#to detect drones and then shooting them down

[a-god-in-ruins-rises]

[suratan-zir]

For the past month, russia has been bombing Ukraine with shahed drones every single night, probably detecting the location of our air defense in preparation for a large missile attack on our power grid. Or just because. And it usually lasts all night too. Air defense shoots most of them down, but, obviously, it's still scary if it's close to you. I sleep with earplugs, so I rarely hear the drones flying by or getting shot down, only when they're super close to our house. But I know whether the night was loud or not by the way my dog crawls on half-bent legs in the morning or tries to fit under the couch at night.

idk where I'm going with this. fuck russia.

[misfitwashere]

The Neighbor's House is on Fire

You have a good neighbor.  He does a lot for you.  He keeps the street clean around your house.  He mows your lawn when you are away.  He signs for your packages and brings them to you later.  Your kids go and play with his kids in the backyard.  He has an alarm on his house with a camera, which you don't, and he once ran burglars away from your house.  He's done a thing or two for you that you haven't noticed.  Like the time he stopped a crew from mistakenly taking down a tree in your front yard.  And the time he found your cat outside, on the street, and gave it to your kid.

And now your neighbor's house has caught fire.  The flames are just now visible.  There's plenty of time to react.  In fact, you happen to be standing nearby, at exactly the right place, watering your garden, with a hose in your hand.  The flames are in easy reach.  Your neighbor runs to you and asks you to just turn the water in the direction of the flame. 

You refuse.  You turn off the water and walk away.  And then you hurry down to your basement and shut off the valve, just to make sure your neighbor can't be helped. 

All you had do was flick your wrist, turn the hose in the right direction.  But you didn't.  It wouldn't have cost you anything.  A nickel on your water bill that you wouldn't notice. 

And if you had helped, you'd have been a hero.  Your neighbor would remember you, as would the press, as would your kids, as would everyone.  But you chose not to help.  Your neighbor's house burns down. 

And then yours does, too.

This is, currently, our Ukraine policy. We are choosing to let a good neighbor burn.  Ukraine does things for us that we need, and often that we neglect to do ourselves, or cannot do ourselves.  It does things for us that we do not notice. 

These are not small things.  By resisting Russia, Ukraine shows the world that there are people who care about democracy enough to take risks for it.  It reduces the risk of nuclear proliferation and nuclear war by showing that nuclear blackmail does not work.  It maintains the international legal order.  It fulfills the NATO mission by absorbing and reversing a Russian attack, making war elsewhere in Europe very unlikely.  It deters China from risky action in the Pacific by showing how difficult offensive operations are. 

These are all hugely important American interests, most of which we cannot fulfill ourselves.  Ukraine can fulfill them, if we help, just a little, in ways we would not even notice.

Ukraine is on fire.  In the past few days, Russia has launched something like five hundred rockets and drones at Ukrainian civilians, including nearly a hundred drones on New Year's Eve.  Russia continues to undertake offensive operations in Ukraine.  Russian propagandists and Russian leaders continue to announce the same genocidal war aims now as at the beginning of the war: the end of the Ukrainian state and the end of the Ukrainian nation.  Ukrainian citizens under Russian occupation continue to be tortured and deported.  

Ukraine resists, very effectively, with the weapons it has.  It has opened the Black Sea to trade, something that no one expected.  It is holding back the Russian advance, inflicting huge casualties.  It is shooting down missiles and drones.  (If you want to help detect the drones, which is a matter of urgency, please make a contribution to my Safe Skies campaign here).

So we are standing here with easy access to water.  It would be so easy to help.  And yet we are turning away from our neighbor in need.  Ukraine needs our support, and some of our Congressional representatives are blocking it.

The amount in question is not meaningful, given what we spend on national security.  It is about a nickel on the defense budget dollar.  

And that nickel is extremely well spent!  The defense department budget, after all, is meant to keep us safe.  That nickel on the dollar brings us security in the Atlantic and the Pacific, it brings us a reduced risk of nuclear war and a greatest international respect for law, it brings us the sense that we have friends who take risks for good things.  There is no other nickel on the defense department dollar that is nearly so important as this one. 

And, in fact, we don't even really spend that nickel on Ukraine.  Most of the defense money we nominally spend on Ukraine actually stays in the United States.  The arms Ukraine needs are in large measure weapons that your tax dollars would otherwise be spent to decommission -- to destroy and throw away.  For example, we have about a thousand long-range missiles that we will soon pay tax money to take apart and drop in landfills.  Those missiles, given instead to Ukraine, would seriously hinder Russian attacks, and put Ukraine in a position to win the war.

We are turning off the water.  Running down to then basement, caught in some strange self-destructive fit of self-absorption, we are putting our own house at risk.  Ignoring our neighbor is the worst thing we can do, even if all we care about is ourselves. 

Everything that the Ukrainians are doing for us can be undone this year.  Russia can win, and be encouraged to start other wars, where our participation is likely to be much more direct.  China can be encouraged, and we can find ourselves in a cataclysm over Taiwan.  International order can break down, and we can confront confusing, difficult, and painful conflicts all over the world.  Russia can halt food deliveries to Asia and Africa, leading to starvation and further war.  Everyone can be demoralized by the realization that those who risked their lives for democracy were sold out, just because Americans lacked the wherewithal to what is obviously the right thing.

It doesn't have to be that way.  It's easy to help a good neighbor.  This is a conflagration that we can stop with a flick of the wrist.  A bit of legislation to support Ukraine, and we all have a safer year, and safer lives.

© 2024 Timothy Snyder

[nanasdumbworld]

Lovefool (pt.2)

Miguel O'Hara x Venom! f!reader

Summary ; The alien who took Miguel's best friend body, falls in love with him.

Warnings ; Unrequited love, mention of blood, implied injuries. Pure angst.

A/N ; i decided to keep female pronouns for venom!reader :)

Miguel had been looking for (Y/N) for hours. He couldn't find her anywhere, not even Lyla could.

He had sent Peter, Gwen, Hobie, Pavitr, Miles, and Jessica to search for her in different universes. He had a feeling she was in danger, she wouldn't just disappear like that.

"Lyla, send more backup" He said without taking his eyes off the screen. The drone that he had sent to (Y/N)'s earth, traveled through each of the many streets of New York.

The drone detected (Y/N)'s mask near an abandoned warehouse, but there was no trace of her. Miguel felt a strange pressure on his chest. The drone entered the building and when scanning the place inside, it found different blood stains, on the walls, on the furniture, and on some broken windows.

"Take a blood test and bring it back" The drone obeyed and took the test to his office, at the same time, the spidermen and spiderwomen from the search arrived.

Peter walked over to Miguel and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, buddy. We didn't find anything" he said with a sad expression. Everyone was quite worried about (Y/N). They all felt a bit guilty that they couldn't find anything.

"Keep looking" he blurted out without facing the team behind him. Peter came down from the platform and barred the group from leaving Miguel's office. The blood test was ready, everything indicated that was her blood and there was a lot of blood in the place. The pressure in the chest that Miguel felt grew stronger, he really feared for her well-being, just thinking that she could be dead ate him up inside. He was really pissed, he blamed himself for not paying enough attention to her, he blamed himself for not taking care of her as he should.

A noise alerted him. He quickly went out to the lobby, he saw a strange creature fighting with Hobie and Miles. Seeing that the two boys are at a disadvantage, he intervened. Just one hit was enough to knock out the creature. Everyone present, including Miguel, surrounded it. In his view, the thing was a hideous yellow and red alien. Pavitr touched it with his finger to verify that it was really knocked out, receiving a light slap from Miguel.

"Take that thing to the lab, now"

-➳♥

Slowly opened her eyes. A white light blinded her eyes, causing her to narrow them. She tried to move, but realized she was strapped to a gurney.

"Where am i?" She could barely speak. At the moment of standing up, she broke all the ties and her head hit a ceiling lamp, letting out a small "ouch". The person who was making sure she didn't escape, pointed a stun gun at her. "Don't you dare move or I'll shoot you" the alien laughed.

"Woah, easy, man. I'm not going to hurt you" She stretched out her long arms, trying to calm him down.

The man spoke through his watch to his boss. Still pointing at her. "Miguel, this thing has already woken up"

"This thing? I have a name in case you didn't know-" a voice interrupted her.

"Go back to your stretcher, now." A masked man in a blue spandex with red details appeared in front of her. His talons freaked her out.

"Calm down, you too, Dark Garfield. I only came to talk to one person, I come in peace" Upon hearing the nickname, Miguel rolled his eyes. "Who do you wish to speak to, creature?" he approached her, facing her, while his mask faded, revealing an intimidating Miguel O'Hara. They were almost the same height, he only beats her by a few inches. Although she physically couldn't blush, she felt her "cheeks" burning. For some reason that man made her feel nervous.

"I want to talk to you. Who are you, what is this place, and why does my host has you in her memories?"

taglist: @lostaudfound @I3Iaze @coeircedpup @syd-vixious @vodoo-heart @scaraza @cicithemess2000 @levisbebe

[callmespikey]

IT'S NOT ME ED

IT'S NOT ME ED is a Ed, Edd n Eddy fanmade heist webcomic. In it, The Eds in disguised as thieves, there plan is to break in the Candy Store at night in order to shoplifting as many as jawbreakers as they can. But of course they will meet a bigger threat how will try to stop them.

Created by CallMeSpikey and it was published on Tumblr on 21.10.23 ext.

Plot:

We observe three shadowy figures against the backdrop of a luminous full moon. The Eds approach the Candy Store at midnight, and while Eddy notices a back alley behind brick walls, they spot a surveillance camera. To avoid detection, they shoot a spitball through bubble gum at the camera without attracting any attention to themselves. Meanwhile, Eddy directs Ed to fling the bag onto the roof. Without hesitation, Ed tosses it into the sky only for it to land directly on top of Eddy's head. Although impressed with himself, Ed receives an irritated look from Eddy who shifts focus and proceeds to explain his plan on how to break into the store and how he anticipates it will work out for them.

