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shepherds-of-haven · 3 years

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New: Bug Report Ticket System

Hi everyone, Zuko here, just stopping in to tell you that I've taken my next step as an indie game developer, which means creating a bug reporting system that makes a lick of damn sense!

Through 100% my own fault, bug reporting for Shepherds of Haven's alpha build and public demos has become something of an absolute chaos pit, for both me and users! I never implemented a proper, dedicated system for bug reporting, partly out of my own arrogance and the apparent lack of necessity: at the game's launch, there were relatively few bugs, everyone's gameplay experience was fairly tight and uniform, and it was easier for me to keep track of and squash bugs on the spot!

But as the game gets bigger (625,000 words, now! More than all three LOTR books combined), of course more bugs and glitches are going to crop up, and in peskier, harder to find places! Add that to the growing community with multiple platforms and me having less time to spend online to actually answer, track, or address bugs immediately, and you get a recipe for one overwhelmed author!

I'll talk a bit more about the issues I've been facing and what necessitated this new system down below (for anyone who's interested), but the long and short of it is, I've created a brand new bug report ticketing system!

Report Bugs Here 🐛

Track Submitted Bugs Here 🔍

How it works:

Use the "report bug" form to submit any bugs or errors that you've noticed while playing ShoH! (Please submit one bug per ticket.)

An automated workflow will immediately plop your ticket into the Trello board (the tracking link above), where you can view all submitted tickets by users, their statuses in my queue, how I've prioritized them, and my responses and explanations about them - all in one place!

This solves basically every issue I was having with bug reports, including having to explain across multiple platforms the same solutions to the same bugs (but in such a fragmented way that users wouldn't see my answers or the progress reports on said bugs)!

Important: From now on, I will only be accepting bug reports through this method. I know this might be a pain in comparison to submitting via any platform, but it will really help me keep everything in one place in an organized, non-overwhelming fashion, and it will definitely improve both the user and author experience in a very vital way!

That said, I know not everyone will see this post at first, so if you submit a bug report through another method, I will be copy-pasting a gentle redirect to this form! Sorry if you get sick of seeing it, and please don't take offense if this happens to you - I truly appreciate the time you all take to help improve the game and submit your feedback! I just need to make it a uniform experience across all platforms for my own sanity, so I'll be minimizing exceptions to this rule as much as I can! 😃

You can, of course, discuss bugs and whatnot elsewhere and with other users (such as on the forums, Discord, etc.), especially if you want to check with others and see if what you're experiencing is actually a bug or brainstorm/roundtable it. Just operate under the strict assumption that I will not see any of it until you actually submit a ticket through the form! I wish I could keep track of every conversation about the game, but at this point, so much flies under my radar that this is actually probably true...

That's all for now: you can read on to see a little bit of my struggles below and how this solution will help, but other than that, I hope you're having a fantastic start to your week! 💖 Remember to eat well, get some sleep, and stay hydrated!

Essentially, the old bug report "system" consisted of me actively encouraging everyone to send me bug reports through any and all platforms they had access to. This meant I was getting bug reports through:

Patreon comments on public posts

Patreon PMs

Tumblr PMs

Tumblr asks

Tumblr comments on public posts

COG forum posts

COG forum PMs

Discord PMs

Discord conversations in channels

Other

What on earth was I thinking lol?

This created numerous problems...

The obvious difficulty in keeping track of all of these bug reports across disparate platforms, leading to things slipping under the radar or stacking up in an overwhelming, confusing way, and duplicates cluttering the queue

Less time online means less time to find and address the bug immediately, leading to more duplicates and growing user confusion the longer it went unaddressed or unacknowledged

No ability to uniformly address the bug across all platforms with context, explanations, or solutions. A user reporting a bug on Tumblr might lead to me replying on Tumblr that it could be fixed by doing XYZ, or was caused by ABC and was not actually a bug at all. However, another user on Patreon or on the forum would not see said explanation/solution, would report the same bug on Patreon or the forum, and would unfairly suffer through me saying "I already answered this!" (but not to them).

Most platforms are not conducive to the back-and-forth required to truly and effectively hunt bugs. If a user sends in an ask on Tumblr about a bug, but I need more context (such as "what choice did you make in Chapter 2?) to find it, I just have to publish their ask with my response and pray they see it and send in another ask! It's just clunky and inefficient!

