#Pod System Devices

[carionto]

Nothing is safe from becoming "exciting"

I've read a bunch of HASO stuff and often when I'm writing something I know I'm drawing from a ton of somewheres, to the point where I can't pinpoint anything, it's all a big mush that my brain then spits out here. This one, however, I know was inspired by jpitha's writings, specifically the bit about Gene's High G Gym (I think that's the mostly correct name anyway). Shamelessly shilling their work cuz it's great, go read it!

______________________________

Humanity has begun expanding their hold over their native system. Like an insect hive, ships ferry just about everything to and from Earth, building stations both in planetary orbits and around the Sun. Nearly all experimental of some kind - a lot of ideas they couldn't try built up over the thousand years they were isolated.

They do also have countless small space worthy vehicles, nearly all with varying superficial designs and patterns, but also quite a few rather different underlying mechanical principles.

Soon we noticed a lot of activity throughout the entire system not affiliated with any organization or group. Just... individuals and small family units doing their own thing. We quickly gave up trying to categorize such behavior. When we asked, they said:

"Anyone with a license to pilot their craft can go pretty much wherever that isn't restricted. For some places and activities they do need to get a permission first though."

Worryingly lax on account that many of the larger "civilian" craft are still powered by their "Mini-Suns" as they call them.

One particular individual craft got our attention. It created a spike of thermal activity in one region of their Oort Cloud, so one of us went to ask this Human. Abigail was her name:

"Yo space dudes and dudettes, what's up?" Our translators were still incorporating the various Human linguistic peculiarities, but their liaisons are very helpful. We inquired as to what she was doing here so far out.

"Oh you are gonna love it!" another phrase we are learning to be wary of. "Victor, that's this bad boy right here," she affectionately slaps the armrest of her, now that we are closer, disturbingly modified vessel. Is that a second engine cluster bolted on the back? And a... weird exposed device with a large neon label - Space BBQ. We instinctively fear her and her next words. "He and I are making a race track with these here ice cubes. I got this idea when I was a kid, and it is going to be. So. Awesome!"

All of the red flags triggered. Then, Abigail demonstrates by shooting a harpoon claw... thing... at a nearby object the size of a few skyscrapers and begins pulling it towards a cluster of other planetesimals. Normally, these kind of clouds have stabilized over billions of years and each object is thousands and millions of kilometers from one another.

There were dozens stacked so close to each other that you could barely fit an escape pod between in some places. One in particular was surrounded by a small cloud of its own.

"Ooh, that one right there." She enthusiastically pointed out its somewhat flattened ovoid shape. "Doesn't it just scream to you that it wants to be the ultimate doughnut? Hector thinks so, he's my cat by the way - Say hi Hector! [hiss] (Fine, be that way, ya bum) Love that bastard. Anyway, just gotta finish blasting a hole big enough and it'll be the perfect finish line."

Not wanting to hurt our sanity further, we decided to leave her be, but not before she proudly exclaimed over all open channels:

"Remember to tell your folks if they ever wanna race to come here to Abby's Action Asteroids [quick whisper] (trademark pending)! Soon it'll have laser obstacles!"

[pen-and-umbra]

Here’s a particular detail to wonder about. How does Sephiroth gain access to the Jenova chamber when he arrives at the Mako reactor after pillaging Nibelheim?

We don't see him using any keycards or entering any passwords. There are no mechanical locks or keys to speak of. We don't see him tampering with any remote terminals in the mansion or the reactor itself. There is no indication that he is using voice commands either. He simply says "Mother, I have come for you. Now, open the way for me", and it magically opens after he's dealt with Tifa.

Interestingly, there is an odd device attached in front of the Jenova tube that resembles the entity and appears to be linked to some type of circuitry. When Sephiroth plucks it away, we see tubes and cables rupturing and leaking liquid.

Based on the FFVII Remake, we know that Hojo had extensively experimented with Jenova cells, even imbuing machinery with them, as witnessed at the Drum. The evidence suggests that its organics can, in some cases, interact with various devices.

This raises the question whether Jenova's chamber was connected to the entire reactor complex, or at least the portion housing the test subject pods. If this is true, the phrase "Now, open the way for me" takes on a far more sinister meaning. Even more disturbingly, it raises yet another troubling possibility. Who's to say that if Jenova could tamper with the sealed door, it couldn't also tamper with the pod system? In other words, what if the creature was responsible for the entire alleged "reactor malfunction"?.. [some additional speculation on Jenova being “awake”]

Another potential conspiracy theory emerged immediately after the original game was released. What if Hojo orchestrated the Nibelheim mission? While there is no solid evidence that Hojo or his assistants recently visited the site (the townspeople would have likely noticed the visit or the helicopters heading towards reactor H-pad), Sephiroth goes out of his way to emphasize that the Nibelheim reactor is unique in that it is under Research & Development jurisdiction rather than Urban Development dept.

R&D most likely had a remote monitoring/control system for the chamber environment. Hojo, in particular, has expressed an interest in Palmer's testimony that Sephiroth was seen walking the halls of ShinRA headquarters, famously stating that he would like to see Sephiroth and Aerith produce an offspring.

Later in OG, Hojo was shown to be fascinated by his pet theory of Reunion being played out. As a result, it's not unreasonable to speculate that Hojo may have specifically arranged for Sephiroth to be dispatched to Nibelheim to observe Jenova specimens come into contact and its corollary. If there were security cameras in the Jenova chamber, Hojo might have been able to remotely unlock the door [upon seeing Sephiroth approach].

It is indeed a terrifying possibility that Hojo could be directly responsible for the Nibelheim tragedy. Before Crisis Core and Genesis, In OG, prior to Genesis stuff being introduced, it seemed suspicious to send two top SOLDIER members to a remote and dilapidated reactor to investigate reported monster sightings.

@pen-and-umbra

[skzstoryvault]

Into the Earth (Hyunjin, spicy?)

Hyunjin x f!reader

multi-chapter fic

AU

happens a few years in the future

Hyunjin is in his post-idol era. Working as an artist and fashion icon.

Warnings: mentions of scamming, dishonesty, abusive people and various kinds of abuse, parasites (and not the Bong Joon Ho clever kind), misogyny (but not Hyunjin!), ageism. Nudity (Hyunjin). More to be added with later chapters.

