Welcoming Ceremonies

Those entering through Pearly Gate 1 for the first time may be treated to a big outdoor party here.

 

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Table of Contents:

1. Introduction
2. Size
3. Transportation
4. Duration
5. Frequency
6. Features
7. Hour by Hour
8. Standard-parade Details
9. Airshow
10. Announcer
11. Fireworks
12. History of Our Welcoming Ceremonies
13. What Comes Next
14. Novels Excerpt
15. Overall Appearance (Images Begin)
16. Risers
17. Parade Route and Labels
18. Inisfree’s Flag in Guide-on Banner Form
19. Fire-dancer Girls
20. Fireworks
21. 2023 July Update:  Scale-model in Minecraft
22. 2023 July Update 2:  Re-welcoming the High Queen

 

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Introduction:

Newcomers are treated to their very own equivalent of a State Fair; we fill our Welcoming Square with yurts, greeters, dancers, feasting picnic tables, and enough to count as a Renaissance Festival (colloquially:  ‘ren-fest’).  Royal guests and other dignitaries are often additionally treated to an Inisfreean military parade formation and mass-yell; thousands of our troops responding to verbal commands in unison.  There is even an airshow as part of this warm welcome; aircraft from our two aerospaceports, as well as at least one of our Rooftop Carriers (RC), will make a low-level fly-by to show off, our Inisfreean (ICV) pilots and sailors waving to the crowd from their cockpits, flight decks, and hangar doors.  You’ll even see the aircraft fly inverted, and get to walk up inside ones such as the MPHAs, touring the special vessels our Master Females use when exploring and cleaning up the Outlands.

 

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Size:

These ceremonies typically have up to ~100,000 Inisfreeans working at them (the same amount of people who might attend a big Outlands sports-stadium game), though this is on/near the high-end –and only 2 exceptions so far exceeding that (the 1st:  when Ambrosia LeMorte was welcomed in before we had envisioned and planned the parade+ portion of these ceremonies, and 2nd:  when she was welcomed back after becoming whole –i.e. reuniting/merging her ‘light’ and ‘dark’ sides).

Since the yurts are in two parallel lines ~1 mile apart, anytime there are not thousands of people being welcomed at one of these ceremonies, all of them are directed to the north side’s line of yurts; it makes more sense to have them together without much walking needed.  (This is the case when only hundreds will be in attendance.)

For smaller groups (dozens, not hundreds) and individuals, we may have fewer tents and all of them placed closer to the risers, and only march ~50,000 of our troops by, starting with a formation off to the side of the risers (as opposed to across the Square).  This means ~half as many of the marching-band songs are played.

July 2023 calculations/estimation:

• 26 ICVs/squad x 25 squads/company + 5 platoon leaders + 1 company commander = 656 ICVs
• x 2 companies/pair of purple or pink map-pixels = 1,312 ICVs
• x 95 pairs on the parade map = 124,640 ICVs, not counting battalion commanders, etc.
• + ~190 ICVs driving the pairs of vehicles
• + ~100 ICVs piloting in the airshow
• + ~1,000 ICVs girl-ing the WRs to launch the fireworks
• + ~72 ICVs staffing/managing the yurts
• + ~hundreds of thousands of kajirae
• + 1.4M guests/residents = ~2+ million people gathered here (for the biggest of these ceremonies)

 

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Transportation:

Almost all of those 100,000 always arrive in one group via one transport-craft, keeping things orderly (and obeying our anti-congestion and no-traffic-jams laws).  Even those setting up things in and around the yurts typically get transported to our Welcoming Square in that same group –including the kajirae assigned to assist them.

The only ICVs who arrive by other means are those driving High King Auzdein‘s selected vehicles to be parked on this Square, left available for test-drives by those being welcomed during these ceremonies.

Guests and residents being honored by these ceremonies are usually driven here by a tour guide or guides (who are always ICVs).  Guests and residents are, of course, also welcome to drive or otherwise transport themselves here if they prefer.

 

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Duration:

Festivities usually start the moment our new (or returning) guests arrive through the Pearly Gates, with our greeters and dancers lined up and waiting for them as they drive or fly down from our Chinese Great Gate.  When their feet touch the ground off the edge of our Glowing Art Highway, the three towering trumpeters (Titan-sized battlemechs) blow an impressive tune high into the sky half a mile above them.  Everything staged on our Welcoming Square lasts for the entire evening and some of the night, and is all cleaned up by the following morning.  Those wishing for more can request it, though; we love to entertain, and throw the best parties around.  We’ll keep this pre-tour greeting ritual going for days if you prefer.

 

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Frequency:

Welcoming ceremonies in our city are a huge undertaking, and we only have them once a week at most.  During our first few years of being operational, we only had a few of them each year.  This has gradually increased, as foreseen, and will taper off a number of millennia from now.

These ceremonies are usually for welcoming a group of people, though a handful of goddesses have been given their own.

52 weeks per year… and 2,000,000,000 (2B) guests/residents “at capacity” (after 23000 A.D.)… would mean 38,461,538.46 years to give all of those 2B an individual one; one of these welcoming ceremonies for each of those people.

~1,000,000 (1M) people can fit on this Square.

13x13x13 is 2,197.
1 goddess typically eventually invites up to 13 others, each of whom invite 13, each of whom invite 13 more, and so on.
We usually treat groups like that; ~2,200 newcomers at a time, to ~100,000 ICVs and kajirae at each of these ceremonies here, plus whoever else (residents) wish to attend to show their support.
100,000/2,200 = ~45 girls per newcomer
Those 45 attendants/welcomers are usually 13 kajirae per ICV; 39 kajirae managed by 3 ICVs, subtotaling 42, plus another few ICVs as the hostess, announcer, and chef for each yurt.

2B/2,200 = 909,091 welcoming ceremonies.
909,091/52 = ~17,482.5 years of them.
17,483 years from 2022 is 19,505 A.D..
We’ll still have an occasional welcoming ceremony after that, but that is the projected major decrease in their frequency.

 

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Features:

We can customize a welcoming ceremony for you or your group.

The following entertainment is what we include if not customized.

• translucent tents,
• Repulsine-film carpets (‘magic/flying carpets’),
• nude group yoga constructs,
• our Storm Troopers in formation in angelic lion-helmet mode (one of the modes of appearance of their Iron Man-like suits),
  flower petals scattered in the guest’s walking path so their feet won’t have to touch the ground,
• feast buffets with all the vegan Mediterranean dishes on nude Inisfreeans served by the Master Females,
• performed dances more graceful, fluid, coordinated, and seductive than even what the Asparas were said to’ve been capable of,
• escorts taking the guest/s hand-in-hand,
• thrones of piled Inisfreeans (The Tudors style; dozens of nude supermodels forming living chairs for guests to sit upon and casually feel up),
  Inisfreeans in nothing more than the body-paint of the guest’s national flag,
• all of the city’s Governor‘s impressive custom automobiles collection out on display like an auto-show (of which the guests may test-drive, ‘doughnut’, and neutral-drop any vehicles of -right there on the paved surface of this Welcoming Lot),
• flybys by Inisfree’s military pilots (‘buzzing’ the Welcoming Lot) in their stingray-like Inisfreean fighter-jets (FJ),
• and fireworks amidst the aurora Inisfree is in complete control of

 

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Hour by Hour:
(ceremony template)

*Timing of the following is always adjusted so the 3 mechs’ shadows are not over the Square.

1. 0700-0800:  Welcomers arrive and prepare at their yurts, scattering flower petals, etc. (with ~222 of the ICVs driving the needed vehicles –even though those vehicles can drive themselves, and the rest of the ~100,000 arriving in a single Inisfreean DropShip (DS)).
2. 0800-0900:  Guests arrive and are treated to a vegan breakfast buffet nyotaimori (including numerous breakfast dishes from their home country), with plenty of tine for introductions and socializing.  (At this time, hostess-ICVs may also let any inquiring attendees know to stay near the yurts or risers; they are to keep clear of the ICVs who will later be forming up to start the parade.)
3. 0900-0930:  kajirae dances and ICV dances to live music performed by VR2 (sans Auz; he just sings with VR2 and VR3 in concerts)
4. 0930-1030:  test-drives; up to 2,200 newcomers, so ~37 per minute, thus ~111 vehicles here, allowing all newcomers 2-3 minutes in 1
5. 1030-1100:  wrapping up the test-drives and removing those vehicles (back to the Cylinder Garage)
6. 1100-1200:  parade; platoon-formations start back near the local GAH section, each platoon Guide carrying an Inisfree-flag guide-on in banner-form, the platoons marching to their right, making a lap around in front of the risers, Roman-saluting while their visors are open, and returning to their starting positions
7. 1200-1300:  airshow during vegan lunch feast nyotaimori (again including numerous dishes from their home country), showing off many repulsine-craft specialty-aerobatics, and leaving colored smoke in the colors of the newcomers’ country’s flag
8. 1300-1330:  naked poi (dancers spinning fire strings)
9. 1330-1400:  fireworks (visible with the Perimeter Wall as their backdrop) launched from atop/behind the Chinese Great Gate building, and custom aurora overhead if visible

Total time for guests:  5 hours

(and no one is expected to stay for the full 5 hours; this ceremony is always optional, and it won’t hurt anyone’s feelings if you need to rest or depart, so come and return for whichever parts interest you the most)

 

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Standard-parade Details:

This parade is a show of force, but in a good way; it shows all newcomers just how many wonderful Inisfreeans are devoted to their safety and culture.

