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previousloversandmuses · 1 year ago

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FREQUENCY: Episode 7 - A Soldier Boy Story

FREQUENCY: A Soldier Boy Story

EPISODE 7: “Dead Man Walking”

WORD COUNT: 6033

PAIRING: Soldier Boy X Reader

WARNINGS: (NSFW) SMUT (spoiler sorry) (finally) P IN V UNPROTECTED SEX (pls use proper birth control in your everyday life) Mentions of suicide, depression, drug & alcohol use. Violence, stalking. Homelander and SB being themselves. Offensive slurs.

A/N: This story is dark, and covers mature themes. The main character, as well as other major characters, are offensive in nature, and may offend some people. Please peruse with caution, and remember that this is fiction. Reader discretion is advised. Please message me for any questions, comments, or concerns.

PLEASE DISREGARD SPELLING ERRORS AND FORMATTING ISSUES SOMEONE BROKE MY COMPUTER AND I HAD TO FINISH WRITING AND UPLOADING THIS ON MY PHONE. I WOLL EDIT THIS WHEN I GET HOME TMRW ON MY DESKTOP BUT I WANTED TO GET IT UP ASAP ILY

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Sure, he could have ventured downstairs and harassed Vought Security by now, but no. He wanted the satisfaction of guessing this. He wanted to know how well he knew her. He wanted her to know how well he knew her. That he would appear on her doorstep like a knight in shining armor. But right now, he’s convinced he doesn’t know her much at all.

He started with her birthday, which he didn't know, but neither does she-- at least, he didn’t think she did. He’s not sure when his birthday is either, and they were both raised in the lab, so. That makes sense, right? He tried her favorite color, which he thinks may be green? That would make sense? She likes the forest? But it also could be pink because she is a woman after all, and all women love pink. Celebrity crushes? Him, of course, but that doesn't work either. And he thinks he doesn’t have the emotional security to even try another name.

“ILoveJohn…”Johnandme”...“John123”… “john1234” … ”homelander” … ”ilovehomelander”...”green”...”green123”...”password”... “frequency3” … “frequency123”... “freak+john”... “freakandjohn”... “ilovepink” …

She has her real name too, not “Freak”. Her real name, her given name, her birth name-- which he's sure is beautiful and suits her well. He just has no idea what it is. He has scavenged every computer file attached to Vought for years trying to find out even a hint. It has always come up dry. Without a lead. He has brutally assaulted security personnel over it.

“How fucking hard is it to find a fucking name? A registered supe name?” He would scream.

They would stammer, and quiver, and beg for their lives. Saying some Vought files are strictly kept on paper, so they could avoid the possibility of a cyber attack. That, of course, was never good enough for him.

“And you can’t even tell me the location of the fucking file, at least? Are you that fucking incompetent and mentally retarded? How the hell did you idiots even get a goddamn job here?”

Then he would raid storage rooms all round the city. Data centers from here to DC, which contain the most sensitive information. Of course, he’d threaten them too.

The worst part of it all, the only person he’d met that knew her name, was her. And of course, she never, ever told him. She taunted him with it. He begged like a dog salivating over raw meat.

He works at it for a few more hours until he goes for help. He must've just spelled something wrong, or is having some sort of brain fart.

When he enters the security room, the intern from the other day is already there. She had the night shift tonight, he's assuming. Although he hopes she isn’t on the clock as she snores onto the keyboard in front of her.

He clears his throat, looking around awkwardly--which does nothing. He then grabs a pen from next to her, and pokes her with it. Still nothing. He rolls his eyes, then claps so hard her hair flies back in a gust of wind. She jolts awake. Disoriented. She grabs her ears in pain.

“What the fuck?” She cries.

“Move.” Is all he says as he pushes her out of her swivel chair and takes her place. He hands her the computer from over his shoulder like it's a piece of paper. She grabs it reluctantly.

“What is this?” She asks, rubbing the side of her head to self-soothe.

“You have eyes. I need you to unlock it for me.” He mumbles, peeking down at his cuticles.

She inspects the computer, then sets it on the table next to him. She squats down onto her knees so she doesn't have to bend over. Grabbing a cord from the computer, she connects it and then waits for her main system to boot up.

“I need you to move a little, please…Sir.” She grimaces, moving over his shoulder to begin working on unlocking the computer.

He sighs, craning his neck over to the left so she could squeeze in. She begins to type, pulling up some system he doesn't want, or care to know about. She taps her hand impatiently on the mouse until-

“A-ha,” She says smiling, leaning back over to the laptop and typing in the information. “There you go.”

She hands the open laptop back to him. He inspects it with hesitance. Almost nervous to see the contents inside.

“What was it?” He asks, trying to be nonchalant.

“What was what?” She asks, not daring to look him in the eyes.

“The password.” He presses, glaring at her.

“Oh, um,” She pulls at her collar. Was it getting hot in there? “It was uh, fuc….”

He tilts his head towards her in a feigend attempt to understand what the fuck she just said.

“I’m sorry, in fucking english please.”

She swallows the lump in her throat.

“It was, uh, fuckyoujohn…nicetryasshole…” She grimaces.

He nods his head. Right. Of course it was.

---

When a maaa-aan loves a woman

Can't keep his mind on nothin' else

He'd trade the world

For the good thing he's found

The club had gotten significantly more packed as the night went on. The two of them are squished together, her back to his front. He nestles his face into her neck as he sings along to the songs blasting through the speakers. They are both wasted beyond belief. Ama and Asher had bought everyone a round of drinks after the long awaited makeout.

If she is bad, he can't see it

She can do no wrong

And turn his back on his best friend

If he puts her down

This was it. This is everything he needed to feel better. It was like he was floating. Her smell was intoxicating. He had never been this close to her skin before. It radiated a bouquet of roses and vanilla, even through the sweat and cheap liquor. He would never admit it to her, but he thinks he was pining for her since the moment he saw her. Like a mirage. It was one of those moments where the breath is stolen from your lungs. Where you’re taken aback by the sheer intensity of the moment.

When a man loves a woman

Spend his very last dime

And trying to hold on to what he needs

He'd give up all his comforts

And sleep out in the rain

If she said that's the way, it ought to be

When a man loves a woman

He begins to think in his foggy, mashed potato brain, that maybe, just maybe, everything he ever did, everything he ever experienced, was to lead him straight to her. That his time hidden away, chilled to the bone, was the universe crafting her especially for him. Like she was a hot summer day, and he was a piece of ice thawing out on the hot pavement. That he got to spend thirty years in hell to reflect and remember and regret, so he could be ready for her.

I give you everything I've got

Trying to hold on to your precious love

And baby baby please don't treat me bad

When a man loves a woman

Deep down in his soul

But he could just be drunk. Lovesick after what felt like eons of being starved of affection. Maybe he was more drunk off the scent of her than the liquor. He used to be able to hold it much better than this. But as she sways, and sings, and keeps her sweet feet planted on the ground, he can’t help but imagine that this was all he was ever made to do. Gee, when did he become such a sucker?

On the other hand, she definitely doesn’t have the capacity to even think in abbreviations, let alone full, complex, and poetic run on sentences about how they quite possibly had been made for each other. She was so drunk, she almost called him John a few times now. I mean, like father, like son, right?

Ah- there it is. There’s the thing she was so eager to stow away into the deepest parts of her brain the moment she even began to feel an inkling of attraction to this ancient man.

Her hand flies over her mouth- she thinks she’s going to be sick. What a way to ruin a great moment.

She goes stiff in his arms, he doesn’t notice at first until he looks down and sees her clawing at Ama.

Her eyes are wild, nervous. She hates being sick like this. Vomiting was no fun for someone who not only was a germaphobe, but experienced the five senses tenfold. A simple puke in the toilet became something of midevil torture when you considered the sights, the tastes, the smells-

Ugh, why the hell did she take that last shot?

Ama holds onto her shoulders, cocking an eyebrow, visibly confused. That is until she sees just how cartoonishly green she is. Her skin is completely rid of all colors. Her legs giving out on the dance floor.

Ama yanks over one of the other girls from the res and peels Freak out of Ben’s vice grip.

“What the fuck?” He shouts over the music, watching as the two girls float her out of the crowd.

He follows them out, tripping over Amas heels.

“I was in the middle of using that!” He shouts.

Ama pushes Freak and her friend into the bathroom, and whips her head around to him, rolling her eyes.

“Okay, well that can’t hold its liquor and is about to spew chunks all over the place. So I’d recommend going back with Asher.”

“What?” He asks, trying to push past her and into the ladies room. “Is she alright? Let me through.”

“Oh no no no,” she says, stepping in front of him. “You can happily wait out here.”

A club goer leaves from the bathroom, her flaming, flamboyant gay as her accessory. She looks Ben up and down, scoffing.

“Pervert.” She sneers.

Her gay friend, who is wearing more makeup than she is, glares at him even harder. Ben watches them in shock as they go back out onto the dance floor.

“Was that a girl or a guy?” He grimaces.

Ama cocks an eyebrow, scoffing.

“Please go listen to NPR, or put on CNN, I’m begging you. For the good of the world.” And with that she shuts the door in his face.

Ama walks over to the stall Freak is currently knelt in. Their friend holds back her hair as she dry heaves into the toilet.

“J-John-“ she groans incoherently.

Ama and the girl look at each other.

“Who is John?”

She puked again. Coming back up for air, “John- he’s John…”

BLEH

The two girls turn back to freak, cocking their eyebrows.

“Right…John…” Ama says, reaching down to pat her back.

Freak pulls herself away from the toilet, wiping her mouth off, trying to turn around to them.

“No j-john… he- Ben..”

BLEHHH

The girls grimace as she hurls into the toilet again.

“Freak, what about Ben?”

“He’s his dad…”

“Who is who’s dad? What about Ben’s dad?”

Freak grips on to the sides of the stall now, trying to bring herself up to her feet.

“H-homelander,” She grumbles.

Now that’s a name they know. And a name they know that she knows very well.

“Wait, Homelander is Ben’s dad? How would that even work?” Asks the other girl.

Ama glares at her, then turns back to Freak.

“What about Homelander? Does he know you’re here?!” Ama is worried now, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her towards her face.

She looks half asleep. She doesn’t answer, just smacks her lips and feels around for some sort of water source.

“What about Homelander??” Ama cries.

“He-“ She hiccups. “Homelander is Ben’s son.”

Amas eyes widen. She lets go of freaks shoulders and steps back, hitting the door of the stall.

“I forgot- I feel like a pervert.”

Ama rubs her head, “No, no, you’re not a pervert.”

She squats down to get onto freaks level.

“He- I don’t know. This may change things. How angry would Homelander be if he knew you were going to screw his dad?”

Freak smiles, her eyes glossy and heavy. It’s a goofy smile, one that makes Ama grimace. There’s no way this girl had only four drinks.

“Let’s just hope,” she hiccups. “That Ben doesn’t find out I screwed his son.”

And with that she passes out onto the grimy tile floor.

-----

Her computer is exactly what he thought it would be like, organized and hard to maneuver. He didn’t understand her filing system, and he sure as hell wasn't going to ask the intern to figure out any more of her offensive passwords.

As he looked around in the files, he noticed that almost everything had been wiped clean. All the folders were empty, just leaving the titles of what could have possibly resided in them before. Bringing his eyes up to the top of the screen, he sees the history tab. He thinks there is no way she wouldn't have cleared it, but it's at least worth a try. He brings the cursor up, and selects.

Yahtzee.

She cleared everything else but this. Quite possibly the most valuable information of all. Her search history.

He begins to scroll down, taking note of the last visited websites. Wikipedia, and mapquest. He goes for the mapquest link first. It takes him to coordinates that look to be in the middle of nowhere in upstate New York. No buildings for miles. He sighs. Scrolling back up to the top of the screen, he then selects the wikipedia link. The color drains from his face. He looks like he's seen a ghost.

