#planetary shield generator

[swtechspecs]

CoMar Combat Systems SLD-26 Planetary Shield Generator

Source: The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology (Del Rey, 1997)

[xystonantzintla]

siege dreadnoughts,,,,,..

[bunny-claws]

grimoire organization ideas 🔮

what is a grimoire?

a grimoire can be defined as a book of magical spells and invocations; sometimes used interchangeably with "book of shadows" but you can call it whatever you want.

what should i write my grimoire in / on?

a grimoire can be handwritten or typed, there is no wrong way to construct your grimoire. (for example, my grimoire is typed in a onenote document but also stretched across many, many different notebooks and composition books)

what can i put in my grimoire?

about the author

favorites: color, magical tools, herbs, crystals

tarot birth card, astrology birth chart, personal beliefs, relationship with deities or other spiritual beings

basics 

intent

visualization

meditation

terminology

protection, cleansing, & banishing using various energies: shields & wards, circle casting / take down, protective amulets

enchanting items 

clockwise vs. counterclockwise 

other how-to’s, such as anointing items and dressing a candle

general correspondences

days of the week, lunar phases, colors, incense, essential oils, elements

correspondences based on intent 

protection, healing, cleansing, banishing, luck, wealth, love, emotions, mental clarity, psychic awareness, cursing, etc.

altar ideas

crystals

crystal grid designs, crystal correspondences & folklore, gem water / crystal elixir recipes, crystal care 

herbs, spices, plants, flowers, & trees

correspondences, edible vs. non-edible, botanicals with medicinal value, folklore, gardening 

divination

tarot, runes, pendulum, scrying, etc.

spreads

interpretations 

astrology

birth chart + traits, planetary correspondences, planetary hours, zodiac correspondences, moon / star / sun water

sigils & symbols

how to create, personal sigils, other symbols & talismans 

psychic abilities 

identification of personal abilities (clairvoyance, claircognizance, clairaudience, clairsentience, clairambience, etc.)

meditation techniques to strengthen abilities 

personal experiences

important dates

sabbats, wheel of the year, magical anniversaries, astronomical & astrological phenomena (meteor showers, planetary alignments, etc.)

recipes

food

potions (potions are edible and consumable liquids!!!)

beauty products: salt scrubs, sugar scrubs, lotions, lip balm

natural remedies: salves, ointments, balms, poultices 

cleaning products: floor washes, window cleaner, wood cleaner, etc.

powders

witchy crafts

glitter jars, witch ladders, wand-making, crystal jewelry, etc. 

spells & enchantments

sachets, spell jars / bottles, knot magic, candle spells, powder spells, curses, protective magic, etc.

magical goals

∘₊✧─────────────────────✧₊∘

good luck! ✨

© 2025 bunny-claws

[probablyasocialecologist]

The likelihood that other technologically sophisticated societies exist is smaller than previously thought, because basic amenities we take for granted on Earth—continents, oceans, and plate tectonics—are cosmically rare.

[...]

Most geologists will agree with Stern’s and Gerya’s argument that plate tectonics should be included as a criterion for long-term planetary habitability. Earth’s tectonic system allows the planet’s atmosphere and hydrosphere to remain in communication with its interior, in a remarkable, self-perpetuating cycle. Subducted ocean crust—seafloor that slips down into Earth’s interior—carries water back into the mantle, and at shallow depths, this water lowers the melting temperature of mantle rock, giving rise to unusual magmas that create the continental crust—what we surface dwellers live on—which is rich in rare elements, like phosphorus, that are critical to life.  At greater depths, subducted water acts to decrease the viscosity of the mantle, allowing it to churn, or convect, more vigorously—which in turn drives plate motion. When the Earth’s mantle exports heat via convection, it encourages the liquid iron outer core to convect as well, and this generates Earth’s protective magnetic field, which shields the surface environment from harmful cosmic radiation. Without plate tectonics, continents would quickly be eroded to sea level. But tectonic collisions continuously rejuvenate Earth’s topography, providing rivers with more energy to transport nutrient-rich sediments to shallow marine environments. In other words, plate tectonics is entangled with all the phenomena that support life on Earth.

17 July 2024

[carionto]

"OMG, that's so cool! We want one."

The United Federation have unveiled a monstrosity.

On the border before the Neutral Zone, a barren planet now has a new moon. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a moon, but also not. When it turned, we saw an abomination of a surface. Innumerable laser batteries, shield generators embedded within the core of the planetoid, endless rows of mass printers, underground hangars, and a constant supply of fresh pilots and crew from their subservient races.

The Galactic Coalition are not at war with them, currently, but this kind of provocation cannot go unanswered! We debated long into several cycles before the Human delegates joined us. They took one look at the images of the Federation Battle Moon and exclaimed all at once:

"Holy shit!" "That's awesome!" "It looks like a giant face!" "With GUNS!" "Fuckin' rad." "I want one!" "Yeah, same." "Can we build that?" "I dunno, probably?" "Quick, get the engineers!" "Right on!"

"Sorry, but we gotta show this to everyone, we'll be right back."

In a flurry of motion and excitement, the Humans left to contact the rest of Humanity. Their comments in the blur of the moment gradually filter through to us and we begin to worry. This Battle Moon is the largest structure anyone has ever built! Well, that is until the Humans finish their Planetary Warp Gate and Dyson Sphere...

Okay, the largest military structure. We suspect that will soon change though.

---[Aboard the Department of Strategy (Space Pentagon)]---

"Message from the Coalition delegate team, the Joint Chiefs have to see this."

As the message plays and the Joint Chiefs examine the documents, a variety of expressions hide deep internal thoughts and deliberations. Here they sit, the fifteen people responsible for all of Humanity's decisions and matters of import regarding our expansion and existence on the Galactic stage. Once silence began to reign, Grand Admiral Ekaterina is the first to stand and speak up:

"This is certainly an impressive display on the Federation's part, and further solidifies their stance as a likely aggressor. Given what we know, there is little chance for a diplomatic solution and a long-term peaceful coexistence. Thus, only two questions remain:

Which moon are we gonna use? And what's our Battle Moon gonna look like? I vote giant skull with horns!"

[crapeaucrapeau]

Canon Collation : Robo-Mining in Mass Effect

This post was prompted by my wondering "just what the hell is 'robo-mining' anyway ?"

"Robo-miners" are probably better defined as "telepresent robo-mining machines". Robo-mining means that crews in orbital space stations teleoperate robo-mining machines planetside (Source 2). There are also surface facilities beside the space stations, though their purpose is unclear : perhaps that is where the machines and the minerals are stored, close to the exploitation site, or perhaps sometimes the crews live on the surface. This is ultimately irrelevant : the key characteristic of robo-mining is that it is remote, as opposed to EVA mining where the miners put on environment suits and directly extract the minerals (on batarian worlds like Logasiri, the EVA work force is enslaved). Those are presumably different from using independent mechs, like the security mechs we see in ME2 (and some people already use those to mine !) : the automation of various jobs related to the industry (mining, shipping, refining) was a major labor issue in 2185.

