#Wire Ring Terminal Kit

[electronicsmart]

Why Choose a Crimp Terminal Kit? A Complete Guide for DIYers and Professionals

Understanding Crimp Terminal Kits

A crimp terminal kit is an essential toolkit for professionals and hobbyists working with electrical systems, electronic assemblies, and hardware projects. These kits contain a variety of crimp connectors designed to ensure strong, reliable, and safe wire connections. Whether you're repairing cables in a laptop or wiring microcontrollers in a new build, a crimp terminal kit simplifies your work by providing all necessary terminals and tools in one convenient package.

What Makes a Crimp Terminal Kit So Valuable?

Crimp terminal kits are ideal for managing diverse wiring needs, offering everything from ring terminals to spade and butt connectors. These kits are especially useful in environments where durable and vibration-resistant connections are required, such as in controllers, microprocessors, and even industrial contactors. With everything organized in one kit, you reduce downtime, boost productivity, and improve safety on the job.

Key Components in a Typical Crimp Terminal Kit

A high-quality crimp terminal kit usually includes:

A range of terminals including ring, fork, spade, butt, and bullet types

Color-coded insulation for easy wire size identification

Heat-shrink or vinyl insulation for added protection

A crimping tool with interchangeable jaws or multi-functional features

Features That Make These Kits Essential

When it comes to selecting a crimp terminal kit, several standout features enhance its usability:

Pre-insulated terminals compatible with various wire gauges

Durable crimping tool designed for long-term use

Organised compartments that simplify selection and storage

Easy compatibility with standard cables, thermal wires, and LED leads

Ready-to-use design, suitable for on-site repairs and installations

Advantages of Using a Crimp Terminal Kit

Switching from soldering to crimping offers multiple benefits. Here’s why crimp terminal kits are a smart investment:

Speeds up wiring tasks by eliminating the need for heat or solder

Reduces the risk of overheating delicate sensors or capacitors

Provides a consistent connection quality for repeat jobs

Ensures safer terminations by reducing loose wire hazards

Enhances professionalism in electronics and automotive projects

Where Can You Use Crimp Terminal Kits?

Crimp terminal kits have versatile applications across various domains. Here are some key areas where they prove invaluable:

Electronics: Ideal for connecting LEDs, capacitors, microcontrollers, and sensors in circuit boards

Automotive repairs: Reliable connections for lights, switches, and fuses

Home improvement: Installing lighting fixtures, sockets, and safety alarms

Industrial equipment: Wiring machines, contactors, and control systems

Laptop repair: Rewiring broken cables, fan connections, and power jacks

DIY projects: Creating custom electronics, robotics, or smart home setups

Tips for Using Crimp Terminals Properly

To ensure optimal performance and long-term reliability of your crimped connections:

Strip the correct amount of insulation from the wire

Match the wire gauge to the correct terminal size

Use the appropriate crimping tool for the terminal type

Test the strength of the connection before installation

Add thermal pads or protective sleeves when working in high-heat zones

Crimping vs. Soldering: Which Is Better?

Although soldering has its place in electronics, crimping offers faster, cleaner, and more vibration-resistant connections. Crimp terminals are easier to handle, especially when you're working in tight spaces like electrical panels, under dashboards, or inside laptop housings. Moreover, crimped joints are widely accepted in professional industries because of their consistent quality and reduced need for post-installation inspection.

Choosing the Right Kit for Your Needs

When selecting a crimp terminal kit, it's essential to consider the following:

Connector variety: Does the kit include connectors for your specific projects involving controllers or sensors?

Wire range compatibility: Can it handle standard sizes used in electronics and thermal setups?

Tool durability: Is the crimping tool ergonomic and suited for repeated use with cables and grips?

Kit size: Does it include enough pieces for large projects without constant repurchasing?

Final Thoughts: Why Every Workshop Needs a Crimp Terminal Kit

In summary, a crimp terminal kit is a smart, convenient, and safety-driven investment for anyone working with electronics, wiring, or repairs. It enhances workflow, provides secure and long-lasting connections, and supports a broad range of applications, whether you're fixing microcontrollers, setting up switches, or managing sensors in an industrial setting. With benefits that span across tools, cables, oils, connectors, and more, there's no reason to delay adding one to your workspace.

