candy Jack was going to steal from him.\u00a0 \u201cWe have received word from Aneerin regarding your orders.\u00a0 Are all<\/em> of your fighters truly hyper-capable?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack smiled at the question.\u00a0 \u201cYes, Admiral.\u00a0 The Peloran have upgraded the Hellcats as well.\u201d<\/p>\n The British admiral sighed.\u00a0 \u201cVery well.\u00a0 Please hold our flanks while we recall our fighters and clear for surface action.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRoger that,\u201d Jack answered and nodded to Betty.<\/p>\n She cut the transmission with a smile.<\/p>\n \u201cMischief, did you hear that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cListening in, Boss,\u201d Katy said as her face appeared on a display.<\/p>\n \u201cGood,\u201d Jack nodded towards the display.\u00a0 \u201cTime to get off my six and do some real<\/em> work.\u201d<\/p>\n She aimed an affronted look at him.\u00a0 \u201cWhat?\u00a0 Keeping up with you isn\u2019t enough?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m afraid not,\u201d Jack returned with a chuckle.\u00a0 \u201cWe all<\/em> have to work for our living today.\u201d<\/p>\n Katy sniffed.\u00a0 \u201cActually, I rather hope all we have to do is sit around and watch today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA woman after my own heart,\u201d Jack said, covering it with a hand.<\/p>\n Katy winked.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t you know it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll cover starboard,\u201d Jack said with a chuckle.<\/p>\n \u201cGuess that leaves port for me then?\u201d\u00a0 She raised both eyebrows at him.<\/p>\n \u201cGot it in one,\u201d Jack answered.\u00a0 \u201cNow let\u2019s move,\u201d he ordered and brought the Avenger around to the Vanguard\u2019s<\/em> starboard flank.\u00a0 Betty\u2019s drones spread out to cover the approaches to the British battleships, grav drives holding them in formation despite the buffeting of the gravitic waves.\u00a0 His eyes flicked over to see Katy\u2019s Hellcat and drones disappearing behind the massive dreadnought.<\/p>\n He scanned his sensors, watching the British fighters power up and begin to move.\u00a0 This was the most contentious part of any hyperspace assault, when the fighters that could not surface into normalspace either remained deployed to screen the fleet or slipped into their mothership to be carried up.\u00a0 Fleet commanders had to choose how many fighters to leave behind or take with them, and if they brought them all home before surfacing a well-timed counterattack from their targets could devastate the fleet.<\/p>\n Jack smiled as Aneerin\u2019s plan sunk in.\u00a0 He\u2019d sent the Cowboys so the British could recall all of their fighters, giving them that much more firepower in system once they entered normalspace.\u00a0 Jack had to hand it to the old man.\u00a0 He never showed his cards to the table and always looked for an advantage.\u00a0 Jack nodded very slowly as he considered that he would have to watch the old man.\u00a0 He would have to learn from the old man.<\/p>\n \u201cJack?\u201d Betty asked and he turned to see her staring at him with a curious expression.<\/p>\n He shrugged in response.\u00a0 \u201cJust realizing that I\u2019m going to have to pay attention to the sneaky old bastard more than I thought.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty gave him an amused smile.\u00a0 \u201cJust<\/em> realizing?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo sometimes I\u2019m a bit slow,\u201d he returned with a snort.<\/p>\n \u201cA bit<\/em>?\u201d\u00a0 Her smile turned impish.<\/p>\n Jack raised an eyebrow at her.\u00a0 \u201cHush, you.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty jerked her head to the side and Jack shifted his gaze to look at the display she pointed out.\u00a0 The British grav drives had come to life, and the fleet began to drive forward, crashing through the grav waves on their way to the Chinese world of Xin Yin.\u00a0 Jack smiled as the Avenger kept pace with the Vanguard<\/em>, riding the shockwave spreading out from the dreadnought\u2019s bow.\u00a0 All around them over a hundred battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and corvettes plowed through hyperspace, shredding the natural currents of the grav waves in their passage.\u00a0 It was like nothing Jack had ever seen before.<\/p>\n He let out a long breath, relaxed back into his seat, and kept an eye on the map display.\u00a0 It showed the fleet in all its glory, spread throughout all three dimensions, and the Cowboys\u2019 drones interspersed between the ships, watching and waiting for any approaching enemies.\u00a0 No red blips appeared.\u00a0 Either they were catching the Chinese by surprise, or it was a trap.\u00a0 Jack blinked at the thought and glanced over at Betty.<\/p>\n She returned a questioning look, wondering what his shift meant.<\/p>\n And then the comm. display began to flash, showing the order to surface and it was past time to consider anything.\u00a0 Jack nodded, closed his eyes, and the universe flashed.\u00a0 He opened his eyes to see the British fleet all around him, fighters boiling out of the motherships at maximum acceleration.\u00a0 Sensor drones deployed with them, stretching out to scan normalspace for enemies.<\/p>\n The display filled with Chinese forts and warships inside the Lunar Treaty Limit.\u00a0 Nearly twenty forts held the approaches to the planet, with up to twenty warships supporting each.