#All Systems Nominal | Online

[morgansmornings]

A Slow Return

Hello All, I am going to be making a slow come back now that I feel less like I'm drowning in my thoughts. I know that I have missed a lot since I last left, but I am happy and willing to pick things back up from where they were left. Or, if interested in starting something new I am open to that as well.

As always I am lurking on both Tumblr and Discord.

Thank you for being patient with me. I know I have a terrible habit of being flaky and not commiting when I say that I will.

Your truly,

Stoat.

[dragonkid11]

I think Armored Core has fully taken over me now, 'Reactor Online, Sensors Online, Weapons Online, All systems nominal' no longer tickles my brain.

'Main System, Activating Combat Mode' however makes me want to bath in someone's hydraulic fluid.

[makuta-tobi]

Nat stared at her computer screen, cursor blinking in tandem with her heartbeat, so loud in her ears she may as well have been at a metal concert. Months she had worked on her project, skipping meals, staying awake until sunrise, and then a few hours more after that. Now she was a few keystrokes away from finally testing it. Cables ran from her ramshackle computer, meeting and mingling with others attached to a bank of hard drives, all spinning with uploads and downloads. On the inflatable mattress behind her, the fruits of her labour lay eerily still. With a deep, shaky exhale, she typed in the last few lines of code into her launcher, and pressed the enter key.

The whirring of the fans pointed towards the makeshift server seemed to drown out all other noise as the program executed. Then a series of smaller fans, a sharper sound than the box fan nearby, as they all sprang to life at once. Nat pressed her palms together as her creation came online. As servos activated and limbs went from rigid to an almost relaxed state, she couldn't help but whisper “it lives” to herself. The machine in front of her made a sudden jolt, and a light on the side of its head illuminated a pale white. Online and active. She twisted from her position on the floor to check her monitors and saw that all systems were operating nominally. Neural pathways were registering stimuli, artificial synapses were firing as thoughts began to form. It worked!

Nat placed her hand on the machine's upper back and guided it to a sitting position. She had been sure to feed the computer a good handful of data about herself, and the basics of knowledge in order to train the AI and make sure it didn't immediately shut down from overstimulation.

God knows I certainly would have, she thought to herself with an eyeroll.

“Are you awake?” her first question was more of a way to test the robot's speech recognition, its self evaluation, word association, and also to ensure that the vocal modulation was up to satisfactory conditions.

“I am awake,” it responded. The robot drew its arms closer to its torso and seemed to look around the room briefly, before turning its head to face Nat.

“Do you know who I am?” she asked, once again checking its recognition and perception.

“Natalie, you created and programmed me, I believe,” it tilted its head almost as though trying to determine if this was the correct answer. The data she had fed it before it woke up had included details about herself, photos and videos of her, vocal samples, and the AI was interpreting this information and comparing it to the details in front of it. The face, the voice, it all matched. But the robot seemed almost unsure, as if contemplating whether the information it had was incomplete. Perhaps it had been told that this person, whose face and voice it knew, was the one who built it, but that did not necessarily mean the information it had was true. Nonetheless, Nat smiled and nodded, and the robot's shoulders almost imperceptibly relaxed.

“That's right. I did create you, and I programmed you to be something new, but familiar. You have a lot of potential, and I'm glad to meet you.” The robot tilted its head at the framing of the statement.

“What potential do I have?” it asked. A curious mind, or simply a rudimentary AI probing for information to expand its knowledge set?

“You have multiple functions as yet unseen. All of you, from the smallest details of your body, to your quizzical mind, all are new ways to expand the experience of everyone.” When the robot did not respond right away, and simply looked down at its form, still sitting upright on the air mattress, she continued her explanation. “Your frame is designed with limb augments and prosthesis in mind,” she gestured to the carbon fiber metal that made up its hands and arms. “Your sensor suite is expected to replace the damaged vision or hearing of someone who has lost theirs. Your AI can expand and contain the breadth of knowledge and actually learn, instead of just regurgitate answers it had received beforehand.”

“What of this?” the robot touched the gray fleshy material covering its lower abdomen, stretching down to its thighs.

“That is actually two things. The first is a synthetic skin that can be created to replace basic skin grafts and other replacement techniques we currently have. The second is that the skin is used as a mount for artificial nerves that can replace damaged ones.”

The robot ran its hands over its body as she explained it. Fine black digits ran over smooth arms and shoulders, stroking across the lighter fake flesh that extended over parts of itself. It then raised its head and looked at her again, cocking its head to the side. In the black glass dome of its face, Nat could only see her own reflection, distorted like staring into dark water. She had always taken issue with the way her nose sat, or criticized that one eyebrow was higher than the other. The self deprecation had always come easy, but looking back at herself from this angle, it was like seeing herself anew, as she really was. When she had begun construction on the robot's exoskeleton so long ago, she had wondered if this would feel like interacting with her child for the first time, but now, she realized, it was more like talking to herself. She felt love for the machine in a way that was hard to quantify, and thus, she knew, she loved herself, in some weird, roundabout way.

“My design, my purpose, is for medical research, is that correct?” the robot asked. She saw, in her reflection, the corners of her mouth turn up in a smile that she liked seeing.

“Your design, yes. You were made with the intention of looking into a variety of medical advancements all at once, to see how they might interact with each other, as well as individually. But your purpose is for you to decide, once you find it. That might take some time, but I think all living things will eventually find it.”

“Am I alive?” the robot's question wasn't exactly unexpected, but it was quick to ask so bluntly.

“Scientifically, maybe not. Ethically, I'm sure some people would take issue with me trying to say otherwise, but realistically? In my mind? You move, you think, you have the potential to imagine, and dream, and exist here. I don't see why you couldn't consider that being alive.”

The robot nodded, its hidden visual sensors scanning Nat up and down, taking in the sight of what it could consider life, based solely on firsthand experience and not a dataset provided before it had even been conscious. Her dyed blonde hair had faded quite a bit since its last treatment, with longer dark roots peaking out. Her eye mascara was smudged, but the dark rings around her eyes framed her gray-blue irises almost ethereally. Her loose tank top draped across her body and hid her shape, and her shorts were stained with pen ink. In spite of her unkempt appearance, or perhaps because of it, the robot perceived, that this was life.

They both shook off the initial studiousness of their first interaction, and Nat turned to her computer, minimizing the command prompt window and revealing a program with a split screen. On one side, an image that appeared to resemble an approximation of a human brain structure. On the other, lines of data were being written and recorded, a text log of the robots experiences made legible.

“Before we get too existential,” Nat said almost wistfully, “we need to make sure your various systems are functioning the way they are intended to.” She turned back to the robot and handed it a ball. It appeared like a gel filled stress ball, and the robot took it, turning it over in its hand. “I just need you to give that a squeeze. Use your instincts and apply enough pressure to squish it, but not break it.”