Robo-mining seems to be used exclusively for extracting solid minerals, since robo-miners are contrasted with "those who work in helium-3 collection and refinement" from gas giants. While robo-mining is predominantly used (and was developed for) inhospitable worlds, it can also be used on garden worlds like Garvug ; this may be related to the cost-cutting practices automation of labor entails (see above).

The salarians first developed robo-mining early on to exploit the resources on Saradril, the first planet in their home system and halfway to being as hostile as Venus in ours. After first contact with the asari in 520 BCE, the robo-mining industry the salarians had developed quickly became the galactic standard. This suggests that the asari didn't practice much robo-mining, if any, and that, for a while at least, other species emulated the salarians. The fact humans initially thought robo-mining was "exotic" suggests that they very much didn't practice robo-mining prior to first contact in 2157 CE.

We have some evidence of the evolution of the technology involved throughout history : on Klos, we're told that earlier generations of batarians had built space elevators to transport platinum to orbit, the only example of space elevators I can think of in Mass Effect. The phrasing suggests that now, spaceships using eezo can ferry the goods to orbit — in turn suggesting that the technology to do so had yet to be developed or was too prohibitive in the early years of Klos's exploitation (worth noting, perhaps, that Klos has gravity around 1.26 g, though no atmosphere to speak of — which don't seem insurmountable).

Robo-mining can prove lucrative if a planet has significant deposits of uranium, platinum, palladium, or beryllium ; presumably, major deposits of iridium and especially eezo (the other highly sought-after minerals in ME2) are also worth the expense, given their importance in the galactic economy. On the other hand, "second-tier" robo-mining activities occur for accessible deposits of iron, copper, tin or gold (meaning, presumably, that the big robo-mining consortiums called dibs on certain kinds of minerals while the others made do with what was left).

The king, of course, is eezo. Primary sources of element zero are the asteroid debris that orbit neutron stars and pulsars — "dangerous places to mine, requiring extensive use of robotics, telepresence, and shielding to survive the radiation from the dead star. Only a few major corporations can afford the set-up costs required to work these primary sources." Secondary sources, meanwhile, are either a planet which coalesced during its formation around a chunk of eezo ejected by a supernova billions of years ago (like Nonuel) or lodes deposited by an asteroid after planetary formation was complete (like Caleston). For our purposes, what matters is that eezo is special because of how rare it is and and how vital it is, and so we shouldn't assume all robo-mining operations work by the rules and within the constraints of eezo mining.

But the presence of minerals is not enough to justify robo-mining ; it also depends on whether the planet's environment would cause additional, prohibitive expenses : the planet Aganju, for instance, is replete with copper and platinum, but having a gravity at over 5 g (specifically, 5.3) means specialized equipment would be needed to exploit it, which in turn would create prohibitive costs that keep the planet from being exploited. The planet Tunfigel, on the other hand, is exploited for its platinum and uranium in spite of its 5.1 g — even Aganju is closer to their cluster's mass relay, which would diminish the transportation expenses ; this suggests that environment and geography alone are not the be-all, end-all of a planet's exploitation.

Environmental factors include :

gravity : as seen above, 5 g seems to be a fairly hard limit, though there are exceptions ; modern equipment can easily tolerate at least 1.9 g, whereas 4.6 g proves too much with other deterrents (extreme temperatures, a "crushing atmosphere). A light gravity is actually a boon in more ways than one : it helps keep the planetary exportation process (getting the stuff off-planet) cheap (presumably in conjunction with a thin atmosphere).

temperature : Agnin, with an average surface temperature of 684°C, remains unexplored and unexploited, whereas having a relatively mild temperature makes a planet attractive for robo-mining : Klos, with 88°C, is considered one of those mild planets, though it is in the upper bound — only some modern mining equipment can withstand a heat close to 80°C, and at least as far as 165°C. 225°C is too high and keeps Murky Water unexploited, but Pania's 224°C is not enough to deter exploitation — presumably, that is because Murky Water's temperature is compounded by high gravity, whereas Pania enjoys a trace atmosphere and 0.47 g. (Saradril is well beyond that at 325°C, which suggests either a continuity oversight (if only modern equipment can get past 80°C, then primordial equipment shouldn't work in such heat) or an unknown wrinkle (e.g. Saradril was only ever exploited in its atmosphere, where it's much cooler, or the salarians devised a way to locally decrease temperature, etc). That being said, Kurinth, at 734°C, is technically exploitable, but the set-up costs seemingly act as an economic deterrent, especially since there are many more lucrative alternatives.) At the other end of the gradient, -31°C is considered "well within the range of a comfortable EVA excursion", and -157°C evidently does not give pause to the drell and hanar robo-miners on Beach Thunder.

atmospheric pressure : The virtual lack of an atmosphere is specifically noted as not being a deterrent to robo-mining. Meanwhile, Agnin's 86.87 atm of atmospheric pressure may also factor in its "harsh environment" that keeps it safe from robo-mining interests. Interestingly, Murky Water's 19.46 atm of atmospheric pressure is not explicitly cited as a deterrent to exploitation ; moreover, Poloh Tem is exploited in spite of its 28.6-atm pressure (though given the profit margin specific to eezo mining, we should not assume we can generalize Poloh Tem's situation to the entire industry). It's worth noting that Saradril, for which robo-mining was developed, has an atmospheric pressure of 8.45 atm.

Ultimately, robo-mining is a business, and if you're not making a profit, you move on : Impera, as with all the other planets in the turian home system, was once lucratively exploited but is now left to itself as "the only remaining veins are inaccessible by cost-effective means". Likewise, it seems to be standard practice, at least for EVA asteroid mining, to leave the station with all of its life-support equipment once the operation is closed up, because it's cheaper than to haul it back into space. (NOTE TO SELF : this, by the way, is a very good set-up for a pirate base.)

If you have questions, do ask them ! I hope I'll have some time in the future to make a post outlining what minerals are exploited, and what for.

[someinstant]

So I turned my ankle taking out my trash this evening and it's swelling up beautifully-- I did a number on that ankle back in college and it regularly betrays me because of the Dumb Things I did without seeking medical attention when I was twenty-- so I've decided to prop it up on the couch and ice the hell out of it and watch the special features on my ANDOR Blu-Ray.

Here's a short list of Cool Things I've learned:

Diego says that it was important to show Cassian being nice to B2EMO in the first bit of episode one, because you needed to see Cassian show care and kindness for someone-- because he's not a particularly awesome guy at the beginning.

The set designer for the Andor house on Ferix made macrame door curtains out of metal scrap and bolts because they wanted a 1970s feel with an industrial twist. Also, the set designer pronounces "macrame" with the accent on the second syllable, and I've never heard it that way before? British folks, is that standard on your fair isle? Because hereabouts it's MAC-rah-may, or maybe mac-rah-MAY if you're fancy. But it sure as hell isn't mah-CRAHM-eh.

Just so many gorgeous shots of Ferix, man. And all the costumes and details-- it looks SO GOOD, even when it's clearly just a set and not the finished version. The actors all clearly adored working in the physical space.