This new system hopefully addresses all of those problems! By having one method to submit bugs and one repository to see where they all go (including everyone else's tickets and reports), everything is just going to be better! 😊

One of the most important things for me is that the new repository lets everyone see my comments, explanations, and solutions regarding the current bug reports. Please check to see if your bug has already been submitted to the queue if you can, and check out my comments by clicking on any tickets with a speech bubble, such as on the right below!

Last thing: there are already some tickets in the system that I put there in order to test it, but which are essentially bug reports that I've received in the last week or so, and which I just copy-pasted into the form to have them all in one place! So if you see your bug report under "Anonymous," just know that it was me who put it there and that I appreciate your time and effort in making the report! Thank you!

Your patience and encouragement is much appreciated, and thank you for tolerating my chaos prior to me getting this nice new automated system up and running! Thanks for reading, and I look forward to receiving your tickets! ✨

#Shepherds of Haven #bug #bug report #update #master post #pinned

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master-sass-blast · 5 years

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Strong as Stone -Part Thirty-Five

Well, this is a week overdue, but we’re ignoring that.

Welcome back! Last time, we got to see Okoye, Aneka, Ayo, and Djabi take a much needed girl’s night! Fun stuff!

This week, we finally get to see the thrilling end to Okoye’s efforts in stopping General Ross’s plot to undermine Wakanda.

Rating: M for use of guns, fighting, death, mentions of blood/injuries, and strong language.

Pairings: Okoye x M’Baku, T’Challa x Nakia, and Shuri x OC.

@skysynclair19, @the-last-hair-bender

There may come a time, my dears, when you will have to look your sisters in the eye and hold them in account for a wrong they’ve done. There may also be a time when the same will be done to you.

Walk as carefully as you can in life, and extend kindness and sympathy to those who have to hold those they love in account.

Doing the right thing is not always an easy task.

“So there’s still no sign of them?”

“No, my King. We’ve had all our War Dog teams on alert since they disappeared from the Raft. There’s been no sign of the team on the Raft or their victims anywhere.”

T’Challa, Nakia, Okoye, Jhanvi, Captain Rogers, M’Baku, and Okoye had all gathered in one of the several conference rooms in the palace to put their heads together on how to solve an unpleasantly lingering problem: how to stop General Ross and his new team of experiments.

T’Challa frowned and ran a hand over his face, then sat back in his chair as he stared at the films Jhanvi had ripped from the Raft’s digital records.

Five victims, each held in the cells they’d help rescue the renegade Avengers from. From the security footage, it was clear that one of the experiment victims --a stocky, angry looking man with scars that covered the right side of his face--had been given enhanced strength and speed. One of the others --an American-Asian woman that looked to be about Okoye’s height--seemed to have abilities that mimicked that of Wanda Maximoff.

The other three victims, however, were complete and total unknowns. Jhanvi hadn’t even been able to pick up on what their power sets might be during her couple weeks of spying on the Raft.

Unknowns weren’t good, especially in Okoye’s line of work.

She took a silent, calming breath, then looked to T’Challa. “What are you orders, my King?”

“At this point, I don’t have any,” T’Challa said with a tired sigh. “I am open to suggestions.”

“We need to identify what they’re after,” Nakia said as she gently rubbed her husband’s shoulders. “Once we know that, it’ll be easier to find them and predict their movements.”

“Failing that, I could just do a mass sweep of the global internet,” Jhanvi offered. “I mean, someone has to email someone at some point.”

Okoye grimaced. “It’s an option, but let’s save it for last. We can’t afford the time it would take right now.”

Across from T’Challa, Steve Rogers grimaced. “What if they’re coming for Bucky?”

“We managed to undo the efficacy of the command words--”

“Yeah, but he still has the memories of all his years of service for HYDRA,” Jhanvi pointed out. “Everything they’ve had him do. He’s living evidence of all the evil HYDRA stands for --in the sense that they tortured him, not that he’s evil.”

“Miss Singh is right,” Okoye agreed after a moment of thought. “Sargent Barnes would be a damning witness against HYDRA --a witness that General Ross can’t afford.”

“So you think they’re coming here?” T’Challa asked.