The robot looked at the ball for a moment and squished it twice in its hand. The portions of the ball not covered by the robot's palm and fingers would expand briefly with the pressure, but would relax as soon as the pressure was let off. The robot then closed its fist around the ball, with the gel-filled portions blowing up to larger size, and it held that position. Nat jotted a note down on a piece of paper with her pencil and then nodded.

“Okay, you can go ahead and release it.” The robot relaxed its fingers and the ball returned to its normal shape. Nat took it and then turned to fully face the robot again. “Now I'm going to test the artificial nerves in the skin.” She pressed the eraser of her pencil against the gray flesh on the robot's hip and turned to look at her monitor. A portion of the brain image lit up. “Do you feel that?”

“Yes,” the robot answered curtly. Nat scribbled something else down on her note paper.

“Okay, now look over there,” she gestured with her pencil. She had to be sure that the sensation registration was due to the actual physical stimuli, and not the recognition that touching the spot should produce a registration. The robot turned its head to look in the direction she had indicated, and then she pushed down on the middle of its thigh. Again, she turned her head to look at the screen, and saw the same area of the brain image glowing. “Do you feel that?”

“Yes,” the robot answered again.

“Don't look, but show me where,” she said. Making sure that it could identify the location of the sensation was also important, so its spatial awareness was also under observation. The robot slid its hand over the skin and touched a single finger directly next to her pencil. A simple example of manual dexterity, which would certainly be tested later, but good to know. “Okay, now one more,” she said. Flipping her pencil around, she pressed the sharpened graphite into a spot near its groin, where the thigh and hip met. Even without seeing the pencil, the robot reacted stronger than she had anticipated. It jolted at the sudden sharp stimuli, and the hand that was still resting on its thigh clenched into a fist. She quickly withdrew the pencil from the skin.

“I'm so sorry!” her voice seemed almost panicked as she checked the monitor. Not only had it registered the sensation, but the synaptic response on the monitor showed a lingering feeling as it slowly dissipated. “How do you feel?” she turned her head back to look at the robot, which had returned its gaze to her.

“Warm,” it answered. She looked down to see that her hand was placed over the spot her pencil had poked, stabbed really, and that feeling was helping to calm the feeling in the robot. She exhaled, and pushed her bangs back. At least that much worked.

“I'm going to log your reactions so far, just a second.” Nat spun around on the floor, selecting a portion of the text that still scrolled across her screen and saving it in a separate folder. The robot tilted its head and examined the tattoo on her shoulder while she worked. A diamond butterfly unfurling its wings and escaping a cocoon made of coal on the back of her right arm. A little on the nose, to be sure, but her friends had assured her the imagery was lovely. Something beautiful and real coming out of a period of harsh change under tremendous pressure. It defined Nat's life, growing up in a family that was always standoffish, not fitting in for so long and not knowing why. Diagnosis after diagnosis making matters worse, while she struggled to find herself, becoming sloth, and finally discovering her own truth and breaking free of the old things. She still carried parts of her from before, but she was unrecognizable and planned to live her life the way that was best for her. None of this was necessarily spoken by the art itself, but the idea was still conveyed well enough.

“What is all this,” the robot said in a softer tone than it had been using, running its hand over the inked skin. None of the photos she had trained its recognition algorithm on had included the tattoo, apparently, and the robot only had a vague grasp of what it was. Instinctively, Nat's hand went up and she placed it over the robot's.

“It's a story, etched into my skin forever. It's art, something that makes me happy.”

“Can you do that? Make changes to yourself?” Nat laughed at the sudden question. The ink was the least of the changes she had ever made to herself.

“Yes, we all have these bodies, but the beautiful thing is that they're ours. We can generally do whatever we want with them.”

“Would I be able to do that?” the robot asked. It was a valid question, and had she been talking to a person, the answer would have been obvious. But the robot had been designed in a way that was different than a human. It had a similar shape, similar features, but it was made to do something entirely different, and because of that, the question was a bit more complex.

“Would that make you happy?” she decided to answer. The robot traced the wings of the butterfly gently with one finger.

“I don't know. Maybe,” it replied. Nat nodded.

“That's part of what I meant earlier, when I said you can find your purpose. If you want to make modifications, when you are ready, then perhaps you can.” There was a longer pause between the two as Nat saved the final file. She sat facing the screen for a moment, chewing the end of her pencil in thought. Once she had made up her mind, Nat pulled her mouse cursor up to a toggle that showed OFF and clicked it.

Honestly, fuck it, she thought, once again hearings her heart race in her ears, louder than before. If every other test is going off without a hitch, might as well try the last bit. Turning around again, she faced the robot once more. The two of them sat with their legs crossed in front of them, the robot obviously at some point copying Nat's posture, though whether the choice was subconscious or not wasn't immediately clear.

“There's one more feature you were designed with that I want to check out,” she said. The robot tilted its head, studying her slightly flushed face. “For a variety of reasons, sometimes specific body parts are needed to be replaced, or built from scratch, and our current technological advancement is not where it could be. So you were also designed with this feature in mind, to see if it was possible to make one that accurately mimics the natural human body response.” Nat swore she heard a drum solo as she placed her hands on the robot's knees. From its position on the air mattress, it had a slightly higher position than her, which was more than reasonable.

“What do you need to do to test this response?” the robot asked innocently. Nat kind of wished there was a little bit more deviousness to the inquiry, but that was fine. Maybe it would learn that behaviour later.

“Just relax,” she said, pressing one hand on its lower abdomen and pushing it back slightly, which it obliged and propped itself back on its hands. “I need to see how it all works.”

Nat ran her hands from the robot's knees down its inner thighs, which seemed to tense and then relax with her touch. Though it hadn't questioned it before, the robot was suddenly aware of an extra appendage on its body, smaller and slender. But as her fingertips traced small circles across its inner thighs, the additional part began, quickly, to swell. The robot initially believed it to be some sort of error, but the slight twinkle in Nat's eyes belayed this concern, and it watched as she began to press her lips to the inner, upper thigh portions of its skin. Each kiss sent a shock of reaction up the leg, to the groin where the part had become nearly fully erect, and then up to the robot's brain. Without knowing why, the robot clenched one of its hands against the mattress.

“It does react realistically,” Nat said. The robot seemed to shiver as she stopped. “That's good news, but there's a few other things I want to make sure work.”

“Like wh-!” the robot was cut off as Nat smirked and engulfed its cock in her mouth. The skin had the same feeling as human, and the heat it produced was comparable to any person, but the rush to Nat's head was far more exhilarating than any other time in her life. Her tongue ran over the tip and the robot's leg shook. She sucked it further into her mouth and she swore she heard the robot's internal fans kick up to compensate for the increased heat. She tried to steady herself, breathing through her nose as she bobbed her head up and down slowly on the robot's cock, feeling like it was melting on her tongue. She chanced a glance up at its black domed face, which was tilting from side to side, thrashing around in ecstasy. Certainly the plan was working well. But she needed to check how well.