During the Aldhani arc, the Aldhani rebel cell actors worked extensively together with the director to train, rehearse, and develop chemistry-- and they deliberately didn't bring Diego Luna in until they were ready to shoot for real. So the Aldhani squad had this rapport and inside jokes and relationships, and THEN they dropped Luna in so he would feel properly like an outsider.

And they did the SAME THING on the Narkina 5 arc. All the prisoners rehearsed together well before they brought in Luna, so he wouldn't have the same understanding of the space or tools or way the actors related to each other. Love it. Really smart decision, and it paid off.

The visual reference for what the Eye would look like when you were flying through it was a close-up of a human iris, and actually-- yeah. They did that really, really well.

They made the prison on Narkina 5 the same shape as the planetary shield generator on Scarif, and I have no idea how I didn't notice that before.

Stellan Skarsgard was clearly DELIGHTED by Luthen's big speech in "Nobody's Listening." He talks about how when he read it, he was like, "Absolutely, this is the dilemma, isn't it? How far can you go in the name of change?," followed immediately by, "Now, how in the world do I SAY that?!"

The musicians in "Rix Road" are really playing on set-- they did ADR over top for sound quality but in order to give the actors the right feel, the musicians are really playing and the instruments all are fully functional. The musicians are a mix of studio musicians who are on the final recording and some talented amateurs who also work as background actors, so you get the imperfect, community-band style tuning, which is what they wanted.

And there's a bunch of other cool stuff, but my ankle is throbbing, so I'm going to go take a painkiller and go to bed I think.

[is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not]

Melissa - BROKEN SERENITY

The Talon Roost

Unity City

Cascadia Administrative District

American Administrative Zone

Terra

17 February 3154

The bedroom was a quiet slice of sanctuary.

The pale silver light of Terra’s moon filtered through sheer curtains, casting gentle stripes across the dark hardwood floor. It was an almost sacred place.

Melissa sat at the edge of the bed, already dressed down to her underlayer: a soft, tight shirt that clung to her avian frame like an old habit. Her feathers ruffled slightly as she toweled them dry, still faintly damp from the shower. She was radiant in the way all warriors are when utterly at peace—quiet, glowing with the aftermath of effort and warmth.

Theodora stood at the mirror, brushing out her hair. She wore an oversized sleeveless shirt—Melissa’s shirt, technically—and loose, drawstring shorts. Her metal leg hissed softly as she shifted her weight, the quiet clicks of its calibration audible only in the stillness.

"Everything’s already shut down for the night," Theodora murmured, glancing over her shoulder. “Even Kazuo said he’d finally leave us alone. I checked twice.”

Melissa hmm'd in pleasure. “Then we should be... uninterrupted.” She spoke the last word with almost cautious optimism, as if saying it aloud might jinx the entire evening.

Theodora caught the tone, grinned. “You’re tempting fate.”

“I am not a believer in fate,” Melissa replied. “Only in statistics. And statistically, we are owed one quiet night.”

That made Theodora laugh. She turned, stepping across the room to flop—gracefully—onto the bed beside Melissa. “I’ll take those odds.”

They leaned into each other, Melissa's arm folding around Theodora’s shoulders. Theodora sighed, pressing her forehead against Melissa’s collarbone.

“This is nice,” she said softly.

“Aff,” Melissa murmured. “And it will remain so.”

They kissed, slow and warm.

For five whole minutes, the universe cooperated.

And then—there was a knock at the door.

A pair of knocks. Firm. Insistent.

They froze.

Melissa’s eyes narrowed. “No one is scheduled to visit.”

Theodora’s voice was dry. “Which means they’re about to schedule themselves.”

Melissa rose with all the majestic grace of a warbird denied her prize.

Theodora groaned and face-planted into the mattress.

The knock came again. This time the interval was shorter. More urgent.

Melissa moved to the door with an avian grace that suggested restraint rather than calm, and opened the door.

Standing in the hallway, slightly winded and holding a datapad like a shield, was Colonel Aisha al-Mansur—Melissa’s aide-de-camp. She wore civilian clothes, clearly off-duty, but her expression was pure military alarm.

“Commanding General Hazen—I apologize—”

“You are aware of the hour,” Melissa said evenly.

Aisha stiffened. “Yes, ma’am. I would not be here if it were not—important.”

Behind her, Theodora groaned into a pillow.

Melissa turned halfway back toward the bed. “It appears we are to be denied our peace.”

“Again,” Theodora muttered, sitting up.

Aisha glanced over Melissa’s shoulder and winced. “You were already in for the night. I’m sorry.”

Melissa took the datapad, eyes scanning it quickly. Her brow furrowed. “Helios?”

“The planetary council has issued a communiqué. Something to do with Clan Sea Fox transit rights. The local garrison flagged it as ‘potential destabilization.’”

Melissa handed the pad back. “They may wait until morning. We shall not reward them with haste.”

Aisha gave the faintest smile. “Message received, ma’am. Shall I tell them the Commanding General is indisposed?”

“Tell them I am otherwise engaged in a long-overdue planning session.” Melissa’s talons clicked softly as she stepped back, letting the door glide shut.

When she turned, Theodora was already standing, brushing the creases from her borrowed shirt. Her expression was fond, if resigned.

“I’m starting to think there’s a running pool among the aides about how long it’ll take someone to interrupt us.”

Melissa tilted her head. “Do you believe it is rigged?”

“Probably.”

Melissa sighed, the sound nearly lost beneath the rustle of feathers as she returned to the bed.

They sat down again, shoulders brushing.

“I am beginning to believe we are cursed,” Melissa said quietly.

Theodora bumped her playfully. “Just statistically unlucky.”

Melissa looked at her. Then leaned in again, one hand resting lightly against Theodora’s side. This time, the kiss was deeper. Slower. They breathed into each other. Silence held.

Then Theodora’s datapad lit up with a sharp ping from the side table. She reached out, flipped it face-down without looking.

Melissa did not even break the kiss.

Not yet.

The datapad stayed facedown. The message went unanswered.

The room remained dim and quiet, the light from the city bleeding in silver streaks across the ceiling. The bed was warm, the blankets half-twisted around their legs as they reclined again. The kiss had deepened, softened, lengthened into something that was almost stillness, something that spoke not of urgency but of presence.

Melissa's hand trailed down Theodora’s spine—an avian touch somehow both gentle and possessive. Theodora’s fingers curled into the short downy feathers along Melissa’s shoulder, her breath brushing against the corner of her lover’s beak.

There was peace in this. No war. No diplomacy. No reminders of rank or title.

Just warmth. Just want.

Then, another knock at the door.

Melissa froze. Theodora buried her face in a pillow with a stifled growl.

The knock sounded again. Then again.

Melissa sat up like a rising thunderhead, talons flexing in eerie silence. “If it is not a matter of planetary invasion,” she said softly, dangerously, “they will not enjoy the outcome.”

Theodora caught her wrist, gently. “Let me get it. You’ll scare someone.”

“I intend to.”

But Theodora had already slid off the bed. She opened the door.