“Soldier Boy”

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

----

A picturesque morning. The birds are chirping. The sun is shining in through the cracked windows. A stream crackles along in the distance. The smell of coffee brings her out of her slumber.

Ah, what a beautiful day.

She sits up slowly, stretching out her sore limbs. Cocking her head to look out the window, she is greeted by sun rays--only then to let out a rough groan, grabbing her head in pain.

Fuck, she thinks. What happened last night.

The memories flood back like a scrapbook. More like images than pieced together scenes. She can see hints of the night, the important parts obviously sticking out like a sore thumb.

She drops her hands into her lap, looking down at her palms with shame. Was that- is that blood? No, no. It’s lipstick. Okay, just lipstick.

Turning her head cautiously, she checks the other side of the bed. It wasn’t undone, so it obviously wasn't slept in. She nods, applauding herself for not doing anything too stupid. Peering down at her body, she notices she’d been dressed in her own pajamas. That’s also a good sign. She knows for a fact if Ben undressed her, he would've just put her into bed stark naked.

From what she can ponder through the ringing in her ears, and the relentless pounding of her head, she doesn’t think she regrets the acts of the night before. She knew the moment she stared into his eyes last night that she had obviously felt something for him the whole time. She wonders if it's the mutual trauma bond. Similar to the one she and John share. John…his son. Bleh, and there is the warranted nausea. She doesn’t even remember how the hell she got home.

Did Ben carry her? Did Ama and the girls drag her down the road by her hair? Judging by the Sinatra playing from the kitchen, there really is only one way to find out.

She stares at the door in deliberation, stretching one last time. Why is her heart racing? Taking a deep breath, she pulls herself out of bed and through her bedroom door.

He sits on the sofa, coffee in one hand, the paper in another. She squints her eyes at him, dumbfounded.

“I’m sorry- are you reading the New York Times?” She gapes, cocking her eyebrow.

He turns back to her, taking a quick intake of breath. He smiles softly, setting his coffee down onto the table in front of him.

“I made coffee too.” He says smiling, like it was some huge feat

She looks around with her eyes, wondering what was so impressive about that. He notices her aloof response and sighs.

“I haven't made coffee in thirty years…and that one has a computer in it.” He crosses his arms.

He refers to the digital screen on the Keurig.

“Ohhhhh,” She says, grasping the importance. “It’s not a computer you idiot.”

“A small celebration for you and an all encompassing victory for me.” His ego was visibly bruised by her indifference.

She smiles at him softly. She thinks something would have been different. That maybe he would have lifted her off her feet when he saw her. Spinning her around and placing hundreds of little kisses all over her face. Enveloping her in their beautiful slow burn love story--unless last night was really just the heat of the moment. I mean, he was the player of the century after all. She looks down at him from her spot in the kitchen, and he meets her with the same eyes he always has. A sharp pain rings out in her chest, her heart sinking down into her stomach.

What a silly little girl, she thinks. A silly little girl to think something like that wouldve really meant something to him. The guy was out of his mind on any substance the facility had to offer last night. Nearly a gallon of liquor, for starters.

She looks down at her feet, then bends down to pick up one of her earrings she assumes fell out during her wrangle inside. She stares at it, turning it over in her hands. Her eyes are bruning. Are they- is she really welling up with fucking tears right now? Because she thinks some prehistoric asshole wouldn’t be willing to give her the time of day? She huffs, turning around and making her way into the bathroom.

“I’m taking a shower.” She calls as she closes the door behind her.

He sits on the couch with a confused expression.

She looks in the mirror. God she looks awful. Her makeup smeared, her eyebags sinking deep into the pits of the socket. Her cheeks hollowing out. She looks grotesque, and gross. Obviously someone who is planning on being gone within the next few weeks.

Right, she forgot about that. The activities with him from the night before distracting her from her imminent demise. A distraction, right. Thats all he is. She doesn’t need to be wasting her time on a man anyway. The future was what was really important. Her end goal being the greatest win of all. The most satisfying feat.

She steps in the shower, letting the warm water cascade down her hair and skin. She cups the water, bringing it up to her face, rinsing off the night before. She sticks her hand out of the shower, grabbing her toothbrush from the counter. She makes quick work of her teeth, also making sure to properly cleanse the impurities from her face and body. She sticks her arm back out to place to toothbrush back on the counter. A hand wraps around hers, grabbing the toothbrush. She jumps in response. How the hell did she not hear him come in there?

He takes the toothbrush and sets it back down on the counter. She rolls her eyes at him.

“A knock would be nic-” And before she can finish her sentence, he rips the shower curtain wide open.

She jumps again, her wet body fully exposed to him.

“Ben-” She begins, going to cover her breasts.

“Don’t,” He says, stepping one foot into the shower, fully clothed. She stammers, objectively confused. He shakes his head, looking down at her figure, and then back to her face, caressing her pretty cheeks. He then leans in. She's reluctant at first, her eyes staying wide open. She still has her body covered. But he takes his arm and wraps it around the small of her back and she's putty in his hands. She melts into his embrace as her eyes flutter closed. His mouth and hers mold together as the kiss becomes heated and sloppy. She can taste the fresh toothpaste from her mouth inside of his. The waster rushing in between them making it hot, wet, and messy. The water is hard, tasting vaguely of minerals. She doesn't care. She pulls back a little, but his mouth follows the flow of her face. She takes in a quick breath, gasping for air.

“Your clothes,” she starts, through broken peppered kisses all over her mouth and face.

“So take them off.” He mumbles like it was obvious.

This was a new one for her.

His clothes are heavy and fully drenched. She goes to lift off his skin tight shirt but struggles. He just reaches up and pulls at the collar, the whole thing ripping in two from the middle.

She looks down at his now exposed torso, brining a delicate hand up to rub up the ridges of his stomach. He looks down at her with gritted teeth. He hadn’t been touched like this in a very, very long time. He thinks he feels his skin burning. He sucks in air into his parted lips. Her mouth is agape, admiring his chiseled torso. She drags her hand up to his chest, her nails digging into his skin. Bens eyes roll back into his head. She’s not sure what to say.

“I,” she starts, chasing the rest of the sentence.

He looks down at her through heavy eyelids, bringing his hand up to her jaw and gripping it tightly. He holds onto her awed expression. Searching her face for any sort of reluctance. He sees nothing, although she is hard to read. Such an intense gleam of bewilderment.

He takes her hand from his chest and moves it down to the front of his pants. He lets out a deep groan. She looks up at him with the innocence of a girl gone untouched for years. She palms him gently, trying to elicit some sort of verbal response again. She enjoys the sounds he’s made. No sex had ever felt this intimate before.

She grips onto him harder, wrapping her nimble fingers up and around the button of his jeans. He watches as her hands make quick work of the top of his pants, beginning to drag them down the length of his legs. She follows them down to the floor of the shower, now ending up on her knees. She stares up at him through her eyelashes, staring directly at his rock solid package, begging to be set free.

He steps out of his pants, she grabs them and throws them out of the shower. They plop into a puddle on the floor. Her reaches down and grabs her chin again, pulling her up to meet his lips. He slips a strong arm behind one of her knees, hiking it up around his waist, never once breaking eye contact. Their lips graze, never touching. He reaches his hand behind her and grips her ass, kneading it like dough. She tilts her head back, letting out a small gasp. He leans into her neck, leaving a trail of nibbles from her clavicle all the way up to under her ear. She writhes under each one, her body struggling to stay upright. He doesn’t mind of course, this was light work for him. She was light as a feather.

He drags his other hand up her chest and around her supple breast. He toys with her nipple, pulling and twisting at it. He watches her pleased face from the crook of her neck. Then moving his mouth down and wrapping his lips on one of her stiff peaks. He sucks on it, nibbling slightly on the top. She watches him from her spot on the tiled wall. Her hand moving up and into his hair, scratching up and down his scalp. She swears he’s moaning more than she is. His eyes have gone white, making a new home in the back of his head.

He pulls back, now hiking both of her legs up and around his waist. He pins her against the tiled wall. Their noses brush, their lips grazing over each other. Her womb aches, begging to be filled. She had never felt this way with John.

“I’m rusty,” he whispers.

“If this is rusty I’m scared to see you well practiced.” She laughs breathlessly.

He smiles into her, kissing her gently.

“How are you feeling?” He asks, genuinely curious.

“Better now,” she coos.

He chuckles, planting a kiss on her cheek. His hands massage her ass, pulling apart the skin. Grazing his fingertips around the spots she so desperately wants him to fill.

“I didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression this morning.” He starts.

She rolls her eyes, leaning her head back into the headboard.

“Is now really the time for small talk?” She asks, cocking an eyebrow.

He laughs again, moving one of his hands around to her front. He cups the soft skin of her pulsating heat. Teasing his digits around her swollen bud.

She moans, which in turn, elicits a big goofy smile from him.

“I didn’t realize you wanted me so bad.” He toys.

“I didn’t either,” she starts, arching her back off the wall. She gets in closer to his ear. “If only the V worked the same way on you. The only thing I could smell last night was how much I needed you.”

He groans into her neck, slowly inserting a long, thick finger into her dripping cunt.

“You feel that?” She asks.

“Fuck, do I?” He breathes.

He starts his slow assault on her pussy, rubbing his fingertips up and around inside of her. Massaging his augmented digits around until he can hear himself reaching the right spot. With her long, strung out moan, he can tell he’s gotten there.

From that, he inserts another, and begins to pulsate his hand in even, steady beats. She writhes against the wall, her stomach pushing into his. He kisses at her neck, biting and nipping, sure to leave a mark. All this talk of V has him forgetting how fragile she really was.

He pulls his hand out, and drops her legs. He steadies her as her feet slip around on the wet shower floor. He rips the curtain open. His hard cock standing at attention. Her mouth waters at the sight.

“Eyes up here, sweetheart.” He motions his hand out for her to take.

She looks at it reluctantly, then he leads her into the bedroom.

“I’m soaking wet,” she starts, yelping as he picks her up and tosses her on the bed like a ragdoll.

“Mm, that’s an understatement.” He smirks, crawling up the bed and nestling himself between her thighs.

“What if I told you I need you inside me right now?” She asks, pleading with him to fill her up.

He smiles, leaning down to face her pretty slit.

“Then I’d tell you you’d get it right after I had myself a quick taste. I’m starving you know?” He rebuttles, only then licking a thick, wet stripe up her dripping hole.

She tosses her head back, mewling. Her legs going to clamp around his head. He grabs her knees, spreading them apart, and pinning them down to the bed.

“Keep these open.” He mumbles.

He dives in feverishly, like he hasn’t eaten in years, and all things considered, he hasn’t. He starts on her clit, drawing circles with his tongue. Going back and forth between kitten licks and long thick stripes. He makes audible slurping noises, lapping up her juices from her hole, only to spit back into it making it even sloppier.

She is writhing back and forth, shaking as she fights to close her legs. Not that she even wanted to. Her body and brain were disconnected in this moment. Her muscles constricting and spasming. Her altered touch sense doing a number on her reproductive organs.

She tries yanking him up by his hair. Obviously he doesn’t budge. Still going forward with his assault.

“Ben,” she moans, giving up on physcial methods. “Ben please, I want you.”

He mumbles what she thinks is a “you have me”, but she isn’t too sure. Either way he doesn’t stop.

“No,” she whines. “I want you inside of me, please. Need it so bad.”

He lets out a deep groan, rubbing his hard cock into the mattress. Doing everything he can to relieve the intense pressure.

He sticks his head back up, his face glistening with her sweet juices. She moans at the sight. Sticking her pointer finger up, she beckons him towards her. He crawls on top of her until he’s hovering over her mouth.

