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lemony-snickers · 3 years

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20 [Fanfic Writer] Questions Game

i one thousand percent stole this from @depressedhatakekakashi when i saw it and sat down to answer them all now. i’ll put the whole thing under the cut because it’s l o n g, lol, but i’ll also tag a few folks if they’d like to play along. i’m only going with folks i know have relatively active ao3 accounts off the top of my head. if you wanna play, feel free to steal this shit same as i did. 😂

@myaekingheart @whatshernameis @chemmerson @kakashiswilloffire @kakashi-tsukuyomi

no pressure, obvs, but this was kind of fun! <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

34 + 17 = 51 (plus there’s a few on here i haven’t copied over yet; should probs get on that, lol)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

141,984 + 379,165 = 521,149, most of it from this year.

3. How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

4 – naruto, cowboy bebop, boku no hero academia, justified

4. What are your Top Five fics by kudos?

long fic (just reached 500 – WHAT EXCUSE ME WUT – yesterday) ours (206) nice to meet you (204) when love blooms (159) first (156)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

almost every one. i started in a pretty small fandom and really appreciated the two consistent readers i had who commented on nearly every chapter, so i got in the habit and sort of stuck with it.

6. What fic have you written with the angstiest ending?

idk, i am honestly such a wuss and i think i almost always end with Happiness, lol. maybe what cannot be forgiven? i also have a one-shot that’s sort of sad under my other pseud, but honestly it’s just people growing old, so that’s different.

7. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

i am gonna go with clan, i think.

8. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

nope. never even wrote an au until january. before that, i wouldn’t even read a fic if it wasn’t strictly adherent to canon. i've grown this year, ya’ll! XD

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

no, i don’t think so. i've def been pretty lucky in that i've only ever received VERY FEW slightly rude comments, mostly just nitpicky stuff. definitely no actual hate.

10. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

lol, nope, never even heard of it…

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

i don’t think so. my stuff isn’t popular enough for such sordidness, lol.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

i have not. yet.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

izuocha, probs. never been a super shipper or anything, but they’re very adorable and wholesome and i love them very much.

15. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

honestly? the college au that began my entire smut journey, lol. i basically rewrote a scene from a kakashi/reader fic that made me BIG MAD and thought about how i would write my own college au, but… it hasn’t coalesced yet and i think it’s very clear that one-shots are much more my wheelhouse than multi-chapter fics, unfortunately.

16. What are your writing strengths?

i am gonna go with what i've heard from others because i cannot evaluate myself, lol. i've had people compliment my character development and portrayal of relationships, and i hope that’s true.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

P A C I N G. i will gladly spend 14 pages on a single cup of coffee and then .02 on an action scene. partially because i don’t think i'm very good at describing action and partially because i just have no idea what i'm doing, lolol.

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

i haven’t done it much. i have written characters who speak another language, but the story is always told from the perspective of someone who doesn’t understand it. i think i threw in 1 or 2 russian words once, but it was all very obvious from context what they meant, so i didn’t have to provide a translation or anything.

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

technically, i posted exactly one chapter of my naruto longfic before anything else. but then it sat untouched for over a year while i wrote 100k+ about u.s. marshalls, lol.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

oof. that's a toughie. probably a fantasy au izuocha one-shot. but of the lemony variety, i think i'll go with the wait is over because i wrote that shit fully for myself, lol.

#lemony snippets #but i'm a fanfic writer!#tag game

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thesharklifepodcast · 5 years

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Fluoride causes what?!

Good Googley Moogley, Sharks! It's a beautiful day to attack the day..Recently, I was asked about my thoughts on fluoride being added to our water and the conspiracies surrounding it. Now hold on tight to your tin foil hats as we dive balls deep down the shark hole aka rabbit hole.

Look, first and for most do your own research! I don't know sh!t about f*ck, I'm just a dude that doesn't like to be lied to. Now on to the topic of fluoride.. What the f*ck is it? In lame terms, its a chemical added to our public tap water and most commercial tooth pastes to supposedly prevent tooth decay and junk...LIKE WHY THE F*CK DOES THE GOVERNMENT GIVE TWO SH!TS ABOUT OUR DAMN TEETH?! Also, as a side note the fluoride added to your drinking water is not calcium fluoride nor sodium fluoride..Nowadays, 90 percent of fluoridated water is hydrofluorosilic acid, which is a compound known as HFS. HFS is a byproduct from aluminum, steel, cement, nuclear power, and of phosphate fertilizer manufacturing. Since its a byproduct from manufacturing, it costs thousands of dollars per ton to neutralize and dispose of it. Therefore, rather than properly neutralizing and disposing of it, the industry would prefer to just sell it to you as "product" which allows them to dump it in our water.