This is in no way meant as a commentary on the real persons depicted here. They all deserve the world.

Please be kind.

Please do not report this post. If it's not your thing, just scroll away.

If you're underage, please scroll on, there is nothing for you here.

If you enjoy this story and are reading along, I would love to hear your comments in the replies, reblogs or DMs - however you feel most comfortable.

Like I mentioned, this story is finished, but I will slightly change its course based on the way the chapters are received.

Story title is inspired by a Lorna Shore song

Part 2 Song for this chapter:

Part 3 - Under the sun Hyunjin’s room has a white, hard bed and a window where the old grape vine reaches and birds come to sit and sing in the mornings. The sun filters in through the vine leaves at all hours of the day, so it’s never direct and too hot. There’s a heater in there too, for the winter months, a table and sockets to charge his devices. Hyunjin only took his phone, but the place has wi-fi and it’s really fast and stable. He doesn’t even go through one battery charge during the day now, because he doesn’t use his phone unless it’s before bed for a few minutes. Usually he’s tired, but the good kind, and he falls asleep without having to do techniques or take pills for it. There’s a bathroom down the hallway and several more on the lower floors. First thing he did when he got there was to pause his subscription, to avoid boxes of uneaten fruit and veg to pile up and rot outside his apartment door back in Paris.

Work is, in fact, hard, but he loves it. It demands both strength and gentleness from him, since a lot of what he is assigned to do is picking fruit and placing it in baskets, or making the boxes for the people who subscribe to the farm’s products, like he did until now. He’s already seen the trees he adopted in situ. He’s also seen the other workers and the owner talk to the trees, hug them or kiss their bark. He feels like the odd one out for not yet daring to be so overt in his enthusiasm for the work. He now automatically wakes up early, while it’s still dark outside, to help with breakfast and to switch on the irrigation system. Because he knows his way with technology, Paloma, his shift lead, trusts him with more of the technical stuff. 

Paloma is about his mom’s age, Hyunjin suspects, but he is not sure because she is full of energy, has the gorgeously tanned skin of the people in this coastal region and shiny, awesome long black hair that curls cheekily like a frame around her face. She wears big hoop earrings and bright red lipstick and nail polish. At first, she was intimidating, but Hyunjin now knows she is nice, kind and empathetic. Also, she has a voice that projects across the fields with no amplifier or other tech help. She helped him when he first joined the farm, got him settled in, showed him where everything is and introduced him to everyone. Paloma has a Turkish husband, Eren, who is the owner of the most epic twirled moustache and a unibrow that could intimidate even JYP on its own. He is bald and massive, and Hyunjin knows Eren could pop him open like a bean pod with one hand only. There is so much strength in those corded arms and thick thighs, from a life of work outdoors. But Eren is also a fantastic cook and he helped Hyunjin the first time he had to cook for the entire group. Together, they made vegan pide, a Turkish specialty that looks like dough boats with a spiced veggie and vegan minced meat filling. The Spanish touch to the recipe are the roasted and peeled red peppers, which add so much flavour and smokiness to the finished dish. Hyunjin learned that day that being bold with spices can take even the blandest recipe to chef-y heights even Han wouldn’t dream of writing about. “Ever made dough before, my boy?” Eren asked him, getting a big jar of flour from the pantry. Everything in the kitchen at the farm is supersized, because the dishes have to feed many. Hyunjin has made dough before, but not the kind that needs yeast, so he shook his head. “It’s easy. One cube of yeast for five hundred grams of flour. Five hundred grams feeds four.” “So we need… two kilos?” Hyunjin tried to see if he got it right. “Yes. And ten grams of salt per five hundred grams, that’s two and three quarter tablespoons. A tablespoon of sea salt is fifteen grams, remember that.” Eren told him. “In time you will learn to eyeball it, but for now it’s best to do some maths and taste every step along the way.” 

The recipe was simple and with very few ingredients, but it turned out sensationally tasty in the end. Eren let Hyunjin have all the credit and made sure to tell everyone at the table that Hyunjin’s hard work had brought them their lovely meal. There are two women from Ghana, Cass and Kree, who said grace before they dug into what Hyunjin and Eren had made, and who told God to be good to Hyunjin who made sure everyone got to eat so well. Later, they taught Hyunjin to make jollof rice, but after they argued over the correct recipe and the correct order of adding the ingredients. Hyunjin was very stressed on the day it was his turn to cook for everyone. But with Eren’s help and everyone else’s praise, he prevailed, and the feeling he was left with at the end of the day was indescribable. He felt like he was walking on clouds.

Some days, the dawn finds Hyunjin walking across the fields, to the orchard, where he takes his shoes and socks off and walks on the dewy grass, absolutely loving the feeling and feeling recharged. On the days when no one else is outside yet, he even takes off every stitch of clothing and lets the cool morning air and the fresh sunlight bathe him and rebuild him anew. It feels less like having his dick out on a farm and more like a luxury all the money he ever made as an idol couldn’t buy. He’s not usually the type to want to have his dick out to the world, but he’s repressed every part of himself since he was a child, for a very long time, and it’s just so good to no longer have to.

The air just smells different, more fragrant, more alive. Birds sing louder here and the few animals who roam the farm are kept as friends, not as slaves. He’s already befriended the owner’s dogs, two black Doberman Pinscher called Hans and Franz and a poodle called Nube.

He hasn’t seen himself in a full-length mirror since he got here. There’s a mirror in the  bathroom he uses, and he sometimes shaves in it, but most of the time he doesn’t give a fuck because he’s in a hurry to get to the field, to the orchard or to the gardens. The other men working there have teased him about his anaemic moustache and patchy beard, but the women all love them for some reason. And Hyunjin simply doesn’t find the time to feel self-conscious about the hair that grows on him while he is busy and fully immersed in his tasks.

The summer sun gave Hyunjin’s skin a golden hue, but no tan lines, and he considers himself lucky, although he would not care much if he did have tan lines. His white coworkers also don’t care about theirs. He hasn’t been this carefree, confident and at peace with himself since he became an adult. Part 4

[osmos-iv]

Murder Drones Theories/Observations !!!

I'm sure any Murder Drones fans(myself included) are excited for the final episodes to be released soon! But, I've made some observations from the currently existing episodes that I'm not sure if anyone has brought up yet. Here are my points!