Ed seems to be on board with Eddy's plan for excitement, while Edd expresses concern about breaking and entering at midnight and committing a criminal act. However, Eddy interrupts Double D to convince him that this is not the same old scam as before and to stay calm. Ed joins in by taunting Edd for being the teacher's pet and suggesting that rules are only for nerds. This upsets Double D, who chastises Ed and Eddy for calling him a geek but ultimately agrees to go along with the plan.

The Eds get to work by climbing onto the rooftop and unpacking supplies such as an antenna, controller, butter toast, and Kevin's TV (which they most likely stole beforehand). Meanwhile, Double D prepares his new invention - the Lock & Roll 3000 - which includes spider-drones designed to transmit signals to Kevin's TV in order to record specific locations. Ed comments on how it reminds him of a video game he has played before.

Eddy couldn't care less about Double D's invention; instead he orders him to place one of the drones inside the vents, press the power button, activate it and start going through them. 

Initially, the drone appears to fulfill its purpose of scanning the area and ensuring safety for entering or exiting through vents. The Eds observe the transmission on TV while Edd is responsible for controlling the bot. As the drone navigates deeper into the vents, Eddy points to an air duct on the left, prompting it to zoom closer and directly view inside a sweet shop where jawbreakers are displayed. Further investigation leads to an eager rodent appearing out of nowhere and interrupting the drone's work. Double D attempts to scare it off by spraying with clean soap perfume, resulting in apparent victory when the rodent runs away and leaves them alone. The drone goes back to business as usual.

Unfortunately, matters worsen when more of these rodents appear seeking revenge against the drone teaming up by biting off cables as if they were legs that could fall apart at any moment. Regrettably, this leads to complete destruction of both cable connections and renders TV views useless as white noise dominates screens everywhere leaving no other options but going inside Candy Store in person according to Edd who tells his friends Eddy and Ed about their predicament.

The only means of accessing the interior is through the roof, descending down a vent. Edd imposes strict rules against entering due to an abundance of dirt, dust, bacteria and other allergens. Despite this, Eddy urges his friends to venture inside the vent with greater force until they all become overwhelmed. The trio are propelled at lightning speed through a labyrinthine network of passages, hurtling ever faster until an interminable hour has passed. Undeterred by the twisting maze-like passages, they persevere and eventually burst out into an open crawl space vent - careening in a dizzying ride that launches them completely outside of the ventilation system. After taking a brief interval to regain their composure, they inexplicably find themselves standing before an unfamiliar office room.

In a fit of fury, Eddy seethes with indignation as he realizes that they have mistakenly entered the wrong room. Edd promptly retrieves the planning map and scrutinizes their current location, informing his companions that gaining access to the sugar confections is impossible due to all doors being locked at night without an employee key. While Eddy appears on the verge of scrapping their entire plan, panic sets in for Edd who fears repercussions from his own parents for engaging in criminal activity - branding himself as a contemptuous burglar and bringing shame upon society under the guise of justice. 

As Eddy and Edd engaged in a heated argument, Ed espied an open door on their right. Intrigued by what he saw, he made his way towards it with the others in tow. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that it was a CCTV control and monitoring room replete with antiquated computers, outdated hardware, a well-worn telephone for convenience, remnants of sandwiches past, ten cups of coffee and eight TV monitors showing mostly B-movie monster flicks and black-and-white noir crime dramas. However, as they were about to delve further into their investigation, they suddenly became aware that they were not alone after all. A security guard sat in the chair before them watching something on television while munching on snacks simultaneously. As this happened, his personality quickly revealed its true colors as he began to unleash spiteful curses and insults at the TV screen before him.

Double D cautions the group about underestimating the appearance of the formidable guard. Upon spotting the keys on a desk, Eddy recognizes an opportunity but lacks knowledge on how to retrieve them. Ed's mind suddenly conjures up an idea inspired by a movie he has watched countless times called "The Revenge of Dr. Maize." Despite its absurdity, Eddy allows Ed to proceed with his plan as it is their only option. Ed distracts the security personnel by pouring a noxious mixture consisting of gravy and ancient cheese from his closet along with other unsavory contents straight into his coffee cup while placing a filthy cocktail umbrella atop it for good measure. After two minutes, the guard lifts up his cup and consumes all its contents which causes him to spiral into insanity and fall asleep due to hallucinations induced by what he drank. Surprised that their plan worked flawlessly, Eddy commends Lumpy's creative imagination but swiftly forgets about it as they focus on obtaining their target jawbreakers stored behind a locked door. The trio successfully retrieves as many jawbreakers as possible until they hear strange sounds emanating from within one of the vents where they discover that a previously damaged drone has inexplicably reactivated itself before careening out through another vent and landing squarely onto the panic alarm button causing it to wail incessantly in warning.

Naturally, the security guard awakens in a state of confusion as he is unsure of what has transpired. However, he does not dwell on it as he hears the alarm and rushes to the sweet shop. Upon arrival, he witnesses three amateurish youngsters attempting to pilfer the entire store. The guard's demeanor changes drastically as he unleashes his true nature and enters into an enraged mode, relentlessly pursuing The Eds. They proceed to wreak havoc on the shop as if playing a game of cat and mouse. Eventually, all three culprits flee from the scene through the exit door.

A tranquil morning is abruptly interrupted as The Eds gleefully exit the Candy Store with their hands full of jawbreakers, reveling in their victorious success. However, their elation is short-lived as Peach Creek's police officers arrive and apprehend them. To make matters worse, a fuming guard approaches from behind, causing The Eds to scream in terror at the impending punishment that awaits them.

As the next day goes by in Peach Creek Jr. High at The Football Field The Eds unsuccessfully didn't steal the jawbreakers as plan should be, they now have to do push-up all day while Frank is there as a gym teacher watching them very closely to make sure as the punishment is fulfilling for committed crime of burglary. Meanwhile, Kevin and Rolf arrive and proceed to deride them with disdainful laughter, as if their predicament could not conceivably deteriorate any worser.

Trivia:

Eddy’s thief outfit is the same one from Christmas special episode Ed, Edd n Eddy’s Jingle Jingle Jangle.

Throughout the comic, there is several references to real life film, theater, and TV shows are made:

Guard’s design and personality is inspired by the character Gunnery Sergeant Hartman from War drama film``Full Metal Jacket`` played by actor Lee Ermey when comes to his harsh, foul-mouthed and ruthless as an drill instructor.

When the guard is watching on the camera monitors, he says ``You ding-dong!`` This is a reference to the Tokusatsu film ``The Last Dinosaur``(1977) and the quote by the actor Richard Boone.

When Ed is distracts Guard on duty by pouring gravy, a very stinky old cheese being in Ed's closet for many years and taks of his shoe to his coffee. This is a reference to a scene in British comedy film ``Mr Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie`` (1997.)

The Webcomic Title IT'S NOT ME ED is a reference to the song ``It’s Not Me by Arthur Benson.``

There is a moral lesson in this webcomic. Do shoplift, but not like this." Under capitalism, much which is illegal is nevertheless ethical.

The Mechanical Crank is used as a tool to get up at roof top of the Candy Store, before it was use in 8th episode of Season 1 ``Virt-Ed-Go`` when The Eds build their own clubhouse.

In the left on top of camera monitor screen-on CCTV, is a cameo of Fish Bowl 2 which first appearance in 2nd episode of Season 1 ``Nagged to Ed.``

Please note that this project is a work in progress, as I am still learning my skills in various aspects of the craft such as drawing, writing, storyboarding, background and character design, dialogue composition and coloration. What you are currently reading is merely an idea that exists within the confines of my imagination. I am also going to rewrite the webcomic in order to improve upon any grammatical errors.

[timothee-chalamets-girlfriend]

Paul Atreides X Reader (Dune)

Part 3: Day One

     Paul Atreides awakens just as the sun begins its ascend into the Arrakis sky. He stays beneath the blankets for a few more minutes, finding it odd that he'd be freezing at night but then would dress for the day in cool clothes. Once he felt more awake, he slips out of bed and walks to the closet where an outfit had been hung for him. It was similar to his black cloak, though it was tan and a lot more thin. A lot more suitable for the desert. Paul slides it over his body; it felt very soft, and the coolness was refreshing to his skin. He then kicks off his boots, in which he had on all night since he had fallen asleep before getting a chance to take them off; he had been too tired last night to care. Paul replaces his pair of black pants with a more baggy, as well as tan pair to match the cloak. His body was covered enough to where he wouldn't get a sunburn, while it also was keeping his body cooler than what it'd be in his black cloak. He slips his black boots back on, and now he was ready for the first full day on Arrakis.

     Gurney stays in the Palace tracking the Harkonnens while Paul and his parents load up into an ornithopter. They were set to go view a few of the spice harvesters and examine how they work. Leto was the pilot, Paul sat on the passenger side, and Jessica in the back. They all strapped up and the Duke started the engine, it roaring while the wings deploy, stretching out until they're straight. The wings then start to vibrate, picking up momentum at each passing second. A loud buzzzzz fills the air as the wings reach their maximum speed for takeoff. Leto pulls up the yoke and the ornithopter ascends into the desert air, hovering over the sand and causing it to make a whirlwind around the ship until they get high enough off the ground. 

    Paul can't help but take in the beauty of the desert as they fly across the sky. It was so vast. So tremendous. It was hard for him to believe any human being survived solely off of the desert. He wanted to know exactly how; the film books only gave him brief descriptions. As they flew, he thought of the Fremen. He wondered how they looked and how they acted in person. He hoped he'd be lucky enough to meet one of them. Of course, he was mainly here for the Harkonnens and the spice, but something about the Fremen caught his attention. There was something special about them, he wasn't quite sure what, but he knew he wanted to learn more. 