Alright, enough of this lecture crap and lets get into the conspiracy portion of this topic.. Many people believe Hitler used fluoride in the water to keep the jews docile and sheep like, but from my research I couldn't find any hard facts that they actually did. Doesn't mean I don't believe they could've/would've done that. Another thing I constantly kept reading when I was looking into this sh!t was that fluoride can also calcify your pineal gland which is often referred to as your "third eye". The pineal gland legitimately has a retina and is quite literally a third eye..I know, I know.."well wtf does it do, Antman?"

In humans and other mammals, it produces melatonin and regulates your circadian rhythm aka your wake/sleep patterns! With the calcification of the pineal gland, many conspiracy theorist and myself believe that the calcification disrupts your sleep and disconnects you from your higher self. I know I'm getting a wee bit wonky with the higher self junk, but in rat studies they found DMT was also produced in the pineal gland. Just know DMT is referred to as the spirit molecule...I highly recommend listening to Rick Strassman or Graham Hancock speak on the subject, because that sh!t is outside my wheelhouse. Basically, it is produced in all living species and believed to be the secret to the soul and what not. I say look into it and let me know what you think!

Ways to decalcify your pineal gland:

-Drink filtered water

-Apple Cider Vingear

-Raw cacao

-Chaga mushrooms

-Green Superfoods

and many more

PS Remember to avoid toothpastes with fluoride and also avoid most commercial teas, bottled,canned,and powder forms, because them b!tches have twice as much fluoride as public water...SKETCH!!

Again, do your own research and believe whatever the F*CK you want to believe! I appreciate all the sharks and spiritual bandits out there supporting the cast. Thank you for stopping by and attack the day!

PPS You're a bad motherf*cker!

Stay Up!

-Antman

To submit questions follow us on Instagram @TheSharkLifePodcast

For daily motivation follow us on Twitter @TheSharkLifePod

For Antman's personal Insta follow @AntyTheShark

#attacktheday #smoking conspiracy #self development #life mastery #attack the day you're a shark #workhard #lifepurpose #smokingconspiracy #sharklifepodcast #fluoride #pinealgland #conspriacytheory

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junker-town · 3 years

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An old, uncool dad explains the Super Bowl musical artists

Who are these people?!

Surprise, it’s me! I’m the old, uncool dad. The NFL announced its performers for Super Bowl pregame, as well as the National Anthem, America the Beautiful, and Lift Every Voice and Sing — and I’ve never been so confused in my life.

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A post shared by NFL (@nfl)

So put this in context: I’m a firm believer that age is just a number, so let’s just say that I’m “I can’t believe Pearl Jam is considered classic rock” years old. It’s for this reason I’m so ludicrously hyped for the halftime show, because Snoop, Mary J. Blige and Eminem are all in my teenage wheelhouse, while I came to love Kendrick as an adult. However, when it comes to the pregame I’m totally lost.

So now I’m going to tell you everything I know about these artists right now, then I’ll go and listen to the first result on YouTube and come back to give my opinion.

National Anthem: Mickey Guyton

What I know: I’m fairly convinced I heard her perform at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade a few years back, but I can’t really tell you much about it because Thanksgiving morning is mimosa time in my house.

Okay, let’s give it a listen:

youtube

I hate country music. I hate country music so much. Unless it’s extremely old country like Willie Nelson or Dolly Parton I don’t mess with it. That said, Guyton can really sing. This is fine. I’m sure people who like country music will enjoy it.

America the Beautiful: Jhené Aiko

What I know: Absolutely nothing. I have zero prior knowledge of this artist. Is this someone who got popular off Instagram? She feels like an artist who made it big off Instagram.

Okay, let’s give it a listen:

youtube

Alright, this I like. It’s super mellow but I can definitely get down with it. This is a “end of week, Friday night song while I’m trying to have a scotch and decompress from the week.” This feels like a come down song that would play at a super exclusive club where people pay thousands to get a booth with bottle service. Like, I can imagine Kendall Roy from Succession knowing every word of this and singing it (poorly) while sipping on something after doing a line. That’s all intended to be a compliment. I really like this, but I’m mystified how it’ll translate into “America the Beautiful.”

Lift Every Voice and Sing: Mary Mary feat. Yola

What I know: Is this two people named Mary? Is their group name just “Mary Mary”? Is one person “Mary Mary” and the other is someone else? Did the space-time continuum get broken and these are two individuals named “Mary Mary” who met by kismet and became a musical duo? Who is YOLA? Does that stand for anything? I know nothing, because I am old.

Okay, let’s give it a listen:

youtube

How did this song evade me since 2012? This feels like a staple to put on my morning jams playlist, because when you get old sometimes you just need some motivation. So, curiosity got the best of me and I looked them up, and neither woman is named Mary. That’s fine, because they both have huge pipes to belt this out. There’s a gospel meets R&B vibe here that’s going to play perfectly with a pregame song like “Lift Every Voice and Sing” on a stage like the Super Bowl.

