#also starting to drop some more modules in more devices

[cthulhubert]

Factorio posting is easy. It may or may not make my top tier list for games, but it's easily one of my top five favorite drugs.

First time playing, I did the tutorial and have started the main game, somehow I'm already 100 hours in. That doesn't include the hours I've spent doodling plans but it does include the hours I've spent with it paused pacing back and forth.

Still gotta laugh when I open the map, since I remember starting out, just getting up to military science, I never imagined I'd run my main assembly lines into my power plants, up by the lake. (I now know, of course, that my power plants should've been near the coal, it's way easier to move water). I thought it was silly how far I could zoom out. When my iron started petering out, the rail run to another iron mine felt massive. Now...

Excellent design in this game, they gave me construction robots right when I started to feel the strain of manually deconstructing and rebuilding. You can probably tell I wanted even logistic coverage. When I first started rebuilding, the base was almost square, but then I've had to expand a couple times.

It's hilarious how quickly that lake turned that lovely putrid green as soon as production started ramping up.

I wanted to keep the crashed ship 'cause it amused me. I was gonna build the silo right in front of it: "Space ships go up, not into the ground, see?" But LDS production really needed too much space.

I just got artillery and started a machine on producing shells:

And realized my science was drying up. Apparently my first oil field is tapped out, so plastic stopped (so advanced circuits stopped so processing units stopped so utility science, you know). Was just thinking about expanding my outlying mines and experimenting with a rail circuit between them all, so I guess I'm also going to be adding a new refinery.

Also thinking about an outer circle of rail with artillery wagons, keep the biters pushed back.

Still not satisfied with well, almost anything. I'm sure there are better ways to do it; completely separate from having an intuition of how much space a given production line needs.

Maybe once I've sent that first rocket up, I'll go look up what the "meta" is.

I feel like it fits the spirit of the game to set up for mass production of rockets though, produce space science at the same rate I'm making the rest of it. For that I'll really need those extra mines, since that's like 22 LDS and 11 processing units being assembled at any given time.

I also need nuclear power going before that, I'm already throttling on watts sometimes. I should've a while ago but other redesigns kept getting in the way. Hopefully the next time I start a new game (probably when the Space Age expansion comes out) I'll be ready to get it online on time.

I'd kind of hoped to do all the rail and mine expansion while cruising around in a giant spider, but I need that plastic to do that.

Once I'm reliably getting more material and power, I'll build out the rocket part stuff to the west and north-west, win the game, then expand my factory to cover the globe.

... I have been playing so much Factorio that my queue is now empty.

[usafphantom2]

The Truth About Russia’s Mysterious Winged Glide Bombs

Russia’s wing kits for ‘dumb’ bombs are makeshift devices with numerous shortcomings but they do feature satellite guidance.

Piotr ButowskiPUBLISHED Jul 19, 2023 4:45 PM EDT

Russian Wing kit bomb

Uncredited

Although evidence of Russia using some kind of hastily fielded glide bombs during its war in Ukraine started to appear at the beginning of this year, for many months there was little information available about what was dubbed the “Russian JDAM.” Now, more details have emerged about the UMPK, or Unifitsirovannyi Modul Planirovaniya i Korrektsii, meaning unified gliding and correction module. While hardly comparable to the JDAM in any of its parameters, this wing and guidance kit fitted to a general-purpose bomb continues to be widely used by the Russian Aerospace Forces in the ongoing conflict and has become a major concern for Ukraine.

Back on January 4, 2023, the first information emerged about Russia using general-purpose bombs fitted with wing kits to attack targets in Ukraine. The development was reported on Telegram by the usually well-informed Russian Fighterbomber channel. Later, on February 20, Fighterbomber reported that production of UMPK standoff bomb kits had been ongoing “for four months” and that “hundreds of UMPK bombs had already been dropped.”

The first known photo of the Russian glide bomb kit based on a FAB-500M-62 bomb, carried by a Su-34 and published in January 2023. Fighterbomber Telegram channel

The first official statement from the Ukrainian side appeared on April 4, 2023, when Yurii Ihnat, a Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson, said that the Russians were dropping “up to 20 gliding bombs a day.” Ihnat continued: “They launch them from Su-35 Flanker and Su-34 Fullback aircraft, which do not enter our air defense zone.” Since then, there have been repeated statements from Ukrainian officials reflecting on the difficulty of intercepting these weapons, which have been described as “almost impossible to shoot down.”

Russia officially confirmed the use of such bombs in a May 8, 2023, communiqué in which it stated that “a Su-34 fighter-bomber with UMPK module bombs struck a location of foreign mercenaries near the village of Ivanovka near Kharkiv.”

A FAB-500M-62 bomb, with UMPK kit, seen in July 2023. AviaHub Telegram channel

The wing kits allow for Russian aircraft to launch indirect attacks on targets that would otherwise put them at to great of risk to do so directly due to Ukraine ever-evolving anti-aircraft defenses. Otherwise, much more expensive and complex standoff weaponry would need to be used and Russia's limited supply of these weapons has been put under extreme pressure by the prolonged war effort.

An idea, years in the making

The idea of a low-cost kit converting an iron bomb into a guided munition is an old one. In the United States, such work began in the early 1990s and eventually resulted in the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) program. You can read about how that program came to be here. JDAM also now includes an Extended Range version with additional wings, which has been supplied by the United States to Ukraine.

A Joint Direct Attack Munition – Extended Range, or JDAM-ER, which also features a range-extending wing kit. Australian Department of Defense Australian Defense Force

A Ukrainian MiG-29 carrying a JDAM-ER glide bomb. This one carries a slogan commemorating Ukraine Armed Forces commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi’s birthday. Ukrainian Air Force

Russia presented its equivalent of the JDAM for the first time at the Farnborough Airshow in England in 2002. At that time the Bazalt company proposed four types of MPK modules (without the “universal”) for the FAB-500M-62 bomb, with gradually increasing capabilities (and price). GNPP Bazalt (Gosudarstvennoye Nauchno-Proizvodstvennoye Predpriyatiye, State Research and Production Enterprise) in Moscow is a leading company developing general-purpose bomb ordnance in Russia.

The simplest MPK variant was based on an unfolding wing with a span of up to 6.5 feet. The bomb was stabilized aerodynamically and had no guidance. The aim was to extend the range: using the wing, the bomb was supposed to reach a distance of 3.7-5 miles when dropped from a low altitude of 164-328 feet.

An illustration of a FAB-500 fitted with a Bazalt MPK module, dating from 2002. Bazalt

In the second variant, the bomb was to additionally receive a simple inertial navigation system (INS) enabling sufficient accuracy for a range of 7.5-9.3 miles from the target.

In the third variant, the INS would be supplemented by a satellite navigation receiver for further correction, enabling an accuracy of 33 feet when dropped from a distance of 25-37 miles from high altitude.

In the last and most advanced variant, a pulsejet engine was to be fitted, extending the range to 50-62 miles.

For several more years, Russia presented the MPK module at international exhibitions. The project was reworked fairly significantly several times, but it was never put into production. In fact, it’s not known whether the MPK module went beyond the general design phase at all at that time — all that was shown were drawings and models.

Another view of a FAB-500 with Bazalt MPK module, this time dating from 2005. Bazalt

Why did Russia not complete the Bazalt MPK project back then? There are probably two reasons. First, it seems Russia never expected to be involved in a sustained war in which it would need weapons in very large quantities, and therefore at low cost. Secondly, it is probable that no one in Russia was interested in making cheap kits if they could earn more by offering expensive new guided bombs. Bazalt’s proposals were created on the principle: if America has something, we must demonstrate it too.

The most serious technical shortcoming with the Russian MPK/UMPK kits is that in contrast with U.S. aerial bombs, Russian general-purpose bombs are welded monoliths. It is impossible to remove the tail section and replace it with a guidance unit, as is the case with the JDAM. The Russian module is a self-contained flying device to which a bomb is attached. On the other hand, the Russian module can be fitted to the bomb directly by the operating unit, and not necessarily in a repair or production facility like with JDAM.

Makeshift device, limited performance

There are only a few illustrations showing FAB-500M-62 bombs with the UMPK module in its entirety, including a video of two bombs being dropped by a Su-34 fighter-bomber. The War Zone examined this footage in some detail when it first appeared earlier this month.

PLEASE TAP RELOAD TO VIEW VIDEO 👆

More prevalent are photos of bomb debris that fell and did not explode at various locations in Russia and Ukraine.

In the official multimedia provided by the Russian Ministry of Defense, UMPK modules have still not been shown even once.

A FAB-500M-62 bomb with UMPK kit, loaded on a Su-24M Fencer strike aircraft, in July 2023. Tactical Telegram channel

From the available illustrations, it can be seen that the UMPK is a makeshift device, made hastily and quickly thrown into combat, without carrying out the full required tests. It is not known what company makes the current UMPK modules, but it’s unlikely that it is the GNPP Bazalt company that designed similar modules 20 years ago or the GNPP Region company that makes all Russian aerial guided bombs.

An online critical analysis of the UMPK module, conducted anonymously by an employee of a Russian company, who deals professionally with similar topics, suggests poor performance and a high failure rate.

Diagram of a FAB-500 with UMPK kit. Once in flight, the bomb flips over leaving the wing at the top. Telegram

The same source indicates that after attaching the UMPK module, the weight of the FAB-500M-62 bomb actually exceeds the load capacity of the most common Russian weapon pylons, which is 500 kilograms (1,102 pounds). This may cause the bomb to detach during maneuvering.

The wing is opened after the bomb is dropped by a spring hooked to the locking mechanism. The wing opening mechanism is unreliable and “the fact that the wing is not brought into flight position is a standard occurrence for this product.”

Another disadvantage of the UMPK is that the bomb’s fuse is switched to ‘ready’ as in an ordinary bomb, i.e. at the moment of separation from the aircraft (in other winged bombs the fuse is activated later, during the glide). This means that if the wing does not open, the bomb can fall and explode, including on Russian or Russian-controlled territory. This is what the people of Belgorod faced on April 20 in an incident you can read more about here.

Wreckage of a FAB-500 with UMPK kit in Oktyabrsky village near Donetsk, March 12, 2023. Telegram

According to the same source, the wing's aerodynamic characteristics are poor, and the actual flight range achieved by the FAB-500 bomb with the UMPK module is “much smaller” than has been assessed on social media (where the range is said to be up to 44 miles, similar to JDAM-ER).

Fighterbomber also claims the UMPK is a makeshift device that still needs a lot of work. “Of course, it has flaws, because it was made in a rush,” it states.

In the above-mentioned incident in the Russian city of Belgorod that took place on April 20, a Russian Su-34 lost two FAB-500 bombs over the city, a distance of 25 miles from the Ukrainian border. One bomb exploded injuring three people and damaging nearby buildings and vehicles. The second bomb failed to explode and was found two days later in its entirety, 820 feet from the first one, at a depth of 23 feet.

Excavation of an unexploded FAB-500 with UMPK dropped accidentally by a Su-34 over Belgorod on April 20, 2023.

FAB-500M-62 bombs with UMPK modules have fallen unplanned on several more occasions. There is evidence of these bombs falling on March 12 in Donetsk, on March 24 in Sumy Oblast, and on April 25 in Belgorod Oblast.

Satellite guidance

For a long time, it was unclear how the bomb was guided or if there was any guidance at all. Doubts were dispelled on July 13, 2023, when the first photos of a dismantled UMPK module appeared, showing the Kometa-M antenna associated with a satellite navigation receiver.

The wreckage of the bomb discovered on July 13, 2023, which revealed the presence of the Kometa-M antenna associated with a satellite navigation receiver. Milinfolive Telegram channel

The first antenna of the Kometa family for satellite navigation receivers was developed by the VNIIRT Progress company in Moscow 16 years ago; at that time, the device weighed 88 pounds. Gradually, the device’s performance increased, and the weight decreased. The Kometa antenna is used for receiving GPS/GLONASS signals even under conditions of heavy countermeasures. It has four elements, thanks to which it can separate the interference signal and ‘cut it off.’ According to the manufacturer, the antennas in this series increase resistance to interference by 40-50 decibels, which corresponds to a reduction in the range of interference imposed by the enemy by a factor of 100-300, i.e. up to several hundred yards.

Various views of the Kometa-M antenna and related internal components from the guidance system. Milinfolive Telegram channel

The Kometa-M antenna, now installed on the UMPK module, was created between five and seven years ago, especially for small drones, including the Orlan-10 and Orlan-30, and weighs less than five ounces. There are also related antennas for crewed aircraft (Kometa-A), ground vehicles (Kometa-B), and others.

It will probably come as no surprise that the satellite navigation receiver mounted on the UMPK bomb has little in the way of Russian components inside and is made almost entirely of foreign parts. This has been a recurring factor in high-technology Russian-made weapons, including those that have been used in Ukraine. It’s also become a more significant problem since the introduction of stricter Western sanctions on Russia, something The War Zone has examined in the past.

Still, the level of accuracy these kits provide remains a question, but we do know they have leverage satellite navigation to hit their intended targets.

Different-sized versions

Both the MPK module made 20 years ago and the current UMPK are mounted on the FAB-500M-62 (Fugasnaya Aviatsionnaya Bomba, high-explosive aerial bomb, 500kg, model 1962), the most popular Russian general-purpose bomb. On May 3, 2023, the TASS news agency, citing “a source in the defense industry,” reported that wing and guidance kits for smaller 250-kilogram (551-pound) bombs are also being used in the war in Ukraine.

