The Last Remnants of the forces of Light struggle to overcome an evil wrought by ancient malice... In the world of Valor, the Dark Lord Abaddon-out of his hatred of Men and Vaaspar, the Lord of Light-continues to wage war with his army of Draemhas, the Infernal Spirits of Dragoth, against the kingdoms of Gaia belonging to Men. For nearly twenty years, the Western Lands have maintained peace, but the Dark Lord cunningly devises a plan that will shake the foundations of the Western kingdoms. With the land of Vash'ala already bending to Abaddon's will and the land of Alterash trapped by the Enemy's spell, all hope rests in the hands of the Boltian peoples. It is in the small village of Kesh that Victor Perigas, the fifteen year old son of two, powerful Alchemists, is called to leave behind his life of serenity to embark on a journey that will change his life forever. Led by Lord Edgar, the King of Bolteras, with the ever trusty Grinshawl, Victor and his adoptive father, Arthur, set out to the glorious capital city of Vallicore with a band of their countrymen and a group of newly acquired friends to attend the Boltian Council. On their journey, great knowledge of Magic and the power known as Eluvias is revealed to them. With the aid of Mages, Dragons, elite soldiers and some unlikely heroes, the Boltians race against time to prepare for an impending war against the Draemhas.

The urge to remain militarily strong has long been a driver of technological advancement. This interplay between strength and technology, so evident in America's global military reach, has for decades prompted U.S. defense planners to engage in technology forecasting. Analysis of emerging technologies was, and is, vital to making wise defense investments. Among the preeminent examples of such analysis are the studies undertaken by Theodore von Karman just after the Second World War. The von Karman reports represent an exhaustive review of science and technology related to the military services. His analysis projected the importance of unmanned aircraft, advanced jet propulsion, allweather sensors, and target seeking missiles. While it is important to assess the needs and challenges of the future, understanding past military technological successes can be equally important to defense science and technology (S&T) investment and management. To complement the above efforts and the many other technology forecasts too numerous to mention, this study is the first in a series that will examine some of the key factors that have led to meaningful technology generation and ultimate incorporation into the U.S. weapons systems we see in the field today. Included here are such factors as where the technical work was performed, funding source(s) for the effort, collaboration between government and non-government laboratories, and management style. This series of studies will focus only on Army weapons systems, beginning with the mainstay of the Army's armor force, the Abrams tank. Analysis of other Army systems, such as the Apache helicopter and the Javelin and Stinger missiles, will follow. The results of all studies will be compiled in a wrap-up report that will focus on the implications of the findings for today's S&T environment. We begin the paper by briefly reviewing a project that served as a source of inspiration for this study: Project Hindsight, a 1969 Defense Department (DOD) report. Hindsight was an in-depth study sponsored by the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E) that provided some insights into the development of approximately 20 weapons systems across the DOD spectrum. Following the review of Hindsight, we present a short history of U.S. battle tanks as well as a summary of events leading up to the Army decision to replace the M60 Patton tank with the Abrams tank. This is followed by a description of the methodology used to gather key data on the development of the Abrams. The information is broken out by topic area (armament related subjects; armor and other survivability related subjects; engine and drive system; vetronics, C4ISR and fire control) and presented in terms of critical technology events (CTEs). CTEs are ideas, concepts, models, and analyses, including key technical and managerial decisions that have had a major impact on the development of a specific weapons system. CTEs can occur at any point in the system's life cycle, from basic research, to advanced development, to testing and evaluation, to product improvements. The final portion of the paper presents the concluding remarks and findings based on the CTEs that characterize the Abrams tank's development. The CTEs are noted in the left margin throughout the report. They are summarized in Appendix B. CTEs are numbered only for ease of reference; there is no hierarchical or chronological significance to their order. While the link between high-tech weapons systems and battlefield success is often readily apparent, the geneses of and processes associated with CTEs often are not. CTEs depend on several important factors, including effective management, adequate funding, establishment of clear priorities, fostering of proper technical competencies, and leveraging of the resources of the private sector and academia.

This much anticipated second installment in the After The Fall post apocalyptic adventure series follows Hunter and Elise as they travel to the Pacific Northwest to join Anna Planchet and Anna's partner, Skye Ravencloud, a Native American shaman from old B.C., Canada. Soon after their arrival, Elise, Anna and Skye's twin sisters vanish, kidnapped by slavers and bound for the secret auction block at the Gathering-a vast, regional marketplace on the coast where anything is available for the right price. When Elise manages to escape, she sets off a desperate race against time as Hunter and Skye move swiftly to track down the slavers and rescue the captives before they disappear forever into the murky underworld of the post-war slave trade. Dripping with adventure and tempered with intrigue, this epic good-against-evil nail biter skillfully twists and turns as master storyteller John Phillip Backus weaves another rich narrative tapestry, peopled with cutthroat pirates, powerful warlords, religious fanatics and secret societies, each with designs of their own in a future world that becomes more probable with every passing tick of the clock. Journey with our heroes as they apply their wits, courage, and martial skills to decipher the slavers' cryptic trail and unravel the mystery to its surprise conclusion. Along their challenge-strewn way, diverse groups converge and secret alliances unite in a complex matrix where people are not always who they seem and, ultimately, all roads lead to the Gathering.

Understanding past military technological successes is crucial to defense science and technology investment and management. This study is the second in a series that examines some of the key factors that have led to meaningful technology generation and ultimate incorporation into the U.S. Army weapons systems we see in the field today. The first report covered the development of the Abrams tank.1 Analysis of the development of the Javelin and Stinger missiles will follow. The results of all studies will be compiled in a wrap-up report that will include a look at the implications of the findings for today's science and technology environment.