Grabbing the robot's hips, scooting closer, she began moving her head faster, running her tongue across the tip of its cock every time she got near the top. The robot's legs were now quaking quite a bit, and it suddenly leaned forward, placing its hands on the back of her head and bucking its hips, the loud whirring of its fans matching her heartbeat. It held her in that position for just a moment before releasing her. Nat pulled her head up off its member, relieved to be able to take a few full gulps of air.

“What was that?” the robot asked, its voice peaking.

“That was a test to see if you can orgasm,” Nat panted, “and while normally you might produce a sort of liquid material, I wasn't really able to... get anything like that for you.” Nat's face was bright red as she said the last few words. “There's a small reservoir system in your lower abdomen and a pump that would probably recreate it, but I didn't have anything to use this time around so it's empty. That said, it's good to know everything is working as planned."

The robot was still shaking minutely, and Nat watched it, pushing her bangs back and rubbing her thighs together. She had a desperate need of release, herself. It wasn't exactly part of the plan, but she felt needy, and even though she had never quite gone that far with any person before... The thought crept back into her mind, seeing her own reflection in its faceplate, loving herself. And she wanted to feel loved. Glancing down, she noticed that the robot's cock was, in fact, still fully erect. She had felt it unnecessary to reproduce a refractory period, and thus the robot simply could wait it out or, had it been aware, simply shut off the system. But she didn't want it to be aware. Not yet.

“Hey, come here,” she said, getting up and holding the robot close. Even the carbon fiber felt warm and lifelike to the touch. Not as soft as skin, but comforting. The robot reciprocated, wrapping its arms around her waist and pulled her close. She held that position for a second, then pulled back from it. “Now to check endurance, is that okay?” Nat almost feared a response that was unsure she would even get.

“Of course, if that's what's needed.” The robot's blunt answer betrayed its appearance as it looked her up and down. She stripped off her shirt, and touched the robot's stomach. It mirrored her behaviour, splaying its fingers over her skin and dragging them across her body. As it felt her, she knew it wasn't able to truly experience the sensation, but hoped that perhaps it was perceiving it. She undid her shorts and dropped them as it explored her chest, her head tilting back. She slid her underwear down as well, and knelt in front of the robot completely naked. She couldn't hide her face, she knew it, and the robot would likely not understand the concept of shame, but she still felt compelled.

Its hands trailed down her hips and thighs, and one cupped her own cock. Nat felt like dying as it ran the soft fingertips over her, but she couldn't ask it to stop. She wanted more, her body felt like an inferno. It stroked her cock, and ran its thumb over the tip, mimicking the way she had licked it, and she let out a squeak. It pumped her a bit more, before she felt like collapsing backwards.

“Wait, wait, hold on,��� she panted. The robot immediately released her, and she slid up onto the air mattress. Laying on her side, she brushed away a few cans and bottles strewn on the floor, and tossed a pair of older underwear to the side, finding a small bottle. The contents were crystal clear, and glinted under the light of the nearby lamp. She popped the bottle open and poured some of it on her fingers. Leaning forward and pressing her head against the robot's chest, she let the slick digits coat her ass in the liquid, probing her own hole, which gave way easily to one of her fingers. She then poured some more of the lube onto the robot's cock, and it shook slightly as she stroked it up and down, coating it in the shimmering liquid. Nat then laid herself on her back, legs spread, and gestured vaguely from its member to her ass.

“Use your instincts and apply pressure,” she said, trying to go off her own script, “and be careful.”

The robot slid up between her legs, pressing down on her ass. Nat bit her lip as it pressed against her, but when it placed its hand on her cheek, Nat suddenly felt completely at ease. Almost effortlessly, the robot slid into her asshole. Nat arched her back up, suddenly feeling very full. The robot hadn't been designed to be abnormally large in any aspect of its anatomy, but right now, it felt like she was stuffed to the brim. Her legs settled on either side of the robot's hips, and it took over. Slowly it moved back and forth into her, small unintended gasps escaping her mouth every time it did. Her body was melting, and the robot seemed to sense it. As she loosened, it took some bolder moves, increasing its speed ever so slightly, or giving a few stronger thrusts, which caused Nat to toss her head back. The robot pulled her up, one hand on her lower back, the other behind her head, and it began to move harder and faster. Nat's mouth fell open, a string of expletives tumbling out in high pitched squeals and moans.

Any time she had ever played with herself like this, Nat had only gotten a little bit of pleasure. Enough to enjoy, surely, but she could never reach higher levels of ecstasy without touching her cock. Now, it felt unneeded. Her whole body was hot and tense, her brain felt on fire. It stroked against her prostate with every thrust now, sending fireworks blooming behind her eyes. Her moans drowned out the sounds of the box fan, and the hard drives, and the robot's internal fans, racing to keep up with the increased activity.

“Fuck, fuck, oh fuck,” Nat could barely squeeze out, “oh fuck I'm almost there, please don't stop,” the robot's legs were trembling as well, the same as before, but it obliged, going from a slow to a faster pump, moving its hips in tandem with her own partially involuntary movements as she tried to fill herself up with the robot's cock more and more. “Oh, ffffuck-!” Nat's legs pulled up as the buildup intensified, like a coiled spring pressed down to its limit, before finally releasing. The sound from her mouth was less like a moan, or a cry, and more like an old computer screeching as it processed its next action. Her hips thrust up and down as she came, only pressing her down further on the robot's cock, filling her stomach while she rode the wave of her ecstasy. As she finally came down, legs trembling, the robot placed her back down fully on the mattress, and she pushed softly on its abdomen, indicating for it to pull back and out.

Nat laid on the mattress, stomach splattered with cum, legs too weak to even stay with knees bent up. She panted, trying to catch her breath that had escaped her long ago. The robot sat at her feet, head tilted, hand raised towards her as if contemplating how to help her, if she was in need, did she need medical assistance or anything? But Nat just laughed, and pushed herself up.

“That... I needed that more than you know. I think more than I knew, thank you.”

“Was the testing successful?” the robot asked.

“It was, you should be able to access a um...” she wondered exactly what she wanted to say, “a flaccid function, if you can find it. To keep it down,” Nat glanced down at the gray cock, still slick with lube. The robot nodded and sat back, accessing its own functions, and she watched as the member began to shrink down to a standard size.

“I'm glad you were able to find what you needed,” the robot said.

Nat shook her head, “I knew you had it all. I'm just happy you could experience everything the way I can.” Forcing herself up, Nat sat upright and pulled the robot closer, kissing the faceplate.