A mock-up of a standard FAB-500M-62. Vitaly Kuzmin/Wikimedia Commons

According to Fighterbomber, a UMPK module for a heavier 1,500-kilogram (3,307) bomb will also be available for use soon.

As we predicted, more information is finally now coming to light about Russia’s ad-hoc standoff bombs. While these bombs clearly suffer from several shortcomings, the Russian Aerospace Forces’ demand for weapons that can be launched at a safer distance from Ukrainian air defenses, and the tempo of airstrikes in general, mean that we are likely to see more of these weapons used in future, including in different sizes.

Contact the editor: thomas@thedrive.com

[taperwolf]

Here's my new Eurorack module, which I'm calling by the catchy title of Attenuvertimixer.

It's my own design, which is to say it's assembling circuits by more than one other person. (There is no new thing under the sun, to coin a phrase.) It's also a utility module, and those are always harder to explain than more straightforward things like "this one makes a noise" or "this one makes an existing noise go all wibbly", so bear with me.

The basic circuit is the attenuverter, a portmanteau of "attenuator" and "inverter". Put a signal in, turn the knob all the way clockwise, and you get the full signal out. As you start to turn the knob counterclockwise, the level drops, just like an attenuator (think of a volume control). In an attenuverter, however, the level is completely cut off at the knob's midpoint. As you continue to turn counterclockwise, the signal comes back, but inverted — a positive input voltage is now negative. At full CCW, you're getting the exact inverse of your input. The potentiometers I have for these conveniently have a stop right in the middle, so they'll click into that zero position easily. (The two trimpots on the main board are there to calibrate that zero position.)

There are two of these attenuverters in the module. Each is normalled to a +5v line, so they can output something without needing anything plugged in — it's surprised me, how often I need just an arbitrary voltage to control something else. The outputs are also normalled: when nothing is plugged into the output jack, the output is sent to the summing mixer, and plugging in to the output jack removes that signal from the mix. And since there was one more jack available, it's a plain unity input to the mixer. So you can mix together three signals, but only on two of those channels can you attenuate or invert it.

Here's a photo with the jacks labeled; I'm depending on the system coloring for telling what's what in use. (I may replace the nuts on the input jacks with some anodized black ones I have, to make things extra clear.)

So the mixer's output is in the middle, the jack with the white background behind it. The jacks above and below the pots are the ins and outs for those attenuverters, respectively. And the top jack — the one where the white background has been colored in — is the unity input to the mixer.

In conclusion:

Two attenuverters

Each normalled to +5V

Three-channel mixer

Plugging into an output jack removes that channel from the mix

There are refinements I might add. I'm considering having the normalled input to the second attenuverter being a copy of the first one's input; that'd yield the same behavior with no inputs, but let me easily split a signal to two different destinations, at different levels. And I would like to ultimately build a much nicer version — maybe four attenuverters, and add analog MAX and MIN outputs as well as the mixer. (Having a Maximum output is particularly useful if you have modules or devices that don't want negative voltages: just keep one channel set at zero, and then you'll get that whenever the other channels dip below zero.)

[themesfores]

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[edgetechindutries]

Introduction of Common Ceramic Substrates

Ceramic substrates have high thermal conductivity and excellent insulation properties and have become key components in high-power power semiconductor modules, semiconductor coolers, electronic heaters, power control circuits, power hybrid circuits, and other equipment. These applications require materials to work stably under high-temperature conditions, and the high thermal conductivity and good electrical insulation properties of ceramic substrates just meet this requirement. In addition, ceramic substrates can also be used in intelligent power components, high-frequency switching power supplies solid-state relays, etc. These components play an important role in modern electronic devices.

1. Alumina (Al2O3)

Alumina substrate is the most commonly used substrate material in the electronics industry because it has high strength and chemical stability compared to most other oxide ceramics in terms of mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties, and the raw material source is abundant, which is suitable for various technical manufacturing and different shapes.

2. Beryllium oxide (BeO)

Beryllium oxide ceramics have a higher thermal conductivity than metal aluminum and are used in occasions requiring high thermal conductivity, but the thermal conductivity drops rapidly after exceeding 300°C. Most importantly, its toxicity limits its development. It is mainly used as a large-scale integrated circuit substrate, a high-power gas laser tube, a heat sink shell for a transistor, a microwave output window, and a neutron moderator.

Pure beryllium oxide (BeO) belongs to the cubic system and has a density of 3.03g/cm3. The melting point is 2570°C, with high thermal conductivity, almost equal to that of copper and pure aluminum, and a thermal conductivity coefficient of 200-250W/(mK), and it also has good thermal shock resistance. Its dielectric constant is 6 to 7 (0.1MHz). The dielectric loss tangent is about 4×10-4 (0.1GHz). The biggest disadvantage is that the powder is highly toxic and makes it difficult for wounds to heal. Beryllium oxide powder is used as the raw material and is added with aluminum oxide and other ingredients and sintered at high temperatures. Good protective measures are required to manufacture this ceramic. Beryllium oxide will become more volatile in a high-temperature medium containing water vapor. It will start to volatilize at 1000℃, and the amount of volatilization will increase with the increase in temperature, which brings difficulties to production. Some countries no longer produce it. However, the product has excellent performance and although the price is relatively high, there is still a considerable demand.

3. Aluminum Nitride (AlN)

AlN has two important properties: one is high thermal conductivity, and the other is expansion coefficient matching Si. The disadvantage is that even a very thin oxide layer on the surface will affect the thermal conductivity. Only by strictly controlling the materials and processes can a consistent AlN substrate be manufactured. Compared with Al2O3, the price of AlN is relatively high, which is also a small bottleneck restricting its development. However, with the upgrading of technology, this bottleneck will eventually disappear.

4. Silicon Nitride (Si3N4)

The new ceramic substrates made of silicon nitride have higher flexural strength than substrates made of Al2O3 and AlN. Until now, the reliability of copper-clad ceramic substrates used in power modules has been limited by the low flexural strength of the ceramic, which reduces thermal cycling capabilities. For applications that combine extreme thermal and mechanical stresses, such as hybrid and electric vehicles (HEV/EV), ceramic substrates commonly used today are not the best choice. The large difference in thermal expansion coefficients between the substrate (ceramic) and the conductor (copper) can stress the bonding area during thermal cycling, which can reduce reliability.

With an operating life that is 10 times or longer than other ceramics used in power electronics, silicon nitride substrates provide the mechanical strength that is critical to achieving the necessary reliability requirements. The lifetime of a ceramic substrate is measured by the number of thermal cycle repetitions it can withstand without delamination and other failures that affect circuit functionality and safety. This test is typically done by cycling samples from -55°C to 125°C or 150°C. The extended lifetime is critical for all power module applications where large semiconductor wafers are directly bonded to the substrate and is particularly important for SiC and GaN wafers with higher junction temperatures (up to 250°C).

The mechanical strength of the new substrates allows the use of thinner ceramic layers, which reduces thermal resistance, increases power density, and cuts system costs.

Compared to Al2O3 Designers will benefit from the much improved flexural strength compared to AlN substrates. The fracture toughness of silicon nitride even exceeds that of zirconia-doped ceramics, reaching 6.5-7 MPa·m1/2 at a thermal conductivity of 80 W/mK.

[debris-field]

i love this video so much:

powered by the sun and sheer force of will, using a little autopilot and GPS module, this rover was instructed to follow a short 8-shaped path in a field. The thing has a 3D printed drivetrain. To make it more efficient, it drives very slowly using small motors with a high reduction ratio. No fancy suspension; just one motor per wheel.

This rover follows a set of GPS waypoints. It has solar panels and a charge controller. At night, it drives until the battery voltage drops too low, and then waits until the morning.

why was this made. why is this soo good. There's a hecking STORY here. You get to watch the rover drive through time as parts wear down and the sun moves along the ecliptic. Lets go through it!

Its first runs were without panels. The previous version had a controller tuned much hotter, and with its improved gearboxes, it needed to be toned down:

That stick in the back holds the GPS module. its back there to try to reduce interference with other parts of the rover (motors etc.). Without it, it doesn't know where it is!

Note that the gears are not fully enclosed: this orange cover allows grass to get in. that's not ideal!!

But it continued! the outline of its periodic 8-shaped journey around the field began to make itself visible.

It also began to accumulate slugs whenever it stopped to charge. if any of them were unlucky enough to lie on the gear teeth when the battery level of the rover rose to drivable levels, they became lubrication. poor things!

Daniel left the rover to its own devices for some time. here's an image of it in the center of the field, showing the pattern it formed in the grass:

On the 28th, it had its first failure:

The back wheel had stopped spinning! and we get to take a look inside the gearboxes.

So much debris had accumulated in the gearboxes that mycelium started growing in them. wild!!

The rover stopped driving because one of its gears had fused itself to the walls of its gearbox.

With upgraded gears and gearbox covers, the rover was placed back into the field. Each wheel hub eventually broke and were replaced by versions with more material around the shaft.

When the days were sunny and clear, the rover never stopped driving. It kept its batteries full and continued its march around the field. It kept moving as long as it could!

When suddenly, one day:

The GPS mount was severely damaged, and the GPS vanished! the rover made its way to the edge of the field, far away from the mission, and had been damaged. The rover's ESCs were sounding, so it hadn't been driving for a while. Very strange!

The next day, with a new GPS and mast, it was up and running again.

The rover continued to follow the mission for quite some time. Here's an image from August:

The rover's battery was upgraded to keep it a little safer.

As the earth moved around its home star, the rover began to receive less sunlight each day, causing it to drive less often. The sun moved lower and lower in the sky until, on the 29th of September, Daniel thought of a plan.

"I'll give you a hint; it involves ailerons."

The next day, Daniel added some more area to the rover's solar panels with his old solar plane's wings. Janky as hell! but it seemed to work! The rover was now collecting much more power. Daniel hoped that this would allow the rover to "drive through a lot of the night now."

But, on the next day:

It somehow got off course?? Daniel hypothesized that it could have been because of the increased GPS position error due to the current solar storm. Interesting stuff!

After it was freed, it continued its circular journey.

The days flew by with some events. Sometimes the rover would get itself stuck in the grass. The gearboxes would get louder, but would always quiet down after some time. The trailer fell off, but the rover kept on going. Only when plants got stuck in the machine did the rover stop moving forward.

Its trail through the field became more and more defined:

But the days kept getting shorter, and the days more full of weather events. The trailer, being made from literal wings, did succumb to the wind a few times.

On the 18th, the trailer was cut loose, as the wind had damaged its wires after it had been flipped over. But it kept on going!

The days got gloomier. The rover's battery was manually charged a few times to keep it moving.

Hilariously, the rover's path it had engraved into the field had also been engraved into the imagery of Bing maps, as displayed on Daniel's Herelink:

Absolutely beautiful.

As time went on, the rover's battery needed to be swapped constantly; the sun wasn't high enough in the sky to keep it at a high enough voltage to keep it moving.

The waypoint mission had slowly been drifting towards the south. Mission Planner, a program used to view Ardupilot telemetry, showed that the rover's heading in software was different than its heading in hardware, which may have contributed to this trend.

And thats where the mission was cut short. By December 11th, the rover had driven this mission for months, and all the motors were still running, but without an ability to run with regular power from the sun, its goal wasn't being met.

"I feel like I just euthanized my dog."

The rover had been through the ringer and came out mostly unscathed. It didn't end up completely destroyed, it could have kept on driving! what a glorious machine.

He then opened up the gearboxes and assessed the damage. I won't post a string of images about it, watch from time 30:03. There's grass growing on the thing!

I love this video so much. I grew attached to this wonderful little thing as it continued to drive itself in circles with its brightly colored wheels and rusty steel frame, GPS haphazardly stuck on its rear. It just kept on going, all on its own. It needed some help, but it always seemed to try its best, even when the compass lied to the autopilot, the wind blew off the trailer, the brambles grasped it and held it down, the GPS was torn off, and the sun drew lower in the sky. It kept on driving as far as it could through the day and night and as Daniel's other projects took flight and were made into their own videos. I love that rover so much, its so fucking adorable!!!

This is what made me purchase my own autopilot and slap it on my old RC car. It could drive wherever I pointed on the map, just like rctestflight's rover. When I can get my hands on another autopilot-enabled craft, I'll be exceedingly happy. because look at that thing. its so cool. look at him!!!

ardupilot freaking rocks.

[app-web-developers]

How to Customize WordPress Themes - Step by Step Guide

WordPress, with its user-friendly interface and versatile themes, has revolutionized the way websites are built and customized. Whether you're a blogger, business owner, or an aspiring developer, the ability to customize WordPress themes is a powerful skill that can help you create a unique and visually appealing website. In this step-by-step guide, we'll walk you through the process of customizing WordPress development services to make your website stand out.

Step 1: Choose the Right Theme

Selecting the right theme is crucial, as it forms the foundation of your customization journey. Browse through the official WordPress Theme Directory or consider premium theme marketplaces for a wide variety of options. Look for a theme that aligns with your website's purpose and offers the flexibility you need for customization.

