#Electric marine vessels

[slyandthefamilybook]

okay because I'm seeing some misinfo, here's the story on the Key Bridge collapse

What was the Key Bridge?

The Francis Scott Key Bridge (also called the Key Bridge, the Beltway Bridge, and the Outer Harbor Crossing) was steel-arch continuous-through-truss bridge spanning the Patapsco River south of the Baltimore Harbor. The bridge took 5 years to build and cost an estimated $145 million ($735 million in today's dollars). The full bridge project (including approaches) was 10.9 miles long, but the stretch over the Patapsco was 1.6 miles long and 4 lanes wide, and comprised a length of I-695, the Baltimore Beltway. It traveled between Hawkins Point and Dundalk, and in addition to the I-895 Harbor Tunnel was the primary way for Marylanders to cross from the Eastern Shore to the West. The bridge carried an estimated 11.5 million vehicles per year. There is a lane for ships to pass under the Key Bridge with enough clearance.

Was it structurally sound?

The bridge received its latest inspection in 2022 and received a 6/9 score, which is considered "fair" by federal standards. There was a concern with one of its columns, which was downgraded from a health index of 77.8 to 65.9, but it is not clear yet if this was one of the columns struck by the ship. In 1980 the bridge was struck by a different cargo ship which destroyed a concrete support structure, but the bridge itself was unharmed. There is as of yet no evidence that the bridge collapsed because of poor condition. Experts say the lesson to be learned is about the size and weight of modern cargo ships, and that the bridge was not to blame. Engineers have noted, however, that the bridge's piers lacked protective devices such as fenders.

What was the ship?

The MV Dali is a container ship flying the Singapore flag. It is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and operated by Synergy Marine Group Ltd. The ship is currently being chartered by Maersk, a Dutch shipping company. It was built in 2015 by Hyundai. The ship is 980 feet long and 157 feet wide. The ship's gross tonnage (its internal volume) is 95,128 tons (190,256,000 pounds). Its deadweight (the weight of cargo it can carry) is 116,851 tons (233,702,000 pounds). The ship was carrying 3,000 containers. The engine is a MAN-B&W 9S90ME putting out 41,480 kilowatts (55,626 horsepower).

Over its lifetime the Dali has been inspected 27 times, and only 2 faults were ever found. On June 27, 2023 the Dali was held in port in Chile due to an issue with the propulsion system. According to an inspector the pressure gauges on the heating system were "unreadable". The fault was fixed before the ship left port.

The Dali is crewed by 22 Indian nationals including 2 maritime pilots.

What happened?

The Dali arrived at the Port of Baltimore on March 23, 2024. At 12:44 AM on March 26, 2024 the Dali left port, beginning its journey to Colombo, Sri Lanka. At 01:26 AM the ship suffered a "complete blackout" and began to drift out of the shipping lane. It is not yet known what caused the electrical failure. The backup generator did not power the propulsion system. At around 01:26 AM the crew of the Dali sent a mayday distress call to the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) informing them of the loss of power and that a collision with the Key Bridge was possible. The anchors were dropped as an emergency measure to attempt to slow or stop the vessel. At the request of one of the pilots traffic flow over the bridge was immediately halted. Black smoke was seen coming from the Dali, which experts believe was the result of the crew managing to restart the power system to regain some maneuvering capability.

At 01:28 AM the Dali, traveling at 8 knots (considered to be a fast speed) collided with a support strut beneath the Key Bridge's metal truss at the southwest end of the bridge. A Baltimore resident said he heard the collision and that it "felt like an earthquake". Emergency teams began receiving 911 calls at 01:30 AM, and the Baltimore Police Department were alerted at 01:35 AM. One of the officers present radioed that he was going to go onto the bridge to alert the construction crew as soon as a second officer arrived, but the bridge collapsed seconds later.

What was the damage?

The Key Bridge has completely collapsed. The metal truss relies on structural tension from the bridge itself to maintain its rigidity. As soon as one of the support columns was destroyed, the rest of the bridge quickly followed.

The damage to the Dali is reported as minimal. The ship was impaled by the bridge's structure above the waterline, but has maintained watertight integrity. The crew has not reported any water contamination from its 1.8 million gallons of marine fuel. 13 containers carrying potentially hazardous material were damaged, and are being inspected by a team of Coast Guard divers. At least 5 vehicles including 3 passenger cars and a cement mixer were detected underwater, but authorities do not believe they were occupied

Who was hurt?

The crew of the Dali reports no casualties, except one crewmember who was hospitalized for minor injuries. There was a crew of 8 construction workers on the Key Bridge filling in potholes. 2 were immediately pulled from the water by rescue crews, with 1 being rushed to emergency care and the other reporting minor injuries and refusing treatment. The hospitalized worker has since been discharged. 1 of those rescued was Mexican. The remaining 6 remain missing. Of those 6, 2 have been identified:

Miguel Luna from El Salvador

Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval from Honduras

Of the remaining 4, 2 are Guatemalan nationals. Neither have been identified, but the Guatemalan Foreign Affairs Ministry has stated that they were a 26-year-old from San Luis, Petén, and a 35-year-old from Camotán, Chiquimula. The other 2 are presumed to be Mexican.

Rescue Efforts

The Coast Guard was immediately deployed for search-and-rescue operations. Military Blackhawk helicopters were seen over the river. Rescue efforts were ended at 07:30 PM on March 26, 2024 due to darkness, fog, and cold temperatures. Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said "Based on the length of time that we've gone in the search, the extensive search efforts that we put into it, the water temperature -- at this point, we do not believe that we're going to find any of these individuals still alive". Recovery operations resumed at 07:30 AM on March 27, 2024 with all 6 workers presumed dead.

No divers have yet entered the water underneath the bridge. Supervisory Special Agent Brian Hudson of the FBI's Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team said "the debris field is pretty sizable and I know that’s why they’re hesitant to send divers down because some of the debris is still shifting, the heavy weight of the rocks". The FBI has deployed Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) equipped with cameras and SONAR.

Aftermath

At 05:08 AM on March 26, 2024 Transportation Secretary Pete Buttegiege posted on X (formerly Twitter):

"I’ve spoken with Gov. Moore and Mayor Scott to offer USDOT’s support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge. Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response."

At 07:30 AM on March 27, 2024 President of the Maryland State Senate Bill Ferguson posted on X (formerly Twitter):

"Over 15,000 in the Balt region rely on daily operations at Port of Baltimore to put food on the table. Today, with Del. @LukeClippinger and colleagues representing Port, we are drafting an emergency bill to provide for income replacement for workers impacted by this travesty."

At around 09:40 AM on March 26, 2024 Maryland Governor Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott declared a State of Emergency to take effect at 10:30 AM March 26, 2024, and to last 30 days. Baltimore's Emergency Operations Plan was put into effect.

More than 1,000 personnel from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have been deployed to assist with clearing the debris and rebuilding efforts. President Joe Biden has pledged that the federal government will pay for the entire reconstruction of the bridge.

Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recovered the Dali's data recorder, and will be inspecting both the Key Bridge and the Dali to determine the cause of the crash and the collapse. She says the investigation could take up to 2 years to complete.

Was it intentional?

According to William DelBagno, head of the FBI's Baltimore field office: "There is no specific or credible information to suggest there are ties to terrorism in this incident".

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said: "There are no indications this was an intentional act".

At least 3 people have been killed in accidents related to ships operated by Synergy in the past 6 years. In 2018 a person on board a Synergy ship in Australia was killed in an accident relating to the vessel's personnel elevator. In 2019 an officer aboard a Synergy vessel in Singapore fell overboard while performing maintenance. In 2023 at least one sailor was killed when a Synergy ship collided with a dredging ship in the Philippines. In the first two cases safety inspectors noted that proper safety procedures had not been adhered to.

Sources

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

[007-nightfire-yakuza-agent]

there r rumblings in the shipping industry of a nuclear future. i would very much enjoy working on a nuclear vessel, though i am ill suited for it; my only experience with a steam turbine is a small turbo-alternator on an oil tanker, and ofc i have no nuclear background. i wonder if i could bridge the gap or if id be left behind in the tide. the steam side may not be as much of an issue- there are talks of thermoelectric generators for nuclear electric (had to catch myself when i wrote diesel-electric lol) propulsion. the nuclear side, i have no idea how theyd seek to make it work. it seems fanciful to me that theyd let any old marine engineer operate a nuclear reactor with some extra training/certification. though it also seems fanciful to imagine a nuclear global shipping fleet staffed by the current pool of nuclear plant operators.

[trekbait]

Cosmozoans you wish you could pet

As you venture out into the galaxy, it's not all humanoids you know. Our universe is full of space-born life known as Cosmozoans. These creatures fly around the depths of space living their best lives and occasionally getting into crazy scrapes when a starship flies by. And you know what? A bunch are SO CUTE! We did a poll of our team to find out which ones we want to take home and snuggle with (not accounting for size). 

So get out your EV suit, we’re here to pet space’s cutest lifeforms!

Gekli

These snuggly babies might get a bit close to your ship’s fusion reactors but there’s no denying how touchy-feely they can get. One, nicknamed ‘Junior’, was suckling off the Enterprise D until its kindred were found in a nearby asteroid belt. In our books, it can’t be blamed for thinking the Enterprise was mommy.

Farpoint creature

Maybe we’re pushing cuddly by including a jellyfish, but our local Benzite here, Mandiks, insisted. But what is undeniable is how beautiful and glorious these creatures are in their natural forms. When we say natural forms; well they also double as space vessels. So I guess you can cuddle them from the inside?

Gormagander

Sometimes given the misnomer, “space whale”, this majestic creature is endangered due to them being so obsessed with eating that they forget to reproduce. A feeling some of our readers may sympathise with. The bonus is adopting it in an official refuge will help protect them from hunters; so adopt a whale to save the whales!

Crystalline Entity

This handsome snowflake of awesome proportions might consume whole planets or all organic matter on a regular basis, but it has also consumed our affections. Just be sure to get your graviton pulses at the right rate or it may get confused as to where it’s dinner is.

Verugament

These gorgeous bioluminescent organisms migrate through space looking for new breeding grounds (they seem a lot better at that than the Gormagander; take notes, readers. We know you've been without, for seven years about). While easily small enough to get your arms around, they can deliver painful electric shocks and are considered by Bal here to be “icky” given their goopy texture. That's not for everyone, but they're definitely cute.

Gomtuu

Much like the aforementioned Farpoint creature, Gomtuu are sentiment organic space vessels who can communicate telepathically. These creatures share something with cats; the ability and will to defend their boundaries. Get too close without permission and you may find yourself caught up in an energy wave capable of destroying a Warbird. My cat is still more fierce about being petted without warning, however (incidentally, from our last pet poll it seems you lot are all about your cats too! Congratulations, we have readers of culture).

