#operation hollowpoint

[divnydoodles]

Some HOLLOWPOINT characters from @oddballinonyamama’s reimagining of popular horror stories.

[docgold13]

365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

Team Supplemental - The LiveWires

Project Livewire was founded by SHIELD as a means of testing a next generation of android operatives. These androids were based on the long-standing SHIELD automaton, the Life Model Decoys (LMDs), and the LMD successors, the Mannites. The androids of Project Livewire combined the super-human abilities of the Mannites with the human appearance of the LMDs.

Most of the work for Project Livewire was done by David Jenkins, the assistant chief designer of the project.   Jenkins utilized self-creating artificial intelligence algorithms to create a series of deadly androids who bare the resemblance of human teenagers.  Jenkins became something of a fatherly figure to these androids and they unexpectedly developed sentience and a sense of free will.  

Jenkins came to realize that the project was far too effective and concluded that it would only be a matter of time before these weapons would be misused in terrible ways.  As such, he altered the main programing of the androids, ordering them to kill everyone involved in Project Livewire and then hunt down and destroy any similar such ‘black operations’ programs.  

Jenkins himself was killed in the slaughter and five of the Livewire androids survived the massacre.  They went on to follow through on their programing, searching out and terminating rogue actors using advanced android technology for the purposes of evil.  

The member of the Liveries include the following:

Stem Cell

Stem Cell is the tech specialist. She has a nano-factory where a human stomach would be. She uses this to quickly manufacture any technology that her teammates might need.  Stem Cell has become the leader of the squad and she wears Dr, Jenkins’ glasses as a homage to their fatherly figure.  Her nano-factory has allowed Stem Cell to rebuild and recreate each of her teammates if and when they are injured or destroyed in action.  

Gothic Lolita

Although she is slim and lithe in stature, Gothic Lolita is the actually the primary muscle of the team.   She possesses significant super strength and durability with a library of different fighting styles loaded into her memory bank. Her code-name and look are both in reference to the fashion style popular in Tokyo at the time of her creation.

Hollowpoint Ninja

The laconic Hollowpoint Ninja is the team's infiltration agent.  He is a master swordsman and sniper and has the ability to turn invisible along with noise bafflers that make his every move entirely silent.  

Social Butterfly

Social Butterfly's role is to extract information from targets. She uses a variety of means to achieve this purpose. These include micromanagement of her facial expressions and body language, subliminal vocal clues, artificial pheromones, and force field-induced direct brain manipulation.

Cornfed

Cornfed looks like a big farm boy and seems to be the team's muscle, but he is actually in charge of all mechanical repairs. He can usually be found behind the scenes giving support and coordinating the team's missions.

Homebrew

Homebrew was the team's tech specialist before Stem Cell. He was killed in action and his source code was corrupted making it so he could not be regenerated.  With his death, the team activated Stem Cell to fill his role.

The team first appeared in the pages of Livewires #1 (2005).  

[johnthebigboi]

R6 OC.

R6 OC

Bio

Name: Josef Sebastian Doss

Code Name: Niel

Aiases: [REDACTED]

Gender: Male

Natonality:German-Danish

Laterality: Ambidextrous (Two-Handed)

Height: 6′9

Weight: 200Lbs

Bloodtype: AB+

Relatives:[REDACTED]

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: Blue

Languages: Russian, English, German, Danish, and Austrian.

Children:N/A

𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐬

Firearms, Hand-to-Hand combat,Close Quarters Combat (CQC), Counter-Terrorism, Tactics/Logistics, Hostage Rescue Advanced Interrogation, Urban Warfare, Wildernesss Survival, Tracking, Trapping, Field Medicine.

𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐬:

𝐋𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲:★★★★★

𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞:★★★✬☆

𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠:★★★☆☆

𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩:★★★☆☆

𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲:★★★★☆

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞:★★★★☆

𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 & 𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞:★★★★☆

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬:★★★★☆

𝐈𝐦��𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡:★★★★☆

𝐑𝐚𝐰 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐬:★★★★★

Service History/Training

Joined the Royal Danish Army under assumed identity "Josef Doss." Now known to have been evading homicide charges in Salzburg, Austria (never convicted.)