Step 2: Install and Activate the Theme

After choosing a theme, you need to install and activate it. Navigate to the "Appearance" tab in your WordPress dashboard and click on "Themes." Choose "Add New," upload the theme file, and activate it. You can also preview the theme to ensure it suits your vision.

Step 3: Customize Using the Customizer

WordPress offers a powerful tool called Customizer that allows you to make changes to your theme in real-time. From the dashboard, go to "Appearance" and click on "Customize." Here, you'll find various sections like Site Identity, Colors, Background Image, and more, depending on the theme.

Step 4: Customize Site Identity

In the Customizer, start by customizing the site identity. Upload your logo, set the site title and tagline, and choose a site icon (favicon). This helps in brand consistency and recognition.

Step 5: Customize Colors and Typography

Under the Colors and Typography sections, you can adjust the color scheme of your website. Choose a color palette that matches your brand and makes your website visually appealing. You can also adjust font styles and sizes to enhance readability.

Step 6: Set Up the Homepage

If your theme supports custom homepages, you can configure it in the Customizer. You can choose a static page or your latest posts as the homepage. Customize the layout and add sections like featured content, testimonials, or a call-to-action.

Step 7: Add Widgets and Menus

WordPress widgets are small modules that can be added to different areas of your website. In the Customizer, you can navigate to the Widgets section and add widgets to the sidebar, footer, or other widgetized areas. Similarly, set up your navigation menus to ensure easy navigation for your visitors. If you choose to hire a professional, who provides WordPress development services, they can customize the theme based on your brand image.

Step 8: Customize Individual Pages and Posts

While the Customizer offers general settings, you can also customize individual pages and posts. When creating or editing a page, you'll find options to customize the layout, featured image, and other elements specific to that content.

Step 9: Use Page Builders

To take customization to the next level, consider using page builder plugins like Elementor, Beaver Builder, or Divi. These plugins provide a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to design and customize pages with advanced layouts, widgets, and elements.

Step 10: Customize Using CSS

If you're familiar with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), you can add custom CSS code to further personalize your theme's appearance. Some themes even provide a custom CSS section in the Customizer, making it easier to apply your styling changes.

Step 11: Regularly Update Your Theme

As you customize your WordPress theme, remember to keep it updated. Theme developers often release updates to improve functionality, fix bugs, and enhance security. Always back up your website before updating it to avoid any potential issues.

Step 12: Test Responsiveness

With the increasing use of mobile devices, ensuring your website is responsive is essential. Use the Customizer's responsive preview feature to see how your changes look on different screen sizes.

Step 13: Seek Professional Help

If you have specific customization needs that go beyond your expertise, consider hiring a WordPress development company. They can help you implement complex customizations, optimize performance, and ensure a seamless user experience.

In conclusion, customizing WordPress themes empowers you to create a website that reflects your brand identity and meets your unique requirements. With the right theme, tools, and approach, you can transform a template into a beautifully customized website that stands out in the digital landscape. Remember to experiment, test, and continuously refine your design to achieve the desired results.

[247themes]

Some Great Selling Themes From 247themes.com

Hello, and welcome back! In this article, we will showcase some more of the top selling themes at 247Themes.com. Most, if not all of these themes have sold in the many thousands and are very popular amongst development and design professionals. If you are looking to kickstart your new project, you could do worse than to take a look at these themes.

Impreza – WordPress Website and WooCommerce Builder

Impreza is an amazing WordPress website and WooCommerce builder with a plethora of features and tools to help you create the perfect website quickly and easily. The visual drag-and-drop interface allows you to customize your website to your exact specifications. You can create stunning layouts with a variety of elements and modules. The extensive library of pre-built pages, blocks, and templates make it simple to get up and running fast. With its intuitive design and powerful functionality, Impreza is an excellent choice for creating beautiful, professional websites. 

2) Porto | Multipurpose & WooCommerce Theme

Porto is a great choice for creating a stunning, professional website using the popular WordPress and WooCommerce platforms. It comes with a variety of demos, page templates, and blocks to get you started quickly and easily. The drag-and-drop visual editor makes it simple to customize your website to get the exact look and feel you want. The theme also includes powerful features such as multiple layouts, customizable elements, and an extensive library of plugins and extensions. With its powerful functionality and intuitive design, Porto is a great choice for creating a beautiful, functional website. 

3) TheGem - Creative Multi-Purpose & WooCommerce WordPress Theme

TheGem is a great choice for creating a beautiful, professional website with WordPress and WooCommerce. It comes with a variety of pre-built demos, page templates, and blocks to get you started quickly and easily. The drag-and-drop interface makes it simple to customize your website to get the exact look and feel you want. TheGem also includes powerful features such as unlimited layout options, customizable elements, and an extensive library of plugins and extensions. With its intuitive design and powerful functionality, TheGem is an excellent choice for creating a stunning website.

4) Canvas | The Multi-Purpose HTML5 Template

This template is a great choice for those who need a multi-purpose HTML5 template. It boasts a wide variety of features and customization options, making it easy to create a website suited to your specific needs. The template is highly responsive, so it looks great on all devices. It also includes several page templates and provides access to the popular Bootstrap framework. Overall, Canvas offers an impressive collection of features and an easy-to-use interface. 

5) WoodMart - Multipurpose WooCommerce Theme 

WoodMart is a great choice for those who need a multi-purpose WooCommerce theme. It comes with an array of features designed to help you create a beautiful and functional online store. The theme is highly customizable, so you can easily create a unique look and feel for your store. It also includes dozens of pre-made layouts and page templates, making it easy to get started. Overall, WoodMart is a great choice for those who need a powerful and versatile WooCommerce theme. 

6) uDesign - Responsive WordPress Theme 

uDesign is an excellent choice for those who need a responsive WordPress theme. It offers an array of features designed to make it easy to create a beautiful and functional website. The theme is highly customizable, so you can easily create a unique look and feel for your site. It also includes several page templates and provides access to the popular Bootstrap framework. Overall, uDesign is an excellent choice for those who need a fully-featured WordPress theme.

7) Total - Responsive Multi-Purpose WordPress Theme 

Total is a great choice for users looking for a complete solution to WordPress websites. Its amazing customization options make it possible to put together a unique website with pages that stand out from the crowd. It’s also a great choice for users with limited coding knowledge; total has some of the most powerful drag and drop tools available. For more advanced users, coding customization options are available, so every website built with Total can be tailored to the user's exact specifications. All these features are backed up with helpful support whenever you need it. 

8) KALLYAS - Creative eCommerce Multi-Purpose WordPress Theme

Kallyas is the perfect solution for anyone looking to build an ecommerce website. Its easy-to-use page building tools make it simple to create stunning product pages, while the included WooCommerce integration ensures the shop is fully functioning. With a huge selection of features, it’s fast and easy to set up. For customizability, all the usual coding options are available, but with its selection of pre-made templates, it’s easy enough for beginners to quickly get going. 

9) Porto - Multipurpose Website Template 

Porto is a great choice for anyone looking for a tight, well-presented website. With pre-made pages and a library of beautiful website elements, it takes just a few clicks to create a professional page. It also has a great selection of code snippets, making it easy to customize the look of your website. With full support available and regularly updated features, Porto is an excellent choice. 

10) Brooklyn | Creative Multi-Purpose Responsive WordPress Theme 

Brooklyn is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a creative WordPress theme. It’s packed with design options and presets, including five ready-made homepages and over 35 pre-made inner pages. With its versatile design options and easy-to-use customization options, Brooklyn makes it easy to create something visually impressive. It also includes full support, so you can easily get help if needed. 

11) Kalium | Creative Multipurpose WordPress & WooCommerce Theme

Kalium is the perfect choice for users looking for a creative WordPress theme. With its modern design and powerful customization options, it’s easy to create a visually impressive website that stands out from the crowd. The included WooCommerce integration and selection of ready-made layouts make it easy to create a shop page. With full support available, and regular updates, it’s a great theme for all users. 

12) Soledad – Multipurpose, Newspaper, Blog & WooCommerce WordPress Theme 

Soledad is ideal for users looking for a modern theme to power their blog or newspaper website. With its selection of ready-made layouts, it takes just a few clicks to assemble a beautiful page. For design customization, it has full customization options available, allowing you to control every aspect of the look. Support is available if any problems do arise, so you can quickly get help if needed.

[merrillcarney]

Dating the Bible

Relative dating does not offer specific dates, it simply allows to determine if one artifact, fossil, or stratigraphic layer is older than another. Generally it is assumed that the heliacal rising of Sirius would be observed when the star was at the angle of 8.5-9.5 degrees above the horizon; however, the difference of one degree in the angle of Sirius above the horizon corresponds to the difference of about ten years in the astronomically calculated date of the relevant heliacal rising. However, aren’t you ever curious of hearing nature in unheard ways. נערות ליווי בבת ים For the people who would, there aren’t many ways to achieve this without paying tons of money for expensive professional microphones. Instead of starting afresh, people try to hide the mess of matplotlib under the carpet. A contemporary era full of different computers, smartphones and similar devices people use literally every single day chatting on different applications - so why it would not be the way to get a shot at online dating services, dating hot Russian women in particular? With every page layout, component and element possible, you can just mix and match, implement your branding and call it a day. Implement and use an algorithm to convert the high frequency sound into a form that we can hear without altering the time domain.

Lex, a dating app for “queer, trans, gender non-conforming, two spirit, and non-binary people,” is inspired by newspaper personals: Its profiles use only text. While you can just about RAID any two identical drives, if they are not RAID certified they are more likely to get dropped out of the array when doing error recovery. I’ve been a Roku user for years, dating back to when their devices were basically shitty under-powered little pieces of cheap plastic with a laggy interface (the current models in comparison are good, decently smooth-going, and get the job done). There are likely many old drafts dating back many years. When interacting with matches or other members of a dating site, it is important to be honest about who you are and what your dating intentions are. We have members or Asian singles that are students, successful working professionals, entrepreneurs, retired or volunteers working for a good cause. Gold members can select 2 experienced & dedicated matchmakers. Can I pay without doing it through the Internet? This mentality is clear on Righter, where men are encouraged to make the first move and pay for the first date.

While others are more open or general in their search - they will know what they are looking for when it finds them. Run a search. Copy the images your online correspondent has posted to his or her profile, then run them through a reverse-image search engine, such as TinEye or Google Images. Core i7 processors are the first to run on the 45nm Nehalem architecture, which includes such goodies as 30% lower power usage for the same performance, an integrated memory controller supporting DDR3 and better hyperthreading performance. Likewise, because of heterogeneity problems with the MMhb-1 sample, the K/Ar ages are not always reproducible. Several patterns are evident in this chart. You can also see when users are online or when they were last active. Added bonus - interactive (i.e. you can click and see which points are where on the axes), SVG plots (i.e. resizeable, play-around-able without messing up the resolution)! Many of these instruments, for our satisfaction, are to enhance our eye sight and this is understandable as we are primates after all. Here are some great, easy-to-copy dating profile examples & profile photo optimization tips for gents and ladies.

Here is an article which talks about finding cheap ultrasonic microphone modules. Gulf Singles & Friendship - Find friends and your perfect match safely and easily! So here’s an idea: networks of authors and citations, clustered by labs and collaborators, to assess the potential impact of pre-published papers on arxiv and biorxiv and newly published ones in other journals with no citations yet. While reading two papers on RNA-Seq transcript quantification, we realized that the authors of one paper were so up-to-date that they could compare their tool to the results of the other paper which was pre-published (pre, mind you, not actually published) just a month before they pre-published their own. Nor should one conclude that instability is a simple good, since it does contribute to exclusions on the basis of technical aptitude and interest, and these exclusions should be taken seriously. So, what’s keeping me away from converting a cheap bat detector into a simple DIY ultrasound recorder? So, you might want something long-term or you might prefer something more casual. Many insects make sounds at more than 20khz frequency. Toyplot has a variety of canvas, axis and plotting functions which actually make sense and uses CSS formatting for styling the details.

[transhuman-priestess]

So, paragraph by paragraph (Indenting each portion of this because one of them needed a paragraph break of its own)

Paragraph 1

HDMI does do audio, yes. It does audio very badly. Audio/video sync on HDMI is famously slapdash. In certain circumstances it can be upwards of 300ms, which is very noticeable. This is why there's "HDMI Low Latency Mode" which is why your TV switches to "game mode" whenever you're playing Xbox or whatever. It also means that movies can come "un-synced" from their audio if your player or TV has basically anything wrong.

Paragraph 2

HDMI and DP cables are far more fragile than analog cords, because they're what's called "active cables." they literally have a modulator/demodulator in the cable that takes power from the device. If the cable experiences strain at the point where it meets the connector, it can cause the entire cable to fail. This happens all the time. Analog is far more failure-tolerant than digital. Dropped packets cause weird artifacting. A loose connector might buzz at some frequencies if its an audio connector, but if its video you probably won't notice until it fails completely.

Paragraph 3

I spent an hour researching HDMI versions trying to get New Vegas to run at 4k60 only to find out that my laptop could output it, but my TV couldn't. This gets even stupider if you get a stereo system involved. If you want to use your AV receiver as a switch, your receiver--which only has to handle audio and pass video-- has to be able to support whatever the resolution you want to display. If you have a 4k HDR source going through your stereo receiver from 2007, it's going to show up on your television in 1080p and with 8-bit color depth. That's asinine.