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This is how we calculate how wide and long our parades here are:

• 100,000 ICVs/kajirae gathered in a square would be a ~316 x 316 parade formation, but we do not form them up this way.
• Instead, we have ICVs make up the majority of the welcomers, and we organize and march them by military-company, each platoon of those companies having 5 squads, each squad having 5 fire-teams, each fire-team having 5 ICVs, so…
• 5,280′ (the width of this Square) / 3′ (space for 1 girl/ICV) = room for 1,760 ICVs shoulder-near-shoulder
• 100,000 ICVs / 1,760 shoulder-near-shoulder = 57 rows
• 57 rows x 3′ = 171′ out in front of that side of the local GAH section
• 1 fire team is 5 ICVs (thus in a ~15′ line),
• 1 squad is 5 fire teams (26 ICVs; 1 squad leader), each fire team side by side (thus a 78′ line) while starting formation has them facing across the Square; toward the risers,
• 5 squads (front to back at starting formation) = 26 ICVs at the front (1 squad facing the risers), and 5 deep (back toward the GAH side), squad leaders at the side which will be the direction of marching (on the right, as the ICVs are standing (and appearing to be on the left from the POV of the audience/risers),
• 57 rows / 5 squads = room for 11.4 platoons, front to back,
• 5 platoons makes 1 company, so 10 platoons front to back here,
• 26 ICVs x 5 squads = 131 per platoon (with the platoon leader),
• 131 ICVs x 5 platoons = 263 per company (with the company leader),
• 2 companies, front to back, = 526 ICVs,
• 100,000/526 = ~190 pairs of companies,
• 2 companies, front to back, with each of their formations being 75′ long (from squad leader to backmost squad member), means 75′ x 190 pairs of companies, which = 14,250′; obviously too long a formation for the 5,280′ Square,
• so we continue that line of paired companies under the local GAH where it is over the light-gray north side of the Square, keeping it going 1.7 miles back into both staging portions of the Square,
• 50 squads (rows), front to back, = ~150′; ~2.3 map pixels,
• so in a 5-pixel map-span, this formation can be going both directions, its front passing its still-coming back.
• Twice that (2 x 5 pixels = 10) is available under both Square overpasses.
• To march this 2.7-miles long formation back into place, the front, moves .5 mile toward the south end of the risers, then 1 mile north, in front of the risers, then .5 mile toward the Square’s north underpass, at which point 2 of the 2.7 miles of paired companies in this parade are on the main portion of the Square,
• and the front of the formation continues to the Square’s NW inside corner, then turns south and continues under the overpass in front of the Chinese Great Gate, then reaches the Square’s SW inside corner, then U-turns back, retracing that route, except ~160′ closer to the Square’s center, thus leaving room for the formation’s middle and ‘tail’, until the front is marching back under the north underpass, turning right, and getting to its starting position.

190 pairs of companies (i.e. 380 total) means 76 battalions, which is 15.2 regiments, which is 3.04 brigades.

(w/ Ambi’s welcoming ceremony, it was easier; the formation had more ICVs but did not march past her, thus we were able to just fill up the Square with a literal square (formation) of those girls)

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Parade Members’ Rules:

• always only ICVs
• transported here as one group in one Inisfreean ship; one of our DSs (the one with club Tank Girl in it –and these ceremonies are the only time that club pauses being open for business, which makes that club the only one in our city which ever pauses like that)
• Form up outside that DS, starting on the far-side of the local-GAH.
• Stay in formation unless assigned to a yurt (i.e. not marching in the parade).
• The ICVs marching in their ST suits do not carry their rifles with them; they keep their hands free to balance and salute.
• The police Tumblers keep their 6-colors light-bars on as they drive, occasionally making their familiar police-beeps.
• The fire-tanks keep their spinning red-and-white LEDs on as they hover along, occasionally making the familiar fire-engine noises.
• The tanks and APCs keep their barrels straight ahead, and some of their crews sitting bold-legged atop those vehicles as they drive by, waving and blowing kisses to the audience.
• The limo’ is always driven by 1 Amber Heard ICV, the ICV in the front passenger seat being a Haifa Wehbe ICV.  (Amber ICV1 is our Secretary of State, so she stays with the audience if she isn’t busy managing the city.  Our first and proto’ Haifa ICV is Nyria, our Secretary of State, so she stays with the flagship of our deployed forces (which is in the SSA until 2200 A.D.).)
• VR2 and their marching-band ICVs are all in their Dress Blues Alphas like the first group of 76 passing Companies.
• The VR2 band is on a set of side-by-side risers of their own, thus kept above the passing Companies and some of the vehicles.  This ensures their live music is better-heard by the audience on the other side of the parade.
• Salute –on command; in unison– when reaching the risers, holding that group-salute until marching past the last riser (i.e. the Company saluting will be given the command to stop saluting once the last member of that Company is no longer in front of the final riser), because we are saluting our guests, not a reviewing General; this group-salute is presented/held not just for one person on a reviewing-stand/riser, but for all the audience on all the risers.
• The final group of 76 uniformed Companies marching by is barefoot, showing off how tough the Inisfreean feet are.
• Continue the parade marching all the way back to behind the local GAH section… until formed up / halted back there, ready to re-board the DS in preparation for departure.

 

No one rides in the parade vehicles, as they would be out of sight; the point of this parade is to show everyone in it, thus the only ICVs are 1) marching troops, 2) drivers with their windows down, and 3) ICVs riding atop the vehicles.

The ICVs driving and riding on the vehicles are always in the same uniform of whichever fifth of this parade formation they are in; they match the marching troops.

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Different Uniforms in Every Parade:

190 pairs of companies (380 total), and our 5 fanciest uniforms are worn by even numbers of them here,

1. so 76 (38 paired companies) will be in our Dress Blues Alphas,
2. in 76 our S.T. suits in Lion-helmet mode,
3. in 76 our S.T. suits in white mode,
4. in 76 our S.T. suits in cosmos mode,
5. and 76 in our A.D.O. diaphanous-black hooded-robes

Also, we have 1 ICV modeling each of our student uniforms;

1. pink rank-insignia on yellow; LHS students
2. light-green rank-insignia on pink; TNA students
3. yellow rank-insignia on light-green; NWO cadets
4. lavender rank-insignia on sky-blue; MF students

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Parade Members’ Hairstyles:

1. Bun, top, with side strands
2. Down, cascading, natural slight curls
3. Down, straight, thus to the pelvic dimples
4. Pigtails, braided
5. Ponytail, braided
6. Quad-tails, unbraided

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Parade Members’ Colors-changing:

All the ICVs in this parade synchronize their hair colors and skin tones to change at the same times and in the same sequence of colors (all without any verbal/spoken commands);

1. all ~100,000 have red/auburn hair and White barely-tan skin at the start at the start,
2. then orange hair and somewhat-tan skin,
3. then yellow/blonde hair and tan skin,
4. then light/lime-green and ‘bronze’ skin,
5. then green hair and dark brown skin,
6. then blue hair and medium-brown skin,
7. then purple hair and light-brown skin,
8. then pink hair and back to ‘bronze’ skin,
9. then black hair and tan skin,
10. then brown hair and somewhat-tan skin again.

10 hair colors means they hold their hair color for ~2 songs; ~6 minutes.

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How Many of Each ICV-type is a Parade Member:

• 263 ICVs per company is close to 250,
• thus every 2 pairs of companies has all the form-sakes;
• each group of 4 companies has 1,052, thus 1 of each form-sake, plus another 52.
• 1,000/52 = 19.23076923; those extra 52 ICVs in every group of 4 companies… after more than 19 of those groups of 4… are another set of 1 each of the 1,000 form-sakes.
• 20 groups x 4 companies per group = 80 companies with that “extras” set of the 1,000
• 380 companies / groups of 4 = 95 sets of the 1,000
• 380 companies / 19.23076923 = 19.76; our parade of 380 companies has 19.76 sets of the 1,000 form-sakes… in addition to the 95 sets
• 95 + 19.76 = 114.76 sets of our 1,000 form-sakes; there are 114 of each of those 1,000 ICV “models”, plus 76% of a final set of the 1,000; 760 of the 1,000 (which means there are 115 of each of 760 of our ICV models, and 114 of each of the remaining 240 of our ICV models).

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Time for 1 lap of this parade route:

• Marching is also called “military step” and differs somewhat depending on the nation or sometimes the unit.  The U.S. military uses a military step called “quick time”, with an average 30″ step, the cadence is 120 steps per minute (SPM), resulting in a speed of 3.4mph (1.5m/s or 5.5kph).
• ~6 miles at ~3.4 MPH = 1 hour 46 minutes,
• however the parade is allotted 1 hour,
• and that is all it takes for all 190 pairs of companies to pass the risers;
• the time it takes them march out of sight around the local GAH section and back into the DS that brought them to the Square is just for them; the audience is free to disperse during that time.
• It takes the front of the formation ~10-15 minutes to reach the nearest (southernmost) risers; that’s the duration of a few songs (so a few of our standard songs are performed as they approach the risers, then the audience’s national anthem and other songs are played as the rest of the parade passes).