Rytonian

These little squid babies, again on the list thanks to Mandiks’ love of marine-looking life (we are told they have quite an aquarium at home), are formed from the gravity well inside nebulae. Large swarms may be formed during intense energy waves. Don’t you just want to boop their… their… I don’t see a nose but that won’t stop me booping them.

Tardigrade

These little creatures are a bit more of a huggable size. They’re interdimensional creatures who can incorporate other forms of DNA within their own and warp across the galaxy: your chief engineer can eat their heart out! (that's a human expression I'm told, we do not advise they actually do that). They’re friendly but fearsome in self-defence so absolutely do not be late with their dinner! 

Disclaimer

We could include a great number of other entities such as the telepathic pitcher plant, Zetarians, Beta Renner cloud, Calamarain, Species 8472, Cosmic cloud, Nucleogenic cloud, space amoeba, and so on but we figure we have to draw the line at petting somewhere and have gone with the most common humanoid feelings on the matter. Do correct us though if you want to hug the space amoeba!

Follow us for more guides to your galaxy!

[mariacallous]

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu made headlines in April after coasting to a second term in office by nearly 12 percentage points. Imamoglu, who has served at the city’s helm since 2019, is seen as a major political threat to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP). The latest win in Istanbul cemented Imamoglu’s continued popularity among the Turkish public.

But Imamoglu is only the most prominent face of a broader opposition, led by the Republican People’s Party (CHP). In March’s municipal elections, the CHP secured its most crushing victory over the AKP in decades. Possibly more notable than Imamoglu’s reelection was the newly elected class of women executives of provinces and districts across the country.

One of these women—Sinem Dedetas—may hold the keys to the future of Turkey’s opposition. Imamoglu is currently battling slander charges in the country’s high court, in addition to a slew of other cases that could eventually ban him from politics, even as he is the favorite to run for the CHP in Turkey’s 2028 presidential election. No matter how those fortunes play out, Dedetas promises to be central to the party’s strategy in a post-Erdogan Turkey.

Istanbul is the only city in the world to straddle two continents. Uskudar, a seaside constituency on the Anatolian side, lacks many of the bars and clubs across the water in the European districts. Instead, the conservative area is known for its historical mosques. It is also one of Istanbul’s key transportation hubs, home to a confluence of ferries, rail, metro, and bus lines. Millions of people from all over the city—and world—pass through Uskudar every day.

In April’s elections, Dedetas, a 43-year-old engineer, made history as the first woman to ever win the Uskudar municipality mayorship, a position similar to that of a New York borough president. She also flipped the district from the AKP to CHP rule.

Dedetas moved to Uskudar from her native Eskisehir, a city in northwest Turkey, for college in 1999. After receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees in naval engineering from Istanbul Technical University, she got her first job in the district as an engineer. In 2014, she went on to work as a marine engineer at the Halic Shipyards, the oldest continuously operating dockyard in the world. Over the centuries, the facility has produced vessels from sail boats to steamships and submarines to electrical passenger taxis.

Dedetas’s career has featured many firsts. In 2014, she became the first chairwoman of the Turkish Chamber of Naval Engineers. While she was in that position, Istanbul’s AKP mayor tried to privatize the public harbor and turn it into a terminal full of restaurants and shops. Dedetas protested the project and was barred by the government from entering the shipyard.

She continued to oppose the new real estate development, concerned that the city’s ferries—an indelible part of Istanbul’s social history, skyline, and soundscape—would grind to a halt without the vital maintenance work done at the docks. “We fought to keep [it] from being lost,” Dedetas later said after her success in blocking the project.

Then Imamoglu became mayor of the city, bringing Istanbul back under CHP rule. “The privatization processes of the shipyard were being carried out,” Dedetas told Turkish media. “If [the mayorship] had not changed hands in the 2019 elections, there would be no shipyard left.”

One of the new mayor’s first orders of business was to appoint Dedetas as manager of Istanbul’s maritime public transportation system; she was the first woman in the role. Over the last quarter century, the city’s water transport fell into disarray as Istanbul’s population swelled and moved further inland, contributing to congestion and gridlock on road and rail. Yet municipal-run ferries predate the first Bosporus bridge and remain one of the city’s fastest options to cross continents.

Dedetas proved herself to be a masterful administrator, overhauling the entire water transit system. She opened 11 new ferry lines and launched a 24-hour weekend ferry that connected the European and Asian sides of the city. She also doubled the patronage of public water transport, in part by restoring the iconic white and orange vapur ferry ships. And she launched an electric sea taxi service, providing a personal, environmentally friendly option to traverse the Bosporus Strait and the Marmara Sea.

Through the effective management of maritime transportation, Dedetas gained national attention. She set her eyes on her home district, Uskudar—the Istanbul neighborhood with the longest Bosporus shoreline—ahead of the 2024 municipal elections. “Uskudar is the first gate for people who arrive from Anatolia, and for Istanbul, it is the gate to the rest of the country,” said Onur Cingil, an Uskudar native and CHP member.

The borough had been an AKP stronghold for as long as Cingil and most others could remember. It is even home to Erdogan’s private villa. Cingil said he saw local government officials claim eminent domain and exaggerate concerns about earthquake vulnerability to demolish buildings and hand over lucrative sites to construction companies, religious associations, and other party loyalists. “This happened … to my own student dormitory, and many other places,” Cingil said.

Cingil was one of the many CHP candidates vying to be the nominee for Uskudar’s mayorship in March’s elections, but the CHP leadership eventually selected Dedetas to run due to her reputation for being a technocratic consensus builder.

“Normally, I wouldn’t expect such a profile to be nominated for Uskudar,” said Burak Bilgehan Ozpek, a professor of political science at TOBB University of Economics and Technology. He described Dedetas’s young, professional, and secular profile as going against the grain in the district. The CHP typically nominated old-school, male party insiders for such roles, Ozpek said, adding with a laugh that they always lost the race. “This was a radical change,” he added.

Dedetas took a pro-people approach to her campaign against the AKP incumbent Hilmi Turkmen, who had been a mainstay in Uskudar’s politics for decades. She canvassed the district neighborhood by neighborhood, underlining her accomplishments governing the city’s maritime transit system, which has a budget the same size as Uskudar’s.

Dedetas vowed to redress the AKP’s neglect of women’s issues on both the district and federal levels. She promised to prioritize women’s employment and noted that, during her time helming Istanbul’s maritime transit system, she nearly tripled the number of women working there. She also proposed the creation of a free HPV vaccine program to protect against some forms of cervical cancer. (The cost of the vaccine has become nearly equivalent to Turkey’s monthly minimum wage.)

The candidate pledged to create child nurseries in every neighborhood in Uskudar. “This will enable women to work,” especially residents with low incomes, said Rumeysa Camdereli, an activist and member of Havle Women’s Association, the first Muslim feminist organization in Turkey.

Dedetas promised to expand welfare initiatives, and called for additional municipally subsidized cafeterias in Uskudar. Imamoglu created these during his first term for residents to get a healthy meal for just over a dollar, and his AKP competitor Murat Kurum mocked them on the campaign trail. “We are tired and bored of the rhetoric that tries to deceive the people by … giving half a tea glass of water or milk as if it is a service,” said Kurum. He also made fun of Imamoglu’s background as a kofte vendor.

Kurum’s gaffe turned off blue collar voters. Istanbul’s public eateries fill up every day for lunch and are vital in a country enduring a cost-of-living crisis amid annual inflation of nearly 70 percent.

“Local elections are less ideological and always more focused on services,” said Emine Ucak, the program director for social policy at the Reform Institute, an Istanbul-based policy center, who researches women in Turkish politics. “Women always think about their children, and they had stopped seeing a future for them.”

The campaign also focused on securing areas most vulnerable to earthquakes, a national concern after the devastating February 2023 earthquakes in Turkey’s southeast. Many locals fear that the slate block flats populating the hills above Uskudar’s wharf are in imminent danger in case of an earthquake. In response to their concerns, Dedetas is establishing a natural disaster directorate to help the district become prepared for earthquakes and other catastrophes.

On election night, Dedetas triumphed, beating Turkmen by more than seven percentage points. In doing so, she tore apart the long-held myth that Uskudar was an AKP stronghold.

“It’s a district with a lot of conservative families,” said Asli Aydintasbas, a visiting fellow at Brookings Institution. “For an uncovered woman to win is a real testament to her political appeal.” Unlike past CHP candidates, Dedetas shied away from the hardline, sometimes alienating secularism her party is known for. Pragmatism and empathy won the day.

Dedetas was not the only victorious woman on election day. Altogether, voters tripled the number of women mayors across Turkey. While only four female mayors had been elected in the previous municipal elections in 2019, 11 provinces and 64 municipalities are now governed by women, the vast majority of them representing opposition parties. Together, they won, on average, 53 percent of votes.

Female political representation is a welcome change after what many in the country see as backsliding on women’s rights under Erdogan. In 2021, Turkey exited the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty to combat gender-based violence that was drafted in the city a decade earlier. The Turkish president had urged women to have at least three children, claiming that those who reject motherhood are “deficient” and “incomplete.”

Although Turkey has a highly centralized political system, mayors remain key to managing districts and municipalities. They are where citizens first access the country’s welfare systems, and where businesses are registered, among other duties.

Following March’s elections, Dedetas and other mayors in the Turkish opposition now have their best chance in decades to govern with less interference from Ankara. She has wasted no time in initiating programs that address locals’ needs, such as grocery subsidies of up to $150 for retired residents. The district also plans to provide elderly residents free shuttle services to food markets. (Pensioners, who compose more than 10 percent of Turkey’s national population, receive roughly $293 per month from the state, an impossible wage to live on in Istanbul.)

Uskudar’s new mayor is also working to counteract the AKP’s neoliberal strategies, which many accuse of benefiting political patrons through shady backroom dealings all while poverty has deepened. To help promote transparency, Dedetas has begun to broadcast all municipal council meetings live online.

Figen Kucuksezer, an optometrist and Uskudar resident, is very excited by these changes. They’ve already helped preserve Uskudar’s Validebag Grove, one of the last wild green spaces in Istanbul. The area, which Kucuksezer volunteers to protect, is home to 400-year-old trees and migratory birds.

“The former mayor always wanted to make changes to the grove,” she said, referring to the AKP’s plans to develop the area by adding parking lots and food stalls and removing some native flora. But Kucuksezer and other local activists filed a lawsuit and have fought for years for Validebag to be left alone. “We had to block the Caterpillar [equipment] from entering in,” she said.

Since being elected, Dedetas has promised to protect it as a green space for all residents. In May, the local court annulled the previous government’s construction plan. “It is a breath of fresh air,” Kucuksezer added.

There is a saying in Turkish politics that whoever wins Istanbul will one day win Turkey. It was the case for Erdogan, who previously served as mayor of Istanbul before leading the country for the past two decades.