(Brace yourself, this may get lengthy)

Let's get into the longer stuff first. In episode 5, we are taken into N's memories and see what life was like for them while they worked for Tessa's rich family. I think it's worth noting that the disassembly drones that we know in the present time have yellow eyes. However, in these past memories, they have white eyes.

Pay attention to the glow of the eyes, since it can get difficult to tell sometimes. Even if the yellow appears white sometimes, you can see the blurred yellow glow if you look closely. Here's a better comparison with past CYN and N:

Maybe they(N, J, and V) haven't become disassembly drones yet? Honestly I don't think we even know what a disassembly drone is. Actually wait, N actually says exactly that: "Aren't you worried we have no idea what we even are?!" (from episode 3, time 4:22)

On the subject of eyes, I see people commonly confusing some colours with others. Doll has orange eyes, and Alice's eye colour sits somewhere in between Doll's colour and the disassembly drone colour.

Idk it's like a copper?? Or they're the same and Doll's eyes are just dimmer than Alice's. The point is, they don't have yellow eyes. I'm mentioning this because the only drones we've seen associated with the colour yellow are the disassembly drones. Moving on!

At the end of episode 1, the last shot we see is this:

You can probably see that this resembles the symbol of the absolute solver. Of course, I don't know what these devices are - satellites, cannons, or even landing pods or whatever - but this makes me think that the solver originates from off the planet and operates remotely. Additionally, it's been said that the Absolute Solver "took CYN as a host". So CYN and the Solver are not the same; they are separate entities. Or at least, they were. (We don't see CYN acting as a normal drone at any point, only as taken over by Solver.)

+ Other small details I noticed!

1- The lace headpiece that J, V, and CYN wear in episode 5 all have eyeball patterns on them. (resembling the Solver's signature tubular eye cameras)

2- The binary code around the window says "01101110 1110101 1101100 1101100". Using a conversion site translates it to "null"

3- The Copper system appears to be the furthest from Earth(based on what is shown), and at least 2 colonized planets excluding Copper 9 have been taken over by Solver. Earth has also been taken over/destroyed by the Solver.

(the distance shown is not accurate to distance between planets, these are merely how I put the separate frames next to each other)

4- V is a zombie drone? Her eye screen displayed a 'Fatal Error' message earlier in episode 5 like other drones in the library, after which she ends up sporting the same wings and crazed state that Uzi had in episode 4.

Adding onto this, while she is in her zombie mode her lights are yellow. After Uzi hacks into the Solver's body and lets go of V, her eyes are back to white and her behaviour is normal. - This is visible from a little before 18:00 mins. into episode 5 and the seconds that follow.

5- Tessa and CYN have the same hairstyle.

I don't personally think this holds deeper meaning, since it's said that Tessa gives her favourite drones their hair. Oh I just noticed, CYN has the bow too!

6- The doll that CYN disassembles.

I don't understand why this was shown in great focus in episode 5. The only thing I can possibly think of is that it implies that the Solver can take control of biological beings, like humans? I'm not really convinced on this, but this and my previous observation about CYN and Tessa could add on to the theory that's been going around that Tessa is being controlled by the Solver. Maybe if we saw present Tessa with her helmet off we could se what colour her eyes are?

lol jk I know the humans being silhouettes is a stylistic choice.

And that's the end! Feel free to correct me or add on to anything I've theorized about here.

Thanks for reading!

[satancopilotsmytardis]

For your AU question. Space travel fic where one is an alien. Set in the future.

Astronaut Dabi who managed to make it even though his father said it was a stupid dream that he would never achieve Not only does he make it as an astronaut, he ends up on a team that goes on brief missions from their space station to survey different planets for useful resources and to better document everything they can find.

Everything is going fine for about three years until one day Dabi ends up on a planet alone for a very brief scouting mission. He's just popping down to get air, water, and soil samples for this region because it was too dense with jungle foliage for their rovers to get through it. It literally was supposed to take 20 minutes and they followed all the proper procedures. He lands, chit-chatting to the others back at base while he's collecting the samples and being, as Magne says, 'a fucking nerd' about all of the interesting vegetation on the planet. Compress warns him a cloud front is rapidly coming in and he'll need to be back up at base before it hits, so he goes back to his pod. It's literally just bad luck, a freak accident that one of the alien megafauna straight up steps on his pod and strands him there in its own haste to find shelter against the oncoming storm. He's still got communication to the base for a could of days, and based on what he's collected so far, this planet does seem to be habitable to humans if he needs to be here for a little while, and the others should be able to come back down and get him as soon as it stops storming. Okay, this is also not that big of a deal, this is something that happens. He uses his scanners to find a cave system to wait out the storm and turns off his communication device to save power, knowing the others are just a button away if he needs them.

Uh, turns out that cave belonged to a native humanoid species that was previously unregistered. Dabi apologizes to the tall muscular... reptilian?? alien. He looks human in most of his anatomy save for the thick muscular prehensile tail that's twice as long as he is tall, the four fingers and toes on each limb, and the fact that when he opens his mouth it's much larger than it seems with two rows of insanely sharp teeth, extra skin flaps inside and a long forked tongue like a snake. His pale skin also has scales littered across it in patches, and he's nearly eight feet tall. Dabi turns on his universal translator and apologizes for intruding and Shigaraki is amused enough by this little creature that he puts p with him squatting as the tide comes in.

Dabi learns that the storm comes every month on this planet, having to do with the rotation, gravity, and other factors, and usually lasts until the tri-moon comes. He calculates that based on when they know the three moons should be in sight on the surface of this planet and determines that isn't going to be for another three to four weeks. Shigaraki is willing to let him stay and Dabi calls back up to the ship to tell them the situation. It would be very risky to send a pod down through the lightning, so they agree to just keep in touch every two days for timed check-ins to ensure he's alright. And then Dabi gets to spend a month getting to know Shigaraki.