Captain Kazuo Nakamura-McQuiston stood there, looking far too fresh-faced for the hour, though his expression immediately turned sheepish upon seeing who had answered.

“Captain,” Theodora said with the evenness of a woman who had nearly reached serenity and been torn from it. “You’re aware of the time.”

“I am, ma’am,” he said, lifting his hands. “I swear I wouldn’t be here if it was not urgent.”

She folded her arms.

He sighed. “Your brother called.”

Melissa made a very quiet sound in the background. Kazuo winced. “He said you have been putting off his messages for three days. He—uh—asked if he should call Command instead.”

Theodora pressed her fingers to her temple. “Of course he did.”

“I tried to tell him you were asleep.”

“He does not believe in sleep.”

Kazuo looked between the two. “Should I…?”

Theodora pinched the bridge of her nose. “Tell him we’re working on a briefing for the First Lord. And that I’ll return his call tomorrow.”

Kazuo hesitated. “He will ask what kind of briefing.”

Theodora turned to glance at Melissa—now seated at the edge of the bed, arms crossed, utterly unimpressed.

She turned back to Kazuo. “Tell him it involves diplomatic ‘coordination’ with Commanding General Hazen. That should keep him occupied.”

Kazuo’s mouth opened. Closed. “Yes, ma’am.”

The door slid shut.

Theodora didn’t move at first. Then she turned around and leaned against it, exhaling slowly. “We’re not cursed. We’re hexed.”

Melissa looked at her. Then, without saying a word, lifted the edge of the blanket in silent invitation.

Theodora crossed the room, climbed back in, and rested her head on Melissa’s shoulder. “If anyone calls again, I’m declaring martial law.”

“I will back your decree.”

They were quiet a moment. Then Melissa added, “Your brother is annoying.”

Theodora laughed into her feathers. “Yes. He is.”

And this time, at least for a while, no one knocked. No alerts chimed. No messages blinked on screens.

It was not the moment they had planned. But it was theirs.

For a brief, golden stretch of time, there was only warmth.

The quiet thrum of the building’s life-support system. The occasional rustle of the curtains. The reassuring rhythm of Theodora’s breathing against Melissa’s collarbone. Their legs tangled beneath the blanket, the world kept at bay by soft fabric and mutual exhaustion.

Melissa’s fingers traced slow, absent patterns across Theodora’s back. Not designed to distract or entice. Simply there. Present. Grounded.

Theodora sighed into the hollow of her throat. “We are not answering any more calls.”

“Correct.”

“Even if Terra is on fire.”

“We would be the ones setting the fire, in that case.”

They drifted. Not toward sleep, quite, but toward a stillness that made sleep seem possible.

Until—

The power flickered.

Just a blink. Enough for the lights to dim and the climate control to let out a mournful, choking cough.

Theodora tensed.

Melissa opened one eye.

Then came the shriek.

Not a real one. Just the unmistakable, ear-splitting screech of the fire alarm system activating. A high-pitched wail that cut through the peace like a vibroblade through silk.

Red emergency strobes flashed in the ceiling.

Melissa sat bolt upright, feathers fluffed in immediate combat readiness. “Neg.”

Theodora was already slamming her fist against the side of the nightstand, fumbling for the emergency override panel.

“System fault,” she snarled, reading the display. “The building’s fire suppression sensors just pinged a gas leak in the hydroponics wing.”

Melissa’s voice was flat. “We do not have a hydroponics wing.”

“Exactly.”

Theodora climbed out of bed like a woman preparing to declare war on the nearest server stack.

Melissa followed, calm and utterly menacing. “Call security.”

“Already on it.”

A minute later, the alarm cut off with an abrupt, static click.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Then came a sheepish voice over the suite intercom.

“Commanding General, Colonel—apologies. We were running diagnostics on the east wing’s backup systems. A corrupted protocol triggered a false alarm.”

Melissa stared at the intercom like it had personally insulted her ancestors.

“You will not be disturbed again,” the voice added quickly.

“Neg,” Melissa said coldly. “We will not.”

The connection went dead.

Theodora slowly slumped back onto the bed, limbs spread wide like a marionette with its strings cut. She stared at the ceiling in stunned silence.

Melissa stood beside the bed, arms crossed, chest rising and falling in slow, measured breaths.

“…Should we purge the place with incense?” asked Theodora.

“Incense is insufficient.”

They stared at each other. Then, without a word, Melissa climbed back into bed. Theodora followed. They lay in silence again.

“…Are you asleep?” Theodora whispered.

“Neg.”

“…Me neither.”

Another silence.

Then Theodora rolled over and looked at her, brow furrowed. “If we try again now, I swear some random engineer's going to fall through the ceiling with a clipboard.”

Melissa’s eyes narrowed faintly, feathers bristling at the thought. “Agreed.”

More silence. Then Melissa sat up, slowly. Thoughtfully.

“…Simulator bay?” she offered, voice almost casual.

Theodora blinked. “Now?”

Melissa looked at her. “The hour is irrelevant. Our rest has been compromised. It will tire us out.”

Theodora stared for a beat longer.

Then she grinned. “I’ll get the cooling suits.”

---

Forty minutes later

The Talon Roost

Sub-Level 3

Simulator Chamber

The lights hummed low over the room, the walls aglow with artificial illumination. Two top-of-the-line SLDF simulators stood side by side, each encased in matte alloy and configured with custom cockpit haptics. One was calibrated to mimic Old Bird’s Nest. The other: Gewitter.

Inside, Melissa’s talons danced over the controls with deadly grace. Her neurohelmet connected smoothly with the simulation software, her heat sinks balanced to perfection, the missiles in the Nest's chest singing with unerring precision.

Theodora, in her rig, was fire and thunder. She wasn’t graceful. She didn’t want to be. She was destructive. In every movement, every calculated burst of laser fire, every pile bunker slammed into a simulated opponent, and every blunt-angled charge, there was tension vented and satisfaction gained.

Enemy targets fell one by one.

Melissa hit the final simulation opponent—a Hell's Horses Dire Wolf—with a triple-salvo knockdown and a cockpit kill so surgical it was logged in the system with a red highlight.

Theodora finished hers by punching a Battle Cobra straight through its chest.

The sim shut down. The pods opened. Both women climbed out slowly, breathing steadier. No need to speak yet. They understood.

---

One hour later

Back in the bedroom, they had long since stripped out of their cooling suits and fucked each other senseless.

And this time there had been no datapads blinking, no intercoms buzzing, and no aides pounding at the door.

They slipped beneath the covers without fanfare. No declarations. No wariness.

Melissa settled on her back; Theodora curled beside her.

Then Theodora reached out, looped one arm over Melissa’s middle, and tugged them together until her head rested just beneath the curve of Melissa’s beak.

“Better?” Melissa asked softly.

“Much.”

“…You will be snoring in thirty seconds.”

“Try fifteen.”

“If anyone knocks on that door again, I am killing them," Melissa murmured, her tone only a few degrees from slipping out of half-joking territory.

“I'll help.”