“Well, if they decide to unleash their experiments anywhere else, we’ll definitely hear about it,” Okoye muttered.

“So, what do we do?” M’Baku asked, finally breaking his silence.

The million dollar question. “Well--”

“Shit.”

Okoye looked over at Jhanvi, who’s gaze was unfixed and distant, just as Shuri called T’Challa.

“We have a breach at the Western border.”

Okoye frowned. “Why didn’t we get an alert?”

“It looks like they made a technopath,” Shuri said. “Should I send out the security teams?”

T’Challa glanced at Okoye, then nodded when she shook her head. “No. Send out an alert to put the nation in a state of emergency. Tell everyone to head to the nearest safety bunker.”

“No? But-”

“If they do have a technopath on their team, our weapons are going to be useless against them,” T’Challa said as he stood. “And I don’t like the idea of sending in a bunch of unarmed guards against the power levels we’ve already seen out of the experiments. The best we can hope for is that we can draw them into a trap and disable them.”

Shuri frowned as she tapped at her lab’s main interface. “If you’re sure. What should Dewani and I do?”

“Get back to the palace as soon as possible so we can keep you safe. Do not try to go after the enemy unit, Shuri.”

“I won’t! Sheesh!”

“Should I call in my... team?” Steve asked while T’Challa and Shuri argued back and forth.

Okoye nodded. “We need all the help we can get right now.” She finished typing out a message to Ayo, then looked over at Jhanvi. “We’ll need you to take down their technopath.”

“Fine by me. I like being one of a kind.”

Okoye fought the urge to roll her eyes and forced herself to focus on implementing the proper security measures for what would undoubtedly be a brutal battle. Yes, and the rest of us are thankful that you are.

The palace was deathly silent as they waited.

Okoye stayed by T’Challa’s side, spear in hand, as they patrolled one of the empty hallways together. “Commander. How does the East Wing look?”

“Everything’s locked down, General,” Ayo replied. “No signs of any threats.”

“Good. Princess, Miss Singh, have you two been able to locate HYDRA’s team?”

“Sort of,” Shuri said. “There are consistent glitches in localized monitoring software and equipment. We mapped all of them out, and it does appear to be a coherent path that’s headed in our direction.”

Bast be with us, Okoye prayed as she tightened her grip on her spear. “When did the last disruption show?”

“Thirty seconds ago, thirty miles away from us --and there’s another one, much closer.”

“How much closer?”

“10 miles --no, wait five. They’ve moved again.”

“Do you think they have some sort of teleportation device?” T’Challa asked through his Black Panther suit mask.

Okoye opened her mouth to put in her two cents --then whirled when she saw a person staring at her from the landing platform outside the palace.

The landing platform was empty.

“What is it?” T’Challa asked.

“I saw someone,” Okoye growled. “On the landing platform.”

T’Challa tensed as he peered out at the platform. “You’re sure.”

“Positive.”

“Is everything alright over there?”

Before Okoye could respond, something hit her on the back.

Hard.

She fell the the ground, stunned. “What in Bast’s fresh hell--” She looked up just in time to see T’Challa fend off the attacker --and see the intruder vanish in thin air. “What the--”

“One of the experiments has teleportation powers,” T’Challa said.

“I’m guessing one of them has psionic abilities too,” Jhanvi’s growled. “Considering neither Shuri or I noticed the assload of proximity alerts until now. Motherfu-”

“Retreat to the throne room,” Okoye ordered. “Quickly. It’ll be too easy for them to pick us off one by one if we’re separated.”

T’Challa helped her to her feet. “Come on, General. We need to keep moving.”

The throne room was in sight as she sprinted down the hall, doing her best to keep pace with T’Challa, when her spear suddenly retracted in her hand.

Okoye whirled around in time to see the technopath --an androgynous looking person with different electronic components grafted into various parts of their body--lurching towards them. “We found the technopath!”

T’Challa let out a grunt as his suit unformed and reformed in various patches. “We might be in some serious trouble.”

Suddenly, the technopath halted, then collapsed to the ground.

Jhanvi darted out from one of the adjoining halls, kneeling down to try and hold the convulsing experimentation victim steady. “Clearly Ross doesn’t know what quality work looks like.”

An explosion rumbled through the hall, making the floor vibrate, and then Ayo and Aneka appeared with Captain Rogers and Wanda.