Pregame DJ: Zedd

What I know: The youths all seem excited about Zedd. I’m like 90 percent sure Zedd was one of the hobbits in Lord of the Rings. My coworker David Fucillo said that pregame is for the youths the same way the halftime show is for the olds, which tracks because I don’t really pregame any more — unless I’m trying to save money at the bar.

Okay, let’s give it a listen:

youtube

I KNOW THIS SONG! LIKE, I ACTUALLY KNOW THIS ONE AND HAVE LISTENED TO IT BEFORE. I KINDA KNOW WHO ZEDD IS. Oh, wait, this song is from 2013 — now I feel old again.

Anyway, I like this a whole bunch. This is the kind of inoffensive set I expect before the Super Bowl, so this is all fine. I’ll admit I don’t have a huge knowledge of DJs outside of the classics and people like Girl Talk, Porter Robinson and Darude (lol Sandstorm), but I like this just fine and would be totally okay listening to it.

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tastydregs · 6 years

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AI Trained on Decades of Food Research Is Making Brand-New Foods

FlavorBot

You may not think that Tuscan chicken’s creamy, garlicky flavor is due for a high-tech upgrade, but advanced artificial intelligence is on the case all the same. An AI algorithm is about to analyze and improve that and other classic recipes before designing some brand-new foods as well.

And if it goes well, we can expect AI to play a bigger role in developing the foods we eat every day. Right now, some big names are working to amass the expertise of all the world’s food experts, head chefs, and flavor scientists into a single artificial intelligence algorithm that concocts new foods better and faster than any mere human.

The smartest algorithms aren’t quite there, but some big names are working on it. IBM’s artificial intelligence labs, famous for its Jeopardy-winning and cookbook-writing AI algorithm, Watson, have been collaborating with seasoning seller McCormick & Company’s food developers and researchers for the past four years. The team’s first AI-generated food products will hit the shelves later this year, according to an IBM blog post published in early February, and if all goes well, every McCormick developer will be collaborating with the AI system by 2021.

“It takes about probably ten to 15 years or so, sometimes 20 years, to become a top-notch product developer,” Hamed Faridi, chief science officer at McCormick, told Futurism. “So my vision was ‘how can I help the entire organization be able to develop products as good as the best developer we have in the world?'”

The end result will be AI-generated foods, flavors, and mixtures based on a deep knowledge of flavor profiles so complex that no human expert could match it.

“We have hundreds of thousands of formulas in our system,” Faridi said. “Each product developer has several thousands of formulas that they use. We are collecting all of them.”

Slow and Steady

Faridi explained that currently, it can take weeks or months before a new food product goes from concept to final, market-ready product.

When McCormick develops a new food product, the job, along with specific details like whether it has to be kosher or halal, and a target cost, will go to one of several hundred developers — chefs, chemists, psychologists, and other experts in food and flavor — scattered around the world. They’ll then go and grab the formula for a similar product, add and remove ingredients as necessary, and test out their new idea before coming back to tweak it even more.

IBM’s algorithm takes the same approach. But because it contains a broader knowledge of food and flavor than an individual expert, Faridi says the system can design a shelf-ready product in a fraction as many iterations as a person could.

A formula can go through as many as 150 iterations before ever reaching the shelf; a developer with decades of experience might be able to do it in 50. But with IBM’s new AI, even less-experienced developers could do it in 50 tries as well.

“We started formulating on a serious basis with the system about a year ago, so we only have one year of data,” Faridi told Futurism. “But so far it shows that we can easily take 70 percent of the work out.”

Digital Values

IBM’s AI system can do more than speed up the development process — it can also generate flavors and formulas that a human might not have considered.

Each human developer comes with biases. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; they may simply have favorite or go-to ingredients, like particular spices, that are over-represented in their formulas. But because IBM’s AI, largely comprised of a massive neural network, is trained on decades of McCormick data, the system is able to consider alternatives outside of a particular expert’s wheelhouse.

The algorithm also absorbed contextual data from decades of market research — the neural net processed data on people’s preferences based on factors like their culture, location, and moods.

“You want to take the context into account — once you take those into account it can generate formulas that are unique, that have never been generated before,” Richard Goodwin, principal research scientist at IBM, told Futurism. “And those formulas are likely to be valued by people.”

For now, the AI-generated foods set to hit shelves later this year — seasoning mixes for Tuscan chicken, bourbon pork tenderloins, and New Orleans-style sausage — are more of updated classics than anything truly groundbreaking. But Goodwin and Faridi said that they plan to push the envelope further and further in coming years as the program takes off.

“To some extent, coming up with just an odd combination of things may not be that hard, but showing that you can actually come up with something that people are a little familiar with, but come up with a very good version of it, speaks to the strength of the collaboration of the people and the machine,” said Goodwin.