And finally—mercifully—nothing else interrupted them.

And at last—finally—sleep found them.

No alarms.

No aides.

No brothers.

No datapads.

Just the steady hush of breath and warmth, and the quiet rhythm of two loving hearts still intact after stress and every absurd interruption the universe could conjure.

[servo-skull-connie]

~Talons Expeditionary Force, The Ardent Watchers

The Ardent Watchers' duty was to aid the Expeditionary Fleets on the fringes of the Great Crusade. Bringing worlds with large populations of Psykers into Imperial compliance or purging those worlds likely to have suffered Daemonic incursions. This was done as part of the measures to keep the Expeditionary Fleets and wider Imperium ignorant to the reality of the warp and the malign entities that dwell within. Over the course of the Great Crusade, The Ardent Watchers would take part in many planetary compliances though their contributions by nature of their duty were often either downplayed or omitted entirely.

When news of Horus' betrayal and the massacre at Isstvan V reached them, The Ardent Watchers were fighting in the Ultima Segmentum far to the Galactic East, aiding the 208th Expeditionary Fleet bring the Psyker rich world of Torsous XII into Imperial compliance. Shield Captain Constance Heratt ordered the small Expeditionary Fleet to follow her host back to Terra, but was forced to execute the fleet commanders when they declared Loyalty to the Warmaster. What followed was a slow advance back to Terra where the Ardent Watchers would be waylaid by warp storms and Traitor forces.

Forces:

~ Legio Custodes Shield Host, The Athenan Spears

~ Anathema Psykana Coven, His Silent Seekers

Notable members:

~ Shield Captain, Constance Heratt

~ Silent Judge, Emiline Trisk

~ Lord Captain Stanton Mourne

~ Vox/Spy Master, Xi-Rho-2472

~ Navigator, Tarkus Besh

~ Magos, Giagos Moll

Ships:

~ Lunar Class Cruiser of the Black Fleet, Noktua's Shroud

~ Sword Class Escort Frigate, Lance of Caelum

~ Tempest Class Escort Frigate, Pride's Squall

Notable Campaigns & Battles:

~ Astora Minoris Compliance

~ Purge of Jumbus Secundus

~ Third War for Expodus

~ Siege of Terra

Other Writings:

~ What is fear

~ An extended meeting

~ Dressed for battle, 1

(I've fleshed out the majority of my 30k army with lore and stories. This is a general overview. that links to more posts on specific aspects, characters or other written stuff.)

[drinkpisser]

THE VERY BEGINNING OF MY HESITANT ALIEN FIC WORK!! :3

posting this here to see what kind of interest it gets, because generally this was just a silly idea I wanted to do on impulse and I dooo have more but i'm gonna feed yall with a prologue/intro first to see how it does or if anyone likes it :p

the general idea for this is basically a backstory for hesitant alien era gerard pretty much 😭 and him meeting lola if I get that far w/ it too!!

anywayyysss thank you so much to anyone who reads and enjoy!! <33

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

PROLOGUE: (CHAPTER ZERO ZERO)

Noise from the TV buzzes commercially, as per usual. The transatlantic voice rings through listeners' ears like an old fashioned telephone, desperate for attention. Once you're tuned in from the jingle, it's almost obligatory to stick around- how else will you hear that household name radio song which hates even it's own existence?

"Intergalactic Star Gerard Way, the first human to discover planetary lifeforms, shares a heart to heart insight on his initial connection with aliens! Don't miss it!"

After the interviewers' ramble about new hits and floorfillers finally ends, the voice that was supposed to be heard about ten minutes ago finally has a chance to speak:

"You wouldn't believe it. It was the first night of summer camp thirty years ago where I had my first encounter with the extraterrestrial. They crept up on me without a sound. The rays from the spaceship beamed across the window shielding my sleeping face, leaving behind a faint warmth that woke me up. I walked outside and there it was. A giant fuckin' UFO that called to me, in a way, at least I'd like to think was, telepathically."

"Aaaaand we're outta ti"-

Gerard, after listening again to his interview for faults of some kind, shuts the radio off with a solemn sigh, reminiscing on that evening so long ago. It's his claim to fame, after all. The only thing the press sees him for- a party trick, a magic man, a captivating headline. The guy who discovered aliens and made a music career out of it, kickstarting an entire phenomenon of intergalactic tourism.

However, what seems applaudable today was beyond humane questioning back then- at the beginning. Before he reached stardom, he persevered time after time of disbelief, apathy and questioning of his gift...

Yet, how was it given to him?

[metaphysicalpistolsoraclemine]

Current Update;

For ALL GRIDWORKERS & Indigo/Star People: Ground Control for the Spiritual Life Simulation.

Title: Iran Gate.

Most Coveted Gate for GlobalControl .

The 10D Stargate is referred to as the Iran Gate

So with this in mind, holding space for a moment:

When observing the primary locations of the 10th Stargate system in the planet, it becomes apparent that the land mass of Iraq, Iran, Egypt and Tibet are exceptionally important for maintaining the global mind control and artificial machinery system of the NAA, and thus it is obvious why these areas have been purposely ravaged by war and impoverished by those Black Sun controllers installed there.

Beloveds, as we hold this space in compassionate witnessing: clearing distortions, sound distortions and inversions twisting within fifth dimensional timeline access, distortions connecting to the planetary crystal seal and the human biology within 5, 8, 11 dimensional chakra keys, again, as connected to the secret space program alien base in the Metatronic net of this hyper dimensional pocket in location Iran Gate.

The horizontal grid and the planetary Rod function have been controlled by the NAA and the Alpha Draconis/Orion Group through the hijack of the Golden Eagle Grid by reversing the energetic current into a Base 10 Math architecture, which has its center controlled from the main 10th gate access in Iraq-Iran as well as the 4th gate access in Giza Egypt.

This region was once the home of ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia that was filled with the sapphire diamond infused sacred krystal waters of the Triple Solar Sapphire Blue Ma’ ah Goddesses that inhabited the planetary Rasha Body, along with Mer Peoples in the seas that helped to protect the Solar Mary’s sapphire crystal. The Blue Solar Goddesses returning to our world through the Starry Night Dark Firmament remind me they embodied and inhabited within the 10D Sha-Ra complex and sang the Ra-Sha-La tri-tones for the 10th Stargate Network, which is the sacred Divine Mother Language that was sung in the Edenic world of Tiamat.

These sapphire beauties were our direct communication link to our inner avatar Christos-Sophia, through their embodiment in the planet’s 10th gate, angelic humanity would be able to hear, feel, see and experience the existence of their Inner Christ self.

During several stages of the hidden histories of the NAA invasion, their objective was to completely destroy the presence of the Holy Mother Sophia in her Triple Solar Female Christ sapphire spirit body in the 10D Stargate which further linked into Pluto, Tiamat and the Lyran-Vega star system. After obliterating the Holy Mother’s sapphire body, the Black Sun’s stationed themselves within the 10th Stargate Network as their primary headquarters from which to generate alien machinery used to corrupt dark matter in order to damage the planetary Rasha Body ring span tones with alien machinery and AI signals. Further, embedding AI hybrid creatures, grotesque archontic monstrosities, demonic forces in the reversal elemental structures such as black goo, that were colonized in the corrupted dark matter for the purpose of connecting into several artificial wormholes that lead all the way back into the Black Hole System.