[partsfe]

Alto-Shaam 4881 Heater Cable Kit 208/240V 210' Heater W | PartsFe

Dimensions

Length: 9.5 In

Width: 6.5 In

Height: 4 In

Weight: 2.9 lbs

Product Notes

Heater Cable Kit

[ 208/240V W 1Ph ] [ 210' Heater Wire ] 20Awg At 538C

Includes All Nuts, Bolts, Ring Terminals, Butt Terminals,

Cloth Tape, Cloth Belt And Insullators

Alto-Shaam

Oven 500-Th-Ii, 750-(Th-Ii,Th-Iii), 767-(Sk,Sk-Iii),

1000-(Bq2,Th-I,Th-Ii,Th-Iii,Up-Sr,Up-Vsi,Ups-Sr,

Ups-Vsi), 1200-Th-Iii, 1200Up, As-2000, Ch-50, Ch-75-Dm,

Ch-100-1, Chs-76.

Warmer Deli Cases: Dcd-(72,96), Ed-(72,72P,72Pl,72Pr,96,

96Pl), Hn-(72,72P,72Pl,72Pr), Pd-(72,72P,72Pl,72Pr),

Ty-(54S-961Pr,72,72P,72Pl,72Pr), Edsys-72Pl

[raidenindustries]

Best Quality CW Cable Gland in the UK | Raiden Industries

RAIDEN CW cable gland is the best quality CW cable gland in the UK, ideal for both indoor and outdoor use. Made from high-quality brass, it is compatible with all types of single wire armour (SWA) cables, ensuring mechanical retention and electrical continuity through effective armour wire termination.

This best quality CW cable gland features a clamping ring, allowing easy disconnection from equipment for maintenance. This feature also supports remote make-off procedures, beneficial in restricted access areas. Designed and tested to BS6121:Part1:1989 standards, and meeting EN 50262:1999 requirements, it guarantees reliability and safety.

The kit contains the gland, lock nut, shroud, and earth tag. For sizes up to 32mm, the kit includes two sets of these components; for sizes 40mm and above, it includes one set. This comprehensive kit ensures all necessary parts are available for efficient cable installation.

Choose RAIDEN CW cable gland for unmatched performance and peace of mind, knowing you have the best quality CW cable gland in the UK for your projects.

To know more -

[posttexasstressdisorder]

Dynaco Repair Post No. 2

Monday Evening, Dec. 11, '23

It turns out I did hit upon an "upper limit" of number of photos per post. SO...it looks like I'll have to start a new post when I hit that limit again. I will add a link to this part at the bottom of the first post. As long as the current post is the one I'm updating, I will pin it, for easy reference. Once it's all done, I'll probably make a masterpost index.

To the project at hand! Been working on and off through the day. The day, which started out with anxiety about getting the parts today, due to the mailbox vandals. I should not have worried, the box was delivered by my apt door before noon!

Can't say enough good about the Dynakitparts.com site and Kevin, who runs things. Extremely fast and courteous with responses, and packs like a pro, tape in all the right places, everything arrives appropriately packaged and SAFE! If you have an old Dynaco beastie that needs TLC and are looking for parts, try them first! Their boards and kits are extremely well executed. Things of beauty, as you will see this evening!

The new sticker looks really sharp, and the new (modern) resistors are much smaller.

The power cords on both the PAS and the ST70 are the beige/brown originals: the plastic has become hard/brittle, but still intact. I rummaged through my box of clipped power cords and found two appropriate flat-bladed cords that will be perfect. The one for the PAS is grey, the one for the ST70 is black.

So, the first order of business today was to solder the new power cord into place on the PAS. Very straightforward, just two simple solder lugs, and it's done. Tied a knot as a stop (like the original), and routed the same way the original had been.

The above photo is showing the "new" grey cord with its knot, waiting to be prepped for soldering, while the old, brittle, beige cable has been clipped and is about to be unsoldered. The new cord is nice and pliable, and a slight improvement gauge-wise. It looks good, in place:

Now the next thing that I was really concerned with was that triple-wafered monster source switch. It had become so difficult to turn, I was afraid of breaking those wafers where the inner rotating disk's contacts meet the outer, stationary ring's contacts, and once that happens, it's toast.

But, again, I shouldn't have worried, as some strategic sprays with this stuff, on all the contact surfaces, plus the front "bearing" and the mating surfaces where the control shaft turns, a few left/right turns, gentle at first, then with more force, until you have hit all the spots with the cleaner and let it flush through and drain, the source switch feels brand new again.