After years in the political wilderness, the CHP is now trying to repeat its success in the next national election, which should be the first without Erdogan in nearly 30 years. The challenge for Dedetas is to help Imamoglu triumph so that she can be his successor in Istanbul as he runs for the presidency.

So far, her stances have mirrored those of Imamoglu; Dedetas regularly highlights their work together on social media. But she has also bolstered her own profile by engaging in key culture war debates—including by opposing controversial legislation that will kill beloved stray dogs on the streets to rooting for the women’s national volleyball team at the Paris 2024 Olympics, a squad that has been vilified by the conservative right. Imamoglu’s and Dedetas’s fortunes are now intertwined.

“And this is just the start of her office,” said Cingil, Dedetas’s one-time party rival. “There are already rumors that she will be the next candidate for Istanbul mayor.” That would be another first.

[noxhawthorne]

Flickerbeat: Prologue

Note: there are some things referred to in the prologue that you won’t know (mostly the names of guns in the future). Those will be accompanied by illustrations in the final novel.

The stargazer fish is an interesting little guy. One wouldn’t necessarily call them physically beautiful like some of their other fish friends, with two bulbous eyes on top of their heads and the complexion of mottled mold. They’re an ambush fish, meaning they hide on the ocean floor, watching their prey. Poisoned spines are their weapon, but there’s another interesting aspect of the nightmarish fish. It has organs in its head capable of producing up to fifty volts of electricity, making it a deadly predator.

In the Philippine Sea, in the year 2052, there was more than one type of stargazer. While the fish hid in the dark depths of a black sea, the U.S.S. Pensacola cut through the surface, churning water and sea foam in its wake. It was an aircraft carrier, one that held over four-thousand Navy and Marine Corps personnel, and that was powered by a shoddy nuclear reactor that could go at any moment (at least that’s what engineers had been saying for the past five years… and yet she was afloat). The Pensacola had been assigned to watch for enemy activity in the area, the enemy being the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Following the second Korean War, in which the North Korean regime was dismantled, it was believed that many of the country’s weapon supply caches were moved to allied nations, hidden from the hands of the United States government. Since then, a silent war had been raging between East and West, one made up of subtle threats and espionage. That was the Pensacola’s assignment. Survey the area for enemy activity.

Of the personnel on board, most were asleep in their racks, the sheets stiff and mattress thin. After a day on board, the scratchy cloth-covered rack felt like a cloud of heavenly comfort.

However, not everyone was resting peacefully. On the flight deck, standing in the midst of the salty sea air, were a dozen sailors and their leader, one of five Force Reconnaissance Marines on board, a tall and intimidating man that went by the callsign ‘Jaws’. The sailors were performing maintenance on an experimental aircraft, the latest attempt by the U.S. military to create a combat-ready stealth jet. Meanwhile, Jaws was peering through a pair of night vision spectacles, head on a constant swivel as he watched for movement on the horizon, an XRS-52 in hand and loaded.

However, it was below deck, in the Hangar Bay - a large room with only two walls, the other two open to the night air - that the second type of stargazer could be found.

Scarlet Adams, callsign ‘Stargazer’.

Another one of the unlucky few on the night shift, she too had watch orders, her main focus being unidentified vessels. She was to look over the dark ocean, watching for any potential enemy ships coming within range of the Pensacola. This wasn’t her first time, having stood in the exact spot nearly a dozen times since leaving Amnia Bay, and it wasn’t that bad of an assignment. At this hour, the Hangar was quiet, leaving the slosh of the ocean’s wake to fill her ears. Various aircraft and a few gray shipping containers filled the otherwise empty space, the normally white fluorescent lights replaced by dim red ones.

Scarlet leaned against the frame of an open wall, though it wasn’t the sea that she was watching. It was the stars, vibrant this far out from the light pollution of civilization. Prior to joining the Corps, Scarlet had studied astronomy, igniting her passion for the celestial cosmos. She intended to further pursue her studies, but… well, the Butterfly Effect cut her time in academia short.

The catalyst was a simple request: to borrow a pen. It had been the beginning of her fourth year astronomy course, stuffed in a musty class room twelve other students. The walls had been covered in maps of the stars, with dusty bookshelves lining the bottom. If Scarlet focused hard enough, she could still smell that room, even nearly two years later.

She had been focusing on an assignment, diligently preparing it to be turned in, blocking out all other sights and sounds. It was a tap on her shoulder that gained her attention, and she quickly turned to see a familiar face. Jack Halifax, a transfer student from across the country. He had only been at the university for a few weeks, and seemed to be the ‘class clown’ type. The professor would often bring up a Holo-Graphic of the stars, using a laser pointer to circle each cluster he was speaking about. When this happened, Jack would take out his own laser pointer, and discreetly use it to mess with the professor. It was funny in a way, but always annoyed Scarlet to know end.

“Can I borrow a pen?” he had whispered, holding his up to show the clearly empty ink cell.

Scarlet, being ever prepared, reached into her bag and gave him a new one, not thinking much of it. He thanked her, and returned to the assignment.

When class had finished, Jack returned the pen with a small piece of paper wrapped around it. All it said was ‘Dinner?’ with a phone number below it. Call her sappy, but Scarlet fell for it, deciding to give this guy a chance. What could go wrong, after all?

One date turned to two, then two to four, and, before they knew it, the two had fallen head-over-heels for one another. It was a love that tamed Jack, yet freed Scarlet, opening her up to adventures she never fathomed. They were seemingly inseparable, a bonded pair that clung to one another.

So, when Jack expressed interest in joining the Marine Corps, Scarlet found herself eager to go with him. Not as a military wife, but as a fellow Marine, one that no longer feared her own death, but the death of her lover. She knew the pain of being alone all too well, having never known her father, while her mother died in a car crash when Scarlet was young. She’d been alone most of her life, and it had felt normal. Now that she had experienced the warm of Jack’s presence, the thought of reliving that emptiness sickened her. So, when Jack went to the recruitment center, Scarlet tagged along. By the end, they both had a one way ticket to Officer Candidate School.

During their training, it was determined by higher ranking officers that both would excellent candidates for Force Reconnaissance, having a knack for gathering information and being talented marksman. When offered the chance to take the Basic Reconnaissance Course and attend Marine Special Operations School, Jack accepted without hesitation. Scarlet, on the other hand, was apprehensive, having hoped to become a pilot instead. However, it was the excitement she saw glinting in Jack’s eyes that convinced her to join him once more.

Prior to the second Korean War, call signs were mainly used for aviators. However, following the capture, extortion, and subsequent execution of Reconnaissance officers by North Korea in 2038, it was determined that call signs were necessary for anyone serving with a secret security clearance. The enemy couldn’t know who was working Recon if their names weren’t used, and that was who they targeted to most.

Scarlet gave Jack his call sign — ‘Jackalope’, a nickname she’d given him back in college. Because of her astronomy degree, and her affinity for gazing up at the night sky during drills, she was dubbed ‘Stargazer’.

In the quiet Hangar, Scarlet was doing much the same, this time admiring the Orion constellation. If she had been performing her duties, she might’ve seen the silhouette sneaking up behind her, each step deliberate, planned. Instead, she was startled out of her thoughts when two hands gently slid around her waist, giving her a soft squeeze.

“Hey, lil’ Stargazer,” the voice of Jack whispered in her ear, breath hot and smelling of stale coffee.

Scarlet relaxed, leaning back against the man who held her, a content smile gracing her lips.

“You’re supposed to be on watch,” she said, though her tone had no malice, but rather a slight laugh.

“So are you,” Jack countered, his lips moving down, skirting the skin of her neck.

“I am!”

Jack pulled Scarlet in closer, resting his chin on her shoulder. His presence was more soothing to her than the stars.

“Sure you are,” he muttered knowingly, kissing behind her ear, “which one were you looking at?”

He knew her too well, aware of her tendency to focus on a particular star rather than the cluster that the sky offered.

“Meissa,” she responded, “it’s bright tonight.”

“Show it to me,” he whispered with a tone that sent goosebumps rising across Scarlet’s skin.

“You, uh, you know where it is. Professor Weldon covered that.”

“Mm, you know I never paid attention,” Jack said, his fingertips caressing her waist, “my eyes were always on something else…”

Scarlet could feel herself melting in Jack’s arms, this kind of physical touch having been foreign to her prior to their relationship. Her heart was beating a little faster.

Raising her hand up, she pointed to the sky.

“Well… well, you see Orion’s Belt?”

Jack made a sound of affirmation, his eyes following where Scarlet pointed. She moved her hand up further, tracing the invisible lines of the constellation.

“Go up on either side… those two stars are Betelgeuse and Bellatrix…”

“Mmhm,” Jack mumbled, kissing her neck.

“You’re not even looking,” Scarlet said, quietly gasping when she felt a gentle bite on the sensitive skin of her throat.

“Of course I am… keep going.”

Scarlet hesitated, savoring the slight sting from his teeth.

“And then… then the one above them, in the middle… that’s Meissa.”

Jack hummed, nodding, “Almost as brilliant as you.”

Scarlet felt her face begin to heat up, a light pink hue filling them. Her lips twisted into a lovestruck smile. Twisting in his arms, she turned to face Jack, finding her look mirrored back. She cupped his cheeks, reaching up to gently kiss him. Soft lips caressed her own, reciprocating the love received.

As the kiss broke, Scarlet sighed in content. She had never felt as safe as she did with him. There was never any pretending, no fear of judgement, just… acceptance, something she had yearned for, something she had never experienced. She was accustomed to being the outcast, the last chosen in gym class, the only one without a valentine. Alone. She had always been alone.

It was then that a twinge of sadness tugged at her heart, a common occurrence since joining the Marines. One that Jack was familiar with, easily recognizing the shift in her demeanor.

“In your head again?” he asked, knowing her all too well.

She nodded, a slight sting burning her eyes. Without another word, Jack pulled Scarlet into a tight embrace, rubbing her back as he held her.

“Three more years,” he said, “then it’s you and me.”

“I know,” Scarlet whispered, burying her face in his chest.

The truth was, Scarlet didn’t want to be a Marine. She wanted to be with Jack, by his side wherever he went. She wanted a quiet home and an average life. Simplicity, comfort, and the knowledge that Jack, too, was happy and safe. That’s what she wanted, not watching for the enemy through the darkness of night, or traveling the oceans on a dying ship. She wanted peace. As she stood there in Jack’s arms, eyes closed, she could almost feel it.

It didn’t last long, as Scarlet suddenly registered a low buzz. Her face scrunched as she listened to it, trying to separate the crashing waves from the sound. It was becoming louder, almost like a bee buzzing near her ear. Lifting her head from Jack’s chest, she looked at him in confusion. From the look on his face, she could tell he heard the same sound.

“What is that?” Scarlet asked, turning to look out over the dark sea.

A loud rumble shook the ship, causing Scarlet to grab ahold of the wall’s edge. It was accompanied by squealing and incoherent shouts from the flight deck.

