#small relay on ship system

[apopic]

Reed Relays or Electromechanical Printed Circuit Board Relays on ship electrical system

Reed Relays or Electromechanical Printed Circuit Board Relays on ship electrical system

A reed relay consists of a reed switch, ie a sealed glass capsule containing two separated overlapping ferromagnetic reeds. A typical reed switch capsule. The capsule is surrounded by an electromagnetic coil. When the coil is energized, the contacts that are normally open are brought together. When the coil voltage is removed, the reeds separate by their own spring tension. The reeds provide a…

[cozage]

FLUFF! SWEET! ADORABLE! Fem S/O x Zoro, Luffy, Sanji, Ace, and Law hcs! Feeling lonely whenever their lover is busy, S/O sewed together a plushie version of her lover to keep her busy and confess secrets to her plushie like she was the one who are the last cake piece or something! And their lover has been feeling lonely bc S/O hasn’t been hanging with them that much!

A/N: :) this was so cute to make. I hope I had the right idea <3

Characters: F! reader x Zoro, Luffy, Sanji, Ace, Law

Cw: just some fluff for your soul :) maybe a few brief moments of angst/sadness, but it's all happy endings, alcohol/drunk mention in Ace’s

Total word count: 4k (about 600-1k for each person)

A Plushie Substitute

Zoro

You hadn’t seen Zoro in a few hours, which wasn’t uncommon. He had been training extra hard here recently, and that resulted in you seeing your boyfriend even less than you normally did. You tried not to be too upset with the circumstances; you knew Zoro’s dream was to become the greatest swordsman in the world, and you would never get in the way of that. So instead, you created a small green-headed plushie with only one eye to take his place when you needed him while he was busy. You whispered your crew gossip to him that you got from Nami, and humorously found that the plushie Zoro spoke about as much as the real Zoro when you relayed the ship drama to him.

--

Zoro had done 1,000 push ups, 500 crunches, and 200 dumbbell squats. He had trained in all of the sword handling positions with his three swords and with weighted barbells until he had perfected each stance. He had worked all morning and all afternoon without stopping, and now all he wanted to do was see you. He wanted to sit in silence while you chatted about your day and filled him in on everything he had missed while he was training. A piece of him had hoped you would come up and interrupt his workout at some point, even if you just quietly existed together, but you hadn’t. So he set off to find you. 

--

Zoro eyed around the ship, looking for you in your normal spots on the deck. “Oi, Nami,” he called to the navigator. “Do you know where y/n is?”

Nami glared at Zoro for a moment, and then rolled her eyes. “I saw her on the stern a few minutes ago, staring off into the sea. Might wanna check on her.”

He walked to the rear of the boat, keeping his eye out for you. He found you sitting on the railing staring out to sea, just like Nami said. You appeared to be mumbling softly to someone, but he didn’t see anyone around you who you could be talking to. 

As he approached, you could hear someone coming up behind you, and you stopped speaking to plushie Zoro and quickly tucked him safely away. 

Zoro came over, easily hoisting himself up over the railing to sit next to you. He wrapped his arm around you to hold your waist, and you leaned into him, resting your head against his muscular chest. He pulled you closer into him, chuckling softly. He always loved when you snuggled up into him, and you loved being so close to him in simple ways.

You remained quiet, enjoying the silence with him. He looked over at you curiously, waiting for you to start talking about your day like normal, but you didn’t speak up. Finally he decided to prompt you, wanting to hear your voice. “How was your day?”

“It was good! I hung out with Nami on the deck for a bit.” You attempt to keep your recap of the day brief, not wanting to bother him with all of the boring details. You had already gotten all of the chattiness and gossip out of your system by talking to his plushie replacement. 

Zoro waits for you to expand, but you don’t, and he starts to grow concerned over your lack of conversation. He thought about how he heard you earlier when he approached, talking and laughing to some unseen person. He squeezed you lightly in an attempt to comfort you, though he wasn’t sure what he was comforting you from. “You okay? Who were you chatting with earlier when I arrived?”

You blush. “I’m okay. I was just talking to…well, you.” You pause, and you see a confused look pass over Zoro’s face. You reluctantly pull out the plushie you’ve created and show your boyfriend. You expect him to laugh at you or make some kind of joke, but he just silently takes the plushie from your hand and examines it for a few minutes. 

“You made this?” He finally asks. You simply nod in response. 

“It looks just like me. It even has a little haramaki and a bandana like mine.” He pauses for a moment to kiss your temple. “This looks really great. But why did you make it?”

Your eyes stay fixed on the plushie. “I just didn’t want to interrupt your workouts, and I know you don’t care much for the drama that I usually tell you about. I created him to help with that. That way I can still tell someone and you don’t have to listen to all my annoying rambling and-”

“Your rambling is not annoying,” Zoro says, cutting you off. “I like your voice. And I like your presence.” He hands the plushie back to you. “Keep this guy of course, but you can always talk to me about anything you want to, and you’re always welcome in the crow’s nest when I’m training. Actually, you should come up tomorrow. I can use you for some new workouts I’d like to try.”

You laugh at that sentiment, but you don’t continue the conversation anymore. You all stay quiet for a while before the moss-haired man speaks up again. “Y/N?”

“Hm?”

His cheeks are tinted as you look his way. “I’m sorry if I made you feel like you couldn’t talk to me. I’m not always a good talker, but I do always listen to you.”

“No, Zoro. It’s not that at all! I just…I just thought you weren’t interested, and I didn’t want to bother you with the silly stuff.”

“You can bother me now, if you’d like.”

And so you all sit on the railing, watching the sun sink into the sea. You talk, he listens, and all is right with the world. 

Luffy

It had been a long time since you had joined Luffy on an island adventure. He was always the type to run off and find trouble before the Sunny had even docked, whereas you preferred to take your time and do a check before you ventured to a new island. You didn’t mind the distance you two usually had on an island, but you did miss sharing an adventure with your boyfriend. Still, you refused to complain or stand in the way of his adventure, so you created a smaller version of him, working on as many small details as you could to make him as realistic as possible. And when you finished, you secured him onto your backpack, ready to set out on an adventure with a version of him. 

--

Luffy had been wandering around for several hours now, looking for something to do. There were small adventures he had found, like herding a farmer’s cattle and exploring some random caves. He even found giant holes in the ground with random artifacts and cool shining crystals, but he didn’t have much use for any of those things, and found it all relatively boring. This island was mostly safe, unfortunately for him, and now he just wanted to find you and try to explore more or head off to the next island.

--

“Oh, cool!” You hear Luffy behind you, rapidly approaching. You brace yourself just in time, and you feel the strawhat man crash into you from behind. His momentum sends you both tumbling into the dirt. 

“Luuuuufffffyyyy!” You’re now face down against the ground and Luffy is sitting on top of you, looking at your backpack with a deep interest. He seems to be completely unaware of the chaos his entrance just caused, or that you are struggling underneath him to get up. 

“Oh man, this is so cool! It’s like a mini-me! The straw hat and the scars and even the sandals! It’s perfect!” He bends down to meet your face and grins. “Hey, y/n! Who made this? I want one of you too!”

You sigh, giving up hope of getting up anytime soon, and answer his question. “I made it, Luffy.”

“No way! It looks amazing! I knew you could make stuff, but I had no idea you were this talented. Can you make me one of you too? So we can match!” His eyes glisten with hope as he’s turning the little doll over in his fingers, examining the details you managed to incorporate. 

“Sure, Luffy.” You’re being short with him, and he’s finally starting to notice. 

His eyes break away from the doll and finally look at you. “Hm? You okay? Do you need me to get up?”

“No, Luffy. It’s fine. I just made Mini-Luffy and clipped him onto my backpack so we could keep going on adventures together.”

“But we always go on adventures,” He questions. “We’re on one right now, aren’t we?”

“I know, but we’re usually split up during the whole thing. And I just, I don’t know…” You had promised yourself you wouldn’t get mad at Luffy for being a captain, for wanting adventure, but you realize now it really did hurt to be separated from him during important moments. “I don’t want to be left behind.”

Luffy gets off your back and stands, silently reaching out a hand to help you to your feet. He readjusts his hat to hide his face, and then takes your hand. “I’m sorry, y/n,” and you can hear the shame in his voice. “I won’t leave you ever again.”

You laugh at that, and you feel a little better now that you’ve gotten that fear off your chest. “Don’t be silly, Luffy.” You give him a peck on his cheek, right under his scar. “I’m not asking you to do that. Just maybe in the future when you slingshot to an island, take me with you every now and then, okay?”

He grins his classic, wide smile,and he nods. “Deal!”

Relief rushes through you, and you relax a bit. Now that you’ve talked to him about your worries, you want to know what his adventures have been on this island. “So, what did you find here? Anything interesting?”

He talks your ear off the whole way back to the ship, and you wouldn’t have it any other way. When you get back, you start working on a plushie look-alike of you for Luffy, and hand it to him a few days later. He loops it around his belt, grinning widely. “Now we’ll never be apart!”

When the next island appears, he slingshots away without you, but you choose to laugh at his hastiness to get to the island. It doesn’t bother you as much now, now that you’ve talked to him about it. But he quickly returns, wraps a rubber arm around you, and takes off again, laughing the whole way. “Almost forgot, but I’ll always come back for you!”

Sanji

Sanji had been gone for a while now, beckoned away again by your hungry captain. It had probably been the tenth time today that he had gotten up to make food for someone on the ship, but that was the duty that came along with the title of being the Sunny’s chef. You were normally pretty good about being on your own while Sanji had to work, but today you wanted to be around him. You went to your room to find some scrap cloth to piece together a Sanji stand-in for the time being.

--

The stove was still hot as Sanji cleaned up from Luffy’s eleventh meal of the day. He wasn’t sure if it was the calm ocean that made Luffy so restless and hungry, but Sanji was starting to get nervous about food rations. He never minded cooking for people of course, but it felt like he was spending more time cooking for his captain than he was spending time with you. He wanted nothing more than to run out to you and cover you in a shower of kisses to make up for lost time, but he knew he couldn’t leave the kitchen such a mess. While he cleaned up, he whipped up your favorite drink and snacks to bring out to you, excited to see your face again. 

--

Sanji strode towards you, thrilled to see you still sunning on the deck in your bathing suit. He had already taken Nami and Robin their own snacks, and left out other snacks for the boys if they got hungry. Hopefully that would give him a few hours of peace alone with you. 

“Y/N-swannnn,” he cooed to you as he approached, but stopped when he saw something in his seat. He looked at it curiously as he got closer, and he realized it was a small replica of himself.

His sudden silence prompted you to open one of your eyes, and you saw him looking at the doll you had put in his seat. “Oh…” you stutter, starting to sit up to explain.

“Y/N-swannnn! Did you make this?!?!” Sanji sets down your refreshments and picks up the doll, pausing briefly to give it a thorough examination. “It’s perfect!” he gushes. “You’ve created such a beautiful piece of work! It’s so-”

“It’s just for when you’re busy!” You rush to explain. “I missed having you around, that’s all.”

Sanji clutches the doll to his chest, and his eyes turn to hearts at your sentimentality. He rushes to you, finally embracing you after hours of being apart. He litters your faces with kisses, which causes you to erupt into a fit of giggles. Once he’s pampered you enough, he pulls you in for a hug, your plushie squeezed between the two of you. 

“Are you hungry, my love?” He pulls away from you, reaching back for the refreshments to serve you. He sneaks the plushie into his pocket while he displays the assortments of snacks and drinks for you to enjoy, which you happily oblige. 

The food is so perfect, you let out a soft moan in delight. “You always make the best food dear,” you praise. “I’ll never eat food from anyone else.”

“Only the best for my queen,” He says, kissing your forehead and taking a seat next to you. 