Robot Apprenticeship

Faridi expects that this human-machine collaboration will completely change the way foods are developed. And perhaps most importantly, he predicts that it will continue to be a collaboration where human employees are central to the process rather than automating it altogether.

Goodwin said that he envisions a future where the AI system captures the knowledge-based part of the process so that humans can focus on creating creative new products. For instance, the neural net could take away the technical side of the process, which can include determining all of the minute differences between ingredients that work well together, which ones can replace one another, and which specific form of each ingredient to choose. Goodwin gave the example that the machine would know to choose flaked garlic over powdered or diced garlic in a given recipe and would even be able to choose the correct flake size.

“The system learns these things like the apprentices who learn as they go,” Goodwin said.

As the new system takes off and his team works out the kinks, Faridi expects other major players in the food industry to follow suit — he doesn’t expect the deployment of AI to remain exclusive just to McCormick.

“I believe 20 years down the road, this will be the system,” Faridi said. “There is no other way of making new products. We are changing the course of the industry just like the electric car. In 20, 30 years, people will look back and say, ‘how did people use a gas-guzzling car?'”

READ MORE: Using AI to Develop New Flavor Experiences [IBM Newsroom]

More on food: Edible Coating can Keep Food Fresh Longer and Cut Down on Waste

The post AI Trained on Decades of Food Research Is Making Brand-New Foods appeared first on Futurism.

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divetraining · 4 years

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Deadly fire onboard California boat M/V Conception

We join with our extended scuba diving family to express our sincere condolences to all those affected by the deadly fire onboard the M/V Conception in the early hours on Monday, September 2, 2019.

There has been a great deal of misinformation circulated by major news media outlets.

An investigation by the National Transportation and Safety Bureau is currently underway.

Here’s what we know, based on information provided by the U.S. Coast Guard and a recent interview by Ventura’s Spectrum 1 News with Truth Aquatics Inc. owner Glen Fritzler:

There were 39 people on the 75-foot commercial vessel when it caught fire around 3:30 a.m. while anchored off Santa Cruz Island in the California Channel Islands and became engulfed in flames.

Five crew members were able to evacuate. The bodies of one crew member and 32 passengers have been recovered from the vessel, which burned to the waterline and sank in about 60 feet of water. One passenger remains unaccounted for and is presumed dead.

The crew that escaped the fire was able to do so because they were on the top deck when the fire broke out. The crew member and passengers that perished in the blaze were presumably asleep in their bunks located below the main deck and were likely trapped by flames.

The below-deck bunking area on board the Conception was accessible by a main stairway and also had an emergency escape hatch. The stairway did not have a door.

The Conception was launched in 1981 and operated as a US Coast Guard inspected vessel. It had fire extinguishers, first aid equipment, radio communications and firefighting equipment on board and was compliant with US Coast Guard regulations at the time of the blaze.

The Truth Aquatics fleet, which consists of the vessels Truth, Conception and Vision has run thousands of California boat charters over the years. For more information, see truthaquatics.com.

Truth Aquatics owner Glen Fritzler was presented the 2019 California Scuba Service Award, awarded by California Diving News at the Scuba Show.

Here is a transcript of the interview from Spectrum News 1 with Truth Aquatics owner Glen Fritzler:

BY NATALIE BRUNELL VENTURA COUNTY PUBLISHED 3:37 PM ET SEP. 03, 2019

VENTURA, Calif. — The owner of the vessel “Conception” talked exclusively Tuesday morning with Spectrum News 1 about a deadly fire on his boat Monday off the Southern California coast.

“I’m numb,” said owner and operator Glen Fritzler of Truth Aquatics Inc. in a phone interview. “There were a lot of people that were on that boat that I knew personally, people that I had dealt with for decades.”

There were 39 people on the 75-foot commercial vessel when it caught fire around 3:30 a.m. Monday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Five crew members were able to evacuate. Twenty people have been confirmed dead as of Tuesday morning.

The group was on a diving trip for Labor Day weekend.

“Of all of the years I’ve been in this business, I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this,” Fritzler told Spectrum News 1. “It’s a complete tragedy. It’s horrible.”

He said the company will shut down operations for a couple weeks out of respect for the families involved.

“We all have so many questions at this point,” he said. “We need answers like the public needs answers.”

Truth Aquatics has a fleet custom designed for diving, according to the company website. It began working with Channel Islands National Park in 1998.

Below is more from the interview with Fritzler.

Brunell: ”What do you want the public to know?”

Fritzler: ”I want people to know that there [are] two entrances into the bunking area: a main entrance and an emergency escape hatch. I want people to know that the area, the salon that people enter into the boat to access the area, there were no doors. It’s a wide-open doorway and no doors. There were no locked doors anywhere … We did lose a crewman that was below deck, stationed down below decks with passengers, perished as well as best as we know … That was the only reason that any of the crews survived is they were on the upper deck and the flames reached up there and they had to make a large leap off the boat to escape the boat … I want them to know that a couple of the crewmen swam to the stern of the boat, that could not access any of the fire hoses because they were engulfed.”