Scarlet looked to Jack, both of them wide-eyed.

“The reactor,” she muttered.

Springing into action, Scarlet ran towards the hatch, prepared to wake the crew for evacuation. She was stopped when Jack caught her by the wrist. Looking back at him, she was prepared to rip her arm away. That changed when she saw the grave expression painted across his face.

With a grim tone, Jack spoke, “That wasn’t the reactor.”

———

Atop the flight deck, a strange aircraft was powering down. It was as big as a cargo plane, yet built like a stealth fighter jet, sleek in its design. The sailors gathered around the back of the craft, where the only obvious exit was. Jaws was on pointe, aiming his rifle at the cargo hold. There were no identifiable markings on the aircraft, but it clearly did not belong on board.

Suddenly, the latch released, and the hold’s door slowly began to open. Jaws’ grip tightened, the full force of his focus on whoever was trespassing. However, as the door lowered, no discernible figures could be made out. Instead, they saw that the interior was unlit, whatever or whoever was inside hidden by the shadows.

Jaws, not known for his patience, grit his teeth and shouted, “This is a United States Naval vessel! State your intentions!”

Silence. The sailors started to shift, looking at each other nervously, their hands clamming up around their rifles.

Then, out of the darkness came a spark, and a small flame illuminated a black gloved hand.

“Intentions,” Jaws shouted, growing more enraged by the moment.

The hand lifted the flame, bringing it up to the tip of a cigarette. Beyond that, the sailors and Jaws could make out a pair of chapped lips, and two circular lenses above, barely reflecting the flickering fire.

———

Scarlet and Jack remained silent, the buzz having stopped after the ship shook. They stared at each other, frozen in place, unsure of what to do. If it *had* been the reactor, alarms should be going off, signaling an evacuation and imminent rescue from other vessels in the area. However, the only sound either could hear was the gentle lapping of waves against the ship.

That quickly changed as gunfire rang out, accompanied by shouts and screams of agony.

“Shit, get the rest of Recon up,” Scarlet said, an edge of panic to her voice.

She sprinted to where her rifle laid, near a hatch that led up to the flight deck. Picking up her weapon, she was about to pull open the hatch, when she suddenly stopped.

Jack was about twenty feet behind her, watching in confusion as she pressed her ear to the door.

“Scarlet? What —“

Scarlet shushed him. There was a consistent *thud, thud, thud* going down the ladder, getting louder as it came closer. It sounded similar to a ball rolling down a set of stairs. Then, there was a heavy *clunk* as it hit the hatch.

Silence.

*Beep.*

Suddenly, a small explosion split open the hatch, sending Scarlet flying backwards with the force. A chunk of metal slammed against her head, leaving a deep gash that ran across her cheek, blood spilling from the wound. She went limp.

“Scarlet,” Jack shouted, running to where her body laid. He knelt down, panic rushing through him as he searched for her pulse. Relief ran through him as he found the rhythmic beat, and saw her fading in and out of consciousness, but it was short lived as a new sound came from the smokey ladderwell. It was the sound of footsteps, slow and deliberate.

Grabbing the collar of Scarlet’s uniform, Jack began to drag her to the port-side opening. He kept looking to the exposed ladderwell, watching as a pair of legs came into view. With each step, more of the person was revealed. It was someone in a black combat uniform, holding a white DE-52. As they reached the last step, Jack could see a cigarette hanging from the person’s lips, the rest of their face covered by a matte black mask. It was smooth, featureless, except for two black lenses over the eyes.

Reaching the opening, Jack quickly took off his dog tags, putting them around Scarlet’s neck. He had a dreadful feeling he knew how this would end.

*Bang!*

A fiery pain radiated through Jack’s shoulder, a bullet cracking the bone. It went through to the other side, hitting the wall and leaving a small dent. Blood quickly soaked his uniform, tacky and thick. The wound left him weak, though his determination to give Scarlet a shot at survival made him push through the searing pain.

As the masked man approached, Jack gave one final shove, rolling Scarlet’s body over the side of the ship. He watched as she landed in the water, crashing through the inky black sea. Jack never considered himself a religious man, but in that moment, he prayed for her rescue.

———

Just below the surface, Scarlet could barely see the Pensacola through her blurred vision. A black tunnel was beginning to surround her vision, but she could make out moving blobs above her. She heard the muffled sound of gunfire, along with the sight of a quick, bright flash. One of the blobs fell on the extended Hangar Bay deck, barely visible at the edge.

Then, black.

[wvbaandtheboys]

hi folks!! happy new year!! I’m Impatient ™️ so here, as a new years delight, have all the rest of the Branch A Pokemon descriptions/Pokedex entries I made :3

CW for graphic desc later on down the line!

Kaiser - Pumphund (The Firearms Pokemon)

Name derived from pump, the pumping motion of racking a gun’s slide (referencing the sfx in Kaiser’s contender fight) and the German word hund, meaning dog. A pure Steel type.

The second evolution of Kleinkuter, this Pokémon’s body rebuilds itself to create the form necessary for Pumphund. It is always billowing dark smoke from its mouth and ears as its body constantly burns fuel it acquires from its nutrition. The tail of a Pumphund is what allows it to utilize the storage of artillery within its body; when necessary, a Pumphund will wind up its tail to ready the mechanism, making a clicking sound. In one swift motion, it will move its tail downwards and open its mouth, unleashing a blast that will severely injure whatever is struck by it. If not eating or firing off its shells, a Pumphund will never open its jaws.

Despite the ferocious nature of Pumphund being quite frightening, this Pokemon can be surprisingly timid when not in battle. Trainers who own a Pumphund have said that the Pokemon tends to stay away from other Pokemon in their trainer’s care and refusing to interact with them, almost as if it were scared.

Disco - Frenzwatt (The Fluid Pokemon)

Derived from the word frenzy, periods of extreme excitement, and the term watt from electricity. A pure Electric type.

The second stage evolution of Groovolt, this Pokemon is renowned for its ability to dance. A graceful and animated creature, it loves to perform for and dance with other Pokemon. Even the most aggressive Pokemon can’t resist its infectious positive energy, hence wanting to and more often than not proceeding to follow suit with the dancing. When dancing, Frenzwatt’s curly fur on top of its head begins to progressively glow brighter and create sparks that fizzle as it moves. When threatened or needed to fight, Frenzwatt will weave through its opponent’s attacks and discharge the full force of the electricity stored in its fur that is powerful enough to shut down entire power plants.

This Pokemon is a positive influence for baby Pokemon and humans alike. As such, Frenzwatt is a decently popular Pokemon amongst older trainers with young siblings or children.

Hippo - Thalapota (Bearing Forme) (The Prosperity Pokemon)

Derived from thalassic, anything to do with the sea, and -pota from hippopotamus. A Water-Fighting type.

Thalapota is a Mythical Pokémon worshiped as a deity in the eyes of several adjacent islands in the South Pacific. It is said that it provided the islanders with conditions to survive, including sunlight, food and fire. Though it has rarely been seen in person by the residents, it is depicted to be adorned with different types of nourishment including fruits, marine life and protein. It is also said that though Thalapota appears to possess a cold expression and an air of royalty, it is incredibly merciful and will readily help any poor Pokémon or humans it finds. However, should any person bring disrespect or foul intent to the paradise Thalapota worked to prosper, it is rumored that it will swiftly punish them, and they shall become one with the land.

Thalapota allegedly possesses another form referred to as its Isle Forme. This form has been attested to existence by a group of islanders who set sail on a small boat one day on a fishing trip. In the midst of their trip, a fierce thunderstorm capsized their vessel. They claim that a mysterious mass of land suddenly rose up beneath them and lifted them out of the water, high above the vicious waves, carrying them back to their home. When one dared to peer over the side of the mass, they saw the face of Thalapota staring straight ahead.

Hondo - Lupushi (The Guarding Pokemon)

Derived from canis lupus, the scientific name for a wolf, and senshi, the Japanese word for warrior. A pure Fighting type Pokémon.

The evolution of the baby Pokemon named Koinution. The only known way for a wild Koinution to evolve into a Lupushi is for it to have its makeshift weapon, a thick branch, grow sharper through battles and training. However, it is also said that some Koinutions have been seen with a shadowy figure, resembling that of a much larger Pokemon than itself, waiting as the Pokemon sharpens their weapon for them.

Lupushi is said to be a wise and helpful Pokemon. It is spoken highly of by those who have traveled through woodlands. It is said that trainers and civilians alike who have encountered a Lupushi are always followed by it as long as they are in the woods, with the Pokemon politely leaving as soon as it has seen the person out. It possesses a frightening gaze beneath its headband that deters other Pokemon from attacking.

But, as docile as it typically is, it should be known that Lupushi are far more experienced sword users than their previous evolution. Its willpower prevents it from submitting to defeat, instead continuously and strategically attacking. Trainers who have attempted to capture a Lupushi have ended up having to flee after the Pokemon defeated their teams. However, those that have succeeded in capturing Lupushi say that it is quick to adapt to its new surroundings and grow bonds with its trainer.

Hugger - Mossardian (The Gentle Giant Pokemon)

Derived from moss and guardian. A Ground and Grass type Pokémon.

This Pokemon is said to be the reincarnated spirit of a kindly lumberjack that met an untimely demise in the forest. It is an overseer of all that goes on in the woods and a guardian of forest life. It is rather warm-hearted and friendly, known to assist lost people at night by comforting them with the voice of a loved one while guiding them through the forest. But, should one incur its wrath by bringing harm to the forest or its inhabitants, Mossardian will transform the offender into a small, defenseless Pokemon and leave it to perish.

The markings on Mossardian’s body emit a gentle glow that brings serenity to life around it. This Pokemon has never once been attacked before in the wild, having easily quelled the aggression of its foes. Mossardian is able to blend in with forest scenery thanks to the moss on its body, staying out of the sight of Trainers wanting to capture it. This Pokemon is hesitant to join a trainer on their adventure as they do not want to leave other Pokemon to potential harm in their absence.

Tiger - Dhundhather (The Astral Pokemon)

Derived from dhundhala, misty in Hindi, and ether, referring to the sky’s boundaries beyond the clouds. A Psychic and Ghost type.

This Mythical Pokémon is renowned for its immense power, being a common folktale shared amongst those who live in rural areas. It is said to only emerge during dawn and dusk, gracefully floating down from the clouds above. Those who are fortunate enough to witness Dhundhather gliding through their area are left with a sense of courage that lasts for hours, even days. However, those who have a face-to-face encounter with this Pokemon are blessed with good luck for an extensive period of time.

Dhundhather is especially revered in those places that are struck with natural disasters, as the fortune it brings along with it allows villages to recover swiftly. The empty hole on its forehead holds a plethora of different gems that marks the large artillery of power Dhundhather has. Being a misty animal-like apparition, the markings on its body begin to glow brightly with the selected gem color if it is on alert. Its spine and tail are adorned with jewels. Dhundhather itself does not seem to particularly show much emotion, being a rather poised Pokemon to encounter. Its regal like aura prevents other Pokemon from trying to attack it or steal the jewels on its back.