Received exceptional marks in Long Range Surveillance training and subsequent selection process for the Jægerkorpset (JGK) Inducted into JGK 8th Platoon after 3 years.

Removed from active duty pending court-martial for suspected role in civilian killings during "Operation Anaconda." Afghanistan . Escaped JGK custody.

Fled to Eastern Europe until captured by the JGK. Though was chosen to join Team Rainbow by Nøkk. Now serving his time there

Known Associations

[Redacted]

𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲:Heckler & Koch G36

Attachments: Monolithic Suppressor, Tac Laser, Solozero K498 4.0x integral Advanced Optic, FSS Ranger, 5.56 Overpressured +P Ammunition.

𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲:CZ Scorpion Evo 3 A1

Attachments: CX-38S(Fully shrouded monolithic integral suppressor),Aim-Op Reflex Sight, CX-MM(Marksmen Stock),Ranger Foregrip, 50 Round Drum, CX-9 Ace Grip, and 9mm Hollowpoint Ammunition.

𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐦:SIG-Sauer P220

Attachments:FJX DIOD-70, FT STEEL FIRE suppressor, XRX HEAVY V3 Trigger Action, 10 Round Magazine, and FJX DVF50 Rear Grip.

𝐆𝐚𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭:Heartebat Sensor (A limited use tablet that displays rough information about nearby enemies)

𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥: Throwing Knife 2x.

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝

Josef was born in a Danish-German family with his Mother being Danish and his father being German. Throughout his childhood, he would suffer from Severe Social Anxiety. Sadly, its hard to go unnoticed when he’s the size of a mountain. Josef was bullied throughout his childhood, Josef found acceptance only when fighting. An activity at which he excelled at. Most of the time he would get into trouble because many of his bullies either provoked him into fighting or they made the first punch. Josef would be develop to be mute as had an abusive father at the time.  Josef would take most of the beatings because he wanted to be strong for his mother. Soon these beatings would continue throughout his life until he ran away from home.

Austria

Josef would catch trains and trucks through other nations until he met himself into Austria. He gotten used to jumping place to place as he grew in the years. Though he was caught trying to get into a train heading to Germany. The Authorities would put Josef into a orphanage since they didnt know he had ran away. 

For the remainder of his life he would grew up an Orphan. He watched as some of his friends get picked for their new home while Josef stayed at the Orphanage until he was 18. Soon leaving the orphanage as an adult as he would do some jobs here and here to make cash. Though as his adulthood began it was rough as he bounced jobs trying to keep demands up. Soon this ends as he would commit homicides in Salzburg. Soon he fled the country back into Denmark and enlisted into the Royal Danish Military just before Austria was looking for him.

Jægerkorpset

When Josef was in the Danish Millitary. His Comrades would describe him as a socially distant guy as the majority of his time he always wore some sort of face mask to keep his face hidden. Though this was due to his Social Anxiety and the fact he’s trying to keep himself hidden from the Austrian authorities. Though when Josef was apart of some Long distance training group. He would be the only one of his squad to finish with ease and swiftly. Soon Received exceptional marks in Long Range Surveillance training. With these Marks Jægerkorpset took him into selection as many others were trying to get into the JGK/Jægerkorpset. Josef would pass the selection with flying colors as he wasn’t alone as another Operator would accompany him. Her name was Nøkk.

Nøkk and Josef would connect like wildfire as reports shown that majority of Josef’s time on and off duty was with Nøkk. The two would go on missions as Nøkk would be on the ground as Josef would be from the back covering Nøkk as her sniper. Though everything would change on “Operation Anaconda."

Operation Anaconda.