They have a nice time together because Dabi is excited about anything he can learn about and Shigaraki likes having the company he really likes the way Dabi smells. They've been sleeping together (like for warmth and because Shigaraki can't make him a bed of his own while everything is soaked) and Dabi isn't thinking anything of that until during one of his check-ins he is informed by Compress this is a registered species-- it's considered extremely hostile and any planet it's found on is not fit for humans to inhabit because they have a habit of eating them and their skin is weapon-proof (or at least the weapons the scouts are likely to have). Dabi is of course terrified now that he knows and thinks he's being saved until his food runs out. And one night Shigaraki cages him under his bulk and Dabi is certain he's going to die and then nope, oops, turns out Shigaraki thinks that because Dabi smells so good, it must mean that he's a compatible mate and they smash (snake-like biology on that front too 🍆🍆👀)

(bonus) Dabi does get off the planet at the end of the storm, though Shigaraki is very sad to see him go, but Dabi just goes back up to renegotiate his contract, he will become an expert on Shigaraki's species if he's allowed to stay with him for 2-3 months at a time and then come back to base to report his findings afterward. His research ends up getting published and he earns enough to buy out the last of his contract so he can stay with Shig

[pod-together]

Pod-Together Day 6 Reveals 2024

Of Soulmates and Assassins [text, audio] (Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Hawkeye (Comics)) written by 42donotpanic, performed by rscreighton Summary: Ronin and the Winter Soldier are two assassins in the same system. They cross paths a lot, but usually, they don't interact much. They don't mind; neither of them is particularly interested in getting to know the other. It's just that the universe seems to have other plans for them.

Bend & *Snap* [text, audio] (Stranger Things (TV 2016)) written by artaxlivs, performed by steddiestories Summary: UPS guy is pretty, for sure, those lips, that square jaw? Eddie dreams about sitting on his face, honestly. But it’s not like the cardboard-brown uniform is given away any secrets beyond well toned arms and thick thighs. Oh, man, his thighs? Fuck, Eddie has to force himself not to stare as those little brown shorts ride up on hairy thighs when the guy squats to pick up a box.

on monsters (Star Wars Prequel Trilogy) written by cabezadeperro, performed by korechthonia Summary: Obi-Wan was trained on the finding and killing on monsters. Experience has taught him that the former is always much easier than the latter.

Got You in My Sight (Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types) written by Elthadriel, performed by stargateinmybasement Summary: Echo and Fives haven’t been subtle—Rex doesn’t think they've been trying to be subtle—and he already knows how this will end. They’re a hard pair to want to say no to.

Survival to Flourishing [text, audio] (Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling) written by HadrianPeverellBlack, performed by Mangotart_reads Summary: Harry Potter is raised by his godfathers, Sirius and Remus. This is how everything changes

keep thy friend under thy own life's key (Good Omens (TV)) written by hiddendruid, performed by ReformedTsundere and hiddendruid Summary: The theatre owned by Anathema Device is close to declaring bankruptcy. Crowley and Aziraphale team together in order to save it.

Captain's Log, by Captain Dan "The Fox" Wilds [starting text written by Opalsong, with pensieve podfics by bluedreaming, GodofLaundryBaskets, litra, and MistbornHero] (One Piece (Anime & Manga), All For The Game - Nora Sakavic) Summary: The Fox Pirates pick up a new member in Loguetown before heading to the Grand Line. Nicky says there was some kid in a straw hat climbing the execution platform, glad they set sail before that nonsense went down. Captain's Logs of the Foxhole on its trip to the One Piece.

An Ambiguous Gift: Silver (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) written by RisalSoran, performed by BardicRavenReads, audio production by OneGoldenRaptor

blood/thirsty (Men's Hockey RPF) written by Robokittens, performed by cosmicanon Summary: Brady hadn't really thought about the logistics of the whole thing. Was it like when some girls get dumped, they get depressed and cut their bangs? Timmy got dumped and … got fangs?

Emojis as a Love Language (방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS) written by strangecobwebs, performed by celli Summary: Hoseok has a crush on Park Jimin from Payroll. He is super chill about it. Really.

rational and level-headed (Dimension 20 (Web Series)) written by travvymybeloved, performed by Poluche Summary: Cody was well-known for his normal and grounded reactions to things. He told himself that frequently. He was good at handling things with grace and poise and wasn’t notorious at all for blowing his shit at the slightest provocation. That was why he was handling being faced with the realization of a lifetime in a rational and level-headed manner. “You’re sitting in your bathtub and eating an ice cream sandwich because you’re sad but don’t have a tub of ice cream?” “I mean, yeah.”

[techwrecker]

Vader Catches the Race (Ficlet)

Words: <500

Warnings: N/A

A/N: I thought it would be funny/endearing if Vader happened to catch Tech’s race. Enjoy!

Despite being “Dictator of the Galaxy”, Darth Vader still liked to keep up with pod racing every now and then when he had a moment’s time between menial meetings with his generals or during especially lengthy travel.

He flicked on his portable holo as he walked down the hall, ignoring the saluting soldiers as he passed. A far more dangerous division of pod racing was airing across the channels- Riot Racing. Having been a podracer in his youthful past life, Darth Vader typically kept an affinity for the traditional rules of pod racing, but the Force urged him to catch the tail end of the race playing out before him.

The holo showed that one of the racers had just sped away from the pit stop, weapons clanking to the ground behind him. The announcers identified him as an amateur. Darth recognized that this was an unorthodox approach to Riot Racing as weapons were enthusiastically encouraged in this sport. This only raised his enthrallment of the race.

The racers were coming on the Tri-Tunnel. Apparently, the left tunnel was under construction, so most racers sped into the middle or right one. Not the amateur. Another risk? This racer was either extremely calculated or had a death wish.

Darth Vader stopped mid stride and held the holo up closer to his masked face. He found himself rooting for the underdog, wanting the unconventional tactics to win the race. He let his free hand clench in anticipation at his side.

The racer had been able to pull through the tunnel and was now sandwiched between the remaining racers. He dodged a grab attack, letting the arm fly onto the leading pod. This gave him enough room to speed into first place, just before the finish line.

His crazy strategies had worked! He had won the race. The announcers congratulated the winner over the comms system.

Had they said Tech? Surely this wasn’t the Tech he had been acquaintanced with, long ago.

The winning racer pulled into his pit stop and hopped out of the cockpit. It was him. The genetically modified clone pulled off his helmet as he was greeted by another, bigger man and a young girl. Darth recognized him as Wrecker but was unfamiliar with the girl.

He let his hand relax. The crowd in attendance began to chant his name.

Tech! Tech! Tech! Te-

Darth Vader shut off the holo. He stuffed the device into his side pocket as he continued toward the flight deck. But, as he glided down the hallway, cape flowing behind him, a small, involuntary smirk grew behind the intimidating mask.