Their lips barely touch, his teeth nipping at her bottom lip. She wraps her hands around his torso, digging her nails deep in his back. He sucks in air through his teeth. He lifts her knees up and over the bend of his arms, pushing them down onto the mattress. She watches from under him as he lines his angry, red cock right up to her slick entrance.

He sucks air in through his teeth as he sheathes himself inside of her hot core. His eyes roll back into his head. Fuckin A, he thinks. He feels like an addict getting their crack fix. He feels like a caught fish being thrown back into water. This was it. This is everything. Now he remembers why he was such a fiend back in the day. When good pussy was his only kryptonite. But pussy never came like this, he thinks. Pussy with personality, and similarities to himself, and beautiful eyes, and darkness, and light, and human. For once something he dips his cock in really feels human.

“Fuck me,” he groans, beginning to move into her slowly.

Her mouth is wide open, nothing coming out but strangled grunts. She takes it like a champ. Savoring every second his big meaty cock massages her deep, tight ridges.

He watches her face in awe, bringing one of his hands up and brushing strands of hair away. He kisses her lips, keeping his mouth there as he begins to speed up, hiking her legs up higher, and plowing into her sopping wet pussy.

The room is loud. Wet sounds and muffled moans fill the space. It’s hot, and humid. He swears the windows have begun to fog up. The two of them are ravenous. He tries to hold her down but she’s able to lift her hips up to meet his in a fit of impressive determination. This girl is a dream.

He readjusts, hiking her legs up onto his shoulders, admiring her smushed, fat pussy glistening under the flourecents. He watches himself disappear into her juicy folds, hugging onto him like a warm coat. Like a life vest. Squeezing him like a fucking blood pressure monitor.

He’s relentless now, pounding into her, and leaning down to suck her perky tits into his hot mouth. She gapes, her face contorted in pure ecstasy. No sounds leave her lips. Having the breath fucked out of her.

She regains it, letting out a shallow, strangled breath.

“Just like that,” she gasps. “Please, God, don’t stop.”

He smirks at her, wrapping a secure hand around her throat. Not squeezing, just simply for his own leverage. He goes harder, her poor legs definitely will be bruised by his fingertips tomorrow.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” He shouts through gritted teeth.

His head flies back as he spills himself into her. She milks him for all he’s worth. He thrusts into her a few more times before collapsing on top of her chest out of pure exhaustion. He takes deep breaths, trying to catch his breath, which never happens to him. But this took everything. Something so pure and raw and good. A craving that had finally been satisfied. She rubs her hands into his scalp as he lays his head on her sweaty chest. He leaves cute, and quaint little kisses. This is it. He thinks. This is every reason to stay.

If only she felt the same way.

——

He stalks up to Ashley’s office, an unreadable look on his face. He barges into a meeting with her and some other Vought executive. Both of their heads flying up in surprise.

“Homelander, what a nice surprise.” She exclaims.

“Shut it, Ashley,” He presses, turning to the executive. “Get the fuck out of here.”

The executive looks at Ashley, and then scrambles away out the door. She watches him in horror as he leaves the room, the door slamming behind him. John doesn’t take his eyes off of her for a second.

“Why didn’t you tell me that the CIA had Soldier Boy's body?” He asks, cocking an eyebrow.

He gets closer, staring down at her with an intense gaze.

“I-,” she starts. He holds a hand out to stop her.

“And why the fuck didn’t you tell me that he had been fucking kidnapped from the bunker in upstate New York?”

She stumbles over her words as he glares at her. She can’t bare to look him in the eyes.

“Okay, first of all, we were under the impression that he had been eliminated.”

“Well, obviously he hadn’t been fucking elimated, Ashley!” He bellows.

She trembles, finally turning to face him. His nostrils are flared, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Let’s slow down. How do we even know he’s still alive? How do we know that he’s even escaped?” She searches for the right things to say. The way she knows to console him.

“Are you really fucking questioning me right now?” He scoffs.

She just stared up at him with big eyes, unsure how to continue.

He sighs, beginning to pace around the room. If Vought found out about Freaks' plan for the summer, they would surely kill her, which he didn’t want. Killing him? Obtaining Soldier Boy? That was fine. He’d happily fly him into the arms of the military and let them do whatever the fuck they wanted to him. But she was off limits. Anything that would happen to her would be in his own hands. He decides to not push it. Maybe just letting Ashley know about his disappearance was enough.

“You know what,” he lets out an ominous chuckle. “It’s fine. It’s fine! I’m sure he’s gotten himself out and is halfway through South America by this point.”

Ashley looks around, nodding her head. Anything he says goes. She'd rather keep her head than question what the fuck he had to say.

“Forget I even said anything.” And with that, he walks out of her office.

He’d take care of this himself.

Masterlist | Taglist

Taglist: @sl33pylilbunny @Lanassmarty @Sydneyyyya @1-800shootmeplease@muhahaha303@nancymcl@speedyrebelfan@ghh05ttt@agentorange9595@let-me-luve-you @peachytits @darkdahl @deans-spinster-witch @soggybasementfries @ladysparkles78 @madamthemoo @lyarr24@sadlittlecountess @mickaelly007 @mrscountryclub @vtheoneandonly @decadentanchorwerewolf @wonderland2022@buckybarnes-1917@rebeccathefangirl@daisy-the-quake @tiredbibi @greyish-wallpaper@previousloversandmuses@is-this-a-febreze-commercial@justrealizedimmascifygurl@broimamy@freewastelandstrawberry@breadsgalore@savagemickey03@franblaq6466@lustendreams@atinylittlebee @VtheOneandOnly

#homelander smut #homelander x reader #soldier boy #soldier boy smut #soldier boy x reader #homelander #soldier boy fanfic #jensen ackles #soldier boy the boys #jensen ackles x reader #soldier boy oneshot #frequency: a soldier boy story

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humanrightsupdates · 5 months ago

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Urgent Action: BLOGGER ARBITRARILY DETAINED DESPITE BAIL (Bangladesh 54.24)

Selim Khan is an atheist blogger from Bangladesh. He was part of a private Facebook group for like-minded atheists where he expressed his views privately. Another member photographed his comment and shared it publicly, causing public agitation. A ruling party member then filed a case against him “under the newly enacted Cyber Security Act and the Penal Code”. Selim was arrested on November 4, 2023 and was refused bail repeatedly even though these were bailable offenses. He was finally granted bail on March 13, 2024 but he remains in jail due to procedural delays. Selim must be released immediately and unconditionally.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: August 5, 2024

TAKE ACTION:

Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.

Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 54.24. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.

#human rights #amnesty international #bangladesh #atheist

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quandaryqueen · 2 years ago

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Since requests are open again, could you perhaps do some headcannons for Yandere! Young Justice Riddler?

White knuckle jerk

Yandere Young Justice Edward Nygma X Reader

Yandere? YJ Eddie? Oh my god my loves 😍💕 oh lordy labacamoo, I love you for requesting this. I am so sorry it took too long, I just really needed the time to think about how I can do this request justice and I really hope I did

Also, I'd love to try something new for the Reader's role. You'll see.

CW: Yandere Content, Toxic Relationship Dynamic

💚 Yanderes are a different kind of breed, aren't they? Just the absolute worse, to think they are entitled to a person just because the object of obsession looked their way once and now the Yandere won't stop until they're satisfied on how they have their darling in their grasp.

There are myriad classifications of Yandere. There's the sadistic, protective, delusional, laid-back, vouyeristic, etc etc.

Then there's Edward Nygma, the Riddler, the pathetic one. The one who tries to hold over control over his darling in a way that's degradingly cute of him to try and cuff you to the bed, only to apologize, kneeling, crying, clinging, pleading for you to forgive him, as he kisses your feet for forgiveness.

💚 You were caught as object of obsession, the hot topic among circles of villainy, you've made a name for yourself, an instant terror struck upon the masses and a threat to be snuffed out... All he ever wanted.

And so he set out to watch you for his pure fascination. How does one person in which a calibre like yours operates?

Well for one, he kept a record of your agenda and had managed to track footage of you through various security cameras from wherever you go. It was difficult at first but it's certainly a tell of his determination. From the direction of your headquarters, the bank you recently robbed, a construction site you rigged with explosives as bait for the heroes, your life as a civilian as well, wherein he'd observe you go on about your alter ego where you managed to hide your identity very well. It's simply laughable how you aren't cuffed by the police yet with this amount of footage.

Seeing you go from the cold, masked monster to a warm face that smiles back during encounters was jarring, but fascinating to him. And he can't even tell which one was an act and which was genuine.

💚 Now, the tricky part was making himself known... Wait... Isn't he already known? He has to be, he's been trying to establish himself as one of the greatest threats of Gotham, of course he'd be known! You'd know who he is! Who doesn't?

Anyways... He has pinpointed your latest agenda, striking up a deal with a little known rogue who has yet to make a name for themself. It would be easy to acquire access of their contacts, plus he thinks his reputation would be a great addition to be considered when he plans to make himself known to them as an ally and as a result, get to meet you.

💚 A crush? No. Fascination is the correct word. He isn't above admitting he looks up to you, that he admires your way of doing things and would like to emulate that.

💚 When the time came, he establish himself as an ally of the team, he finally met you.

"V/N, I presume? Your reputation precedes you,"

"Ah, I forgot. Y/N, this is the Riddler." Edward glances at the third person, who is apparently on a first name basis with you. And not to mention, how they sound more at ease around you.

"Riddler... I've heard of him. The one with the question marks," You merely looked over your friend with disinterest as if he weren't there. "And what other help can he offer our cost? Other than being utilised for a... Questionable bait." You paused, trying to find a word less offensive.

"I can assure you-- I'm quite effective in wide ranges of cyber-related needs, strategies, techs--"

"I suppose we can make use of you. Now, if you were to excuse us for a moment, I'd like to talk to Gaslight alone."

Edward practically shrank under your intensive gaze, before wordlessly excusing himself.

💚 One would think he'd be turned off after your display of decorum (lack thereof), he was not. For one, this treatment wasn't particularly new for him and second, he expected this. He has been watching you after all. What's more, he was compelled. How it will all feel worth it once he has done the unthinkable, the impossible. Little ol' him.

He was on the team. That, he can tick off the checklist. Now all to do was to get along with you or Gaslight, the rogue who has agreed to work with him. You seem to get along with them very well and perhaps through a mutual friend, he can develop a bond with you.

It was no easy task, he was prepared from the mount Everest of a research, you would be the most difficult person to conquer in any way. There was nothing you find more repulsive, like submitting under someone. Let alone someone like him. But he felt in control.

He knows what to do, what to expect.

💚 Everything about you wasn't easy. You are irritable to anyone you don't like, save for a few people you tolerate. You also pick up one of the myriads of masks and use it for your own benefit, building a beguiling reputation for being a soft-hearted, thoughtful angel to some, not so much when they turned around.

He was aware of just how you are when you're at your worst, striking unprovoked and ruining someone's life for your benefit without much an ounce of regret and how you can do that to anyone, including those who you seem to have deceived that you have bond. By the looks of it, you might do the same thing to him. But he doesn't care. If that makes him more to you, then take whatever you want from him.

💚 Stupidly persistent, determined, willing to take damage if it means pleasing you. Everything he takes from you, from the verbal hits to the bruises and welts, he was going to take it. Somehow, someway, he is going to have you under his control soon, pull the rag from under your feet...

And in his delusions, he sees himself as this soon to be dominant, in-control, ever so merciful Yandere who will be your everything. In his head, that's his conclusion. In reality, he couldn't hurt you, he couldn't bear the thought of making you cry, let alone lose all the things you want... But if he had to do that, then so be it. It would have been for a better cause, he justifies.