Facing-commands (such as “Right, Face!”) and marching-commands (such as “Forward, March!”) are called out by each company leader (in duets; each pair of companies in this parade starting at the same time, turning at the same time, more or less, etc.), but the ICVs don’t need those commands, as they are always perfectly coordinated with one another; the verbal commands are just for the enjoyment of the audience.

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Songs Played/Performed for the Parade:

Inisfree does not have a national anthem, and instead plays the following marching songs in this order:

1. 0:52 – Snare-drum Start
2. 2:17 – Adjutant’s Call March
3. 2:40 – Washington Post
4. 3:36 – Stars and Stripes Forever
5. 4:31 – Ceremonial Medley
   (military songs played when in front of risers)
6. 3:06 – Army song
7. :10 – Navy song
8. :05 – Air Force song
9. :17 – Marine Corps song
10. :08 – Coast Guard song
11. 1:30 – (national anthem of guest/s)
12. 03:00 – National Emblem
13. 02:55 – The Thunderer
14. 03:36 – Colonel Bogey March
15. 3:03 – Bravura
16. 2:30 – Jack Tar
17. 2:26 – Officer of the Day March
18. 2:35 – Naval Academy March
19. 2:35 – Thomas Jefferson March
20. ~0:52 – Snare-drum fade-out (because of marching far away)

Total:  52:44
with 15 seconds added between each song:  57:29
(thus this ~fills the 1 hour allotted for the parade of one of our welcoming ceremonies)

All those marching songs are played at the same tempo we march.

The songs are played live by VR2 (standing across the marching area right in front of the risers; ensuring the audience seated on the risers can always hear the music perfectly), assisted by 28 additional ICVs; enough to form the standard Pentagon marching band (42 members).

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Accompanying Parade-vehicles:

We sometimes also have 2 or more of each of our land-vehicles at intervals; every ~9th space in the parade formation; 8 side-by-side Companies of our troops… followed by side-by-side vehicles, etc..  Their sequence amidst/following those sets of Companies is:

1. (2) Police Tumblers
2. (2) Fire-tanks
3. (2) Work-horses
4. (2) Dulles Shuttles
5. (2) Hover Shuttles
6. (2) Luxury Motor-coaches
7. (2) Mobile Houses
8. (2) Military Tanks
9. (2) White-rhino APCs
10. (2) Owl Hover-saddles/cycles
11. (1) Inisfreean “Presidential” (Imperial) White Stretch Limousine
12. (2) Owl Hover-saddles/cycles
13. (2) White-rhino APCs
14. (2) Military Tanks
15. (2) Mobile Houses
16. (2) Luxury Motor-coaches
17. (2) Hover Shuttles
18. (2) Dulles Shuttles
19. (2) Work-horses
20. (2) Fire-tanks
21. (2) Police Tumblers

Total:  41 vehicles per parade

 

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Airshow:

Following the parade, the sky above this Square becomes a demonstration area where our dozens of the air- and spacecraft in our realm show off their most-impressive moves.

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Airshow Sequence:

1. ~19 minutes of a series of different Outlands aerobatic and military aircraft performing familiar feats, such as precision formations, inverted passes, barrel rolls, intentional semi-stalls, and afterburner ‘dances’ several feet above the ground (~100′ away from anyone in the audience)
2. ~10 minutes of Master Female ICVs flying in their S.T. suits, sometimes holding (armor-gloved) hands
3. ~10 minutes of Inisfreean Fighter-jet (FJ) aerobatics, where 1 flies in to start, and then another joins every minute until there are 10 ‘orbiting’ one another during movements
4. ~10 minutes of MPHA aerobatics; again, starting with 1, then others joining in, minute by minute
5. ~1-minute flyby of our equivalent of the Air Force Once (AF1) plane
6. ~10 minutes of a slow flyby of one of our Rooftop Carriers, its own STs and FJs flying out of, around, and back into it as it proceeds

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Aircraft Transportation:

Almost all the aircraft in a welcoming-ceremony airshow are transported here via the same DS that brings all the marching troops; they do not fly all the way over from our two airports miles away.  This is to keep Inisfree’s airspace/skies open/clear.  The only exception is our AF1, as its wingspan is too long to fit in a DS’s MPHA hangars/hatches.

We do not allow non-Inisfreean aircraft, especially Outlands-military ones (even our own copies/versions of them) to fly anywhere else in our airspace other than in the fly-zone above our desert-plateaus which has been designated for such flights/training.  This helps prevent confusion and alarm which our guests might react with if seeing such things out of place.  (Some of them are seeking refuge or political asylum here, having been put through much in the Outlands, so the last thing we want them to deal with is the sight of familiar human-military planes.)

To get these aircraft into the DS that will be transporting them to our Welcoming Square for each welcoming ceremony’s airshow, they can be flown from our Military Aerospaceport… out over our desert plateaus, then out over our LZ Beach, straight to/into that DS.  They can also just be moved through our portals directly, bypassing that whole distance/route.

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Airshow Songs Performed:
(not all are instrumentals)

1. 4:15 – Top Gun Anthem (for the ~2000s Outlands fighter-jets who start these airshows)
2. 3:34 – Danger Zone (for the ~1980s Outlands fighter-jets which follow that opening ‘act’)
3. 1:20 – Wild Blue Yonder – USAF (for the ~1970s fighter-jets which follow)
4. 6:21 – Run Free – Hans Zimmer (for more of the Outlands aircraft performing now)
5. 3:13 – Come Fly With Me (2008 Remastered) – Frank Sinatra (for the ~World Wars-era aircraft which fly next)
6. 2:59 – Up We Go – Lights (first song for the ICVs in ST suits in flight)
7. 5:16 – We Own the Sky – M83 (final song for the ICVs in ST suits in flight)
8. 6:32 – Tri – by Above & Beyond (for the FJs)
9. 5:31 – HighRoller – The Crystal Method (first song for the MPHAs)
10. 5:01 – On the Wing – Owl City (final song for the MPHAs) –female vocals since our band for these ceremonies is all-ICVs
11. 2:03 – Air Force Once theme (for our AF1)
12. 10:04 – All Systems Go – The Launch – Apollo 13 (for our Rooftop Carriers)

(18:43 for the pre-ICs; perfect for that ~19-minute block of performances/aerobatics)
(37:26 for the rest)
Total:  56:09 (~1:00-even; with time between songs/flybys)

 

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Announcer:

There is 1 announcer who provides lively commentary for both the parade and airshow of each welcoming ceremony here in Inisfree, and that announcer is always one of our ICVs.  This ensures that only the finest sexy Inisfreean (perfect female) voice is used/heard.  She also will be speaking in the language of the newcomers, event by event; if we are welcoming Russians in one of these ceremonies, she will make all announcements in Russian, for example.

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1100-1200:  Announcements During the Parade

• She names each song being played, as it begins, plus who composed it, what it is for, and who played it best (in our opinion).
• name and describe each of the 5 uniforms;
  our sexy feminine version of the Dress Blues Alphas,
  our S.T. suits in Lion-helmet mode
  our S.T. suits in white mode
  our S.T. suits in cosmos mode
  our A.D.O. diaphanous-black hooded-robes
• and explain what each of those uniforms of ours is for
• name each vehicle as it approaches the risers, what it is for, when it was designed, when it was prototyped, when it was commissioned for mass production, and when it went into service;
  Police Tumblers
  Fire-tanks
  Work-horses
  Dulles Shuttles
  Hover Shuttles
  Luxury Motor-coaches
  Mobile Houses
  Military Tanks
  White-rhino APCs
  Owl Hover-saddles/cycles
  the Inisfreean “Presidential” (Imperial) White Stretch Limousine
• (and no need to repeat this information when the next pairs of those vehicles are seen in the back half of the parade)
• Near the approach of the final two Companies, note how even 100,000 of these troops is still not even 1% of Inisfree’s armed forces and rescue personnel.
• Final parade remarks:
  about our previous campaign; cleaning away all pollution from our world,
  then our current campaign; mastering terraforming and helioforming as we build our own solar system and dimension
  then our upcoming campaigns;
  Omniverse Mapping,
  Yggdrasil Restoration,
  Assisting Compatible Peoples,
  Social-experiment Spacecraft-carrier,
  City Relocations

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1200-1300:  Announcements During the Airshow

• the make and model of each aircraft
• then the flying team
• then the pilots
• then the moves they are performing, and how many Gs would be felt if not for the repulsine technology
• then how long they train
• and how many airshows they have been in

 

*All her (the announcer’s) words are said from the three mouths of the Triple Trumpeters; the 1/2-mile-tall Harmonics ‘Mechs.

 

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Fireworks:

There are always half an hour of great fireworks to wrap up each of these ceremonies.  They are launched from the White Rhino APCs in the artillery-pits near the inside-face of the local-portion of our city’s Perimeter Wall.