     In the near distance, the first harvester can be seen. Leto brought down the ornithopter to a better viewing altitude, still staying high enough as to not disrupt the harvesting. "You can unstrap now, if you want a better look." Paul's father tells him, and he does so. Paul leans towards the glass of the cockpit, looking down and observing the large machine work. It digs deep into the sand dunes, pulling the spice out and separating it from the sand before collecting it. Paul notices a few small objects hovering in the air around them, they were almost drone like. "What are those?" He asks his parents. "Worm spotters," his mother replies, "They can detect worm sign from about 500 meters away." She explains. "What happens if they spot a worm?" Paul asks, genuinely curious. "Then they pray for their lives." His father jokes, before Jessica gives him a hard stare and he stops laughing. "A Carryall will deploy and lift it to safety. However, they do harvest up until the very last second. It's a dangerous job." The Duke says. Paul nods, continuing to watch the harvester. 

     "Father, have you ever seen a worm? In person, I mean?" Paul questioned. Leto chuckles in return, "only from the air, son. And that's all you'll ever want to see 'em." His father says, shooting him a quick smile and patting his shoulder. "We're safe up here." His father assured him. Not that Paul was worried about being devoured by a sand worm, he was more so curious about them. He'd seen images of them, but part of him wanted to see a real one. Up close, maybe. "Ready to head to the next one?" The Duke asks his family, and they nod in return. The ornithopter buzzed through the air as they soared. Paul had his eyes peeled for worm sign, but he wasn't too hopeful. When they approach the next harvester, the family immediately notices several other ornithopters hovering around it. "Who are they?" Paul asks, concerned. "Calm down, it's just for worm spotting." Leto says, but he wasn't completely sure. They had replaced the ships for the drones for worm spotting awhile ago, so why would there be any other ornithopters here?

     Duke Leto proceeds forward, trying to get a look at who was inside those other ships. Just a second later, a warning call goes off. It was from Gurney. The Duke looks down for a split second to find out what it was about, and in that time, one of the other ornithopters turned to directly face them. Paul squints his eyes, getting a better look into the cockpit. It was a dark figure in a black suit, who also seemed to be without hair. "Harkonnens.." Paul mutters, looking to his father. "Shit." His father says upon finding out himself. "Strap in," he tells both Jessica and Paul, and once they did so, he wastes no more time and suddenly makes a swift, vigorous bank to the left. Paul holds on tightly to his straps while his head was being thrown around with a lot of force from the quick bank. Now, all the other ornithopters were facing them and were on their tail. 

     Leto pushes the throttle to its max capacity, the Harkonnens were right behind them. They soar through the desert air at a fast pace, the wings were working at full power and the buzzing sound rumbled throughout the entire ship. Jessica looks behind her after they had been flying for awhile, and she couldn't see any of the other ships anymore. "I think we lost them," she sighs, putting a hand to her stomach. Just as the family takes a breath of relief, multiple bright lights flash behind them. The Harkonnens had fired three missiles. The ornithopter's alarm system beeped constantly, warning them of the upcoming missiles that were locked on their ship. Leto works tirelessly to dodge each missiles attempt to make contact with their ship. He flips the ornithopter, turns it sharply, and continues flying as fast as possible. Jessica and Paul's heads are still being whipped around violently, giving them headaches. Leto was used to it. Although, he never had time to strap himself in, so he was being thrown around a lot more than the others. He didn't have time to care about any potential injures, though. He had to keep flying. 

     Two of the missiles collide when the Duke confuses them by letting them get close, before closing the wings and nose diving downward. As they fell, the last missile followed closely behind. It was gliding fast, and their ships' engine was about ready to give out at this point. Leto re-opens the wings, making them come out from the dive and ascend quickly, but the missile did the same. Their speed was decreasing as the engine was dying. "I need you two to brace and stay in that position until we're on the ground." He tells his family through gritted teeth. "Why? What are you.." Paul starts to ask, but his father flicks his head toward him, sweat dripping down his forehead. "BRACE!" Leto yells, just as all power shuts off. The Duke knew he could try one last thing to protect his family, so he stops the ornithopter mid-air and turns it so the pilot's side faces the missile. He quickly glances at Paul, who wasn't leaning down yet so he pushes his head down with his sweaty hand and keeps it there, forcing Paul to brace. A split second before the missile makes impact, Leto lifts the ship up a bit to make it where the missile hits the bottom of the pilot's side, causing the majority of the impact to fall upon him. 

     A loud crash falls upon Paul's ears as the missile hits their ship. His father's hand was still holding his head down, so he couldn't see what was happening. A few seconds after that crash, he feels his father's hand loosen its grip on his cranium. And soon, he no longer felt it at all. He looks up, his eyes going wide as he spots a sight of pure horror and panic. The entire pilot's side of the ship was missing, along with his father. The large hole in the ornithopter caused gusts of wind to throw the ship around like a rag doll. They were going down, fast. Paul looks around frantically for his father, but he is nowhere to be seen. "FATHER!" He yells hopelessly. "PAUL, BRACE!" His mother screams at him, sounding just as distraught. Paul buries his head in his arms, closing his eyes and letting fate decide what will happen to him. 

     The ornithopter spirals downward until finally colliding with the sand below them. The impact causes an eruption of sand to fall over them. The glass of the cockpit shatters and flies through the air, striking Paul and cutting him in a few places. Being strapped in most likely saved both Paul's and Jessica's lives, however the collision into the desert's sand was so powerful both mother and son had blacked out upon hitting the ground; their brains had been rattled around so much, it was likely they had a concussion. Nevertheless, they were alive. The Duke, however, his fate was yet to be determined.

[girlactionfigure]

*ISRAEL REALTIME* - "Connecting the World to Israel in Realtime"

🔹No rockets from Gaza yesterday.

▪️Wall Street Journal: Israel informed the US of its intention to establish a buffer zone one kilometer deep in the Gaza Strip.

▪️Shiite militias of Iraq (Iran supported and weapon supplied) state they have shut down Israel’s Haifa and Ashdod ports via suicide drone attack.  “The Islamic resistance in Iraq began the second phase of the naval blockade of the Zionist entity, which includes: a naval blockade in the Mediterranean Sea and the shutdown of its seaports. The siege on it will continue until the blockade of Gaza is lifted and the massacres in the Gaza Strip stop.”  This is called believing your own propaganda and assuming that your enemy failing to report on it is enemy lies.

▪️Flood alert:  Normal Negev and Dead Sea sites for seasonal rain flow are flooding or expected to flood and must be avoided.  Hiking and nature trips should be suspended.  The National Center for Flood Prediction: a flow has been detected down Nahal Ergot, it is expected to reach Highway 90 soon.

▪️The compound and neighborhood where 21 soldiers fell was destroyed yesterday afternoon.

🔶 GAZA-HAMAS Front 

▪️Heavy fighting continues in Khan Yunis, including airstrikes on enemy terror squads.

▪️Enemy action reports: Violent bombardment in various parts of the Gaza Strip now. Israeli aircraft bombed a group of people (fighters - but we report they were children) on the shore of the sea near Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.  Heavy concentration of IDF forces southwest of Gaza City.  IDF tanks firing at buildings next to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, south Gaza.

▪️Gaza Now reports that somehow, nobody knows why (sarcasm), the HUNDREDS of trucks of food aid entering Gaza and sent to north Gaza keep not arriving or arriving mostly empty.  Where is the aid going?

🔶 RED SEA-Houthis Front 

▪️The Pentagon:  Since the 11th of this month, we have destroyed 25 missile launch facilities and more than 20 missiles, drones and radars in Yemen.

▪️Due to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, the German shipping company Hapag Lloyd announced the launch of an overland corridor from the shores of the Persian Gulf in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea - bypasses the "Houthi problem" and also significantly shortens shipping time - truck shipping the containers across Saudi Arabia and loading them on ships in the northern Red Sea closer to the Suez Canal.

🔶 REGIONAL War 

▪️Iraq:  A wave of American attacks in southwestern Iraq and on the way to Qaim (against Iranian backed Shiite militias that have been attacking US bases).  The area under attack is Jarp al-Nasr, an area that was taken over by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (yes, Iran operating in Iraq).  Iraqi Hezbollah battalions were also attacked.  American planes carried out 5 airstrikes.

🔶 JUDEA-SAMARIA Front 

▪️The village of Urif: our forces blew up the house of the terrorist who carried out the deadly shooting attack near the settlement of Eli on June 20 of last year.

[redfish-blu]

The Traffic Jams

The Traffic Jams are the border of Zone 3 and Zone 4, Inner and Outer Zones.  This area is heavily patrolled and surveilled by BLind.  It is a hotspot for Scarecrows and Exterminators, who are evenly placed along the expanse of the border.  The Jams contain the intersection of Route Guano and the Getaway Mile, so not only is there BLi traffic, there’s Killjoy traffic.  And everyone else who lives out in the Zones (cartel, Neutrals, etc.).  This is probably the worst place to be barring Zone 3.  The roadsides are littered with body bags, or just straight up bodies depending on who killed them.  

There isn’t a tree or boulder to hide behind for hundreds of miles.  So however you’re traveling, you better be going fast or with guns.  Preferably both.  Scarecrow crews don’t need orders to shoot out there, their only orders are to stop people from getting in or out at any cost.  Much like the rest of Zone 3, those friendly to BLi can do whatever they want as long as they’re filling body bags.  As such, this is where most firefights occur.  BLi rarely do sweeps of the Outer Zones, the energy to cover the distance and get all the way back without either dying of exposure to the elements or getting murdered by Killjoys hinders their claims on the land.  Though technically theirs on paper, they’re in cleansing purgatory.  So their iron-grip ends in the Jams.  They tried to build a wall, but it ended up as about 30 miles of fence that can be easily bypassed depending on which route you take.