Paragraph 4

Analog component video actually could differentiate framerates. Furthermore, there is no reason you could not, say, use some kind of mini-DIN connector (a la s-video) to expand bandwidth if that were required for higher resolutions. Even if that isn't possible with analog component video, digital component video using an open, non-proprietary standard, a video equivalent of PCM, for example, would be strongly preferable.

Paragraph 5

Copy protection absolutely isn't planned obsolescence. The versioning scheme, however, is. See Paragraph 3.

Paragraph 6

There's so much going on in this one here. "Those connectors were built for a tv that sits in one place" how does that differ from big chunky HDMI, exactly? This is a nonsense claim. "Analogue does not do power delivery" Flagrantly incorrect. Telephone connectors (which i'll forgive you for not remembering, given your age) transmitted power starting in 1919. It's still very popular for powering certain kinds of microphones in pro audio settings. I'm not sure why you need power through an A/V cable in your living room, though. Nor do i understand why you need PCIe passthrough to watch Austin Powers. Also, they definitionally do provide data transfer, it's just analog data transfer. Finally, for USB4, I ask, why do you need something new when something that already exists provides what you need just as well?

Anyway, maybe don't go around telling random people on tumblr they're misinformed if you're gonna post stuff like this.

I will never stop being angry at the murder of analog systems.

[joshslater]

End of Shift

Similar stories and bonus material on my Patreon.

My life is over. I've been playing a high stakes game, and somehow landed on one side of the odds all the time, but my luck was bound to run out sooner or later. I guess I should be happy that it turned out to be later, but it sucks no less. I got sloppy. I was looking through the items near the cashier, as always, trying to mostly use reflective surfaces to see what was going on, as always. I need to be within 15 feet or latency becomes an issue. Some old lady still using the old wallet was buying KokaKola and a pack of Ziffs. This would be easy, as always. I discreetly pressed my watch as she was ready to make the purchase, activating my EM-swiper. I wouldn't take much, a few credits more. She probably wouldn't notice it, or think the store stiffed her, or think she bought two packs of Ziffs and lost one. I'm not stealing to get rich, just to get by.

As the EM-swiper went off a high pitched beeping starts behind me. I barely have time to turn my head enough to see the charging police officer, before he slams me into the side of a KokaKola fridge. Shit, I hadn't done a survey pass through the store as I always do. I could barely register what he was screaming in my ear. "Drop it," I realize, and let go of the magazine. He must have thought I had the EM-swiper in my hand. He told me to put my hands against the wall and performed a pat-down. It's only him, so he must be off duty or not on a real patrol. He empties my pockets on the cashier table. Nothing of value, and certainly not something incriminating. I may not have been fortunate enough to afford academy, but I'm not stupid.

"You are detained under suspicion of committing proximity fraud. Do you understand?" he asks me in that commanding yet bored tone of a laborer having to recite corporate bullshit, only in his case it is in the pretense of justice. "Yes," I answer him. He doesn't have anything on me or he would have arrested me right away. Probably. "Put this on to acknowledge you've read the Citizen Rights Act and agree to an investigation in this matter." He hands me a pair of handcuffs to put on. I hesitate for a second. He is behind me and in the way of the store exit. I can stall for time and tell him to recite the CRA, but that immediately counts against you, as it is your duty to know it. I have no choice but to put them on. It's the latest model. I haven't seen any up close before. Light, thin, all metal, no key hole. Probably opened remotely or only inside a police cell or some shit. I put them on.

"Turn around, pick up your stuff, and exit the store." I do as told, turn around and begin to pick up my stuff and put them back where he took them. It's an older police officer. None of them young, jacked up types. Perhaps he is one of the fair ones. But then I am the criminal, so what good would that do me? There's a small, black duffle bag by his side. So he is on his way home. Perhaps he is tired. Perhaps I can shake him. Have Leo remove the shackles and then stay low for a fucking long time. Or this just doesn't amount to anything more than a slap on the wrist. I walk towards the door, him behind me.

"Nice watch," he says, pointing at my wrist as I reach or the door.

He knows. Unless I can get away now my life is over. All I can think of is the monstrosities the state churn out as punishment. Equal part labor force and sadism. I open the door as little as possible and as soon as I am through I dash down the block. I don't dare look behind me, but I don't hear him in pursuit. Halfway down the block I swerve into the alley that cuts across the building and out on the block on the other side. If I can cross that block and then down south I'm in the park and there are plenty of places to hide there.

My hands are not on fire. This surprises me as I look down on my hands, screaming in pain. There is a high pitched sound coming out of the handcuffs, like capacitors charging, but it is continuous. The pain emanating from my hands is something unlike anything I've ever experienced before. My legs buckle. I know I need to move, somehow, somewhere. It's just so difficult to think of anything but my hands that are not on fire. It would probably be a good idea to not scream my lungs out, but I don't really have a choice in that.

Just as suddenly as it started it stops. I'm still writhing in pain, but my hands are not on fire in a much more comforting way. "The payment proxy is in your watch, is it not?" the policeman asks, standing a few steps away. I'm panting, I realize when I attempt to answer him. Panting and sweaty. I can't manage to speak. I just nod my head.

"The state vs. item RK-220553 finds the defendant guilty to breach of contract with the state, executed by judicial AI 5" he reads off his handheld screen. I'm confused to what just happened. "No trial?" I manage to wheeze out. "You entered into a cooperation contract when you put on the handcuffs, as you are aware of as you claimed to know the Citizens Rights Act. Disobedience at that point allows for immediate trial by AI as long as no forensic work is needed." He sounded like the same bored cop as he was in the store, reciting memorized text for the thousandth time.

I struggle to get up on my feet. Not only am I shaky, but having my hands locked together makes it surprisingly difficult to get up. "You know, this is bad timing," the cop starts. "I was on my way home and don't have all the standard gear. It's supposed to be a swift punishment, for deterrence, but there is really only one thing I can do." Why is he so apologetic? He opens the bag and pulls out a fucking tactical human transformer. I've never even seen one in person before. He turns it on, selects something on the screen, and points the device towards me. "No, I can..."

This time I am on fire, if only so briefly. There is a blinding light, a pulse of heat, and the smell of burnt plastic. As the transient heat subsides it keeps falling colder and colder. I'm naked. All my clothes have been singed from my body. My watch is gone. My shoes are gone. Underwear gone. And, I realize, my hair is gone. The cop keeps punching in selections in the menus of the devices. I manage to get up on my feet. "Stay on the ground," he tells me. Not so much as an order, but as an advice. I sit down again and he trains the device on me.

I don't know how to describe it. It's not pain exactly. There is something about rewriting the code and cellular structure of your body while your brain is engaged that makes it give up in disbelief. "This can't be what's actually happening," it thinks and gives you completely nonsense sensory interpretations. But it also gives up on all other tasks. Time becomes irrelevant. Critical thinking put on hold. When the device stops you are utterly confused for seconds. Possibly by design, but it makes sense that you can't rewire the brain in flight without some glitches.

"I want you to stand up," the cop says in a firm voice. "Who?" I ask, still dazed, just to make sure. "You. Get up on both feet. Take this." He throws an orange bundle to me, and I feebly grasp for it but my one arm yanks the chain to the cuff of the other arm. The bundle brushes by and lands on the ground next to me. He looks disappointed, more at himself for thinking it would work than on me for not catching it.

I look down at my hand and see something orange in my grip, but it is not the orange that interests my but the grip. My arms, thin from lack of food and nimble from grabbing P2 storage modules out of vendor racks. are enormous. Big, well defined muscles with popped veins going up and around them. They look longer than before and even the hands are larger than they used to be. I can see that not only my arms are different. My chest is all lean and strong-looking as well, the legs have these weird lines showing different groups of muscles under the skin, and I can almost bet that the ground is further down than it used to be. Orange! I'm holding something orange in my hand.

"I only have an emergency kit with me, so not very many options for you I'm afraid. If you had come with me I think they would have found some better use for you, but as I said, I didn't have much to chose from beside himbot," the cop said while putting some beat-up looking boots from his bag next to me. He grabs the chain between my cuffs, and both of them pop open instantly, and he folds them up and begins to place them back into the cuff holder in his belt.

There was something he said that was important. Like, really important. I feel cobwebs like I had just been awakened from a deep sleep. "Put on the jock," he tells me, and again I am confused, but of a different kind. It's like I urgently need to know what he means, somehow. "You're holding them in your hand." I again look down at my hand and see the orange piece of cloth, which obviously is what he meant. I flip it around in my hands and finds it to be an orange jockstrap with a generous pouch. Looking down I also see the reason for that, since my dick and balls are large. Much larger than I remember them to be. I don't want to keep him waiting, so as quickly as I can manage, with my balance a bit off, I manage to place one leg in each loop and pull up the jockstrap. It neatly collects everything in front into a large orange ball.

Himbot! That's what he had said. It's like the government robots but human. What was the I and M now again? Wait, those are just mindless sacks of muscles roaming around doing whatever menial task is available.

"Himbot?" I ask him. "Yes, you are a himbot," the cop answered. "Put on the shirt."

I immediately grabbed the orange bundle from the ground I assumed to be the shirt. To my delight I was right and with just a few tries I managed to get it on me. It isn't a real shirt, but one of those without arms, whatever they are called. Quite a lot of skin showed. The shoulders were bare, as were the sides and the nipples unless you positioned the strings just right. Stringers! It's called a stringers, or something close to it. I feel so tired thinking of words.

"And the boots"

I grab one of the boots. There is something missing, but I'm not sure what it is. I has something to do with the small holes, I think. Well, the large hole is missing a foot, so I put one in it. Then I put the other foot in the other boot, and looked at the cop to see if he approved. He looks about the same. Good enough I hope.

"Face me and raise your hands" I comply immediately. He is pointing the large gun at me again. I don't like it, but I must do what he says. He presses a few buttons and then there is a sharp headache.

"Who are you?" "Himbot 220553." "What is your assignment?" "Walk along path 228-red responding to requests." "What types of requests?" "Any type of requests."

[dragonrajafanfiction]

The Trieste Venture but with the MC added (Part One)

How the Trieste adventure should have gone in the game.

"They ...... they're coming!" Lu Mingfei said hoarsely.

You and Chu Zihang looked out from the observation window below. Scarlet water mist gushed out of the ruined ground. The dragon blood flowing from it rushed up, and from the cracks in the ground crawled slender living creatures, their bodies glowing with a metallic sheen, their pupils a hideous gold. Because they had slumbered so long, they couldn’t swim up yet. They creeped on the sea bed, crawling, wriggling their slender lower body. But after being nourished by the dragon's blood, their bodies immediately regained the strength of the ancient era. As they crawled they sprang up, swinging their long tails to float upwards rapidly. They passed by the side of the Trieste, but did not cast even a glance at the metal object with the lights on. Their eyes were on the endless darkness above. Hundreds and thousands of them finally broke free from the seal of bondage and were about to return to the human world.

"Snake tail people. Mermaids." Chu Zihang said softly, "This is not a pureblood dragon species. They were also human-dragon hybrids. This is not the city of the dragon race, it was built by the ancestors of the hybrids!"

"It's like a dragon ascending to heaven." Lu Mingfei murmured.

In the upper view, countless slender shadows were striving to swing their long tails, and the lava illuminated their bodies as they came together like golden whirlpools.

"When they rise all the way to the surface, this will get tricky. If even one of things were captured by the media, tomorrow every newspaper in the world will make it a headline." Caesar said, "But it's not our business anymore. Leave it to those Japanese. It's time for their support team to come into play. Our job is just to level the place. Whether it's the Lenin, the Embryo or Takamagahara. The very existence of such things is trouble."

"The deep-sea walking suits can only support five minutes at most." Chu Zihang said, "I'll have the Trieste lowered a bit."

"That's enough time." Caesar squeezed himself into the pressurized compartment on the side of the cockpit, swiveled around and snapped the 10 meter thick hatch shut.

Outside is an incredibly ultra-high pressure environment, and Caesar couldn’t use a diving suit without being crushed. So instead he was in another robotic submersible made of thick metal, spherical and pressurized. But even with this, his time is quite limited. Caesar gripped the operating handle of the metal arm firmly and blew into the microphone in the helmet: "Chu Zihang, try the communication device."

"I can hear you very clearly here, can you hear me?" Chu Zihang tapped the microphone in the cockpit.

"The call works well," Caesar paused, "Aren't you also a proud man?"

Chu Zihang froze.

"It's just that you're proud in a different way than I am." Caesar added, "Although you're uncomfortable when you're proud, if you weren't proud, you wouldn't deserve to be seen as an opponent by me at all. Those old guys in my family want to target you, but that matter has nothing to do with me. Don't think I would use those kinds of underhanded tactics against you. If it's my death and your life, just keep living so proudly … don't be defeated by the bastards I despise."

You’re not sure what they’re referring to exactly so you ask Zihang directly. “You were targeted by Caesar’s family?”

“It’s a long story.” Chu Zihang muttered, still focused on the device.

“MC! You’re not crying! That’s a good sign!” Caesar’s teasing voice came through in your ears.

You scowl at the monitor. “I never cry for any of my friends.”

“You do it when you sleep.”

Your jaw clenched and your hands balled into fists.

Lu Mingfei audibly gasped. If his head swiveled on his neck any faster, it might snap. “No way! You two… No way!”