Shapes:
(each shape comes in all the colors listed below)

1. burst
2. burst, brocade (thicker and golden-white)
3. circle
4. Chrysanthemum; like a peony, but leaves a trail of sparks / lingering flares
5. comet
6. crosette
7. diamond/square
8. fizzle/sparkle
9. flares; non-exploding
10. fountain/rain; visible from launch, not needing to explode
11. glitter
12. kamuro; like the willow but it hangs and twinkles
13. infinity symbol
14. loveheart
15. oval/ellipse
16. palm tree
17. pentagram
18. rainbow
19. secondaries
20. smiley face
21. sphere/peony
22. sphere, double (a.k.a. pistil); a ball of stars inside another ball of stars
23. spider
24. star, five pointed
25. swastika
26. Weeping Willow

…

Colors:

1. red
2. orange
3. yellow
4. green
5. blue
6. purple
7. pink
8. brown
9. white

…

Sequence:

Like all fireworks shows, we launch just one to get everyone’s attention; this signals the start of the show.  Then we have intervals of successively more fireworks after brief pauses/lulls.  At the end is the grand finale, where hundreds (all the remaining ones) are sent up in rapid succession until there is nothing left to launch.

*We sync’ the launching of each type and group of these fireworks to the different parts and ‘feels’ of the songs performed during them.

…

Songs Performed Live During the Fireworks:
(all are instrumentals)

1. 3:52 – America – Neil Diamond  – Royal Philharmonic Orchestra instrumental version
2. 4:09 – America the Beautiful – Youth Orchestra version
3. 3:26 – Born In The USA & Dancing In The Dark – The London Symphony Orchestra instrumental version
4. 3:48 – God Bless America – Celine Dion – orchestral instrumental version
5. [“Proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free…”], later, more-stirring, orchestral version
6. 10:17 – Farewell Neverland – John Williams

Total:  25:32 (~26:47 with time between songs)

 

–

History of Our Welcoming Ceremonies:

Each of the representatives of an entire people or empire, when returning to Inisfree after a previous visit in which they completed the official tour here, especially if they were returning with more of their kind, were honored with one of our welcoming ceremonies.

• [Dragon Lady]:  the sexiest female dragon, come to Inisfree in humanoid woman form
• Alison Hart-Burnett: “Lady Jaye”
• Ambrosia LeMorte: “Ambi”, ancient vampire, practitioner of Temporis and other sciences, and Inisfree’s High Queen
• Daenerys Targaryen: Valyrian princess with dragon-related mutant-powers
• Danielle Moonstar: Native American X-Men heroine
• Divinity Gottschalk: an Angel who woke on Earth during The Shift
• Dolores Abernathy: of The Hosts
• Elena Antonov Michaels: “Werewolf Barbie”
• Emma Grace Frost: Hellfire Club leader
• Illyana Rasputina: descendant of the legendary Russian healer chosen by the royal family, she has become entrusted with one of the Infinity Gems, and can regularly access Purgatory and other dimensions, even teleporting other people with her
• Kara Zor-El: Kryptonian survivor
• Kory Anders: princess and heiress of the Tamaraneans
• Lamia: semi-ancient (& demonized) north-African woman
• Liara T’Soni: Asari scholar & representative
• Lillian Didina: rain nymph
• Maya Erra: Pleiadian maiden
• Oona Finvarra: Queen of the Fairies
• Qiturah: ancient Draenei leader
• Rosalie Lillian Hale: “Vampire Barbie”
• Shelwe Taldeer: ancient Space-Elf leader
• Taja Seiliu: Scottish Elf princess
• Tauriel Rhovanion: ancient Woodland Elf queen
• Tempest Thema: surface-Naga
• Thetis: ancient ocean goddess
• Urvashi: ancient Indian (India) Aspara; river nymph
• Vanadis Freyja: ancient goddess, one of the race called Vanir, exceptional at a wide variety of magical arts
• Wendy Temujin: ancient Chinese goddess
• Xephia: Space-Elemental
• Xull’rae Zauviir: dark-priestess and princess from the Underdark of Earth; the cave network realms where the Drow (Dark Elves) live
• Zada: ancient African goddess

High Queen Ambrosia LeMorte was the very first to be treated to such a ceremony (back before she was our High Queen), some 3,000,000 Inisfreeans (ICVs) in their full suits of armor (S.T. suits) present to greet her and show off all they were for the great woman.  Her welcoming ceremony was in the first year of Inisfree having been constructed, just ‘moments’ before The Rapture campaign kicked off.  She is also the only woman to have been given a welcoming ceremony even before touring our realm, and the only one to have been greeted by 3x the “comfortable capacity” of the Welcoming Square; it was packed ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ with Inisfreean troops formed up to greet her with as much of a presence as they could fit in.

 

–

What Comes Next:

The official tour of our city lasts for 41 days (and some complete this first, acclimating before deciding if they want one of our welcoming ceremonies); there’s a whole lot to see and do, spread out across our 100 square surface miles, not to mention everything above and below.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg; there are millions of square miles of Antarctic terrain for sight-seeing beyond our walls, and a many secret private worlds we’ll introduce you to if you decide our city and culture are right for you.  Are you ready to be welcomed into all the rest of Inisfree?

 

–

Novels Excerpt:

Turning away from that Oriental gate of the titans and gods, their convoy made its way down the vast exit-ramp of the local highway section and out onto the surface of the Welcoming Square. Flights of Inisfreeans in their matte-white Iron-Man-like suits were flying in from multiple directions, landing gracefully on their feet, and walking purposefully into military formations at both the convoy’s sides up ahead. Their blank white suits began to subtly change their appearances… until all looked more like artistic mixes of golden, copper, and bronze components, their helmets now more like the heads of lions, with golden manes of hair-like metallic hairs brushed back and somewhat curling.

“Our military is massing here to greet you, Queen Lucifera,” the co-driver in their limo’ chirpily said, and then the driver guided them to a smooth and gradual stop between the flanking formations of what were now many thousands of Inisfreean troops. There had to’ve been nearly 100 battalions there, all arriving right on time, dropping everything they were doing to attend. Their lion-helmeted armors shone like the Sun would on highly-polished tubas and other marching-band instruments. They all stood at attention for the arriving angelic queen.

The driver and co-driver stepped out and took their standing positions at the sides of the limousine’s passenger door, and that door again quietly moved out away from the vehicle’s side a few inches, then down underneath it, its top edge remaining visible and functioning as an optional step down to the Welcoming Square surface. Auz lowered his head as he stood to step out, then stood upright and offered their guest his hand a third time. “It is my honor to introduce you to Inisfree’s military here at our Welcoming Square,” he rumbled, smiling.

Turning to address the thousands of Inisfreeans gathered there for her, he spoke in a voice that boomed like overhead thunder, his days as a Marine instructor shining through. “Inisfree, please give a heartfelt welcome to Queen Lucifera, ruler of Earth‘s north, Mother of Dragons, and treasured guest here in our realm.” It was the kind of voice that commanded attention, and would shock anyone not expecting it, rattling them before they realized it was benign. People a mile away probably heard it, yet it was still so smooth and steady, little effort apparently required by him in blasting it forth from his vocal chords and chest.

All as one, the thousands of Inisfreean troops in their golden suits placed their right foot one step forward, taking on a more aggressive version of the position of attention, creating a resounding mass-stomp sound and earth vibration, and blasted back with an even greater voice, “AROO!” Even their driver and co-driver had synchronized with that motion and shout.

“Inisfree!” High King Auz then bellowed, pausing a couple seconds for effect, “…carry on!” The entire Square of battalion-sized formations again shook with a unified armored step back, all of them returning to their normal stances, and then all the many thousands of them became more casual, their armored exoskeletal suits fading away as if from an illusion, their feminine figures revealed, and all of them spreading out to help with the set-up of tents, tables, fire bowls, fireworks, dancing areas, and more. Not one hurried up in hopes of a personal greeting with their guest; all of them had been raised to patiently wait for her to decide whom to approach and meet, if any of them. They were just happy she was back on Earth –and here.

Colorful fireworks began to launch from the edge of their paved square, and explode overhead, with a few of the Inisfreean fighter-jets rushing by just a few stories up, barrel rolling so their pilots could wave to the visiting queen before taking their jets on sudden curves straight up and off in other directions. Tribal drums began to beat and play. Polite well-wishers several meters away waved and bowed, waiting their turn to address her. The three sky-high statues of female figures on the mountain-side of the square remained in place, somehow seeming alive.

The degree to which manners were defaulted to in their city was staggering, even rivaling and outdoing those of Japan. Dozens of dignitaries took their turn approaching and introducing themselves to her, bowing or curtsying, all of them addressing her as ‘Your Majesty’, ‘Your Grace’, ‘my Queen’, ‘Mother of Dragons’, or ‘Honored Lucifera’. Not a soul would speak her first name by itself unless she personally gave them permission. Even the roughest-looking of the other kings present, each of them with a history of black operations and related work, bowed wholeheartedly and kissed the back of her hand before formally stepping back away.

“Everyone here has been through a lot,” Auz softly rumbled at her side between approaching royals paying their respects. “They make sure to show you the manners we all were denied when growing up in the other lands before Inisfree came into being.” A few of the Inisfreean women standing around them slightly tilted their heads her way, flexing their lower lips up in expressions of understanding and sympathy, their eyes loving and apologetic.