The Sokovian was holding back a barrage of blue energy from the Asian woman that had been enhanced with similar powers, while Steve, Ayo, and Aneka were trying to fend off the man endowed with super strength.

“Get to the throne room!” T’Challa ordered as he ran towards Steve, Ayo, and Aneka. “Make sure it’s secured!”

Okoye reactivated her spear and sprinted down the hall.

M’Baku, Dewani, Nakia, and Shuri were already in throne room, trying to take down the teleporter with little success.

“I thought you said that you’d developed a system to predict where she’d be appearing next!” Dewani shouted as she took another bust swing at her opponent with her staff.

“I did, but their technopath completely destroyed my equipment!” Shuri shouted back as she tossed a defunct, sparking gauntlet aside. “We’ll have to do this without help!”

M’Baku managed to tag the teleporter in the back --then growled when she disappeared before she could hit the floor. “We won’t be able to do this without ‘help.’”

“What? Is the Great Gorilla acknowledging that technology can be useful?”

“We have our own version of technology--”

“Can you two save your arguing for another time?” Nakia shouted as she took a shot --and missed--at the teleporter. “We have more urgent problems to deal with right now!”

Okoye narrowed her eyes and watched the teleporter pop in and out of view. She can only move to wherever she can see... and she can’t control who she’s facing when she reappears.

It was also apparent that the teleporter was favoring M’Baku and Dewani more.

They don’t have vibranium weapons, Okoye realized. She’s already put together that Nakia and Shuri can cause more damage if she gets too close. She watched for a moment longer, then carefully stalked around the side of the throne room until she was positioned near Dewani.

Sure enough, the teleporter reappeared next to Dewani, unleashing a flurry of kicks and punches.

Okoye darted up behind the teleporter while Dewani blocked the onslaught and shoved her spear through their opponent’s midsection.

The teleporter let out a gasping breath, then disappeared and reappeared a few feet away. She looked down at the gaping wound in her abdomen, then up at Okoye before she collapsed to the ground.

Another explosion shook the room as the ‘Wanda-type’ let out a larger blast of energy.

“Everyone back!” Ayo shouted as the other Dora Milaje soldiers, T’Challa, and Captain Rogers’s team retreated into the throne room.

Shuri winced as she helped Jhanvi drag the unconscious technopath into the throne room. “What do we do now?”

“Whatever we do,” Steve said as he backed into the throne room while Wanda held up a shield against the energy attacks, “we need to do it quickly before we get our asses stomped.”

Before Okoye could start processing how best to handle the situation, the room went blurry, almost like she had been submerged in water.

Next to her, M’Baku stumbled. “What in Hanuman’s name--”

Through the sudden bleariness, she could see that everyone else was having a similar reaction. She could make out Wanda’s shield, warping and patching in places as she tried to push through the fuzz that seemed to be settling in all their heads.

And, just past the failing the shield, she could make out a third figure standing with the other two experiment victims.

Psionic... attack... She braced herself upright with her spear as her knees shook, trying to keep control over herself in the face of an assault she couldn’t even touch or protect herself from. Fo... cus... Use your... training...

She gritted her teeth together and forced herself to stand, staying focused on the sensation of the ground beneath her feet and the cool vibranium shaft of the spear in her hand. Constants. Unchangeable facets of reality.

Her vision started to clear, still filmy around the edges.

Past the red glow of Wanda’s barely intact shield, she could see the woman endowed with psionic abilities watching her.

The woman narrowed her eyes and bared her teeth.

Okoye nearly collapsed as the room went blurry again. She felt numb, like she was under the effect of anesthesia. Find... the ground... She hissed when it felt like she was falling, all of a sudden, and squeezed her eyes shut. Trick... it’s a... trick... She opened her eyes when she felt the ground return --barely--and nearly fell over again when dizziness washed over. Shit.

Beyond the three HYDRA experiments, she could barely see a darker, taller, blurry figure moving towards the throne room. Something extended from the figure towards the telepath--

Her vision went crystal clear in less than a second, fast enough that she could see Adesina lift the telepath off the ground by the back of her neck.

She flicked her wrist, almost like she was shaking dirt out of a blanket, and the telepath dissolved into a cloud of ashes.