After a few minutes, you fell asleep surrounded by the smell of cigarette smoke. Sanji let you sleep, watching you endearingly until he was called away once again  to make dinner.

When you awoke a few hours later, you reached out for Sanji before opening your eyes, but only found air in his place. Your eyes peeked open, searching for him, but instead you found his plushie, along with a note that said “He’s only here until I get back ♥”

Ace

You had lost your fiery boyfriend once again. He was off, running amok with the group of  rowdy crew members on the new island. You had decided to stay on the ship, finishing up some minor projects instead of venturing out to the island. He was supposed to return before the sun set, but the moon was working its way through the night sky now, and you were too tired to stay up and wait for him longer. He had already missed your all’s afternoon nap, which made you skip it as well. You never slept well without him anyway. The next morning, he was still MIA, and you were painfully sleep deprived from missing a nap and not sleeping well. You put your crafting skills to work and created a smaller version of him, hoping that would help your sleeping problem temporarily. It ended up being successful, and you fell asleep easier than you expected, curling up with a small stuffed Ace in the absence of your normal sized one.

--

Ace had gotten hopelessly lost, both directionally and time wise. By the time he realized he was late getting back to the ship, he was too intoxicated to navigate back anyway, and opted to share a room with a bunch of his friends at the inn across the street. He slept horribly without you by his side, and as he shuffled back to the ship late the next morning, he prayed you’d be in the mood for an early nap along with him. 

--

Ace stumbled onto the ship, exhausted and hungover. His eyes raked over the deck, searching desperately for you. He didn’t go out with the boys often, and these days he always seemed to regret his adventures whenever they were included. He would’ve much rather been with you last night, and he hoped you’d forgive him for his last minute change of plans. 

He couldn’t find you on the deck, and he spent the next half an hour searching the ship for you, but he was unsuccessful. He finally gave up, returning to his room to nap with the hope that he would find you later.

He was shocked to find you curled up in his bed, already asleep. He’s even more surprised to see you holding a small stuffed animal, and a small tinge of jealousy rises up in him. You had told him before that you never needed a stuffed animal, since you had always had him to cuddle with at night. 

He climbed into bed next to you, brushing your hair back from your face and pressing his lips to your forehead. You stir, familiar with his touch, and your eyes lazily open to meet his. 

“Oh,” you smile, realizing Ace has finally returned back to you. “Hey, you.”

He smiles back to you, his worry melting away. “Hey you.”

You wipe the sleep from your eyes, and prop yourself up on your elbow. “How was your night?”

He fills you in on his evening briefly. “I wish I hadn’t been away for the whole night. I lost track of time. I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s alright.” You’re happy to hear that he missed you as well. Your fingers trail absentmindedly along his bare chest, not saying anything more about the matter. You had already forgotten about the Ace plushie you had created, but he was still staring at it in the dark room, trying to figure out what it was. 

He picked up the stuffed plushie between the two of you and examined it, quickly realizing that it was a replica of him. He caught your eye and held it up, smirking at you. “Miss me much?”

You gave a shy smile back to him, snatching the plushie from him quickly. “Maybe.” 

He gave you a soft peck on the lips, grinning at your timidness. “It looks cute. Not as cute as me, but cute. I like it.”

He pulls you against him, and you settle into his warm skin. “Shall we nap? Make up for lost time?”

You hum in agreement, already drifting off into sleep, comforted in the routine you all have returned to.

Law

Trafalgar Law had always been a surgeon first and a human being second. You knew that, and you knew how much being a surgeon with the Ope-Ope fruit meant to him. So, when you started dating and his study habits didn’t change, you tried to manage without him. You didn’t want to be too clingy, especially at the beginning. And you had always been good at sewing, so you just created a smaller version of the man you loved, so you could keep him around even when he was busy. Now, whenever you felt the urge to tell Law something throughout the day, you had someone to share it with even when he was occupied. 

-

Law stared at the ceiling fan that was lazily spinning in circles. He had been studying for hours, praying you would come in to distract him at some point. But you had started showing up less and less frequently now that the two of you were official. He wasn’t necessarily concerned about you getting cold feet; if something was wrong, he was certain you would talk to him rather than avoid him. Still, he missed you, your smile, the way you always ran into the room as if the most amazing thing in the world had just happened to you. These days, it felt like the only time he really saw you was during meals and island days. 

-

He found you in the common room, reading a book on the couch. He approached you quietly from behind, and as he bent down, he reached around and grabbed your book with his tattooed fingers as he rested his chin atop your head. 

You hummed pleasantly to his approach. “You’re out of your office early today.” You tilt your head up just enough to make contact with his golden eyes. 

“I needed a break.” He kissed your hair lightly and broke away from you, taking the book out of your hands and he stood back up. He closed it gently and sat it on the table behind him. He returned back to you again, this time reaching down to grab your now empty hands. “Do you want to make dinner with me?”

You had to tilt your head back further now to look him in the eye, and you saw him staring down at you with a smirk. 

That stupid smirk always made words more difficult than they were meant to be, and you take a second to find them all before you speak. “I didn’t think Bepo put you on the schedule for dinner this week, did he?”

His golden eyes pierce into yours, and you feel a blush enter your cheeks when he answers.“I was thinking just the two of us tonight. Pasta?”

-

You stir the sauce as Law begins to work on a side dish for the two of you. “Did anything interesting happen today?”

You hum back, trying to recall exactly what the crew got into today while your captain was locked away. “Oh! Clementine died. The crew gave him a burial at sea. It was very touching.”

You can hear Law stop whatever he was doing behind you. “Y/n-ya,” he starts slowly, gears turning in his head. “Who the hell is Clementine?”

You abandon the sauce momentarily to turn and face him. “You know, the fish Penguin caught the other day?”

“The fish?” His brows furrow at you, as if he’s trying to decide whether or not you’re playing a prank on him. “What fish?”

“The fish! The orange fish that Penguin caught and thought was too pretty to kill! I definitely told you about it.” He’s still staring at you with a confounded look spread across his face. 

“You definitely did not tell me about that.” The look on his face tells you that he’s being truthful, and you realize that you didn’t tell him. You told plushie Law about that day, not actual Law. You turn back to the saucepot, not wanting Law to see your face reddening over your mistake. “Oh, I must’ve been confused. Sorry.”

But your captain knows you well, and he walks over to you and wraps his arms around your waist. “Y/n-ya,” he speaks softly, his head now resting on your shoulder. “What are you hiding from me?”

Your blush deepens from pink to red, and you try your best to focus on the task in front of you. “Oh, uh, nothing.” You stutter over your words, not helping your case. 

“Y/n-yaaaa…” He presses his lips against your cheek for a long while. He always knows the best way to get you to cave to him, and you curse yourself for being so readable. 

“I just…” You pause for a moment, and he hums against your skin to urge you on. “I have this mini-you that I sometimes hang out with when you’re busy and tell stuff too. I guess I told Mini-Law about the fish…”

You feel Law pull away from you, examining your face. He’s trying to catch your eye, but you are intensely staring at the sauce in front of you.

“A mini-me?” He asks, confused. You finally look up at him, and you can see a twinge of sadness in his eye.  

“I just didn’t want to interrupt your studying!” You race to explain. “I know how important it is for you to be a surgeon and I didn’t want to get in the way-”

He pulls you close against his chest, stunning you into silence. You can feel his soft lips pressing into the crown of your head, and he inhales deeply against you. “You can always interrupt me to talk to me, no matter how small you think it is.” He pulls you back from him so he can look into your eyes again. “I’ve missed seeing you in my office. I’ve missed your stories and your voice. I want to hear everything, I want to know it all. So come bother me anytime, okay y/n-ya?”

“I promise.” He bends down to kiss you, and you find yourself smiling against his lips. You can smell the faint scent of tomato burning, but the two of you will figure that out later.

[third-generation-female-warrior]

While lounging on the beach of Pabu, enjoying the sun and listening to an underground Rebel News Frequency, Hunter hears that a "courageous blond pilot blew up an Imperial space station/super weapon, making an impossible shot after disabling the targeting system of their x-wing."

And, upon hearing this news, he calmly goes to the nearest long-range comm relay, gets in touch with Rex, where the following conversation happens:

Hunter: SHE DID WHAT?!?!?!

Rex: What? Who?

Hunter: I KNOW OMEGA BLEW UP THAT SPACE STATION! I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU'D KEEP AN EYE ON HER!

Rex: OH! Oh, no, that wasn't Omega, nor did she have anything to do with it. Yeah, I was shocked too, until I learned that the pilot's name was Skywalker- yeah, that Skywalker. My General's son- yeah, no, crazy, you knew about the secret wife, too, right? Yeah, small galaxy, but it wasn't Omega. No, she was hijacking an Imperial freighter on the other side of the galaxy. Of course, she still blew up a shipping depot while doing it, but she didn't blow up the Death Star, totally different mission.

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Quarantine Breach

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

The first the wider universe heard of the plague on Hydraxsis was when traders began returning to their home systems with tales of a massive human fleet hanging in orbit above the world denying all access to the planet’s surface. Transmissions declaring a state of emergency were relayed from the human flagship and stated that the situation was well under control but for the safety of the wider star community no one was allowed to land.

Naturally concerned with this and seeking to offer aid, many civilizations dispatched medical teams and diplomats to open dialogues for relief aid to begin flowing into the system. Yet once again all they were met with were the same transmissions from the flagship that a state of emergency had been declared and travel down to the surface was strictly forbidden.

The stonewalling tactics did not sit well with several of the diplomats, nor did the numerous jamming devices the humans had deployed in orbit above the world to block any communications to and from the surface as well.

When it became known that non-humans had also been trapped on the surface below by grieving families, the governments insisted that the humans open communications and allow relief efforts to be dispatched to the planet.

There was no reply save for the same transmission played again but this time emphasizing the final part with enlarged letters.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REACH THE SURFACE; THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING.

Further enraged and now knowing that several of their own citizens were trapped on the beleaguered world alien fleets began appearing to force their passage through the blockade.

They knew humans were stubborn; it was a core aspect of their primal nature that not even evolution could weed out. Yet it boggled the minds of the aliens why the humans would risk an open conflict over one world.

It wasn’t until a Syndicate Hellbrute Dreadnought, leased to one of the grieving species for a considerable sum, appeared alongside the waiting alien armada did they feel ready to force the blockade.

The two fleets poised against each other as countless weapon bay doors rolled open to reveal their lethal contents. Countless targeting vectors were plotted while missile batteries prepared to unleash a torrent of finite death and destruction when suddenly the human fleet turned.

A lone transport shuttle came racing up from the surface.

Without a moment’s hesitation the entire human fleet opened fired on the tiny transport; completely ignoring the alien warships before them who in turned retaliated against the humans.

Terran frigates crumpled like wads of paper under concentrated fire and carriers were gutted from the inside as torment warheads detonated inside their ships through open launch bays, yet the human fleet gave no return fire to the aliens.

The tiny craft darted like a humming bird through the blizzard of weapons fire directed at it by the humans. Too small for the larger weapons to hit the craft wove its way through the terran fleet as it desperately made for the alien armada.

It had almost made it to the Hellbrute leading the alien fleet when a terran cruiser broke formation and rammed the tiny craft. Unable to avoid the massive size of the ship the transport slammed into the side of the cruiser and detonated in a fireball of destruction.

While the aliens pondered why the terran’s would so recklessly risk one of their larger ships in such a manner they were only further surprised why the same cruiser that had rammed the transport ship then detonated their own jump drives causing a small super nova to erupt between the two fleets.

A blinding shockwave of energy shot out and sent both fleets reeling in opposite directions. Colossal vessels were reduced to nothing more than logs in a rapid current as they battered against each other before finally coming to a stop several thousand kilometers away from where they had started.