When all the individual thanks and introductions were complete, Auz walked with her over to the nearest of the outdoor long-tables, sliding out a high-backed throne-like armchair for her, helping slide it back in once she had started seating herself upon it, and then took his seat on another one by her side. Dozens of others around them, including some of the Inisfreean troops now in their light and casual attire, joined them, bringing their table to capacity within seconds.

Its surface covered in platters of freshly-prepared, aromatic, vegan gourmet cuisine, they were all able to dig in with plenty to spare, and the plates and bowls full of heaping portions from each platter were passed around amidst big smiles and cheers. Dining was an event for them, each meal and bite a celebration. Culinary wizardry, such as molecular gastronomy which they’d been taught since grade-school in this city, ensured they all felt lighter and more alive than before they’d started eating. Even the drinks left those consuming them feeling healthier and with sharper senses, never drunk or hungover like they might in human gatherings on the outside.

“To the queen of the north!” someone toasted, having stood, and everyone raised their glasses and goblets, repeating the merry shout, some so animated and in agreement that they sloshed some of their beverages around, laughing as it further colored and flavored parts of the platters and table. The music and dancing around them went on, and more fireworks burst into friendly shapes and symbols overhead.

Stories began to be shared aloud for the whole table to hear, and the tables around them had filled up with the other spectators, well-wishers, and troops, all mingling and indulging as one big family. There were no castes here. This city lived up to its favorite expression; “We are one.”

With the tales of adventure and overcoming great odds, Lucifera now had context to go with each name she’d learned. No one pressured her to tell a story of her own; they knew that would happen when she felt the time was right. Instead, they chatted on, including her in the conversation whenever she wasn’t sampling the many foods and drinks being poured and offered. Fresh platters and carafes were brought out for the rest of the hour, until everyone had enjoyed their fill and made ready to return to their activities across the 100 square miles of the city.

A black-haired, olive-skinned, Lebanese-looking woman then politely approached Lucifera’s seat at the long-table, having been noticed and waved over by High King Auz. A blonde-haired, white-skinned, Caucasian woman was with her, both of them a couple inches over five feet tall. Each had a gorgeous custom dress fit for a ball or gala of elites, and evening gloves designed to go with them. Their hair was done up in regal tall buns with several loose and curling locks hanging down, and they, like everyone in Inisfree, had no makeup at all, nor did they need any. Their feet were bare, long-since accustomed to walking that way, as per the culture of the Inisfreean realm; always in direct touch with nature. The two moved like dancers or kind spirits, as fluidly and refined as any anyone can imagine.

They greeted Lucifera with a warm hug followed by a squeeze of her hands, and Auz stood from his seat, happy to say, “Queen Lucifera, it is my great honor and pleasure to introduce to you the Commander-in-Chief of all Inisfreean forces,” the black-haired woman smiled again, indicating that was her, “and our Secretary of State,” at which point the blonde woman smiled just as professionally. “Lucifera, this is Nyria. Nyria, Queen Lucifera,” his words signaled the black-haired woman, who then curtsied with a momentary lowering of her head. “Lucifera, this is Amber. Amber, Queen Lucifera,” he said, and the blonde did as Nyria had.

“Your majesty,” Amber musically said, “if there is anything you need or desire while in our city, please feel welcome to ask me personally or any of our Inisfreean people here.”

“And if ever you require or just wish for Inisfreean assistance in building, defense, or exploration beyond our city, please feel welcome to ask me,” Nyria added.

From that early-evening hour on, the music gradually lowered in volume, and the fireworks had a couple final surges, before everyone began to say their farewells and disperse back across the meadows to their neighborhoods across the city. What was left of the feasts spread out across the many tables was packaged up and carried away, then all the tables cleaned and disassembled, also carried off to storage somewhere out of sight. Only a few dozen Inisfreean women remained as hostesses for each small group of the yurts still standing across the square.

The white limousine remained parked where it had stopped to let Auz and Lucifera out, and was available to take her anywhere in the city she wished to go, at any time. If she was ready to get ready for bed, Auz would walk her to the yurt of her choosing, where she would be free to occupy it all to herself, a few of the Inisfreeans standing watch all night outside. “My yurt is right over there,” he pointed one of them out; “so whenever you wake up tomorrow and feel like seeing some more of the tour, you can find me in there.”

Before he headed over to his own circular tent, he stopped to say one more thing; “Since you are such an amazing woman, Luci,” he started to smile, his lips staying together in that moment, “the rest of your life is on me.” He would cover all her costs, if ever she had any at this point. It was the least he could do for a reincarnated angel.

The temperature stayed in the 60s the rest of the evening and even overnight, and the breezes always smelled of mountain wildflowers and pine trees, among many other aromatic things. Inisfree’s invisible sky-dome created an artificial day-night cycle to help her and the other newcomers fall asleep at a normal time. High above their central mountain, what looked like the Moon very slowly moved along a path that kept it in view like a big night-light the whole time.

As she said good night, she took his hand and said, “This was the best day of my life and I will never forget it. Inisfree has my heart.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, and turned away to take her rest.

‘Then I have done my job,’ he thought in response. That compliment and kiss had him smiling all night, even dreaming about them, and when he woke… that full smile soon returned to his face during his still-in-bed stretches. Taking in his first deep, full breath of the day, he sighed it out happily, stood, and made ready for their second day in his realm. Amber and Nyria entered his tent with a fresh set of his favorite clothes, hugged him tight good-morning, and started preparing their breakfast; almond milk, berries, cereal, juices, nuts, steamed rice, and vegan sausage.

Setting the remaining table outside on the Welcoming Square, they waved to other Inisfreeans passing by, a few of them walking over to ask how their morning was going and join them for the first meal of the day. They all hugged each other tightly, some kissing and resting their foreheads together, a hand resting on a cheek here and there, and seemed as family or even loves. Whenever Lucifera woke and stepped out of her tent, she’d see the females all had their hair down or loosely braided, with halos of flowers, and wore flowy diaphanous sundresses, kamisks, or cut-offs; it was a completely casual and carefree day. Auz was barefoot again, wearing a sleeveless white toga that covered one shoulder and side of his chest.

White silk place-mats and polished silverware were set out for everyone, along with matching cloth napkins, and glasses and goblets made not of glass, but large gemstones fashioned into drinking vessels. Some were single diamonds. Platters made of silver, gold, and electrum, and colorful bowls of glazed ceramics and still other large gemstones were set along the middle of the table between the two rows of place-mats. Scented candles, and pots of living fragrant flowers, were added to this display.

Fruits, nuts, and vegetables were brought in handmade baskets carried by several girls who appeared to be waitresses, each of them wearing a diaphanous sash tied about their figures similarly to a wrap or toga. The melons were skillfully opened, their edible interiors fashioned by knives into creative sculptures that looked like feathers, blooming flowers, or some of the skyline of Inisfree. Homemade dips and spreads, such as jams and hummus, in their own bowls were set down beside them. Bread was being kneaded and baked nearby, then walked over in cloth-lined baskets to keep it warm, right out of the oven. The waitresses poured everyone’s drinks and kept them filled, and were careful to pour the almond milk only in one corner of their cereal bowls, keeping as much of the cereal dry for as long as possible, ensuring the latter bites did not become soggy. Even a few varieties of soup were being made, their aromas wafting into the air.

Music completed the occasion; a woman in a golden toga dress matching the color of her harp played nearby, delicately strumming its strings in a soothing sequence. Another standing beside her sang something sweetly and softly, keeping the volume of her voice low enough to only be a background complement not interfering with the conversations at the table. A few songbirds could also be heard in the trees of the meadow surrounding the Welcoming Square.

‘A new beautiful start to the day,’ Lucifera thought. ‘The food looks delicious.’

The first of the table to see Lucifera emerge from her tent smiled and waved to her. Nyria and Amber looked up, noticing next, and smiled, too, continuing with the last of the cooking. After that, everyone was seated, side by side, mixed in together, eating, drinking, and chatting away.

Every conversation, Lucifera might notice, was of polite and appetizing subjects; no one complained, and they certainly never mentioned anything gross. Even talk of medical issues were unheard of in Inisfree. The focus was always on the food and drinks; creating them with heart and soul, and contemplating their flavor combinations, enjoying them fully. Stories of life and goings-on from the outside were carefully filtered so as to keep everyone interested in a positive way. If ever an Inisfreean detected the chance of something unappetizing about to be said, she would skillfully intervene, making sure the person whose comments were then being steered a bit understood and felt well treated.

Inisfreeans knew the power of the spoken word; it was a series of spells that triggered or, at least, influenced manifestations. Only the best and purest would ever make it into Inisfree or occur there. This kept everyone feeling and thinking at their best. For this reason, 99% of humanity had not been considered even to know where the outermost gate chamber was; they had some growing-up to do.

After an hour of breaking the fast, the people at the table began to excuse themselves, stand up, and say their farewells for the day. ‘Goodbye’ was another word (or spell) almost never heard, as it was considered a little too formal and terminal, whereas ‘farewell’ only indicated (and spoke into existence) that things should and would continue in a good way whether temporary partings occurred or not. “I love you,” was said regularly, though, as the people in Inisfree did love each other, and wanted to make sure those they loved heard it whenever the spirit moved them to remind.

Some people hugged in groups instead of pairs, too, and exchanged the Inisfreean saying and motto, “We are one.” It was expressed in a deep and friendly way. Their moods and auras surged each time it was said, especially in moments of synchronicity when the group embracing all said it at the same time.

