User blog:Wass12/Translatation Help 7 (and a weird phenomenon)

Hello again. As you can see, it was long since the last time I wrote here. I was (or rather, I have) occupied with... stuff. Anyway, the point is that I finished the last portion of the translation project, and as usual, I need your help with some troubling idiom.

--One of them... cornered me, and Christ, his face - I had a gun, but I choked - and then out of nowhere we both heard this... singing, and he took off like hell on wheels. (AD [What_Happened_to_the_People%3F|What happened to the People?]) I'm not sure what means the word "choke" here? Meltzer was out of air? Or he grabbed the throat of the Splicer? Or it is an another meaning?

--Dream, delusion, or the pain of a phantom limb -- to one man, they are as real as rain.(AD Ryan vs. Lamb: Reality ) Here, my problem is that I can't connect the phrase with the metaphor later (It is raining in Rapture.) A nice synonym shold come in handy.

''--The tyrant looks upon the world, saying, "all this is mine." And by force or guile, he makes it so. To the tyrant, the whole of creation is held in the relative, sun and moon revolve for him alone. For the tyrant, even justice is whimsy. He alone is '''fit to weigh, to measure, and to *cut*. 'I suspect this is a reference for something, but I have no idea to what. Could you help me?

Oh, I also mentioned a weird phenomenon. Well, let's see:

First, I thought it is an intentional effect. But then I checked closely...

What is it? A ball lightning? Or a friar's lantern? Comment your opinions!