The aliens began to reorganize their fleets for another battle but the humans merely returned to their blockade of the world. Only the flagship of the terran fleet remained and opened a direct communication with every alien vessel.

No words were spoken by the terran commander as he opened up a video file and played it. A grainy feed appeared to be from a street camera of some kind of a bustling city. Many assumed that it was from Hydraxsis and noted that it was dated several weeks prior when the blockade first was implemented.

The streets were full of bustling humans and aliens of every kind carrying on their day to day business when one human began convulsing rapidly while crossing the street.

Collapsing to the ground they spasmed so hard that fragments of bone could be seen breaking the skin. Worried onlookers either began backing away from the human or approaching them to try and assist them when the true horror began.

Emerging from the convulsing humans flesh came a thick swarm of tiny red insects. They moved like a stream of water and darted to those who had come forward to help the injured man. With barely enough time to let out a scream the swarm engulfed them in a red tide, dragging them to the ground as a general panic broke out.

Within moments more and more insects began pouring out of the new cadaverous tripling their numbers instantly and just as before began rushing those around them.

The feed then cut away to several days later of the same street as countless fires broke out amongst the buildings. The street was littered with battered and broken aircars while the roads themselves were paved with uncountable bones of victims.

A lone figure came sprinting down the street looking back the way they had come screaming. They made it three steps before tripping over what had been a human femur and falling to the ground as a swarm of insects filling the entire street side to side came down upon them like an onrushing river. The camera was ripped from its mounting by the sheer mass of the swarm and the feed went dead.

The commander ended the feed and addressed the gathered armada. Analyzing the tiny red insects their name was “Ambrogidus Flaxmaxus”, or more commonly called “Red Death”.

A highly invasive species that burrows into living hosts laying thousands of eggs that can hatch within ten seconds to thirty years depending on as of yet to be determined conditions. Once hatched, the larva will eat the surrounding flesh before digging their way out in search of a new host and repeating the entire process with a new host.

Because of the unpredictable nature of the hatching process victims can sometimes carry larva eggs for years without ever knowing. This has made quarantining worlds or victims all but impossible as the eggs blend in with the host’s flesh making them almost impossible to detect by scanners. Even the vacuum of space could not deter the insects as their shells were dense enough to resist the void while the insects themselves hibernated. This reason alone was why the terran cruiser detonated itself the moment it touched an infected shuttle. It was the only way to be sure nothing survived.

The humans admitted that they had been trying to spare the rest of the universe from this plague to contain potential chaos that could be unleashed. Several worlds ranging from small colonies to distant outposts had already fallen to the insect and there had been no designated counter agent for terminating the insects in sufficient numbers.

With a heavy heart the human stated that the “relief” fleet enroute was not coming to help the inhabitants below. It was a scientific fleet with the sole purpose of using the world as a testing ground on new chemical agents and weapons to try and kill the insects.

Even if there had been survivors below the humans had made it very clear.

No one was leaving that planet alive.

[wolven91]

Bears In Space

The marauders had thought this would be an easy take. A tiny craft, slinking through the system, using the shadows of the planets to hide. Perfect to go undetected, if not that the raiding party was doing the very same.

The danger on this tiny craft was the ursidain guardian. A powerhouse in her own right, she'd fight tooth and claw for her human ward. But handle her and the human would be easy pickings. They'd caught the craft unawares, deliberately using a small craft of their own to sneak up submerged in the civilian craft's engine wake. Only a pilot who had used the same tactic would know what to look for. At most they'd think their engine was doing something strange, not that a raiding party was mere moments away from boarding them.

The fight for control was intense, but short.

Three of the marauders had been killed. One had their top half separated from their bottom in one, seemingly effortless, pull by the thirteen-foot-tall guardian. Ursidains could tear bulkheads from walls if angered enough, one draconian spine wasn't much of a problem.

The second's, an esquinine, head was limp against their shoulder at an odd angle, the wild swing that had connected had obviously broken their neck with ease. So much for their 'powers'. It didn't take a telepath to know that the ursidain would have killed each and every one of them at a moments notice.

The third and final casualty was an idiot taurian. He had lost their footing rushing the ursidain and had ended up on their back, firing upwards. The ursidain had merely stepped on them. An average ursidain weighed easily over a metric ton. She hadn't even needed to stomp; the fool's ribcage had snapped like thin dry twigs.

The remaining three team members had simply fired round after electrified round at the raging creature. Ursidains were hardly, but not invincible. A thin pelt and flesh prevented rounds from penetrating deeper. A fused ribcage protected their organs, muscles and tendons with naturally occurring carbon, strengthening their power and force. Realistically, the only thing ursidains naturally feared was deep water. Pressure was their enemy, so not even vacuum scared them thanks to their ridiculous biology.

But she eventually went down. The remaining three raiders were smart, staying away from her swipes and keeping their backs to a sealed door in the small cargo bay.

"Don't kill her." Ordered the lead. The human was nowhere to be found, the place reeked of them, but being so small, like a chintian or geckin, they could hide in places the other races couldn't go, there was no point in searching, so they kept their attention on the entrance to the cargo bay. No, the ursidain had to be kept alive so they could use her to pressure the human into giving up. Humans were soft. Weak. One cut and they bleed out, they didn't even have thick flesh or a protective pelt. They could be tricked.

"Human! This has already been a failure of a raid. Not even you are worth the loss of three of my finest." An obvious lie. Those three were wastes of space and with their departure from his crew, the reward for the human would be divided only three times instead of six. Realistically, the felinoid could have given the human a cut of their reward as thanks and still come out with more credits.

"I'll just kill your friend here and blow up the ship. You're not worth this effort."

"You realise you won't get away with this... right?" The ursidain rumbled from her knelt position, head rising. The three remaining pirates turned their attention to her.

"Oh no? An empty system, no signals going out, no relays even if there was and the witnesses about to be taken care of. Go on, how am I not going to get away with this?"

The ursidain grinned.

"You weren't paying attention to the-"

A deafening roar stole her words as a hurricane materialised in the cargo bay. A terrible force tore all four of the creatures from their place on the metal floor as the fury and might of the vacuum of space grabbed a hold of them. The ursidain knew what to look for as she tumbled head over heels towards the black. A human in a space suit, holding the emergency venting lever down. She caught eyes with her ward as she sailed past and out of the doors.

The raiding team screamed as they went, but nobody heard them, there's no sound in space and the moment they were clear of the air rushing out of the cargo bay, all sound cut off for them too. By the time their bodies collided with their own craft, two of the three were pretty much dead. They had attempted to hold their breaths and their lungs had exploded. The third only survived as they had no air in their lungs, but even then, a mere thirty seconds after entering the black, they too passed.

Their last vision was the ursidain, floating by with them. At least they got one of the pair.

The human on the other hand knew they had a few minutes. Using everything their guardian had taught them, they ensured that their own harness was attached to the miles long cord that kept them latched onto their craft. Then, they leapt from their ship.

The only thing they could hear was their own laboured breathing. 'Never get off the boat' was engrained on anyone who left the safety of a station or planet, the panic and fear of the void was real. Too many things could go wrong if one went floating out into the void. The human ignored the other lazily spinning corpses nearby, the heads-up display on their helmet highlighted the ursidain. They slowed their approach and immediately latched a hook onto the ursidain's belt. Checking it twice, the human began to reel in the tether.

Ursidains were hardy. The sheer strength of their chests and muscles, meant that for a time, vacuum would not kill them. Deep water was deadly, able to crush them as it worked against their strengths, but it meant in the event pirates boarded a ship without vacuum suits? It was better to just vent the whole ship into space while the ursidain distracted them. Just so long as they get picked up well within quarter of an hour... after that...

When the cargo bay sealed and repressurised, the human was watching their HUD for the green 'Pressurised' label before unlatching the helmet and throwing it aside.

When their hands shook the ursidain, nothing happened. They shook the giant again and they still remained unmoving.

It wasn't until the human slapped the ursidain with a desperate panicked shout that the guardian awoke with an 'ow!'.

"I thought you were dead!"

"So you slap dead people?!"

"You were MESSING with me!?"

"I thought you'd find it funny!"

"You're mental!"

"You're rubbing off on me then!"

Discord / KoFi

[zahmaddog]

Closure: I. Nightmares of Eriadu

Warnings: SFW Romance, SO MUCH FLUFF, nightmares, family drama/trauma mentions

Characters involved: Crosshair x fem!reader x Omega x Hunter x Phee

Word count: 3743

Authors Note: This is a sequel (read the first installment here) using the same fem!reader character and pre-existing relationship with Crosshair. But you don't need to read the first fanfic. This one might be better anyway. This story satisfies my personal needs for closure after The Bad Batch animated series ended. I don't want to give anything away, but this resolves my need for closure around Tech, Hunter's need of an arc, and more character building for Crosshair.

I've been writing it for the past several weeks and am multiple chapters ahead. I just wanted to begin posting it. :) I have some moody watercolors painted for some chapters too. I'll maybe retrofit some art too. I'll probably post it separate so nobody misses it. :) Please let me know if you'd like to be added to the tag list. I mainly wrote this for my own entertainment, but who doesn't love it when others are around.<3 I hope you enjoy.

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

Omega threw the ship’s thruster forward and jumped into hyperspace, narrowly escaping the blaster fire of a few short-range fighters.

“Well, that was fun,” she gasped in slight laughter.

Phee smiled and kicked back into her chair, “Fun indeed.”

Omega spun around in her chair to find you still lying on your back in the middle of the ship. You were exhausted and hadn’t even made it to the bunks before collapsing onto the floor. 

“Are you okay?” She called over to you. 

You lifted your head enough to make eye contact, smiled a little, and lifted your arm enough to signal a “thumbs-up” sign. 

She flashes her white teeth at you and returns a thumbs-up enthusiastically. Her hair had grown long over the years and swept across her face. She kept it tied up with a bright red tie, which was suspected to match Hunter’s bandana on purpose. Physically, Omega looked more and more like Hunter over the years, but had Wrecker’s enthusiasm for abrupt adventure, Echo’s drive for serving others, Crosshair’s tactical abilities, and Tech’s piloting skills and calculating mind.

Omega turned back to the ship’s pilot console and felt Phee’s eyes study her. 

“What is it?” Omega pleasantly inquires.

“You fly like Tech,” Phee shrugs.

“Well, he did teach me,” Omega banters back. 

“I know, but… There are a lot of little moments where I see him in you,” Phee continues. 

“Well, we do share the same genetic material—,” Omega starts.

“See, that’s something Tech would have said.”

Omega smiles back, “I wish he could see me fly now.”

“You have become an exceptional pilot,” Phee nods. “He would have been so proud of you.”

Listening in on their conversation, you smile as you remember young Omega’s piloting skills compared to her current set of skills. She was fast, smooth, calculated, and innovative. Deciding you had enough rest, you stood up in Phee’s ship and made your way to the front. 

“Well, look who decided to be with the living!” Phee prods at you.

You sit down and lean back into the chair behind Omega’s seat.

“Next time you two invite me for a ‘girl’s night out,’ you better tell me it’s actually a four day treasure hunt, nine star systems over, with limited rations and pre-existing enemies,” you relay.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Phee chuckles. Omega laughs with her. 

“You two are ridiculous,” you grunt as you pull your hat over your eyes. You hear Phee chuckle to herself, then turn from facing you to the lights of hyperspace.

“You and Crosshair were made for each other,” Phee comments after a small pause in conversation.

“You take that back,” you monotone sarcastically without moving from under your hat, but you felt your lips creep into a small smile at the thought of Crosshair.

“It must be nice,” she suggests happily and threads her fingers around the back of her neck and leans back placing her feet on the dashboard.