And I found my white lithium grease, and applied some to the front bearing/spring-clip assembly, and did the same left/right six clicks to distribute the grease, and it's good for another good long while.

I did say "things of beauty", well, the new board along with the gold-plated RCA jacks, with color coded insulators (not brittle ceramic) are just very nice eye candy for eyes that appreciate good design!

See what I mean?

The RCAs all come with a separate ground lug, only ONE of which gets used. Again, the directions are written so well that if you read thoroughly and carefully, and study the pictorial drawing you will have no trouble. The one ground lug that is used, here on the corner top RCA, No. 9:

Now, the two pairs different resistors are clearly marked, and packaged so as not to be mixed up or confused. The old carbon resistors are huge in comparison to the new ones:

The next steps are about marking the wires and switching out the panels, and finishing up the connections. I figured that was a good place to stop for tonight, and start fresh in the morning. In prep for that, you remove the four brass screws that hold the back panel to the base, and tilt it back a bit to access all the old jack terminals:

And there's (^^^^) the old RCA panels (one of which is cracked), with the older, cramped style RCAs with the brittle white ceramic insides. The new ones are light years better in both design and quality.

I was also able to find a source for the #53 bulb for the pilot light. They arrive on Wednesday, which is pretty much right on schedule for me to be finishing the PAS repairs and turning my attention to the Stereo70.

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Yesterday began auspiciously enough, I was able to get the old wires marked 1-thru-9 for both left and right, and then began unsoldering them from the old RCA array...even though the instructions themselves say it's easier to just clip them.

I should have heeded that advice.

About halfway through the unsoldering of the left channel leads, I thought I had gotten one of them "loose" enough to pull through the hole in the original jack, and so I tugged. A little too zealously.

My hand flew backwards, into that third and final wafer in the triple-wafer Source Switch, and the outer ring of it cracked. Completely. The pieces still held together at the very bottom but the top was completely broken. But also, the remaining wires all lost their little numbers I'd put on them with pieces of adhesive stickers that suddenly seemed to fly apart when hit the the force of a hamfisted hobbit.

Tried superglue. lulz. A farce. Then I realized that when I held the piece in place, it clicked and worked just fine! SO...I got a piece of wire, and wrapped it around the broken top part, and it seemed to be ok. Clicked it a few times, and it seemed like it had come out of alignment, so I realigned it, re-wrapped the wire and added a little more and all seemed fine.

So I set about with the rest of the unsoldering, and using the lead length, figured which RCA they went to. All was going fine, until I saw that a ground wire had come loose from somewhere on one of the PC boards, and I had no idea which. Looked on the pictorial, and saw where it was supposed to be, but I had a feeling that's not where it had been soldered.

Finished soldering all the leads onto the new RCA jacks, and soldered the ground wire to the lug as instructions show.

Brought it back to the rest of my system to see if it was ok, and it most definitely wasn't. I got the sound at the amp showing it was plugged in, but nothing from any of the inputs.

Tried phono, nada, tried Spare, which I always had a 3-input external switchbox on, and nothing from direct plug. Took the RCA line out of the two "audio out" jacks, and accidently brushed the inner (positive) tip to the outer (negative) part of the RCA and sound blasted forth.

That was at almost 10pm last night, and I was too beaten and felt far too defeated to go any further. Today has not brought much progress, other than to read through the original build and follow with my eyeballs on the pictorial. I don't think I flubbed on the soldering. If it's that broken wafer, then I have to admit defeat here.

At this point, it's only a couple hours away from me needing to be ready to go to kiddo's school band concert (she's playing trumpet!), so Dynaco has to wait.

I know I shouldn't let it get to me that I broke the one most irreplaceable part I could have, but I really do feel defeated. I guess I could try and find one on eBay, but no guarantee it wouldn't be broken, too.

At any rate, here's the pics from the debacle yesterday.

I'd just gotten the first few of the left (green) leads unsoldered when the switch fell victim to my stupid:

My first attempt at a stopgap solution:

Notice the tabs at 2 o'clock...the inner is over the outer, should be the other way around. Several tries later, I thought I had it.

So I turned my attention to removing the old jacks and installing the new ones.

Gorgeous, ain't they?