“Nothing happened between us!” You growl at Lu Mingfei, before turning back to the image of Caesar in the monitor. “Why are you listening outside my bedroom, you creep? I’ll try not to cry for you then. I should be out there. You’re responsible for your own death.” You didn’t mean to speak so bitterly. But you never really had time to mourn, so your grief rapidly progressed from shock to denial to anger. But Caesar only chuckled, amused to get a rise out of you even at a time like this.

　　The moment the pressurized nozzle spewed out the zeppelin gear, Chu Zihang saw Caesar in the gear put his hand into the spherical helmet and gave him a thumbs up, not knowing it meant "victory".

Caesar slowly descended in the water, occasionally brushing by newborn mermaids. The ruin was like a gateway to Hell. Now that door to the underworld is open, the souls are desperate to escape. The mermaids are no longer in their right mind, but they still retain their beastly instincts, as if all of them have a premonition of destruction, and they are desperately fleeing from this desperate situation, not attacking anything along the way. Caesar couldn't figure out how the guardians could have sensed that Takamagahara would be destroyed by a nuclear explosion. That’s obviously not something they would be able to do.

Some of these long-dead hybrid species were intact, others were mutilated. Their preservation was similar to the mummification process but used more powerful alchemical techniques that sealed their vitality in immortal bodies. Some of them were missing half of their heads, others had pierced abdominal cavities, seemingly the remains left after a brutal battlefield, which the alchemists of the ancient world used as raw material. Caesar thought of the battlefield carvings he had seen on a birdhouse, as if that battle had really happened in history, and perhaps it was what finally destroyed the city.

In the light of gas mines and lava, the nuclear powerhouse that would be used to blow up the ruin and the Lenin were in clear view. The narrow nuclear powerhouse pitched in a pile of lung snails not far from the Lenin, millions of them writhing beside it. Caesar dropped into the pile of lung snails, and the tiny creatures were steadily dislodging themselves from the Lenin, hitting the zeppelin suit with a dull thud. Struggling to maneuver his awkward prosthetic limbs back to a standing position, Caesar trudged through the pile of lung snails, inching closer to the nuclear powerhouse. The currents were too chaotic for him to float forward, so he didn't dare release the lead weight on his zeppelin rig, and had to stick to the seabed like this, somewhere between walking and crawling. There was a constant stream of mermaids passing above his head. How many of them had been revived, a few thousand or tens of thousands? Caesar could not count them. In this underworld at the height of the day countless undead were buried underground. These mermaid hybrids seem to have directly inherited the civilization of the dragon, completely unlike humans.

The Zeppelin suit is already working over-capacity -- the pressure is overloaded, the output is overloaded, and the lighting inside the helmet keeps flashing out. If not protected by the ultra-high-pressure saline inside the suit, Caesar would have been bleeding internally, but the ultra-high-pressure saline also made his eyes bloodshot and made it difficult to breathe. He had eyes only for the nuclear powerhouse less than ten meters away, but to crawl through ten meters in the waist-deep pile of lung snails, he gradually wondered if he could do it.

His vision was getting blurry. The effects of high pressure are the most obvious on vision. The target in his sight began to appear ghostly. He started to feel a severe headache. His metal prosthetic limbs were slipping in the pile of lung snails, as if he was struggling in a mudslide and could be swallowed up at any moment.

Caesar closed his eyes and released the Scythe Itachi. Few people know that his hearing ability is not an aid. It’s a sixth sense even more effective than vision. The scythes hovered and danced in the sea, and Caesar was surprised to find the field expanded to an unprecedented extent. The sea was an excellent conductor of sound, and the loss of sonic transmission was less than in the air. Caesar could now see that the ancient buildings that had collapsed had thousands of black bells hanging from them. In the days when Takamagahara stood on the earth, the wind must have drowned the whole city in bells.

But in the sea, the bells emitted sound is beyond the range of normal human hearing ultra-low frequency. If he had not released the scythe then Caesar would not have been able to hear this magical music. Heavy ancient ultra-low frequency sound with the sea current through the ruins, Caesar immersed in the ancient music, imagining that the Takamagahara was on dry land. Thousands of bells were turning in the wind, and the tide of sound was ebbing and flowing in the city, tidal wave after tidal wave. He had never "heard" such a vast city.

"Come in, Caesar! Come in, Caesar! Answer! Answer!" Chu yelled.

Three minutes after ejecting from the deep submersible, Caesar lay in a pile of lung snails. His last action was to cling to a pile of lung snails, and from the camera inside his helmet, look at the pleasant smile remaining on his face.

No answer. Life monitoring equipment showed that he still has a heartbeat, but he had completely lost consciousness. You turn your eyes from the monitor. You can’t bear to look. Renata… Anton… Vera…

Did you have to watch Caesar die too?

Chu Zihang muted the microphone, took off the headset and handed it to you, staring into your eyes: "Remember, since the nuclear power module is detached, Sumeru can no longer monitor the data of its  operation, underwater communication must rely on the cable."

You refuse to accept it. “What are you doing? You’re not going to go out there and die too, are you? Caesar said we all have to stay here!”

"What do you mean? I don't understand!" Lu Mingfei shook his head in bewilderment.

Chu Zihang doesn’t respond to you but presses the device into your hand. "It means that if you don't tell Gen-kun about what’s happening, he doesn't know if the nuclear power module has been ignited again. If I fail to bring Caesar back, you tell Gen-kun that the ignition has been successful, but not that you cannot recover me and Caesar, so that he can recover you immediately. Gen-kun cannot verify the result of the ignition, he can only choose to bring you back. If he knows you’re still here and the nuclear module is not ignited, he will ask one of you to stay in the deep submersible and the other to get out of the cabin." 

“Zihang, let me go out there. H-hey!”

Chu Zihang put the headset on your head, "Don't say too much, and don't argue with me out of embarrassment. Just like Caesar does not want to sacrifice himself to save you and me out of the cabin, Chisei’s pride does not allow him to drive us out of the cabin."

You pull the headset off. “This is bullshit! Did you hear anything I said before to Caesar? Why aren’t you listening to me?”

"My pride also does not allow me to let a lower grade out of the cabin." Chu Zihang ignored the headset you held out, "If we don't make it back, you're the leader of the dive team."

“Isn’t Lu Mingfei my senior?” Your gaze shifts from Chu Zihang to Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei sat limp on the chair, eyes innocent like a small raccoon, and you realize that Chu Zihang was right. Never once had you ever seen Lu Mingfei ever fend for himself in a pinch. He always seemed lost with the eyes of a small raccoon. If anything happened to Chu Zihang and you, Lu Mingfei would be fish bait.

The Dark-haired senior turned to Lu Mingfei. "Answer me sincerely, are you still unable to forget Nono?"

“Huh?” You asked.

Lu Mingfei lowered his head: "Yes, but I can't do anything about it, I just try not to think about it."

"If you're the only one of the three of us to escape, don't feel guilty about it. It's not your fault that Caesar and I had an accident. Try again to see if you can impress Nono. I always think she's actually a very weak girl inside. Losing Caesar will be very sad, right?" Chu Zihang walked towards the pressurized cabin, "You still have a goal to achieve, unlike me, I have nothing to aim for."

Your eyes returned to Lu Mingfei with a brand new sense of disgust. Was he seriously lusting after Caesar’s fiancée, planning to take his place at her side now that he’s going to die? If you knew that was the case, then you would have been happy to let Lu Mingfei out there to get eaten by lung snails!

"Brother, did you like the little dragon lady?" Lu Mingfei asked in a numb voice.

"So you call her the Little Dragon Lady?" He turned to you and said, “I know there’s a lot you don’t understand, but you will in time. Thank you for caring for him.”  Chu Zihang snapped the door of the pressure chamber shut behind him.

When Lu Mingfei turns to look at you, he doesn’t even react to the deep despising look you’re giving him. He just sighs. 

“You’re an asshole.” You snarl at him, biting the words out.

“I know…” He grumbles. “You don’t have to tell me.

[aerynwrites]

Protector - Din Djarin x Reader

Author’s Note: I loved writing this so much, ngl, however i feel like i may have lost my edge when it comes to angst. Idk it’s probably me just being overly critical of myself as usual...but anyways i hope you guys enjoy this! It’s kinda darker than my more recent stuff but I freaking love angst so, here ya go lol. Enjoy and as always I love to hear from you all! <3

Requested? Yes! based on: Could you possibly do an angsty/little fluffy Mando x reader where their ship is attacked unexpectedly and Mando does everything he can to protect the reader but they both end up being taken and she's going to get tortured but he offers to get tortured instead to save her? Possibly loss of limb if you're up to it? Reader blames herself for what happened to him but he would rather he be hurt instead of her. (requested by anon).

Word count: 2.5k

Warnings: ANGST, mentions of death, fear of death, blood, mentions of torture (not descriptive really), injuries, kidnapping, and fluff.

////

You had been traveling with the Mandalorian for almost two years now. You had been with him since before the child, and you were still with him now. As expected, the Mandalorian didn’t take to you at first. He kept his distance, only talked when necessary, and was very short with you when he did speak. However, after finding the child, his walls seemed to come down little by little and eventually you both wormed your way into each other’s hearts.

Starting a relationship with the Mandalorian was a learning curve for both of you. You had to do things a little differently than usual, but you made it work, and you had never been happier. Then the day came when Din had completed his mission of finding the child’s species, and he did the right thing, no matter how much it hurt him. After leaving the child with his people, he was once again closed off, but he told you many times that having you there made the ordeal and heartbreak much easier than if he was alone. He rested his helmet against your forehead and for the first time, told you how much he loved you, and he truly meant it. He had never felt this deep and unyielding love for anyone since his parents died, not even the child. But he loved everything about you: your smile, your hair, the way you poked your tongue out when your concentrated on something. But most of all, he loves the fact that you have never once asked him what was under his helmet. Once he had explained what it meant to remove it and why he couldn’t you immediately accepted it and continued on, no matter how curious you may be. You accepted him for who he was, not what he looked like or any other physical aspects of him. And he knew that he would do anything in the galaxy to protect you and keep you safe.

Until he couldn’t.

It had all happened to fast. The two of you were docked on a planet to get fuel and supplies, a regular routine for the both of you, when a group of storm troopers and other humans stormed the mechanical bay you had landed the ship in. You had been outside speaking with the mechanic when it happened, and before Din could even get a shot off one of the troopers had you locked in his grasp, a blaster held to you head while the others all had their weapons aimed at him.

“You shoot us, we shoot the girl,” one of the men said, “We have you severely out numbered, and all we want is information. Just come with us, tell us what we need to know, and you will be on your merry way.”

Obviously neither you or Din believed a word out of his mouth, but as Din looked at the ten men surrounding him and the one trooper holding onto you, he for once, didn’t see another way out. Not a way where you survive anyway, and he couldn’t risk that. So, Din cautiously lowered his weapon and nodded at them, causing your eyes to widen.

“Din no! What are you-“ but before you could finish, another trooper standing next to you roughly rammed the but of his rifle into the side of your head, rendering you unconscious.

Din felt his blood boil and he immediately raised his blaster to retaliate, but a quick shot and a mean pinch to his upper arm stopped him in his tracks. He quickly looked down to his right arm and saw a small feathered canister lodged into his arm.

A tranquilizer. before he could take another step or rip the device from his arm the world around him went black and the last thing he saw was your limp body being hoisted into the arms of one of the imps.

* * *

Din woke with a start, the first thing he noticed was that he was in a cell, and the second being your small form curled into his side, asleep. His sudden movement at waking must have disturbed you because you peeled your eyes open and bolted upright when you saw him move.

“Oh my stars, Din!” you cried wrapping your arms around his neck in a vice grip, “I didn’t think you were gonna wake up, I was so scared.” By now you were crying again, fresh tears covering the old ones that had dried on your face.

“I’m not going anywhere, I’m fine,” he gently placed his gloved hands on the side of your face and he finally saw the damage they caused.

Your hair was caked in dry blood, most likely from the earlier blow, but you also had new injuries. A busted lip and a darkening bruise over your left cheek.

“What did they do?” Din seethed, finger ghosting over the bruise.

You shook your head, “They want to know where we took the kid Din, they came in here to take you but-“ you paused holding back more tears, as your voice cracked, “but I wouldn’t let them. I couldn’t let them take you.” you were sobbing now, as you rested your face in the space between his helmet and shoulder.

“They’re going to kill us Din, we’re going to die.” You whimpered, voice thick with tears.

Din’s heart sunk as he listened to your words. He could hear the fear, the sadness, and for the first time since he was a child, he too felt a twinge of fear wash over his very soul. As he looked down at your shaking form he felt the fear weigh down his every limb at the thought of losing you. The thought of dying without getting to live his life with you, without getting to marry you and start a family with you…it made Din hold you tighter against him as the reality of the situation sunk in. They had stripped him of his weapons and armor, save his helmet, and locked you both in a cell. Din had never felt so helpless.

“We’re not-“ Din paused, debating on if he should make a promise he can’t keep, “We’re not going to die, I promise.”

His modulated voice, the voice you had grown so familiar with and attached too, somewhat eased your fears, but you knew his words were empty. Despair had settled itself in your mind and you were not hopeful of a happy outcome. The only way out of the cell was by force, which neither of you possessed without Din’s weapons, or a key card that only the guards had. You clung tighter to the him, and buried your face deeper into him, as if trying to hide from the terrible future that awaited you both.