💚 It just so happens your second-in-command, best friend, Gaslight, first name Gayle and last name Ilaw happened to have failed to escape an exploding building from one of your missions... But don't worry, Edward was there for you, he will be your new best friend... Or more, if you'd like.

"What did you not understand about what I said?" You utter coldly, sparing no glances at the hindrance that is Edward. "Don't make me repeat myself."

"I am so sorry for your loss," Edward approaches your slumped figure standing by the balcony. He felt as though he was in your good graces to be excluded from the goons you've yelled at to leave after receiving the news of Gaslight's death.

Gaslight... Long time friend, someone you considered as family. Second-in-command, confidante... An important piece of you Edward had to yank out in hopes of filling her role. It was a massive gap to fill, but you should know by now, he would do anything.

"If you need someone to talk to, I am always a call away."

Edward could not help but to smile as he exit.

The normal you would have barked at him... This development was just what Edward needed, to see the cracks form and soon enough he'd be there to pick up the pieces for you. It will only be just a matter of time until he reduce you into nothing but broken shards of what used to be you, needing to be made whole again with him by your side.

#edward nygma #riddler x reader #dc x reader #edward nygma x reader #dc x you #edward nigma #request #young justice riddler #edward nygma x you #yandere cw #labacamoo #young justice edward nygma x reader #young justice riddler x reader

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dertaglichedan · 6 months ago

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MASSIVE REVELATION! James O’Keefe Releases Undercover Video of CIA Contractor Admitting CIA Director Withheld Info from Trump and Spied on His Presidency

ames O’Keefe last Friday warned he was about to release the most important story of his entire career.

“I have evidence that exposes the CIA, and it’s on camera. I am working on releasing a story that I believe is the most important of my entire career,” O’Keefe said on Friday.

“Do you think it’s a coincidence that right at this moment I am subject to an endless series of attacks?” he said. “This is obviously a sophisticated information operation designed to stop me from releasing this story. I’m sure you recognize they are masters of using half-truths and innuendos to raise doubt against people who don’t deserve it. It’s meant to consume my time and energy and make me back down.”

“But I’m not going to let it work. Rest assured, nothing will stop me from releasing this story,” O’Keefe said.

O’Keefe Media Group on Wednesday released part one: Exposing the CIA: A project manager working in cyber operations told OMG’s undercover journalist that the Director of the CIA would keep information from Trump.

He also said the CIA spied on Trump’s presidency and is still monitoring him to this day.

“So the agencies kind of, like, all got together and said, we’re not gonna tell Trump…Director of the CIA would keep [information from Trump]…” Amjad Fseisi, a project manager working in Cyber Operations for the CIA with top-secret security clearance told an undercover journalist.

Amjad Fseisi said Trump is a “Russian asset” – “He’s owned by the f*cking Russians,” he told the undercover journalist.

Per James O’Keefe:

Amjad reveals to OMG’s Undercover American Swiper that intel agencies not only kept intelligence information from a sitting United States President and Commander-In-Chief, they also used FISA to spy on President Trump and his team and are still monitoring President Trump according to Amjad who says, “We monitor everything.” Amjad adds “we also have people that monitor his ex-wife. He likes to use burner phones” – information only an insider with access to highly sensitive information would state. “We steal it [information]” and “We hack other countries just like that,” Amjad, who states he currently works on the CIA’s China Mission Center, explains how intel agencies obtain information. He also describes a broken intelligence system where “We don’t share information across agencies” because the CIA is “very reluctant” to share information with the “careless” NSA. O’Keefe Media Group’s bombshell undercover footage supports earlier reports by investigative journalists Michael Shellenberger, Matt Taibbi, and Alex Gutentag that revealed how the American intelligence community illegally ran a spy operation against then-candidate Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 and illegally acquired intelligence that was later used to justify the Federal Bureau of Investigation (@FBI) official probe, “Crossfire Hurricane,” which in turn led to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that ultimately did not find evidence of Russia collusion by the 2016 Trump campaign. Contractors like Fseisi hold the duty to withhold sharing confidential or national security information. In denying his statements, Fseisi may have realized he could be held liable for violating internal agency provisions and federal laws like the Executive Agency ethics provisions, which restrict what he may share with others outside of his contracted-to agency. Additionally, any government worker or agency head who withheld information from a superior (i.e. President Trump) may violate: (a) obstruction of justice by deception (18 USC 1512); (b) conspiracy to obstruct (18 USC 371); and false statements (18 USC 1001). Agency regulations may also provide offenses related to insubordination, reflecting poorly on the agency in public, or misrepresentation or dishonesty. When James O’Keefe caught up with Amjad Fseisi on the streets of Washington, D.C., Fseisi could not tell O’Keefe whether he had top secret clearance, denied making statements clearly caught on camera, and would not even confirm it was him on the video saying only “It looks like me.” When asked directly if he works at the CIA, Fseisi said, “I can’t tell you that.”

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mariacallous · 1 year ago

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Last week, WIRED published a deep-dive investigation into Trickbot, the prolific Russian ransomware gang. This week, US and UK authorities sanctioned 11 alleged members of Trickbot and its related group, Conti, including Maksim Galochkin, aka Bentley, one of the alleged members whose real-world identity we confirmed through our investigation. Coincidence? Maybe. Either way, it's a big deal.

In addition to the US and UK sanctions, the US Justice Department also unsealed indictments filed in three US federal courts against Galochkin and eight other alleged Trickbot members for ransomware attacks against entities in Ohio, Tennessee, and California. Because everyone charged is a Russian national, however, it is unlikely they will ever be arrested or face trial.

While Russian cybercriminals typically enjoy immunity, the same may not remain true for the country’s military hackers. The lead prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) says the ICC will begin pursuing charges for cyber war crimes. The prosecutor, Karim Khan, did not name Russia, but the move follows a formal petition from the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley’s School of Law asking the ICC to prosecute Russia’s Sandworm hackers for war crimes. Part of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, Sandworm is responsible for causing blackouts in Ukraine, the only known instances of cyberattacks shutting down an electrical grid. Sandworm also released the NotPetya malware against Ukraine, which ultimately spread globally and caused an unprecedented $10 billion in damages worldwide.

Russia is far from the only country that engages in offensive cyberwar tactics. China-backed hackers have repeatedly targeted the US and other countries, and they may be getting some help finding unpatched vulnerabilities. A Chinese law passed in 2022 demands that any network technology company operating in the country share details about vulnerabilities in its products with the Chinese government within two days of their discovery. Information about these vulnerabilities may then be shared with China’s hackers. It’s unclear how many Western companies comply with the law or provide enough information to allow Chinese hackers to exploit the products’ flaws.

Speaking of Chinese hackers, Microsoft this week finally explained how China’s state-sponsored hackers managed to steal a cryptographic key that allowed the attackers to successfully access the Outlook email accounts of at least 25 organizations, including US government agencies. According to Microsoft, the hackers broke into the account of a company engineer using token-stealing malware. They then used that account to access a cache of crash data that accidentally contained the signing key they then stole and used to go on an Outlook hacking spree. None of this was supposed to be possible, and Microsoft says it has corrected several flaws in its systems that allowed the attack to happen.

Before he died in a mysterious plane crash last month following an attempted coup against Russian president Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin wasn’t just the leader of the Wagner Group mercenaries. He was also the head of the notorious Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian outfit responsible for widespread disinformation campaigns. While the IRA was reportedly shut down, new research shows that pro-Prigozhin trolls continue to push his agenda. Many of the accounts spreading disinformation on X (formerly Twitter) have been banned. But since when has that stopped them?

Elsewhere, we explained how prompt injection attacks against generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT take advantage of a flaw that’s difficult to fix. We detailed how hard it is to opt out of allowing Facebook to use your data to train its AI. We have a rundown on Proton Sentinel, a suite of tools that are similar to Google’s offerings but with a strong emphasis on privacy and security. We also co-published a story with The Markup into Axon’s quest to build Taser-armed drones. And we got the inside scoop on a meeting between top US spies and civil liberties groups over Section 702 of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act, which is set to expire at the end of the year.

But that’s not all. Each week, we round up the security and privacy news we didn’t cover in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.

Your New Car Is a Privacy Nightmare

Car companies are collecting and selling extremely detailed personal data from drivers who have no real way to opt out, a new report from the Mozilla Foundation found. Researchers spent hundreds of hours studying 25 privacy policies for major car brands and found that none of them met the foundation’s minimum standards around privacy and security.

According to the report, modern cars, stuffed to the roof with sensors, collect more information about you than just about any other product in your life. They know where you go, what you say, and how you move your body. Nissan’s privacy policy, for example, allows the company to collect and share drivers’ sexual activity, health diagnosis data, and genetic information, according to the report.

Eighty-four percent of the brands that researchers studied share or sell this kind of personal data, and only two of them allow drivers to have their data deleted. While it is unclear exactly who these companies share or sell data to, the report points out that there is a huge market for driver data. An automotive data broker called High Mobility cited in the report has a partnership with nine of the car brands Mozilla studied. On its website, it advertises a wide range of data products—including precise location data.

This isn’t just a privacy nightmare but a security one. Volkswagen, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz have all recently suffered data leaks or breaches that affected millions of customers. According to Mozilla, cars are the worst category of products for privacy that they have ever reviewed.

Update Your iPhone: Apple Fixes No-Click Zero-Days

Apple has just released a security update to iOS after researchers at Citizen Lab discovered a zero-click vulnerability being used to deliver Pegasus spyware. Citizen Lab, which is part of the University of Toronto, is calling the newly discovered exploit chain Blastpass. Researchers say it is capable of compromising iPhones running the latest version of iOS (16.6) without the target even touching their device. According to researchers, Blastpass is delivered to a victim’s phone through an iMessage with an Apple Wallet attachment containing a malicious image.

The Pegasus spyware, developed by NSO Group, enables an attacker to read a target’s text messages, view their photos, and listen to calls. It has been used to track journalists, political dissidents, and human rights activists around the world.

Apple says customers should update their phones to the newly released iOS 16.6.1. The exploit can also attack certain models of iPads. You can see details of the affected models here. Citizen Lab urges at-risk users to enable Lockdown Mode.

North Korean Hackers Target Security Researchers Again

North Korea-backed hackers are targeting cybersecurity researchers in a new campaign that is exploiting at least one zero-day vulnerability, Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) warned in a report released Thursday. The group did not provide details about the vulnerability since it is currently unpatched. However, the company says it is part of a popular software package used by security researchers.

According to TAG, the current attack mirrors a January 2021 campaign that similarly targeted security researchers working on vulnerability research and development. Like the previous campaign, North Korean threat actors send researchers malicious files after first spending weeks establishing a relationship with their target. According to the report, the malicious file will execute “a series of anti-virtual machine checks” and send collected information—along with a screenshot—back to the attacker.

Georgia DA in Trump RICO Case Gets Doxxed

In order to shield prospective jurors from harassment, District Attorney Fani Willis asked the judge in Donald Trump’s racketeering trial to prevent people from capturing or distributing any sort of image or identifying information about them. The motion, filed in Fulton County Superior Court on Wednesday, revealed that immediately after the indictment was filed, anonymous individuals on “conspiracy theory websites" had shared the full names, ages, and addresses of 23 grand jurors with “the intent to harass and intimidate them.”

Willis also revealed that she had been the victim of doxxing when the personal information of her and her family—including their physical addresses and “GPS coordinates”—was posted on an unnamed website hosted by a Russian company. Willis, who is Black, had previously disclosed that she faced racist and violent threats after the announcement of her investigation into the former president.

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untilteddocument · 3 months ago

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After-Action Archive Caves of Qud - No Pasarán

Welcome again, one and all, to the After-Action Archive! In-game progress has been going as usual, perhaps a bit smoother now that I have a more concrete idea of where I need to be and what I need to look out for.

