AN: Hello everyone. :) Time to get the third chapter rewrite started! Are you ready for the show? Ohohohoho! Anyway... For those who don't know about the Galataea release on Amazon, yet, somehow... I'm still linking it for the rest of the week. :)

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Galataea Crystallim Core: Collection 1 – This contains the first three episodes of the storyline. Making the Grade, Here, Fishy, Fishy. and Yes, Please No.

Those of you who want to purchase it on Amazon may do so at this link.

Link: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B01LX7DSRP

Those of you who wish to read it on Smashwords for free can do so at this link using the coupon. It lasts until October 1, 2016. I typically give out 2-week long coupons when I first upload a story to Smashwords and Amazon.

Link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/665901 | Coupon: WF93N

Hopefully I can continue to do that compared to how many others take stories down here in large amounts and leave only a few chapters. So long as I can receive enough support from fans, I can continue to do as I have been. If you like the story and want to contribute in that way, please purchase it on Amazon.

Either way, please leave a review at one place or the other! Thanks!

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Enjoy!

Chapter 3.1: Hard Nut to Crack?

The plains were open country that extended for many miles in all directions. Since the climate and topography changes after Widow War II a lot of forests were destroyed. Those former forests became fields. In turn, places that were once fields became forests. Other notable issues was the sudden destruction of large chunks of land, and the massive rise in sea level. The Outer Banks of Northern Carolina moved over a hundred miles inland during that time and several mountains in the Appalachians were obliterated from existence.

John did not care much about outdated geography despite being well versed in the subject. While the open plains were a dangerous location for a novice hunter due to the lack of cover and the ability to see movement from miles away, he still needed to hunt there. No, it was not ancient topography and the micro-climate shift over time that caused him concern. His problems stemmed from a far more immediate and common source.

His unruly recent acquisitions needed to be educated on their role. He was going to have to pay two hundred dollars to confine his unruly acquisitions. The confinement rooms utilized technology that completely removed all power from a Demi-Human. The method of their creation was a jealously guarded secret despite the fact that they were used worldwide.

Within the confines of those rooms a Demi-Human became incredibly weak. In many instances they were no stronger than an average human being. Their special attacks, magic, and pretty much anything out of the human standard norm were shut off.

During their stay in the holding cell they would also be subjected to constant propaganda. Such statements as, "I love my master," and "Master knows best," would be repeated over and over again without cessation.

Truly unruly Demi-Humans would be given a rather hefty dose of a medication affectionately known as behave yourself. It was a rather disturbing concoction that removed a Demi-Human's ability to focus and made them incredibly suggestible. It was still preferable to the final method, wherein they would be injected with behave yourself, and then have their mind more or less ripped apart by a high-end psychic. Afterward their brain would be rebooted from scratch.

The process was expensive, and generally only performed on the worst sort of criminals as an alternative to the death penalty. If one considered the end-result, there was little difference. The former personality would be completely destroyed in the process.

Tera the Blazine, and Mindi the Kraken, were stuck in their holding cells while their master and his fully reloaded Steel Valkyrie went on their sweep. The only good thing about the confinement cells for a Demi-Human was the regenerative factor.

Mindi would heal at an accelerated rate within its confines and be completely restored within a matter of a few minutes. Before the advent of such rooms the kill-to-capture ratio was roughly a seven-three split out of ten confrontations. There were rumors that the mystical technology used in the rooms was being micronized, but the best John heard about was the newest cage technology.

Geo-tech Labs recently released a fully functional cage that fit inside the trunk of a car. What they intended to put inside said cage was anyone's guess. Most Demi-Humans would not fit. There were also a large number of people in the scientific community who chuckled politely every time the Geo-tech staff members claimed they would eventually create one the size of a softball. Honestly, how would you use a capture and restraint system the size of a ball? Ludicrous non-sense!

The quintet and their Demi-Humans traveled in a roving band all day and most of the night. There were several kills and a handful of captures but nothing of particular value. A few Avia, a Catgirl, and a dozen or so bug types of varying nature were taken down one way or another. None of them were that interesting to John, and none of the other people on the sweep seemed to be intrigued by them either.

The five humans and the dozen Demi-Humans on-hand were making a pretty standard sweep of the area so far. The sweepers would rarely find anything too dangerous due to the common nature of their occurrence. The roving patrols traveled through the same perimeter areas every hour on the hour both day and night. It was a level of diligence that kept the area relatively safe for up to two miles in all directions.

Unfortunately, that level of safety for the general populace also kept the hunting slim. Few standard sweep patrols took down more than a score of Demi-Humans in a given day. Most would be lucky to run into half that number.

The corpse wagon ran light today, but a few bodies were stacked in it so far. Whenever they took down Demi-Humans they attempted to render first aid and capture them with a collar.

Unfortunately, even the best of efforts did not always work out. A cage could be set to put a Demi-Human in a sort of stasis field where she would be safe from further damage. However, many feral Demi-Humans were killed before they could be successfully caged, or they died in transit. The group was paid either way of course. Corpses were good for medical experiments if nothing else. Sometimes they were purchased by power companies for feeding to their Demi-Human work force as well.

The need to keep so many Demi-Humans well fed was quite costly. If it wasn't the safest type of power production known, many companies would switch to other concepts.

The group took a break a few minutes later leaving John and Kara to take up perimeter defense. Each team member took a turn in a rotating order. Perimeter defense in this instance meant setting up the motion detectors and cameras then sitting in the truck while monitoring said equipment. It was much more efficient than wandering idly in the woods hoping to see everything in the dark.

John watched the screen while Kara sat in the gunner seat and stayed at the ready. The long day was almost over. There were two hours left before the end of their sweep. He hoped those two new additions of his would be more amenable toward working with him upon his return. Their old lives were gone. They would either perform their role, or be sent to an auction house.

He tapped his scanner and moved its function to send out a signal to Kara. "How you doing back there? See anything that I don't?"

"No, master. The plains are empty," replied the Steel Valkyrie casually.

The patrol continued to be an uneventful routine, and in accordance with what the team leader originally claimed it would be. There was a lot of walking involved, but beyond that nothing really happened.

The break slowly ended and a new crew took over the truck. John and Kara would be walking for the last two hours of the sweep. Once the long walk ended, however, would came the sweetest part of all, the divvy. The total capture and kill count would be in at that point. Each of the five human team members would receive their split of the prize. The current total captures and kills were not extensive, but John already knew that his split would be far more than reasonable for the amount of time spent.

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