Brunell: ”I understand that people also think that the mayday calls were made from outside of the boat. Were they made on the dinghy or were they made in the wheelhouse?”

Fritzler: ”They were made in the wheelhouse. He made two calls. The second call where you can hear him say, “I can’t breathe.” That was the second call. At that point he had to jump off the boat. The other crewmen were already off the boat. The captain was the last to leave the boat crying to Radio Coast Guard.”

Brunell: ”What do you think about the speculations and the people out there who think the crew bailed on the passengers?”

Fritzler: ”There is no way. They did everything in their power to help, but the flames just spread. That’s the investigation. Nobody understands why this fire spread like it did … The investigation has to continue, but you know, we’re all so surprised. We also have to remember this boat’s been in operation since 1981. It’s taken thousands upon thousands of people out over that period of time with no fire incidents whatsoever.”

Brunell: ”Is it surprising to you that so many people were not able to get out? I mean, can a fire spread that quickly on a boat that there would be no time for anyone to leave that bunk area?”

Fritzler: ”Yes to both. I am utterly surprised, and the only thing that I can possibly conceive is that people suffocated quickly. The smoke, well I guess it was billowing.”

Brunell: ”Have you spoken to your crew and the captain that was on the boat? How are they doing? How are they feeling?”

Fritzler: ”They’re feeling horrible. I’m sure it’s survivor’s guilt. One of our crewmen was lost in this incident as well. They’re a wreck. They’re an emotional wreck.”

Brunell: ”Is there any type of accelerant on the boat? I know that the tanks are very flammable, but was there any propane or anything else that would cause this type of fire?”

Fritzler: ”No. On the back deck, that was one of the last things to burn, there [were] some oxygen bottles that the divers use. The rest of the scuba tanks are just air, or what we call Nitrox, which is a higher concentration. It’s a 32 percent concentration that divers use, but it’s a low oxygen count and they were out on the back deck and that was the last to burn. As far as the accelerant inside the boat, there is no gas, no propane, no diesel. It’s all electric.”

Brunell: ”How trained are people, are your crew members, to deal with an explosion or a rapidly moving fire?”

Fritzler: ”They’re all well-trained. They’re all mariners. They’re all trained, and you know, unfortunately we didn’t have access to any of the firefighting equipment.”

Brunell: ”Is there anything else that you think the company or these boats could have been equipped with that would’ve prevented this?”

Fritzler: ”No. Honestly not at all. If that was the case, I would’ve done it because we are a top-notch company, and I’ve invested my entire life into this company, and I take it very seriously and that will be disclosed. I’m sure through Coast Guard records, the Coast Guard has the utmost respect for our operation and what we do … I’m sure something’s going to be learned from this … Unfortunately, these kinds of accidents, regardless if it’s a boat or an airplane, we learn from them and there will be something learned, and it’s a very, very unfortunate event. We’re all sickened by it, and the entire crew and staff is. Words can’t convey.”

The post Deadly fire onboard California boat M/V Conception appeared first on Scuba Diving News, Gear, Education | Dive Training Magazine.

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writesandramblings · 7 years

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The Captain’s Secret - p.14

“All That Glitters”

A/N: Though “Drastic Measures” won’t be out for months yet, and I typically ignore the books and stick strictly to show content (because to date, I’ve read all of two Star Trek novels, and one of those was the Wrath of Khan novelization), and I had no intention of featuring this particular character initially... I felt it appropriate to give a nod and a reference to the book’s synopsis.

Full Chapter List Part 1 - Objects in Motion << 13 - Callbacks 15 - Threat Assessment >>

The smile faded from Lorca's face almost as quickly as the transmission terminated. He stared at the wall display, arms stiff and palms pressed against the desk, breathing slowly through his nose with a mixture of anger and disgust.

He saw Lalana move in the corner of his eye and glanced towards her. She approached the desk and drew herself up to its height. He took a deep breath to clear his anger. "Get what you needed?"

Her huge, unblinking eyes betrayed nothing, but she reached into the bowl of fortune cookies on the table with her tail and plucked out one, putting it in front of him like a reward. "I am very sorry to have put you in this position, captain," she said. "But I cannot express adequately the immense thankfulness I feel for what you are doing for my people. The Lului will never forget this. I will make sure of it."

He smiled faintly and took the cookie. "That's reward enough for me." It was a shame lului didn't go in for tools or structures of any kind. He would have liked a statue or three, or a city named after him. Maybe in ten thousand years their culture would evolve to such a point. Unfortunately, absent written records, it seemed unlikely he would still be remembered. He cracked the cookie open.