Don - Ferfuego (The Compassionate Pokemon)

Derived from fervent, displaying a strong passion, and fuego, the Spanish term for fire. (Literally means like “flames of passion.”)

Ferfuego is a Legendary Pokémon that has supposedly existed for over a millennium. History speaks of it preventing a series of world endangering events at the hands of human conflict and corruption. A tale that is often quoted said that when two forces were at odds with each other with hours remaining before a catastrophic war could be put into motion, a mighty chirrup was heard from the sky, from which Ferfuego fluttered down to the Earth for the first time. It radiated an aura of such intensity and compassion that it caused the congregation of fighters to weep uncontrollably.

Ferfuego is depicted as extremely loving and beloved by all living things. The few times Ferfuego was in battle, if it lost, though it would be upset for a while, would ultimately move on and strive to perform better. It is said to emerge in times of need, when humans become hostile towards other humans or other lifeforms such as Pokemon. As such, it has not been seen in decades. Its well cared for and vibrant plumage, while tempting to feel, is rather hot. Although Ferfuego is known to be very compassionate, breaking its heart has been observed to come with dire consequences. There was only one such occurrence in history where the effects of Ferfuego’s presence did not prevent a tragedy. In the end of such period, it is said that the Pokemon scorched the entirety of the settlement it took place in.

Aran - Gabbra (Buck Forme) (The Feared Pokemon)

Derived from gabhar, the Irish term for goat, and umbra, meaning the inner dark part of a shadow. A Dark and Fairy type.

Gabbra prances about the lands in search of trouble to cause. You will know when a Gabbra is near when you hear the chattering of its teeth, like chilling laughter. It takes a liking to frequenting hilly areas, targeting plantations and their farmers. Once it spots a plot of land, it will trample and uproot the crops, leaving it for the farmers to find. The soil Gabbra steps on allegedly becomes infertile, turning a desaturated hue and hardening like stone. Farmers have been forced to abandon from their old homes both in search of a new plantation and in fear of Gabbra attacking them, as there have been stories about the Pokemon doing so before in the dead of night.

This Pokemon always wears a smile on its face no matter the situation. It can also appear as other animal-like apparitions, altering its appearance for the sake of assisting itself in its mischievous agenda. Most commonly, it is seen in its Buck Forme. Beware a face-to-face encounter with Gabbra. If you have valuables on you, it will steal it and try to lure you into chasing it to get it back. Its arguably favorite thing to steal are Pokeballs. As such, Trainers who live in such areas where Gabbras roam are advised to stay away from the wooded areas, and if they need to go outside, to release a Pokemon from its Pokeball and take it with them.

Gabbra has 3 other forms: Jack Forme (a hare), Tom Forme (a cat), and Stal Forme (a horse). It is rumored to have an evolution, but none have been able to confirm this.

Soda - Slushzver (The Saccharine Pokemon)

Derived from slush, the term for slightly melted snow, and zver, Russian for beast. An Ice/Poison type.

Slushzver lives in the cold regions of the world. This Pokemon is made of a hardened material comparable to that of crushed ice used for slushies, one that requires the frigid conditions to properly flourish. It spends most of its day to day in solitude, as its large stature greatly frightens most that encounter it. The times that it emerges, it spends it helping those that have been trapped by the harsh elements of the cold, often digging lost Trainers and their Pokemon out of the deep snow.

Should any Pokemon decide to try and harm Slushzver, it has a defense mechanism: when attacked, this Pokemon will partially melt the part of its body being targeted. A chunk of its flesh easily comes off into a Pokémon’s mouth, or on its hand. The Pokemon will feel compelled to swallow it thanks to the sweet scent it gives off. However, this substance is extremely toxic: once it is ingested, the aggressor Pokemon will perish, bombarded with an overly sweet taste in their throat and their insides being frozen over.

Bull - Bruhaya (The Ruthless Pokemon)

(pronounced “brooh-hai-ya” lol)

Derived from brutish, and hayalet, Turkish for phantom. A Fighting/Ghost type.

Bruhaya is the reincarnation of a human who died long ago in a tragic event. This Pokemon is forever plagued with an intense rage, rising from the ground every night in restlessness. It is drawn to strong negative emotions, especially vengeance and grief. As such, Bruhaya may be spotted in places of tragic occurrences and graveyards. Its presence instills a horrible sense of dread into any near it. Despite its anger, Bruhaya does not attack unless provoked, seeing no need to commit unnecessary violence.

Bruhaya possesses fearsome horns on its head which it uses to fight. Once it is aggravated, it loses any sense of control and won’t stop its onslaught of attacks until it has violently ravaged its opponent. When wandering, any human or Pokemon that looks into its eye is immediately paralyzed with horrifying hallucinations, and is unable to move until Bruhaya retreats at sunrise.

However, it is said that Bruhaya has been spotted interacting peacefully with other Ghost Pokemon. It seems to feel a connection to them.

Macho - Peladraco (The Champion Pokemon)

Derived from pelagic, anything to do with the open sea, and draco, a word meaning dragon. (So basically, sea dragon)

Peladraco is a Legendary Pokemon revered for its countless victories in battle, as it has never once lost to any foe. It rides on sea currents at high speeds, using the motion to propel itself out of the water in order to fly. Once in the air, the scale-like markings on its body shimmer brightly in the light of the elements to bewilder its opponent. It is able to strike most foes down with a single, fierce blast of water from its mouth. Once its foe is defeated, Peladraco has been witnessed repeatedly emerging and submerging from the sea, doing various tricks while making a high pitched cry to celebrate its victory.

Peladraco seems to be acutely aware of its immense power, and even appears to be rather cocky. Its confidence in its power has even led it to stop mid-battle to taunt its opponent while leaving itself completely open to harm. Expectedly, this has led to Peledraco more than occasionally giving its opponents a free hit. This angers the Pokemon, who immediately dives back into the sea only to launch itself back out and spear directly into its foe, more often than not sending them and itself crashing into the water. Or also, sometimes, impale them with the sharp protrusions from its head.

However, it seems that Peledraco may have a lurking foe awaiting a rematch.

Sandman - Yanmare (Crib Forme) (The Vengeful Pokemon)

Derived from yawn, in this case meaning expansive or deep, and mare from nightmare. (Basically deep nightmares.) A Ground/Ghost type.

Yanmare is a dreaded Legendary Pokémon that has not been seen in decades much like Ferfuego. Once a prodigal hero-like Pokemon of immense power and adoration, it held the title of being undefeated with great pride. It was flattered when people dreamt about it, as it could tell when they were. The sand that fell from its body was said to bring restful sleep to those that spread it on their pillows. All this was until it fought a fierce and extensive battle with the challenging Peladraco before being defeated. After that day, no one had seen the Pokemon until long afterwards. And something was deeply, deeply wrong.

The loss against Peladraco brought Yanmare unspeakable amounts of anger that slowly boiled within it over a period of time as it watched them find its new idolized Pokemon. Trainers and all others forgot about it overtime, until the only one they admired was Peladraco. This anger eventually overflowed and caused its form to morph from it, developing into its Terror Forme. It emerged into the place it was once known, and caused a string of hysteria, which started from it tormenting a Pokemon professor to the point of near death with its horrid screeching and loud rattling noises of its cage-like container.

This Pokemon makes anyone it sees asleep have vivid nightmares of failing in their lives, most often at their greatest aspiration. A handful of Trainers have quit pursuing success as the nightmares were too intense, leaving them uncertain and afraid.

Mac - Minicidae (The Headstrong Pokemon)

(mi-ni-see-day)

Derived from mini and cercophithecidae, the scientific name for monkey. A Normal/Grass Mythical Pokemon.

Minicidae’s existence was questioned by much of the world even in ancient times, as it had only been sighted once scaling up a massive cliff side. In modern times, it had become a sort of urban legend as some had been able to supply a few blurry but decently readable photos of this Pokemon. It had been seen quickly swinging through trees in deep rainforests and battling Pokemon much larger than itself.

Minicidae is said to be extremely tough despite its lacking stature. It would fight those who seemed impossible for it to beat and actually put up an amazing fight. Seeking to grow bigger and stronger than it already is appears to be this Pokémon’s main goal. Though it looked to be training its arms so it could swing high into the air. Its reason for wanting to do this is unknown.

However, Minicidae was fully proven to exist when it was captured by Yanmare. It encountered the Legendary Pokemon when it was well above the stratosphere. Threatened by it, Minicidae attempted to stand its ground. However, Yanmare’s new form quickly ensnared the Pokemon in its trap, causing Minicidae to undergo a frightening transformation where its body became overrun with shadows, turning it into a wispy, black creature. It rattles the bars of the cage its in, screeching for help that will never seem to come.

[solarpunkbusiness]

Start-up launches new solar-powered, self-driving boats to clean up ocean waste

Hong Kong-based marine tech start-up Clearbot is set to launch a new generation of bigger solar-powered autonomous boats to boost its efforts to clean up polluted waters in India.

Clearbot's latest fleet of self-driving electric boats will each have the capacity to pick up around 500kg of plastic waste and other rubbish from the ocean when they are expected to be deployed in March. That is double the capacity of each of the company's current water-borne robotic cleaners operating in the seas and lakes of India.

The start-up founded by University of Hong Kong graduates is hoping to electrify the marine services industry, according to Utkarsh Goel, co-founder and chief technology officer.

"We want to build these boats that do this dirty, dirty job that is happening with [manned, diesel] boats around the world and automate them and make them more sustainable," said Goel in an interview.

Established in 2019, Clearbot started off as a student project to help Indonesian surfers clean up waterways efficiently, as locals were unable to deal with the flow of rubbish. The project led Goel and co-founder Sidhant Gupta to understand the demand for sustainable infrastructure in the marine services industry globally.

In the past year, Clearbot has deployed 13 boats which can each collect up to 250kg of plastic waste per day to tackle projects in Hong Kong and India, Goel said. The self-navigating electric vessels collect waste from the surface of the water and deposit it in designated areas for collection and recycling.

source

[yatescountyhistorycenter]

Explosion of a ship, implosion of a life

By Jonathan Monfiletto

Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. William Anthony wasn’t born in Yates County, and he isn’t buried here either. It seems the only time he set foot on Yates County soil was for a month-long stint picking grapes in Jerusalem in the fall of 1899; his wife was from Guyanoga, and his son settled in the Dresden area as an adult. Otherwise, Sgt. Anthony had no connections here.

However, the memory of Sgt. Maj. Anthony and the story of his heroic deed continue to live on in Yates County – whether modern-day residents realize it – in the name of a road bearing his surname. Anthony Road, which runs from Route 14 southward into the village of Dresden, honors the man who played the role of a tragic hero in the story of the Spanish American War.