Once Josef and Nøkk was in Afganistan against the Taliban. Josef would would be in a village scouting it out until group of armed Taliban would attack Josef and his squad. Josef would take out the Taliban one by one. Though through the crossfire. 5 civilians would be kiled in the fight. Other JGK would accuse Josef and try to take him into custody.  Though Josef knew of this would escape and fled to Eastern Europe try to flee from the Austrian authorities and the JGK.

From Wanted War criminal to Team Rainbow

During his time in Eastern Europe, He was labled as a War Criminal from NATO since the Operation Anaconda.  Nøkk joined Team Rainbow and was tasked to Apprehend Josef. Though Nøkk would have a secret conversation with Harry. Trying to convince Harry to allow Josef to Join Team Rainbow.  Since she was the only person in the world that could track Josef down. Soon Josef would be tracked down by Nøkk and with some tough negotiations. Josef would serve his time in Team Rainbow until his Trial comes on to discuss his future within Team Rainbow.

𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞

When they looped me in on Josef's real identity, I cracked open his secret dossier with schoolboy glee. I love a good mystery and I was not disappointed. Josef's real identity has been a problematic issue given the potential scandal should it ever be made public. Frankly, had I not known who Josef's father was, I wouldn't have noticed the family resemblance. But it smacks you in the face when you know the truth.

I wondered how Josef felt about all this and how it influenced her upbringing. Josef tried to dismiss it as one of the realities of the job, but eventually, I learned enough to start painting a portrait. Josef’s mother raised him, and the pair are close to the point of being best friends. Josef knew about his father and his family, but it took a while before the family knew about Josef. Josef’s mother tried to give Josef a better life, but without bringing him into the fold out of fear of courting a major scandal for the family. Josef is fiercely loyal to his mother, so I found it surprising Josef was only loyal to his mother out of respect for the family name itself. You'd think there'd be some resentment there, but Josef is comfortable quietly serving Queen and Country and everything else that falls under the umbrella.

TRAINING

Josef’s ability to keep a secret and maintain a façade is what makes him a highly capable undercover operative but she is involved in an active mission. Fortunately, Josef’s cover identity is currently "in jail," building up credibility while giving us an incredible opportunity to work with someone of Alibi's and Bandit's caliber. I have no doubt Josef is a strong fit for Rainbow, and I hope we can use him to the full extent of him stay with us.

-- Dr. Harishva "Harry" Pandey, Director of Rainbow

[nft-crypto]

Self-Defense Handguns

Options for Self-Defense Handguns and Ammo for People with Dexterity and Strength Issues

Many gun owners believe they are unable to reliably manage their firearms due to a lack of strength or dexterity in operating various systems. Here are some handgun and ammunition options for those dealing with these issues.

According to a recent survey, many firearm owners lack the physical ability required to safely manipulate a handgun's slide, trigger, or even manage the felt recoil. For decades, the standard response was to suggest a revolver or sub-caliber pistol. While that is not necessarily bad advice — and it is preferable to telling someone to call 9-1-1 and wait for police to respond — those types of handguns may not be the best solution for a concerned citizen looking for a defensive option.

Revolvers DA

While traditional double-action (DA) revolvers have their uses, the long and often heavy trigger pull can be challenging to manage. Thumb-cocking the hammer may reduce trigger resistance, but setting the hammer down gently while high on adrenaline may result in a negligent discharge. Recoil from popular defensive revolver chambering.38 Special and.357 Magnum can be prohibitive and intolerable for many, particularly when fired from a lightweight revolver. But they are dependable!

Handguns of Substantial Caliber

The sub-caliber category is constantly shifting. While the.22 LR,.25 ACP, and.32 ACP options are appealing for concealability and recoil control, the majority of these handguns lack the consistent penetration required from a serious defensive round. The.22 LR Punch was introduced by the Federal in 2021 to met a growing demand in the personal defense category, and the results for a 29-grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 1,080 feet per second look promising (fps). However, more testing is required before I can recommend it for self-defense.