Okoye blinked. Well. Okay. She has powers.

Adesina bared her teeth when the ‘Wanda-type’ let out a feral scream at her --and extended her hand towards the woman.

Shadows shot off the wall, wrapping themselves around the woman’s limbs and effectively cutting off her attack.

Okoye felt, more than saw, M’Baku stiffen next to her and reached out to grab his arm. “On your feet. You need to keep moving.”

The fight from there seemed to move like a blur. She helped T’Challa, Steve and his team --sans Wanda--and M’Baku take down the super-strength man, or at least fight the man into a corner until T’Challa managed to get in a shot and sink his panther claws into the man’s chest.

She turned around in time to see Wanda and Adesina forcing the last HYDRA member into a kneeling position with their respective powers.

Then, Adesina bared her teeth in a grim smile as the woman let out a pained shriek, grabbed her by the front of her shirt, and shoved her towards the floor.

The last HYDRA experiment dissolves into ash, the same way the telepath did.

Okoye watched, intentionally aware, as Adesina stood and straightened up to her full height. She’s almost as tall as M’Baku.

Speaking of which--

“Are you going to trust me now?” Adesina asked she looked M’Baku dead in the eye, the barest hint of a smirk tugging at her lips.

Okoye tapped the end of her spear against the floor and stepped between Adesina and M’Baku, quickly getting the taller woman’s attention. “We appreciate your assistance. Do you require any medical treatment?”

“Yeah, Ade,” Dewani piped up from where she’d plopped down next to Shuri. “You’re looking a little... ashy.”

Okoye almost tossed the comment aside --until Adesina lifted up one of her arms to reveal a large patch of literal ash covering the skin near her elbow.

“Really?” M’Baku asked as Dewani beamed, clearly proud of herself. “Really?”

“I’m with him on this,” Shuri agreed. “That was bad.”

“My puns are excellent and you know it.”

Adesina wiped her hand over the ash, and the gray powder was immediately replaced with blood that was so dark it nearly looked black. “It’s superficial. I can handle it on my own.”

“I didn’t see you get hit,” Nakia asked, visibly as wary as Okoye was.

“My powers have consequences, your Grace. I try to use them as sparingly as possible.”

“Again, we’re grateful for your assistance,” Okoye interjected, trying to keep a handle on the situation. She nodded to four of the Milaje soldiers standing nearby. “We’ll make sure the necessary medical supplies are sent to your room.” She watched Adesina as she left, escorted by the soldiers --then felt a wave of sheepishness roll through her when she realized she’d inadvertently overridden T’Challa’s authority and glanced at her King.

T’Challa --he’d already had the suit’s helmet retract into the necklace--only smiled at her and nodded.

Before she could make any further comments or suggestions about everything that had just happened, she was distracted by the sound of a choked sob.

Jhanvi sat back on her heels, scrubbing angrily at her cheeks as she stared down at the dead technopath. “This work is shit. I’m surprised they lived long enough to even reach Wakanda.”

Now that the chaos had ebbed, Okoye could see the heavy scarring and bruising around the harshly grafted electronic pieces on the technopath’s arms and face. They must have been in a great deal of pain.

Jhanvi let out a harsh, shaky breath as new tears started tracing down her cheeks. “What are we gonna do with Ross?”

“Technically, we can’t do anything,” T’Challa said. “He’s a figure in the American government. We have no jurisdiction over him.”

“Fuck ‘technically,’“ Jhanvi spat out through gritted teeth. “I don’t give a shit about ‘technically.’ I’m going to put a fucking bullet in Thaddeus Ross’s head.”

Okoye eyed Jhanvi evenly as the woman stalked out of the throne room. “Not quite my style, but I can get behind the sentiment.”

“We know Ross is responsible for the creation of the HYDRA team and the vibranium theft,” Nakia added as T’Challa sighed wearily. “This could be --technically is--an act of war.”

“We aren’t going to war with anyone.”

“No, but Ross is a threat and he’s going to keep going unless he’s stopped.”

T’Challa pursed his lips together, then nodded and looked at Okoye. “Get a team ready to go after General Ross.”

She bowed. “Yes, my King.”

Okoye watched, faintly amused, as Agent Ross paced from one end of the ship to the other. “Doing that isn’t going to make the ship fly any faster.”