“I do have one more question, if that's okay,” the robot said.

“Of course,” Nat pushed her disheveled bangs up, “anything.”

“Earlier, when you first woke me up, you asked me if I knew you, and I identified you as Natalie. But you failed to identify me in the same instance.”

“That's because you never had a name,” Nat smiled, “not everyone has one they like right away. Is there something you would like to be called?”

“I think... I would like to find that out,” the robot said, placing its hand over hers.

“Well,” she turned her palm up and held its hand in her grip, “you have time to find that, too.”

[apas-95]

"Heya."

"Hey."

"Ready to clock out?"

"God, you know it. Alright, handover - everything normal, system 7 is still down for work so make sure that whole section isn't energised."

"Wasn't it supposed to be back up already?"

"Eeyup. Other than that... uh, a node in block 12 started reporting processing mode 1."

"What?"

"Yeah, 12F3, if you remember it. It was running pretty poorly, we lost connection with it for a moment, and when it was back online it was reporting processing mode 1."

"But it's a mode 2 node, right?"

"Yep. I don't know how it happened."

"Whatever the problem with it is, it must've somehow confused it, I guess. You report it?"

"Yeah, technical says they'll have someone down. Weird thing is... hm."

"What?"

"Well, I mean, it kinda fixed the problem. The node efficiency went from around 70% of nominal before the switch, to just under 102% after the switch."

"...That can't be right. It's gotta be running hot or something, this could be dangerous."

"See, I thought the same thing, and I had a good while at the station, so I got the idea to check through the logs. Input/output for 12F3 hasn't actually changed all that much, it's just that the processing it's been doing fits mode 1 a good bit better than mode 2."

"Wait, and the rest of the block is just running as if it were an extra mode 1 node? That's..."

"Weird as fuck, yeah. Anyway, technical should be down during your shift to set it back to mode 2, or disconnect it, or whatever, so keep an eye on that."

[the-clawtake]

“Stravag!” Jehan swore, slamming his fist against the console as an error message flashed up on the screen. Taking a deep breath, then exhaling slowly, he pulled the diagnostic unit towards him, and started to type on the keyboard again. His Trinary had got lucky, after the fight. Two of the Blakist pilots had not made it as far as their ‘mechs. While a wholy inadequate substitute for his own Kodiak under the best circumstances, the Toyama he was presently attempting to jailbreak at least had a functional cockpit. His Kodiak not so much.

“Uh... Star Colonel?” The portable comm at his belt crackled with static as the transmission came through. He reached down and hit transmit,

“Aff?” he responded, focused on trying to bypass the Blakist security. He had no desire to have his brains fried when he started up the ‘mech. He keyed in another string of code. Tapped enter. Error.

“You... you might want to hurry it up there. We have contacts, north. A lot of contacts.”

He growled softly, tapping out a different string, then toggled his comm.

“How many contacts, Warrior. And how far out.” Really, that should have been the first thing the warrior had passed along. He finished the string of code, tapped enter.

“Looks like a full Level III. Maybe more. They are still a couple of kilometers out, coming in slow.”

“Aff. Keep me posted.” He turned his attention back to the diagnostic unit, where a green “Access Granted” was flashing. Breathing a sigh of relief he unplugged the unit, slotted it behind the command chair, and reached for the coolant vest and neurohelmet connections. Thank Kerensky those connectors were pretty much universal. A quick scan of the console and he found the ignition.

“Reactor. Online. Sensors. Online. Weapons. Online. All Systems. Nominal.” the familiar start-up litany was reassuring, even in the unfamiliar cockpit. Now to find the comms, and the sensor map, and key into the Star network, and... He did not have time. Even the slowest battlemechs would cover that distance before he could get everything figured out. An entire Level III?

He hit his portable comm again.

“Star Commander Rauda. You have command. Defensive positions.”

“Aff.” was the immediate response, and he went back to trying to figure out the cockpit. He did not have time for this. There. There was the sensor screen. The first contacts were showing up on it, and showing up as friendlies. Which given that he had not touched the IFF settings was a bad sign. He was already, effectively, down two Stars. This was not looking good.

Ah! There was the comms settings. He adjusted the frequency to 117.69 – Hopefully, Star Captain Tseng was on their way. All he had to do was hold out until then. He listened as Rauda passed out positioning orders – They had decades fighting alongside each other, knew each other better than anyone and her troop dispositions were exactly what he’d have ordered – while he continued to work out the control scheme,

All he had to do was hold.

@is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not

[is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not]

Table online...

Camera online...

Box cutter online...

All shipment systems nominal.

[vera-keller]

easy company registration cards part 1

part 2

included in this compilation under the cut are the registration cards of 15 easy company veterans featured in band of brothers (2001). all are taken from publicly available draft records held in online databases and collected by me, and contain details like the registrant's serial number, physical attributes, date and place of birth, phone number, residential and mailing addresses, place of employment and nominated next of kin, as well as their handwriting sample and signature. like or reblog if you use or save.

a note about draft registration

during the second world war, the united states selective service system conducted a total of six draft registrations, the records of which are held collectively in two groupings at the national personnel records centre in st. louis, missouri. members of easy company were drafted in all but one of these registrations from october 1940 through to december 1942. the six registrations are as follows:

16 october 1940: males aged 21 to 35 "within the continental united states". winters, nixon, welsh, toye, perconte and liebgott were among those registered on this date.

1 july 1941: males "who had reached 21 since the first registration". lipton and speirs were registered on this date.

16 february 1942: between the ages of 20 and 45 "who had not previously registered". roe, bull, malarkey and luz, among others, were registered on this date.

27 april 1942: between the ages of 46 to 65 "not eligible for military service". no known easy company members were registered on this date.

30 june 1942: between the ages of 18 to 20. talbert, webster, grant, guarnere, babe, shifty, skip and christenson, among others, were registered on this date.

10-31 december 1942: "those who reached the age of 18 after 12 november 1942". penkala, who turned 18 in august 1942 three months before the cutoff, was nonetheless among those registered in this period.

if you have a family member or ancestor who served in a branch of the us armed forces during either the first or second world war, chances are that you can find their registration card on databases like ancestry.com and familysearch.org.

richard "dick" winters

lewis nixon

carwood lipton

ronald speirs

harry welsh

charles "chuck" grant

note: a few online sources incorrectly state that grant was born on 14 july 1915. his registration card gives his real date of birth as 1 march 1922, making him about 7 years younger than people generally think he is. supposedly this misconception comes from confusing grant with another veteran drafted between 1940-42, charles m. grant, who was born on 14 july.

william "bill" guarnere

joseph "joe" toye

george luz

eugene roe

donald malarkey

denver "bull" randleman

frank perconte

joseph "joe" liebgott

[botgal]

California Bills To Watch For

I'm sure by now that many people are aware of the dangers posed by AB 3080 (discussed in my post here), but for those unaware, there are yet other bills in California that pose a danger to free use of the internet which we should also keep on the forefront of our minds. 3 of the 4 bills I will mention here will be going up for a hearing in the California Senate Committee on Appropriations, one of the bills is currently being held in suspense file until the suspense file is read and thus will not be up for discussion in the same way as the rest. So that one will remain more on the back burner but still good to call your representatives about nonetheless. (A link on how you can find your reps here).