The ease of use of.22 pistols is often what makes them desirable. Traditional semiautomatic pistols can be difficult to operate with diminished hand strength; slides, buttons, and levers all require dexterity that many tired hands lack. Smaller pistols typically have lighter recoil springs, and some designs, such as the Beretta Tomcat in.32 and Taurus 22 POLY, feature a tip-up barrel that allows the shooter to avoid slide racking in order to load.

It's worth noting that I said "ease of use" rather than "easy to shoot." Small pistols with long DA triggers and small sights are common. It makes no difference how easy or how little a pistol recoils if you can't hit your target. These pistols and calibres are viable options, but I wouldn't prioritise them over certain modern pistols.

The.380 ACP has always been regarded as a "barely there" cartridge, with insufficient penetration and expansion to be considered defensive. When my department authorised the Smith & Wesson M&P Bodyguard 380 for backup and off-duty use several years ago, only one hollowpoint offering came close to 12 inches of penetration: Hornady's Critical Defense 90 grain FTX load, which would get us to about 11 1/2 inches in gel at 1,000 fps and 200 foot-pounds (ft.-lbs.) of energy at the muzzle. Since the Hornady load was introduced ten years ago, ammunition manufacturing has evolved, and there are now several.380 options that routinely penetrate past 12 inches. Federal, for example, provides several.380 loads with reduced recoil (for example, Personal Defense Hydra->Shok Low).

Easy-To-Rack

Manufacturers of firearms have also responded to this market segment. Smith & Wesson makes the M&P Shield EZ in.380 ACP and 9mm calibres. Many people mocked the EZ in.380 when it was first introduced in 2019. That's the beauty of the EZ series: it's easy to overlook until you need it. The EZ provided a larger and easier-to-shoot platform for the.380, as well as an easy-to-rack slide with a light recoil spring and rear ears to grab for leverage. The trigger on the EZ Shield is also excellent, as are the sights.

In my opinion, the M&P Shield EZ has changed the game for many groups of shooters who require something shootable, easy to work with, and provides an acceptable level of terminal ballistic performance. The staff at Guns & Ammo has fired thousands of rounds through the.380 and 9mm EZ pistols. They've proven to be dependable, accurate, soft shooting, and consistent from gun to gun. While they are not a true "pocket pistol," they are as small as many of the new compact 9s. These are compact, have an eight-plus-one round capacity, and are simple to shoot all day. Shooters with weak hand strength should consider the M&P Shield EZ series.

The EZ line does give up a few rounds to the new-for-2021 M&P Shield Plus, but the performance boost is worth it for shooters with physical issues. I wouldn't be surprised if S&W released a "Plus" version of the EZ someday, but I wouldn't let my desire for more rounds cloud my opinion of these pistols as they are.

To The Max

I've been shooting a lot with another gun that I've begun to recommend for shooters looking for a small, easy-to-shoot option: the Ruger LCP MAX in.380 ACP. The original Ruger LCP was released in 2008, and it is one of the most dependable.380 pocket pistols. However, shooting for many people is a chore. The trigger is serviceable and safe, and the sights are functional, but the pistol is so small (5.16-inches long,.82-inches wide, 3.6-inches tall) and light (9.4 ounces) that shooting all day is uncomfortable. Even getting through a box of 50 rounds can be difficult for some, particularly the shooters targeted by this article. Ruger has improved its LCP MAX for 2021.

Ruger has been catering to these shooters for quite some time, and even offers the LC380, a.380-caliber pistol based on their EC9s 9mm micro pistol. It provides a more user-friendly package than the standard LCP, with improved sights, a better trigger, and a slightly larger frame. The LCP MAX, on the other hand, is a true pocket pistol. It is less than 11 ounces in weight and less than an inch thick (.81 inches).

The LCP MAX is distinguished by the ease with which the slide can be retracted, even by those with small or tired hands. It has raised so-called "wings" at the back, similar to the S&W EZ pistols. The double-action trigger is also excellent, weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces with no stacking. The sights are excellent, with a large, green tritium front and a generous, black U-notch back, which is an excellent combination for ageing eyes. The grip has been slightly redesigned to accommodate a flush 10 or extended 12-round magazine. (This is more than twice the capacity of the original 6-round LCP mag.)