While recent findings suggest the explosion aboard the USS Maine was caused by a spontaneous fire in the coal bunker, in 1898 fingers pointed toward the ship being blown up by a mine set by Spanish forces. What isn’t under dispute is, first, that the incident led directly to the Spanish American War and, second, that it was then-Pvt. Bill Anthony who sounded the alarm to the ship’s commander about the explosion.

According to an article in the Penn Yan Democrat of February 17, 1933, Anthony was acting as orderly to Navy Cpt. Charles Sigsbee, the Maine’s commander, on February 15, 1898. The ship was anchored in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, “and all was peaceful when the deafening, rending blast rocked the vessel,” the newspaper stated, at approximately 9:40 p.m. Eastern time.

According to historian John Creamer, it was an oppressively warm and humid evening. The Maine had been sent to Cuba on a goodwill visit to protect American citizens and interests on the island nation, while tensions between the United States and Spain – which controlled Cuba at the time – reached a boiling point after building up for years. The Maine’s presence was meant to encourage Americans and Cubans and challenge the Spanish.

Creamer described Anthony’s experience that evening this way: “Private Bill took a long stroll on deck to postpone retiring to his steaming hammock below. There was no air conditioning then – in fact, the Maine was the first US Navy vessel to have electric lights. It was just as well for Bill that he dawdled, for at exactly 9:40 p.m. he and a number of others, on board the Maine and elsewhere around the harbor, saw a sheet of orange flame envelop the bow of the battleship. The explosion that followed was so tremendous that an eyewitness on another ship said that the Maine was lifted nearly out of the water by its force. … In the aftermath of the explosion, Private Bill realized that he had to get a message to Captain Sigsbee. He ran to the captain’s cabin in the dark. … The captain, not unaware that something had happened to the ship (he said later that he thought they were being fired upon by nearby Spanish guns), emerged from his cabin just as Private Bill arrived. In the darkness, the two men collided. … Private Bill backed off, apologized, saluted, and spoke the words that would put him into the history books.”

Those words, according to the Democrat, were: “I have the honor, sir, to report the Maine has been blown up and is sinking.” Sigsbee commended Anthony’s action in the captain’s record of the event, as transcribed in the Democrat: “The special feature in the case of this service performed by Private Anthony is that on an occasion when man’s instinct would lead him to seek safety outside the ship, he started into the superstructure and toward the cabin, irrespective of the danger. The action was a noble one and I feel it an honor to call his conduct to the attention of the recommendator that he be made a sergeant.”

Indeed, Anthony was promoted to sergeant and then, rather quickly, to sergeant major. According to Creamer, Anthony – 44 years old at the time – had served in the Marine Corps for 28 years. It is unclear what he did in the military prior to February 1898 – his service predates the Civil War – and why he remained a private for 28 years. Creamer notes promotions came slowly in those days – but apparently rapidly in the face of heroic acts – and there wasn’t much opportunity for a private to distinguish himself.

The disaster aboard the Maine killed 260 of the 328 crew members; indeed, only 16 were left uninjured. Though Anthony was listed among these 16, he received splinters in his face and through his hand when a lifeboat disintegrated in the explosion. He managed to climb into one of the remaining boats and row about the ship – in a hail of shrapnel and exploding ammunition – to look for survivors.

With no ship to serve on, Anthony subsequently was transferred to guard duty at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and given the highest enlisted rank in the Marine Corps. Anthony retired from the Marine Corps shortly after, in June 1898. Entitled to retirement pay after nearly 30 years of military service, Anthony – out of what the Democrat described as “character modesty” and fear “that the application might reflect on his superior officer who had helped him to get his rapid promotion,” Anthony declined the benefit and left the Marine Corps with no job and nothing but his name and reputation as a national hero.

Someone was looking to cash in on Anthony’s 15 minutes of fame, however, and a group of promoters convinced the Marine to take part in a play about the recently concluded Spanish American War, titled “The Red, White, and Blue.” Anthony’s role consisted of his appearing on stage in his Marine Corps uniform and reciting, “Remember the Maine!” to thunderous applause from the audience. However, the production closed quickly, as people were not ready to view a reenactment of a war they had just witnessed.

So, Anthony was once again out of work. In the interim, he got married to Adella Blancet, of Guyanoga, in October 1898. Adella had written to the national hero to seek his autograph; though he had received many such letters, for some reason Adella’s letter stood out and he wrote back to her. They soon wed and then had a son, William Jr., born in July 1898.

Following the grape harvest in the fall of 1899, Anthony left Adella and William Jr. in Guyanoga and traveled back to New York City to try to find work. He wasn’t willing to pull strings with his reputation and mention his struggle, and he lacked marketable skills outside of his military service.

On November 24, 1899, Anthony was sitting on a bench in Central Park when two police officers noticed him acting strangely with agitated behavior but also recognized who he was. Suddenly, Anthony pulled a small glass bottle out of his pocket and swallowed the contents. The officers attempted to help him, but he told them he didn’t want to be saved. Sure enough, Anthony died within an hour from an overdose of cocaine extract.

While the national hero was mourned following his shocking death, his name and reputation were quickly forgotten. Adella stayed in Yates County, and William Jr. grew up there. The son of the national hero married, became a successful farmer and vineyardist, served as Torrey town supervisor, and lived on the road that bears his family name.

In December 1942, the Navy remembered Anthony by launching the USS Anthony, a destroyer named in honor of the hero from the Maine. William Jr.’s daughters – Alice, a freshman at Keuka College, and Frances, a student at Penn Yan Academy – christened the ship bearing their grandfather’s name. In World War II, the destroyer saw action against the Japanese in the Philippines.

Interestingly, while William Jr. is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Dresden – not too far from where Anthony Road enters the village – Anthony is buried in The Evergreens Cemetery in Brooklyn. Yates County continues to remember this non-resident who became a national hero.

[amin13864]

You can find English translation also

منقول من صفحة ابو عاهد من غزة:

حينما نتحدث عن حزب الله

نحن نتحدث عن قوة صاروخية هائلة

الترسانة الصاروخية الأكبر زخمآ في العالم

ونتحدث عن مئات وربما آلاف من الصواريخ الدقيقة النقطية التي تحمل رؤوس متفجرة لا تقل عن تلك التي تحملها طائرات الاف 16.

على قائمة أهداف حزب الله في الحرب الشاملة

قواعد سلاح الجو

محطات توليد وتوزيع الكهرباء

محطات ضخ الغاز

محطات تحلية المياه

مراكز الدولة الأساسية

مطارات مدنية

موانئ

البنية التحتية بشكل عام

بالإضافة للمدن الكبرى

أهداف حزب الله الصاروخية ليست كأهداف حماس على الإطلاق .. بسبب اختلاف القدرة والدقة وبالتالي يختلف الهدف وتختلف نوعيته.

نتحدث عن سلاح طيران مسير متطور ومتعدد المهام .. يتكون من آلاف مؤلفة من قطع الطيران المسير القادر على اختراق الدفاعات الجوية بسبب التصاق المسافة بين المهاجم والمدافع .. لا يوجد أي حائل جغرافي لا في البر ولا في البحر.

نتحدث عن صواريخ بحرية قادرة على ضرب كل الموانئ ومنصات الغاز في البحر من كاريش وتمار وحتى مارين ، وكذلك ضرب القطع العسكرية البحرية الإسرائيلية.

نتحدث عن طبيعة جغرافية تصعب عمل سلاح الجو الإسرائيلي والاستخبارات الجوية والوحدات البرية والمدرعات والمدفعية حال كان هناك عمل بري .. وأفضلية جغرافيا لمقاتلي الحزب ومقدراتهم ولقدرتهم على التخفي هم وأسلحتهم مهما كانت كبيرة الحجم .. هناك الكثير من الأحراش والغابات والطبيعة الخلابة المليئة بالكهوف والصخور والخنادق الطبيعية والغير طبيعية

نتحدث عن بنية تحتية ما لها من قرار

بنيت على مدار 3 عقود ..

نتحدث عن 100 ألف مقاتل في لبنان وحدها اكتسبوا خبرات قتالية جبارة سواء من حرب الاستنزاف الحالية في جنوب لبنان أو من القتال في سوريا أو من استخلاص الدروس والعبر في غزة بعد مراقبة سلوك وعمليات الجيش الإسرائيلي هناك.

وعلى عكس غزة تمامآ المحاصرة من كل جهة .. نتحدث عن عمق جغرافي لحزب الله يمتد من البحر المتوسط وحتى الخليج وما ورائه .. من لبنان وحتى إيران مرورآ بسوريا والعراق .. عمق متصل جغرافيآ وبشريآ واستراتيجيآ ولوجستيآ بامكانات غير محدودة على الاطلاق ..

وعلى عكس غزة أيضآ .. فإن محاولة حظر الأجواء فوق لبنان يعني حظر الأجواء في إسرائيل .. اغلاق موانئ لبنان بالقوة يعني اغلاق موانئ إسرائيل بالقوة ، مطار رفيق الحريري يقابله مطار بنغوريون ، وتهجير اللبنانيين سيقابله تهجير للصهاينة ..

لذلك وأكثر

إسرائيل لا تخشى الحرب مع حزب الله فقط بل ترتعد من هذه الفكرة .. لأنها حين تفكر بهذه الحرب ترى حجمها الحقيقي الذي لا يظهر حين تفرض عضلاتها على قطاع غزة المحاصر الأعزل تقريبآ ..

أتريدوا ما هو فوق كل ذلك ؟!

العقيدة القتالية لمقاتلي حزب الله من أقوى العقائد القتالية للمقاتلين على مستوى العالم .. وحين تجمع بين القوة العسكرية والعقيدة القتالية ، ستجد نتائج مبهرة..

يمتلك حزب الله نقطة تفوق أخرى وهي استنزاف المنظومة الأمنية الإسرائيلية بجغرافية مترامية الأطراف في بلدين مثل سوريا والعراق الى جانب لبنان .. الحزب يمتلك مفاتيح كثيرة هناك وقادر على تفعيلها حين يحتاج ..

Copied from Abu Ahed’s page from Gaza:

When we talk about Hezbollah

We're talking about massive missile power

The most powerful missile arsenal in the world

We are talking about hundreds and perhaps thousands of precision point missiles carrying explosive warheads no less than those carried by F-16 aircraft.

On Hezbollah's list of targets in the all-out war

Air Force rules

Electricity generation and distribution stations

Gas pumping stations

Water desalination plants

Basic state centers

Civil airports

Ports

Infrastructure in general

In addition to major cities

Hezbollah's missile targets are not at all like Hamas' targets... due to the difference in capability and accuracy, and thus the target is different and its quality is different.

We are talking about an advanced, multi-tasking unmanned aerial vehicle. It consists of thousands upon thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles capable of penetrating air defenses due to the close distance between the attacker and the defender. There is no geographical barrier, neither on land nor at sea.