You stay silent as you knew Phee still had lingering feelings for the long-lost brother of Clone Force 99: Tech. From what you had heard between Omega, Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair, Phee was a great partner. You both equally wished you had known Tech and that you could tell him that he was not easily forgotten. 

“We’re coming up on Pabu,” Omega broke the silence as the ship was gently thrown out of hyperspace. 

Entering the atmosphere and pushing through the clouds, you lift the brim of your hat to spy the small island in the distance. You sigh a breath of relief as the island grows larger in view.

The spaceport had its usual morning-Pabu hustle with imported goods flying in and individuals leaving Pabu for jobs, vacation, and more. Phee’s ship touches down and the door unseals. Omega picks up her bag and dashes down the stairs in excitement to tell Hunter and Liana about the adventure away and the treasures found.

Phee continues to sit back in the chair lost in thought and unmoved. You rise from your chair and slink into Omega’s piloting seat.

“You okay?” You asked.

“I’ll be okay,” Phee sighed. “There are some treasures in life that you lose, but never forget.”

You knew her mind was still stuck on Tech. She gazed into the oceans of Pabu from the spaceport and let her eyes pool with tears.

“Listen, I’m going to step out of my bounds for a moment, but,” you breathe in deeply and close your eyes for a moment, “I know my way around Eriadu. I don’t think Hunter ever returned to search for Tech.”

“His remains won’t do anyone any good,” Phee looks over to you.

“I know,” you backpedaled. “But if he were– alive,”

“He never contacted us. He couldn’t be alive,” Phee interrupts. You could feel her frustration, so you held your silence.

“I’m sorry,” you apologize for bringing up the topic. 

Phee exhales and wipes her eyes. “I don’t know what’s worse, if he’s alive and didn’t want to contact us, or if he’s gone for good.”

You stood and placed your hand on her shoulder to offer support and to also stage your conversational exit. “Phee,” you began, “You need answers for closure. And you’re good at finding answers. It’s one thing to be afraid of what you’ll find… But if there’s one person to discover what happened, it’s you.”

“I know,” she taps your hand with hers and began to stand. 

“Why didn’t Hunter go back to look for him?” Phee asks.

You shrug, “He’s a soldier; they move on differently than you and I. And you and Hunter are probably right: Tech would have found a way to make contact.”

Phee nods with sadness in her eyes.

You and Phee exit the ship together and walk down the stairs to meet Clone Force 99.

Your pace quickened as Crosshair comes into view. His unshaven face, silver bedhead, and black attire led you to chuckle a little under your breath.

“Well, that was longer than a single rotation,” Crosshair jabs as you greet him with an embrace.

“I should have known better with the present company,” you roll your eyes a little remembering how Omega and Phee talked you into the trip.

“Mmhmm,” Crosshair grunts and as he holds you tighter before softly releasing you. 

“What did you do while I was gone?” You ask.

“I stayed in bed and shot holes in the ceiling,” he deadpans.

You could hear Hunter sigh at Crosshair’s comment. Looking over, you see him bury his head in his hands a little and rub his eyes. You turn back to Crosshair, smile, then stand on your toes to kiss his narrow lips. His hand slides up your back to cradle your head as he kisses you back.

“I missed you,” you smile. 

“And someone’s going to fix those holes in the roof,” Hunter invites himself into your conversation and takes a step towards you and Crosshair. He was so serious. 

Crosshair just stares at him; hardly blinking. He, too, was overly serious. He slides his hand to your back again and you lay your ear against his chest to look at Hunter.

“I’ll fix the roof,” you offer.

“No.” Crosshair rejects your offer and just stares at Hunter.

“I am not going to fix the roof, Crosshair,” Hunter continues to glare. “Not again.”

“Your relationship is so confusing,” you sigh and step back from Crosshair. You wink at him, “I’ll see you at the house, okay?”

Crosshair and Hunter continue to stare each other down.

“… Okay?” You repeat.

“Fine,” Crosshair growls without taking his eyes off Hunter.

“What’s their problem?” Omega asks you.

“I’m not sure,” you scan the crowd, “Where’s Wrecker? Maybe he didn’t feed them while we were gone.”

Omega laughs at your joke, “That’s probably it.”

—----

Dropping your bag into Crosshair’s room, you look up at the ceiling. He shot more than just holes. At some point, the blaster holes turned into bigger holes and the entire roof was practically missing. You felt Crosshair approach behind you. 

“So that’s what four rotations of shooting the ceiling will get you?” You chuckle.

‘Uh-huh,” he looks up at his handy work. 

You narrow your eyebrows a little bit as you inspect the ceiling further.

“Problem?” Crosshair asks.

“I don’t want to be that girlfriend, but—,” you stop yourself as you never asked much of Crosshair. You wanted him to find a more productive hobby, but after all he’s been through, he did deserve to blow off some steam. It was just a ceiling anyway.

“What?” He prods.

“Why’d you stop at the ceiling?” you grin.

“I learned my lesson the last time I tried to shoot a live round into Wrecker’s bunk,” he says as he tosses himself into the bed.

“Where is Wrecker?” You ask.

“Off-world with Shep. Some kind of supply run,” Crosshair shrugs.

“What have you and Hunter been eating then?” You chuckle.

“Oh, you know… Soldier food,” he points to the end of his bed to the pile of ration bar wrappers. You pick up one of the wrappers and inspect it.

“Cross, these expired over three years ago,” you mutter.

“That would explain things,” Crosshair exhales.

“Are you okay?” You sit down at the end of the bed.

“Clearly,” he enthuses. The ceiling gave an audible crack and pieces fell onto Crosshair’s head and shoulders; his expression unchanging. You didn’t buy his answer, but knowing him, he wouldn’t talk much more, especially under pressure. You stood enough just to shuffle to his end of the bed and relax against the headboard, sitting on pieces from the ceiling. You took his hand and brought it to your lips.

“How was your trip with Phee and Omega?” Crosshair asks to change the subject.

“Confusing. It was nice of them to include me, but I don’t want to get into trouble like I used to,” you shrug. “They didn’t exactly tell me what was going on and when we arrived, we were already in a few gun fights with other pirates.”

“Did they get what they were after?” Crosshair narrows his eyes.

“I think so. They picked up a package, we fought over it, lost Phee’s ship, got it back, then flew home,” you close your eyes and rest your head on his shoulder. “I’m exhausted.”

“Hmm,” he faintly grunts in response. “I didn’t think you’d get tired of pirating missions.”

“And I didn’t think I’d come home to you shooting holes in the ceiling,” you reply, staring up into the gaping holes. You earned a soft smile from him as he peers up to inspect his work once more.

“True,” he chuckles. 

You and Crosshair stayed in bed watching the stars appear as the sun began to set, painting the sky pink and orange. Letting your hand trace up his hand, arm, chest, and to his face, you felt his scratchy, unshaven face. 

“Sorry, I haven’t shaved,” he apologizes and slips a toothpick between his lips.

“It’s not a bad look,” you comment. 

His silver hair, straight and unkempt, had grown a bit past a typical soldier’s cut everywhere but the scar on the right side of his skull. The sides and back were tapered and faded into the length, framing his jaw. Around his neck he wore a thin chain with engraved plates hanging just above his chest. 

He suddenly sighs sharply. 

“I —,” he starts. You don’t prod at him to continue, but instead start to run your fingers through his hair. “Stop,” he takes his hand to stop yours and he sits up taller, but still doesn’t look at you. 

“Sorry,” you apologize. He takes your hand and holds it in his lap. The silence washes over the moment.

“What’s wrong?” You re-engage with him.

“It’s nothing,” he shakes his head a little and looks back up into the stars. You knew something was up with him due to his lack of un-soldier-like appearance and the state of his ceiling, but now you felt concern trickle into your heart.

“Is it nothing?” You ask.

“I can’t sleep when you’re not here,” he admits through a wince.

“You’re not weak for that,” you assure him.

He sighs again and turns towards you. You pull on his shoulder, motioning him to lay down. He rests his head on your arm and the pillow beneath then closes his eyes. 

“The nightmares are back?” You whisper.

“They never left,” he sighs quietly. 

________

Crosshair had fallen asleep quickly. You took the toothpick from his lips and flicked it to the floor. Your eyes grew heavy too as the night sky had settled in. 

________

Eriadu’s summers were warm, temperate, and pleasant. The famous Tarkin compound was familiar as you had spent holidays there with your immediate and distant family. Your mother, Governor Tarkin’s sister, had married outside of the family to a lowly Imperial loyalist. While she was left out intentionally from her parent’s fortune, she was still included in familial gatherings. 

“Are you coming?” You looked up to see your older brother, Crix. His hand extended to you as you realized you may have fallen to the ground. Your clothes, hands, and knees were dirty. Looking into his eyes, you see they’re full of worry. You nod your head and reach for his hand. His hand feels cold. Inspecting it, you turn his hand over in your palm. Looking back up to his face, he vanishes.

“Crix?” You look around, but he’s gone. The silence of the forest overwhelms you as you sense something is wrong. The feeling of doom pools into your stomach, weighing you down. Each step further into the forest weighs heavier and heavier. The sky grows dark and the ground is black. The subtle asphyxiation quells your movement; you fall to your knees.

An old, brittle hand reaches out and grabs your shoulder. It’s nails, cut into your skin. You let out a scream, but no sound left your lips.

You wake, sitting up quickly as your heart races. You breathe in deeply like you hadn’t in some time. When was the last time I dreamt of Eriadu? You ask yourself. Crosshair snores and shuffles slightly in the bed. Your nightmare didn’t bother him in the slightest. You sigh a breath of relief. He was usually such a light sleeper.

The floor felt cold beneath your toes as you slipped out of the bed. The fresh air was a nice touch; maybe you wouldn’t fix the roof after all. Or at least not right away. You tip-toed to the back patio to watch the ocean waves curl into the shoreline. Opening the patio door, you were surprised to find Phee leaned against the railing looking out into the sky.

“Couldn’t sleep?” She asks you without turning.

“Not really,” you responded. You sit down into the chair and put your feet up on the railing. 

“Nightmares?” She asks kindly.

“Of home, I guess,” you shrug. 

“Where’s home?” Phee sits down into the chair next to you.

“Here,” you realize out loud, “But no, I dreamt of a place my family would visit for holidays when I was a child,” you admit.

“And where’s that?” She continued to pull your teeth.

You bit your lip and shifted your jaw to the side, remembering your last conversation with her about Eriadu. You supposed that was why Eriadu was fresh on your mind.

“Eriadu,” you sigh. 

Phee’s eyebrow raises in response, “Oh.”

“I dreamt my brother Crix was in the forest there. I reached out to him, but he disappeared. I haven’t seen him in a few years. But he was the closest brother I had,” you explain. 

“Does he still live on Eriadu?” Phee asks.

“No,” you lament. “He hated it there; more than I did.” You chuckle a little remembering old conversations and shared expressions at the dinner table with your brother. 

“Where is he now?” Phee continues to lay on the questions.

“I don’t know,” you look to exchange your sorrowful expression. “He started chasing spice dreams to escape reality and then I defected from the Empire and my family; I lost track of him a bit after that.”

“Well, I like to believe that all dreams have meaning,” Phee marveled upwards to the sky again.

“You would,” you nod.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said, sis,” Phee hesitated. “Since it’s fresh on your mind, would you want to come to Eriadu with me?”

Your heart jumped a little in your chest at the thought of seriously returning. It had been a few years since your last run in with your uncle, Governor Tarkin, but the Empire didn’t seem to care about your existence anymore. Surely someone would recognize you there. But, perhaps your soul had some unfinished business to attend to as you reflected on your dream once more.

“I’ll think about it,” you assure.

A small ship took off from the cave and accelerated into the atmosphere with a soft boom. 