[detroitammoco]

For you 380 fans Premium Defensive Operator Ammunition (D.O.A) manufactured by our friends @gtg_ammo now available 👇 - www.Detroitammoco.com - #colt #380acp #defender #pocketpistol #cute #bang #operator #hollowpoints #goodgirlscarryguns #shoutout #b #pa https://www.instagram.com/p/BwCIjJrA_8P/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=i6piw0apwwol

[graffitibible]

what's the resulting wound from getting hit with a raygun blast? a burn or a cauterized hole?

i actually have a whole-ass explanation for why i think that an injury sustained by a raygun blast would not be cauterized. I HAVE AN EXPLANATION FOR EVERYTHING AS IT TURNS OUT LMAO

honestly there is a lot of variation in what kind of severity raygun blasts will do to you between the mvs and the comics and it might have to do with power settings, battery settings, the quality of the gun, etc. i don’t think the music videos were allowed to show anything super grisly, but there are some indications that most raygun blasts will smoke and bleed if they come from bli.

jet’s iconic death on top of the hood of the trans am gives us an excellent example of how the site of the injury is visible - again, i don’t think they were allowed to show a whole lot (they had to beep out all those nasty fuckwords in “na na na” after all) but it looks like there’s definitely a suggestion of bleeding there.

in the comics they can get away with way more. we see a couple people bleeding upon being hit with a raygun blast, most prominently volume (sorry volume, you were sorely underutilized and we love you very much). the wounds definitely smoke a lot too, which is probably a result of the, uh, flesh getting cooked by the extreme heat. which does not sound like a happy and painless way to go. love that!

SO from an inductive standpoint, which is how i like to do a lot of my work in this universe, i’m inclined to believe that raygun injuries are fully capable of bleeding. and if anyone wanted justification for this in the context of the world, i think there’s a very good reason why BLi-manufactured rayguns would be purposefully constructed to not cauterize injuries on top of it.

this goes back to general ballistics. there are a lot of different types of bullets out there and different ones will be needed for different scenarios; armor-piercing rounds, for example, are obviously used when you’re coming up against an armored target, but aren’t generally used when it comes to dealing with civilians since the deep penetration risks damaging targets behind who you might be shooting at. a lot of police enforcement in some parts of the world favor a certain kind of projectile known as a hollowpoint bullet - while this isn’t legal in use of international warfare, it’s completely legal for police enforcement to use it in their own internal affairs. which is horrifying, i know, but bear with me.

one of the advantages of a hollowpoint bullet is that it’s good at…damaging people, essentially. it’s designed to disperse upon impact with the body. the bullet isn’t deep-penetrating like an armor-piercing round; it will fragment upon entry and disperse into as wide a diameter as possible and therefore maximize the amount of damage that can be done to a single target, which makes the target more likely to be incapacitated and therefore easier to control.

now let’s roll back to lasers. it’s possible that laser blasts can run hot enough to cauterize wounds, but at that point you have to question whether BL/ind would want that. a cauterized wound doesn’t need to be sealed up. if your laser blasts cauterize the injury, there’s no bleeding and a decreased risk of infection and further damage. in other words, your target isn’t going to be very incapacitated in the long-term or very much in the short-term either unless you hit them in the right places.

when firearms made the switch from ballistics to lasers in this universe, i think it’s completely reasonable that BL/ind would want the general idea of how law enforcement currently operates - weapons that emphasize maximum damage and therefore allow the maximum chance of incapacitation - to remain fully intact. hell, especially if they’re going to be arming the unreliable dracs, who collectively rank only a little higher than stormtroopers on a marksmanship scale. i can see them almost certainly wanting to ensure that even if dracs aren’t making all their shots, that the ones that do hit don’t need to be lethal to do damage.

so with all that out of the way, that’s just what you’re gonna end up with if you want to arm an unreliable security and enforcement department with a weapon that’ll still do its job in incapacitating unruly folks with as little wasteful battery power as possible: you get guns that burn hot enough to sear your flesh, but not so hot that they cauterize the injuries.

someone who’s bleeding out is much easier to restrain and capture or kill than someone who isn’t.

and since i’m guessing a lot of the weapons that zonerunners and killjoys use ultimately come from BL/ind, i’d be willing to bet that most of their rayguns will do the same.