Amber walked over to Lucifera and thoughtfully asked what she thought of the meal, if there was anything she’d like added to the next one, and if she had any dietary restrictions. Auz chatted with the last remaining group several feet away, and then joined Amber by Lucifera. It was time to walk over to one side of the Welcoming Square where they could check out one of Inisfree’s libraries. Lucifera was free to go barefoot everywhere if she wished, though footwear options were, of course, always available.

Lucifera, excited to hear about the libraries, said, “I love books! The realm of books are my sanctuary. I could stay all day and read and let the stories swift me away on adventure and so on.”

 

–

Overall Appearance:

Picture hundreds of thousands, and sometimes even more than a million, people gathered on this ~square-mile town-square.

–

Risers:

Also known as bleachers, these are aligned at the feet/toes of the Three Trumpeters, allowing all spectators to sit facing the Great Asian/Chinese Gate; for easiest parade and fireworks viewing.

–

Parade Route and Labels:

Each of the parades to welcome people and groups here starts on the “southwest” corner of the square, forming up outside one of the hatch-ramps of the Inisfreean DropShip parked there to deploy, and later recollect/store, most of the personnel and some of the vehicles of these parades.  The wide and long line of formations of Inisfreean units and side-by-side matching Inisfreean vehicles starts moving to the “northwest” corner of this square, turns on command, goes under the GAH overpass ahead of them at that point, turns again, and follows the green-arrow route on the map/square.  This treats newcomers being honored by one of these parades to the sights of all the different official uniforms and vehicles we have in our realm.

–

Inisfree’s Flag in Guide-on Banner Form:

Our nation/civilization’s flag is a rainbow tie-dye spiral pattern/background, a white circle at its center, and either a golden swastika or our colored city-sigil/symbol centered within that circle.  In guide-on form, this flag is small enough to be carried on a man-portable flag-pole made for human-sized hands.  In guide-on banner form, it hangs down from the horizontal cross-bar at the top of the man-portable flagpole (a.k.a. guide-on).

–

Fire-dancer Girls:

Female dancers at these events sometimes do poi; they have cords/strings with tennis ball-sized coated objects attached to the ends of those cords/strings.  The coating keeps those balls on fire during their dances.  As you should expect, this kind of dangerous dancing is only done by experienced professionals.

–

Fireworks:

During the fireworks phase of each of these ceremonies, our version of artillery pieces/tanks fire/launch thousands of these colorful peaceful explosives up into the air.  They burst/explode still well-below the top of our perimeter wall.  Due to how precisely that wall was made, and how clean/smooth it is kept, there is a blur/haze-like refraction (not a full reflection; not like on a mirror) of the colorful explosions/shapes against the inside ‘face’ of one side of that wall.

*Fireworks for our graduations are only around/above our LHS building.

 

–

2023 July Update:  Scale-model in Minecraft

–

2023 July Update 2:  Re-welcoming the High Queen

It was the 2nd time she had been flown on Inisfree’s Air Force One (AF1); that white-and-gold upscale luxury-variant of the B-2 stealth bomber which only ever flew the A-list of the A-list around for or with High King Auz.  (The first time had been for one of her anniversary dinner dates with the High King.)  This special presidential aircraft was not to land anywhere outside of controlled Inisfreean or allied beyond-human territory (both to help protect it, and to prevent unworthy outsiders/humanimals/Outlanders from seeing its beauty), so Ambi’s husband invited her to fly with him up to its flightpath in the clouds via one of the MPHAs that flew him to and from Inisfree for weekday work.

Once (their MPHA was) in cloaked formation with the many other escort-craft all around, above, and below it (our AF1), they would be shuttled over into one of its two bays.  (The hover-shuttle fits in the FJ-bays of the MPHAs.)  All her witches and other employees/property were welcome to fly up to join them in it along its way today, or just meet them once it arrived in Inisfree.

They (Auz and Ambi) were met by warmly-smiling Inisfreean girls in their Dress Purples uniforms, opening the shuttle’s side doors to offer them their hands as the royal couple stepped out, into that docking bay.

Their royal suite in the tail of the massive airplane had been decked out with black satin bedsheets today, and a matching bed canopy, black satin pillows, black candles on its nightstands, black lava-lamps (black blobs slowly moving in a blacklight-lit fluid), and a black dreamcatcher hung over the headboard.  In the walk-in closet back there, copies of all of Ambi’s favorite dresses were neatly hung and evenly spaced.  She could wear what she had on if she wanted to stay casual, or try on and pick out any of the provided outfits –and hopefully would strip right in front of Auz between each trying, thrilling her husband with that elven-like goddess supermodel of a body of hers.

Warping along through the sky at the speed perfect for giving her and him plenty of time to do that and more along the way, the AF1 would see Antarctica‘s gleaming thin white line coming over the horizon within about half an hour of their departure/docking over their New Montana nation.  They could have been portal-ed there in an instant, but special events and days like these, Auz felt, called for a more leisurely pace with the scenic-route option.

This was the very first welcome-back ceremony; it would be the first time in Inisfree’s history when such a production was being put on twice for someone.  There had been a few hundred of Inisfree’s welcoming ceremonies since the city’s grand opening in 2013, and roughly a million people had attended at least one of them, but nothing like today’s version of the production.  This was going to be one for the record-books.

Like before (the first time Ambrosia was treated to one of these ceremonies), more than a million Inisfreeans would be formed up for her –but this time not just in a rectangle to shout a Spartan “Aroo!” like when she’d first seen them here; this time, they showed her the full parade they had developed since that time, and the towering lifelike animatronic three would not only be trumpeting once or twice, but announcing/narrating the whole procession, including the Inisfreean airshow overhead which would follow the parade, that then was to be followed by hundreds of Inisfreean artillery pieces firing tens of thousands of colorful fireworks up in front of the backdrop of one of their city’s four ~mile-tall perimeter-wall sides.

Since it was July, it was pitch-black, and very starry all night and day, right outside where Inisfree was, and it would remain that dark for more than a month to come.  That made for perfect light-shows, and the most dramatic effect when all the city turned off its lights.  It also meant the only outdoor light inside their hidden realm had to come from the underside of Cloud City II in eternal horizontal ‘orbit’ above the Avalanche Wall encircling their central-mountain‘s summit… or from candles, torches, and bonfires.

All the ~1.4 million people who now frequented Inisfree returned via Inisfree Spaceways white commercial flying saucers, convoying from the city’s civilian air-and-spaceport to fill up the bleachers and sidelines all around the parade, singing in unison all of Ambi’s favorite Aerosmith and AC/DC songs her husband, the High King, had once performed for her in the Auz’dome when many of them had held up their lighters all around her back in 2019.  This started the moment their private white stretch limousine (which had picked them up from the AF1 once it had landed and taxied on the tarmac of their air-and-spaceport) pulled up in front of the bleachers on the Welcoming Square; everyone started singing the first of those songs for her as soon as they knew she would hear it well.  This singing continued as the parade began to form ~a mile away; on the other side of the Square.

The bleachers/risers had even been modified to honor Ambi; they, like so many other things in Inisfree on this special reunion day, had all been colored black.

Dozens of yurts (72) lined both sides (36 per side) of the Welcoming Square.  All of them were the size of circus or fair tents (~60′ diameter and more than a couple stories tall) big enough for dozens of people in each, as well as for hundreds of people around each.  These big tents were encircled by waist-high table-sized mega-bowls full of black Calla lilies by the hundreds of thousands in total; ~3,000 individual flowers per tent.  They also had waist-high round-tables inside and outside, every table under a black table cloths, set with black China dishware and sushi trays, onyx and obsidian cutlery, black crystal glasses and goblets, black-stained armchairs matching the tables’ material, and black beads hung on black threads over all the yurt openings.  Each yurt also had a few bonfires roaring and crackling around it (thus 216 bonfires along two of the sides of the Square; 108 per side), sending embers several stories up into the air.

All the yurts’ feast-tables were covered with the darkest food and drinks the Inisfreeans knew how to make; bowls and presentations featuring black beans, black carrots, black corn, black currants, blackberries, black “forbidden” rice, black garlic, black grapes, black lentils, black licorice, black Mission figs, black olives, black (Java) plums, black quinoa, black sapote, black seaweed, black sesame seeds, black tea, black (dark blue) tomatoes), black velvet tamarinds, black wheat, black buns on the burgers, chia seeds, Shetland black potatoes, water mixed with fulvic acid (that black-water health-trend marketed a while back in the Outlands), and chocolatier sculptures of Ambi in various poses all made with the darkest chocolate, just to name a few.  They’d even bent their rules a little bit, just for tonight, allowing one of the items never before heard of in Inisfree; coffee –the exact brand and consistency Ambi liked.

Atop all those yurts were the streamers, flapping in the polar alpine breeze, of only the colors of Ambi and Nod.  Banners and tapestries of that same unique dark color-scheme hung flanking all the tent-openings of those yurts.  Inside the yurts, diaphanous black curtains hung and were artistically tied to curve back and overlap in many places, making for a sexy haunted-house theme.