"You have done so much more than I ever could have expected. Before I met you, the only aliens I had ever encountered were trying to hunt or kill me, or seemed not to think anything of the fact. That there is an entire Starfleet of people who would risk themselves to protect others is an unimaginable treasure."

An unimaginable treasure. There was no way of knowing at this point how much of her phrasings were the translator or nuance inherent to the lului language, but she really seemed to have a way with words. "It's a shame you don't write. I think you'd be good at it." She clicked her tongue, finding that funny. "No books, no art, no manufacturing, no buildings... What do your people do all day long?"

"We watch things! That is why our eyes are so big."

He wasn't entirely sure if it was a joke until he heard her lightly click twice. He chuckled faintly, shook his head, and sighed. She was worse than him in some ways.

She looked at the slip of paper on the table. "What did the fortune say?"

"If you fail to try, you never succeed."

"Ah! May I keep that one?"

He handed it to her with a shrug. It was the first time she'd shown any real interest in the physical paper. She pressed it against her chest with her tail, piercing it at the top and bottom with tendrils of fur that looped around through the miniscule holes and secured it in place. Of course, being unable to read, she had affixed it upside-down. He bit his tongue and decided not to mention it.

She tilted her head down to admire the paper adornment. When she turned back to him, it was easy to imagine she was smiling. "What will you do next?"

Lorca cocked his head and furrowed his brow. "You know how he said the price was higher for us than Margeh and T'rond'n?"

"Nn," she offered in assent, and nodded awkwardly. Apparently she was beginning to integrate human physical cues into her repertoire.

"I was thinking we'd go make up that shortfall." From the grin on his face, it was clear he had one of those plans that was going to be very dangerous fun to execute.

"Thirty seconds!"

Lorca was, at least for a moment, sitting in his chair, but the rush of adrenaline at what was coming propelled him out of it towards the viewscreen. "Red alert!" he called in a serious tone, but with an undeniable note of something approaching glee, because the coming encounter truly was in his wheelhouse. The ship lights dimmed to emergency as unnecessary systems terminated and valuable power and resources were redirected towards combat essentials.

"Five seconds!" Carver, too, sounded in good spirits, finding her captain's mood infectious.

The Triton slid into normal space with shields up and weapons powered, coming face to face with a waiting fleet of four starships of mixed origin: a Rigellian freighter refitted with extra weapons, a mid-size Tellarite attack cruiser, and a pair of Andorian strike craft, small and very quick. Behind this ragtag fleet sat a large asteroid outfitted with a docking port and several cannons and beam weapons, some of them stripped off of starships. Locating this base had been the central purpose of the Triton's recently abandoned patrol assignment in this sector of space.

"All power to dorsal shields, take us under," ordered Lorca. Under, of course, was a relative term in space, but Carver sent the ship along a course that presented the reinforced side of the ship to the enemy.

"Incoming hail!" reported Russo, loudly but calmly.

"Onscreen."

The yellow and blue face that appeared was entirely a familiar one, because Lorca had encountered it half a dozen times since taking command of the Triton. "Greshy!" he greeted in a tone verging on manic.

Greshengavalitenorat was entirely displeased to see him and frothed slightly as he spat back his name in full, because in his species, each syllable constituted a point of honor, and to refer to someone by anything less than their full name was implying an immense degree of disrespect and (in Lorca's case particularly) unforgivable familiarity. In fact, Gresh had added two more syllables since their last encounter: "Greshengavalitenoratimal!"

Lorca knew fully well that name syllables were usually added by Stibellian tribal leaders, and Gresh had not been appointed to this position much less seen a tribal elder in at least five years, so the syllables added to his name were all the pirate's own doing and hardly worthy of repeat.

The Triton shuddered as phaser blasts from Gresh's little fleet hit the shields to modest effect. Ops reported shields down eight percent, but that wasn't important. "Timal, that's new. Let me guess, it means 'runs from Starfleet,'" Lorca quipped, barely reacting to the volley. It was a good thing Benford wasn't present; he might have questioned whether or not baiting Gresh was truly a necessity.

It wasn't. But it was fun.

"You will be destroyed, human! You are no match for us." Another volley dropped the Triton's shields to seventy-five percent. "I want to watch the look on your face as you burn!"

The Triton shifted a portion of shield power rearward to protect the warp nacelles as it put the bulk of Gresh's fleet behind it. Carver was taking them on a roundabout course towards the underside of the asteroid base. The base's defenses fired, further weakening the shields to sixty-two percent, but this had the added benefit of making it more difficult for the ship fleet to follow along that same course, as they ran the very real risk of running into friendly fire.

"You know, I would love to grant that wish for you, Greshy, but... Eraldo?"

Russo terminated the transmission. The Triton began to swing around the rear of the asteroid, out of reach of the station's forward-facing armaments.