[dearophelia]

this one’s for the torn down, the experts at the fall

come on friends, get up now, you’re not alone at all; or, one night in the intersection of Archangel and Victoria Ryder

PG, Garrus+Tori friendship, subtle Garrus/Olivia; warnings for not-remotely-researched medical stuff, and references to a past abusive relationship

"You still don't have a medic?" Victoria says as Monteague leads her into the supply closet Archangel and his crew have generously called their medbay.

Garrus looks over at her from the gurney, gingerly holding his arm very still against his chest. He's still in the bottom half of his armor, but the top half sits haphazardly - the left shoulder absolutely shattered - on the floor against the wall. "No."

She sighs and gives Monteague a subtle shove as she brushes past. Payback for interrupting the end of her date. "That's really dumb considering your line of work," she says, running her omnitool's medical scanner over his shoulder.

"I've noticed," he says, pain laced through his tight subharmonics.

Victoria closes the scanner and starts to wash her hands. "The bullet's still in there, and it's in pieces, but it missed anything important. It's gonna hurt, but you'll live. Might even have a nifty scar. Monteague, help him with his shirt and then get out."

Monteague crosses his arms. "Why?"

"Because I can't see what I'm doing if there's bloody fabric in the way." She dries her hands. It was a very good date.

Though he starts to help Garrus remove his shirt, and shortly changes his plan to one involving a pair of scissors, Monteague still eyes her. "Why am I leaving?"

"Because you're the approximate build of a brick wall, this room is half the size of an elevator shaft, and you broke into my apartment."

At that, Garrus stiffens and drags his gaze over to Monteague. "You two broke in?" he says with a tone of disappointment Victoria thinks could rival the one her father used.

"And interrupted a pretty good date," she adds. That's the more important bit.

"Loitering in the hallway would've looked suspicious," Monteague defends, tugging off the last piece of fabric and tossing it into the biohazard matter recycler.

Victoria sighs, exasperated, as she looks through the supply cabinet she set up for them after the fourth time Garrus called her over. "You guys have my contact code," she says, pulling out the tools and meds she'll need.

Garrus closes his eyes, takes a breath, and opens them again. "Fix whatever you broke, give her security system an upgrade, and the next time I tell you to get Ryder, call her and ask."

For a moment, Monteague looks like he's going to argue further - it was Sensat's idea, Sensat's back there fixing it already, Ryder wasn't answering, all arguments true but falling flat against breaking in - and he wisely chooses not to. "Got it, boss. You need me for anything else?" he directs the question at Victoria.

"Check on Penny, please. Tell her I'm going to be a while."

He nods, and then leaves.

"I'm sorry about that," Garrus says as soon as the door shuts completely.

Victoria shrugs and settles her omnispecs on her face, cycling through programs until she lands on the bioscanner with a magnifier. With a tap, it syncs to the gesture control on her omnitool, and she waves the HUD away. "I added a couple black market protocols the other week, Sensat probably enjoyed the challenge." She washes her hands again before snapping on a pair of gloves.

Garrus laughs quietly, grimacing a little around the edges of it. "Thanks for coming."