Neither of you spoke for the next few moments. Opting instead for the comfort of silence and each others breathing. Din was absentmindedly running his hand up and down your back in some attempt to comfort you, while you were toying with the hair peaking from under his helmet at the nape of his neck. Your small moment of peace was interrupted by the hiss of the cell door opening, and you buried your head as far as it would go into Din’s neck, terrified to look at the two people who entered the room. You felt Din’s arms tighten around you protectively and you heard the voices chuckle before two rough hands grabbed your arms ripping you from Din’s grasp.

“No, no, no – please! Din!” new tears were pouring down your face as you fought against the troopers grasp, flailing your limps in a vain attempt to escape them. Fear gripping your heart at the thought of what awaited you outside of that cell door. In between your panicked movements you saw Din jump from his seated position and quickly lunge at one of the troopers. A well aimed hit to the exposed area of his neck had the trooper stumbling backwards but he was quick to regain his feet and kick Din behind the knee, dropping him to one knee and pointing his blaster at his chest.

“Not so tough without your armor and weapons are you?” the trooper seethed before jerking his head towards the door, telling the one holding you it was time to go.

“Stop – Wait!” Din’s voice stopped the troopers in their spot as well as caused you to cease your struggle against them once more.

“Take me.” He said firmly standing to his feet once more, “She doesn’t know anything, just please-“ his voice cracked slightly as he looked from you to the two troopers, “take me.”

Your breathing was erratic from the struggle and the panic still coursing through you as you watched the two troopers look at one another momentarily before roughly shoving you back into the cell. You stumbled into Din and he steadied you with his hands on your upper arms, you looked up at him giving him a fearful gaze.

“Please don’t go Din,” you beg quietly.

Din just gives your arm a light squeeze and pressed his helmet against your forehead, “I’ll be back,”  his hands fall down to yours and you faintly feel him place a small cool object in your hand, “I love you.”

You couldn’t even respond before the troopers were yanking Din out of the room, the door closing with a final clang. The moment their footsteps faded from your earshot you collapsed to the floor in a heap. You had stayed there for several minutes just crying and trying to push the horrible images of your imagination from your mind when you remembered the object still clutched in your hand. Your tears had finally ceased, most likely because you had no more tears to shed, and you sniffled quietly as you opened your hand. You had to hold back the sob from ripping from your throat as you looked down at the familiar necklace in your hand. It was the necklace he received from the Mandalorians, their crest. You knew the finality behind his action of giving this to you, and it just made you shake harder as you curled into a ball and fell into an exhausted fitful sleep.

* * *

A commotion of yelling and various grunts and exclamations startled you awake, it seemed to be a habit now, startling awake that is. You quickly sat up, pulling you knees to your chest as you heard what sounded like a fight or struggle outside the door, before they hissed open and a strange man was shoved into your cell. He fell to his hands and knees at the force the troopers used and you just sat in the corner casting a bewildered stare from the stranger to the now closing cell door. The man in the room didn’t say anything and you took the moment to take in his appearance. He had dark hair that was obviously disheveled by whatever had happened to him. He only wore pants, everything else having been stripped from him including his shirt. Your eyes then immediately fell to the angry red and scabbed over gashes on his back and arms, and your heart sunk at the realization of what had happened to this man.

Din, that happened to Din? Who was this?

You quickly stood from your place and ran to the cell doors banging on them frantically. It had been hours, possibly even days since the troopers took Din from your cell and now they just throw this stranger in here?

“Where is he?” you call, tears threatening to fall once more, “Where is Din, what did you do to him?” you cry, fist still banging against the door.

“Hey!” one of the guards bark, “Shut up. We just put him back in there. Won’t be long before you’re next.”

Your eyes widen at the Storm troopers words, and you slowly turned to face the man behind you, still on his knees and head bent in shame. You felt like you were paralyzed to the spot, unable to will your legs to carry you over to Din, the man you loved, who you were so sure was dead. Then you felt relief flood through your veins as you rush over and fall on your knees in front of him, hands grasping desperately at his neck and shoulders.

“Din?” you gasp.

The man doesn’t speak he just nods his head, avoiding your gaze as he looks down at the floor beneath you. You then feel tears fall from your eyes once more as you realize that you caused this. His mutilation, his pain, his dignity and his very way of life being stripped away from him.

They took off his helmet.

You instantly rest your head in the crook of his neck and let your hands fall to his hips, the only place not covered in whip lashes and cuts.

“I’m so sorry Din, this is all my fault,” you say tears falling onto his tanned skin, “Why did you do that? Why?” you pulled away from him now hands finally coming to rest on the sides of his face.

And even though you know you shouldn’t be seeing him, you are instantly aware of just how handsome and beautiful Din is under the helmet.

But you shake your head, “I’m so sorry they did this to you, I wish they would have taken me.”

At this comment his eyes finally looked up from the floor and his gaze met yours for the first time. And the look of anguish and shame in his eyes melted away as he looked into your misty (E/C) eyes. Then he brought his hands up to cup your cheeks and brought you in for a gentle yet fierce kiss. The first one you two had ever shared.

He pulled away what felt like too quickly as he pulled you into an even fiercer hug, ignoring the injuries on his arms and back, “I couldn’t let them take you. Not since I knew what they could do to you,” he pulls away and grasps your face in his hands once more pressing his forehead against yours, skin to skin, “My job is to protect you, no matter the cost.”

Your lip wobbled at his heartfelt words and you had to stop more tears from falling as your eyes fell shut, “I love you so much,” you say for what felt like the millionth time, “I just wish we could’ve had a life, a true and long life, together.” You admitted.

“Hey,” his voice along with his face pulling away from yours made you open your eyes, “We can still do that,” he assured reaching into the waist band of his pants and pulling out the all familiar key card to the cell.

Your eyes widened as you looked at the card then back up to his face, his eyes filled with determination, and you felt a smile creep onto your lips.

“I told you we weren’t going to die, didn’t I?” he whispered.

He did indeed.

And you knew the minute you saw that card that he would keep his promise

////

Permanent tags: @maryan028​ @lord-wolfgen @petalduck​

[bitchin-beskar]

Choices Part 2

Rating: T (Not an M yet, but there are hints of M to come *wink wink*)

Word Count: 3.6k (I know, I’m sorry it’s short, but I really felt like I needed it to end where it did!)

A/N: Kicking off my little follower milestone celebration, here is Part 2 to Choices!!! I promise I won’t make y’all wait as long for Part 3, but I was smack dab in dead week and finals week, and it sucked. I didn’t have the time to write for sooooo long, so now that I’m back, expect more regular updates! My fall quarter doesn’t start til the end of September, so I’ll have a fair bit of time to dedicate to writing (even though I start working again on the 8th). Please, let me know what you guys think!! Your feedback is what motivates me! 

P.S. This chapter takes place immediately after Chapter 1, so you might want to re-read that! It’s linked here!

Tags: @chibi-liz05​, @theocatkov​, @jaa1682-27​, @miscellaneousfangirling, @cosmicbug379​, @marydjarin​, @aliciaxglasgow​, @mxndoscyarika and @perropascal​

If you want to be tagged in any future chapters (or any other works), just let me know!

This fic is in part inspired by the amazing @auty-ren and her amazing story, The Offer, along with @magichandthing​ and this piece of artwork!! Please, go check them out!!!

You’ve died.

You know you’ve died because there is no possible way that what just happened… happened.

You stare dumbly at Din, searching his blank helmet fruitlessly for any sign that you’re not imagining the words that just left his lips. 

“S–Surely you’re not–not serious?” 

Your voice is quiet, meek, and hitches on the end of your sentence. You’re half expecting Din to laugh and pull away, proclaiming that this is all some kind of joke, that Jeye put him up to it, something to explain this madness, but instead Din takes your hand that’s still intertwined with his and lays your palm flat against his bare chest, directly over his beating heart. 

“Do you feel that, mesh’la?” His own voice is calm and soft, not mocking or judgemental, like you were expecting. “My ka’rta belongs to you, and it has since the day we met. I just didn’t know it then.”

You can feel tears spring to your eyes. Jeye had explained a few things to you in your time at the covert, so you knew exactly what Din was talking about. Mandalorians believed their heart and their soul were one and the same, and that their ka’rta could only ever belong to one other person, their riduur. Marriage, in Mandalorian culture, was about ownership. Not the same kind of ownership that Gallan and your village believed in, thank the Maker. Your village believed that a girl was the property of her father, and a woman was the property of her husband. 

While Mandalorians did believe that a woman was her husband’s to own, they also believed that in return, a husband was owned by his wife, although Jeye had been quick to inform you that Mandalorians were also accepting of two men or two woman becoming riddur, although it was less common, since their culture was heavily centered around the creation of children. No one person had more power over the other in a relationship, ever. If one half of a riduurok ever abused their spouse, the tribe stepped in, banishing the abuser and protecting the abused. 

For Din to say that his ka’rta belonged to you was… huge, to say the least. You’d never expected it, not in a million years. 

“Din, I… how?” Your voice nearly broke. “I’m not a Mandalorian, I’ve never sworn the Creed, kriff, I’m still considered an aruetti by members of your tribe! How could you possibly–” Din’s gloved fingers move softly against your cheek, and you realize belatedly that you’re crying. “How could you possibly say that your ka’rta belongs to me?”

Din’s fingers clench tight around yours, holding your hand firmly against his chest. When he speaks, his voice is deep and gravelly and you have to bite your lip to stop yourself from whimpering. “I do not care that you are not Mandalorian. I do not care that you have not sworn the Creed. I do not care what others in the tribe think. I have given my entire life to my tribe, my people. Might I be permitted this small measure of happiness?”

There are still tears streaming down your cheeks, but you barely notice them. “But my Papá–“

“He has already given me permission.”

Your jaw drops. Din talked to your Papá about this? He asked if he could marry you? And your Papá said yes? 

You’re so caught up in your shock that you don't notice Din pulling something from his trouser pocket. But you definitely notice when he holds it up in front of your eyes for you to see. 

It’s a ring. And not just any ring, but your mother’s. You recognized the design instantly. Your mother had worn that gold band every single day without fail. 

“When I talked to your father, he gave me this ring. He said that he and your mother shared so many happy years together, and that he hoped I could bring you that same happiness.”

Din was clearly waiting for your permission, and once you nodded, he slowly took your hand and slid the ring onto your ring finger. 

“I love you, Sarad’ika. And while there are those in my tribe that would insist on a traditional Mandalorian ceremony, I want to make you happy. If you wish to be married in your own customs instead, I will gladly oblige.” 

You’re lost in thought for a moment. While you would love to only get married in the covert, and never have to deal with your old village again, you know that you can’t. A part of you wants your Papá–and maybe Old Nan–to see you get married. Another part of you, a more spiteful part, wants Gallan to see you getting married, if only to show him that the thing he wants most is no longer within his grasp.

“I would love to be married in the covert, Din. But, if you would’t mind, could we also have a ceremony in the village?” 

As Din slowly nods his head, a grin spreads across your lips. You’re feeling giddy and excited, and you still think you might be dreaming, but Din’s right here in front of you, and you’re just so happy.

“Then, yes.”

“W–What?”

This is the first time Din has sounded anything less than absolutely confident, and it makes your heart melt a little bit. 

“Yes, Din Djarin. I will marry you. My heart and soul are yours.” You rest your hand on the side of his helmet–the little clink that your ring makes when it hits the beskar makes you want to grin like an idiot–and bring his forehead once more to rest against yours. 

One of Din’s arms wraps around your waist, crushing you against him, while his other hand buries itself in the hair at the back of your head, holding your forehead firmly against his. Time stands still as you’re wrapped in his arms. You relish in the feeling of his skin against yours, something you’re only feeling just now for the first time. 

 “I don’t want to wait, cyare. Please, do not make me wait a moment more to marry you,” Din begs, his voice breaking as his grip somehow tightens even further. Your throat closes up at the blatant want in his voice, and it makes your heart sing. 

“I would not ask that of you, Din Djarin.” He sighs shakily, and you continue. “I will admit, I do not want to wait a moment longer than absolutely necessary to be your riduur, your wife.” 

Din slowly released your waist, stepping back from you, but still cradling your head in his hand. You can feel his eyes on you, despite the visor blocking you from truly seeing him. “A Mandalorian riduurok does not require much, Sarad’ika, merely a witness for both spouses as they say their vows. Who would you wish–” Din trails off, as you bite your lip and look away. “What is it? What’s wrong?” 

His voice is frantic, and you’re quick to calm him. “Nothing is wrong, Din. I just–” You pause, fiddling with the fabric of your dress, the same one you always wear. “Do you think, maybe, Jeye would be willing–” You leave the question hanging in the air, and are surprised by the sudden laugh Din lets loose. 

“Do I think Jeye would mind?” He chuckled, stroking your cheek with his thumb. “Sweet girl, I think she would love to be your witness.” You smile brightly, praying that Din doesn’t notice how your cheeks heat up at his term of endearment. It’s not one he’s used before, but it immediately lights a fire underneath your skin.

“I wish to ask Paz, so I do believe it will be perfect for them to be our witnesses.” Din sounds so happy, it’s infectious, even though you cannot see his expression. “Let me contact them, it should only take a minute.” 