Lorca held up his hand as if conducting an orchestra. "And... Now!" He dropped his hand, and on cue, the Triton's shields dropped.

Though the Triton's course under the asteroid had not been advisable for the allied pirate ships, one of the captains of the Andorian strike craft had the foresight to fly over the top of the base and began pelting the Triton's unshielded hull with phaser fire, scorching ugly marks across the ship's bow.

"Minor breaches, decks three to five," reported ops.

"Steady on," said Lorca. "Chief, tell me you're done!"

"Done!" came Billingsley's voice over the comms.

The command didn't need to be said, but Lorca gave it: "Shields up!" The strike craft's next shots was absorbed to little effect. "Full impulse!"

The Triton sailed over the strike craft and was presented with the rest of the pirate fleet again.

"Fire on that freighter!" The lieutenant at the tactical station didn't need to be told twice. The Rigellian freighter was four things: the largest of Gresh's craft, the most heavily armored, the slowest, and the least shielded. The freighter's main purpose was the transport of seized goods, not ship to ship combat, and though it had been outfitted with more weapons than were standard, like all retrofit armaments, its phaser systems were more liable to overload or misfire because the ship's power systems had not been designed for them. Especially when its shields were under stress.

Gresh's hodgepodge installation on the asteroid shared many of these same characteristics, with the substantial difference that its armaments, temperamental as they could be, were very powerful. Soaring back to the front of the asteroid put the Triton back in range of these weapons, and suddenly it was taking fire from both sides and Lorca had to grab the safety handle on Carver's station to avoid falling over. "Drop us," he said to Carver.

For a moment, it looked like the Triton was on a collision course with at least two members of Gresh's fleet, but the saucer continued its tilt downward, drawing the base's fire toward the pirate ships. Coupled with the Triton's fire, the freighter's shields sputtered and a small explosion sparked from an overloaded power relay. Its systems were disabled. Though its weapons were the weakest of the bunch, it was one less thing for Carver to worry about as she carried out Lorca's order of evasive maneuvers.

They had one goal and one goal only at this point: to distract Gresh's fleet and buy time.

In the Triton's faintly bulky EV Suits, the four figures making their way across the asteroid's surface could have been anyone. It was only on closer inspection that their identities were revealed: Commander Jackson Benford, Lieutenant Commander Reiko Morita, Lieutenant Commander Arzo, and a security officer named Walter Chen who held the rank of Lieutenant junior grade.

The battery of fire from the asteroid's defenses lit up the "sky" overhead with an array of red, yellow, and blue lights as beautiful as it was deadly. Benford led them towards the nearest access point and Arzo overrode the airlock controls.

Benford watched the Triton pass over their position, wincing at the assortment of fire the ship was taking. The shields were dangerously low already. Pushing his worry for the ship out of his mind, Benford followed the others into the airlock.

He waited for the telltale hiss of atmosphere to subside before removing his helmet. Arzo was already overriding the internal door controls. Benford, Morita, and Chen advanced with weapons ready.

They followed Arzo's directions, heading towards a dilithium signature through the twisting maze of rough-hewn rock tunnels. Luckily the Triton was doing an excellent job of keeping Gresh distracted, and most of the pirates were on their ships.

But not all. Two life signs were ahead, and from Arzo's readings, there was no way to reach the stash except through that tunnel. They would have to shoot their way through. They split to either side of the hallway and advanced.

The guards were a Stibellian female and an Orion male. The Stibellian heard their footsteps coming and called out, "Who goes there!" Her companion grunted dismissively.

"Probably just rocks," he said after a moment. There were occasional shudders as armaments from the Triton hit the asteroid base, shaking dust from the ceiling and walls.

"You're so stupid, Or-Harran," said the Stibellian. "You deserve to be here, but me—!"

They waited a moment, but the bickering seemed to have ended. The hall was quiet. Benford signaled Morita and Chen.

They whipped around the corner, firing to stun. The Orion male was unprepared, but the Stibellian female on his far side was facing them with her weapon at the ready. Still, both fell to the ground.

They proceeded towards the door, Morita with a frown. "Who hit her?" she asked, looking at the Stibellian. She'd targeted the larger Orion male and hadn't seen a shot hit the second target, and she didn't see any phaser burns.

The answer was no one. The Stibellian suddenly bounced to her feet, grabbing Chen as a shield, the point of a Klingon dagger pressing into his back. "Starfleet scum!" she hissed, backing towards to control panel by the door.

"Not one more step," warned Morita.

"You wouldn't shoot your own crew, Starfleet," said the Stibellian.

Morita jerked her chin confidently. "Try me." She lined up her shot. The Stibellian tried to pull Chen backwards, but he stood his ground, eyes fixed calmly on Morita. They were here to do a job and Chen had no intention of being the reason they failed it.