“Was that Omega?” You asked Phee.

Phee nodded, “I figured she’d sneak off here soon.”

“She’s more of a soldier than Hunter wants to admit, isn’t she?” You sigh.

Phee stands and leans against the railing once again. She pulls her binoculars to study the entrance of the cave. “Batcher and Hunter saw her off.” “This house will turn into a mess without her here,” you chuckle. “Mmhmm,” Phee agreed, continuing to watch Hunter and Batcher walk home.

“Well, I’m going to turn in,” you announce as you stand from your chair.

“Think about what I said,” Phee turns to you. 

You give her a silent nod of acknowledgement and head back inside. Walking down the hallway, you pause just outside of Omega’s room. Of course she’d slip out while Wrecker was off-world, you think to yourself. 

Arriving at Crosshair’s door, you slowly enter the room. Feeling relief that he’s still asleep, you slide into the bed with him quietly. 

__________________________

The morning sun warmed Crosshair’s room quickly without the roof to shield. Moving your hands to block out the sun, you squinted around the room to find yourself alone. You shift and swing your legs off the bed to sit upright. You hear the door open.

“I decided I’ll fix the roof,” Crosshair mutters as he walks into the room slowly with his and your morning cups in hand. He was clean shaven again, but continued to leave his hair longer. 

“Did you sleep well?” You smile.

“Yes,” he sits down on the bed next to you and hands you your cup. “Did you?” He asks in return.

“Honestly, no. I got up a few hours into the night and–” You pause.

“I know Omega left,” Crosshair mutters.

“I’m sorry she didn’t say goodbye,” you mention.

“She did, in her own way,” Crosshair reaches into his pocket and pulls out his small money sac that usually had a few credits in it. “It’s empty,” he sighs. “She left a note saying she owes me.”

“You wouldn’t have let her go, would you have?” You ask.

Crosshair sighs, “She’s a better shot than I am these days. She’ll be fine. I’m surprised she didn’t wait until I was also off-world to sneak off.” Crosshair softly smiles as he puts his credit bag away. “But I suppose confrontation isn’t a strong suit of mine either.”

You nod and think back on Phee’s conversation last night. Your vanishing smile catches Crosshair’s attention.

“What else happened last night?” Crosshair furrows his eyebrows together.

“Phee asked me to go to Eriadu with her,” you say into your mug.

“Eriadu?” Crosshair lifts an eyebrow and leans forward into your space. “Why Eriadu?” 

“Well, my family. Some unanswered questions. And—” you pause, not sure how to explain your intentions.

“What?” Crosshair presses.

“Tech,” you lightly shrug and take a long drink from the mug. “She wants to…”

Crosshair moved your mug down from your lips. “What?” He insists.

“Phee is curious if Tech’s remains are there… Or if Tech is… There,” you manage to say hesitantly. 

Crosshair stays silent and drinks his caf alongside you. He turns to face the door and crosses his arms. 

“If he were alive, Tech would have sent us a message,” Crosshair informs you.

“I know,” you nod. “It doesn’t make sense that he’d be alive. I don’t know what we’ll find, but Phee needs closure.” 

Crosshair sighs and stares into his black, undoctored caf, “We probably all do.” 

You and Crosshair continue to sip in silence for a few minutes. You could feel him mull his thoughts over. Even with you, he wasn’t the best talker, but you knew his internal dialog plagued him.

“Will you go with her?” Crosshair breaks the silence and studies your eyes.

“I don’t know,” you slowly elaborate, “It’s been years since I’ve been there, but I’d still be recognized. The only advantage I bring is that I know the planet well.”

“Hmm,” Crosshair takes another sip.

“Would you come with me?” You ask.

Crosshair sharply exhales and rolls his eyes, “You know how I just love unplanned adventures with pirates.”

“So you will?” You squint your eyes at him.

“I can hardly wait,” he sarcastically agrees and finishes his morning drink.

Chapter II: Going Home

++++++++++++++++++++++ taglist ++++++++ @heidnspeak @cloneflo99 @megmegalodondon @tentakelspektakel

[space-blue]

Alien thoughts and concepts.

Alien movie concept: Highly intelligent, well trained, low drama professionals in an alien movie. They take all the precautions, don't trigger any of the easier things like black goo dust or mega sus eggs. They scan everything, use robots, have good protocols in place to work with their android, etc.

Maybe the focus could be over the relationship between the synthetics and the humans, since the topic seems so dear to the franchsie, with the alien serving as a stress point that changes the dynamic and forces people to the edge of their humanity.

And I think we can still get gore and screaming and messy deaths, but pros simply wouldn't make a mistake like snorting the local fauna on a cigarette break.

You know, maybe it's a military advance crew here to establish the first base around David's new colony. And unbeknownst to them, and almost everyone in the colony, he's been running his little fucked up experiments for decades, and the newcomers are fresh blood to test his babies on, meaning they're dealing with forceful invasion?

IDK man. I'm 4 films into the alien franchise and a liiiiiittle weeee bit tired of the "people goof while exploring and chaos ensues on spaceship" concept. Alien Romulus and Alien stand out, but I'd love to see a more in depth, slow paced, unsettling horror play out. Less about packing as many chestbursters in as possible and more about the cosmic horror of having found some sort of hostile limiter.

I'm especially bummed when humans see explicit proof of intelligent alien life and go 'mmmmm'okay.' like come on, this isn't Star Wars. In Covenant the *religious* dude had nothing to say about the ancient ruins they took refuge in, clearly created by a fully humanoid species? REALLY?

Say, give me a story about a 5 people, 3 humans, 2 synthetics, operating a small space relay. They're like lighthouse keepers in space, and all the quadrant's news goes through them.

And tensions climb as more and more colonies in a nearby systems go dark. Distress signals start singing through the radio, but due to the distance, it's already too late to help. And the problem seems to be spreading.

And then a refugee ship pings them. It's on their way, and needs an emergency stop because they aren't kitted out for long distances.

They have no reason not to help them, but they will be cold blooded and professional about this. The synthetics will go in as they can't catch any illness.

Maybe we can deal with aliens who have learned to be sneaky. Who don't take the more brutal and animalistic approach only. Like imagine the horror if one of them cut themselves on purpose to vent a segment of the ship? Imagine if they showed more of a willingness to stalk and ambush?

[carionto]

Overwhelming presence

Monitoring space is a complicated task due to the literal cosmic scale of the undertaking. However, security is paramount, all species learn this in their own histories, thus technology and methods to effectively keep track of most relevant objects in space has been thoroughly developed.

The (relatively) simplest and most commonly used is the Quantum Web - a series of micro-satellites dotted around a star system, each maintain a large field of quantum-entangled particles and relay any changes within it in real time to all associated monitoring stations. The primary method is by detecting changes in energy levels, as simple physical displacement often clutters the feed with random asteroids and debris, or other objects of non-sapient origin.

As the United Federation and the Galactic Coalition are in a bit of a... tense stage in their relationship at the moment, the bordering Neutral Zone is heavily monitored by Federation agents, especially all systems close to where they have deployed their Battle Moon.

One day, a Federation monitor was returning from a short break to notice something off about the readout. There were many big bright white dots moving quickly within the Neutral Zone. They had never seen anything like that before. Normally all readings are color coded based on known ship or station designs and typical power outputs throughout said vessel.

The flow of energy throughout a vessel is sort of a fingerprint in a way. If you zoom in on the readout, and if the Quantum Web field is saturated enough, you can sometimes make out individual power generators and consumers.

This was something else. Going closer just made the whole projection go white, as if the thing was hundreds of kilometers in every direction, but that couldn't be. First, even the Battle Moon doesn't produce an image like that and it is literally a 340km large moon. And second, these dots - spheres more accurately - seem to overlap constantly. Logically, this must be an error of some kind.

What was not logical is when those bright lights came up to relative physical viewing distance of the hidden monitoring station. Letting curiosity get the better of them, the Federation agent pointed a telescope where this "error" should be.

There was nothing there. Just an error then. Feeling relieved even though they didn't think they were nervous to begin with, they set about filing a report on the situation and requesting maintenance support. As they were about to finalize all necessary paperwork, an open channel hail pinged them.

"Hey there, is anyone out here? We, uhh, messed up and wiped our navcom, so we're kinda lost here. Could someone please send over a copy of the local system chart? We'd be real grateful if you also didn't tell our parents about this, okay? Like, we can trade for something, like Mick's fancy guitar" "Hey!" "What? You don't play, your dad just gave it to you cuz you randomly said you wanted one while high."

Taking a quick glance at the projector and comm-observer, the agent stopped. The messages were coming from those bright lights. Rushing back to the telescope, they quickly zeroed in on their location and found three small apparently custom built space craft of unknown design.

As the trio of ships kept sending out random conversations among the clearly young civilians on board, the agent maintained total silence. Not long after, a Coalition military scout craft appeared on the projector in the expected yellow energy pattern, confirming that the Quantum Web was functioning without fault.

Throughout the ensuing conversation and reprimand, they learned that the three ships belonged to Humans, a species very recently integrated into the Coalition. Little investigation had been done on them so far, mainly as they are quite far away and only reside within a single system.

So the question stands - what kind of energy signature would produce such a massive bright light? it couldn't be a ruse. You can't "trick" a quantum-entangled particle. Maybe... There are ancient anecdotes of true fusion reactors - miniature stars - but no, nobody utilizes that, it's far too dangerous and difficult just to contain let alone exploit.

No one in their right mind would use literal stars right next to them. Right?

[ppnuggie]

　　　　　　RODIMUS PRIME x gn reader

　　　　『　rodimus ,, gender neutral reader 』

　　-> avatar au | part 2

　　— fluff ,, sfw ,, first contact au ,, avatar au ,, language barrier

　　— lmk what yall think of this :3 any critism or feedback is welcome <3 pls repost !!

          red flashed throughout the ship ,, alarms blaring in all directions as bots aboard panicked . no one knew what was happening ,, no information shared as they ran and gasped and stood frozen in distraught . rodimus wasnt sure of what was happening either ,, panicked like the rest of them but still staying as calm as he could .

          he transformed ,, determined to get to the control center and figure out what exactly was happening . he swerved around the panicking mechs ,, making sharp turns and excelling his speed . drifting into the control center ,, he transformed quickly and watched as a battle took place between autobot and decepticon . seekers littered the control center ,, locked in a fight with the piloting autobots . the control panel was smashed and burnt ,, lazer fire going in every which direction . rodimus wasted no time ,, quickly joining in the battle and punching a seeker off one of his fellow mechs .

          the ship tilted and turned ,, thrashing about as the battle raged on . rodimus grabbed the back of a seeker by their wings ,, shoving towards another seeker and kicking the one rushing towards him . with every punch and kick the mech gave ,, he was met with one from any lurking seeker ready to take a hit to him . dents and paint chipped ,, energon leaking from his mouth as he grabbed one seeker in a chokehold . energon spilt over the floor from his fellow autobots ,, and some other decepticons . it pooled beneath his pedes ,, covering the floor in bright magenta .

          the front of the ship was set ablaze ,, a sign that they were entering the atmosphere of earth . rodimus struggled in his battle with the decepticons ,, all the other autobots now bleeding out on the floor with their optics offline . it had to have been an ambush ,, decepticons hacking into autobot comm links and steering the pilots right into a trap . they mustve relayed another message ,, the seekers quickly retreating from the ship as the alarms blared .

          rodimus lost his grasp on the seeker in his servos ,, watching as they left and flew through the air . he rushed over to the control panel ,, pressing what buttons he could and grabbing the steers to pull away from any civilization below . he couldnt do much ,, narrowly steering the ship on a crash course through a dense forest where he hoped no humans would be there . rodimus could only wait ,, feeling the ship thrust and throttle about . he could hear bits and pieces flying off the ship and land who knows where .