“Very funny,” the blond mumbled as he kept pacing. “I can’t believe--”

“Believe it,” Jhanvi growled, briefly breaking away from her conversation with Shuri. “What? No, not you. Everest.”

“Everett.”

“Whatever. He’s doing the whole doubting thing again.”

“Look, I will acknowledge that my brother is a conniving, manipulative, selfish asshole,” Everett snapped. “But I can’t believe that he’d actually stoop to human experimentation.”

“We showed you the fucking videos! What, no, I’m obviously not talking to you--”

T’Challa put a hand Agent Ross’s shoulder. “We’re all deeply sympathetic for what you must be going through, Agent Ross, but the facts don’t lie.”

“No, no, I know they don’t. I know what reality is, I just--” He braced himself against one of the seats and laughed humorlessly. “When I found out he’d gotten mixed up with HYDRA, I’d hoped --hoped--that he’d just be surface level. Just some face they used to make little waves. Expendable.” He grimaced. “Fucking Thaddeus. Always going for full fucking marks.”

“Older siblings are always the overachievers,” Jhanvi agreed. “What? No --okay, now you’re just doing it to piss me off. Have you finished taking the pictures or not?”

“We’re closing in on the Raft,” Djabi announced.

Through the craft’s windshield, the floating prison was barely visible amidst the dark, churning sea.

“Jhanvi,” Okoye said. “We need you to check the systems and make sure General Ross is still on board.”

“No, don’t send them to my phone! What, am I gonna shove my fucking Android in his face?”

“Jhanvi.”

“Laptop --do not start with me, Shuri, I know you know what a fucking laptop is--”

“Jhanvi.”

“Oh, hang on.” Jhanvi looked up long enough to barely make eye contact with Okoye. “Everything’s good, I’ve been tapped in for the past half an hour.”

“At least she’s efficient,” Okoye muttered when Ayo rolled her eyes.

The Raft was deadly silent as they boarded, save for the sound of the air being filtered through the vents and the sound of the water pressing against the metal hull of the steel fortress.

The only sign of life on the floating prison was the soft glow of a desk lamp that spilled into the main hangar from one of the nearby offices.

Okoye narrowed her eyes as she kept pace with T’Challa. He was wearing the Panther suit, which meant if General Ross was waiting with a weapon he wouldn’t be able to harm her King, but--

Running towards an explosion. And people carrying guns. And fights in general.

Survival instincts were survival instincts, and since T’Challa didn’t seem to have any, she’d just have to stick close enough to act as his.

Thaddeus Ross, however, wasn’t holding a gun when they walked into the office. Or any sort of visible weapon. Instead, he was sitting in a padded, expensive looking leather office chair, watching recordings of the experimentation and development process on the team of enhanced individuals they’d dispatched no less than twelve hours ago.

He didn’t look up as they filed in. “I’ll admit to being impressed. I wasn’t sure how you’d handle my strike team, but I didn’t think you’d take them down that quickly.”

We probably wouldn’t have taken them down at all, if it hadn’t been for Adesina.

Ross didn’t need to know that, though.

“Well, I guess this confirms our suspicions. Wakanda is indeed a match for whatever HYDRA can produce. I’d tip my hat to you if I was wearing one, your Majesty.”

“What you did constitutes itself as an act of war, General,” T’Challa said icily.

Ross finally looked at them, smirking. “And here I thought that’d rather be the point.”

“No,” Everett spat out, pushing past the group so he could look his older brother in the eye. “No. Do you even realize what would happen to the world if anyone went to war with Wakanda? We’d lose. End of story. What’s the point of trying to start a fight like that if there’s no way to win? What’s the point of even starting it at all?”

“HYDRA grows in chaos,” Thaddeus said, as though it was a perfectly normal thing to say, like ‘the weather’s a little nippy today’ or ‘I’m going to get coffee with my breakfast.’ “Wakanda is the first viable threat we’ve had since the Avengers. We managed to break up the Avengers with the Accords. We tried to push Wakanda down with the UN’s demands. That fell through, so we had to move to a different tactic.”

“Are you insane?” Everett shouted.