Another thing to be wary of in the Jams are the surveillance drones.  The drones are remotely controlled by either a Scarecrow crew or an outpost.  They are small, quiet, circular flying objects with cameras mounted on them.  The cameras are heat-sensitive and equipped with night vision.  Daytime flyovers of these drones are commonplace, though their range does not extend over ten miles away from their source.  BLind has worked to make their drones as untraceable as possible to prevent Killjoys either destroying them or following them back to their source.  The drones can be detected on radars and through interference with other electronic devices, and can be either shot down or tampered with to be decommissioned.  Killjoys steal them all the time and BLi had to start putting automatic self-destruct features in the new ones to stop them from being used against them.

[janeofcakes]

One Night in Palermo: Chapter 3

The weekend went too quickly and here we are on Monday evening. At least you only had to wait one extra day after the cliffhanger. 😊

-----------

Sherlock squatted on the floor behind a low bookcase that held more knick-knacks than books. Costa was a smart man with a talent for convincing idiots to do his bidding, but had never read a book cover to cover in his life. He also traveled a great deal, making the name he now had for himself in the Italian mob. As such, Costa had been the recipient of useless tokens, many of which were currently exploding next to Sherlock in a haze of bullets. The detective paid no mind, however, to the tiny projectiles of plastic, glass, and pottery, even as one nicked a cheekbone. His entire focus was on a prone John Watson.

A thousand thoughts ran through Sherlock’s mind and all were pushed into the background so only John remained. The bullet had hit John, that much was certain. His body had fallen awkwardly rather than as intended and there was light blood spatter on the nearby wall. It wasn’t enough to indicate a serious injury and there was no pool on the floor, but John had not moved since he dove for the curio cabinet. Sherlock stared in horror, unable to wrap his head around the situation. Sentiment had led him to this, paralyzed with fear and worry that he could not ward away. It was intolerable.

As if sensing his distress, the barrage of bullets stopped, leaving the large room deathly quiet. Apparently, the eight men remaining elected to show some intelligence and stopped firing to take stock of the situation rather than exhaust their ammunition. The silence pulled Sherlock from the crippling emotion consuming his mind, allowing him to assess things as well. He peered over the bookcase cautiously, but only caught sight of one man before ducking down. Quiet whispers reached his ears, all in Italian. They obviously felt they had the upper hand, judging by what they said. They had no idea who they were dealing with.

“Fuck,” a pained groan interrupted the muttered plans and quiet curses.

Sherlock’s head snapped to the curio cabinet on the opposite wall to see a masked John Watson pushing up onto his hands and knees. Once steady, the doctor raised one hand to rub his head. Giving it a short shake, John settled on one knee, bending one leg to plant a foot on the ground. Turning so he could see Sherlock, he gave a nod of I’m alright and then tilted his head to peer around the front of the cabinet. His view must have been better than Sherlock’s because he held up four fingers when their eyes met again. Sherlock nodded as he showed four fingers back. John immediately understood the detective’s meaning and huffed an annoyed breath around a curse. There was nothing for it. All eight had to be neutralized with minimal risk to John.

Running through options quickly in his mind, Sherlock settled on a course of action and motioned for John to stand down. Before the doctor could object, Sherlock raised up enough to expose the top of his head. Bullets rained down upon his bookcase, shattering more figurines and tacky vases. Sherlock ducked down immediately.

“The fuck!” John shouted and returned fire. 

Sherlock made good use of the distraction, tucking away his weapon and pulling the bookcase slightly so its back side more fully faced their attackers. He had considerably more cover, despite the bookcase’s dominative three-shelf stature. To his right, John stopped shooting and waited. It took a few more shots for their adversaries to stop as well. At this rate, he and John could simply bait them until they ran out of bullets and then overwhelm them. Idiots. Unfortunately, they hadn’t the time for that, nor Sherlock the patience. More of Costa’s mindless drones would arrive as reinforcements too quickly for that scenario to play out. No matter. Sherlock had a plan.

He took a specially designed, high-powered handgun with armor-piercing bullets from a holster tucked away under his jacket and shifted away from the bookcase. Sherlock sat on the floor a good four feet away from the bookcase. One of their attackers fired two shots, launching the remains of a porcelain lamb in the detective’s direction, but he still had ample cover.

Sherlock closed his eyes and visualized the room. He thought back to when his head had popped into view of Costa’s men and systematically went bullet by bullet, determining trajectory and location. Within seconds, he knew where each man was hiding. He could reach four from where he was sitting, which left only four to deal with. John seemed fully fit, the offending bullet having only grazed him. They could most certainly take four of these idiots together. Why did people hire such morons?

Opening his eyes, Sherlock lifted the weapon in his hand and pointed it directly at the bookcase. He wrapped his left hand around the handle to keep it steady and squeezed the trigger. The steel-piercing round blasted straight through the bookcase and flew across the room into the first target. The shot started a new barrage of lead, which John returned, only he made his shots count. In the time it took Sherlock to shift the gun barrel to his next target and fire three more times, John had eliminated the remaining targets that Sherlock could not see.

When the smoke cleared and the room was blissfully silent, Sherlock let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Costa and all of the men who might have continued his reign of terror were dead. All that remained for Sherlock was Moran. Hopefully, Anthea and the others had found him so Sherlock could start his final assignment and go home. First, however, he had to deal with a new fly in the ointment and it would not be easy.

“What the fuck, Sherlock,” John demanded, the fury plain in his tone. “Sticking your head up just to draw fire. Why not a hand? What the fuck were you thinking?”

Sherlock lowered his weapon and shifted his cool gaze to John. Still tucked behind the curio cabinet and eyes blazing, the captain stared him down with the fury of ten men. Sherlock could feel the heat of his anger radiating into every pore. It was both unsettling and somehow comforting. John Watson by his side again, the two of them against the world. God, how he had missed this. Sherlock’s whole body felt warm. He was home.

He wanted to leap up and wrap his arms around the man, but they didn’t do that. They’d never done that. That was not the way their friendship worked, much to the detective’s chagrin. As Sherlock sat, straight-legged behind the bookcase full of holes, watching his best friend, two words overtook his brain: why not?

“I needed to establish the location of as many shooters as possible so I knew where to aim,” Sherlock told him elementarily. “Surely you employed this technique in the field often enough to grasp the concept.”

“Not with my fucking head,” John shot back.

“It was the most appealing target,” Sherlock replied without apology.

“Of course it was. Why should I expect anything else?” John bit out, his temper reaching new levels of wrath. “Your way is always best. You make all the decisions without giving anyone else a say. The great Sherlock Holmes holds all the cards again.”

Sherlock swallowed, looking into John’s blazing eyes. This was about more than the current circumstances.

“John…” Sherlock began.

“No! No, Sherlock,” John stopped him with a dangerous tone that bore no argument. “You don’t get to make any more decisions for me. None. I’m the one you left behind to pick up the pieces. I couldn’t run from my problems like you did, so fuck you, Sherlock. Fuck you.”

The last two words were so forceful and final that Sherlock’s blood ran cold and he flinched, even as his face heated with anger. He hadn’t wanted to leave and he certainly hadn’t run. If there had been any other way, he would have done it without question. What he did was the only way to protect Mrs. Hudson, Lestrade, and especially John. His efforts were in vain, it seemed. For months, someone had worked in tandem with Sherlock, taking the same chances and risking everything. It had been John all along. The very man he was trying to protect. Every night, every assignment, Sherlock thought he had moved closer to his goal and the truth of it was that everything could have been snatched away from him at any time by a bullet or an idiot with a knife. The man Sherlock thought was safe in 221B was traipsing around Europe just as he was. How had Anthea missed this? Sherlock had no time to dwell on the thought as hurried footfall and exclamations reached his ears.

“Fretta! Da questa parte. Loro son qui.”

“Shit,” John’s head swiveled to the door Costa and his men had entered moments before.

Sherlock rose from the floor and slid the armor-piercing gun into its holster, replacing it for a standard weapon. He headed straight for the over-sized, open window and threw one leg over the pane.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t the time to catch up,” Sherlock said haughtily and with no small annoyance. “If you care to join me on the roof, you’re more than welcome, but I wouldn’t want to hinder your decision.”

He emphasized the final two words with biting sarcasm. John replied with a glare as he rose and made haste for the window, keeping one eye on the door. He and Sherlock could hear them approaching quickly, but cautiously. They could be on top of them at any moment.

“Remind me why we’re going to the roof again,” John said as he lifted a leg and settled half on the pane.

Sherlock ducked under the glass and climbed out onto the ancient iron fire escape. He glanced up before answering John, taking in the three flights they had to climb. Rickety and in disrepair, but not enough to break under their weight.

“Firing down at a target is easy, even on something as precarious as this,” Sherlock looked back at John, “but aiming upward and climbing whilst a target yourself? Much more difficult, even for a crackshot, a level of skill that does not pertain to any of these men.”

“And, of course, you know that,” John drawled with pique.

“Don’t you?” Sherlock retorted.

A shrug of acquiescence was John’s only response. Sherlock nearly smiled at that, the corners of his mouth quirking up a touch before he could stop them. The small, well-hidden irrational part of him suddenly longed to see John’s whole face instead of just his ever-expressive eyes. He quickly dismissed the thought. There would be time for that later. Sherlock opened his mouth to speak just as their time ran out.

“Qui! Qui! Non lasciarli scappare.”

Three shots came from the door, each bullet hitting the window frame to John’s left. Sherlock’s eyes widened as they splintered the wood inches from the doctor’s head, shoulder, and waist. He gave the barest flinch in response as the detective’s pulse rate sky-rocketed. It all could have ended in that instant and a flood of shared moments in their lives flashed through his mind before the sound of John’s gun pulled him back. A single well-aimed shot and a man fell through the open doorway. What followed was a strange and tense silence.

“You were saying?” John asked cheekily and winked.

That first day at Bart’s came to Sherlock again. Here, use mine. This time he allowed himself to smile.

“Whenever you’re ready,” he replied.

With that, both men sprung into action. John scrambled under the glass and onto the fire escape as Sherlock pushed it down to close with a crack. Hurried footsteps sounded from inside as Sherlock jabbed a military grade knife into the soft wood right above the pane of glass.