Members of all the allied empires and races were there; there were A.I.s, Aesir, Angels, Cecaelia, Demons, Draenei, Dragons, Drow, Elementals, Elves, Fairies, Fauns, Griffons, Hippogryphs, Kryptonians, Lyrans, Majesdanians, Mermaids, Naga, Nymphs, Pegasi, Pleiadians, Tamaraneans, Thanagarians, Unicorns, Valyrians, Vanir, Werepanthers, Werewolves, Witches, and more.  She’d see the people with horns, those with pointy ears, those with tails (though all the mermaids and mermen were in their two-legged / land forms, of course), those with wings, those whose bodies looked like animated silhouettes of water or other living elements, those who glowed with natural bioluminescence, and so on.  All of these people were not so much in groups of their own races, but mingling with one another, all now friends and family.

Auz’s band, VR2, with his VR3 band-mates joining them, all together performed Ambi’s favorite songs live, right there beside their bleachers; they handled the instruments while the crowd sang along to all the words.  Like almost everyone else (save the uniformed troops parading by), they wore their finest black outfits.

The Council of Elders (8 of their 9 total at this time) all wearing their finest translucent black shadow-silk in honor of Ambi’s dark side and the darkness realm, were seated at both sides of Ambi and her husband on the center of the center bleacher.  They all waved and smiled warmly when Ambrosia approached from the limo’ now starting to slowly drive off, freeing up the view in front of the bleachers/risers she and they would be sitting on for this ceremony.

To everyone’s surprise and delight, this would be the first-ever air-dropped parade in their realm; thousands of uniformed Inisfreean girls would jump like paratroopers from the Rooftop Carriers flying in formation with MPHAs from the parade-DropShip.  (How could such a big parade be airdropped from just those 5 RCs, each RC only capable of transporting ~1,000 people comfortably?  The ICVs teleported into the RCs from the DS, jumping out en masse from the RCs’ FJ-hangars, like a huge portals-based conveyor belt.)  And every one of those Inisfreean girls kept her hair and eye-irises colors set to black –the first time all Inisfreeans had the same hair color at the same time.  Side by side, two paired military Companies would march by, followed by two side-by-side matching vehicles, such as a set of Fire-tanks, followed by another pair of military Companies, and then a different pair of vehicles, on and on like this until thousands and thousands of Inisfreean troops, and dozens of Inisfreean vehicles, had slowly moved in front of the viewing stands (bleachers/risers), every one of them saluting the High Queen on command, unit by unit, as they moved in front of her, dropping their salutes once they had passed.

VR2/VR3 and the crowd continued performing and singing the playlist of Ambi’s favorite AC/DC and Aerosmith songs.  This was the first time songs and pieces other than those of the traditional welcoming ceremonies had been performed here.

Cloud City II stayed lit at first, acting like a little Sun, and keeping the outdoor brightness similar inside the sky-dome to normal daylight, making it easy for everyone to see the big military parade that was now starting to march and drive by.  Cloud City II would begin to dim down to a moonlight intensity to simulate sunset, dusk, and evening-fall; when it was coming time for fireworks, that would happen.  Its final scheduled brightness-setting for this event would be a surprise.

The first-ever “Awesome Blossom” not during a New Year’s Eve then started to rise about three miles away; the five-sided downtown-section (pentagonal pyramid) was rising up high above the downtown moat and local perimeter-wall/ring, synchronized with the start of all the lights in the city being turned off, also in honor of her dark side and away-time –something that had before never been done for anyone; it had only been done to make it easier to see meteor showers.  Once its pyramidal tip reached its maximum allowed airspace point above downtown Inisfree (Sotu), the fireworks would begin.  The tail-end of the parade would be marching back away to the far-end of the Square at that time.

During that Awesome Blossom rise, the airshow above the parade continued to get more and more impressive, the maneuvers more complex.  Flares were ejected from some of the aircraft up there.  Some even “blinked” in and out of view as they activated and deactivated their cloaking mechanisms.  They would, after their most challenging formation and flyby, return to the docking bays in the Rooftop Carriers and DropShip they had launched from.

Right at that scheduled moment; as the Awesome Blossom reached its highest point, a single firework was launched up in the air from a few miles off to the left of the point of view of Ambi and the others seated on the bleachers facing the perimeter wall back past the far-side of their Square.  One by one, each firework closer to the center of their field of view, more got launched, causing a series of their colorful explosions from left to right, until the last one in this first sequence was exploding brightly a few miles off to the right, right where those other two sides of the four-sided wall met.  After that, different sequences and combinations of fireworks got launched, always just one to a few at a time from each launching pit for the first few minutes as the music and singing continued, then slowly increasing in number and size until bigger fireworks were going off in front of that side of the perimeter wall, and multiple fireworks at a time.

The first-ever UV/blacklight fireworks were then launched; another surprise no one other than the Inisfreean launcher-crews had been told about.  These fireworks exploded with sparkling black dots, and looked like spidery silhouettes in front of the other fireworks and their lingering puffs of post-explosion smoke.  Every time the new dark fireworks went off, they’d been aimed to fan out in front of the other fireworks, always keeping them the most-obvious of the types.

In the distance to the right, the Awesome Blossom finished rotating high over the downtown streets, and began its still-rotating descent back onto its foundations there, its five city-block downtown-section acute-triangles opening back up like the giant urban-jungle flower-form it was designed to look like.  Taking up the dominant role in the Inisfreean sky now was the first-ever dark/black aurora bands the Inisfreeans had figured out how to cause their local atmosphere to create.  They stayed displayed miles overhead, even higher up in their sky than the Awesome Blossom had been.  Keeping them easily noticeable were normal-colored bands of aurora –both from the natural aurora in Earth‘s orbit, as well as the local one once again being activated and wielded by their HAARP II facility.

Ambi was then hoisted up on the shoulders of her husband’s Secret Service mobile entourage, and raised up a foot or so with each flexing/straightening upward of their arms, over and over, as all the millions gathered there loudly chanted her name, “AM-BI, AM-BI, AM-BI, AM-BI!”
“Three cheers for the queen!” someone cried out over the roar.
“Hip hip, hooray!  Hip hip, hooray!  Hip hip, hooray!” everyone replied even more loudly.
“Our queen has returned!” someone else called out.
“HOORAY!” the crowd cheered in unison once again.

The last few Inisfreean fighter-jets still outside their docking bays raced by and turned to skyrocket up overhead, sending out all their many remaining bright flares, forming what looked like giant skyscraper-sized angelic Christmas trees in the sky, and even more fireworks erupted in the background than before.

Then, a sight never before seen or foreseen, one of Inisfree’s greatest secrets came forth; the Mandaloridays/Doomsdalorians, those 5-story Iron Man Hulk-suit-like blood-red battlemechs appeared at the corners and sides of the Welcoming Square as the fireworks continued high over and miles away from the sides of the Great Asian Gate.  They each held one lightsaber-like tube in their right mechanical hand, and they all stepped forward and formed a sabers-arch for Ambrosia Shadowheart LeMorte and her husband, Auzdein von Himmler, once known as Austin of the mortal Marines, to walk hand in hand under.  Five times longer than the sabers of human men, the Mandaloriday sabers were also the blackhole-version of the tool.

The three towering animatronics at the inner side of the Welcoming Square behind them proclaimed in their sexy female voices, “We humbly salute our goddess’s light And dark sides with these shadow-blades.  To Dark Ambi, and Light Ambi, and Whole Ambi, our beloved High Queen forevermore!”  The parade troops and crowd of millions went wild, and the Inisfreean aurora was flared up so much that it was almost like daylight again, but of rainbows swaying and blending together all overhead, completely covering the inside of their sky-dome.

On the far-side of that shadow-sabers arch, the royal white limo’ had been driven over and parked right where Ambi and Auz would be walking out.  Nyria and Amber ICV1 stepped out of that white stretch limo’ to flank and open the curve-under side-door for the royal couple still on food/approach.  Nyria was wearing her “Dress Rainbows” uniform, and Amber her “Dress Purples” version of it.

Their white limo’ and drivers waiting there to whisk them away made it as if Ambi & Auz were now celebrating their 3rd wedding to one another, their marriage now thrice/triply reinforced/reaffirmed.

Then the three trumpeters announced, “Our sky-dome is based on the greatest of stars; the blackholes, and we now see it symbolic like how our beloved High Queen, even as her dark side, has blanketed and protected us all along.”
Again, millions erupted in cheer and happy tears, hollering from the bleachers still filled with people back at the start of that still-standing sabers-arch, many of those people on the stands whistling and throwing their hats up for her, she free to wave to them before stepping into that special limo’ which still had just one seat inside its passenger section, always meant for her to sit across the lap of her husband, together so lovingly like that forever.

Nyria would drive, and Amber ICV1 ‘copilot’ (co-drive) for them… all the way home, back across their sacred realm and up King’s Drive to the castle-skyscraper-like Governor’s Mansion just for the two of them this day.

In case she hadn’t noticed when it had picked her and her husband up at the air-and-spaceport, their royal white stretch limo’s two little hood front-corners Inisfree-flags had been temporarily replaced with all-black ones.  One of those tiny hood-mounted flags was to honor Ambi.  The other was to honor the realm of darkness at least one side of her had “called home” (or, at least, lived in for a time).  (Amber ICV1 would politely tell her about this at some point during these chauffeured drives today, Nyria staying focused on the road; driving.)