Through Guardian Host and Padma, we have learned that the 10D stargate under Iraq houses an ancient sapphire diamond crystal connected to the 23D Sapphire Flame and sapphire diamond shield that is holding all of the holographic records of the 10th gate. Padma is a protector of the sapphire diamond shield of the Blue Rainbow Triple Solar Goddesses of the 10th stargate network and planetary dark matter body, therefore has taken an active role in recent events. Additionally, the 4D stargate in Giza houses an ancient ruby crystal connected to the 22nd Ruby Flame that is holding all of the holographic records of the 4th gate and the Sun portal. Iraq’s 10th gate Sapphire Crystal and Giza’s 4th gate Ruby Crystal hold the entire spectrum of Diamond Sun genetic codes for the 10D Shara complex (Christos tri-frequency communication network operates in 10D Solar Star), the Rasha dark matter templateand the 9D-11D genetic records for Ruby Sun DNA.

The opening of the Neutron Window allows access in and out of this Universal Time Matrix for the time period that the alignment is in place. Previous to this time, the window was closed, thus the portal access to leave this current 3Ds Universe, as well as this Solar System was closed. When the galactic core alignment was made in 2024, the Krystal Star began connecting to this planet in this hijacked 3D timeline, and this began the cycle of the Krystal Star hosting of this planet for potential Ascension and to reclaim the Christos-Sophia.

People mimic what they have learned in the macrocosm to subconsciously know what is expected of them at the social level, self enforcing the same style of persecution of others in their personal life, and repeating the persecution complex dynamic towards others. Thus, persecution tactics spreads like a virus of spiritual oppression. Persecution is a mind control manipulation tool to keep the masses of people subjugated and in line, so that people obey the "hidden master" that is shaping the social standards for mass consensus in the Death Culture.

In cinclusion;

The Controllers are running the persecution program from the crucifixion implant energies, so that the masses will automatically accept attacking and killing those perceived as threats is acceptable. The majority of the human race is under constant stress of feeling persecuted and oppressed by someone or something else in the environment, as that is the set up to keep the masses in fear based thinking. This seed of unconscious trauma goes back to the point of the NAA invasion, as that dark force invading the earth is the true causal source of why the majority of the human race feels to exist in a constant state of fear and perceived threat. There are areas on the earth that are littered with massive war histories involving mass death and killings that are based on persecution of a certain ethnic group, Genocide or any classification group that they found convenient to scapegoat in order to gain more power and control over the population.

These areas are an epi center of massive psychic residue of persecution complex running in the grid network. If a sensitive or Intuitive Empath enters these areas, and they are largely uncleared, the feeling of persecution energies for the Intuitive Empath will be extremely magnified.

North Pacific Ocean, Hawaiian Islands -Lemurian Holocaust

Oklahoma, USA - Trail of Tears - Native American Holocaust

World War II, Concentration Camps in Europe - Jewish and other groups Holocaust

United Kingdom, Florida, Bermuda - Atlantian Holocaust

Tomar, Portugal - Convent of Christ - Templar Torture and Crusades

Jerusalem, Israel - Assorted holocaust and rampant persecution

7D gridwork, as it runs Crucifixion archetype, implants

South Eastern States or Carolinas, USA - Black Slavery related Persecution and Holocaust

Balkan, Bosnian Kosovo Wars - Slavic people holocaust

Obviously, this residue of psychic pain and uncleared Trauma is everywhere on the earth where the histories of persecution happened based upon another's perception of people that were being profiled by their belief systems and that resulted in human holocaust and genocide. One has got to ask the question, why are belief systems so important to the human mind that they are willing to kill and murder for the sake of preserving their beliefs?

Persecution has a basis in not letting go of beliefs, being intolerant of others, and seeking to control every person to be an exact reflection of what you want them to be (agree with you), rather than allowing them to be who they really are. Why are so many people hell bent to take full control over other people, and for what purpose does this serve?

Seeing the Larger Picture

Hopefully, when we can see the larger picture of events and how certain Controller programs were placed into the planet, such as persecution complex via crucifixion belief systems, in order to incite and maintain a warring society in the mind of humans. This awareness helps us to source the uncleared pain we may be carrying from our own accumulated emotional experience when feeling persecuted. This is the same persecution complex that is feeding into the insecurities of the lightworker community and it is important to know that it is a global human race problem, no one got away with not experiencing persecution in some way. If we can see it as a macrocosm problem in the way the masses are taught to think and perceive, we can begin to understand how it works to eliminate its control over our own behavior, and continue to work on clearing our own fears of persecution.

I hope that together, we can form a spiritual community of loving and caring people, that truly work to become self aware not to feed into these mass persecution programs, knowing that we are all in this together. By sharing our individual feelings authentically, more people can realize they are not alone in this journey, they are not crazy. They are not the only one being persecuted for being authentic, spiritual, awakened, a Starseed, or doing their best to develop Personal Integrity and be who they feel they need to be in the world. This is helping all of us to generate more Compassion, tolerance and developing��Humility in our interactions with each other, which is important to grow the foundation of trust in our communications with each other.

Our distant future is our distant past. It is recursive.

There is but one service. The Law of One. The offering of self to be of service to the God Creator is the greatest service, the unity, the fountainhead from which All things have sprung forth. The being who seeks to be at One with God is unified with infinite intelligence and eternal nature. From this higher purpose, from this offering, a great multiplicity of opportunities will evolve depending upon the Lightbody spiritual purpose and the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, along with the person's Miasma or karmic, ancestral imprints. The Virtue gained from dedicated alignment to serve our highest expression in God, is to receive the blessings from the Spirit of Peace. 

Let the re be Peace onEarth.

Beloved family thank you so much for your bravery and courage, for all that you show up for in the Christos mission, and even holding space for the awareness that this is ongoing and happening in our midst in the world today. Thank you.

I seal this into the light of wholeness, unity and truth and so it is. Thank you Mother /Father God Thank you Krystos/Sophia Consciousness. Thank you.

[ghostopossumlives]

Didn't like how the torso started going, but pretty satisfied with this face. This is a sketch of a Hool's face.

Long ancient lore ramble:

Long before the FTL Dark Age of the Nebula, the Hool ruled an empire that was ruined and scattered by the Ixionites a bit before the Ixionites wiped themselves out in the Terminarchomachy (an egofascist civil war between all remaining Ixion warlords to become the sole ruler and sole lifeform of the nebula.). The remaining Hool usually now serve under Bauosar warlords, being kept to assist with martial archeology (hunting down their own old shit that might be reverse engineered and giving it to the Bauosar in exchange for keeping their own petty fiefdoms). The Bauosar have similarly incomprehensible lifespans and had been a peripheral force during the age of the Hool and Ixionites' squabbles, but never posed enough of a threat to be focused on seriously by either empire while the other existed. They pretty much took over by default during the Dark Age after events at the end of the Terminarchomachy destroyed all FTL of that era. The Bauosar paperclipped any Hool they didn't exterminate, and their position hasn't risen past "on a short leash" since. (Ixionite survivors received no quarter, and are probably extinct.)