“That’ll buy us some time,” the detective said as a handful of men appeared on the other side of the glass. They began pulling and pushing at the window to no avail. Sherlock gestured toward the stairs that led upward. “Move.”

John did not need to be told twice, or even once as it turned out. He was already well on his way when Sherlock spoke. They clambered up two flights before the idiots at the window finally had the presence of mind to shoot and smash out the glass with their weapons. The duo stopped momentarily to look down at their pursuers. One appeared from the window and immediately fired upward without taking aim. The bullets clanged off the iron bars and ricocheted away. Sherlock quickly took aim and dropped the man in front of the window so he blocked the path for the others.

“Go,” Sherlock urged. “Go!”

He and John climbed the last flight as fast as the decrepit stairs would allow. Beneath them, two men emerged onto the fire escape while at least two others began firing upward blindly from within the building. The chances of hitting John or Sherlock were low, but it was enough to keep them from returning fire and it slowed their progress. When they finally made it to the roof, Sherlock quickly scanned the area for an escape route. John fired a couple of well-aimed shots down the fire escape and looked toward his friend.

“What now?” John panted.

“We run,” Sherlock replied while his eyes scanned and his mind flew through scenarios. “These older buildings are very close together. Easy to get from one to another. They’re already fifty seconds behind. Plenty of time for a head start.”

“You’re not seriously saying…” John began, disbelief rife in his voice.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, John, and you know I don’t like repeating myself,” Sherlock met his eyes with a rye smirk. “Come on.”

“Oh, well. I’m a slag for danger,” John muttered as Sherlock turned and ran.

--------

That last line is a favorite of my wonderful beta. Al, my friend, my unholy rat king, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I owe you the best cheese money can buy.

I hope you all enjoyed the danger and bickering. You knew their reunion would bring both. Haha. Thank you all for your support. I'll see you next weekend! Love, Jane

[usafphantom2]

Growing up at Beale Air Force Base, CA there were black projects and then there were Deep black…. projects …I’m just finding out about many of them now.

“The goal is simple, but the problem is titanic. Get photos of the top-secret Red Chinese hydrogen bomb tests near the Mongolian border deep inside Asia, then get them back, without being detected “ to do this, they needed a MD 21. Which is a cousin of the SR 71.

In the Back Lot of the Pima Air & Space Museum You Can Discover History.

1547 Hrs. December 20, 2009. In the Back Storage Yard of the Pima Air & Space Museum Outside Tucson, Arizona.

Most of what is lying around in the dusty expanse of the aircraft graveyards around Tucson, Arizona is readily identifiable

But there… What is that strange, manta-ray shaped, dusty black thing lying at an angle just on the other side of that fence? It may be an old airfield wind vane or radar test model. But it also may be…

I quickly locate a spot where the entire fence line opens up. I skirt the fence and in a couple minutes running around the sandy airplane corpses I’m inside. There, sitting right in front of me on its decrepit transport cart and dusted with windblown sand, abandoned in the Sonoran Desert, is one of Kelly Johnson and Ben Rich’s most ambitious classified projects from the fabled Lockheed Skunk Works….

I just found the CIA’s ultra-secret Mach 3.3+ D-21 long-range reconnaissance drone. The D-21 was so weird, so ambitious, so unlikely it remains one of the most improbable concepts in the history of the often-bizarre world of ultra-secret “black” aviation projects. And now it lies discarded in the desert. The story behind it is so bizarre it is difficult to believe, but it is true.

July 30, 1966: Flight Level 920 (92,000 ft.), Mach 3.25, Above Point Mugu Naval Air Missile Test Center, Off Oxnard, California. The MD-21 takes off.

Only another M-21 is fast enough and can fly high enough to photograph this, the most classified of national security tests. Traveling faster than a rifle bullet at 91,000 feet, near inner-space altitude, one of the most ambitious and bizarre contraptions in the history of mankind is about to be tested.

Tagboard” is its codename. Because of the catastrophic May, 1960 shoot-down of Francis Gary Powers’ Lockheed U-2 high altitude spy plane over the Soviet Union the CIA and is in desperate need of another way to spy on the rising threat of communist nuclear tests. Even worse, the other “Red Menace”, the Chinese, are testing massive hydrogen bombs in a remote location of the Gobi Desert near the Mongolian/Chinese border. It would be easier to observe the tests if the Chinese did them on the moon. Flat, triangular, black, featureless except for its odd plan form as viewed from above, like a demon’s cloak, it has a sharply pointed nose recessed into a forward-facing orifice. That’s it. No canopy, no cockpit, no weapons. Nothing attached to the outside. Even more so than a rifle bullet its shape is smooth and simple. This is the ultra-secret D-21 drone. The D-21 is truly a “drone”, not a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). Its flight plan is programmed into a guidance system. It is launched from a mothership launch aircraft at speed and altitude. It flies a predetermined spy mission from 17 miles above the ground and flashes over at three times the speed of sound. It photographs massive swaths of land with incredible detail and resolution. And because of its remarkably stealthy shape, no one will ever know it was there

Despite a successful launch the D-21 drone was lost. In the middle of 1972, after four attempts at overflying Red China with the D-21 drone and four mission failures, the program was cancelled. It was imaginative. It was innovative. It was ingenious. But it was impossible.

So ended one of the most ambitious and outrageous espionage projects in history.

Written by Tom Demerly

Posted Linda Sheffield Miller *disclaimer I did not write this I am paraphrasing.

@Habubrats71 via X

[shinyshade8026]

here’s the edit

A light grey [Sleep Mode] shines lightly on a visor before they switch to scrunched up, lightly trembling eyelights, the owner shooting up with a sharp gasp. “Mgh, Mala? What’s wrong?” is murmured sleepily beside her, drawing her gaze to the concerned cyan eyelights of the drone laying in bed beside her.

“It’s nothing Lapis, just old memories.” Mala assures as she lays back down and curls into Lapis’ side. “If you’re sure. Big day today, we’ll soon have our own little one.” Lapis states excitedly, eyelights shining brightly at the thought. “Oh…that is today, isn’t it?“ Mala mutters with a small, happy smile, letting the thought of soon holding her own child in her arms chase away the lingering shadow of her memories.

“Yep, now come on. Let’s get ready, Khan’s likely to be here within the hour with it.” Lapis cheers, getting up and moving towards the two large boxes they use as closets. “Alright, Alright, how old are you again?” Mala asks teasingly with a giggle as she joins her at the boxes, the pair getting dressed and moving out to the living room area.

They fill the remaining time before Khans arrival with talk of recent events and laughter. A firm knock on the door of the building they’re living in catches their attention. Lapis answers the door, being met with the sight of Khan holding a medium sized box. “Here you go, Lapis. One Untrained Neural Network and the code transfer cords.” He states upon her opening the door, handing the box over. 

“Thank you so much for bringing this over, Khan.” Lapis gently takes hold of the box, “Oh there’s no need for thanks, it was my pleasure.” He states with a chuckle. “Sorry to dash like this. I’d like to stay and catch up, but I’ve stuff to do in the colony.” He adds apologetically, “Oh it’s fine Khan, I understand that you’re gonna be real busy Mr big shot leader.” Lapis assures with an amused giggle, Khan joining in the laughter briefly before waving and making his way back to Outpost-3.

Lapis walks back over to Mala, sitting down and placing the box between them. “So, you ready to bring our kid into the world Mala?” She asks gently, Mala giving a confident nod as she opens the box and takes out one cord and the UNN. 

“Agh! Semi-organic core, right.” Mala mutters as she plugs one end of the cord into her core and the other into the side of the UNN’s head area, wincing at the mild sting from it. Lapis eyes her in concern for a moment as she plugs the second cord in.

Worker OS detected

Uploading base code

Parent to parent code link established

The two watches with bated breath as text zips across the UNN’s screen, joy brimming in their cores as the text turns into a pair of ice blue eyes and gentle cooing fills the air.

“Oh, hello there little one.” Mala gently murmurs as she lifts the pill baby into her arms, softly scratching their chassis causing them to giggle from the ticklish feeling. “Hi there little one, welcome to the world. Can you believe it Mala? Our own daughter.” Lapis giddily states after listening to the UNNs voice pitch for a minute, near vibrating from sheer happiness as she leans into Mala.

“I know, my love. Hey, you mind grabbing those blankets under the table?” Mala requests. Lapis does so, blinking in surprise as she registers a certain thing about the blankets. “Wait are these-“ “Yep, those’re named blankets, one for the name you liked and one for mine.” Mala confirms.

“Well, maybe in the future we can still use the second blanket. Here you go, little flower.” Mala coos as she wraps the newly named Rosa in the blanket.

awwwww

[misfitwashere]

Safe Skies for Ukraine

Let's do what our elected officials are failing to do

TIMOTHY SNYDER

JAN 26

It's a frustrating time for Americans who support Ukraine.  Congressional Republicans said that they support Ukraine, but want to connect it to the border.  Then, when given the chance to address the border, they decline.

During these gaslit shenanigans, good people who are fighting a defensive war of tremendous historic significance are being killed when they might have lived.

It is sad to recite all the ways that Ukrainian resistance serves US interests. Sad because not enough people in Congress care about US interests.  And sad because one shouldn't even have to refer to them.  

It is rare to have a chance to halt a war of aggression and prevent a genocidal occupation at zero risk and with the loss of zero soldiers.  That level of moral clarity, available once in any political lifetime, ought to be reason enough to act.

Even if they do not care for others, Americans ought to at least care for themselves.  

They should care that they do well from an international order in which it is not normal for countries to invade one another.  Ukrainians defend that.  Americans should care that the risk of nuclear war has been reduced.  Ukrainians achieve that by resisting Putin's nuclear blackmail.  Americans should care that the chance of war in Europe has been drastically reduced.  Ukraine is fulfilling by itself the entire NATO mission, absorbing and blunting a Russian attack.  Americans should care that China is being deterred.  So long as Ukraine resists, it is much less likely that Taiwan will be threatened and America will be drawn into a war in the Pacific. 