Okoye watched as Nakia narrowed her eyes, gears clearly turning in the former War Dog’s head. “The Accords weren’t a surefire way to divide the Avengers. If it hadn’t been for Baron Zemo framing Sargent Barnes for the embassy explosion, it might not have worked at all.”

T’Challa tensed. “What are you--”

“How did he know where to find the book? Or about any of where Barnes would be held? HYDRA would’ve been the only organization that knew about the book’s existence, about the Winter Soldier’s existence.”

Okoye’s eyes widened as everything crystalized. He didn’t.

“You fucking son of a bitch,” Everett breathed as it all hit him too. “You fucking--”

“We only provided the information. The rumors. Zemo did everything else on his own. He was astonishingly capable,” Ross said, still calm and detached, like he was talking about the suit he was wearing. “It’s a shame we weren’t able to recruit him. He’d make for a wonderful operative.”

“The embassy explosion,” T’Challa said, voice low. “My father’s death. It’s all on your head.”

“Debatable.”

“No,” Okoye spat out. “It’s really not. You instigated the events that lead to the former King’s death. His blood is still on your hands, whether you think it should be or not. To say nothing of the team you sent to Wakanda in an attempt to kill us.”

“What about them?”

“‘What about the--’ You tortured them!” Jhanvi snarled. She set a laptop down on Ross’s desk with a loud smack and nearly ripped the lid off when she flung the device open. “You strapped them down--” Pictures and videos flew across the screen, blurring as Jhanvi’s anger caused her to lose control of her precision “--and mutilated them! Tormented them until they fit the criteria you were looking for! You left them in pain! Agony! Your ‘technopath’ was on the verge of death well before they got to Wakanda!”

Ross raised a brow at her tirade. “Like you haven’t done worse.”

Ayo’s gaze snapped to Jhanvi as the technopath recoiled. “And just what does he mean by that?”

“It doesn’t matter,” T’Challa interjected before things could spiral out of control. “General Ross, you’re coming with us.”

“And what? What jurisdiction do you have over me that you can make stick? Besides, if you try to present anything to the United Nations, HYDRA will bury it before you can make any headway.”

“You’re a plague,” Everett ground out as he glared daggers at his brother. “You need to be stopped.”

Thaddeus stood, smugly staring his brother down. “And how can you take something out that you can’t touch?”

“Don’t assume too much.”

Okoye barely had time to blink as Everett whipped out his gun and unloaded two rounds into Thaddeus’s chest.

The taller man dropped back into his seat, expression almost comically stunned as blood bloomed out of the two holes near his heart. His eyes went unfocused, and he stopped breathing a couple minutes after that.

A muscle in Everett’s jaw ticked as he stared down at the body of his brother. “Do we have everything we need?”

“All we really came for was your brother,” Okoye said.

“Alright. We should probably get out of here.”

“Agreed,” T’Challa said.

“Sink it.”

Okoye looked over at Agent Ross as they hovered above the Raft, preparing to fly back to Wakanda. “What?”

“Jhanvi. Sink it. The Raft. Open the bay doors and let it flood.”

Jhanvi glanced at Okoye, then at Everett when Okoye shrugged at her. “You sure?” When he nodded, she sighed and stared out the window.

The Raft slowly submerged, the water around and above it churning briefly before the metal fortress disappeared from view altogether.

“Set our course back to Wakanda immediately,” Okoye told Djabi before following Agent Ross and Jhanvi into the main cabin of the ship. She clasped Ross by the shoulder and scanned his face carefully when he turned to face her. “Are you alright?”

He swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah. I just... need to process things.”

She nodded back and let him go, watching him carefully as he walked to the back of the cabin. Bast be with him.

“He’s gotta be in a world of pain right now,” Jhanvi muttered as she eyed the American agent.

“You’re not far away from one either,” Ayo grumbled as she walked up to the technopath. “What did General Ross mean when he said that ‘you’ve done worse?’”

“I do things and make money,” Jhanvi said with a defiant smirk. “I’m sure your imagination can work out the rest.”

“You’ve worked for HYDRA,” Okoye surmised.

“Once,” Jhanvi said tersely. “I draw the line at non-voluntary human experimentation.”

“You knew about General Ross.”

“I knew he was connected. I didn’t know how. And me knowing didn’t give me a leg up in figuring everything out when we were trying to figure out where the vibranium went! Maybe you’re not aware of this, but HYDRA keeps things pretty well buried.”