          he could hear the forestry being broken ,, branches snapping and cackling as theyre massacred by the ship . he could only brace himself for impact ,, feeling the harsh thrust of being thrown to the back of the room as the ship crashed . smoke poured everywhere ,, circling the room as flames crawled in . rodimus could only see black after that ,, stuck in the abyss of eternal darkness until he could be brought back online . left to hope that maybe some autobots made it ,, maybe some autobots were on their way . all he was left to do was hope .

          rodimus didn't remember much ,, optics onlining as his systems yelled at him about his injuries . open wounds and gnashes leaking energon ,, dents and paint chipped in places . the first thing he could see when his optics finally focused was a face . one he hadnt seen before ,, almost like they were cybertronian but not exactly . the only response he could give was to shriek ,, causing the being to also shriek in return ,, running and hiding behind a bush .

          the creature was small ,, organic but not like the 'animals' he was shown pictures of beforehand . they look more like those humans ,, walking on two legs and having cybertronian features . curiosity captured the mech ,, wondering what they were . he couldnt contain his thoughts ,, so many questions about this place and them . he was starting to feel like perceptor in a way .

          they warbled something ,, eyes big and wide in caution yet they held a want in them . slowly ,, they stepped out from behind the flora ,, hand stretched out in front of them as they scooted slowly towards rodimus . he repeated their actions ,, holding his servo out as he moved towards them ,, until they suddenly touched . their hand was small and warm

against his cold servo . he could almost feel this beat under their 'skin'.

          their mouth moved upwards in a smile ,, eyes shining bright as they looked into his optics . rodimus returned the smile ,, curious about what else there was to know about these humans than what he was told . they didnt seem so threatening ,, so violent . they reminded him of those protoform turbofoxes he'd seen on cybertron . all soft plating and barely any teeth to them . humans couldnt be so bad ,, he thought .

[entropy-game-dev]

The cheeky last minute UI rework

A week ago, I had Lucinius play a near-complete version of the demo build and he had a bunch of good suggestions after playing it for a solid few hours.

One part of his feedback centered around how move information was displayed. Previously, in non-battle menus, the move info would follow your cursor, and thus you weren't able to mouse over the various stats or check the description (which would have outputted to a log that isn't visible anyway).

Now I've made it so that clicking on the move icon displays the window in a static pane, letting you mouse over the various icons. Also, the description now appears in-line inside the window, regardless of where you're looking at it!

I made a whole bunch of other changes, and ahead of tomorrow's demo release (I can't believe it's finally happening), you can read about them below the cut!!

v0.18 - Demo Build 1

Features:

Auto-deposit materials is working and on by default

Mouse over now shows curr/max for hp/en/ammo + stat title

Going past the max floors now sends you back to the ship

New trap added that instantly spawns an encounter

Clicking on an attack icon with the mouse now makes the info panel stay open

Clicking the description button/pressing pause with a move selected now displays it within the panel

Archive sprite added to base

Game now tracks enemies encountered and killed

Added target marker to tutorial area

Archive can view logs and tutorials, and enemy names

Balance:

Starting area has slightly more loops

Starting area has slightly higher encounter density,

Removed local relay from starting area

Added spatial constant to starting area

Added Holepunch routine to Punch Press

Slightly increased passive random recruit chance from 1 to 2%

Buffed max damage recruitment rate divisor from /3 to /2.5

Nerfed heal recruitment rate divisor from /3 to /4

Changed starting system escape fuel needed to 20

Gain a small amount of fuel when researching local/relativistic navigation

Added party size to the base matrix research rather than subsequent research

Features now scale around the mid floor of the dungeon instead of around floor 2

Dungeon floors, rooms, and corridors get bigger as you go down

Damage/heal recruit function ceiling'd so you make at least 1% progress when you do the correct action

Slightly revised title screen animation

Revised enemy encounter formula to scale around the center floor of the dungeon + adjusted dungeon encounter mass respectively

Changed Gimbal Lock's status from stun to slow

Made summons recruitable

Buffed all part slots and changed power load formula to compensate

10% buff to large enemy stats for each square above 1

Make killing with an element apply advantage, even if it resists or was neutral to the element

Polish:

"are likely in rooms" -> "are more often found in rooms"

"can be used for fuel" -> "could be used for fuel"

"once a line has formed" -> "once a line has formed in the element grid"

"the astronaut has been destroyed" -> "your suit has been critically damaged"

"the robot core's power load." -> "the robot core's power load (to the left of the equipped parts)."

Power load tutorial only comes up when you exceed it

Changed POWR to HEAL when looking at a healing move in the attack description

Disabled interaction with central 3x3 core area and changed description

Changed first strike/ambush bar colour and text

Added fuel unit value to fuel item descriptions

Added filter menu icon

Deep Diver sprite updated

Burrow sprite updated

Recruit chance icon doesn't show mouseover text when invisible

Swapped weapons 1 and 2 equip location on the assistant to match sprite appearance

Removed extra line on the bottom of the big map

Equip vfx effect now appears under move info panel

Black outline added to all dungeon features

Made recruitment pink text appear over the damange numbers

Made it so that locations can't spawn directly behind the black hole image in the navigation screen

Made the main black hole image slightly transparent in the navigation screen

Reordered research tutorials

Scan description revised to indicate it can reveal more and more information progressively

Updated matrix tutorial to talk about core tiers

Changed equip sprite fx to green

Swapped arm that has the arm computer in a cutscene

Tutorial edited to say cores have innate routines

Edited lowest_5levels to be an accurate tutorial

Bugs:

Disabled the ability to look at the big map during the beginning of an encounter

Floor scanning effect now shows all the time for unexplored tiles

Removed debug value allowing you to interact with lore objects infinite times

Priority of mouseover is only cleared with the text now

Fixed player recruit chance status doing the opposite of what it says it does

Fixed healing-type recruitment not working

Fixed no item tutorial firing incorrectly because research inventory manager was not ready

Conduct animation was not happening when the conducted element was not the last hit on an enemy

Fixed lowest floor tutorials not firing

[hirik0]

False Reality part 3

Ghost/Soap | Si-Fi AU

Subject Lieutenant Simon Riley Human space forece

Days in simulation: 6 SGD

Days till asserting: 6 SGD

The first time something relay strange happend since he passed out is when he listens to some really old song from the 2000s while doing push ups, still a very frustrating low amount of push ups.

Can't count the years on one hand

That we've been together

I need the other one to hold you

Make you feel, make you feel better

It's not a walk in the park

To love each other

But when our fingers interlock

Can't deny, can't deny you're worth it

They just came back from a mission where things gone to shit. Since Soap broke up with Sergeant Marvin Schneider he made it a habit again to stargaze from on of their favourite hidden spots of the HSS Churchill. He feels dumb for doing so the last 20 or so missions Soap did not show up to stargaze together so why should he this time? And still he stits here again for hours just in case sometimes checking their other spots before returning here. They are inthe orbit of a earth like planet and you have a fantastic few at the other planets and moons of this solar system. He's wearing just a old comfy sweatshirt and sweatpants. His face is hiden under the hood rested against the window while he looks at the scene in front of him. He nearly didn't hear the steps apraoching in this rally visited part if the base ship the 141 is stationed, thats why its so perfect to just watch the parts of the universe they are currently visiting. He needs a bit longer then he likes to reconiases the steps as Soaps. His heart beat fastens in exitment and a small amount of hope is filling him. The footsteps stop in front of him and Ghost has do to anything to not keep looking at the stars and not at Johnny. Nothing happens for a while and the hope is slowly ripped out if him by dread. What if Soap just goes what if their friendship didn't survive the 2 year shitt show realtionship Soap,just left 9 months ago. The only clue he has is Soap nervously tapping his feet in the ground and he finally moves his unmask face to look at Soap. The Sergeant is bitting his lower lip clearly thinking, his eye widen when he realises that Ghist is not wearing his mask. Ghost jsut pulls his legs closer to himself to make more space for Soap, an inventation from his site. Soap smiles at him before stitting across from Ghost in the opening. "You eh did this all the time the past two years?", Soap ask while looking out the window. "More or less", Ghost answers vaguely no need to tell Soap he rearrange his cabin so he can sit on his bed to watch the starts while resting his head against the glas. "I see", Soap just says sounding small. Ghost just has the tiniest smile on his face the happiness of them maybe doing this together again. Watching the stars together after a mission when they still to full of adrenalin from the mission, when sleep is not coming again, their is time to file before they are send down on a planet. The only reason Ghost keep doing it was because it rembered him who thinks use to be, when nobody ever thought that Ghost and Soap can't work together anymore, before the misunderstandings and jealousy nearly ripped the 141 a part.

And after all this time, I'm still into you

I should be over all the butterflies

But I'm into you (I'm into you)

And baby, even on our worst nights

I'm into you (I'm into you)

Let 'em wonder how we got this far

'Cause I don't really need to wonder at all

Yeah, after all this time, I'm still into you

They sit there for a bit more then a hour when Ghost notice Soap is shivering. It sometimes happens that Soap gets to cold when they are stargazing, no big deal usally, but now it kinda is a big deal. "Soap?", Ghost ask carefully they didn't spoke since the very beginning. Soap looks in his direction. "You're good?", Ghost ask more out of politeness they both know he don't have to ask. "Forgot how ass cold it is here", Soap complains rubbind his arms to get warmer. Ghost chuckels at this before streaching his legs and opening his arms in an unspoken invertation. A light blush is apearing on Soaps cheeks. Ghost swallows nervously afraid he steped over a line he didn't know existed. They don't do this anymore, haven't in nearly 3 years. Soap moves a bit hesitant before moving in between Ghost legs. A whole mount range is failing from Ghost shoulders when he feels Soaps back against his chest, maybe what they had is can be saved. To test the water Ghost closes one arm lose around Soap the other just he uses to place his head on. They stay like this for a while not knowing what to do hiw far the other allows this to go. "Ghost", Soap breaks the tense silence, Ghost just humms to signal he's listening. "Hug me like you mean it or don't do it at all", Soap says displeased with how thinks are in the moment but still offing a out. "That's an order Sergeant?", Ghost ask sarcastic can't stop the big smile. "Yes", Saop answers clearly nervous and unable to detect the sarcasm. Ghost just closes his arms around Soap placing lifting his chin a bit so Soap can tug himself under there if he wants. And Soap does putting his own arms over Ghosts slitting a bit down so he can rest is head against Ghost collar bones. "To your liking?", Ghost wispers in Soaps hair. "Perfect", Soaps says with a big smile that Ghost haven't seen in a long time. A warm feeling is spearding through Ghost chest realising that even they had two hard years he still feels the same about Soap and he has the feeling it's the same for the Sergeant. "Misst this", Ghost admitted in the now comfortable silence eyes growing heavy as he slowly relaxes. "Me too", Soap yawns cuddeling a bit more into Ghost. The calming heart beat of Ghost, of Simon slowly sing him to sleep.