The money in question has not been significant.  It is a nickel on the defense department dollar.  Much of that nickel remains in the United States.  The weapons we send have been used extraordinarily efficiently.  The Ukrainians, with symbolic numbers of American weapons, have used them withe extraordinary skill and to great effect. 

We can hope that these arguments will matter at some point!  And perhaps they will. 

In the meantime, we can at least act as civil society. Please help me finish my Safe Skies project.  It funds a passive drone detection system, one that is already protecting four Ukrainian regions and is now being extended to another four.  It allows Ukrainians to find Iranian-made or -modelled drones and shoot them down before they cause harm. It also works on cruise missiles. I have seen the system’s components when I was in Ukraine, and I know how it works. Like so much that the Ukrainians do, the system is very cost effective.  $1.8 million was the total amount to be raised, and we are about 90% there. 

Amidst all the ill will, it would be good to have something to celebrate.  Thanks to all of you who have contributed.  Most drone attacks are now halted, and in this way critical infrastructure is protected and people are kept alive. 

America as a country can do much more, and should.  But as Americans this is one thing we can achieve now. We are almost there.

PS: In saying all this, I don't at all want to leave out all of you from beyond the United States, and it is a very significant number, who have contributed to this campaign!  Thank you. This is just a particular moment when Americans might want to take the matter in hand.

[iviarellereads]

Network Effect, Chapter 7

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which that can't be good for the engines.

Murderbot shares its view with Amena in the feed, who gets confused about why it's so jumpy until MB says the feed is from its eyes. She comments that it's creepy how everything looks so normal on most of the ship, as MB moves through. MB asks if anything about the situation isn't creepy, and Amena quips back.

As MB works to undo the damage it did to seal the door, Amena says she's glad she's not alone, and further, that MB was the one who got caught with her. Even Thiago's probably grateful MB is with Amena to watch out for her. MB knows Amena is trying to compliment it, but can't help but see a contradiction.

It tells Amena Thiago doesn't trust it, pretending it doesn't care. Amena snorts,(1) and says it saved him from the raiders, and he's still not over the fright of what could have happened to Mensah. And he might be a little jealous, because she can talk to MB but not to him about the abduction. MB says that's not what they talk about mostly, but Amena says they wouldn't really have killed a woman of Mensah's status. MB thinks that's a touch naive, but that describes most of Preservation's population. It says if GrayCris had been able to cut a deal with the company, they would absolutely have taken the ransom, killed everyone in Exit Strategy, and been untouchable for it.

MB has made it out into the main part of the ship, and finds the way to engineering closed, which is a good sign no targetDrones are moving through. It senses some vibrations, but thinks they might be normal for this area, and neither it nor its drone cloud detect movement. It thinks about what might happen to them, if TCS put them in the wormhole without a destination.(2)

In the engineering module, it finds one of Art's repair drones smashed up, and nearby it smells the growth medium smell of the Targets. Amena asks it to try to find a display, but MB follows its nose down a path with caution markers warning against entry without a sufficient engineering license so you don't mess up the engines. At the end, it can see where it assumes the engines should be. It doesn't know what they should look like, but it can guess they shouldn't have a huge organic mass on them, that smells like the Targets.(3)

Scout Two alerts, and MB sees Target Five pick up the device they'd used earlier to hit the B-E pair's implants. MB opens its input range to look for signals, and picks up the device's data transmission, and TCS's response. But, something's bothering it. The Targets are acting close to the humans it's used to in a lot of the basics, but their behaviour differs in some strange ways. Like, they aren't searching for the escapees, but they aren't sitting down as they seem to wait for something either.

MB accesses Scout One, in the bridge, and finds a countdown timer at two minutes and change. It forwards it to Amena. She says it looks like there's a countdown to wormhole exit, which is what MB worried about. It asks Amena to wake Eletra, and ask how long the wormhole journeys have been taking. She does, and Eletra is convinced they haven't left their original system. When Amena tries to correct her, Eletra stops responding and seems to fall asleep.(4)

Amena points out that earlier, Eletra and Ras thought Amena and MB must have been captured before themselves, and rejected contradictions then as well. MB says the growth on the engine is an alien remnant, and it may be speeding up wormhole transit somehow. Amena says that's impossible, but as she's talking, the countdown finishes, and they emerge into normal space.

Amena, shocked and alarmed, asks what they should do. MB wants to shoot the artifact on the engines, but knows if it hits the engines it'll go badly at best. It doesn't want to say it doesn't know to Amena, because humans tend to panic when nobody knows what to do, so it needs intel and to take control of the situation somehow. And first, it has to trust Amena, because she's already tried to help MB by tackling Ras.

So, MB admits, it doesn't know what to do now. Amena starts thinking, and suggests finding other displays in the bridge, maybe one will say where they are, or show a station they can send a distress signal toward. Together, they find one that indicates some navigational data, but not whether there's a station nearby.

On another display, MB finds a diagram of the ship, indicating something's attached to the lab module. It gets incredulous as it realizes what it is. It had shut down comms so the Targets couldn't use them to track, but reactivates and tunes to the channel the survey had been using. Arada asks if MB and Amena are there. Amena confirms, and Arada says she and Overse, as well as Ratthi and Thiago are in the facility's safepod, clung to the side of Perihelion. The pod is too damaged to invite Amena and MB aboard, but as Arada is saying it, someone yells something muffled in the background, and she asks what their situation is.

MB knows there's lots Arada isn't telling them, but if the ship hadn't exited the wormhole so quickly, the safepod likely would've broken up. And now it has four more humans to worry about.(5)

Amena gives them a rundown of events so far and MB sends a schematic highlighting the airlock in the crew quarters, asking if they can make it to that entry. Arada takes a moment, obviously checking air levels in the evac suits, adding to MB's worry piles, but confirms they can get there in about three minutes. MB says it will meet them there.

Knowing it has about 2.5 of those minutes to spare, MB starts on the TCS hack. As it proceeds, it gets a notice from the sentry drone at the hatch to the crew quarters, that some sort of energy weapon is in use. It runs, notifying Amena to cycle the others inside while it deals with the imminent compromise of the safe zone. She grabs supplies MB doesn't have time to make note of, and follows the route MB lays out for her.

There were three possible reasons the Targets might have acted now: (1) they had received intel from targetControlSystem that the safepod was on the outside of the hull and interpreted its presence as an attack, (2) now that we’d left the wormhole and were presumably at our destination they knew their reinforcements would be coming soon and felt it was now relatively safe to attack us, or (3) they were expecting a supervisor to arrive at any moment and wanted to look proactive. With my luck, it was a combination of all three.

A short action sequence. MB loses contact with one of Amena's drones, and tells her to get back to Medical. She can't, though, because something's probaby wrong with the safepod. She's carrying a fire suppressant pack Ras had pointed out. Further action sequence with Targets, Amena uses the fire suppressant to mark the targetDrones, allowing MB's drones to see them and confirming that the stealth effect is physical, not interference.(6) More action, and in a crticial moment, Art's comm, still hidden inside MB's ribs, pings with a message tagged with the name "Eden", the name MB used on RaviHyral.

MB is sure it must be a trick, though its focus is mostly on fighting the Targets and drones, and TCS should be inundated with the code packet hack. It analyses the Eden message in the background while it fights more. Amena makes it to the airlock, successfully starts the lock cycle to open outside, and whoops. MB finishes analysis, no malware detected, it's a video clip that must have been stuck in a message buffer. As TCS fails, some of Art's systems are rebooting. It might still be a trick, but MB is desperate and grieving for its friend, and plays it, while still fighting.

The airlock cycle completes, the humans are in, Ratthi's evac suit singed badly.

The compressed video clip in the packet was from the serial World Hoppers, from a story arc climax episode, when a secondary main character’s mind had been taken over by a sentient brain-virus (I know) and the story was really much better than it sounds but it was the moment when the character said, I am trapped in my own body.(7) I really needed to get up to ART’s bridge.

MB yells at the Targets to get them to chase it away from the hatch, then realizes it left the visual feed open with Amena. Amena shouts at MB, asking what's happening. MB tells her to get back to Medical. If it succeeds, it can answer later, and if it doesn't, it will be dead, and not have to answer at all. It backburners the channel before Amena can keep asking.(8)

=====

(1) I'm choosing to interpret this as amusement at Murderbot's ignorance of human nature. (2) Not exactly a danger in most scifi we know of since we mostly conceptualize wormholes as specific, single-destination pipes. They might move around and open and close in different places on either end, but we usually think of them as being like a pipe, without joints. If we conceptualize a region that can be traveled through to many different places, we usually talk about it as not-wormhole, like in Babylon 5 where it's just "Hyperspace" and access is through "jump points", where you tear a hole through the realities with tech to travel back and forth. It seems MB's universe uses wormhole to mean the same thing as that Hyperspace concept, which is fascinating to me. (3) My brain hearkens back to the Expanse series, where the protomolecule feeds on radiation, as is emitted by the main style of engine the ships in that setting use. This doesn't necessarily track to the explanation MB offers in a couple pages, but I haven't heard any complaints yet about my free associations. (4) What did they do to that poor woman? (5) Oh no, MB's favourite pass-time, caring about humans who care about it. (6) As opposed to the way MB live-edits itself and its humans out of camera footage. (7) Not dissimilar from a few Stargate plots, really. (8) You can't just END a whole CHAPTER there, Wells!

[metalhcart]

Data Log: Military Ranks, Roles and Technology

Accessing data log: military ranks, roles and technology

OVERVIEW:

With the creation of the United Fronts came a need for new military. This led to the growth of Private Military Contractors, as the large combination of nations created an environment that allowed for a greater number of multinational teams. Of course, it took time for this to happen, as there were still prejudices that hadn’t exactly left with the establishment of the Fronts. Eventually, mixed teams became rather common place, in addition to all of the melding of cultures, individuals were allowed to practice their religions in peace as well as have religious symbols upon their armor and equipment so as long as it didn’t affect their combat abilities.