"Well, you're making my walk to the clinic safer, so. Hold still." Victoria slides a needle in under his shoulder plate to numb the area. It's a weird intersection she resides in these days - Mordin, Aria, Archangel. Galatana and its shiny clean floors, its steady bright lights, its total lack of gunfire and knife fights, all seems a lifetime ago. So does that house in Indiana, and the bouquet of daisies long rotted into the dirt. Her thirteen year-old self, sleepless from studying for entrance exams, daydreaming of Presidium hospitals and pristine white lab coats, wouldn't even recognize her. Sometimes that bothers her. Tonight it doesn't. She tosses the needle into the biohazard unit and then rests against the sink, giving the anesthetic a few moments to kick in. "Should I ask whose gun you got on the wrong end of?" 

"Minor red sand dealer," Garrus says. "He's dead now, and I know who his dealer is."

"One step at a time, right?" she says, and pokes his shoulder.

He makes an irritated noise and glares at her finger.

"Did you feel that?"

He blinks. "No."

"Good. Try not to move too much." Another wave, and the HUD returns. It takes a moment to register Garrus as turian, and then all the stats in the bottom corner roll out of red and into green, and the holographic display settles over him, highlighting veins and muscle and bone, and bullet fragments. She zooms in and starts to work.

They sit in silence for a while as Victoria digs tiny pieces of a nasty hollowpoint bullet from his shoulder. She'll have to tell Mordin and Aria there's a new arms dealer in town. Each piece lands in the metal bowl with a clink.

"So, what's their name?" she asks.

"Hm?" Garrus makes a confused sound.

"The ghost you're avoiding by setting up this little medic-less operation."

His head swivels around to stare at her. "You a therapist and a surgeon?"

"No," she says idly, "just able to recognize my own brand of damage." She recognized it that night in Afterlife, even through the pounding music and flashing lights. For his sake, she's glad he seems to have put aside the rampant alcoholism he was teetering toward that night. For her sake, she's glad he remembered she was a doctor and chose her to call at 3:45 in the morning when Vorash caught a knife to the gut five months ago. Garrus pays well.

Garrus narrows his eyes. "I thought your brand of damage was the bad day," he gestures with his uninjured arm at her eye, thankfully long healed.

"I have multiple brands of damage," she says with a wry smile and gently nudges him to turn back around so she can work. "So what's their name?" she repeats.

He sighs and his rigid posture slouches a little, but not in relaxation. Defeat, maybe. "Shepard." It sounds rusty in his mouth, rough, sticking to his throat with disuse.

Victoria isn't a therapist, but she sure as hell knows pain when she hears it. And Garrus may have a hollowpoint bullet shattered in his shoulder, but she could be cleaning it out with no anesthetic and it wouldn't hurt nearly a fraction as much as Shepard does. She softens her voice. "And Shepard was...?"

"My CO. For a little while. She was," he pauses, "she was good. Really good."

A million different words he could've used, and Victoria's been around enough turians to hear what lies in the spaces in between. CO, mentor, friend. Something else, something different, something more. She doesn't call him on it, or push him to continue; they're edging a little closer toward friendship with each call, close enough she finally felt comfortable enough to ask, but they’re still dancing in that murky area between acquaintance and friend. "I'm sorry," she says.

A sad, broken noise comes from the back of his throat, and he catches it, tamps down on the broken bits, almost as soon as it happens. "She saved everyone's ass, and then they hung her out to dry. They - " he stops suddenly. His hand brushes against the armor storage compartment at his thigh. He pops it open, checks that something is still inside, and closes it again. "She died. And didn't have to. The Alliance wrote it off as another geth attack." 

The way he says geth tells Victoria exactly how highly he thinks of that particular cover story.

Her first year on Omega is a little slippery, events out of order or misremembered or not at all, but Victoria remembers the blow that cracked her skull, remembers Bray calling panicked on her omnitool, remembers hearing something from a newsstand about an Alliance ship's distress call one system over as she slid into one of Aria's skycars. Remembers a text from Mordin to be at the ready if the Alliance didn't come through the relay in the next three hours, remembers swiping it away before scrubbing in to save a krogan who'd half bled out on the floor already. 

"I'm sorry," she says again.