'Cause I don't really need to wonder at all

Yeah, after all this time, I'm still into you

I'm still into you

I'm still into you

Ghost graons when the song changes, he has no idea what the fuck just happend. He just knows he lays face down on the mat he uses for exercise as if his arm just gave up mid push up. He turns around so he lays on the back, tears start to run down his eyes. That was the Soap that feels so familiar, the Soap he knows. With his big smile, bratty attitude, the bluest eye he ever saw, his stupid mohawk. He amount of feelings he expirence right now is overwhelming. So he lays there and crys for a while, before the logical parts of his brain are able to start working again. If mohawk Soap is the Soap he knows... who the fuck is this teacher Soap then? If teacher Soap is a imposter of some sort does this mean that Emma is infact his niece and not his daughter? What is with Price, Gaz, his family are they also not real? Something is wrong and he will figure out what. His first stop are the photos in the hallway. Family photos, Tommys and his graduation, Tommys wedding, Joseph birth and at various ages on family vacations. Then his blood freezes a photo of his father. Its looks like its at some sort of gala. It is a picture of his childhood he looks around 10. His father holding a trophy of some sorts, all of them with big smiles. He looks at his own warm big smile and he understands why his mum calls him sunshine now. It can't keep his rage, disgust and hatred at bay he's feeling. He finds a other photo of his father and his stupid shit band Bone Lickers. He takes the picture of the wall and throws it across the hall. He then taps all the other pictures with his father down bringing them in the kitchen. He thinks about just throwing all of them in the trash, while these arching head ache is flaring up again, that had him passed out nearly a week ago. He fights again the pain, while he rips his father out if all the pictures. Blood is dripping down as he's nose started to bleed before he passes out on the kitchen floor.

Simulation in critical condition Subject got sedated.

Recalculation needed

Integrating of other importent persone: Kate Laswell, Rodolfo Parra, Farha Karim, Alex Keller, Alejandro Vargas, Valeria Graza

Meanwhile

Soap is angry nothing Ghost was missing for 6 SGD and they found nothing. Well besites a bunch of destroyed Soulless, after they needed 5 days to even find Gjost last location. Je fals on his bed face first while tears are gathering in his eyes. They just started to fix their relationship and now Ghost is MIA. They are curently flying to a black book research facility of the Human Intelligence Agency (HIA) delivering the Soulless corps and meaning with some of Laswells agents. It feels so pointless, he still trys to cling to what Gaz said no blood, so Ghost didn't die or got injured. It could mean he escaped unable to contact them and he he hopes that this is the case. Gjost survived worse then the Soulless trap, he digged himself out of a grave with a jaw bone for fucks sake. It still can't stop the tears running down Soaps face at the moment, the pain in his chest taht makes every breath hurt, the fear that is nesting in his bones. Price told him to not get his hopes up to much, but he dont even know if that can be possible. Every lead they followed needed in them having nothing again and still every lead gives hope rhat Soap needs to keep going. But after every dead end he is in his dark cabin crying, the fear of losing Ghost after they just started to repair their friendship pulling him down. Fear of being to late after wasting 2 years in a realtionship with a person he didn't even loved that much, that he missed the chance of having Simon for himself. The door to his cabin is opening and Gaz is looking at the heartbreaking picture in front of him. He talked Alex in to hacking the door to Ghost cabin so he can steal one of Ghost hoodies for Soap for a littel comfort. "Soap?", Gaz carefully ask in the room, getting no answer. He steps in wanting to quickly drop the hoodie but Soaps sobs let him rethink. He carefully sits on the bed running his hand through Soaps mohawk. "You think they already killed him?", Soap sobs out after several minutes of silence. A cold feeling is running down Gaz spine after Alex was allowed to told them some things regarding the Soulless after the briefing. "HIA found evidence that the Soulless try to turn certain enemy soilders in to Soulless and they think that Ghost would be a candidate for this", Gaz says. "Is that good or bad?" "Good." "How long do we have till its to late?" "They are.not sure they think it depends on the individual. And Ghost is a stubborn fucker so we have probably still time." Soap looks up from the pillow tears and snot running down his face. "Thanks Gaz", he just says before dropping his head again. Gaz pushes Soap a bit so make some space, feeling like he can't leave Soap like this alone. "You dont have to stay I'm just crying." "Soap, you're not 'just crying' you're having the worst time of your life. Let me stay for fucks sake." "No complaints about snot on your shirt then" "Fine."

[n7cloacadestroyer]

Mass Effect's overall plot is a lot of fun, but any fan will tell you straight up that it isn't the tightest run ship. Major sections of the trilogy's overall plot are moved forward by contrivance, and established lore has a reputation for being tossed out the airlock because the dev team thought of something cool. That said, one (1) of the things that irks me the most is something I don't often see talked about--the Citadel Relay.

So here's the reaper's plan, in paraphrase:

Leave one (1) guy behind and fuck off to dark space to get that good sleep.

Oneguy turns on power saver mode and keeps an eye on the meatbags.

Fleshies find mass relays and citadel; use them.

Open murder hole to let the squad through.

Make meatbag soup

Return to step one

Now if something were to go wrong with step four, you'd have quite the pain in the ass in your future if you're a reaper.

Thought experiment: You're leaving your house for the day. You don't want anyone to just wander in, but you obviously need to get back inside later. Do you… A. Lock the door and take the key with you? B. Have someone house sit? C. Leave one of the back windows unlocked and hope no one notices? D. Train your cat to unlock the door when it hears you whistle?

Admittedly that last option would be cool, albeit contrived and prone to failure. For some reason though, the reapers went with that one. And surprisingly enough, someone eventually broke in and retrained their cats. The reapers don't have a single dialogue exchange in the entire series that doesn't include a small diatribe about their intellectual superiority, yet they have no contingency in place for this.

So it's already pretty silly at this point, but it actually gets a little sillier when you realize what the game takes care to avoid explicitly stating--the reapers obviously have a mass relay with them in dark space. One that links to the hub of the relay network but is for some reason isolated from it. They don't even have a backup that just like… links to the Serpent Nebula relay.

I know what some of you are probably thinking. That the closed circuit with the Citadel relay is meant to ensure that the reapers aren't stumbled upon while they're schleepin™. As Vigil states, "In this state, they are vulnerable." So turn it off. We've already established that relays can be deactivated, and that a capital ship like Sovereign can manually open them as it attempted to do with the Citadel. Link that bad boy to the whole network, turn it on when you get the signal, killallhumans.exe ggnore.

Now we turn our attention to Mass Effect 2, which establishes that there is an active relay beyond from which no one has ever returned. So the galactic community put their heads together and came up with a plan--stick some warning signs near it and let the problem take care of itself. Literally just throw hands up and move on. So if the reapers just killed everyone who came through their super secret clubhouse relay? Maybe put some of those weird Collector Laser Probes to take out the stragglers? They'd probably be fine.

Eventually we learn that the relay leads into the galactic core, and that it checks for a reaper IFF system to engage more accurate protocols to avoid throwing friendly vessels into a supermassive black hole or the hundreds of stars it's throwing around at nearly light speed. So now we've established that at least one relay has an Identify Friend Foe system. Mass Effect 3 further establishes that the IFF system is only usable by the Normandy because of EDI, who explains that the IFF is more of a thinking intelligence than a simple program. So if you aren't an AI, or don't have the help of one, you're kind of screwed.

Shame they couldn't use that technology for anything else. Barring access to certain relays, for example.

Recall the Arrival DLC. Commander Shepard vaporizes ~300,000 colonists because the Viper Nebula/Alpha relay is, and I quote, "their shortcut to the rest of the galaxy." If the reapers had even a single one of these contingencies in place, humanity would've likely arrived to an empty Citadel in a new cycle. They would've had their shortcut already, and there wouldn't be anything to be done about it.

Given that their plan is actually quite flawed, there are only a few explanations that I can think of:

The reapers are actually kind of stupid.

The Catalyst intentionally designed the "reaper solution" to be imperfect. To give the meatbags a chance, I guess?

The biomechanical nature of reaper construction has caused them to inherit more traits from the organics that facilitated their construction than any of them seem to freely admit. Namely arrogance, in this case. You'll notice that Harbinger does talk with the same aloof superiority that the Leviathan use when talking to Shepard in ME3, whereas Sovereign's dialogue reads as something more akin to disgust or hatred.

Development was rushed and somewhat troubled for every Mass Effect game to date, and many of the gaps we see are a result of content being cut to get the game out the door on time.

In all honesty, it's most likely some combination of 3 and 4, but it's kind of frustrating. It's not surprising that so many people write no reaper AUs and/or headcanon a Destroy ending that doesn't kill the geth and EDI simply to fit the framing as the Renegade option. Mass Effect, in the minds of most fans, is a character driven narrative. The reapers aren't really characters. There are only two of them that have names, and only three who actually speak. They're mostly just an excuse to make the plot happen.

If the intention was to imply that the reapers are literal mechanical mass graves haunted by the metaphorical ghosts of the civilizations harvested in their creation? I'm on board. The problem is that we're never told that, and we aren't given enough interaction with different reapers to come to that conclusion definitively ourselves. May as well just call 'em Harby and the Boys, cause it's clear from the outset that Harbinger is the only one that the narrative intends to give even the tiniest amount of weight after Sovereign is destroyed.

The reapers are a constant presence during the trilogy, and yet we only meaningfully interact with four, and that's if you're counting Sovereign's half brother Sluggard.

[mama-ivy]

First Contact

Phan held their breath. They knew that if they were to survive, they would need to only breathe when absolutely necessary. Curled in the small space they had found in the cooling system and only taking the smallest of breaths in long and varying intervals, Phan was sure that they could hide for a long time. Long enough? Maybe. Maybe not.

When Phan and Loe first saw the visitors, they were awe struck. There were three of them standing in the hatch that led to the connecting hallway to their ship. They wore protective suits, all matching with bright pops of color and covers that hid what Phan and Loe could only assume was their faces. Loe had tried to communicate with the three visitors. It was quickly discovered that the visitors did not speak the same language. The sounds seem to roll out of them in soft waves. Quiet waves. Warm and comforting. There were no harsh or guttural sounds. No clicks. No hisses. Nothing like any race that Phan and Loe had ever encountered.

And then they shot Loe. Killed Loe. With concentrated light beams. The heat from their weapons filled the room. Phan ran. As fast as they could.

Phan sat cowering in their hiding hole. What did these visitors want? This was a science ship. They had nothing of worth. They considered for a moment that what their idea of valuable differed from the visitor’s idea of the same. If that were the case, the strange beings could take whatever they wanted if they just left. But how to relay that to them. Phan had no idea. So they sat and waited. Hiding.

Phan could hear them coming towards the engine room. Loud and banging. Clomping up and down. Their protective suits nothing like their soft tongues. One last deep breath before they came close enough to hear.

“You’re sure this is the room?”

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

“You better be right, Williams.”

The door slid open quietly. Phan froze.

“Why are we even doing this?”

“Orders, Carter.”

“There are no weapons aboard. There’s not even any black matter.”

“Lieutenant, I think we have the wrong ship.”

“Soldiers, I will only say this once more. Orders. We verified the ship’s markings. We verified the ship’s location. We verified the ship’s contents. Do as your told. Find it. Kill it.”

@flashfictionfridayofficial

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

I have an idea that instead of very fast spaceships in my story, the spaceships are kinda slow and the main way to get places is via teleports. However there is also max range for these teleports so they have to have a relay of them, especially the oens in deep space that stretch between galaxies. Installation is slow of course - they had to wait many years between dropping each teleport off as the spaceship had to use the previous teleports to the latest location and travel slowly in the spaceship to drop a new one off. Then here's the question of objects in space moving all the time, so these teleports are obviously moving. What exactly is keeping them where they are supposed to be? Or can we say that doesn't matter as much as long they are still in range and these teleport systems are on platforms that have an engine and can get arranged properly? You might think there is a big hole here since the spaceships are so slow, how did they know what's out so far, and why is there even a need to build quicker travel. That's because there is someone else with even better technology that initally got them there, and they now know about it but they had to design their own system to get there themselves without the help of that someone else. Note that my story starts after the teleport systems are in place and there is regular transportation via these teleport systems across several galaxies so this is basically history.

Tex: Stargate stargate stargate- ahem. There is a very well-known set of TV series about this exact subject (with some occasional plot, of course): Stargate. The three main series are Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, and Stargate Universe, and each deal with a different environment of technology created by a group of people known in-universe as the Ancients (later known as the Alterans) as they are used in different galaxies.