The urge to maintain military superiority over potential adversaries has long been a driver of technological advancement. This interplay between defense strength and technology, so evident in the nature of America's military power, has for decades prompted U.S. defense planners to engage in technology forecasting. Analysis of emerging technologies was, and is, vital to making wise defense investments. While it is important to assess the needs and challenges of the future, understanding past military technological successes can be equally important to Army S&T investment and management. By studying past technology development for weapons systems, one can see what factors were important for success and apply these lessons to the management of S&T1 for future systems. This is an especially valuable exercise now, because in recent years there has been mounting pressure to transfer much of the execution of technical work away from the military's inhouse S&T laboratories to the private sector. Whatever the merits of such a move, it represents a significant change from past practices. It would be unwise to undertake any fundamental shifts without first understanding just what was successful about the way the Army S&T program has done business in past years. This book draws on a series of studies known as Project Hindsight Revisited conducted by the authors at the National Defense University (NDU) from 2004-2006. The Project Hindsight Revisited studies examined, in three reports, the development of four current weapons systems of the U.S. Army: the Abrams main battle tank,2 the Apache attack helicopter,3 the Stinger anti-aircraft missile,4 and the Javelin anti-tank missile. In exploring how these weapons systems were taken from conceptual design to full scale production, the studies brought to light crucial factors in their successful development. This book will pursue significant implications of the studies' findings. In exploring these findings, we hope to make a contribution to answering a question that is of the utmost importance to the Army leadership: how are S&T resources best used to advance the state-of-the-art capabilities of U.S. Army weapons systems?

This paper seeks to identify the Critical Technology Events (CTEs) in the development of the Stinger and the Javelin missiles. It is the third paper in a series that, driven by the importance of understanding past military technological successes to today's defense science and technology (S&T) investment and management, examines some of the key factors that have led to meaningful technology generation and ultimate incorporation into current U.S. Army weapons systems. The first paper in the series focused on the Abrams tank.1 The second focused on the Apache helicopter.2 With studies of a complex ground system and a complex air system complete, this paper turns to two technologically advanced infantry weapons, the Stinger and the Javelin. These armaments have different roles in the arsenal, but they are both man-portable, fire-and-forget missiles whose development posed some unique challenges. A fourth and final paper in the series will summarize findings of this report, and the reports on the Abrams and the Apache, and offer recommendations for managing the Army's S&T portfolio.

A drug-fueled trip through the gruesome levels of Hell may sound like a fictional horror story to some, and since the traveler in question was movie distributor Stephen Biro, it could just as easily have been one of his film projects. But Stephen's experiences were the real, life-changing sort. They're also proof that the Lord does work in mysterious ways -- extending all the way to squares of LSD and nitrous oxide cartridges.
Armed with psychedelics, hallucinogenics and a brave desire to meet God no matter the personal cost, Stephen pushed beyond the boundaries of safe drug use. He took the most nightmarish of trips from a cramped one-bedroom apartment that he used for running his underground video business. With initial difficulty finding God in his altered state, Stephen instead encountered depravity and grotesquery enough to make his soul weep, but he pushed on. And if that wasn't bad enough, his Hellish experiences bled over into his waking days, and his friends and acquaintances began identifying themselves to him as Antichrists, deities and other assorted beings from "the other side." Reality was blurring and shifting, and Stephen was run utterly ragged. Could he fulfill his quest to learn universal truths before his extreme drug use took its toll?
Hellucination: A Memoir spares no disturbing detail of the unusual route that one man took to find Christ and the God of the Bible. The memoir also follows younger Stephen through his 1970s childhood and his bizarre early encounters with religion that drove him to Atheism.
""An utterly surreal memoir. I'd say it was 'mindbending, ' but" "HELLUCINATION" "doesn't just bend your mind, it twists it, stretches it, stabs it, and tosses it on the grill "" - Jeff Strand, author of the upcoming book, "PRESSURE" and "WOLF HUNT" He's been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award in 2006, 2008, and 2010.
"HELLUCINATION" takes the form of a page-turning memoir, combining personal trip reporting with science fiction, horror movie, and religious mythologies, philosophical speculation on the nature of the author's experiments with psychedelic drug combinations, strange encounters with other people who may not be what they seem, and the rationale behind his spiritual conversion from atheism to Christianity." " --David Jay Brown
Author of "Mavericks of the Mind" and "Conversations on the Edge of the Apocalypse"
"HELLUCINATION" is a powerful read. In fact, it might distinctly appeal to fantasy readers, film lovers and lovers of fiction. Biro writes passionately with a purpose... you may end of ripping your eyes out afterwards though." " -- Review, Horrornews.net
"Mind-boggling and enthralling. The visualization techniques used is astounding." - Paul White - "Producer of Bride of Re-Animator and Brian Yuzna's Society"
"I felt myself questioning my faith, or lack of faith, on religion, Jesus, God, the Devil, and what the purpose and point of my life and existence really was/is. I think that is the point of the book. The book raises awareness and makes readers think about the meaning of life and what their purpose is in it. That, in itself, is a pretty scary thing to think and ponder about. - Hellucination - Book review by" www.shuizmz.com
"Cinematic... it's going to scare the Hell out of some Christians." - Jim VanBebber - "Director of The Manson Family and Deadbeat At Dawn"

Examines the Army's readiness reporting system in light of changes experienced by Army units in the past decade, particularly the ability of units to adapt to emerging requirements by adding and training up new capabilities quickly.