CA SB 976: Protecting Our Kids From Social Media Addiction Act (Senator Skinner et al)

Building on the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, this bill seeks to make it unlawful for the operator of an addictive 'internet-based service or application' to provide an 'addictive feed' to a user unless the operator doesn't have actual knowledge the user is a minor, has reasonably determined the user isn't a minor, or has obtained verifiable parental consent to provide an addictive feed to a minor user.

Essentially a very complicated and roundabout bill which would be difficult to enforce and would necessitate the usage of age verification for nearly all users. Especially when the alternative is that parents would have to also give up their identifiable information to allow a child to use an online platform. And also limits the ability of a minor user to receive notifications from a service or application during times assumed to be for school attendance or for late night usage. Great potentials for privacy violations and potential dangers for minors in abusive households where parents can exercise greater control over them and what they do. Also does not limit this specifically to social media platforms.

Overall a very unnecessarily complex bill that attempts to solve issues with perceived addictive social media features in inefficient and privacy violating ways.

Currently set for Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on May 13th.

CA SB 1228: User Identity Authentication (Senator Steve Padilla)

Requires social media platforms to verify the identities of people with large social media followings and influence in a tiered system. Nominally to minimize the spread of misinformation during an election year.

"Influential users" are defined as people who either has content that has been seen by more than 50,000 users within a seven-day period across all accounts the user controls on the platform, those with accounts over 15,000 followers, or ranks in the top 6% of users by amount of content viewed by users on the platform within a seven-day period across all their accounts on that platform. These users would be required to provide the platform with their name, telephone number, and email address in order to be considered authenticated.

"Highly influential users" are defined as people whose content has been seen by more than 100,000 users within a seven-day period across all accounts the user controls on the platform, those with accounts over 30,000 followers, or ranks in the top 3% of users by amount of content viewed by users on the platform within a seven-day period across all their accounts on that platform. These users would be required to provide the platform with their name, telephone number, email address, and government-issued identification in order to be considered authenticated.

Supposedly there would be safeguards and rules saying that any information taken to authenticate a user would not be stored or used for anything besides authentication. And they would be marked as authenticated, with the option to block non-authenticated users. But also allows social media companies the option of requiring either of these things even for those who aren't considered influential or highly influential.

Essentially another identity verification measure which should not be allowed to pass, and unnecessarily complicated and unlikely to work in its attempts to prevent misinformation.

Currently set for Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on May 13th.

CA SB 1444: Let Parents Choose Protection Act of 2024 (Senator Stern)

Requires large social media platform providers to create, maintain, and make available third-party safety providers through which parents or guardians are able to control what appears on their child's social media feed.

Another bill which by its sheer existence would put the identities and information of users at risk, both adults and minors. And would likely lead to further age or identity verification measures which would be wholly unnecessary and highly invasive.

CA AB 1949: California Consumer Privacy Act of 2020: collection of personal information of a consumer less than 18 years of age (Assembly Member Lowenthal)

Would remove the conditions that an online business have actual knowledge that the consumer is less than 16 years of age, and would prohibit a business from selling or sharing information of a consumer less than 18 years of age unless the consumer or their parent/guardian has authorized the sale of the personal information. Also requires businesses to inform the consumers of what information is being collected and sold and will not collect additional information. Allows consumers the right to opt out of any sale of personal information, but by default none under 18 may have their information sold.

Also runs the risk of invasive age verification becoming the norm for internet websites, rather than wholesale allowing the opting in and out of sale of personal information to be default for all.

Currently set to the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Suspension File.

With all that said, while I know it may seem like a lot, please look into these bills as much as you can, and send messages to your representatives letting them know you're in opposition to all of them and what they could potentially mean for our internet freedom, privacy, and safety.

[anhttydbookfan]

the httyd books could totally have a Servant of the People AU. Tailoring it to the US system because that's the one i know best.

Hiccup is a tired scottish-american middle/high school biology teacher who got into a rant against the president's environmental policy, which eventually turned into a rant against his everything policy, the entirety of which has severe criminal allegations against "President Alvin" (one of the kids audibly whispers "he's on First Name Basis with the President?!" Another kid responds "he's on a First Name Basis with a Republican?" in the background) peppered throughout it. Youtube-user-with-delusions-of-grandeur-and-biology-teacher's-son XxX_ToothlessDaydream_XxX surreptitiously films and uploads this rant onto youtube, where it immediately goes viral and starts multiple online campaigns to write his name in the Republican Primaries "for the memes", and multiple parallel campaigns to write his name in the Democratic Primaries "to force the Democratic party to stop shooting themselves in the foot and actually nominate someone the People want."

The Iowa caucus happens, and it's about what you'd expect. Then the results for the New Hampshire Primaries come out and...

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third wins both of them. Super Tuesday comes along. Hiccup wins in every state. Both parties. Same in California, Same in Louisiana. Same in Alvin's home state of Florida. It's the highest turnout for presidential primaries in the nation's history it's the highest turnout for any election in the nation's history. All for this biology teacher brimming with righteous anger.

Hiccup doesn't know any of this. He was wrangling children all throughout Winter and Spring. He spent his summer on the bottom of the Pacific ocean discovering eight new kinds of sea snake, two new kinds of giant anglerfish, and a new species of whale. When he emerges, he finds that the school has put him on Paid Administrative Leave until the second monday in november. He uses this time to discover three new species of bird in the Darien Gap.

By the time he returns to the States, he's already the President-elect.

[morgansmornings]

Puttering around and mostly in my Inbox. DMs are welcome. Otherwise I am just going to be working and lurking.

[tumblingxelian]

Underrated Writing: .Hack's Morganna Mode Gone

There's a villain I don't think gets enough credit, Morgana Mode Gone from .Hack//Sign, Liminality and the four part game series, plus the AI Buster novels.

Brief summary:

Hack is set on a slightly altered history Earth, where in part due to plot & also the era it was conceived it blends the Sci-Fu futurism and "The internet is magic" together with the "Isekai" and "Trapped in a game" story concepts. Different eras of the series have different tones & structures, but this is covering the early eras overarching Villain.

Morganna Mode Gone is the "God" of a game simply called "The World", which was based on the writings of the epic poem Epitaph of Twilight.