As part of my second run through the game, I figured I'd go over this pair of quests again. Bear in mind, it does sort of rely on some level of surprise, so anyone who doesn't want to get spoiled past the Earl of Omonporch quest, you'll have to skip this one. With that in mind, we have incoming.

Content Warning: Death, dissociation, contemplation of self-harm.

Once again, I find myself at Grit Gate, home of the reclusive and scholarly Barathrumites. Much like the last time, I'm here fresh from securing rights to the Spindle from the self-proclaimed Earl of Omonporch, all in service to a momentous and at-the-moment hidden plan from the leader of the Barathrumites himself. Also like last time, this step in the plan heralds a hell of a hiccup; the Putus Templar, cyber-fascists and notable foes of the Barathrumites, have seen fit to take some action against them, and are discovered in the process of launching an attack. Of course, this time, I do know what I was set to get into.

So I decided to overprepare!

I'd promised myself last time that I wouldn't let any of the Barathrumites die, and I held myself to that this time too. To that end, I wanted to stack the deck as much as possible, and that meant I wanted as many friends as I could get my hands on.

Roll Call

Much like before, my first resort when looking for strong companions is the Fellowship of Wardens. Yrame, the guardian of Joppa, isn't as initially strong as her predecessor Ualraig in previous versions (she starts out ten levels lower), but her skills and mutations remain the same, as does her overall effectiveness when she's up in levels. Fast, strong, tough, and kitted out with some truly devastating weaponry at multiple ranges, she's set to carve an icy path through the incoming Templar.

-----------------------------------------

Also on the Singular Engine of Destruction train, there's the Warden Indrix. Much like before, he's more focused on offense than defense, with a powerful two-handed axe, a panoply of skills that make it much more dangerous, and a turbow that makes his strength still dangerous at range. There's increasingly few things that could take him one-on-one and come out on top, let alone unscathed.

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If Yrame is the balance and Indrix is the offense, the Wardens Esther is the defense. Almost as tough as Yrame and specializing in shield work, she doesn't kill as quickly as either of her fellow wardens, at least not by herself, but her Temporal Fugue mutation plus her equipment's various boosts to her ego stat mean that, in a fight, they are potentially more dangerous given that they are literally seven motherfuckers.

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Speaking of numbers...

During my travels in my previous playthrough, I relied on indirect methods to get past the initial wards of Bethesda Susa: the trolls. The only three of their kind in Qud, they are reclusive, powerful creatures with knowledge of equally-obscure artifacts. In addition to not wanting to fight them, I also wanted to plumb their knowledge for the locations of various artifacts that could help me or others (one prominent example being the location of the hindren of Bey Lah's lost treasure, Kindrish). After all that, I still had a lot of cachet with them plus several experience levels, so I figured, why not ask them to join me?

And that was a pretty good choice!

Starting off, there is Jotun, Who Parts Limbs. Aptly named, he specializes in axes, with truly intimidating amounts of strength and agility (far greater than any of the wardens despite his far lower level) to guide them to their marks and make them bite in. He's also skilled in their use, following the same tack as Warden Indrix. Unlike Indrix, however, he has the ability, shared among his troll brethren, to wield two-handed weapons in a single hand, thus his current equipment. Aside from that, he has a supply of throwing axes, and to supplement that, I gave him a geomagnetic disk, a throwable powered chakram that bypasses armor entirely and uses an energy cell to power whatever internal innovations allow it to mimic its predecessor from Xena: Warrior Princess.

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Fjorn-Kosef is far less direct in his approach, meantime. Instead of full-on physical domination, he relies on cold to disable his target before attacking. With his unique Frost Webs mutation, he can trap and freeze enemies and then use his ice-encrusted fists to keep them there. I have further plans for him, but at the time of this screenshot, I wasn't in a position to implement it yet.

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Last and most distinctive is Haggabah, and the Umbral Path he plies is a reference to his unique mutation: Invisibility! In fact, no one can even see him without the aid of specific mutations or advanced technology, and this makes him perhaps the most dangerous of the three, especially paired with his natural weaponry. Those adumbral hands deal a special umbral damage that can't be resisted in any way, and plus his skill with cudgel-type weapons (fists are cudgels), he is more than capable of taking enemies apart without them even knowing what hit them.

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Now, I haven't discussed something common to all three legendary trolls, namely the significance of all those other gorrila-like creatures crowding around us in that picture of Grit Gate. Those are troll foals, budded from their legendary sires whenever there's not "enough" of them in a particular map. They're not that dangerous by themselves, with little HP, no equipment, etc., but they do also possess the Swarmer property, and this makes them much more effective as a group. No joke, while exploring the caves below Grit Gate, one time I saw them surround an arch dervish of the Sightless Way, a psionic warrior who devotes their power to service of the imprisoned godlike alien Ptoh, and just...beat them to death with nary a retaliatory strike due to the arch dervish being stunned for most of it.

I was outfitted much the same as I was last time, though with better-quality gear and more skills in my reportoire. With power and numbers on my side, I had every confidence that I could defend Grit Gate and make it look easy.

I move with hurried deliberation, one of the drawbacks of the troll foals being that they get in the way of people. I order Indrix and Jotun to guard the irrigation pipes, and Jotun's foals join the task. The rest, I just let follow me as I park myself towards the entrance, waiting for the storm to whip up.

I don't have to wait long.

I have to fight from cackling in malicious glee as I make my next move; normally, I wear a force bracelet, using it as a shield to buy me time to kill at range. This time, however, I swap it out for something else.

The hologram bracelet was fittingly a gift from the Barathrumites for proving my skill to them in an earlier quest. Instead of a shield, it's a distraction, creating a holographic duplicate of me that I can use to draw fire.

So I have it appear in the middle of their group.

The Templar panic immediately and unload all their grenades into themselves, which lets me and my crew amble in and take them apart.

I move smoothly and thoroughly, trying to avoid any potential trouble. I pick up any grenades I see near the sparking communication panel, fearing it would detonate them. I also tear any cybernetic implants out of the Templar corpses, to prevent them from being damaged. Not even the belated reappearance of their commander slows me down.

One strike, certain death.

I return to Otho to deliver the good news, and he begins his assessment.

...wait.

I look frantically left and right, as I run to the irrigation pipes. I can't even see a sign of Shem-1's passing. When I reach the pipes, my heart hollows as I see...

I drop to my knees, afraid to touch. Afraid to profane, afraid

to fail

I spoke to him before, didn't I?

afraid

I did. He said...he said

I do not stay. I wander, looking at nothing.

not like this.

not like this

What did I say to him again?

I almost laugh. Rich. Ironic. I dig my fingernails into my palm. I clench, willing blood. I will myself to dissolve. So confident. So careless. What worth is hope if it doesn't reach you?

He sought it.

I gave it.

It meant nothing.

Liar. What hope is there? Life was snuffed out. My arrogance. My failure. Could have done something. Could have done it better. Could have given different commands, different actions. Now they're dead and I could have stopped it but I didn't I didn't I didn't I didn't I didn't I didn't

Ha. Fuck you. Worthless. Worthless words. Worthless me.

SHUT UP. TELL ME WHAT IT WAS WORTH TO THEM. TELL ME-

So kind and soft, her words pierce me like a jab to the face. I see her, bloody but alive, her eyes containing nothing but relief. I remember seeing her in the fight, afraid but undaunted, bringing her rifle to bear against those who would despoil her home and destroy her life.

I remember Aloysius had a similar weapon in his possession. I found it with him at the irrigation pipes. The energy cell had seen plenty of use.

I remember a glimpse of Shem-1, leading the charge with me as I waded into the melee at the entrance.

I close my eyes.

I say my pleasantry to Hortensa, thank her for stopping me and walk away, hoping she does not see my tears fall as I go. Knowing she will.

-----------------------------------------

OKAY Some Behind-The-Scenes Talk

This could easily have been as jaunty and inconsequential as I originally intended, but it is true that my confidence and a bit of autopiloting bit me in the ass. My plan was, if any of the Barathrumites died, I would rewind to when I last saved and try again. The fight suddenly ended, however, and I didn't catch sight of the commander. I'd gone to town on the others while they were stunned and confused from their own grenades, so unless she was somewhere in the lingering clouds of gas...but then why was the fight noted to be over? So, while looking for her, I did the stupid thing and left Grit Gate for a moment. What I think happened was, she was still confused from I guess a flashbang someone threw or something, because she had wandered back south, off the map. I returned to Grit Gate, she came with, I beheaded her in one shot, that was it. However, leaving and/or entering a friendly settlement autosaves the game, so I was locked in before getting the word from Otho. This meant...well, I was fucked. I exaggerated it somewhat for this After-Action Report, but I was really angry at myself for being so stupid. I did recriminate myself for being too careless, too confident in my superiority. I could have put Indrix and Jotun closer to the attack point. I could have given Aloysius some spare armor. I could have wasted less time on the cyber implants. I could have done any number of things, but my blunder made it impossible to go back and correct any of them, so I had to live with it. What finally shook me out of my funk, aside from sleep that I probably needed, was remembering my own thoughts to myself about my experience with fighting games. I'd been open about how they helped me become more comfortable with failure, that sometimes things just don't shake out the way you want, and that's okay. That's fine by me, but it's much harder for me to accept that thinking when I perceive it as affecting someone other than me. Yes, I'm well aware that Aloysius and Shem-1 are not real, but...in a way, I still accepted responsibility for them. I felt that I had let them down. I suppose I could use the wish debug commands to bring them back, but I think that this experience was...instructive, I'll say. It certainly made for a more emotionally-involved story, more than I expected. Hell, it made me care in a way that was visceral and hard to compartmentalize, and...that's an experience I feel should be preserved. So there it is. I hope it was good.

#after-action archive #caves of qud #animated gif #cw: death #cw: dissociation #cw: self-harm

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girlactionfigure · 4 months ago

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🔵 FRIDAY - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

Erev Shabbat - Parshat Pinchas - Numbers 25:11 - Aaron’s grandson Pinchas is rewarded for his act of zealotry in killing the Simeonite prince Zimri and the Midianite princess who was his paramour.

▪️ISRAEL REALTIME under attack… multiple hack attempts to take control of our WhatsApp groups. If posts turn weird or no posts, see links at bottom for alternatives.

▪️WITH THE OLYMPICS SCHEDULED TO START TONIGHT.. (Israel time) France hit with a major cyber attack disabling much of the national train service as well as arson attacks disabling numerous lines. Israeli team under heavy threat from Iranian groups.

▪️THE WHITE HOUSE SAYS.. from yesterday’s Netanyahu Biden meeting: Biden expressed the need to close the remaining gaps and reach a hostage deal as soon as possible. He also raised the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the need to remove obstacles to the flow of humanitarian aid and the critical importance of protecting civilian lives during military operations.

.. The President also emphasized the commitment of the US to the security of Israel against the threats from Iran and its affiliates, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

.. VP to PM Netanyahu: Kamala Harris- "Let's get to the deal now"; "The two-state solution - the only way to a safe and Jewish democratic state"

▪️A HERO SOLDIER HAS FALLEN.. Moti Rave, 37, from Shani, fell in battle in Gaza. May his family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, and may G-d avenge his blood!

.. 330 hero soldiers have fallen in the offensive against Hamas.

▪️MORE HOUTHI THREATS.. Military sources in Sana'a (Yemen) to the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper: "Yemen's response to the Israeli attack will not be limited to one or two operations." (( Noting these guys love their propaganda, but they also tend to follow through and don’t seem to care at the cost. ))

▪️HAMAS ARRESTS.. a wave of arrests by Hamas against Fatah operatives throughout the Strip in recent days, with an emphasis on the northern part of the Strip, just a few days after the signing of the "Beijing Declaration" regarding Palestinian internal reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.