An escort convoy of a dozen Inisfreean Police hover-bikes and Tumbler squad-cars, the Tumblers with their six-color roof light-bars on bright, stayed formed up all around their limousine that whole way to their mansion, ensuring they had a spacious 3-lanes width to maneuver in.  Some of the hover-bikes, that model of vehicle also known as an Owl, stayed in the air a story or two above the limo’.  There were also a few Inisfreean fighter-jets silently cruising along with them, higher up, matching the convoy’s speed.  Up ahead, all along their route, more police Tumbler vehicles and Owls had blocked off the on-ramps, keeping merging traffic as light as possible, and in some places nonexistent.

Individual vehicles (including the city’s signature three-story mobile-houses) and convoys driving respectfully alongside and past them on the Glowing Art Highway, everyone with their windows and sunroofs down, waving out them as they honked and flashed their turn-signals and headlights, even the Grid Mind sending a new custom signal to the highway sections of their lanes of travel, for the first time causing their square panels to internally not light up, but darken.

Wherever there were places for people to park in view of the sections of the highway their limo’ would be passing along upon, big groups of personal vehicles were parked out of the way of any potential traffic, everyone standing outside or on top of them (those personal vehicles), waving and jumping up and down.  Many whistled and honked their vehicle-horns, too.  Lots of the females lifted up their tops to treat their High Queen to some really nice physique views.

All the neighborhoods they passed along their way up the foothills and down toward the city’s main lake and beach, and then the houses of the San Diego Hills neighborhood on the way up toward the start/bottom of King’s Drive, all activated their retractable built-in Christmas-lights bulbs, setting them all to the deepest dark-blue/purple.  Thousands of people were outside upon those structures, too; many had gone out on their balconies, or even climbed up on their rooftops, to jump and wave at their returned High Queen.  Their cheering could be heard all the way from the middle of the highway if Ambi had Amber ICV1 roll the limo’s windows down.

Pulling up to their private mansion that mile up atop the beach-cliff’s narrow plateau, the limo’ was slowed to a smooth stop, and again Nyria and her sister-ICV, Amber ICV1, stepped out first so they could meet at the sides of the curve-down side-door of the limo’s passengers-section.  Offering their hands again, Nyria’s to Ambi, and Amber ICV1’s to Auz, they would then stay there beside the limo’ while the royal couple headed up the porte-cochère steps to the transparent-metal window-wall arch and double-doors leading into the grand foyer.  More Secret Service Inisfreeans flanked those doors and all the other doors inside their mansion, keeping an eye out and professionally parting those doors for the royal couple and any of their approaching guests.

The biggest gala ever hosted in the Governor’s Mansion up the central mountain’s slope was now beginning; it brought their private mansion there to its capacity of ~23,100 people (~600 able to gather in the main dining-room alone), every last woman dressed in the sexiest see-through black shadow-silk ballroom gowns, and every man dressed in a three-piece all-black tuxedo.  Everyone who did not have natural black hair… had dyed at least one lock of theirs black, all the women having their hair braided with sparkling black ribbons woven in.  After everyone had clapped and parted to make way for Ambi and her husband to walk, arm in arm, right through the middle of all of them, in to the grand dining hall in the middle of the ground floor, all the lights in the mansion were dimmed down to their lowest setting above off, making it both romantic and spooky at the same time.

Every waitress (kajirae) wore only a single black sash hung diagonally from one shoulder, over one breast, and down to her opposing hip.  Every waitresses-manager (Inisfreean; ICV) wore a black armband with her Master Female black-sash swimsuit-like uniform.

All the gold-framed digital mega-paintings on the multi-story indoor walls framing this dining room showed, for this gathering only, every Darkness Dimension and Space-art image Ambi had ever sent her husband when they were apart, as well as many of her love GIFs and Snoopy memes.  The framed mega-pictures showing Darkness Dimension images only cycled through that category, while the mega-pictures showing Space-art stuck to that category, and the mega-pictures showing the love GIFs showed only those animations, and the mega-pictures showing Snoopy memes stuck to those.  The same was being done via the mega-pictures on the walls of the adjacent jacuzzi-dining room, as well as via the mega-pictures built into the walls out in the floor-stream halls.

Individuals and groups walked up, each politely waiting their turn, to present Ambi with boxed presents, all of them wrapped in shiny black wrapping paper, tied with black ribbons and bows, every welcome-back gift-card black and inscribed with raised glow-in-the-dark ink, every word in cursive or calligraphy, and every name signed at the bottom with the same.

VR2 and VR3 arrived shortly after all those presents were offered to Ambi and left piling up on one of the big round tables off to the side of the main/long-table which dominated that room.  They got ready to perform one more song for her.  All the lights finished dimming the rest of the way off for that combined band, leaving only the eyes of the Inisfreean girls faintly aglow in the dark, as well as the eyes of their guests whose eyes naturally slightly glowed.

From somewhere above, fixed under that dining-room’s indoor wraparound balcony, a single spotlight turned on, casting a narrow cone of light down upon and around Ambi’s husband, who took hold of the mic from its dark stand his bandmates had placed in that dining room for him.  The dual rock-band then started to play “Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair”, originally by Peter Hollens and Avi Kaplan, now sung (for the 2nd time) by Ambi’s husband, this time to her in front of thousands of their family, friends, and other allies.  It was also another first; the first mini (one-song) concert inside The Governor’s Mansion.  Every female in those two now-joined bands, their union/unified-performance this night also symbolizing the reunification of both Ambi and Auz, as well as symbolizing the reunification of Ambi’s two equally-wonderful sides, doubled as an instrument player and backup vocalist, harmonizing brilliantly the whole way through this special song.

When they got to the part in the song when their band-leader, Auz, was singing the lyric, “I love the ground on which she stands.”, a 2nd spotlight from somewhere overhead shown down directly onto Ambi, making her and her husband the only two illuminated and visible people in the whole mansion, everyone else just a barely-visible silhouette in the surrounding dark.  Her spotlight was a deep and ‘magical’ purple, though, almost black-light; UV, while his originally-white cone of light got dimmed to the colors of an iron-stove’s post-fire embers every time he started singing down from tenor into baritone, bass, and ultra-bass notes.  Her spotlight then began to slowly change between the three main colors of her eyes; jade, lilac, and silver.

Her husband’s eyes never left hers for the entire performance, hoping to see her eye colors, which he now understood the meanings of far better, shift to those which meant she was very happy.

Then a big surprise was revealed; a 3rd and final cone of (brilliant storm-blue) light turned on, showing that a fit, healthily-skinny, elven-physique man had snuck up to take his place standing a few feet off to the right side of Auz, previously in the darkness.  Ambi’s brother had been invited in secret, and rehearsed this song in secret for weeks with them, now joining Auz in singing this song for her, covering the Verse-2 lyrics, then singing a duet with Auz for Verse 3 after the chorus.  And in place of “my true love“, her brother sang “his true love“.

During that third and final of the verses, the cones of light down around Auz and Ambi’s brother slowly dimmed down to nothing, while the cone of light around Ambi slowly brightened until it was pure white, symbolizing her restored unity, purity, and glory.

After the final word of this song was sung by that duet, all three cones of light shut off, leaving everyone in total darkness for a moment, the final notes fading to silence, and then all the lights in the mansion slowly turned back on from off… to dim… to normal.  Everyone was visible again, as if ushered or summoned or attracted back to her and Inisfree, never again to be in the dark or apart.  Amen (so be it).

Auz’s sled-team of Siberian Huskies was waiting out back behind the mansion now to take just the two of them (the royal husband and wife) all the way up the Sloped Backyard to the Snow-dunes Summit and their private glass-domed igloo-suite –where they’d get to see Inisfree’s private “mini moon” (Cloud City II) miles overhead go completely dark (its surprise final setting for this ceremony and night), its lunar-surface underside-exterior turning almost pitch-black, making it look like a black-hole superimposed beneath the dark-bands and normal-colors Inisfreean aurora miles above it –and beneath Earth’s natural aurora even higher out above that.  Auz would stand behind Ambi on their sledge, arms around her waist, as his 12 well-trained sled-dogs pulled them up the trail and around the switchbacks, half of Inisfree coming into view as their huge mansion lowered back behind them, from their rising point of view.  Past the Avalanche Wall and the snow-dunes up top, another team of Inisfreean (ICV) hostesses and kajirae would warmly receive them, tending to the dogs and their sledge so they could step right off and walk, arm in arm again, straight inside their reserved modern igloo.

Ambi’s husband would make love to her like never before in there, looking up at her when she was on top of him, seeing the dark-aurora bands hypnotically swaying as if cosmic and heavenly ethereal extensions of her jet-black goddess hair, the smile never leaving his face, the love never leaving his eyes.  She would be very full by midnight, and refilled that coming morning.  Breakfast in bed of her choosing would then be served by more of his top servants –and hers, if she had invited them.

An MPHA would fly them down from that mountaintop when she felt satisfied.  The AF1 still parked at their air-and-spaceport would then fly them home.  Their family back in The Yellowstone Club would hurry out to them the moment their shuttle decloaked or opened its side-doors to let them de-board into another little ‘sea’ of awaiting hugs.

 

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