Din seems to let you go reluctantly, striding across the room to a small table and picking up a device, although it’s only after he presses a button and static fills the room that you realize it’s a comlink. 

As you listen to him call for Paz and Jeye, you look around his rooms, taking in the fact that you’re standing in Din’s private rooms, and more specifically, his bedroom. You can feel your face heating up once more when you realize you’d been sitting upon Din’s bed. You’d never been in a man’s room aside from your own father’s and even then, it had been years since you’d been small enough to crawl into bed with him. 

You’re so lost in your thoughts that you don’t hear Din come up behind you, so you’re startled when a warm arm is wrapped around your waist, pulling you back against his chest with a small oof. You feel the cool beskar resting against the crown of your head, and you can see out of the corner of your eye the sharp horns that curve around the two of you. Instead of feeling afraid, you just feel safe, knowing that Din would never hurt you.

As you rest your hand on his around your waist, you’re startled to feel bare skin. “Mmh, got tired of the gloves, Din?” You lightly run your fingers over the back of his hand, delighting in getting to touch him without any barriers. 

“Wanted to feel you, sweet girl.” His voice is soft, so quiet that it’s not picked up by the modulator in his helmet. If you hadn’t been standing so close to him, you probably wouldn’t have even heard him, but you had, and you feel your knees go weak at his words. His arm is tight around your waist, and you know he won’t let you fall, so you allow yourself to sag against him, releasing a puff of air as you do so.

“Din, you can’t say things like that,” You protest weakly, biting your lip as his other hand rests heavy on your waist, keeping you upright. 

“Why not?”

You want to growl at the mock-innocence in his tone, because you know that he knows exactly what he’s doing to you. 

“Din.” 

Unfortunately, your voice isn’t nearly as strong as you’d like it to be, and you can both hear and feel Din chuckle at your words. Before he can tease you anymore, the two of you hear the door to his chambers open, and two sets of footsteps enter. Din doesn’t let go of you however, not completely, merely loosening his grip so that the two of you can turn to face your guests. 

You watch as Jeye enters first, Paz following behind her like a huge, beskar shadow. You can’t see her face, but you just know that Jeye is wearing a shit-eating grin, and you’re pretty damn sure Paz is too. 

Jeye walks forward, tugging you out of Din’s grasp and into a hug. Paz says something to Din, but you don’t hear what it is, you’re too busy squeezing your friend tightly. She squeezes back just as tight, before letting you go and the both of you turn, catching the tail end of Din and Paz’s embrace. Paz turns to you, and you’re surprised when he steps forward and scoops you into his arms, swinging you wildly around in a circle.

You let out a surprised laugh, clutching tightly to his shoulders as this monster of a man lifts you as though you weigh nothing. He laughs as well, a deep belly laugh that you can feel, and it makes you so happy.

Paz finally sets you down, his large hands cupping your shoulders. “Congratulations, vod’ika,” he rumbles. “Din couldn’t have found anyone better for a riduur.” 

You hear Jeye suck in a breath, and you look at her, but her helmet is focused on Paz. You look back at him when his hands drop suddenly from your shoulders. You can tell by his posture that something’s wrong. 

“Paz? Paz, what is it?” You ask him softly, but he doesn’t answer. You turn helplessly to Din, desperate to know what just occurred. “Din?”

You hear Paz start, “Bury’ca, don’t–” but Din is already speaking.

“He’s worried he offended you, Sarad’ika.” You’re confused, how could Paz have possibly offended you? Din sees your confusion and elaborates. “Vod’ika, in our language, means little sister.” 

You gasp, throwing your hands over your mouth in shock. Spinning to face Paz, you stare at him, this man who you’ve just met today, but it feels like you’ve known him forever. Paz must see the tears in your eyes because he tries to apologize, but he barely gets one word out before you throw yourself into his arms, forcing him to catch you.

He stumbles back, surprised at the assault, but his arms come up tentatively around you nonetheless. “Paz,” you gasp, clinging tightly to him. “I’ve never had a brother,” you whisper, feeling completely overwhelmed with emotion. Paz’s arms tighten around you, and he leans his head against yours gently. 

You were an only child, your mother dying before she could give you any siblings. It had never bothered you until one day you’d seen children playing in the village, brothers and sisters running around, having fun. You’d tried to join, but they’d jeered and laughed, called you a freak before running away. You’d gone running home to your Papá, demanding a sibling, and when your Papá had told you that only your Mamá could have given you one–but she was gone now, and couldn’t–you’d cried. 

That Paz already saw you as a little sister made you feel about ten feet tall, and you couldn’t contain your excitement, even if you’d tried. You finally let Paz go, the smile on your face shining brighter than the sun. 

Din holds his hand out to you, and you place your hand in his, letting him pull you to stand in front of him, face to face. You figure Din must have explained already to Paz and Jeye, because they take their places next to the both of you without any prompting. Paz places a hand on Din’s pauldron, and Jeye places her hand on your own shoulder.

“Are the both of you ready?” When both Din and you nod, Paz continues. “Din will say the vow first, and then you’ll repeat after him, okay Sarad’ika?” You nod once more, hardly able to believe this is happening. It’s been a little more than a month since you first met Din, and now you’re about to marry him. It’s only a little overwhelming.

“Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar’tome.”

“We are one when together, we are one when parted.”

“Mhi me’dinui an, mhi ba’juri verde.”

“We will share all, we will raise warriors.”

Din squeezes your hand with each vow, and you squeeze in return as you slowly repeat the words, with Jeye whispering their meaning in Basic as Din speaks, so you know what it is he’s saying, and what you are repeating back. It’s more beautiful than you would have expected, although you feel flustered at the last line of the vow, about raising warriors. You’d never planned on having kids, but that had been when your only options for a husband had been men from the village. You don’t think you’d mind if you had kids, as long as they were half of Din.

Paz says something to Din, but you’re distracted by Jeye pulling you into another hug. “Welcome, Sarad’ika,” she whispers. “You’re aliit, now.” You smile, squeezing one last time before you release her. The two of them leave rather abruptly, and you realize as you watch them leave, that you’re alone in the bedroom with Din. With your husband.

You’re about to turn to Din–although you have no idea what to say–when you hear a soft hissing sound. There’s a small click, like a latch coming undone, and then you hear the unmistakable sound of beskar being set on the wooden table. Immediately, you clench your eyes shut, panic filling you.

“Din!” You hiss, keeping your back turned to him. “What are you doing?” 

There’s a heavy pause, and then a hand lands on your shoulder, spinning you around gently, although you keep your eyes clenched shut. “Sarad’ika?” Din sounds confused, and you wanted to smack him. “What’s wrong?” 

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” Your voice gets a little louder with each panicked word. “Din, I’m not allowed to see your face!”

Your breath comes in pants, worry coursing through you. You’re so focused on not opening your eyes that you’re startled when Din pulls you into his arms, and you feel his lips press against your forehead. He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, just holds you close, and you can’t help but relax slightly.

“Sarad’ika, ner riduur, my wife,” he murmurs, lips brushing against your skin. “Sweet girl, you are the only one allowed so see my face. Did Jeye not tell you so?” 

You shake your head slowly, but keep your eyes closed, half-afraid that this is a dream. “Din, are–are you sure? Because once you do this, you can’t go back, and I don’t want you to regret it, I don’t want you to resent–”

Din gently covers your mouth with his hand, halting your protests. “I could never resent you,” he murmured, his lips still pressed against your forehead. “You’ve brought me more joy and happiness that I ever thought I could experience in one lifetime. If there is one person I want to see my face, it’s you, Sarad’ika.” 

You’re still hesitant, but as Din squeezes your waist, you slowly open your eyes. You’re staring at his chest, and you bite your lip, still afraid to look up. Din gently grips your chin between his thumb and forefinger, slowly tilting your head up until you’re finally looking at his face. 

Despite your previous hesitance, your eyes greedily roam over Din’s face as soon as they land on him. You’re almost… surprised by how gorgeous he is. His hair and his eyes are dark. And somehow, it’s exactly how you pictured. There’s scruff on his cheeks, and you run the tips of your fingers over the hair, marvelling at how it feels. You cup Din’s cheek and finally meet his eyes, grinning shyly as he smiles at you. You slowly brush the fingers of your other hand over his lips, still stretched into a grin. The grin fades, and his eyes seem to darken. 

He tilts your face up just slightly, a whisper passing between his lips and brushing against your fingers. “May I?” Your agreement barely rests in the air before Din is pressing his lips against yours. 

You’d overheard some of the girls in the village talk about how it felt to have a first kiss, how it felt when their lips first touched, the ‘sparks’ that flew. You’d always dismissed them and their ramblings, in part because you’d never been even remotely attracted to any of the men in your village. You’d always thought that if you ended up with a husband, it would be a practical match, not a romantic one, and you’d grown resigned to the fact that you weren’t likely to ever experience the ‘sparks’ the other girls always raved about.

You weren’t upset to be proven wrong.

Din’s lips were soft, though somewhat chapped, but it hardly mattered. He pressed his lips gently against yours at first, waiting for you to respond before moving any further. When you cautiously moved your lips against his, a silent approval, he immediately deepens the kiss. 

His fingers left your chin to cradle the side of your face, angling your head as his lips slotted against yours. The kiss wasn’t rushed or hurried, but you felt your heart beginning to race all the same. His other arm was firm around your waist, and you weren’t sure you could escape, though you didn’t want to. 

You slowly moved your hands from his cheeks to his hair, running your fingers through the dark strands. His hair had been messy to begin with, from being in a helmet all day, but you were sure it looked even worse now as you gripped the strands tightly. 

He groaned, the sound reverberating through his chest, and you grinned victoriously against his lips. In retaliation, Din dipped you slightly, his lips never leaving yours, forcing you to grasp at his shoulders for balance. 

He kissed you until you were breathless, and it was only once you thought you might pass out from lack of air that you pulled away. Din didn’t let you go far though, resting his bare forehead against yours. 

“Sarad’ika, you have to tell me to stop.”

His breath brushed against your spit-slicked lips, cooling the skin that had heated from the arduous kiss. You felt a sense of pride that Din was just as breathless as you, although his words confused you.

“Why would I want you to stop, Din?”

Another groan left his lips at your words, and he couldn’t resist pressing a quick kiss against your lips. “Because, mesh’la,” he said. “I don’t want to push you. I don’t want you to feel pressured into anything you don’t want.” 

You laughed, still somewhat breathless. Stupid, clueless, noble Mandalorian. “Din, are we not married?” You waited for him to nod before continuing. “Even though I may not have ever expected that I would marry, that does not mean that I am unaware of what usually takes place between married couples.” Once more, you waited for Din to acknowledge your words. 

“I desire more than just the appearance of marriage, Din Djarin. I am giving you permission. I am now your wife, in mind, soul, and body. I want this. I want you.”

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs, “Hybrid.”

An ending to the prodigum saga, but PLEASE READ ,the ending is going to start us on the most interesting arc yet! 

SERIOUSLY READ THIS ONE.

VERY IMPORTANT

Also, I have a discord server now if you missed it.  https://discord.gg/mpBp5k

Dr Krill dropped his hands standing over where the prodigum lay sprawled on the floor twitching and writhing like the maggot it was. Ktill was very much done. He had been panicking and searching for the commander and Sunny for more than a week. More than a week of worrying and assuming that the worst might have happened. Luckily for everyone involved he had actually been close by when Sunny sent out her distress signal.

He had managed to follow them as far as the correct system with Conn’s mind reading abilities.

But now he was done, he may not have intended it, but he had been captaining a human ship for a week. He tried not to think about how he had partially taken over form the lieutenant, but that was all in the past now.

He could be done with commanding and field work. Krill hated field work, he hated action, and he most certainly hated how much the commander dragged him into this mess.

He turned around watching as the rest of the room was subdued.

“Get a GA cleanup team out her I have a feeling this cleanup is going to be bigger than we intended.” The little doctor announced.” Cannon raised his brightly colored head and went to work as krill had commanded hauling prone bodies from the floor and passing them off to the marines who escorted them over to the far wall.

The massive prodigum stirred, but Krill was having none of that and pressed his button again.

The large ugly mound twitched and writhed.

Overhead he heard cheering, and turned to see the commander’s hands sticking through the bars of his cage, “Straight savage dr. Great work! Now can you get me down? Can you get us down.” 

Krill turned his head surprised to find other humans peering out from their cages with expressions of great relief. They looked sickly,emaciated, and certainly undernourished. With that in mind, he gave the go ahead to one of the others to start lowering the cages. The captain came first while the others followed.

Dr. Katie turned to her other two patients while krill walked over to the captain’s cage. He glowered at him.

“You gonna get me out of here or what?” “Or what.” Krill snarled, crossing his arms, “Do you know I have been keeping a tally of all the times you have been captured kidnapped or otherwise used against your will.”

The commander went to open his mouth but Krill shushed him, “There was that time in a rundi prison, there was that fiasco with general cosma, there was that time in the Turma Prison, there was that time with the starborn, there was that tie with the Kong, there was that time you were almost court martialed, quarantined on the Gromm homeworld. Honestly commander, I am sick-of-your-shit!”

The man still looked bemused, “Got out of all of those, didn’t I.”

“And one of these days you might not.” Krill snarled as the door was open and the commander stepped out. He looked fine all things be told though his cheeks were slightly sunken and there were signs of some serious dehydration. Off to the side of the room, Dr. Katie was busy working on the other patients.