▪️HAMAS DAMAGE? Palestinian sources to Reuters: "A communication network built by Hamas before the war was severely damaged. The loss of personnel and the destruction of the communication network meant that centralized decision-making collapsed."

▪️ECONOMY - GAS PRICE DROP.. gasoline prices expected to drop 17 agarot per liter, due to exchange rates and world oil prices.

🔸DEAL NEWS.. Reuters: Hamas rejects Israel's demand to check those returning to the northern Gaza Strip to make sure there are no terrorists among them (and to make sure there are no HOSTAGES among them, oh and no weapons.)

.. Suleiman Masveda: Netanyahu demands more live hostages in the first stage, contrary to the position of the security establishment who say "the conditions for the deal are ripe".

.. PM Netanyahu to the families of the abductees during the joint meeting with Biden: "I am not delaying anything. Within two days an updated proposal will be issued to Hamas"

♦️(Enemy report) The town of Ita al Sha'ab has been under artillery attack and by bombing - more than 75% of the houses are destroyed.

♦️IAF fighter jets, combat helicopters, and drones, struck some 45 targets across Gaza over the past day. The targets included terrorists, tunnel shafts, buildings used by terror groups, and rocket launchers previously used to attack the southern city of Be’er Sheva.

♦️COUNTER-TERROR OPS - KALKILYA, JENIN, JERICHO.. overnight.

⭕ US BASE IN IRAQ ATTACKED.. The Ein Al Asad air base was attacked last night with 4 rockets and a suicide drone.

⭕ HAMAS ROCKETS this morning at Yated, Nachal Oz.

#Israel #October 7 #Hamas Massacre #Israel/HamasWar #Gaza #IDF #BDE #ISRAEL REALTIME #Hezbollah

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snickers-the-fluffy-boi · 3 months ago

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Abusive Sexual Contact

Advocating Overthrow of Government

Aggravated Assault/Battery

Aggravated Identity Theft

Aggravated Sexual Abuse

Aiming a Laser Pointer at an Aircraft

Airplane Hijacking

Anti-racketeering

Antitrust

Armed Robbery

Arson

Assassination

Assault with a Deadly Weapon

Assaulting or Killing Federal Officer

Assisting or Instigating Escape

Attempt to commit Murder/Manslaughter

Bank Burglary

Bankruptcy Fraud/Embezzlement

Bank Larceny

Bank Robbery

Blackmail

Bombing Matters

Bond Default

Breaking and/or Entering Carrier Facilities

Bribery Crimes

Certification of Checks (Fraud)

Child Abuse

Child Exploitation

Child Pornography

Civil Action to Restrain Harassment of a Victim or Witness

Coercion

Commodities Price Fixing

Computer Crime

Concealing Escaped Prisoner

Concealing Person from Arrest

Concealment of Assets

Conspiracy (in matters under FBI jurisdiction)

Conspiracy to Impede or Injure an Officer

Contempt of Court

Continuing Criminal Enterprise

Conveying False Information

Counterfeiting

Counterintelligence Crimes

Credit/Debit Card Fraud

Crime Aboard Aircraft

Crimes on Government Reservations

Crimes on Indian Reservations

Criminal Contempt of Court

Criminal Forfeiture

Criminal Infringement of a Copyright

Cyber Crimes

Damage to Religious Property

Delivery to Consignee

Demands Against the U.S.

Destruction of Aircraft or Motor Vehicles Used in Foreign Commerce

Destruction of an Energy Facility

Destruction of Property to Prevent Seizure

Destruction of Records in Federal Investigations and Bankruptcy

Destruction of Corporate Audit Records

Destruction of Veterans’ Memorials

Detention of Armed Vessel

Disclosure of Confidential Information

Domestic Security

Domestic Terrorism

Domestic Violence

Drive-by Shooting

Drug Abuse Violations

Drug Smuggling

Drug Trafficking

DUI/DWI on Federal Property

Economic Espionage

Election Law Crimes

Embezzlement

Embezzlement Against Estate

Entering Train to Commit Crime

Enlistment to Serve Against the U.S.

Environmental Scheme Crimes

Escaping Custody/Escaped Federal Prisoners

Examiner Performing Other Services

Exportation of Drugs

Extortion

Failure to Appear on Felony Offense

Failure to Pay Legal Child Support Obligations

False Bail

False Pretenses

False Statements Relating to Health Care Matters

Falsely Claiming Citizenship

False Declarations before Grand Jury or Court

False Entries in Records of Interstate Carriers

False Information and Hoaxes

False Statement to Obtain Unemployment Compensation

Federal Aviation Act

Federal Civil Rights Violations (hate crimes, police misconduct)

Female Genital Mutilation

Financial Transactions with Foreign Government

First Degree Murder

Flight to Avoid Prosecution or Giving Testimony

Forced Labor

Forcible Rape

Forgery

Fraud Activity in Connection with Electronic Mail

Fraud Against the Government

Genocide

Hacking Crimes

Harboring Terrorists

Harming Animals Used in Law Enforcement

Hate Crime Acts

Homicide

Hostage Taking

Identity Theft

Illegal Possession of Firearms

Immigration Offenses

Impersonator Making Arrest or Search

Importation of Drugs

Influencing Juror by Writing

Injuring Officer

Insider Trading Crimes

Insurance Fraud

Interference with the Operation of a Satellite

International Parental Kidnapping

International Terrorism

Interstate Domestic Violence

Interstate Violation of Protection Order

Larceny

Lobbying with Appropriated Moneys

Mailing Threatening Communications

Major Fraud Against the U.S.

Manslaughter

Medical/Health Care Fraud

Missile Systems Designed to Destroy Aircraft

Misuse of Passport

Misuse of Visas, Permits, or Other Documents

Molestation

Money Laundering

Motor Vehicle Theft

Murder by a Federal Prisoner

Murder Committed During Drug-related Drive-by shooting

Murder Committed in Federal Government Facility

Narcotics Violations

Obstructing Examination of Financial Institution

Obstruction of Court Orders

Obstruction of Federal audit

Obstruction of Justice

Obstruction of Criminal Investigations

Officer Failing to Make Reports

Partial Birth Abortion

Penalties for Neglect or Refusal to Answer Subpoena

Peonage

Perjury

Picketing or Parading

Pirating

Possession by Restricted Persons

Possession of False Papers to Defraud the U.S.

Possession of Narcotics

Possession of Child Pornography

Private Correspondence with Foreign Government

Probation Violation

Product Tampering

Prohibition of Illegal Gambling Businesses

Prostitution

Protection of Foreign Officials

Public Corruption Crimes

Racketeering

Radiological Dispersal Devices

Ransom Money

Rape

Receiving the Proceeds of Extortion

Recording or Listening to Grand or Petit Juries While Deliberating

Reentry of an Alien Removed on National Security Grounds

Registration of Certain Organizations

Reproduction of Citizenship Papers

Resistance to Extradition Agent

Rescue of Seized Property

Retaliating Against a Federal Judge by False Claim or Slander of Title

Retaliating Against a Witness, Victim, or an Informant

Robbery

Robberies and Burglaries Involving Controlled Substances

Sabotage

Sale of Citizenship Papers

Sale of Stolen Vehicles

Searches Without Warrant

Second Degree Murder

Serial Murders

Sexual Abuse

Sexual Abuse of a Minor

Sexual Assault

Sexual Battery

Sexual Conduct with a Minor

Sexual Exploitation

Sex Trafficking

Shoplifting

Smuggling

Solicitation to Commit a Crime of Violence

Stalking (In Violation of Restraining Order)

Stolen Property; Buying, Receiving, or Possessing

Subornation of Perjury

Suits Against Government Officials

Tampering with a Witness, Victim, or Informant

Tampering with Consumer Products

Tampering with Vessels

Theft of Trade Secrets

Torture

Trafficking in Counterfeit Goods or Services

Transmission of Wagering Information (Gambling)

Transportation into State Prohibiting Sale

Transportation of Slaves from U.S.

Transportation of Stolen Vehicles

Transportation of Terrorists

Trespassing

Treason

Unauthorized Removal of Classified Documents

Use of Fire or Explosives to Destroy Property

Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction

Vandalism

Video Voyeurism

Violation of Prohibitions Governing Atomic Weapons

Violence at International airports

Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity

Willful Wrecking of a Train Resulting in Death

Wire Fraud

That’s the list of all of my crimes

#i’m a menace

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orassian · 1 year ago

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/ FOREIGN SYSTEM OVERRIDE DETECTED / / COUNTERMEASURES FAILED / / HOMING ONTO THE INCOMING TRANSMISSION /

Testing reception... 1... 2...

Actually, I think that's no longer necessary, seeing that we are able to penetrate the Matriarchy's frequency cyber-coverage with little difficulty these days.

Start the video feed.

/ INITIATING TRANSMISSION FEED /

Yshiradh, Orassian nation and aliens from the beyond. Broadcasting currently from Libertopia, @union-replicants space. Weather here is lovely with occasional rainfall. A prime time to hit the beach and enjoy the light of the parent sun, since it's predicted to shine bright today, as it is for the Orassian Liberation Front in home space.

This is 'People's News Republic', an independent news agency geared towards unbiased coverage about current events happening in the Orassian space. I'm your hostess, Erhrdra D'Kara, and here are the latest developments.

The liberation forces have made significant advancements in the west of Gaurdis system and have secured ample space and time for the OLF to install a defensive station in the system.

The fight was hard, but the competency of the Liberation Front, and the help lent to them by the aliens not indifferent to our fight for democracy, had pulled them through the struggle. The push is currently moving to Oros and the broken ruins of the homeworld, but the resistance and the presence of the loyalists there is still significant. The potential capture of Orassia is anticipated to improve morale among the fighting forces, and the OLF needs what it can muster to bring an end to one of the only oppressive dictatorships in the Eastern Quadrant.

Among the greatest news today is the complete liberation of the H'Oumukh Region! In their strategic push, and with the aid of many volunteers from other interstellar states, the OLF managed to secure the region and clear it of all presence of loyalists. According to the words of the soldiers, it was "as if the whole comms network of the Matriarchy's forces in H'Oumukh started malfunctioning, which allowed for the offensive to be successful in the first place." It is unknown at the moment who was responsible, but, whoever it may have been, they have just helped to bring the tyranny of the Matriarchy one step closer to its end.

In other news, our news network, with the help of our allies, have reached out to Region of J'Horrim to spread the message of truth. When we heard that they still believe that no civil war is currently happening on their doorstep at all, we were shocked. The propaganda wall of the Matriarchy had certainly worked wonders for them at the time, but not at that moment.

At least some of the citizens in the region got to hear the realities of what was happening, and they would share them with the rest gradually. Our agency certainly received potential points of contact, which we will gladly share with our allies.

We have received word that the OLF is to hold memorials to the fallen soldiers in the capitol city of the region, Atasaŋ. The insurgents have suffered their share of losses they intend not to be forgotten by the fighters. We, the free Orassian people, will keep on pushing against the tyranny of dictatorships, and our promise to never stop fighting will never be broken.

For tonight, this concludes our news coverage. Thank you for listening. This has been 'People's News Republic'.

Truth to the people.

Freedom to the Orassian people.

Peace to the fallen.

/ TRANSMISSION END /

#stellaris rp #stellaris #peritainia rp #peritainia

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workersolidarity · 2 years ago

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China's push to hijack enemy satellites could be 'game over' for US, national security expert warns

Unlike the majority of journalists and commentators, I do not buy for one moment the official US media and govt's official story about the recent Pentagon Intelligence Leaks.

All this began when reports started popping up a few weeks ago about a US intelligence leak released on a discord server. These leaks purported to show intelligence on the Russo-Ukraine War, including troop concentrations and casualty counts that differed from public statements by officials.