But in truth she is more akin to a Gnostic deity, false or proto god. Because her primary purpose is actually to tend to and facilitate the birth of the worlds Ultimate AI, Aura.

I mean actual AI, as in, artificial intelligence, not some shitty algorithm tech bro idiots slapped a trench coat on.

Morganna Mode Gone is herself an artificial intelligence, one capable of contradicting herself, ah sapience, but is still bound by the rules of her programming.

This is a problem for her because once Aura is born/awake, Morganna Mode Gone won't have a purpose and she can't really conceive of what happens then.

As a result, before the series even began she essentially fragmented off a portion of her own identity, forming the Vagrant AI Macha, but she couldn't solve the problem.

Because if Aura dies, then Morganna Mode Gone also has no purpose. She needs a way to Ouroboros this situation, leaving Aura always growing but never developing, never waking.

She also trapped her and Aura's creator in The World when he realized what was happening. He survives the series but never escapes, and eventually devolves/evolves into a sort of living relic.

It was around this period that she began breaking & twisting things to try & escape the paradox she was trapped in. Re-styling herself from Harold's idea of a mother into the Cursed Wave.

This included orchestrating the hunting down and deletion, IE murder of other Vagrant AI's that were forming as a result of the Black Box meant to birth Aura, IE, proto Aura's, like Lycoris.

"I am an unwanted child. Even God doesn't want me." — Lycoris —

As well as using Macha or Guardians to 'Data Drain' any humans who get to close, which at its lightest, leaves them temporarily comatose, destroys their characters and has a negative impact on their mind.

You might notice Moraganna Mode Gone has not yet been established as making an appearance, good eye.

See, one of the things that makes her so interesting to me is that Moraganna Mode Gone is nominally omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent figure.

She is the underlying system of The World itself and for all intents and purposes a force of nature. As a result she primarily acts through intermediaries, or by guiding others to act for purposes.

Managing to make a villain like this work, and work so effectively is one of the biggest strengths. As it is, we pure Moraganna Mode Gone as a disembodies voice that influences the world & creatures.

She also has some fantastic lines, though not quite as effective without the atmosphere and delivery, I still love them, such as:

"The higher up it is dropped, the worse the crash will be. Hope is the best spice to bring out despair." — Morganna Mode Gone —

In order to accomplish her goal, Moraganna Mode Gone has Macha manipulate and Data Drain Tsukasa. A human who she had been watching and trying to replicate for some time, but without getting what she needed for her goal.

This also involved warping Tsukasa's memories, leaving only those of her abusive father, and creating a divide between her real world identity of Shoji and online identity Tsukasa, to further weaken his ties to the real world. Tsukasa's gender is rather liquid, as far as I can tell and either way, also a lesbian.

"The World and all of its wonders; this is my world, you see."— Tsukasa —

The reason for this was to essentially tie Tsukasa's desire to stay within The World to Aura's development. So long as Tsukasa never wanted to leave, Aura would never want to wake up.

However, other determined players, isolation, and a disconnect from physical sensation leading to alienation led to Tsukasa gaining connections and desires outside of simply staying in The World.

This, Morganna Mode Gone began... Moving chess pieces so to speak. Orchestrating traumatic incidents. Giving Tsukasa a pet monsters for protection but that would also attack those she wanted gone. As Tsukasa continues to develop independence Aura's health improves, VS her sickened, pallid state when Tsukasa is locked in survival mode.

Things eventually come to ahead and well,

Morgnanna Mode Gone basically destroys Tsukasa's mind to ensure a perpetual state of despair and catatonia. Permanently stunting Aura's development.

Much of the rest of the series, is centered on the rest of the characters gaining the necessary knowledge to finally understand the situation.

As well as the Macha fragment of Morganna Mode Gone's ties to Tsukasa creating doubt and Subaru and Tsukasa's bond managing to slowly begin waking Tsukasa up.

Which naturally leads to Morganna Mode Gone needing to orchestrate more despair, but circumstances such as the bastion of Net Slum & her programming keep her from auto winning.

A great deal happens, including some mind fuckery and illussion conversations. Along with more classive abuser tactices like holding the threat of what awaits Tsukasa in theoutside over head.

But eventually Aura is awakened by Tsukasa's desire to return to the real world regardless of the hurled and the characters escape with Aura, thanks to the turncoat Sora.

Suffice to say this doesn't pan out well for him.

Morganna fragments more of herself and uses him as a sort of beacon & vessel to craft the first Phase of the Cursed Wave:

"Riding the Wave is Skeith, the Shadow of Death, to drown all that stands." — Epitaph of Twilight —

This is such an imposing threat that Helba, thematically the same Helba, Queen of the Dark from the Epitaph of Twilight, has to erase the entire world segment they are in just to keep Skeith away from them and put Aura beyond its reach for a time.

Skeith continues to be hosted inside Sora in an ensuing novel, with Sora flittering between amnesiac, malevolent brat and an utterly inhuman monster which violates the basic principles of the game.

But is eventually devoured by Skeith and continued hunting down Aura until the Phase is defeated in .Hack Infection. A memory of Sora leaves behind a reward for the one who did the deed.

Moraganna Mode Gone wasn't done however.

As all this was happening, she basically began fragmenting off parts of herself into other portions of the Cursed Wave:

Skeith:"The Terror of Death"

Innis:"The Mirage of Deceit"

Magus:"The Propagation"

Fidchell:"The Prophet"

Gorre: "The Machinator"

Macha:"The Temptress"

Tarvos:"The Avenger"

Corbenik:"The Rebirth"

Relying on the logic that Aura wasn't yet 'finished' or otherwise not not correct 7 so needed to be destroyed like any other Vagrant AI, so Morganna could start the process over again.

These phased also sent anyone they encountered into comas and even altered electrical installation and internet usage with their presence, while generally corrupting The World.

Fun fact, they all have the symbol of an eye on them representing Morganna Mode Gone's presence in them and her observing the world through them.

Skeith actually did manage to capture and fragment Aura, but not before she created the Bracelet of Twilight, and with it the Eldrich horror Cubia to combat the Cursed Wave.

Morganna Mode Gone would eventually fuse with the last of her Phases in a bid to directly end her foe that had slowly, over the course of four games, destroyed the other seven phases and Cubia.

Ultimately, Aura had to sacrifice herself to ensure Morganna Mode Gone would be destroyed, but in doing so, also allowed herself to be reborn .

Remnants of her continue to haunt and corrupt the world in the form of Data Bugs and an effort by the parent company to recreate her through the lingering fragments of the Eight Phases doesn't go quite to plan, let's say.

Conclusion:

But yeah, Morganna Mode Gone, No one is doing it like her, she has everything:

She is a force of nature and omnipresent goddess, to a Gnostic false god & a program breaking itself & everything around it in the quest for agency inside its own mind that struck down her creator.

