Teaching Her A Lesson, Part 14 (Patreon)

Sometimes, I amaze even myself. (I have an incredibly low capacity for self-amazement though, so take that with a grain of salt.) So, to set this up, a note on my SOP for commissions. Typically, I send it off to the individual who commissioned it, then head over here and set up a time delayed post, usually for midnight two days later. That way the person who proposed the story gets to have sole enjoyment for a bit, then on to the rest of you fine folk. (I do midnight releases as a nod to my fellow night owls, or as a morning surprise to my international fans.)

So I finished my next commission, Stress Test, Sunday afternoon, then did as noted. It will be released at midnight to folks who've pledged $5+. (A rare moment of shameless self-promotion: if you're new here and pledging the $1 for access to the most current THAL updates, I've been doing monthly commissions for years now, so $5 gets you dozens of stories unavailable elsewhere. What a bargain!)

That was gross. Anyway, when I wrote the Stress Test plug Sunday and scheduled its release, it concludes noting that my next project is THAL 14, which I hope to be able to release soon. Then I obsessed like crazy over it, and am now able to release it a little over an hour before the post in which I notify everyone I will be releasing it soon. I am my own anachronism.

Anyway, here it is! There's a part of me that feels bad for diving so immediately and aggressively into Canon's counterinsurgency, but there was really nothing for it. It's spelled out at the start of the piece, but to add to that my writer perspective, there's really nothing else he can do until that's resolved. I could throw in another twist to add some more chaos, but really, it would take one hell of a crisis  (and probably involving brand new characters) to distract from something so pressing. So while I hate to set up a big dramatic conflict and then immediately have the character try to resolve it, sometimes emergency mode kicks in. So for those of you who couldn't wait to see what our antihero comes up with, here it is. Enjoy, and more to come!