\u00a0 They were smaller warships though, mostly destroyers designed with point defense in mind to support the forts.\u00a0 Against the British fleet arrayed outside the limit, they would be little more than a speed bump.\u00a0 Deep inside the limit, the remains of the Shang and Chinese fleets that attacked New Washington licked their wounds.\u00a0 Less than one hundred warships, many of them could barely move, let alone fight.\u00a0 Those capable of fighting would only delay the inevitable if this came down to a fight.<\/p>\n Everybody had to know that any conflict would prove disastrous for the Chinese.\u00a0 But a niggling concern wiggled its way into Jack\u2019s brain, and he frowned as the British fleet did not move.\u00a0 Something wasn\u2019t right and he didn\u2019t want to be here any longer than necessary.\u00a0 \u201cWhy aren\u2019t we moving?\u201d he finally asked.<\/p>\n Betty aimed an odd look at him.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re talking<\/em>.\u00a0 Demanding the Chinese stop harboring the Shang.\u00a0 According to plan<\/em>.\u00a0 Do you want to listen?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Jack answered in a low tone.\u00a0 The tips of his fingers began to vibrate, drumming the edge of his seat with a worried rhythm.\u00a0 He scanned the displays, looking for anything that could be causing him so much unease, as he tried to act like nothing was wrong.\u00a0 \u201cIs it is interesting?\u201d<\/p>\n Betty followed his actions, her face beginning to betray worry as well.\u00a0 But she kept up the act.\u00a0 \u201cWell, that depends on what you consider interesting.\u00a0 The legal arguments pertaining to why the Chinese cannot harbor the Shang due to their violation of the Lunar Treaties, despite the fact that the Shang did not sign them, are actually very fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGreat.\u201d\u00a0 Jack rolled his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cThe bureaucrats<\/em> are going to war.\u00a0 I think I\u2019ll pass on listening in.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYour loss,\u201d Betty returned, momentarily brightening in reaction to his jocular tone.\u00a0 \u201cThe Chinese counterarguments are very inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack\u2019s eyes narrowed as he focused on a region of space outside the British formation.\u00a0 \u201cCan we get a focused scan out there?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOn the way,\u201d Betty answered without pause, and he saw one of her drones rocket out in that direction.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd get the drones into a tight formation please.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d she asked, but her drones responded instantly, coming back towards the Vanguard\u2019s<\/em> flank.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t see anything out there.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack frowned and let out a long breath.\u00a0 \u201cNeither do I.\u00a0 But if I were planning a trap, that\u2019s where I\u2019d come in.\u00a0 Catch us between the proverbial rock and hard place.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s more to it than that,\u201d she said in a low voice, demanding an explanation.<\/p>\n Jack growled as his fingers continued to twitch.\u00a0 He had to fight to keep his hands off the controls.\u00a0 \u201cI feel like a missile\u2019s headed our way.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty nodded and one of their drones flashed and disappeared.\u00a0 A second later, a display began relaying sensor images of hyperspace, showing it empty of all threats.\u00a0 Of course, with sensor range in hyperspace being so pitifully short, someone could be a few thousand klicks away and be effectively invisible.\u00a0 More drones throughout the fleet began to flash out, and the hyperspace display expanded.\u00a0 Jack gave her a questioning look.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not the only one with bad vibes,\u201d she explained with a shrug.\u00a0 Then she shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cBut there\u2019s just nothing out there that we can find<\/em>,\u201d she added with a growl of her own.<\/p>\n Then the displays lit up with alarms and Jack stared at them as ship after ship after ship flashed into existence.\u00a0 They appeared by the scores and fighters swarmed out of carriers and other larger warships as the unknown fleet recovered from the shock of surfacing into normalspace.\u00a0 Jack frowned, wondering who could have a fleet that large after the destruction of the last few months.\u00a0 He glanced over to see Betty\u2019s drone not yet close enough to get a good scan.\u00a0 And then it clicked.<\/p>\n \u201cOh frak,\u201d he whispered as ships continued to flash into existence, filling out the incoming formation.<\/p>\n \u201cJack?\u201d Betty asked.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Russians are coming,\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello, my name is Jack.\u00a0 Pilots are a family, and we give each other names, callsigns.\u00a0 Whether we like them or not, we accept them if we know what is good for us, or our family will give us one[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2304-forge-of-war-1stdraft","uentry","postonpage-1","odd","post-author-jack"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1230"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1862,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230\/revisions\/1862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}