Training is still mostly physical, but there’s also simulation training in order to train troopers in different fields, namely piloting aircraft and other vehicles. There’s also training with technology and interfaces, everyone in a unit is expected to know how to at least hack or reprogram technology. Everyone is also taught basic hand to hand combat, these are separated into multiple categories as the introduction of multinational units allows for more people to use a varied fighting style.

As far as ranking goes, it’s kept similar to the Old World, with the lowest ranking being Private for regular troops and the highest rank being Master Sergeant. For in field-leaders the lowest ranking is Warrant Officer 1st Class whereas the highest ranking is Captain. Past that, any officer of higher rank is no longer in the field, instead overseeing various operations and controlling the structure of whatever branch. With the lowest ranking being Colonel highest ranking being General. That being said, the option to go into the field is available to anyone past field work, but only in dire situations.

ROLES:

Infantry are trained in dealing with close to mid-range combat. Typically they’re armed with basic exo-suits and body armor. Nothing special outside of their strength and speed boost. That being said, they’re the most versatile as they have training in using multiple weapon types, while they don’t excel in any particular category, their training allows them to branch out into multiple fields. Typically they’re armed with basic assault rifles, shotguns or Light Machine Guns.

Heavy Weapons Specialists on the other hand are given access to a range of weaponry that is more effective against both infantry and armor. They’re typically armed with weapons analogous to Heavy Machine Guns as well as exosuits that enhance their strength and come with heavier armor.  As well as reactive armor that lessens damage from explosives. They’re also trained in the use of the squad’s high explosives, if there’s heavy armor in the way, they can take it down with their weaponry. That being said, they’re slower than most of the soldiers.

Designated Marksmen/women are trained in the use of long range weaponry. Typically their exosuits are lighter, but they’re given a cloaking device that allows them to avoid most detection systems at the cost of moving slower so that the cloak isn’t broken. It also takes time to recharge if it’s broken through shooting with their sniper rifles. Hence why they’re given more training in their sidearms as well. Some snipers carry sub-machine gun type weapons, as a secondary, but they also chose to use DMR type weapons and trade their cloaks for grapples.

Tech Specialists are trained in the use of shotgun type weapons, but what makes them dangerous is their use of drones and technological systems. Their exosuits no only give them a boost in their tech skills, but also comes equipped with a deployable ballistic shield. They’re typically placed into support roles, with their drones able to handle healing of squad members or give shields. Their drones allow them to either attack or interface with security systems at a longer distance. In some cases, a Specialist will only carry a handgun for their primary weapon and bring along a sentry turret, making them best for area denial.

Field Medics are exactly that, with their exosuits giving them better views of squad vitals as well as having a stunner installed into their exosuits. They carry around medical kits which allow them to give much faster healing as well as other equipment that can either enhance a soldier’s abilities temporarily or be used to disable an enemy. Their sidearm is much less a weapon and more a utility item. Namely it’s meant to heal a fellow squadmate, but can switch to a more lethal mode to fire a collection of chemicals that will kill an enemy. Though a medic will typically never use this, as they have to pierce flesh in order for it to work.

Other types of soldiers exist, but this information is typically shared within corporations and as such is not allowed in this public file.

TECHNOLOGY:

Most PMCs are given access to basic land, air and sea vehicles. Of course, the most common used aerial vehicles for troop transport are the Xiphos VTOL, which is armed with a Guardian .50 caliber machine gun on the front, dual sidewinder air-to-ground missile launchers and a flare system to protect against any heat-seeking missiles from surface-to-air missiles. Lightly armored and fast, troopers fast rope down in the case of a stealth mission, whereas in open combat, they jump straight out to the ground, with the assistance of jets fixed to the back of their exosuits.

For standard air to air combat, the Helios Interceptors are used, with easy controls and A.I. interface, it is a mainstay in most PMCs. Not to mention the easily modded systems, the standard armaments are twin 30mm Gatling cannons, Lancet heat seeking missiles and decoy flares, they’re effective for basic aerial combat. They can mount laser and energy weapon systems as well, though it does take longer for the weapons to cool down compared to the standard issue weapons.

For standard ground transportation, the Wolverine APC is the most reliable. All terrain with reactive armor to better defend against explosives, it’s a mainstay. It usually carries an A10 Anti-Infantry Cannon, which is controlled from the gunner’s chair on the inside. As well as a Guardian .50 caliber machine gun on a swivel mount, controlled from a secondary gunner chair.

Finally, most PMCs have access to a standard issue Variable Attack Armors. Typically these are armed with a 20mm Autocannon, as well as basic shielding systems, a Argus anti-armor missile launcher and a vibroblade for melee combat. Soldier are required to undergo specialized training, as they have an Neural Link established with their unit. If one is disabled, most soldiers set their VAAs to self destruct, as to ensure the enemy not only doesn’t get hands on them but also figure out how to better deal with the specific nation’s weaponry. More advanced versions of these are also developed for interstellar combat as well as hazardous environments.

Data Log Concluded

[major2501]

Living in the Fray: Chapter Ten

'Yes Chase fans we can confirm that the con Andrea Toles is in fact armed. Our cameras did detect her earlier on stealing this fine katana from a New Edo resident, which she is now putting to good use. And as you all know, Cassandra Krieger is a prolific sword fighter so if Toles can keep up with her, we may have a brilliant show on our hands! A Con facing off against a hunter like this is a rare occurrence so you better not miss this!'

'Come on guys! The boss is on again!'

Justin shouted to the rest of the crew who were milling about the recreation room of the Osiris. Michael come running back in with his service trolley now full of drinks and a small ice bucket. Devin and Tony who were playing pool put down their cues, ready to come back to their game later while the twins who had gone playing video games in their quarters returned after they received a Chase notification on the holowatches about Krieger finding another con. Zach however had left hours before to go get ready for his stupid date.

'If you're just joining us now, Captain Cassandra Krieger is now currently facing off against con Andrea Toles in a swordfight. Toles did however manage to catch Krieger first in a serious show of aggression by repeatedly hitting her in the face with what appeared to be a garbage can lid. Toles retreated for a moment when Krieger managed to throw her off but she returned with a stolen katana. To whoever has had their katana stole, we aim to return it to you as soon as possible.'

The frighteningly cheerful voice of Chase host Paul Adams rang through the rec room as he provided commentary on what was going on. The live footage of Krieger standing face to face with Toles filled the whole screen with another feed popping up soon after in the corner with a feed from another drone camera that had flown in to capture the ensuing fight from another angle.

The crew of the Osiris made themselves comfortable on the couch and grabbed their drinks, waiting with baited breath for their boss to unleash whatever she had planned. Of course Krieger could just easily draw one of her guns and shoot Toles, but the con had purposely stolen a sword and was now facing Krieger with it in her hands ready to attack. She was out to kill Krieger and get herself a reduced sentence if she managed to accomplish a hunter kill; she'd get a few years knocked off her time and if she was flashy in how she did it she would probably get some cell luxuries. Toles was thinking some real make-up and an endless supply of chocolates whenever she wanted then. Maybe even her own cell and cable TV if she went all out.

Michael watched his boss closely on screen as she effortlessly drew her sword out of its sheathe attached to her belt, draping a touch down her left hip. The camera drones had settled in position to get the best footage. Krieger held the sword in both hands and carefully raised it, positioning the handle just in front of her; vertically from the side of her right shoulder.

'Does the boss know what she's doing? I mean she's standing like she is.' Michael asked the crew. It earned a few chuckles from them. He only asked because he recognised the stance the Captain was in as he was made to take martial arts classes as a child. He remembered his idiot brother used a sword in his "extracurricular" activities but he really didn't want to think about that right now.

'Dude that sword isn't just for show.' Tony laughed. 'The Captain and Ronson have been doing Kenjutsu for years now, this silly bitch doesn't know what she's let herself in for.'

'She'll win, she always does.' Jess said.

'We have money riding on her, we do it all the time she knows this.' Faye continued, holding up her holowatch showing the holographic projection of a betting website that had just updated with "Krieger Vs. Toles."

The crew continued to watch as Andrea Toles readied herself with the sword she had stolen. She held on with both hands out in front of her and the tip of the sword pointing toward Krieger's head.

------

'I should've bashed your fucking head in with a brick.' Toles barked at Krieger. The women began circling each other, a fair distance between them.

'Charming.' Krieger replied. 'Hindsight's a bitch though ain't it?'

'Not when you have a sword.'

'Why didn't you attack me with that first? Seems pretty stupid not to.'

'Not my style.'

'Ah you're more the bludgeoning, pushed my hubby down a marble staircase, dropped a breezeblock on his head kinda girl. Gotcha.'

'I have my ways.'

Krieger smirked. She and Toles continued to circle around, not giving any indication that one was going to attack first. A small gathering of people had started to form a safe distance away and were staying relatively quiet as they watched the women in their stand-off. It was a one off opportunity to see a fight like this in the flesh involving Krieger as she didn't actually use her sword that much. Maybe on special occasions like this where she had a convict brandishing a sword at her and it was being broadcast on television. She had to chuckle to herself though, with the woman brandishing a sword at her. She figured that Toles wasn't all that proficient with weapons after being told that it "wasn't her style" and that she'd much rather come at her with a paving slab or a hot iron.

Toles had reacted slightly to the advancement of the few Chase camera drones and the crowd that had started to gather. Krieger stayed exactly how she was, never taking her eyes off Toles and keeping her arms locked in place still holding her sword upright. The Con was now starting to panic slightly with everybody watching her. She was hoping to just off Krieger as quickly as possible so she could go back in to hiding for a bit but now; with all eyes on her and Krieger standing resolute and alert, she was starting to feel the pressure. She just knew that if she tried to run then Krieger would be on her like shit sticks to a blanket. Toles knew now that she had cornered herself in to a situation she wasn't likely to win.