A small part of him, far in the depths of his subconscious, was somewhat relieved to know that at least a few worthy clones were left in the galaxy— even if they were now at oppositions.

[saberswordseabass]

A Hidden Danger; Know your threat (3.5)

Soldiers began to bolt down a dark metal grated floor. The sturdy, metallic walls creak from a minor gravity difference. One of the soldiers shouted something unintelligible to the recording unit. The wall to their right begins to creak louder and warp from stress.

Blast doors begin to lower, trapping the two soldiers in the corridor as the wall bulges like it was hit by a freight train. The soldiers begin to obviously shake as they lower their helmets over their elongated fox like faces. They raise their laser rifles and steady it at the wall bulging.

After another moment, the wall explodes inward, but no explosive decompression followed. A bulky fox robot with stark white, like star-bleached armor, forced its way through. Lasers streak and sizz in the air as the soldiers begin to pelt the robot.

It seemed unfazed by the lasers, only focusing on them when one managed to shoot it in the optic sensor. The graviton ram of its right arm, hissed as it prepared to operate once again, while it raised its left arm, its fingers arcing with a green energy. The bot begins to march towards them intently.

The graviton ram began to glow with a green field as it launched forward with a wet squelch from the soldiers before the video seems to freeze as the recording device manages to show a soldier in horrible mixture of fused into the wall and crushed under a powerful gravitational force.

"So what are you thinking for lunch? I really want to try this Philly cheesesteak that the captive mentioned." A Ursidain spoke, gently scratching their belly as their unruly clothes suggested pirates.

"Eh, doesn't sound awful. You might have t-" The Taurian companion began to state before a warning light began to flash rapidly.

A warning began to echo from the P.A. system; "Prepare to be boarded! Don't recognize the ship, but it is probably the human savior team from the GC. Give them hell!" The P.A. warned as a few moments later, the ship violently shuttered as the boarding vessel rammed them.

The two pirates were caught off guard and had been knocked into the left side wall. "What the hell is wrong with them? Are they insane?!" The Taurian screamed as they grabbed their weapon. Right as they finish that thought, the wall to their right melts like butter. An intimated robot in height, having to lean down to fight in the hallway designed for Ursidains.

"Command: Give up human now, and your lives may be spared." The bot ordered as its stark white armored glistened in the dull, flickering florescent light. It held two massive clamp hands, like originally designed to carry around the cargo pods, but they were paired with some kind of unknown weapon, but the armored canister attached to it suggested a flame based weapon.

The pirates look at each other as the bot stares unmoving at the two, waiting for a reply. The Ursidain nodded to his Taurian companion before unslinging an old earth shotgun and firing a shot into the bot's ribcage area. "Eat ferrus insect!" The Ursidain roared as the bot stumbled back, its inner working exposed from the 'insect'.

"Hostile action has been taken." The bot spoke as its wide footing managed to stabilize. The bot's orange, almost yellow eyes, begun to rapidly shift color to a cool, icy blue. Its arms raise out, and frost began to coat its flamethrower like barrels. An icy stream connects with both organics. The Ursidain looks relatively unharmed but still affected by the flash freezing of his outer layer of fur and fat. His Taurian companion was not as lucky as half of her right side crystallized from the ice-thrower's very napalm; 'Neptunic Nictro'

The Ursidain rushes to close the gap, firing two more shots into the bot, which finally knocks the bot down onto its back. With another shot to it's fox like head makes the machine go limp.

From this device's recording, the screen begins to get hit with many white particulars, giving the recording a grainy resolution. A much smaller bot began to step through the hole left by its bigger cousin. Their rifle, which was glowing blue from an unknown source. Upon readying the gun at the Ursidain, who noticed it too late, the camera grows more grainy. The camera cuts out as the Ursidain attempts to rush the smaller bot, and a split frame of a blue pulse wave echos from its gun.

A deep-seated anger began to fill room, as all recording on each screen paused at a gruesome death. A dull grey fur inquistor sat at a desk in front of the screens. "I've spent 70 years making sure Octarus does not awaken. It is a massive threat to not just us, but all of the GC, if allowed, to get fully operational... again." Gloved hands gently rub the inquistor's face. "And if word gets out that we are the cause, that could cause an end to us, not just as an empire but also a species if what the GC did to the majority of humanity is to be noted."

"Get me on the line with Quilx." The old inquistor spoke to his help, who rushes off, only to return a moment later. "What's wrong?" The older inquistor asks as a worried frown fills his graying brow.

"Sir, Quilx has made a ground expedition to the planet where he believes Octarus' forces have been coming from." That made the old inquistor shoot up, only to grip his chest with a pained expersion. His body was old and failing as he was reaching a century in his Inquisitoral duties.

The help rushed to him before he shooed them away with another pained grunt. "Quilx will die if he steps foot on that planet! Warn him immediately to change his course of operations." The old inquistor gasped as his body forced him back down onto his padded chair.

"Maker, why?" The old inquistor gasped quietly to himself as he stared into space with horror of first-hand experience.

Decided to try another approach to this. I hope you enjoyed it! C&C is very much welcome and appreciated! Again, thank @wolven91 for creating this amazing universe to allow me to create this weird word soup :>

[vulpinroid]

18:18 GMT

[18:17] ARKAngel has started a call.

The incoming call alert had woken him up. Miles sat up with a start and nearly fell on his face as he climbed out of bed. He scrambled to the computer and clicked on the green ‘accept’ button displayed on the screen. It was a video call, with Maria’s face showing signs of fatigue and stress as she was manipulating the touch controls of a console. From what he could gather, it seemed as if her tablet was docked to the console.

“I’m sorry, I fell asleep.” Miles said, rubbing the back of his head. Maria’s attention turned to the tablet and her eyes widened.

“I need your help!” Maria said frantically. “I’m trying to get this escape pod open for Shadow but the passwords that Grandfather gave me aren’t working!”

“Escape pod?” Miles’ ears raised. “Is something happening on the ARK? Why aren’t you leaving through the flight deck?”

“They’ve taken it over.” Maria whispered.

“Who’s ‘they’?”

“I don’t know! They seem to be Federation military though. They just came and started shooting. They’ve killed anyone that’s tried to put up a fight. I managed to get to the panic room at the hospital level and got in contact with Grandfather. He sent Shadow and told me that Shadow had to be podded out.”