Soon after the documents became public knowledge, the MSM media went into overdrive to uncover the leaker, literally doing the work of the FBI for them, with the NY Times and CIA news-front-organization Bellingcat tracing the leaks back to a 21 year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman named Jack Teixeira.

But how did a 21 year-old National Guardsman with a penchant for bragging on gaming discords get his hands on what appears to be high-level intelligence destined for high level officials including the Joint Chiefs of Staff?

Well, we know some things about how the US conducts its security protocols with regards to Military technicians who edit and put together intelligence for the Pentagon.

For one, it is standard protocol to investigate and monitor the various online profiles of Military service members with access to highly classified documents. This is done by multiple departments within the Federal Bureaucracy.

So I find it EXTREMELY not credible that an Airman First Class with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, with access to Top Secret Intelligence for whatever the purposes, could have been disclosing photos of Intelligence on a gamer Discord server without those agency's knowledge.

I find it far more credible that these agencies were in fact aware of Mr. Teixeira's penchant for braggadocio online and used him to release intelligence that they couldn't credibly release any other way.

The whole story was suspect from the beginning and after the leaker was revealed, it became obvious to me something else was going on here.

As far as I can tell, and this not an uncommon tactic during wartime, especially before an offensive, is that these leaks are part of a counterintelligence operation designed to mislead Russian military planners before the beginning of the coming Ukrainian counteroffensive. If I'm correct, they will likely be backed by various false telecommunications and radio transmissions designed to be intercepted by Russian intelligence.

This intelligence may suggest troop buildups in the wrong places, give wrong coordinates for ammunition depots, or it may misstate the size and direction of troop concentrations. Usually this is done in preparation for a large-scale offensive, especially, if as is the case with Ukraine, you've spent most of the last three months making public statements announcing your impending offensive.

The Russians, predictably, have spent that time building up fortifications and supplying troops in the areas they expect the offensive to come. At this point, it has become quite obvious the Ukrainian counteroffensive will be extremely costly for Ukraine, both in terms of military hardware and equipment, and also in terms of manpower, two things the Ukrainians can no longer afford to lose. The Pentagon is well aware of this and they're well aware of the likelihood that Russian Forces will go on the offensive again the moment Ukrainian troop formations are weakened, exhausted and running out of ammunition.

So what's the solution for the Pentagon?

Well if I'm right, these Leaks are designed to make sure at least some Russian troop formations are placed in the wrong places at the wrong times.

Their hope, if this succeeds, is to cut the landbridge connecting Russian-held territory in the Donbas with Crimea. At that point they will still be exhausted and running out of ammunition, but if US Counterintelligence can succeed in their manipulations and misdirection, enough troops and equipment may survive to hold and occupy the territory for long enough to call for a ceasefire and begin negotiations with the Russians before Russian Forces can go on the offensive again and retake the lost territory.

The reason I say this is because it's becoming more and more obvious that the US and NATO can no longer continue to procure enough ammunition and hardware to keep the war going beyond this offensive, and leaders in Washington and the Pentagon are already turning their attention towards China and ratcheting up tensions over Taiwan. They cannot fight both Russia and China, and when it comes down to it, China is the larger threat to US Hegemony.

And that brings me to this article on Fox and more confirmation to me that this Intelligence leak was on purpose.

Apparently, some of the intelligence leaked had nothing to do with Ukraine or the Russians at all. Some of the intelligence is apparently about China.

Specifically, the intelligence claims China is developing its cyber capabilities to include the ability to hijack or destroy enemy satellites. Needless to say this technology could be devastating to US or NATO forces ability to operate it's Forces, command the seas and defend Taiwan in close coordination in the event of war.

It seems very convenient that once again, this leak includes intelligence that, contrary to hurting US interests, actually reinforces the US narratives around China and Taiwan.

The article goes so far as to claim China is only investing in cyber and space technology in order to "disrupt, degrade and destroy US space capabilities".

The article quotes John Hannah, former Vice President and noted War Criminal Dick Cheney's National Security Advisor, as saying, "The future of warfare, one of the most contested domains, is going to be space. Space, in essence, is the new high ground. [The] country that controls space and the next battlefield is effectively, I think, got the best chance of actually winning the war,"

"If China is able to knock out our ability to see what the enemy is doing, our ability to exert command and control and communications between our own forces, it's virtually game over for us on the battlefield here on Earth," he continued.

The real goal over the coming year or two will be to wrap up the Ukraine War and ramp up a whole new one with China over Taiwan, using proxies, sanctions, preventing technology transfers, and direct confrontation on the South China Sea in an effort to contain and slow China's rise.

These Neocons in the Biden Administration just hop from one crisis to the next, crushing and destroying anyone and anything in their wake, regardless whether they pose any actual threat to the US Empire or whether they're threats are just perceived in the minds of the war planners.

#us empire #us hegemony #neocons #war planners #jack teixeira #pentagon leaks #us propaganda #us war mongering #socialist news #socialist politics #socialism #communism #marxism leninism #socialist #communist #marxism #marxist leninist #progressive politics #politics

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binarystargames · 1 year ago

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TTRPG Quarterbacking part 2: Solutions, kind of? Mostly vague ideas about solutions.

So I outlined the problem (as it is) in part 1. This is the part where I think out loud about what to do about it as a designer.

Foreword

I'm going to put this as the first thing because it can't be stressed enough and because I don't really want to hear about how this isn't an issue at anyone's specific table or whatever because that's not the point. Communicate with your players. If someone's doing it a little too much you can probably just ask them to cut it out and they probably will. Folks are generally pretty reasonable.

We will ignore this going forward because it's a really glib answer from a DESIGN perspective. But keep it in mind.

The second thing is that at the end of the day you don't want to like, stifle general table talk unless you're really, really sure you want to do that. A tabletop game is ultimately going to be an avenue for folks to hang out and sometimes that involves like, giving each other advice. This is more about ways to build and run a game such that naturally it doesn't come up as much.

Strategic Quarterbacking

Getting this one out of the way first. In group-based games especially, the biggest source of this is the combination of strict role protection and role requirement. A great example of this is the “holy trinity” of DPS/tank/healer in an MMO. For a noncombat example, think about a heist crew: Shadowrun for instance wants everyone to have specific, specialized roles and you’ll probably want a dedicated face, decker, magic person, getaway rigger, etc. Maybe not all of them for every job but you’ll feel it if one is missing over time.

Ways to mitigate this include:

Similar capabilities

Make it so everyone can mostly do a similar thing, which is the thing you need to do. In APOCALYPSE FRAME you can basically make any strike team work because they largely all fill the role of “smash face”, the big difference is how much offense they have, how much mobility they have, how much they can get away being exposed along the way, and specific utilities from specific Frame abilities. This isn’t a great solution for every game but for explicitly combat-based systems especially, give this some real consideration: at the end of the day, if the thing you really need to do is move the ball forward, let everyone be able to move the ball forward.

Role overlaps

Make it easy to fill multiple roles. In Valiant Horizon each class is written to have a major and minor focus between Attacker (extra Harm, breaking defenses, exploitation of positions and conditions), Defender (mitigation, control, and prevention of enemy action), and Support (buffs, healing, and giving allies extra actions). For example, the Berserker can do a lot of AOE Harm and has a fair number of abilities that move and attack (Attacker/Spread and Attacker/Exploit) but also has abilities that give penalties to enemies who don’t attack the Berserker (Defender/Provoke).

For less combat-ish situations like the heist example, challenges can be described in-system in such a way that they can't only be solved in one fashion. Maybe it'd be better to hack security so help can't be called, but maybe you can also just physically cut the cyber-phonelines to roughly accomplish the same thing. Focus on outcomes/results rather than means. (You can still make it narratively better to do one or the other - like maybe hacking can bring down autoturrets or reveal things to grab that cutting the lines doesn't - as long as it's not a hard barrier. It's good to make choices count.)

Watch for bottlenecks

Remove functional bottlenecks - areas where a particular function needs to exist - wherever possible. A big one for combat-focused games is often healing: if only certain classes have access to healing and damage is unavoidable to the extent that healing is expected, then there's a bottleneck that you need a healer. For this particular instance, you can introduce other ways to avoid that, like damage mitigation, the ability to hamper enemy attacks, spike offense to the degree that you can defeat enemies before they attack, etc. You can also give everyone a way to "fill in" on roles: damage isn't so one-sided towards attack-focused classes that other people can reasonably do it, non-defensive characters aren't so comparatively flimsy that you strictly need a tank to draw fire, everyone has an emergency ability to heal themselves, etc.

Tactical Quarterbacking

This is the meat of what I was getting into in part 1, and what got me thinking about it in the first place. As noted in my first post re: diceless designs, I think the "set" nature of being able to set up combos, etc. can cause this. A major way to combat it is to make situations less "solvable".

Uncertain Outcomes

Certainty is a major factor in this, so a major solution is to introduce uncertainty in a few ways. The first obvious move is to...introduce randomization again, of course!

Frankly I think a little randomization is fine, if not generally interesting! But I'd rather it be in the form of "how well did the thing you're doing work" rather than a pure binary "did it hit or not". This is the approach Total//Effect games are taking. (Basically fuck to-hit rolls as a base mechanic, they fucking suck. This has nothing to do with quarterbacking, but it's important to me personally so I'm including it.) Also for games where players have a ton of actions (aka mine, I do this a lot), randomization can slow things down.

Another thought re: uncertain outcomes is to have everyone figure out their actions separately, then reveal at the same time, but this is a pretty specialized kind of mechanic.

Uncertain Situations

Another idea is to just throw curveballs so players don't know exactly what to solve for. LUMEN has this built in with its "do something drastic every round as part of the GM Turn" idea: you're encouraged to constantly be changing the situation. But beyond that, just hiding information until something happens is a classic move. (Sometimes this creates quarterbacking in the way of contingency plans but like, after a certain point if everyone's that on board, have at.)

This comes with a caveat: as a designer, provide tools and templates and ideas for GMs to do this without constantly having to come up with shit on the fly. Otherwise, it can add more narrative requirements to a role that can already be very overwhelming!

Uncertain Motivations

Here's another thing: How well do you trust your quarterback? Are they calling plays that best suit the situation or ones that'll get them the hall of fame nod?

Games, mostly-co-op board games and video games, sometimes have a betrayer mechanic - thinking of the Battlestar Galactica board game where one player is a cylon so you can't really trust anyone to truly lead the way on ideas, but you can see this in video games too with SS13, Among Us, etc. The goal is to do the thing, but the goal is also to find whoever the betrayer is.

Now. I don't think you should do exactly that for a TTRPG! If everyone's always second guessing everything everyone else does because they're worried it'll fuck everyone over then it'll bog down everything HARD. (Though, if that's your bag then go wild, sounds like fun to me but I recognize I'm weird.) What you can do as a less extreme measure is introduce personal/secret motivations alongside group motivations, and to instill doubt as to motivations for opinions. Does a warrior's motivation suggesting the group try and take the demon lord on alone match his protestations about keeping civilians safe by not involving them or indicate that he's a gloryhound? Is that wizard reticent to attack a shady group because they're not doing anything wrong or because she needs something out of them? Basically, make it make sense to make your own call sometimes rather than rely on someone else. When you're not sure you're 100% on the same page as someone, you're less likely to accept their recommendations and more likely to do what you feel is best.

Uncertain Communication

This is one I'm reticent about because I don't usually like restricting table talk too-too much (see foreword point #2) but: in tense situations, make communication mechanically scarce. Enforce taking actions to communicate things of substance. Give players explicit mechanical abilities to ask for help, or create situations where there are comms blackouts, like when player characters are separated. (I don't recommend like, running two halves of a game as secret information because that shit's annoying as fuck over time, and the tension of watching half your party fuck it up for you is palpable.)