The Stibellian realized she didn't have the leverage to force Chen to shield her all the way to the panel. The frill behind her ears raised with anger. She wasn't going to be able to alert Gresh to the intruders.

But there was something she could do. "Remember me!" she shouted, and jammed the dagger through the EV suit into the soft flesh beneath Chen's ribcage. "I am Eqomaleniba, now Eqomalenibaley!" Apparently, the trend of assigning your own syllables was endemic to Gresh's crew.

Chen slumped against the wall. Morita fired and Stibellian fell to the ground for real this time. Both Morita and Arzo were at Chen's side a moment later. "I'm—I'm okay," he panted, wincing and groaning. The blood from the wound was dark and viscous. Morita applied a self-sealing compress to stop the flow.

"What about them?" asked Arzo, glancing at the pirates. "They may compromise our mission if they reveal we were down here."

"Not our concern," said Benford. "Can he move?"

"He shouldn't," advised Morita.

Benford and Arzo each took one of Chen's arms and helped him into the cargo storage area, sitting him against the wall behind one of the larger crates. He nodded his thanks.

The storage was full of crates of design and markings belonging to several spacefarings entities, Starfleet included. Several crates of unrefined dilithium sat among the various prizes and baubles seized from passing freighters. The quantity of dilithium was far more than they needed for their purposes. Arzo confirmed its quality and Benford attached transponders to two of the dilithium crates. Most of the goods would be returned to their rightful owners. If a couple of crates went missing, who was to say they hadn't been ferreted away somewhere else by one of the pirates, or used, or traded?

Benford checked his mission clock. They were running a couple minutes behind due to Chen's injury. He pressed a phaser into Chen's hand. "On to Objective B," he announced, and hoped the continuing barrage of fire they heard was a good sign.

"Shields down!"

"All power to weapons!" ordered Lorca as the lights of the bridge flickered and flashed. Where the hell was Benford?

The Triton was running a good game against the three remaining pirate ships and the base, but there was only so much it could do. The Andorian strike craft were impossible targets, so they had focused all their firepower on the Tellarite cruiser and the asteroid's firepower. The cruiser was moderately damaged. At this point, so was the Triton. Two of the asteroid's main batteries were down, including one of the flak cannons, but three-quarters of its armaments were still firing just fine.

If this remained a war of attrition, the Triton would lose.

"Warp signature!" called out the officer at Arzo's station, and a moment later, the Shenzhou slid into view, releasing a full volley of weapons fire toward the base and flying between the Triton and the brunt of the oncoming fire.

"They're hailing," said Russo, brushing the hair from his face as if anyone on the Shenzhou was going to care what the bridge crew of the Triton looked like.

A familiar face appeared onscreen. "Captain Georgiou, I see you got my invitation," greeted Lorca.

Philippa Georgiou couldn't resist a smile, partly because she was pleased to see the confident young man she had first encountered as lieutenant commander finally in command of his own starship, and partly because it was impossible not to feel a sense of pride at arriving on scene a last-minute hero. "Making trouble again I see, captain."

The bridge of the Shenzhou looked positively serene compared to the Triton. Absolutely no consoles were sparking, smoking, or blinking. No one looked the least bit unkempt. Lorca ignored the complete disparity between their bridges and smoothly replied, "Trouble? No, we've got this situation completely under control."

"Really?" questioned Georgiou. The Triton was matching course to the Shenzhou, keeping the other ship's shields between it and any further damage. One of the Andorian strike craft suddenly spun away at a vector away from the battle, disabled by the Shenzhou's superior phasers.

"Shields back online," reported ops.

"Oh, absolutely," said Lorca, and as if on cue, a line of explosions triggered on Gresh's asteroid and three more batteries went down. "Would you look at that."

Georgiou was surprised by that, and curious. "You?" she queried.

Lorca shrugged in reply. "Maybe." His smug smile said it all.

The Tellarite cruiser suddenly decided the battle didn't look so promising and broke away, cutting all power to its weapons and going to warp. Absent its larger companion, the remaining Andorian strike craft followed suit.

"No honor among pirates," said Lorca.

"Gresh is hailing," said Russo.

Lorca was gratified Gresh was still hailing the Triton instead of the newly-arrived Shenzhou. "Put it on."

The transmission was full of static, but Lorca could just about make out Gresh's infuriated expression. "Stop! Enough! I surrender!" His forces had abandoned him and his plunder wasn't worth dying over.

"We accept," said Lorca simply, and could have left it at that. Instead, he asked, "Tell me, Greshy. How many syllables do you think your Tribal Council will give me for bringing you in?"

Greshengavalitenoratimal howled and Georgiou shook her head. Yes, that was entirely the Gabriel Lorca she remembered.

Part 15

#Star Trek Discovery #fanfic #Gabriel Lorca #Captain Lorca #Captain Georgiou #space pirates #space battle #fanfiction #Star Trek

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divetraining · 5 years