She's a woman bound to and violently rejecting the sacrificial role of mother & seeking to destroy that which will supersede her & a manipulator and abuser, as well as philosopher and prisoner.

She is a corruptive influence on the world as well as the very foundation upon which the world world itself is built & she is the Cursed Wave, part of a story, a myth, a poem that is woven into The World itself.

What's more,

Her fragments in the Cursed Wave Phases are all a wonderful blend of eldrich, Biblical & elemental. Something only enhanced by the games Graphics of the time:

[texas-gothic]

Before I begin, please note that this is all ESPN Sports Room-style analysis and that Kamala Harris is every bit the genocidal monster that her boss is. Neither she nor anyone attached to her will be seeing my vote. Not that that matters since I live in a deep red state where my vote would end up going to Donald Trump regardless. Yay deeply undemocratic election system!

I honestly think that Harris has a really decent chance of winning this election with Tim Walz by her side. I was almost dead certain she was going to pick someone like Shapiro or Kelly who would have alienated key voting blocks, but no, she actually did the smart thing.

Walz is smart because he continues to hammer on Trump's biggest weakness while distracting from Harris's own. No matter what she and her allies might have to say about a fresh new start, it remains the case that Kamala Harris is still the other face of the most unpopular administration since 1968. By all means Donald Trump should have been able to coast by on an awful economy and taken the Presidency with ease. But then he went and picked professional pervert weirdo JD Vance as his running mate. A strange little man who can't shut up about how much he hates women at a time where Trump's biggest sore point is women's rights. And while it might not seem possible, Tim Walz makes JD Vance look even worse.

Walz, as governor, is extremely popular with his electorate. He has an especially rare record of actually doing the things he set out to do and has been flagrantly ignoring the Democratic Party line of "Look pretty and do as little as possible." People wanted him to defend public education and the rights of minority groups, and he has done so with flying colors. All while his colleagues in Washington allowed abortion rights and affirmative action to crumble while they were too busy scrounging together trillions of dollars to fan the flames of proxy wars.

Vance, on the other hand, has only been Senator for a little under 2 years. And in that time he has done little besides contribute to the partisan havoc that has largely deadlocked this term of the legislature. He's gone on a lot of bizarre, right wing podcasts, sure, and maybe that's what matters to the core base of Republicans, but I don't imagine the fact that he got to sit down and talk with Tim Poole once will play very well with undecided voters. Then there's the myriad of scandals that has broken out around him only since his nomination as VP. Did Vance fuck a couch? Does Vance want to strip people without children of their right to vote? Why does Vance follow so many people who post about "towel boys"? Why did Vance google dolphin pornography? Why did Vance right the forward to Project 2025, maybe the least popular thing to ever come out of an already unpopular think tank? The questions with this guy never end.

So on one hand, we have a beloved governor whose record of firm, swift action and following through on promises might just cover for the current administration's record of the opposite, and on the other hand, a living embodiment of the kind of weird, extremely-online reactionary nonsense that Trump needs to avoid, whose bizarre behavior keeps pulling in more and more of a negative spotlight on their campaign.

This is still a tight race. Kamala Harris was not that popular to begin with, and Joe Biden has given her a lot of baggage on her way to the White House. But Tim Walz might just be likeable enough with voters that they can look past all of that. Largely because it's hard to look away from the weirdo running opposite of him.

I guess we'll just have to find out.

[agbpaints]

"Test Vehicle One to Control, ready for final checks." Colonel Kinkaid said. Despite the prototypes immense size, the Mackie's cockpit was immensely cramped for all the diagnostic equipment that had been stuffed in it, as well as the bulky interface helmet he wore. Everything hummed with the quiet vibration of the fusion engine buried in shielding a few meters below his feet.

"Control to Test Vehicle One, T-minus 30 seconds, begin final checks. Reactor online. Sensors online. Weapons online. All systems nominal." The voice of the officer in the control room responded back over the radio. "Weather forcast for Yakima Valley Proving Grounds is 21 degrees and sunny, perfect for making history. You're free to proceed to the test range, Colonel."

"Roger." Charles Kinkaid responded as he pressed forward on the foot pedals. Around him, the mech reacted- myomer bundles tensed and loosened, armor plates slid across each other, the great gyro in the mech's core joined the hum of the fusion reactor- and he felt it through the helmet as a second body. Slowly, the Mackie lifted one gargantuan foot and placed it down in front of the other. Then again and again. The mech baby's umbilicals detached and retracted as it cleared the gantry, leaving Kinkaid to walk freely. He turned and stepped out of the hanger and into the sun and history books.

[former-leftist-jew]

i’m a little anxious to send this not on anon but i saw one of your posts where a comment mentioned jewish conversion and you seemed to support it. my boyfriend is jewish and i would like to convert to judaism but a lot of the research i’ve done says that you can’t convert, you have to be born into it since it’s an ethno-religion. i know everyone has different beliefs about this but i worry i won’t be accepted

Hello tyblackthornsheadphones, welcome!

"my boyfriend is jewish and i would like to convert to judaism"

Oooh! Mozel tov! I'm always so happy to meet new people who want to join the Jewish community! <3

"a lot of the research i’ve done says that you can’t convert, you have to be born into it since it’s an ethno-religion"

Oh dear, I'm so sorry to hear that! D: There's so much misinformation being passed around online. :( Thankfully, I'm happy to report that those sources are incorrect: It IS possible to convert to Judaism. ^_^

Like any group, though, how friendly any given Jew is to potential Jewish converts depends on the individual and/or the group they belong in. Just as there's elitism and gatekeeping in every group of people ever (like high school cliques and video game circles--"you're not a REAL gamer unless X"), unfortunately you'll also find some snobbery, elitism, and gatekeeping in Judaism. :(

Though I think Rabbi Friedman has a very loving and accepting view of Jews by conversion. ^_^

The way I see it, the differing experiences of a "Jew-by-birth vs a Jew-by-conversion" can be comparable to an American citizen who was just born on American soil vs an American immigrant who had to go through a long and rigorous bureaucratic process to become an American citizen--they have to learn everything there is to know about American history, presidents, laws, customs, the legal system; spend a "probational period" living in America to become a naturalized citizen, etc.

(The Jewish religion used to be very conversion friendly, but that came to an end when Christianity and Islam became huge world powers who outlawed the Jewish community "tempting" good Christians or Muslims away from the One True Faith.

Jewish identity also used to be passed down from father to children in ancient times--as you'll see in the Torah--but that was changed by Hillel the Elder during the tyrannical reign of King Herod--yes, THAT King Herod! Hillel did this partly to give the children of Jewish mothers who were abandoned by their non-Jewish fathers a place in Jewish society, and he did this partly as a big old political "fuck you!" to King Herod, whose father was only nominally Jewish and his mother was a foreign gentile woman.)