He nods, and she feels him pull himself back from the edge. No way in hell was Shepard just a CO.

"What's the name of your ghost?"

She drops one last fragment into the bowl. "Mom."

Silence for half a moment. "I'm sorry."

Victoria shrugs. "Omega's a great place to run away to," she muses, dodging any follow-up questions. "Tell me about her," she says after a moment.

"Who?"

"Shepard." At his stiffened shoulders, she continues. "I spent most of 2183 either in a cloud of depression so thick I couldn't see three feet in front of me, or getting the shit kicked out of me by some asshole I accidentally let into my life. I missed the attack on the Citadel and everything. Catch me up."

He shifts slightly, just enough to look over his shoulder without jostling her work. "Is this a tactic to help me ignore that your anesthetic is terrible and already wearing off?"

"Yep." She opens a suture kit.

He huffs, the smallest hint at laughter, but he starts talking. As she stitches him up, Garrus tells her about the Normandy. About Saren. About the short redhead woman who seemed to bend the universe by sheer force of will. About learning to drive a human-designed vehicle while she tried to set her own broken foot in the back, about making an idle comment about her height and getting absolutely smoked in headshots. "She was our field medic," he says, somewhere in between trying to remember the back half of a joke and telling her about the altercation with Saleon.

Victoria's long finished - he's bandaged up and she's cleaned up, even started the autoclave - and she crosses her arms. "Were you this bad at getting out of the way of bullets back then, too?" she smirks.

Sliding off the gurney, he tightens his mandibles, making a friendly irritated face at her.

Her smirk shifts into a smile, and she points at the bandage. "Leave that alone for 24 hours." She hands him a bottle of antibiotics. "One of these a day until you're done." A bottle of painkillers. "One every six hours for two days, then once a day as needed. I'll be back tomorrow to change the bandage, unless you have a medic by then,” the smile changes back into a smirk.

Garrus rolls his eyes, but takes both bottles from her. "Thank you."

Victoria nods. "You're welcome.” She pauses, and then decides maybe they’re closer to friendship than she’d been giving them credit for. “You're paying me pretty well, so I'm gonna throw this one in for free. It sounds like you and Shepard were really good friends. And I don't think she'd be too happy to see you in your shared afterlife of choice so soon. So even though I’m one bullet away from being able to get six months of super extended cable, try to duck a little more often, okay?"

Garrus laughs, a genuine honest laugh, and nods. "I'll try."

[hyaenagallery]

Christopher McCandless part 2 After hiking along the snow-covered Stampede Trail, McCandless came upon an abandoned bus about 28 miles west of Healy, alongside an overgrown section of the trail near Denali National Park. There, he set up camp and attempted to live off the land. He had 9.9 lb. of rice, a Remington semi-automatic rifle with 400 rounds of .22LR hollowpoint ammunition, a number of books, including one on local plant life, some personal effects, and a few items of camping equipment. Self-portrait photographs and journal entries indicate he foraged for edible plants and hunted game. McCandless hunted porcupines, squirrels, and birds. On June 9, 1992, he stalked and shot a moose. However, the meat spoiled within days after McCandless failed to properly preserve it. McCandless’ journal documents 113 days in the area. In July, after living in the bus for three months, he decided to head back to civilization, but the trail was blocked by the swollen Teklanika River; the watercourse by that stage was considerably higher and swifter than when he’d crossed in April. McCandless did not have a detailed topographical map of the region and was unaware of a hand-operated tramway that crossed the river eight-tenths of a mile away from where he had previously crossed. At this point, McCandless headed back to the bus and re-established his camp. He posted an S.O.S. note on the bus, which stated: “Attention Possible Visitors. S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out. I am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of God, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August?“ McCandless’ final written journal entry, noted as "Day 107”, simply read, “Beautiful Berries.” The days 108 through 113 contained no words and were marked with only slashes. #destroytheday https://www.instagram.com/p/B6QvAfyBgtY/?igshid=y8tzfdhml62g