“Did you know about Bucky?” Steve asked, having overheard the argument.

Jhanvi shook her head. “No. They brought me in on a different project. I figured it was smarter not to dig around the evil Nazi organization’s archives --and then I met Klaue and was making better money, and I didn’t look back.”

Ayo narrowed her eyes at the technopath. “That better be the end of it.”

“No,” Jhanvi said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes, drawing out the ‘o.’ “You got me. I was secretly working with the darling General this whole time. The fuck that was the end of it! Believe it or fucking not, Commander, I do have a moral compass!”

“You might want to check it. I’m pretty sure the needle fell off a while ago.”

“Alright, separate,” Okoye ordered as she stepped between the two women before Jhanvi could do something that would result in Ayo kicking her ass. “You, over there,” she said to Jhanvi, pointing to the opposite side of the cabin.

“Uh, ‘you’ has a name.”

“C’mon,” Steve muttered as he ushered Jhanvi away from Ayo.

Okoye mouthed a quick ‘thank you’ at the captain before turning to face Ayo. “Please, don’t give me more headaches than I can handle right now.”

“Alright. But if she turns out to be linked up to HYDRA after all--”

“You get first dibs on stabbing her, I know.”

Ayo smirked and saluted before walking over to where Aneka was sitting.

Okoye let out a breath and plopped down in the nearest seat. Fuck, I’m tired.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” She smiled as M’Baku kissed her forehead, then giggled when he lifted her into his arms. “I can walk.”

“Yes, and so can I.” He gently set her on his bed, then started taking her boots off for her. “How’d everything go?”

Okoye’s mouth twitched with a blend of emotions she couldn’t quite identify. “Agent Ross killed the General.”

M’Baku looked up at her, expression shocked. “Weren’t they brothers?”

She nodded. “That’s not all. General Ross helped set the events in motion that led to the death of the King’s father.”

M’Baku actually stopped tugging her left boot off as his eyes widened. Then, he closed them and let out a heavy breath. “Fuck. How is the King?”

“Processing.”

“I can only imagine.” He finished tugging the boot off and set it next to its mate on the floor, then gently rubbed her calves. “And how are you?”

“Tired, but glad this is all over. At this point, all I want is a hot shower and then to sleep in your arms for at least eight hours.”

“I think both of those can be arranged. Do you mind if I join you for your shower?”

“Only if you promise to rub my shoulders while we’re there.”

M’Baku grinned and kissed her softly on the lips. “I can manage that.”

Okoye grinned back and let her head rest against his shoulder as he carried her to the bathroom. It’s nice to have a safe place to come home to in all this chaos.

“I’d never let her hurt you, you know.”

They were laying in M’Baku’s bed, blanketed by the soft sheets and the darkness that enveloped the room. The ceiling fan whirred softly overhead, keeping the room comfortably cool for M’Baku; his hands, in return rubbed up and down Okoye’s back, keep her comfortably warm as she nestled against his chest.

He kissed her forehead gently. “I’m not following, my love.”

“Adesina.” She kissed his shoulder when she felt him tense. “I know she scares you. It’s fine.”

He sighed and held her tighter against his chest. “I don’t want to seem unsympathetic to what she’s been through--”

“Hey, if I had been raised in the Jabari culture, I’d be scared of her too. She’s the living embodiment of what your people define as evil. It makes sense. And, anyway, the real point of all this that I wanted to let you know that’d I’d protect you from her if she turns out to be evil.”

“Thank you, ‘koye,” M’Baku murmured, chuckling softly as he pressed his lips against the top of her head. “But I think supernatural powers trump a vibranium spear.”

“I don’t give a shit about her powers. I will kick her ass.”

“Okoye.”

“Hmm?”

“Go to sleep.”

“I feel like you’re not properly appreciating my willingness to fight for you.”

“I am, I am.” He kissed her forehead again. “I love you, ‘koye.”

“I love you, too.”

#sass writes #black panther fanfiction #okoye x m'baku #t'challa x nakia #shuri x oc #this took FOREVER TO WRITE #holy shit i feel like i gave birth #i'm exhausted from writing this #but here it is #finally #tw: death #tw: blood #tw: injury #wakanda forever

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