You can also make the details each character has uneven, or even just subjective - different characters will notice different details about a situation based on who they are, perfect information is a lie - but that can be a pretty tall ask unless it's very integrated into the system, and even then you can get weird situations where everyone's unclear about what kind of information their character knows vs what they know.

On a related side note...

Tangent Idea: The Quarterback Is A Gameplay Construct Now

Alright, hotshot. You think you got what it takes to run this operation? Congrats, you're now the other characters' handler. You don't have an in-action character of your own, you run overwatch from afar and communicate information as best you can. If they hit a communication dead zone, they're cut off and can't talk to anyone except anyone local, so better hope you gave applicable advice prior to that.

If it's a more local situation, you're now the squad leader. You've got one free-action suggestion per round - anything past that needs an action - but also anything intelligent you face knows to go for the guy barking orders first. Best of luck.

Reduce coordination complexity

So one major source of quarterbacking is coordination: you need to do X and they need to do Y so I can do Z, that sort of thing. If the first person doesn't get the memo and isn't on board for X then the whole plan could be up shit's creek.

In general, when there are mechanical combinations, add in fallbacks. Sure, X + Y -> Z is the best outcome, but maybe if you have either X or Y it's still better than nothing at all.

Reduce stakes out of character

So honestly, one of the big takeaways I have re: quarterbacking is that it's mostly when people think there's going to be a really important outcome from a situation: losing is too painful or winning is too crucial. Honestly though? Unless it's an especially brutal kind of game, not to spoil anything, but the good guys are gonna win eventually. And if it is that kind of game, generally the idea is to play to find out rather than ensure victory. If people start getting a little too intense about it, just remind them of the goal, whatever it may be. The benefit of TTRPGs is that it's way easier than a video game to make situations recover from "everything went sideways" because everyone involved has way more narrative control: if things do go badly in a "the good guys will definitely win" kind of game the players and GM can usually come up with a way to bounce back. Encourage people to allow things to go sideways.

Conclusions

Try out any and all of this as a dev/GM, but just be careful to make sure it's actually improving the game. In a lot of cases being too worried about it just slows things down.

I think about this stuff the normal amount.

#ttrpg #ttrpg design #game design

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cyberpunkonline · 1 year ago

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Cyberpunk Careers Unraveled: Charting Your Path in the Neon Realm

Listen up, neon nightwalkers! The future isn't just digital rain and holographic adverts. It's a chaotic blend of byte and blade. If you think mastering the digital dance is enough, you're in for a shock. Here's a deep dive into the iconic roles of the cyber realm, and—plot twist—how they're not as fictional as they seem.

Jobs in the Cyberpunk Landscape: Console Cowboy (aka Hacker):

As seen in: "The Matrix", "Neuromancer" Description: Within the matrix's dizzying expanse, Console Cowboys ride the data streams. They're not just about breaking codes; they create and reshape digital realities. Whether you're battling AI agents or plunging into corporate servers, it’s a dance of dexterity and danger. Skills: Advanced coding, cybernetic interfacing, digital counterintelligence. Combat Specialist:

As seen in: "Ghost in the Shell", "Altered Carbon" Description: These aren’t your average brutes. Combat Specialists combine martial prowess with tech enhancements. Be it thermoptic camouflage or neurally-linked firearms, they are a synthesis of flesh and tech, primed for any skirmish. Skills: Martial arts, tactical combat, weapon proficiency, quick reflexes. Replicant Retirer (aka Blade Runner):

As seen in: "Blade Runner" Description: A grim role blending detective work with the task of 'retiring' renegade replicants. Their job isn't just chase and capture; it’s a psychological game, differentiating human from humanoid. Skills: Investigation, marksmanship, empathy testing, android tech familiarity. Street Samurai:

As seen in: "Shadowrun" Description: Revering ancient traditions while embracing cyber enhancements, Street Samurais tread the fine line between honor and efficiency. Their code binds them, but their tech defines them. Skills: Swordsmanship, cybernetic combat enhancements, honor codes. Cynical Journalist:

As seen in: "Transmetropolitan" Description: In a world overflowing with misinformation, Cynical Journalists are the antidote. Braving corrupt megacorps and perilous streets, they're on a relentless quest for the unvarnished truth. Skills: Investigative research, resilience, tech-savvy reporting, media tools mastery. Modern Equivalents: A Glimpse of Today's Roles: For the Console Cowboy: Today’s ethical hackers and cybersecurity experts are the guardians of our digital frontier. They probe systems, shore up defenses, and ensure the nefarious netrunners are kept at bay.

For the Combat Specialist: Modern martial arts instructors, stunt coordinators, and even private security personnel embody this spirit. They’re trained to react, defend, and when necessary, go on the offensive.

For the Replicant Retirer: Look no further than forensic investigators or criminal profilers. These experts dissect evidence, track down leads, and ensure justice in a world filled with ambiguities.

For the VR and AR Enthusiasts: The realm of AR and VR development is expanding. Developers and architects shape immersive worlds, blurring the lines between tangible and digital.

For the Fearless Journalist: Today's investigative journalists mirror their cyberpunk counterparts. They dive into the dark recesses of society, shining a light on hidden truths.

For the Augmentation Junkies: Bioengineers and prosthetics designers are crafting the future. From bionic limbs to neural enhancements, they’re making sci-fi a reality.

Neon Nights & Silvered Days… Whether you're a chrome junkie or a data diva, the streets of tomorrow are echoing today. The neon-soaked horizon of our dreams is morphing into our reality. So, gear up, futurepreneurs; destiny's waiting, and she's decked out in LEDs.

Cyber out,

- Raz

#cyberpunk #careers

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mariacallous · 5 months ago

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Meduza:

Russian ‘hybrid activity’ in Europe on the agenda as NATO defense ministers meet in Brussels

NATO defense ministers met in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to prepare for the upcoming Washington Summit, where the bloc’s leaders hope to reaffirm member states’ ongoing support for Ukraine and strengthen their own defense posture. As the alliance marks its 75th anniversary, NATO finds itself grappling with a nuclear-armed adversary not just waging war on its border but also increasingly carrying out hostile acts across Europe.

In a background briefing for reporters, a NATO official reiterated that Russia has committed numerous “acts of sabotage, arson, vandalism, disinformation, election interference, political influence, [and] even assassination attempts on NATO soil.” While these acts are often collectively referred to as “hybrid activity,” in his view, Russia has “crossed the threshold” and is conducting “sabotage.” As examples, he listed Moscow’s reported hacking attacks against Czechia’s railway operator, its alleged vandalism of an Estonian minister’s car, and the arrests over suspected sabotage plots in Germany and Poland in recent months.

“What we're seeing is, without question, an unprecedented escalation and spread of these Russian [sabotage] activities,” the official told Meduza. “They are increasing in frequency, number of attacks, geographic scope, and variety.”

While maintaining that this “does constitute a threat to allies’ security,” the official noted that Russia “has not been able to seriously disrupt the supply of weapons, ammunition, or other aid to Ukraine through its sabotage activity.” Russia’s malign actions, he added, are “all meant to be below the threshold that would constitute an armed attack” on a NATO country.

At the closing press conference on Friday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the defense ministers had agreed on a set of response options to Russia’s campaign that includes “intelligence exchange, enhanced protection of critical infrastructure, including undersea and in cyber space, and further restrictions on Russian intelligence operatives.” He vowed that Moscow’s “hybrid” attacks will not deter the alliance from supporting Ukraine.

The state of the front in Ukraine

While Russian troops have made modest territorial gains on the battlefield in recent months, the NATO official noted that Russia’s offensive in Kharkiv, which began in early May, has come at a “grisly cost,” with Russian casualties likely averaging “over 1,000 per day in May.” Because Russia continues to have a quantitative advantage in “munitions, manpower, and equipment,” he said, it can “probably continue to absorb these massive losses while trying to wear down Ukrainian forces.” However, he added that Moscow lacks the resources to successfully carry out a “major offensive,” especially as “Ukraine's reinforced defensive lines have reduced Russia's ability to exploit any tactical gains that they're making.”

Meanwhile, the official said, Russia has intensified its airstrikes throughout Ukraine, “putting greater effort into launching drones and missiles in ways that are designed to overwhelm, penetrate, and degrade Ukraine's limited air defense capabilities.” In the foreseeable future, he predicted, Russia will continue adapting its tactics with the ultimate aim of destroying critical infrastructure targets across the country. “None of us should be under the illusion that it's going to be an easy summer in Ukraine for the Ukrainians,” he said, adding that he expects Russia to make a “significant push” right before NATO’s summit next month in an effort to create a “split screen” while Kyiv’s allies gather in Washington.

Asked whether Germany and the U.S. lifting bans on Ukraine using their respective weapons to strike targets on Russian territory has made an impact on the battlefield, the official said, “We've seen some strikes already. I think they're imposing costs on Russia. It takes time for those to really add up, but they have had battlefield effects already.”

On the nuclear front

Asked about NATO’s assessment of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons drills in Belarus and its threat to change its nuclear doctrine in response to perceived “escalation” by Ukraine’s allies, another NATO official told journalists that any short-term deployments of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus are “likely performative rather than strategically relevant.” At the same time, he said, there’s a “consistent pattern” of Russia using nuclear rhetoric in an attempt to “intimidate and coerce allies as well as other partners from providing support to Ukraine.”

While NATO leaders have not seen anything that would require the bloc to change its own nuclear posture, the official said, it continues to closely monitor Russia’s nuclear rhetoric and activity. NATO “[remains] a nuclear alliance” and is “still ready to defend, deter and defend our allies,” he added. Secretary General Stoltenberg echoed this message in his closing remarks.

Putin names Russia’s conditions for ceasefire in Ukraine

As Ukraine’s NATO partners met in Brussels, Vladimir Putin gave a speech at Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Friday outlining what he called Russia’s conditions for a ceasefire.

Russia will “immediately” cease fire in Ukraine, Putin claimed, if Ukraine withdraws its troops from the country’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, and formally renounces its intention to join NATO. He also named Ukraine adopting a neutral and non-nuclear status and the lifting of sanctions against Russia as additional conditions for a “peaceful resolution.”

The Russian president framed his demands with the same narratives and talking points he’s repeated regularly throughout the full-scale war, such as claims that NATO countries are trying to force Ukraine to join the bloc and to turn the country “anti-Russian.” “The Western powers, led by the U.S., believe that they won the Cold War and have the right to determine the world order,” he said, accusing Western countries of promoting ideas about Russia’s “decolonization” in an effort to lay the groundwork for the country’s eventual “dismemberment.”

Putin’s “ceasefire” comments come on the eve of the Swiss-led Ukraine peace summit in Buergenstock. Russia was not invited to the event, though Switzerland said this is because Moscow made it clear that it has no interest in participating.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak called Putin’s proposal the “standard aggressor's set,” pointing out that it would require Ukraine to give up territory, relinquish its sovereignty, and leave itself unprotected from future aggression. “It's all a complete sham,” he wrote on X. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg commented in similarly unequivocal terms, calling Putin’s conditions “not a peace proposal” but a “proposal of more aggression” that only demonstrates that “Russia’s aim is to control Ukraine.”

Speaking to Italian media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Putin’s plan a “revival of Nazism,” saying that the Russian president “doesn’t intend to stop” and that “there will be no frozen conflict.”

Russian pro-war Telegram pundits, meanwhile, read Putin’s plan as a clear signal that Russia is not ready for negotiations, as the proposed conditions are impossible for Ukraine to accept. One blogger with nearly a million followers called the speech a “torpedo” directed at the Buergenstock peace summit, saying the proposal will give the impression to the rest of the world that “it’s the West who’s dragging out the war.”

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