“They must have changed the passwords. There has to be some sort of low-level emergency system though. Who the Hell password locks an escape pod system?!” He watched as Maria pressed something on her tablet’s screen.

[18:19] ARKAngel would like to hand over device control.

A window popped up on his screen showing a mirror of Maria’s tablet. He clicked on an on-screen control to return to the main interface. Then he pulled up the tablet’s terminal, entering a command to get a list of network interfaces. There were two active, the wireless network that Maria was connected to, but also a connection to the console she was working at by the physical link. Miles looked at the node address that the tablet had from that link, then the gateway address. He left the terminal and opened her tablet’s browser, entering that gateway address.

He was greeted with the same login page that Maria was trying to get through. GRobotnik was filled in for the username field and the password field had a red border around it.

“You tried his credentials and your own?” Miles asked, the call was still ongoing.

“Yes, neither of those worked!” Maria said.

“I’m going to try something. If the system administrator here was an idiot, this might work. If they weren’t, well then I’ll have to think of something else.” Miles took a deep breath and replaced the input on the login page. He filled out his username of MPrower and the password he had used when he was on the ARK last. The password prompt’s border turned green and then the pod control system came up.

“What did you do?” Maria’s eyes widened.

“Logged in as myself.” The fox raised his ears. “I guess the administrator didn’t zero out my account, and I’d have to guess that your grandfather’s account was locked out as well as your own for some reason. Why they didn’t lock mine out as well, hard to say but it worked.” Maria knelt down out of sight.

“Come on Shadow!” She came back into view, the black and red mobian hedgehog partially visible as she walked him towards the pod.

“I can’t leave you here!” Shadow protested.

“They won’t hurt me.” Maria placated. “They’re here for you. They have to be. This way you’ll be safe.”

“Maria? Where are you sending him?” Miles asked.

“Anywhere that will be safe.” Maria’s voice came back out of frame.

“Crap. Hold on. It’s GPS programmed, isn’t it?” He took over the pod control system, getting a world map. On instinct, he scrolled with his mouse wheel until the airfield near High Wycombe was in view. He clicked on the tarmac and then the ‘Program’ button. “Is he loaded in?”

“Yes!” Maria moved back to the control station and he clicked on the ‘Pod Close’ button. Then he clicked on the ‘Launch Prep’ button. A lever popped up on the console. “What’s that supposed to be?”

“I don’t know. I have a ‘Launch’ button, maybe it’s an emergency backup. Are you ready?” Miles asked.

“Do it!” Maria said. The fox heard muffled gunshots and then a door opening. He saw Maria clutch the lever and then heard a male Ameri-Can voice yelling at her.

“Get your hands off that lever!”

His fingers tensed on the mouse as he moved towards the ‘Launch’ button. Right at that moment, the tablet mirror unexpectedly quit. Then he noticed Maria’s Harmony status was showing as offline.

“Damn it!” Miles lept out of his chair and scrambled out of his bedroom. He went into the hallway and skidded into the kitchen. No sign of his mother there. Looking out the living room window, he noticed that her car was gone but his father’s was there. His shoes thumped against the floor as he went for his father’s home office, seeing the light streaming under the door.

“Dad!” Miles thumped his fist against the door. Urgent footsteps could be heard, followed by the door unlocking.

“What is it?” Group Captain Artair Prower asked, raising his ears. “Is it your mother?”

“No!” Miles raised his eyes up. “Dad, Space Colony ARK is under attack. The Federation sent soldiers of some kind up there! Maria called me, she’s trying to get Shadow out of there but something’s happened! I heard shooting before she got kicked offline. You have to do something!”

“It didn’t sound like a drill?” Artair asked.

“No!” Miles grabbed his father’s hand. “Dad! She needs help!”

“All right. Calm down, son. This is going to be tricky. It’s a Federation space station, but perhaps-” He gestured for Miles to follow him in and picked up his desk phone, punching out a number.

“Jules, Artair. I’m coming back to headquarters. Call your brother. Tell him he needs to get our ambassador in Ottawa to contact the President, if not doing so himself. There’s something going wrong on Space Colony ARK, shots have been fired.” Miles could hear the surprise and apprehension coming from the hedgehog on the other line. “Yes, I know, it’s a major deviation from the chain of command but Sir Charles is the bloody Prime Minister. Get to it!”

Artair hung the phone up, grabbed his lanyard and slung it around his neck before getting his phone and keys. “I want you to grab that call recording and put it on your tablet and phone. You’re coming with me to headquarters, Miles.”

[misfitwashere]

Ukraine’s F-16s are fighting with help from a USAF electronic-warfare unit

A U.S. Air Force squadron reprogrammed the jets' EW gear before delivery—and expects to upgrade them as needed.

A U.S. Air Force unit loaded Ukrainian F-16s with new electronic warfare capabilities ahead of the jets’ delivery—and plans to reprogram them based on data collected in combat. 

The 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron, a small unit based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, was tasked with reprogramming the electronic warfare system aboard F-16s being donated by Denmark and the Netherlands to enable them to survive Russian jamming and other electromagnetic attacks.

Air Force engineers first had to understand an unfamiliar electronic warfare system, since the system on the F-16s transferred from Denmark and the Netherlands isn’t used by the U.S. But with data supplied by Denmark and Norway, the unit was able to understand the new system and then sent personnel abroad to develop and test the system with allies, according to a press release.   

“This is not our standard operating procedure,” the 68th EWS director in a statement. “The fact that the team was able to figure out the system in two weeks, go in country with a partner to develop a best-ever mission data file is unheard of and is thanks to the talent here in the squadron and the wing.”

The unit will receive data collected from the Ukrainians during combat, and use that to improve its electronic warfare capabilities, according to the Air Force.   

“With Ukraine now being onboarded as an official foreign military sales case for the 68th EWS, the unit will provide reprogramming capabilities based on feedback from the Ukrainians. Traditionally, feedback from FMS cases is derived from training environments; this case will provide combat-tested data to improve capabilities,” the release said. 

Both sides have used EW capabilities like jamming and spoofing during the Ukrainian-Russo war. Russia’s electronic warfare devices have knocked down many U.S. precision weapons sent to Ukraine. While the Ukrainian F-16s’s reprogrammed EW system won't be able to hold off every threat, it will help the jets survive. 