So, I had gathered what wits I had left and got the leads soldered as best I could determine (where the original labels had fallen off) which was which. Some, there was no doubt. Others, plenty.

Got them all soldered and tight, then put a new pilot lamp bulb in (they had arrived the day before), put the tubes in and got four glowing 12AX7s and a lit pilot bulb, so yay! I guessed the only thing left was to put the bottom cover in place and test it out.

When I did, I got the above-referenced fuckery.

But, in my defence, it was almost 10pm, I'd been up early, been at it all day, and my back was killin' me. I just unplugged everything in disgust and took my shower and went to bed.

I will spend more time on it this evening, after I get back from the concert. At this point, I suppose it's safe to assume the Source Switch is borked, and see what to do from there.

Update: later 12-14-23

Well, I found one on eBay, still with wires attached, for $27 total:

Had a coupon code so that knocked some off. Messaged the seller, and he said he had multiples, so I'm figuring it will be one I can work with. Whew. Thanks @misfitwashere, always the voice of reason. I will set the PAS aside, and set about putting the bias kit in the ST70.

Link to Repair Post No. 1:

And here is the link to No. 3:

[solderseal]

Wire Ring Terminal – Solder Seal

Make wire connections to screw terminals easily and quickly with the help of wire ring terminals. These terminals can also be used to join different wires together with a bolt and nuts. Solder Seal offers a complete line of terminals made from nylon and heat shrink at reasonable rates. Visit us and shop online now and enjoy fast shipping anywhere in the USA!

[impossible-rat-babies]

don’t stop (color on the walls)

fallen hero | 2.3k words | post second escape | cw: graphic depictions of violence + mild gore

read on ao3

--

It’s a clear night out tonight, the sky an endless dome stretching miles and miles overhead out into deep inky blackness bespectacled by freckled stars. 

Pollux blows a stream of smoke out of his mouth and it drifts up and up until it dissipates and he wonders if any particles of the smoke will reach that impossibly high ceiling. If they’ll touch moon perched on the roof, staring down at him with her grey blue light. 

He glances down at his hands, still bandaged and aching, lit instead by the fluorescence and the red and green neon glow from the gas station behind him. His shadow stretching long and narrow, falling across the desert dirt towards the dusty two lane highway disappearing out west. He breathes out again, the chill of the dry desert air stings in his nose when he takes a deep breath. It still hurts his lungs and his lips are broken and chapped, the wind sharp against his skin and he scratches the side of his face, sand and dirt rubbing off on his hand. He’s already got a fine layer of sand and dust under his clothes and it itches, but it’s better than what he came from.

The stolen sweatshirt itches and smells like cheap booze and sweat, the oversized sweat pants tied off as tightly as he can manage, but they still need coaxing to stay up. He looks back out east, across the desert and a shiver runs down his back staring into the darkness of those looming hills. It’s been days now, he can feel it in his joints, his aching muscles and in the caffeine shakes making his leg bounce, paranoia sharp as a knife when he hasn’t slept in three days.

If they were going to come after him, they would have by now.

Or maybe they were still busy cleaning up the mess he left behind. He picks at the dark lines wedged under his fingernails, flicking away the dried blood and dirt.

He’d cleaned the worst of the viscera off at the first abandoned house in some podunk hundred and fifty person town--a quick bucket and hose bath to scrub away the worst of it. Patched the worst of the hurts with a stolen first aid kit and cheap vodka to calm the shakes and practiced hands make quick work. He’d scrubbed raw and shuffled away the memories of what he had done too, letting them scab over and scar. Days later and miles away and there’s no regret in his actions—nothing he hasn’t done before.

Fool you once, shame on me, fool you twice, shame on you. A lesson they all learned too late and Pollux quickly rubs goosebump sticky arms.

Thoughts best left for later and he takes another long drag of his cigarette before he drops it to the ground and kicks some dirt over it. He needs to find actual shoes, his feet numb with scraps and burns from desert. He turns back to the gas station, the sad looking thing still clinging to life from a threadbare wire linking it to the rest of the chain which traces the narrow highway. A pulse, a guiding light to the south. Las Vegas and then west further still, down through what highways remain to the ocean—to the city that lies at those ruined shores.

There’s a few truckers packing up their things, shuffling around their big rigs and filling up at the meager pumps for the inevitable long days ahead of them. Pollux had picked one out earlier—an older woman heading just the direction he needed. 