We are talking about naval missiles capable of hitting all ports and gas platforms at sea from Karish, Tamar, and even Marine, as well as hitting Israeli naval military vessels.

We are talking about a geographical nature that makes it difficult for the Israeli Air Force, Air Force Intelligence, ground units, armored vehicles, and artillery to operate if there is ground work... and a geographical advantage for the party’s fighters, their capabilities, and their ability to hide themselves and their weapons, no matter how large they are... There are many jungles, forests, and picturesque nature full of caves, rocks, and natural trenches. And the unnatural

We are talking about infrastructure that has no decision

Built over 3 decades..

We are talking about 100,000 fighters in Lebanon alone who have gained tremendous combat experience, whether from the current war of attrition in southern Lebanon, from fighting in Syria, or from drawing lessons and lessons in Gaza after observing the behavior and operations of the Israeli army there.

In complete contrast to Gaza, which is besieged from every side, we are talking about a geographical depth for Hezbollah that extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf and beyond... from Lebanon to Iran, passing through Syria and Iraq... a depth connected geographically, humanly, strategically and logistically with absolutely unlimited potential.

Also, unlike Gaza, trying to block the airspace over Lebanon means blocking the airspace in Israel. Closing Lebanon’s ports by force means closing Israel’s ports by force. Rafik Hariri Airport is opposite Ben Gurion Airport, and the displacement of the Lebanese will be met with the displacement of the Zionists.

For that and more

Israel not only fears war with Hezbollah, but trembles at this idea... because when it thinks about this war, it sees its true size, which does not appear when it imposes its muscles on the besieged, almost defenseless Gaza Strip.

Do you want something above all that?!

The combat doctrine of Hezbollah fighters is one of the strongest combat doctrines for fighters in the world. When you combine military strength and combat doctrine, you will find amazing results.

Hezbollah has another point of superiority, which is exhausting the Israeli security system with its vast geography in two countries such as Syria and Iraq, in addition to Lebanon. The party has many keys there and is able to activate them when it needs to.

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

15 Inventors Who Were Killed By Their Own Inventions

Marie Curie -  Marie Curie, popularly known as Madame Curie, invented the process to isolate radium after co-discovering the radioactive elements radium and polonium. She died of aplastic anemia as a result of prolonged exposure to ionizing radiation emanating from her research materials. The dangers of radiation were not well understood at the time.

William Nelson - a General Electric employee, invented a new way to motorize bicycles. He then fell off his prototype bike during a test run and died.

William Bullock - he invented the web rotary printing press. Several years after its invention, his foot was crushed during the installation of the new machine in Philadelphia. The crushed foot developed gangrene and Bullock died during the amputation.

Horace Lawson Hunley - he was a marine engineer and was the inventor of the first war submarine. During a routine test, Hunley, along with a 7-member crew, sunk to death in a previously damaged submarine H. L. Hunley (named after Hunley’s death) on October 15, 1963. 

Francis Edgar Stanley - Francis crashed into a woodpile while driving a Stanley Steamer. It was a steam engine-based car developed by Stanley Motor Carriage Company, founded by Francis E. Stanley and his twin Freelan O. Stanley. 

Thomas Andrews - he was an Irish businessman and shipbuilder. As the naval architect in charge of the plans for the ocean liner RMS Titanic, he was travelling on board that vessel during her maiden voyage when the ship hit an iceberg on 14 April 1912. He perished along with more than 1,500 others. His body was never recovered.

Thomas Midgley Jr. - he was an American engineer and chemist who contracted polio at age 51, leaving him severely disabled. He devised an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys to help others lift him from the bed. He was accidentally entangled in the ropes of the device and died of strangulation at the age of 55.

Alexander Bogdanov - he was a Russian physician and philosopher who was one of the first people to experiment with blood transfusion. He died when he used the blood of malaria and TB victim on himself.

Michael Dacre -  died after testing his flying taxi device designed to permit fast, affordable travel between regional cities.

Max Valier - invented liquid-fuelled rocket engines as a member of the 1920s German rocket society. On May 17, 1930, an alcohol-fuelled engine exploded on his test bench in Berlin that killed him instantly.

Mike Hughes - was killed when the parachute failed to deploy during a crash landing while piloting his homemade steam-powered rocket.

Harry K. Daghlian Jr. and Louis Slotin -  The two physicists were running experiments on plutonium for The Manhattan Project, and both died due to lethal doses of radiation a year apart (1945 and 1946, respectively).

Karel Soucek -  The professional stuntman developed a shock-absorbent barrel in which he would go over the Niagara Falls. He did so successfully, but when performing a similar stunt in the Astrodome, the barrel was released too early and Soucek plummeted 180 feet, hitting the rim of the water tank designed to cushion the blow.

Hammad al-Jawhari - he was a prominent scholar in early 11th century Iraq and he was also sort of an inventor, who was particularly obsessed with flight. He strapped on a pair of wooden wings with feathers stuck on them and tried to impress the local Imam. He jumped off from the roof of a mosque and consequently died.

Jean-Francoise Pilatre de Rozier -  Rozier was a French teacher who taught chemistry and physics. He was also a pioneer of aviation, having made the first manned free balloon flight in 1783. He died when his balloon crashed near Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais during an attempt to fly across the English Channel. Pilâtre de Rozier was the first known fatalities in an air crash when his Roziere balloon crashed on June 15, 1785.

[werentmarbella]

Marina Puerto Banús: A Luxurious Coastal Gem

Nestled on the Costa del Sol, Puerto Banús is more than just a marina; it's a vibrant hub of luxury, culture, and relaxation. As a traveler, this stunning destination offers a unique blend of sun, sea, and style that’s hard to resist.

A Stunning Marina Experience

The first thing that strikes you about Puerto Banús is its picturesque marina. Lined with extravagant yachts and boats, it’s a paradise for marine enthusiasts and luxury lovers alike. Walking along the promenade, I marveled at the impressive vessels and the stunning views of the Mediterranean Sea. It’s the perfect spot to soak up the sun or enjoy a leisurely stroll, with plenty of cafes and bars where you can sip a refreshing drink.

Shopping and Dining

For any traveler, shopping in Puerto Banús is an experience in itself. The area is dotted with high-end boutiques and designer stores, featuring brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Versace. I spent an afternoon browsing the shops, indulging in a little retail therapy. Even if high-end shopping isn’t your thing, the vibrant atmosphere makes it enjoyable to simply explore.

When it comes to dining, Puerto Banús does not disappoint. The marina is home to a variety of restaurants, offering everything from traditional Spanish tapas to international cuisine. One evening, I found myself at a charming seafood restaurant, where I savored fresh catch paired with a local wine. Dining al fresco with the marina views was the cherry on top of an unforgettable meal.

Nightlife and Entertainment

As the sun sets, Puerto Banús transforms into a lively nightlife hotspot. The bars and clubs come alive, attracting both locals and tourists. I remember spending a night at a beachfront club, dancing to the beats and enjoying the electric atmosphere. It’s a place where you can truly immerse yourself in the vibrant culture and nightlife of the Costa del Sol.

Nearby Attractions

While the marina itself is a jewel, the surrounding areas offer even more to explore. Just a short drive away, you can visit the charming town of Marbella, with its historic old town and beautiful beaches. If you’re feeling adventurous, the nearby mountains provide excellent hiking opportunities with breathtaking views.

Conclusion

Marina Puerto Banús is a must-visit for any traveler seeking a luxurious coastal experience. With its stunning marina, upscale shopping, delectable dining, and vibrant nightlife, it encapsulates the essence of the Costa del Sol. Whether you’re looking to relax by the sea, indulge in gourmet cuisine, or dance the night away, Puerto Banús has something for everyone. Don’t miss the chance to explore this glamorous destination on your next trip!

You might be interested in:

Must-Try Restaurants in Puerto Banús, Marbella

Puerto Banús Beach: Glamour by the Marina

The Best Bars in Puerto Banus

Explore the Glamour of Puerto Banús

The Best Beach Clubs in Puerto Banus

Where to Rent a Car in Puerto Banus

The Best Italian Restaurants in Puerto Banus

Nueva Andalucía Beach: El Duque Beach

---

Visit We Rent Marbella Blog

[the-stars-in-between]

DAY 8: Nightmares Don't Sleep

Zoro can't sleep, ghosts come to keep him company.

And here it is, it had to happen, first time (but not last time) that I'm late. I lasted a week so I'm happy. My mid-terms are starting so writing will take a back seat for me but I'm still going to try to finish Whumptober, even if it's not on time. I'll probably spend a few days to focus on stories that interest me more but I'll complete all the prompts. But for now, it's Zoro's time to suffer. This story will be in several parts (because I, too, need sleep and have yet to discover a way to write more than 10,000 words in two hours after class) and I promise, promise, promise there's comfort and fluff at the end. Not everyone will be so lucky this month. Fandom: One Piece Character(s) : Roronoa Zoro Relationship(s) : Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates & Roronoa Zoro Trigger Warnings: - Multiple Electrocutions - Non-Consensual Body Modification (The Navy installs a chip in Zoro's neck while he's unconscious.) - Blood and Injuries No. 8: SLEEP DEPRIVATION Isolation Chamber | Forced to Stay Awake | "Leave the lights on." (Coldplay, Midnight)

HOUR 1

Zoro opened his eyes, the fog in his mind clearing as a brief but sharp pain spread through his ribs. Instinctively, his hand went to his haramaki but was met with air instead of steel.

Zoro sat up abruptly, the room spinning around him mercilessly. His mouth was pasty and he could no longer feel his tongue but the metallic taste of blood was not one he could forget. The screech of chains on the stone floor as he moved hurt his ears but he couldn't have covered them if he wanted to.

Zoro tested the chains that restrained him to the wall, the awkward position of his arms preventing him from going too far without dislocating his shoulder. His head felt heavy and he struggled to keep it straight, his eyes begging him to close for just a moment.

Still, Zoro found the strength—or the spite—to look down on the asshole marine who had just kicked him. It took a lot of skill to maintain such an arrogant attitude while being forced onto his knees, but Zoro was very good at what he did.

"Too afraid to hit me when I'm not tied up and unarmed?" Zoro smirked.

"Laugh while you still can," the marine ignored him — Bob, he looked like a Bob with his stupid mustache — and continued his villain monologue. "The unit in charge of escorting you to Impel will arrive in three days and I doubt you'll have time to laugh there."

Zoro didn't have time to come up with a sarcastic response (whatever drugs they'd injected him with to subdue him, cowards , were still in his system, so excuse him for being a little slow) as Bob leaned over to whisper in Zoro's ear.

"I'm sure you can ask your captain when he joins you in your cell."