“When you’re talking about a near-peer conflict, you need all of your coalition partners to operate with the same playbook so you can achieve spectrum dominance,” said the 68th EWS director, whom the press release did not identify by name. “One F-16 with a reprogrammed pod won’t achieve air dominance alone, but it may give you a pocket of air superiority for a moment’s time to achieve an objective that has strategic importance and impact.”

Ukraine received its first batch of F-16s this summer from Denmark and the Netherlands. Belgium and Norway are also planning to transfer jets to Ukraine, and altogether, the country could eventually receive more than 60 jets from Western allies.

From: Defense One

[literarion]

I noticed that the links to Spotify/Anchor for my older pods (anything before christmas 2020) aren't working for me. Specifically, when trying to use the link from works on AO3 to the corresponding episode on Spotify, I just get to the overview page, but it doesn't open the episode. And when scrolling through the entire list (which takes a while, because four years of content and hundreds of works...), the oldest one I can get to is 'All it takes' from 21st December 2020.

Did anyone else find that problem? Any feedback (ideally with some details on device / system) would be much appreciated, as I try to work with Spotify support to resolve this issue.

[justahumblememefarmer]

Ultimate Doctor Who Poll Round 1 - Matchup 23

Episode Summaries under the cut

121: Under the Lake/Before the Flood - Season 9, Episodes 3 & 4: The Doctor and Clara land on an underwater base in the 22nd century, and see ghosts haunting the base. They find an alien ship on the base with strange writing on the wall. After checking it out, the ghosts attack them. While running away, the crew of the station brings them into a Faraday cage, which is able to keep the ghosts out. The ghosts are also unable to come out when the base is in day mode. The ghosts are intelligent and are working on programming it to constantly be night. They also sent a distress call, which the Doctor cancels and puts the base on lockdown, as he doesn't want the ghosts to succeed in getting out.

They lure the ghosts into the Faraday cage and trap them inside. One deaf crew member is able to read the lips of the ghosts repeated message, which the Doctor realizes are coordinates to the flooded town outside the base. They also realize the strange writing programmed the coordinates into their heads and are what make people become ghosts when they die. They send out a probe and return a stasis pod that they are unable to open. The changes to night and day mode at the base cause a system error and the base starts flooding. The Doctor and two crew members make it to the TARDIS, but Clara and the remaining crew are stuck on the other side of the flooded base. The Doctor takes the crew back to before the village flooded.

They arrive in the past, on the day the spaceship landed. They see that it is essentially a hearse, does not have the strange writing on the wall, and is manned by an alien whose ghost they saw in the future. He explains that he is transporting the body of the Fisher King. In the future, the ghost of the Doctor appears listing out the names of everybody in the order in which they died, including those who are still alive. In the past, they return to the ship to find the Fisher King escaped his tomb and the writing is on the wall. The Fisher King kills the alien, who becomes the first ghost. He soon kills one of the crew who becomes the second.

They take the TARDIS 30 minutes into the past, to when they first landed. The Doctor makes the remaining crew member wait on board the TARDIS and goes to confronts the Fisher King, who plans to turn everybody into ghosts to transmit a signal for his people to come rescue him. The Doctor bluffs by claiming that he erased the words on the ship. The Fisher King returns to his ship to rewrite the words, but finds them still there, just as a device the Doctor activated blows a whole in the dam, causing the flood. The Doctor enters the stasis pod himself, and the TARDIS returns to the future to avoid the flood.

In the future, he emerges from the stasis pod, and sends out a signal to get rid of the ghosts. He reveals that his own ghost was only a hologram that he projected. The rest of the crew get to safety, and the Doctor and Clara leave in the TARDIS.

129: Closing Time - Season 6, Episode 12: The Doctor goes to visit his friend Craig, who he'd met previously. Craig is looking after his baby while his wife takes a short vacation to rest. After noticing some electrical irregularities and a newspaper article about missing people, he gets a job at the toy department of a department store. Craig runs into him there the next day, and while taking the lift are teleported onto a Cyberman ship, but he reverses it and gets him and Craig to safety. He allows Craig to help him investigate the situation.

They discover that the Cyber-ship crashed centuries ago with a single survivor. Recent electrical work for the shop reactivated the ship and it has been slowly draining power and capturing people to convert. The Doctor makes it aboard the ship and is captured, but Craig follows him. They grab Craig and begin to convert him, but the sound of his baby crying causes a surge of emotion that overrides the Cyber programming and he escapes. The Doctor teleports them out and destroys the ship behind them.

[casteliacityramen]

MUNDAY LORE POST: DEFENSE MECHANISM - ALTO MARE [DM-A204]

DESCRIPTION:

DEFENSE GRID AREA 124 - 204: ISLAND OF ALTO MARE. LAST-DITCH SECURITY FOR ORDER OF ARCEUS PERSONNEL IN EVENT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. DM-A204 DEFENSE GRID COVERS THE ISLAND OF ALTO MARE IN ADDITION TO 5 KILOMETERS AWAY FROM COASTAL LINES.

DEFENSE TYPE:

ISLAND-WIDE HYDRO-KINESIS AND MAGNO-KINESIS VIA TACTILE OPERATING SYSTEM.

OPERATION:

TWIN GUARDIAN CONDUIT SYSTEM.

WARNING: OVERUSE WILL RESULT IN SEVERE MENTAL AND PHYSICAL TRAUMA TO BOTH USER AND CONDUIT.

USER MAY BE INCLINED TO DEPUTIZE POTENTIAL HUMAN SUBJECT FOR CONTROL OF DEVICE, OR ANY SUBJECT THAT CAN FIT IN THE OPERATING POD.

IN EVENT OF DM-A204 ACTIVATION:

FIRST DEFENSIVE LINE: KINESIS

WATER SURROUNDING AND OCCUPYING ISLAND TERRITORY CAN BE EFFECTIVELY REPURPOSED AS BOTH AN OFFENSIVE OR DEFENSIVE MULTI-TOOL. ALL METALLIC CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS USED WITHIN ALTO MARE'S ISLAND LIMITS CAN BE MANIPULATED FOR ADDITIONAL REINFORCEMENT AND WEAPONRY.