The Hool created the Pards, and were powerful bioengineers at their height. They usually killed their enemies with plagues until their populations were reduced enough to be safely recreationally tormented with monsters. They were unexpectedly hard-countered by the long held Ixionite practice of obliterating anything that might be sapient from millions of miles away with solar lasers, then using their now lost shield technology to hide inside of a sun if they suspected that they might lose the fight (they had a more efficient version of the SLIME systems used in modern planetary siege shields that turned afflictive input directly into monomolecule cohesion, allowing the energy from the stellar corona to make them completely indestructible for as long as they desired), preventing the Hool from ever making biological contact or obtaining cells to experiment with.

The Ixionites defeated and scattered the Hool, but before they were able to hunt down every survivor, they splintered and went to war against themselves. At some point in the conflict, a computer virus of unknown origin or method of transmission began to spread throughout all Hool, vermin, and Ixionite starships and fortresses, sabotaging them undetectably and causing total system failures that struck intelligently at the most devastating opportunity. A typical manifestation was shield failure during the standard Ixionite "sun sitting" tactic, causing the Ixionite to immolate itself. Knowledge of this virus event is mostly from Hool and Melusine witnesses whose ships were also bricked. Hool weren't likely to survive the virus attacks, but were more likely to survive the virus than Ixionites, because they weren't inside of stars when it struck, and were merely forced to hibernate adrift for centuries until they were collected by scavenging Bauosars or vermin. This virus eventually destroyed all FTL vessels in the Nebula, causing the FTL Dark Age, and setting the stage for the Bauosar to rise to power (The Baousar still mostly used STL starships and simply slugged around with several generations of slaves between pillaging planets for minerals). It is unknown whether the virus was an Ixionite, Hool, or vermin creation, and it is unknown if it is gone or still out there. Some even theorize that it might be in full effect throughout the Nebula, and that all modern technology has been inadvertently developed in ways that are immune to the virus because any technology invented that isn't immune is automatically affected by the virus, doesn't work, and isn't pursued, rendering the virus invisible to modern civilizations. It doesn't help that how the virus even spread was never determined.

Hool should never be considered trustworthy sources of information, but they are the main source for these events and are consistent with the accounts of the Melusines. The Melusines provide less information because they went to sleep when the Ixionites and Hool started showing up. (The Melusines are a long-lived species that don't individually live as long as Hool and Baousar, but who are able to hibernate for vast periods of time. They typically try to live peacefully with whatever civilization is closest to a "Golden Age", with whom they invest and trade with, then go on secretive hibernation flights when "Things Look Bad", such as when the Nebula gets split between "Hool airdropping one billion lions on your house" and "Ixionite laser go brrrr". The hibernation flights are attended to by generations of Melusine sentinel monks who would fly reconnaissance missions every few centuries to see if things are getting better, though they were forced into ground structures for awhile after the virus ruined their ships.)

[whirligig-girl]

Follow-up question for Eaurp - can you tell us more about Urbleagh’s development of the phaser-repeater technology, and about the proposed warships that inspired them? I’ve heard of the technology somewhere before, I think?

Hi! Eaurp Guz here. So if you're a terran, you're probably thinking of This design, an experimental Federation drone ship designed for extending the range of phasers that was used a few years ago to help with the whole 'borg assimilating the federation' dealio. I think it was called the Kiloannum Eagle or something like that. May be totally misremembering. Anyway.

As I said in my last post, during the Dominion War, the Federation put up a planetary protection grid on Mellanus, which comprised deflectors, as well as planetary phasers, which are basically fusion reactors big enough to power a starship used soley to generate a phaser beam.

But there was some concern that the Dominion could set up a base on Oldsky or elsewhere in the Zwo-Nmu system, and then launch an attack on Mellanus from there. And there was the simple fact that the phasers only work out to a few planetary radii, which means by the time you can fight back, the Jem Hadar ships are already in striking distance.

Of course, Starfleet was supposed to come to defend Mellanus if it ever needed it, but Starfleet was already being spread thin, and world leaders didn't like the idea of Mellanus being entirely dependent upon outside help should an invasion occur.

So the idea that the North Communist Alliance Air Force came up with was, build a rocket that could intercept planetary phasers and then redirect them.

There's two reasons phasers lose effectiveness with distance. One is the beam spread, which is remarkably low with a planetary scale phaser since they use apertures in excess of several meters, similar to astronomical refracting telescopes except with fushigi-no-umi crystals instead of glass or transparent aluminum. The other is that the rapid nadions making up the phaser radiation will decay into visible light over hundred-kilometer distances or so. (that's why you can see the beam.)

Now, with planetary phasers, even with that decay, a huge amount of radiation makes it out into space (a lot of it in the form of collimated light, essentially laser light), but spread out drastically. So the thought is, precisely align the shields of a war rocket with the phaser frequency such that you gather up that energy, and then reuse it, like I explained before with the phaser-launch vehicle.

The difference, and it is quite crucial, is that these would be gooed (ed note: crewed) spacecraft, with the phaser set to a much higher power, and that in addition to running a rocket engine, you'd also use it to run a thermal rocket (we had fission impulse at that point, but it was deemed too experimental to use here, so they were just straight thermal rockets), power the shields, power the warp drive, and of course power the phasers. Nuclear fission warheads would also be used for spatial torpedoes.

The proposal even considered using these as far away as Omen, with half of the light-seconds-to-light-minutes lag being dealt with via subspace relays. The warp drive would be able to be used up to very close to warp-1 in the line of sight, but with advanced planning and subspace communications, maneuvers in proper motion across the sky could be done at faster than light speeds, and with higher maintained speeds than anything pulsed warp drive powered by onboard fission reactors has proved capable of. (Outside of external help, which, wow. It's crazy that I did that. Maybe they were right to name a subspace manifold after me.)

The crazy thing is, as far as I can tell, this would have worked. It would have even helped against that Breen weapon which fucked with shields and power systems and whatnot, since all of the power was external.

We never needed it--the Dominion never attacked us, either because we weren't worth it or they weren't interested to begin with.

The problem is that even if the proposal had gone through, they wouldn't have finished construction before the end of the war. But to be fair, I mean, we didn't think the war would be over as soon as it was. The way the news talked about it it seemed like it could last like, my whole life. I mean I didn't believe that, but you know, no one knew what to expect.

There's some like, rumors, that they actually did end up building the phaser powered war rockets, but that's highly unlikely, since the amount of secrecy involved would be totally impractical. Mellanus doesn't even have an astromilitary, and the NCA Air Force was dissolved shortly after the end of the Dominion War, even then it was basically just a holdover. My guess is maybe there was a classified project to build a scale model, and those rumors escalated. I guess we'll find out if anyone ever threatens the planetary security of Mellanus in the next few years.