The eponymous technology that features most prominently in all of these shows are stargate, which stabilize wormholes generated between two gates and can be connected to via a series of addresses based upon celestial constellations. These addresses are dialed via something nicknamed DHDs (Dial Home Devices - yes, jokingly after the movie E.T.), and the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies (the latter of which is the setting of Stargate: Atlantis) have different gate systems that cannot connect to each other - the protagonists were only able to do so with a huge boost of energy from a device called a ZPM (Zero Point Module) that draws power from subspace.

The gates themselves are relatively stable, and can - through a lot of legwork - be operated without a DHD; Samantha Carter in SG-1 figured out how to do so via an Earth program to use Earth computers, whereas in contrast the puddle jumpers in Atlantis (a type of ship small enough to fly through the gates) have their own dedicated versions of DHDs in the pilot’s console.

Although it’s not explicitly stated in canon, each galaxy’s gate system seems to be manufactured differently from each other, given the differences in their appearances. Realistically speaking, since these connect via wormholes, there should be no issue connecting any gate to any other gate, but it’s possible that each gate has a hardwired address array paired with its DHD that’s specific to a given range of its position in spacetime, thus giving a self-limiting range.

In SG-1, the Jaffa and Goa’uld would be of most interest to you, and in Atlantis, everyone not from the expedition would be of interest to you, as these groups of people have used their stargate networks for thousands of years on a regular basis.

[daybringersol]

headcannons about chip, christianity in mana, his internalised homophobia and its relationship with his repressed fire powers :

// tw for religious trauma, christianity, manipulation, trauma and death mentions

in mana, christianity is the religion of the outcasts, most people worship aster and/or lunadeis, but pirates, criminals and the lower class in general adds another “god” to the pantheon : jesus, as he was portrayed in the bible, a human with divine links to a god unknown who took care of the unfortunate, poor and marginalized. his tales are mostly relayed through oral tradition, so depending on where you are, his teachings and worships changes a lot. in most cases, jesus and his unknown god is just an addition to the already existing pantheon of gods and leviathans of mana, and not the only true god. some people with bad intentions sometimes twists his teachings to fit their worldview and influence others, but they pretty much never have enough systemic power to change much outside of their inner circles.

when chip was a kid living on the streets, he was way too worried about his survival to think about love, and all the other kids (of all genders) that hed find cute were always much more higher class than him anyways. his powers were pretty weak, tho still wildly uncontrolled. it just felt like the small flames that kept appearing around him liked him and wanted to help him rather than him having any control over them. he sometimes heard whispers of jesus and his teachings, but didnt really understand what it was and didnt really care.

when the black rose took him on, most people on the crew were christians, tho in a old sailor way. tales of jesus mixed with those of ancient sea beasts would flourish on the deck of the black rose, and the lessons he learned from them were about hope, about universal love, about helping those in needs. about getting your hands dirty through work and knowing youd get to heaven, while those high class corrupt rulers, bourgeois and officers would rot in hell for what theyd done to your world. chips fire magic, while still uncontrolled, grew and took on a life of his own, tho itd usually cower away in times of distress, much to chips dismay. for his bisexuality, chip was much more concerned about his life on the ship, and didnt care for love during that time.

when the hole in the sea happened, chip was too stressed out and his powers did nothing. thats when he decided that he needed to harness them, to train himself to actually control them so that maybe he could help of something like this happened again.

so when price found chip, he was prime for being manipulated into the mafia. he was lonely, lost everything he add, needed guidance, needed someone to train him and.. also had a crush on price. for the first time, he felt obsession, something that again, he couldnt control, that he needed to harness, to tame. the mafias christianity was much more strict than the black roses, and tried more to extrapolate the values of jesus’s unknown god than to follow him as an example. since romance was nothing but a distraction/weakness, the crew was mostly male-dominated and that femininity was seen as weak and, homosexuality as feminine, love, especially male homosexuality, was very frowned upon, and considered as a sin. emotional volatility, and thus, the uncontrollability of chips power are too. price did return chip’s advances sometimes, but only for the purposes of manipulating him into being even more loyal to the gang. there, price trained him to shackle both his fire powers and his desires, to keep the good parts ( power / social status that male heterosexuality gives ), but to annihilate the bad parts ( wildness / vulnerability of emotional connections and social nonconformity / bisexuality ). the fact that he is a bastard also plays into this, since he now is conditioned to believe that the fact that hes alive in itself is sinful ; thus, he needs to be perfect to repay for his original sin. when everything breaks, that price asks him to kill a man and that he flees, is whole world is shaken apart and his trauma of losing everything once before resurfaces. his emotions and powers were taken advantage of, and his trauma response is to simply lock away both the good and the bad inside of himself, after feeling their full intensity one last time ( the heartbreak of seeing prices manipulation, loving him anyways and being deeply afraid of that / letting the wildness of his fire engulf the mafia headquarters ). even most of his memories of it are locked away.

with the crew of the albatross, he slowly unlearns the values burned into him by price and his crew. he sees people who are like him, who love him, tho it takes a very long time to internalize that they aren’t just with him for his usefulness, that his sin is just as inconsequential as theirs. he tries his hands as doing as he did before, flirting with women (that hes genuinely attracted to) for social status, but his fear leaves him stunted and awkward. same with his powers, when he finally learns again to use them, is it very controlled, and thus weaker. he doesnt trust himself with the “bad” parts of his identity, hes barely able to control the “good” ones. when gillion kisses him, he, for a moment, lets himself go, lets his obsession breathe and exist, but as soon as the moment is over, he put his guard up tenfold. it takes a LOT of time to him to figure out how he feels for gillion, but once he does, he feels like atlas, holding of his shoulder the gravity of his sin. he does not tell anyone for months, view his feelings and himself as dirty, as something that should be kept hidden, especially since gillion is someone of much higher class and with a much greater destiny than him. he rushes into broom closets to have panic attacks after particularly intimate combat training, writes letters and poems that he keeps under a floorboard. he fully knows that jay is also bisexual, but in his head, its different if two women are together, since thats not ever something that was talked about at all with prices gang ( there were barely any women ). he also fully knows that gillion is asexual, and in his head, that proves gillions inherent superiority, since he is less vulnerable to being led astray by his desires. also, chip is much too caught up in his own shit to care what other people do.

anyways, heres a quote that fits pretty well

[xoxo-ren-xoxo]

What the hell is going on with those eyes, huh? (A hc359 update)

Confused? Find the Masterpost here, and read the first four installments in the series before this one! In this installment, I try my best to make Grian's life as miserable as possible!

CW: discussions of death, surgery, medical equipment, body horror, mild dehumanisation (accidental(?))

So, despite Cub doing research and experiments on that fun little wall with eyes in the Hermethus' hidden storage, Grian is the only one who actually touched those eyes when he discovered them. He just relayed the fact that it gave her an electric shock to the others so they avoided touching it.

Several weeks have passed since Grian talked to mission command, and those several weeks have been... painful. The crew is being unfriendly and uncooperative, barely keeping the place together as they drift further into deep space. Worst of all, Grian's arm has been hurting like hell, and she just can't figure out why.

Not that she talks to Scar or Cub about it, or asks Mumbo for any medical information or any scans. She is quite content to never talk to them again, actually. They probably all hate her for keeping secrets from them.

And then, one day, Grian wakes up to find small raised bumps across her arm, barely visible but as uncomfortable as ever. It's weird, but he assumes it's some kind of allergic reaction or a side effect of being in space for too long. Something that will go away. But, pressing on the little bumps and feeling the skin of her arm, she notices how solid the raised areas are. Kind of squishy, but solid.

It's not itchy, more like growing pains mixed with pins and needles. And the feeling goes deep, into the muscle and bones. Like something is latching itself into him, taking root.

(That is exactly what's happening, but Grian does not know this, and so she says nothing)

Eventually, the bumps across his arm start to form cracks on the skin, which look like faint scars at first but then become deeper, clear indications of eyelids. These developments happen so fast Grian barely has time to contemplate telling someone. She even hides it from Mumbo's camera-eyes.

Then, the eyes begin to open, and Grian thinks maybe he messed up.

It's not like she can see out of them... most of the time. But it's freaky. And what if more start spawning? What if they are, under the skin where he can't see? Hundreds of eyes growing inside her? She's scared the crew will mutiny, or something, because of the obvious alien infection, but he can't stay quiet now. He has to tell them...

She hides it, still, for a few more days, wrapping her arm with bandages. The fabric feels horrific against the freshly-sprouted eyes, especially because she can't control when they open or close. It makes her nauseous just looking at them. She can only tolerate it for so long.

A crew meeting is called. Grian just rips off the proverbial band-aid all at once and hopes for the best, absolutely terrified that the crew will turn against him even further.

The first reaction is a sort of general shock. But then, surprisingly fast, the crew go straight into Science Mode. Scar is a biologist, Cub has been running experiments on the wall-eyes, Mumbo... well, he's still kind of mad at Grian, actually, but he's also an AI with access to all the knowledge of humanity (sort of) so he starts searching for similar cases in old medical files.

Scar is very curious in a practical kind of way. He asks if the eyes can see, if they're connected to anything, if they have their own nervous systems, etc. Cub really wants to run some tests. and Grian feels more like a specimen than a person at that point, so she agrees and lets Cub take him to the lab. Scar wants to tag along but Cub doesn't let him, telling him to stay put and let them know if the ship starts exploding or anything crazy.

It's... not too long before Cub grabs a scalpel and tries prying one of the eyes out. No warning or anything. Grian screams and slaps him in the face. Serves him right.

They have some painkillers stocked up, so Cub offers those to Grian because he... really wants to do a bit of a vivisection, to be honest. Really wants to get under the skin and see what's happening. He just momentarily forgot that Grian can feel pain. Silly mistake to make, of course.

It takes some convincing, but Grian hesitantly agrees to a short operation. She's still awake during the procedure, though he's drowsy and her arm is numb. There's a little bed surface to lay down on, so she doesn't fall over or anything. Cub is relatively careful, making an incision on the skin and looking inside with a mini camera - taking scans as he does so - before sewing the wound up and moving on to an eye. It will be easier to analyse in isolation, as well as better to see whether it dies or not when separated from Grian's body.

The eye is cut away cleanly, and in an instant Grian is shocked with pain, riveting up her arm like fire. She lashes out with no control, hitting Cub in the side of the head. Something inside her, something that isn't her, screams in pain and anger.

His vision flashes between normal sight and the shattered dozen perspectives of the eyes... including the one so neatly cut from her flesh. In the moment, he feels like he's dying. Life draining away, slowly but still too fast.

Later, he realises the feeling came from the severed eye, as it was dying. But even knowing this, inside her something is broken. Missing. Dead.

Grian relays that she might be, uh, innately connected to the eyes now. He's like 'bad news i think cub killed a part of me' (and Mumbo gets to make a sassy remark about being dead) and thus things are more complicated.

They dont know whether the eyes are malicious, or invasive, or symbiotic. Scar wants to do some research into that. He specialises in animal behavioural phenomenons and is really interested in what kind of relationship the eyes have to Grian- are they like fish or barnacles attaching themselves to sharks? Are they more like parasitic worms? Are they trying to feed on Grian and eat away her body? Trying to become one with her?

This is all really interesting to Scar. I mean, he also wants Grian to be safe, and they need to know whether they should remove the rest of the eyes or not, but... it's a bit of excitement in an otherwise particularly doomed trip.

Overall, Grian feels like her very obvious depressive cycle might be about to get worse, but at least the crew are talking to her. Even if it's just because she's a new thing to experiment on...

Remember when she used to have authority? Yeah, she doesn't really miss it either.