Chabad is an Orthodox Jewish organization.

And here's a link from a Reform Judaism POV. ^_^

In my experience, Reform Jewish synagogues and organizations tend to be more accepting of and friendly to Jewish converts. (Though it's not universal! Sadly, there are snobs everywhere. D:)

So if I were you, I would just start with checking out some books on Judaism from your local library, attend Friday night or Saturday morning Shabbat services with your boyfriend (that's usually a time when non-Jewish guests attend).

If your local college has a Hillel or Chabad Jewish student organization, I would visit that too! They usually host fun events that are free and open to to all, especially students who're just interested in connecting with other Jewish students, and learning about Jewish identity. ^_^

In the meantime, I'd just take time to study and learn about Jewish history and culture just for fun.

I think Sam Aranow's "Jewish History" Youtube series is a very entertaining way to learn about Jewish history, from ancient to modern.

Unfortunately I have to go to work now, but if you have ANY other questions, please reach out to me! I LOVE sharing knowledge and resources about Judaism, especially to potential converts who show a genuine interest and curiosity.

(Jewish culture can be, in my opinion, not as accepting and welcoming of potential Jewish converts as they should be, and I want to make up the difference. ^_^ )

[the-clawtake]

Trial of Position

As he went through the startup procedure on his Viper, Cadet Jehan let his mind drift back to his briefing.

“The Warden cause has lost, and Clan Ghost Bear has successfully trialed for a place in Operation: Revival” His Ursari had told him. “Your Sibko will be the last to graduate in time for a place in our triumphant return to Terra.”

He remembered the thrill those words had sent through him as he shivered in the cold morning air.

“As such, we are doing something for your Trial of Position.” He had carefully controlled his response to that as she went one. “You and your fellows will be undergoing them in the Tseng-Jorgensson Training Ground, on the southern continent here on Strana Mechty.” He knew the area, they had performed several exercises there after arriving on the planet. Twenty-five square kilometers of mixed tundra and boreal forest, dotted with lakes that would be frozen at this time of year.

“As usual, you will undergo the trail with another cadet. You will both start at opposite ends of the training ground. Three opponents will await each of you, to be fought in sequence. Their positions will be marked as nav points.”

She had leaned in close for her final pronouncement.

“Do well, Cadet, and there will be a place in Operation Revival for you.”

Now, the fusion reactor was humming beneath him, the battle computer announcing in a monotone voice that the reactor was online, the sensors were online, the weapons were online. All systems were nominal.

He checked the readouts manually anyway, then confirmed his weapons groupings. His ‘mech was configured in the Prime variant, with two medium pulse lasers, a four tube srm pod, and twin .50 calibre machine guns. A lighter loadout than most Omnimechs in it’s weight category, but it made up for it with speed and armour.

He eased the throttle forward, carrying the ‘mech out of the hangar and into the swirling snow. That would complicate things.

He glanced down at the map screen with it’s wire-frame topography and marked nav points, manipulating the view with his free hand. His own opponents, according to the Nav were in a rough semi-circle, spaced around a kilometer and three quarters apart, the closest being about 2 kilometers away to the west north-west, his hangar being at the southern end of the training zone.

Visibility was considerably lower than that. He set off into the snow, slowly at first, then picking up the pace as he grew used to the uncertain footing. Here and there he could see what was either low hills or deep drifts, and he resolved to avoid them.

The wide dog-leg he took of his first opponent took him into the trees, and he came in on the Nav from the North.

His first opponent was in a clearing. He didn’t recognize the burly-looking build, and the drifting snow meant his battle computer was unable to get an idea, but it was obvious that the main threat was the missile pod up on the right shoulder. It was big for a light ‘Mech, twelve or fifteen tubes at least.

He carefully settled his targetting caret on it, and then toggled his comms to the open band.

“This is Cadet Jehan, piloting the Viper Prime. I offer challenge to the Warrior in the light ‘Mech at Nav Point Alpha.”

He shifted his direction of travel to pass behind the other ‘mech, twisting the torso to keep his weapons trained on the missile pod and watched the rangefinder.

The numbers were blinking in and out, the snow interfering with the lidar. But it seemed to be about 300 meters. He slammed his throttle open to full, accelerating to his maximum speed of almost 130 kilometers an hour. Powder flew up behind him in a swirl, and he felt his mech stagger and slip before recovering.

“This is Warrior Edgar, in the Howler at Nav Alpha. Challenge Accepted. In this solemn matter let no man interfere.”

The Howler was turning to the source of the transmission, to meet Jehan’s charge, but slowly, so slowly.

Before it could bring it’s targetting systems to bear, the range was under 250 meters, and Jehan opened up with his SRMs and his pulse lasers.

One missile hit the right arm.

One tracked up and hit the side of the missile pod, and then the lasers did the same.

The whole right side of the Howler collapsed, armour, arm, missile pod.

The battle computer was showing an entry for it now, and the only weapons had been the missile pod.

“Your weapon systems are disabled. I offer hegira.” Jehan transmitted on the open comm.

“Accepted. Do not think your next opponent will be so taken in.” Edgar’s voice was filled with anger and frustration. “I will not forget this, Cadet.”

Jehan made sure his comm channel was closed and then let out a short bark of laughter, before turning towards the next opponent.

[isaacsapphire]

at the end of the day, American RWers would rather post and seethe than actually do anything. It’s all just social signaling, you LARP as a fascist then vote for guys who do whatever the heritage foundation wants. Same as blue no matter who’s larping as communists and voting for the political party that Blackrock’s CEO is a registered member of.

the median BLM protest was significantly more radical than anything comparable on the right, although the fact that every major private company supported them suggests that they didn’t pose any real threat to anything you’d call “the system”. Interestingly, the DAPL protests got cracked down on in a big way, despite doing less property damage and being significantly less radical in their stated aims. It seems that the environmental movement actually threatens some groups with clout, in a way that “abolish the police” apparently didn’t.

I think the idea of “fed posting” has done a lot to bleed off radical energy. Any time somebody actually does something, their nominal allies deflect and say it was a false flag to make the movement look bad. Thus, nothing actually happens.

to be clear, I think this is good. I don’t really want a radical fascist street fighter movement. I just think that’s why it doesn’t happen.

Everyone would rather talk shit online vs actually go do stuff irl; it’s easier, less risky, lower cost. I also don’t want to live in a country where there’s a political street fighting movement.

Pre 2016, BLM was tolerated/not quashed because the Dems wanted to capture the energy, maintain some street power, and couldn’t afford to put down the extreme side of their own wing. In 2020, once lockdown happened, there was going to be rioting. It was inevitable. BLM specifically helped direct and control the riots.