SECOND DEFENSIVE LINE: SENTINELS

DESIGNATION: ALT-001-KA, ALT-001-AE

AUTONOMOUS SENTINEL DRONES TO PERFORM RECONNAISSANCE AND KEY THREAT ELIMINATION. FOSSILIZED REMAINS ARE TO BE CONCEALED NEAR DM-A204'S OPERATING MECHANISM AND RE-ANIMATED FOR USE IN DM-A204'S DEFENSE.

KEY SENTINEL OBJECTIVES ARE TO DEFEND DM-A204 AND REPORT ALL ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE OF DM-A204 OPERATING CHAMBER

FINAL DEFENSIVE LINE: CATACLYSM

CATACLYSM EVENT VIA HYDROKINESIS WILL BE ACTIVATED TO ENSURE DESTRUCTION OF ORDER ASSETS.

WARNING: DM-A204 WILL AUTOMATICALLY LAUNCH CATACLYSM IN THE EVENT OF OPERATOR DYSFUNCTION OR MULTIPLE CONDUIT OVERLOADS. THIS WILL RESULT IN THE COMPLETE ANNIHILATION OF ALTO MARE AND ITS INHABITANTS.

ENGAGING THE FAIL SAFE PROTOCOL FOR THIS EVENT WILL RESULT IN THE EXPENDITURE OF A LARGE AMOUNT OF POWER.

…

CATACLYSM EVENT AVERTED (5/16/03)

ASSET RECOVERY CREW

SHEPHERD AYR

ARTIFICER LEO

STEWARD MIN

DM-A204 PERSONNEL

STEWARD JIN:

LOST

REINCARNATED AS NEW CONDUIT FOR DM-A204

STEWARD LIA:

DEBRIEFED AND RELOCATED TO ORDER HQ

IN POSSESSION OF DM-A204'S CONDUIT

DM-A204 RENDERED INERT BY ASSET RECOVERY CREW. ALL ASSETS IN ALTO MARE HAVE BEEN DISCREETLY REALLOCATED TO OTHER DEFENSE MECHANISM SITES. ALL WITNESSES SILENCED.

COUNCIL EXECUTIVE ORDER 7132.ALT - USAGE OF DM SITES TO BE CONSIDERED AS MAJOR THREAT TO ORDER OPERATIONS. REVISION OF SECURITY MEASURES AND PERSONNEL TO FOLLOW ON LATER DATE

…

My condolences go out to Steward Lia. No one should have to lose their father and their brother like this, let alone by something that I built to protect them. Gods. I'm so sorry. - SCRIBE AND ARTIFICER J

[aurosoulart]

I don't know anything about Beam Saber but please infodump about your dolphin

FINALLY ANSWERING THIS BECAUSE I HAVE THE ENERGY LETS GOOOOO. I uh.... am Really Into this character rn and actually properly infodumped here so it's under a readmore 🐬🐬🐬

ok so Sunlith is a second-generation uplifted bottlenose dolphin. that means that his parents were born in Ocean (the cetacean name for Earth), but they pursued the Uplift process, which changes parts of cetacean biology to make them more suited to life on land/in space/with humans/etc. (I can go into detail about what actually happens during Uplift but that would be its own post. 👀)

anyways! his parents went to space and Sunlith was born among a nomad fleet of stardrifters (another dolphin word for spaceship) in the outer solar system.

uplifted dolphins make up less than 1% of the Sol Union (the name for all space-faring beings from the Sol system), but they still have all the same rights and freedoms as humans... and particularly ambitious dolphins can make a killing as mineral extractors in the asteroid belt due to their exceptional piloting abilities. (cetaceans are naturals at maneuvering in low/no gravity 360 dregree space)

this was the profession of Sunlith's birth pod, meaning he grew up with the finest education available. this education allowed him to get into the Europan piloting division, which is especially sought after by cetaceans due to the fact that the best anti-grav exopods (mobility devices worn by cetaceans) come from Europan technology.

Sunlith wanted to go to Europa for a couple reasons: as a second-gen uplift, he's behind his peers in terms of fitting in with humans and other more culturally-adapted cetaceans. he uses traditional cetacean terms like 'maker' for humans and 'many-arms' for cephalopods (his favorite area of study.) basically, he's socially awkward and just wants to study tentacled creatures all day.

Europa is the only other planet in the solar system with native life forms - and they're possibly intelligent! they're called Nautilids and are convergently evolved with Ocean nautilus. by getting accepted as a frame pilot on Europa, Sunlith could both study his favorite organisms AND gain cultural prestige.

there was only one catch - the work on Europa is (you guessed it) mineral extraction! all Europan tech utilizes Europite, a rare metal only occurring on its namesake, for its coveted anti-gravity properties. the Nautilids on Europa are protected, but these protections are only enforced under a trade agreement with a hyper-advanced alien species called the Ouro. these aliens provide funding and equipment for non-invasive mining techniques in return for a cut of the Europite.

this finally brings us to the reason this is a Beam Saber campaign in a war setting: the Ouro are threatening embargo with the Sol Union because they want access to the human-inhabited extra-solar planet of Terra Brea, and these humans refuse to relocate. embargo would not only see Nautilid protections stripped away, but also a massive reversal of technological progress across the entire solar system.

and this is why Sunlith Joins The Peacekeepers (AKA the war. there is not much peace happening)... or, it's one of the reasons anyways. the population of Terra Brea is a religious sect called the Clusterists, a xenophobic group who don't take too kindly to dolphins. so that's also part of it. the Clusterists have their own stuff going on, the war is extremely unpopular, and it's messy and complicated!

I've REALLY been enjoying developing not only all the space-faring cetacean worldbuilding aspects of this universe, but also the whole fallout of an idealistic dolphin trying to fight for a cause he believes in only to discover that War Is Hell. he's VERY useful as a soldier because dolphins have higher psychic ability than humans, and he's used as a lie detector. his frame (mech) is also huge and has advanced shielding, since it was originally used for mining, moving ice sheets, and protecting Nautilids from harm.

to wrap up: Sunlith is very good at what's being asked of him. his call sign is 'Loyal' because of how his teammates view him as an order-following machine, but as he learns about human culture he's starting to hate his life more and more... but he still just wants to protect his little* squid friends and is experiencing extreme moral crisis.

will he succeed in any of his goals?! who knows!! but I'm excited to find out.

*they are not little at all actually. their shells are the size of ferris wheels and their tentacles extend like 100ft