The electric shock that ran through his body, leaving him spasming and drooling, was well worth Bob's cry of pain and horror as Zoro spat his torn ear onto the ground, red covering his teeth as he grinned victoriously. Bob slapped his hand where his ear had been seconds before, a thick trickle of blood running down his arm.

"You're a fool to think I won’t be gone by then. Pray your ear gets infected and you die before I get free,” Zoro threatened, his fingers still twitching uncontrollably.

Zoro had trained relentlessly for two years to become stronger, to never fail his captain again. It wasn't someone like Bob who was going to get in his way. He was just going to take a little nap and wait for the world to stop spinning before heading off to find his crew. They had probably gotten lost without him.

Zoro closed his tired eyes and the headache that was splitting his skull dulled for a moment. He just needed to sleep .

A second electric current went through him and Zoro could feel every single blood vessel bursting in shock. He convulsed violently, the rusty steel of his handcuffs digging into his skin, drawing blood. It took him longer to recover, resting his body weight against his chains, straining his shoulders almost to their limits, while he caught his breath.

(Zoro was used to the crackle of electricity in the air and the sound of thunder. But it lacked the smell of earth after rain and tangerines, the clink of gold bracelets and coins.)

When he raised his head (he only bowed his head to one man), Bob was grinning viciously. The blood on his jaw could have made him look menacing, but it only made him look like a child playing in the paint.

"I didn't think the chip would activate so soon," Bob sneered. "But let me introduce you to the new marvel of the Navy's science department. Whenever you're about to fall asleep, the chip in your neck will send an electric current through your body to keep you awake.”

Zoro twisted his neck, realizing that the dull bite in his neck wasn’t from the needle they’d used to drug him, but from a small silver metal chip.

Bob placed a finger against his cheek, pretending to think.

“A human being can go what… seventy-two hours without sleep? Pray that the Impel Down unit arrives before your hallucinations start talking to you. Or don’t. It’s your choice where you die.”

Zoro tugged fiercely at his chains and Bob looked frightened for a moment as pieces of the wall crumbled. But the wall and the chains stayed in place. Bob sighed in relief (bad idea, never show a predator that you’re afraid) and even allowed himself a small, strangled laugh.

“Enjoy your stay here, Roronoa. It’ll be your last.”

Zoro spat on Bob's freshly polished boots. "Run while you still can. You'll regret not killing me when you had the chance."

Face contorted with anger, Bob kicked him in the chin, his teeth clashing violently. He grabbed Zoro by the hair, forcing him to look up at a small remote control.

"I forgot, but luckily you seem very eager to get electrocuted, the chip can also be controlled remotely. If I were you, I'd start thinking about my attitude," Bob whispered, out of Zoro's range. He had learned his lesson at least. "You can start by apologizing."

"I'm sorry," Zoro began slowly, "that your mother abandoned you at birth. But I understand her, I wouldn't have stayed either."

The reaction was immediate, and damn if it didn't hurt a little—his vision went white and he practically choked on his tongue—but Zoro laughed as Bob walked out of the cell, still shaking with spasms.

Worth it.

For now, Zoro isn't suffering too much (from his point of view) and is more of a general nuisance than anything else but that will change as the sleepless hours progress. And speaking of which, go to sleep or take a nap, it'll do you good!

[quinloki]

xD keeping me on my toes @razzledazzleelderberry ❤️

There's a solid commerce coming into play - without having to pay tribute to the Celestial Dragons, there's a real robust commerce coming into play. There's way more Merchant vessels than pirate or marine ships nowadays, and some pirates have become guard ships for the shipping companies. Pay's better and the marines leave you alone >.>

Manufacturing is on the rise, with electricity becoming the norm, and technology making leaps and bounds, think of like 1900-1920s vibes.

I'm not sure what you mean by "How/Why did the characters come here?" I have done a lot of head canons about characters specifically, but for a more general answer, most noteworthy characters ended up tied up in the Club because of the combined allure/concerns of Rayleigh, Shakky, Crocodile and Shanks, honestly.

Oh there are! Roger may have freed the world from the Dragons, but there's still a lot out there, and plenty to be faced and conquered. Luffy still faced some trials and fights during his coming of age travels, but he hasn't seen the whole world yet, there's plenty pending. I just don't know if any of it will "matter" for the focus of the stories. As yet I don't expect them to stray too far from the club and it's immediate surroundings =3

Help me world build

[dailyunsolvedmysteries-movedd]

15 Inventors Who Were Killed By Their Own Inventions

Marie Curie -  Marie Curie, popularly known as Madame Curie, invented the process to isolate radium after co-discovering the radioactive elements radium and polonium. She died of aplastic anemia as a result of prolonged exposure to ionizing radiation emanating from her research materials. The dangers of radiation were not well understood at the time.

William Nelson - a General Electric employee, invented a new way to motorize bicycles. He then fell off his prototype bike during a test run and died.

William Bullock - he invented the web rotary printing press. Several years after its invention, his foot was crushed during the installation of the new machine in Philadelphia. The crushed foot developed gangrene and Bullock died during the amputation.

Horace Lawson Hunley - he was a marine engineer and was the inventor of the first war submarine. During a routine test, Hunley, along with a 7-member crew, sunk to death in a previously damaged submarine H. L. Hunley (named after Hunley’s death) on October 15, 1963. 

Francis Edgar Stanley - Francis crashed into a woodpile while driving a Stanley Steamer. It was a steam engine-based car developed by Stanley Motor Carriage Company, founded by Francis E. Stanley and his twin Freelan O. Stanley. 

Thomas Andrews - he was an Irish businessman and shipbuilder. As the naval architect in charge of the plans for the ocean liner RMS Titanic, he was travelling on board that vessel during her maiden voyage when the ship hit an iceberg on 14 April 1912. He perished along with more than 1,500 others. His body was never recovered.

Thomas Midgley Jr. - he was an American engineer and chemist who contracted polio at age 51, leaving him severely disabled. He devised an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys to help others lift him from the bed. He was accidentally entangled in the ropes of the device and died of strangulation at the age of 55.

Alexander Bogdanov - he was a Russian physician and philosopher who was one of the first people to experiment with blood transfusion. He died when he used the blood of malaria and TB victim on himself.

Michael Dacre -  died after testing his flying taxi device designed to permit fast, affordable travel between regional cities.

Max Valier - invented liquid-fuelled rocket engines as a member of the 1920s German rocket society. On May 17, 1930, an alcohol-fuelled engine exploded on his test bench in Berlin that killed him instantly.

Mike Hughes - was killed when the parachute failed to deploy during a crash landing while piloting his homemade steam-powered rocket.

Harry K. Daghlian Jr. and Louis Slotin -  The two physicists were running experiments on plutonium for The Manhattan Project, and both died due to lethal doses of radiation a year apart (1945 and 1946, respectively).

Karel Soucek -  The professional stuntman developed a shock-absorbent barrel in which he would go over the Niagara Falls. He did so successfully, but when performing a similar stunt in the Astrodome, the barrel was released too early and Soucek plummeted 180 feet, hitting the rim of the water tank designed to cushion the blow.

Hammad al-Jawhari - he was a prominent scholar in early 11th century Iraq and he was also sort of an inventor, who was particularly obsessed with flight. He strapped on a pair of wooden wings with feathers stuck on them and tried to impress the local Imam. He jumped off from the roof of a mosque and consequently died.

Jean-Francoise Pilatre de Rozier -  Rozier was a French teacher who taught chemistry and physics. He was also a pioneer of aviation, having made the first manned free balloon flight in 1783. He died when his balloon crashed near Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais during an attempt to fly across the English Channel. Pilâtre de Rozier was the first known fatalities in an air crash when his Roziere balloon crashed on June 15, 1785.

[blueiscoool]

Long-Lost US Submarine From World War II Found off Japan

The long-lost wreckage of a U.S. Navy submarine credited with sinking nearly a dozen enemy ships during World War II before vanishing in late 1944 has been found off the coast of northern Japan, Navy officials announced Thursday.

The USS Albacore’s wreckage was confirmed by the Naval History and Heritage Command’s Underwater Archaeology Branch after it was located recently off the coast of Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands, the Navy said in a news release. The NHHC used information and imagery provided by Tamaki Ura, a University of Tokyo professor who has specialized in developing autonomous underwater vehicles to confirm the identity of the submarine. The Albacore disappeared while patrolling in the Pacific Ocean and had at least 85 sailors aboard.

“As the final resting place for [U.S.] sailors who gave their life in defense of our nation, we sincerely thank and congratulate Dr. Ura and his team for their efforts in locating the wreck of Albacore,” Samuel Cox, the director of the NHHC, said in a statement. “It is through their hard work and continued collaboration that we could confirm Albacore’s identity after being lost at sea for over 70 years.”

The Albacore was last heard from by the U.S. military on Oct. 28, 1944, when it stopped at Midway for fuel en route for its 11th combat patrol in the waters off northern Japan, according to Naval records. The Gato-class submarine was believed sunk in a Nov. 7, 1944, underwater explosion reported in Japanese military records, likely the result of hitting an underwater mine. The location of the ship’s wreckage appeared to confirm those details, according to the Navy.

Before the sub’s sinking, the Albacore had proved a capable warship. The vessel was built by the Electric Boat Company and commissioned into the Navy on June 1, 1942. The Navy credited the submarine with sinking at least 10 enemy ships during its brief tenure — earning the Albacore nine battle stars for meritorious participation in battle and four Presidential Unit Citations for extraordinary heroism in combat. The Navy said the Albacore might have been responsible for sinking three additional ships during the war, but those have not been confirmed.

Among the sub’s known sinkings were Japanese destroyers, freighters and the 31,000-ton Japanese aircraft carrier Taiho, then the newest and largest carrier in the Japanese fleet. Taiho sunk hours after being struck by a torpedo fired by the Albacore during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, according to the Navy. The Albacore’s crew did not know at the time that they had sunk the flagship after diving deep to escape incoming aerial attacks. Months later, the Albacore’s top officer at that time, Lt. Cmdr. James Blanchard, was awarded the Navy Cross, the service’s second-highest honor for combat heroics, for his role in sinking the Taiho.

The Navy said Ura used unmanned underwater craft to locate the Albacore based on Japanese records documenting the Nov. 7, 1944, explosion off Hokkaido.

“Strong currents, marine growth and poor visibility on site made it challenging to fully document the wreck or obtain comprehensive images,” the Navy statement said. “However, several key features of a late 1944 Gato-class submarine were identified in the video.”

Those features included the presence of a SJ Radar dish and mast, a row of vent holes along the top of the superstructure and the absence of steel plates along the ship’s upper edge consistent with the Albacore’s construction at the time that the submarine was last seen, according to the Navy.

The Albacore’s wreckage now falls under the NHHC’s jurisdiction and is protected from intrusion by U.S. law, the Navy said.

“The wreck represents the final resting place of sailors that gave their life in defense of the nation and should be respected by all parties as a war grave,” the Navy statement reads.

By Corey Dickstein.