She’d seen him inside earlier, moving through the aisles of candy and assorted snacks, poking at the chips and sneakily sticking packages of fruit snacks in the pockets of his sweatshirt when the attendant wasn’t looking too hard. She had saddled up next to him, taking the package of chips he had been reaching for and tucked them under her arm, hand held out expectantly. Her eyes drifting down to the drooping pocket of his sweatshirt with a pointed frown. 

He’d almost panicked, dropped everything and disappeared back into the desert--he could find his own way South. He’d done it before. But...there was no intent to rat him out, only give him a chance to not get caught. Give him a chance to mess this up; care about him a little.

Maybe that’s what made it easy, taking what was in his pockets out and passing them off to her one by one like some kid coughing up the candy they’d stolen from the jar and shoved in their cheeks.

He’d stood beside her like some poor lost child, eyeing everything around them while she checked out. Tucking an energy drink or two under her arm before she’d passed him his own meager bag with yet another look, thick southern drawl of a thank you for the attendant.

He fusses with the plastic handle of the snacks digging into his hand, peeling the wrapper from off the one of two packages of cigarettes she had added on his meager hoard of snacks. A little way to sweeten the pot for his honesty, he had easily picked up from her casual mind. 

She was kindly enough to offer a helping hand, but knowing enough to not get curious--her assumptions secure. Ironic how little work he has to do sometimes when people will fill in the gaps of what they want to see: just a poor runaway with nothing to his name, looking to head south to the coast. Disappear into the big city and be nothing--be a nobody.

He clambers up into the passenger seat, dumping his bagged snacks on the middle seat and it smells like cigarette smoke and cheaply made new care smell trees—half a dozen of them dangle from the rear view mirror. A lanyard hangs alongside them with small polaroids clipped to the key ring. Children, he’s guessing: grown daughter out east, living in up in New York—at some big architect firm and there’s a touch of pride in all those memories. A high school aged son back home, deep in the bowels of Los Diablos. He doesn’t care to poke more, settling deeper into the passenger seat once she too hops in.

He tucks his aching, stinging feet under him and cranes his neck to look out the window, watching a she slowly gets the big rigged turned around and headed off down the highway. The truck lurches and protests with the shifting of the gears, but it gets up to speed and the telephone poles and electric wires fly by, disappearing into the dark once the headlights hit them and pass on by. He counts their movement by the dip and rise of the wires from one pole to the next, the light from the moon too weak to keep pace.

Pollux cranes his neck up to look up at the moon and the scattering of stars this late at night, the buzz of the radio nothing but warm static against his ears. The heat of the vents blasting him in the face and still he looks out the window, wondering what it would be like to fall from the surface of that domed ceiling where the moon makes her home. If there would be anything left to salvage after that catastrophe, hitting the earth at terminal velocity. He would be nothing but a splatter, a crater in the wet sticky mud, utterly obliterated and there’s no coming back from that.

He thought it would be like that after the gun--after the window, nothing left to rebuild. But there was--they did. Dragged him kicking and screaming back with a tube shoved down his throat and white hot lights above an operating table. A new hip, knee and shoulder and spine--a persistent ache and he runs his thumb across the puckered scar near his shoulder. He winces, closing his eyes.

“Hey sugar, you okay?”

A deep breath and he yanks his head up, the driver giving him a long look out of the corner of her eye, cigarette dangling from her lips.

“You look like shit, darling. Go ahead and have a smoke.” She plucks the pack from the cup holder and urges him to take it.

“Thanks...” Pollux mumbles, pulling a cigarette from the package and he quickly sparks it up, sucking in a long breath. The nicotine settles the shakes and he rests back against the seat, head rolling to look out the drivers side window.

“You heading to Los Diablos?” She asks, testing the waters it feels like--getting a read on him.

“Yeah...”

“Got a place to stay when you get there? Someone to look out for you?” She looks over at Pollux again and he nods. Generous, wanting to look out for him--knows a thing or two about runaways. He’s not the first to sit in her passenger seat on this long drive; maybe the worst looking out of all of them. He pulls the hood up on his sweatshirt just a bit, running his fingers over his smooth scalp.

“Yeah, I got a plan when I get there. I’ve been there before--ran away there before.” He purses his lips, a little honesty creeping through. Just to sell it a bit more, give her the right impression.