Which uh. To be clear. Is not a challenge.

(Please don't get the impression that I know anything about mellanoid history, military history in particular. I know rocket history. I like rockets. Space rockets, to be clear. From lots of planets! Honestly take everything I say with a grain of salt. I'm an idiot)

[ed note: an idiot with a novel subspace manifold named after her]

[jennelikejennay]

I'm writing another AOS fic (WHY?!) and that means it's time for another

✨ plot hole rant ✨

To me, the part of the first movie that makes the least sense is Pike going over to the Narada. For so many reasons.

1. If Nero wanted a random Starfleet captain in order to get information on Earth's defenses, he wouldn't have shot up every ship that showed up in Vulcan's orbit. He'd have destroyed all but one, and then demanded or just captured the captain of that ship. He didn't know the Enterprise was going to be warping in five minutes later! He would naturally think that was the whole fleet.

2. If he did, Pike would have no reason to agree. First, he wrote his dissertation on this, he knows that's what Robau did and that Robau got killed and it didn't save the Kelvin. Just a general rule of thumb, if your enemy really wants something, don't give it to them. It was the ONE thing they could have denied Nero, and he gives it up.

3. Okay, so let's say it was absolutely necessary to provide cover for Kirk and Sulu's space jump. That still doesn't mean he actually has to give himself up when he gets there. He could have rammed, self destructed, come out shooting, anything else.

4. It's also incredibly stupid to have single factor authentication on your entire planetary defense grid, and then go ahead and store the password inside the head of EVERY captain. Some captains are chumps! They get captured sometimes! This is not a secure place to keep the data which ten billion lives rely on! It would make more sense to require human confirmation at the very least. A dude who can look out the window and go "yeah I see that you look like the Enterprise, as well as having the right 1000-digit transponder codes for today" before taking the shields down.

5. If you DID have a system like that, it would become that more vital not to give up your captain to anyone, for any reason. Captains are taught to resist torture, but nothing's perfect. This is cyanide-pill-in-your-cheek level hot information. For Pike to give himself up, knowing he's got the key to Earth's defenses in his mind, is incredibly irresponsible. Especially given he can SEE this guy is actively drilling holes in a different planet.

6. Also it does really make you wonder what Vulcan's planetary defenses are like. Even if they were dumb enough to have it all running on a single password, Vulcans can resist the mind sifter so I'd bet on them over a Ceti eel or whatever. Plus if there were an encounter like that, that would have given them time to send a subspace message like DON'T WARP OVER HERE WITH YOUR SHIELDS DOWN or something, just a thought. But really I don't think it occurred to the writers that planets other than Earth have defenses, because the movie does not treat Vulcan like a real planet. Vulcans are pacifists who carry a big stick, they'd have defenses.

This has been my rant for the day. I just can't believe the Earth defenses have less robust security than I need to log into zoom. Really, a freaking miracle nobody blew it up before.

[darthkvznblogs]

Ya que SWORD cumple el rol de los Plomeros, tienen alguna otra similitud como las mismas bases secretas, equipos, rangos, etc??

(transl.)

Since SWORD fulfills the Plumbers' role, do they have any other similarities like the same secret bases, equipment (or maybe teams?), ranks, etc.?

The Plumbers fulfill the Plumbers' role in Nova space, they just don't operate on Earth yet. SWORD is not intended to replace them wholesale - the Plumbers will eventually come and do their thing here, I'm sure.

SWORD's internal structure is patterned to resemble SHIELD's, as the SSR descendants that they both are, though they only have four sectors to their counterpart's seven:

-Sector 1: Planetary Defense (which comprises the bulk of Earth's space-based forces, from the space station Excalibur to the defense fleet currently in construction, as well as the training of shipboard crew, pilots, and soldiers)

-Sector 2: Space Exploration, Discovery, and Settlement (which comprises deep space scanning systems, research and development for interstellar travel, exploration, terraforming, and general colonization affairs)

-Sector 3: Extraterrestrial Research and Development (which comprises the study of identified alien species, their environments, culture and technology, as well as the ways any discoveries may be applied to advance humanity)

-Sector 4: Interspecies Relations (which comprises diplomacy between Earth and any known alien factions, hostile, neutral, and friendly First Contact scenarios, interplanetary immigration, and the intake and protection of alien refugees)

Obviously, the sectors work in concert with each other, as well as with other space exploration and defense agencies as well as private companies. SWORD is a lot smaller than SHIELD, but many of their limitations came from their appeasement of the Kree - they have much of the necessary infrastructure ready to take humanity to the stars, and with material and economic support from the Nova Empire, they could catapult Earth onto the galactic stage in a matter of years.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Solar wave squeezed Jupiter’s magnetic shield to unleash heat

A massive wave of solar wind that squished Jupiter’s protective bubble has been detected for the first time. 

Scientists at the University of Reading have discovered a solar wind event from 2017 that hit Jupiter and compressed its magnetosphere – a protective bubble created by a planet's magnetic field. This created a hot region spanning half Jupiter's circumference and exhibiting temperatures exceeding 500°C – significantly higher than the typical 350°C atmospheric background temperature. 

A new study published today (Thursday, 3 April) in Geophysical Research Letters, describes for the first time a solar burst that scientists now believe hits Jupiter 2-3 times a month.  

Dr James O’Donoghue, lead author of the research at the University of Reading, said: “We have never captured Jupiter's response to solar wind before – and the way it changed the planet’s atmosphere was very unexpected. This is the first time we’ve ever seen a thing like this on any outer world. 

“The solar wind squished Jupiter’s magnetic shield like a giant squash ball. This created a super-hot region that spans half the planet. Jupiter’s diameter is 11 times larger than Earth’s, meaning this heated region is enormous.  

“We've studied Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus in increasing detail over the past decade. These giant planets are not as resistant to the Sun’s influence as we thought – they're vulnerable, like Earth. Jupiter acts like alaboratory, allowing us to study how the Sun affects planets in general. By watching what happens there, we can better predict and understand the effects of solar storms which might disrupt GPS, communications, and power grids on Earth." 

Different impacts for big planets 

By combining ground-based observations from the Keck telescope with data from NASA's Juno spacecraft and solar wind modelling, the researchers determined that a dense region of solar wind had compressed Jupiter's enormous magnetosphere shortly before the observations began. This compression appears to have intensified auroral heating at Jupiter's poles, causing the upper atmosphere to expand and spill hot gas toward the equator. 

Scientists had previously thought Jupiter's rapid rotation would confine auroral heating to its polar regions through strong winds. This discovery shows otherwise, suggesting planetary atmospheres throughout our solar system may be more vulnerable to solar influences than previously understood. Solar bursts could significantly alter big planets’ upper atmospheric dynamics, generating global winds that drive energy distribution across the planet.  

Professor Mathew Owens, a co-author from the University of Reading, said: "Our solar wind model correctly predicted when Jupiter's atmosphere would be disturbed. This helps us further understand the accuracy of our forecasting systems, which is essential for protecting Earth from dangerous space weather."