“Get me some water and IVs for the two over there. Get tem a little something to eat too but not too much I dont want any sort of re-feeding issue.” He turned back to look at the commander staring him in the eye while he continued to give orders, “Someone bring me my medical bag.”

Maverick made her way from the other side of the room to hand him his kit and he thanked her, waving her off to go do other things as he had the commander sit down. Looking him over he appeared fine though he had a healing head wound and some greenish yellow bruising on his face.

Other than being a little hungry he didn’t have any complaints to make.

THe conditions of the cage were not particularly sanitary, so kirill was pretty worried about that. The reddish contact rash on his legs and upper back proved that his body tended to agree with krill. He was honestly very glad he didn’t have any sort of sense of smell.

“Lift up your shirt.” 

The man seemed a bit confused but did as told. 

Krill reached into his bag and came out with a medium sized silver device with a trigger and spring attached to a long metal cylinder. He opened up the cartridge at the back and loaded his pre made cylinder. The captain watched him with some interest, “This some kind of tetanus shot or something?”

“No.” Krill said bringing the device up and pressing it against the man’s side just over the rib-cage.

“Than what-”

He depressed the trigger.

The man flinched violently yelped and staggered backwards as a sharp snap filled the room.

“Mother fuck! What the hell!” The human turned to look at Krill who was already waiting with a bandage.

“Krill what the hell.” He growled through gritted teeth leaning over and holding his side, “That hurt like a son of a bitch, what even was that?”

“It is a tracking device.” krill announced with no shame what so ever.

“You just lowjacked me!”

Commander Vir looked incredulous for someone who knew krill well enough to totally be able to guess that this was going to happen.

“Of course I did! Every other day you are getting kidnapped by someone new, and now.” He smiled to himself, “I have just fitted you with the universe’s best tracking module. It is impossible to get rid of, unless someone wants to remove your rib cage that is.” 

“You seriously just lowjacked me!”

“Why does this surprise you?”

“You just saughtered a tracking device to my rib-cage!”

“I am known to be over dramatic, and over excessive, your point is.”

The door at the far end of the room slid open, and Sunny and Ramirez came running into the room.

The commander was about to greet them when they pulled to a stop both panting, wide eyed and wild.

“Sir, sir you have to come see this. I... it’s urgent.”

Looking a little confused, both the commander and the Vrul followed, unwilling to let the human alone just yet.

Commander Vir motioned Cannon and a few others to follow with a finger, and the group of them moved out into the hall.

“We had a team doing a search of the premises.” Ramriez began 

“And we found something.” Sunny finished

“Well don’t leave me suspended in curiosity. What did you find!” 

“Just down here, sir.”

They turned the corner just then and stepped down onto a set of stairs leading down into the darkness. The stairs were wide but strangely short, probably for the use of the prodigum. Everything around was oddly dark though he could hear the sound of pulsing and throbbing generators. 

They stepped down another group of stairs to where a crew member was waiting for them. His face was pallid and drawn, his eyes wide with the realization of what he had just seen.

Krill was worried.

He didn’t like it when humans looked like that.

It generally meant that something was wrong.

The doors before them opened as the Commander stepped up, and they stepped inside.

What they found was an absolutely massive warehouse. At first--because it was the prodigum-- he assumed they were going to find racks and racks of bodies decomposing for the prodigum to feed upon, but what they found…. Well it was much much worse.

This warehouse was at least a human football field in size, and down it’s length there were ten rows of massive glass tubes one after the other. Wires dangled from equipment and piping protruded from the ceiling. Blue green fluid glowed in each tank which bubbled and churned.

Lights blinked from control panels.

A group of aliens were being held against one wall on their knees hands up inside their protective gear.

“Mo-ther-fuck!’ The Commander said quietly

Krill dropped his medical bag to the floor.

Together they ventured forward coming up to the closest glass tube where the thing squirmed and curled inside.

“What the hell is that?”

Krill had no idea, and he was a doctor. At first he might have assumed that this was one of the prodigum’s offspring with all its floppy folds and its too long arms, but the more he looked the more he saw and the more he didn’t like. It had hair where the prodigum usually had tentacles, and fingers where it had had spikes.

When it whirled and turned Krill stepped back in horror as one distinctly human eye rolled back and forth in a lumpy socket.

The commander had a hand over his mouth, “the horror in his eyes was unparalleled by anything krill had ever seen.

“What the hell!”

They  turned together on the spot staring down the row of glass tubes.

Just next to them, the pulsing embryos twitched and churned.

At the doorway someone gasped. Another turned from the room hands over their mouths.

Commander Vir turned his head in a slow circle eyes coming to rest on the far wall where a tarp had been thrown hastily over another line either of tubes or something else.

He slowly approached and krill went with him.

Sunny was at their backs.

Ramirez was looking away 

They could hear sounds now, tortured gurgling noises. The Commander’s face was screwed up in disgust as he reached out a hand and tugged on the tarp.

It fell away with a flourish.

Maverick cursed violently.

Ramirez turned all the way away hands covering his mouth

Sunny froze in her spot.

Krill was speechless 

And inside the commander’s head he was sure he had seen an error 404 before his entire body rebelled.

The thing began to squall and cry, its tortured gasping filling the air with gurgels, similar to human but warped by the prodigum breathing tubes on the side of its flabby neck. They opened and closed with a sort of wet squelching as the thing screamed. A pile of flesh, just folds and folds with the occasional hair sprouting from unknown locations.

It was monstrous

Hideous 

An absolute abomination.

And the only thing that kept it alive was the machine strapped to it.

Kril watched the Commander’s face go red, and then green and then white. He looked as if he was going to throw up as the thing screamed even louder.

When it was too much for any of them the commander reached through the bars with a shaking hand and ripped the machine’s plug from the wall.

What the commander did was a mercy. 

He would later feel guilty about what he did, but what he couldn’t have known is the pain that poor wretched monster had been in, how its mind could not think only consumed by pain it could not stop and thirst it could not quench.

It died gasping and gurgling.

But at least now it was at peace.

The commander staggered away from the wall gasping. His eyes welled with tears as he stared at his hands. But no one questioned his actions. 

“What the hell> ‘Someone whispered 

“Hybrids.” Krill muttered 

They are making 

Hybrids. 

[gumnut-logic]

The Seal

This one is for @the-lady-razorsharp​ because she posted this post and this is the result. Also, more blame belongs with @godsliltippy​ because it was in her fic that seal!Gordon was born.

You guys are influencers and things like this happen. ::hugs you both::

Many thanks to @vegetacide​ for the read through and encouragement :D

Marks & Wings, a little language from our usually cool and calm heavy lifter, but his patience was shot, so I don’t blame him.

A little fun. I hope you enjoy it.

-o-o-o-

Okay, there were limits.

Sure, Virgil had been terrified that he had again lost his fish brother. The guy had done it before, and yet he still managed to do it again. Though admittedly, this time it was in Antarctica amongst the snow and ice and Gordon was obviously going for variety.

And sure, it had been because of a rescue. A successful rescue, one that saved the lives of three researchers.

Three researchers that Virgil was on the verge of killing, but hey, they were alive for the moment.

The ice had collapsed and Gordon had been standing on it. His brother couldn’t fly, so he did the next best thing to survive in the frigid cold waters he had fallen into, and he had changed.

Midair.

In front of three aghast survivors who shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

One of which had the nerve to get out their phone and film Gordon as he risked his life to save them.

Two had them dangling below, thanks to Gordon’s efficiency, and Virgil was able to yank them up into his ‘bird’s belly, despite the howling winds.

But his brother had vanished into the maelstrom of the Southern Ocean, last seen as a seal.

The frustrating thing about Gordon was that his body could not support a tracker. Whatever happened to his clothing when he shifted, any tracker in his body went with it.

Great for modesty.

Bad for locating missing brothers.

And if that rescuee complained about his phone one more time, Virgil was going to do something he wouldn’t regret.

The device was toast. Eos had obliterated it the moment she realised there was video being taken of the shape changing Tracy. His AI niece was efficient and the cell was now no more than a smouldering lump on the deck plates.

She would be on high alert patrol until Penelope could get her hands on the trio and stamp out any rumours they may choose to start.

Virgil took some great reassurance from that fact.

But Gordon had vanished from sensors and Virgil’s own sense of his brother was vague due to his shift in form.

Fortunately, seals were mammals so he was receiving much more than he would be if Gordon had turned himself into a crab or cephalopod. But still it was frustrating.

“So, what is he?” Phoneless rescuee was a bonafide asshole.

Virgil grit his teeth and ignored him.

Antarctic winds were a bitch and despite Two fighting like a champ, he was still having trouble keeping her at a safe hover. “John, tell me you have something.”

“I’m trying, Virgil, but cold is cold and infrared can only do so much.” His space brother was delving into Two’s equipment and focussing the power of Five through her instruments. The best thing Virgil could do right now was hold her still.

Virgil bit back a snarl of frustration. Every cell in his body wanted to go down there and fish his brother out of the ocean, but Two couldn’t be left to herself and visibility was shit.

“Is he a changeling?”

Virgil tasted blood as his teeth bit through his lip.

Gordon, if you can hear me, please!

There was a flicker of something, but it was hard to localise amongst the roar of Two, the howling wind outside and the windbag inside…

“Shut the fuck up!”

Okay, so Grandma would probably scrub his mouth out with a toilet brush, but it got results.

Windbag grunted and, fortunately for him, did as he was told.

A particularly strong gust whacked Two sideways and Virgil was forced to gain height or risk colliding with the leading edge of the glacier.

“John…”

The single hiss over comms was only a hint of the wave of worry that washed down from orbit.

But then….

“Got him!”

Location coordinates flashed up on Virgil’s dash and a holographic representation of a single dot swimming in an infinity loop at the surface of the ocean.

A bent infinity loop.

No, the number four.

Heart in his throat, Virgil lowered Two closer to the water.

It spat up at him, angered by the gale.

The glacier loomed.

As close to the waves as he dared, Virgil opened Two’s bay doors and lowered the rescue rig into the water.

The loop stopped and swam over to the tossed rig.

A flicker and his sense of Gordon reasserted itself as his brother changed form.

“Up.” It was breathless on comms and Virgil hurried to comply.

The wind fought him and Two dipped sideways again.

One of the rescuees squawked behind him.

Windbag swore.

Virgil’s grip on the yoke removed all the blood from his hands.

But Two was as strong as he needed her to be and she drew the rescue rig inside.

The moment he had it secured, Virgil pulled back on the yoke and Two climbed above the weather as fast as he could get her there.

The sudden absence of turbulence was peaceful. A creeping silence.

Virgil shoved her into autopilot, secured the console and despite the protests of windbag, was out of his seat and hurrying down into the module between breaths.

He didn’t need to see the seal to know his brother had transformed back into the pinniped, probably to conserve heat until the module warmed up, but it was always a surprise to encounter Gordon in another of his forms.

If Virgil’s heart wasn’t still beating a mile a minute, he could have called his brother cute.

Virgil didn’t know enough to identify the type of seal Gordon had chosen this time, only that it was a fat one, a dark mottled brown and rolling on Two’s deck plates like a beached whale.

Warm eyes glared up at him as he approached. The one aspect that seemed to survive his brother’s transformation was his eyes. They were always carnelian, always so Gordon they reached into Virgil’s insides and just yanked.

“Hey, you okay?” He visually combed the length of his brother’s seal body, but could not see any obvious injury.

The seal bounced its head up and down slowly.

“Cold?”

Another bounce. Gordon slid over and rubbed up against his leg.

And finally, relief flooded Virgil’s system. Oh, thank god.

A flickering echo of that same emotion wafted down from orbit as Virgil knelt and wrapped his arms around his still damp and cold brother. The chill coming off the seal was ice.

No wonder his brother had switched back as soon as possible.

He couldn’t help but rub a hand down his brother’s back.

Gordon chirped at him and wearily flapped a flipper.

Virgil pulled back with a frown. The sense being thrown at him was one of hunger.

“You’re kidding.”

Gordon smacked his lips together. Seals had puppy dog eyes, but these were definitely Gordon’s.

“You know we only have ration bars aboard. Not exactly seal cuisine.” Hell, he wasn’t even sure they were compatible with a pinniped’s digestive system.

Gordon squawked at him all seal teeth and tongue. “ARFGFJFJFHHGGJH!!!”

Virgil scampered backwards, as always, never quite sure exactly how much Gordon’s form influenced his brother’s thoughts. “Don’t arjfjfjejdjfjfggh at me, mister. I’m not the one who forgot to stock Two with sardines.”

Gordon wilted and dropped his head onto Virgil’s knee.

The puppy seal eyes deployed were downright lethal.

Virgil groaned. “Fine. We’ll pick up takeout from The Crab Shack on the way back.” The seal immediately perked up. “And yes, you can get your favourite. I’ll contact them on the way in.” The Auckland eatery knew them well.

Mostly their fish brother’s fault.

Gordon managed a tired but goofy grin.

Virgil sighed, but couldn’t help but reach up and rub at his scruff.

And the laugh that burst out when Gordon whacked a flipper repeatedly on the floor like a dog enjoying himself far too much was one of so much fond love, it almost had tears in it.

Goofball.

-o-o-o-

FIN.