'Fuck it.' Toles whispered under her breath. Acknowledging she had probably made a terrible mistake with a sigh. She raised the sword and charged at Krieger with all the force and might she had in her. She slowed down to a near stop in front of Krieger and swung the katana straight at her head, but missed by a mile as she had simply stepped out of the way; Toles fell forward slightly to which Krieger landed her boot in the woman's back sending her down to the ground.

'Was that it? You're not trying.' Krieger said as she scuffed her left boot in the dusty ground.

Toles growled as she hastily got herself to her feet. She didn't even dust herself off before flying in to some kind of attack. She came at Krieger again, attempting to slash her with the tip of the sword whilst trying to maintain some kind of distance in order to protect herself. Krieger had already raised her sword and effortlessly parried the attack. Toles had tried pushing her back but Krieger was firmly planted where she stood.

The Con had decided enough was enough as she was getting fed up with what she thought were forceful attacks not landing or even phasing Krieger in the slightest. But that was her own fault for stealing a sword and not a damn gun or something. Heck she had more chance of dropping a bathroom sink on Krieger from a dizzy height and actually hitting her with a sword.

Toles took a deep breath to try and compose herself, noticing that pretty much everyone in the crowd that had gathered were now recording everything either through their ocular cameras or through their holowatches. At least now everybody in the whole galaxy could have footage of her making a complete fool of herself before Krieger finally snuffed her; she was surprised that Krieger had let her live for this long. In fact, Krieger toying with her was probably payback for her repeatedly smashing her in the face with a bin lid.

Toles charged at Krieger for what was probably going to be the last time. She slashed randomly from left to right, upwards and downwards. Krieger just parried every swing as if she was in a sparring match with her and not an actual fight.

'Any last words?' Krieger grunted as her sword clanged away with every hit.

'Yeah I'm just pissed I didn't steal a gun to fucking kill you.' Toles heaved. She was running out of energy now, the sword was pretty heavy and she had been thrashing it around for a while now so it was really taking it out of her.

'No worries. I'll have them write that on your headstone.'

Krieger had barely moved her body except her arms. She quickly shifted in to a different stance and burst out toward Toles with frighteningly quick speed and accurate cuts. She hit Toles first across the stomach, swiping from right to left making a deep cut that started gushing immediately. The con dropped the sword from the pain and held her arms straight across her abdomen as if she were trying to keep her guts from escaping. Within a second Krieger had already drawn her sword out to the far left and with a little bit more force flung her katana to the right; instantly slicing through Toles' neck with absolutely no resistance.

The Con's body and now separate head dropped to the ground in a gushing, bloody mess; the sword she had in her hand previously that had clattered to the ground beside her was still as clean as when she found it. Krieger crouched down beside her body and casually wiped her katana blade across her back to clean some of the blood off. Her face never faltered as she heard some cheering coming from the crowd behind her along with what sounded like some people throwing up. This was most likely their first beheading or maybe they really did not have the stomach for this at all. Satisfied that her sword was clean enough, she gently slid it back in its sheathe.

'Well done babes.'

Ronson was awake and chatting away in Krieger's head.

'Thanks choomba. Still number one.'

'What was her problem anyway? Sounded like she had summat to prove.'

'Probably.' Krieger spoke aloud. 'Con's actively trying to kill Hunters don't happen so often but from what I can gather, it sounds like when they thrown back in the slammer they'd gain some notoriety as well as some perks.'

'I guess so, they survive a Chase AND kill a hunter? Jesus that's bragging rights and clout on fucking steroids in jail.' Ronson replied.

'How's it going your end bubbeleh?' Krieger asked as she fidgeted around in her pocket for her smokes, producing the packet and lighting one swiftly. She decided to start walking away with haste before the crowd started pestering her for photos and autographs.

'Fine. Nobody in here seems to be up to much, or they're asleep. Erik's seems to be entertained by you though.'

Krieger said nothing in reply to that.

'So, I suggest you go back to that safe house and get some rest. Frank's probably gonna up his game now you got a second kill and as for Freddie... well we don't really know what he's up to. Oh, a clean-up team should be there soon to remove the body.'

'Good, at this rate they'll end up cleaning the whole street. I've never seen so many people barfing before.'

'Ahh witnessing their first kills in the flesh, how precious.'

------

Jess and Faye were sat with coy little smiles on their faces. Toles' death by beheading was going at some pretty decent odds, the other options being disembowelment, death by blood loss or even gunshot. The twins now found themselves about twelve thousand credits richer each. A shopping trip would soon be planned with their extra pocket money, probably during the trades holiday after the Chase had finished.

Everybody on board the ship whistled and cheered at their bosses second kill of the Chase. But after realising what time it was they all decided it was time to go home and agreed to meet up again on board the ship for breakfast, which Michael was cooking at half past eight. They could all then watch the show together.

Jess and Faye had already ordered a ride to their apartment just outside of the main town centre in an area known as Ginza Two which was a trendy area. Justin and Tony lived in Little Denenchofu which was the most suburban area in all of New Edo and was fitting for them as it was a nice area, had decent schools and was safer than anywhere else for their families. Devin and Michael lived in different apartment buildings just opposite from each other. It was in walking distance so while everyone else ordered cabs; they took a walk out in the balmy evening.

'How are you finding it here now?' Devin casually asked Michael as they strode side by side through the streets, still relatively busy with people out drinking and partying.

'Great!' Michael answered enthusiastically. 'I think I've landed on my feet really, I'm grateful.'

'Good, it's been great having you on the crew. It's been even better with our food situation too, the Boss and Ronson aren't exactly great with that side of things.'

'Yeah I figured as much.' Michael chuckled. 'I'm just happy I'm finally getting a chance to do what I want.'

'Well that is one good thing the Boss does, she let's you do what you're good at.' Devin mused. 'She took me in as an engineer with pretty much hardly any working experience on ships like the Osiris.'

'That's pretty cool though. Employers hardly want people who haven't had like, years of actual experience.'

'Yep. She has a bit of a soft spot for people who are a bit out of luck, especially if they've been mistreated in some way.'

Michael knew all about that. He was a grunt in the army and every other job he'd had in his life and spent most of it being shit on in some way or other. Nothing was really expected of him during school either. The only person who ever believed in him was his mother, God rest her.

'This is me anyway. Have a good night Michael, I'm looking forward to your breakfast tomorrow.' Devin held out a fist to him, which Michael bumped with his own.

'Same to you man. See you in the morning.'

Devin walked in to his condo building whilst Michael crossed over the road to his. He turned round and glanced down the street for a moment, smiling slightly before he walked inside his condo. He wasn't in the most morally correct of jobs but at least he had one. One that he could do what he wanted. Sure he cooked in the army but even then he still had to do as he was told and didn't really have free reign, but now he had what he wanted. And people who appreciated his work. He knew his mother would've been proud that he was happy and didn't end up like his brother or father even. Life was good for Michael with his new family.

[girlactionfigure]

🎭 PURIM morning - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime (Sunday)

🎉 Happy Purim! May we merit miracles like Purim today, may the blessings of Purim bring our hostages home, our soldiers complete success, and the downfall of our enemies like Purim past.

A day to hear the Megillah Esther, to celebrate, but also to pray for our hostages, our soldiers, our survival!

🔻Air attacks on Israeli civilians…

Rockets x 50 - from Hezbollah, Lebanon - at Snir & Odem

Rockets - from Hamas, Gaza - at Nir Oz

Suicide Drone - from Syria - at South Golan / Kinerret - - FALSE ALARM.

▪️ISIS LEARNS FROM HAMAS.. the (supposed) ISIS terrorists who perpetrated the terrible terror attack in Russia were streaming, and the organization has now published multiple videos (not shared here) that are being redistributed by terror supporting channels - - JUST LIKE HAMAS on the Oct. 7 massacre.

▪️IDF ATTACKS DEEP LEBANON.. IDF: Earlier tonight, warplanes attacked a workshop containing weapons belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the Baalbek area of the Bekaa valley. In addition, aircraft attacked the launchers from which some of the launches into Israeli territory were detected.

▪️A HERO SOLDIER HAS FALLEN.. in battle in Gaza, Sergeant Lior Raviv, 21, from Rishon Lezion.

▪️THE AL-SHIFRA HOSPITAL TERROR BASE.. some 800 suspects detained by troops, 480 of them have been confirmed to be members of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.

▪️TERROR - NEAR TULKARM.. Nur Shams in Tulkarm: The operative of the military wing of the Islamic Jihad openly proclaimed last night that the members of the wing carried out a shooting attack on an Israeli civilian vehicle.  IDF: “no known incident”.

▪️IRANIAN SHIA MILITIAS ATTACK TEL AVIV (NOT).. The Shia militias in Iraq claim that they attacked the building of the Israeli Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv in the early morning with a suicide drone. No such incident, though previously there have been reports of drones headed west from Iraq falling in Jordan or being shot down in Syria.

▪️HOUTHIS & SHIPPING.. Houthis: we will not attack any Russian, Chinese or Iranian vessels.

US Central Command: the Houthis launched 4 anti-ship ballistic missiles at the M/V Huang Pu, a Chinese-owned oil tanker flying the Panama flag. A fifth ballistic missile was detected when fired at the tanker, which issued a distress call. The tanker sustained damage - a fire on board was extinguished within 30 minutes.

▪️VISITING US RELIGIOUS DELEGATION.. leaders of several US religious organizations visited Samaria. an official announcement at the end of the tour: "I want you to know that we are with you. We are standing on Mount Bracha, the fact that the children of Israel entered this historic place where we are and made their first covenant with God is proof that this is their land. To expel the Jewish people from this land and establish two states, that would be the opposite to the word of God. We stand with Israel and stand for their right to determine their future and oppose all efforts to divide this land."

"We felt it was our duty to come here after the seventh of October, because the policy of the US administration led to this. But we are most concerned about the push for the two-state solution. Judah and Samaria are the heart of the State of Israel, and God gave this land to Abraham Isaac and Jacob forever. We are calling on the churches in the US to come out against this."