“Didn’t stick around then, eh?” 

Pollux snorts and shakes his head, cracking the window to let a bit of the smoke out.

“Wanted to stay. But...wasn’t as good at hiding as I thought.”

Hiding in plain sight sure. Should’ve actually hidden, laid low, been a nobody. Carved out a life watching the Rangers on television screens in ancient electronic store windows and listen to them on half broken radios in homeless camps huddled in a sleeping bag. But he just had to stick his nose out--seen some poor chump harassing people in an alleyway, steps one, two, and three to take him down and it was all downhill from the moment his fist made contact. Sure he saved those people from a stolen wallet and some stitches, but then he did it again. And once more after that, and again.

It was just about the rush at first--like the first cigarette in the morning--the consuming way violence felt when deprived of it for so long. Unable to lash out, fists curling in excuses to crack his fingers.

It burned at first, the need to destroy--to wreck and scream and screech and tear out his growing hair all because he could. Or maybe it was like being drunk, high off the power and ability to let go. Let himself destroy a little, grin a little too wide and laugh a bit too loud. He isn’t proud of those first few months, taking down back alley slum lords and drug kings, high off the thrill of being able to do something to people that hurt him. Left a lot of bloodied messes--killed a few people in the rush. 

Not like it changed anything.

Not like he still doesn’t feel that need. Escaping the Farm was just the means to an end and whomever got in the way, got in the way. He’s still nursing a steady ache deep at the base of his neck and his temples, the strain of Numbers and the dampeners almost too much. Clumsy, inefficient--only breaking their brains like a toddler on a rage induced temper tantrum breaks their toys.

Some of them might recover, brains only half turned off, or only a mild seizure to stall their progress. Others won’t. Brains squeezed until they ruptured, seizures enough to hemorrhage, hands breaking windpipes, necks twisted until they cracked. Indulging in the need to destroy, letting his fingernails dig into faces, dig into eyes and oh how easy it was to scoop and pluck them out. Tongues and throats too--the body so soft and pliant like the mind.

Laughing and laughing himself silly while they screamed and begged and there’s no mercy left between his fingers.

“Well...” She speaks up, cutting through his thoughts and she’s back to looking at the dark road in front of them. Swallowing hard, she continues: “whatever was causing you pain where you came from, it’s good you’re not there anymore. No one deserves that...” So resolute and he’s too tired to laugh. Throat still sore.

“If you need a place to stay, or anything like that...I got a spare bedroom at home you can stay at. Long as you need. Maybe a spare pair of shoes, too.”

She wants to help, wants to help so badly and there’s more too it. Little girl, running away from home herself so many years ago--there’s mirrors upon mirrors decorating her thoughts, reflections of the past and the present and he draws his shields up tighter, bundling them around himself to block her out.

“Thank you...” He replies softly, still undecided but her caring...it’s a bit clumsy, a bit messy and tangled, but it’s genuine and its better than most.

She nods, returning her attention to the road.

The radio is turned up, some song he doesn’t recognize fading out into some late night news commentary. Tensions growing tighter overseas, the economy still hiccuping and sputtering with trade deals still on hold in Los Diablos. Some new villain upstart handedly taken in by the Rangers, cutting to some official press debriefing with Steel’s voice laced with carefully scripted professionalism.

Years ago and it was a different voice, a very different man behind the speaker and he was just some poor kid standing stock straight among the rest of the Rangers, hands tucked into fists behind his back.

No more press conferences with blinding camera lights and too many thoughts roaring in his ears. No more sleeping under bridges, no more tiny radios clutched to his chest. No more rules, no more what those old days represent, the voices coming through the radio--the familiar names talking about anniversaries of six and four years past.

“It’ll be a long ways to Los Diablos, so get some sleep. You look like you need it, sugar.” She adds on and Pollux nods rather than argues, letting the cigarette hang between his feet, ash dripping off the end and onto the floor mat between long drags.

The cigarette burns down to the butt, the heat uncomfortable against his skin but it too dies as the embers burn out. There’s nothing but a stub left and he discards it amongst the others crowding the cup holder, one lost amongst the many. He scrunches the hood up tight, tucking his hands into his sleeves. Letting the rocking and lurching of the truck steadily take over his senses.

Five hours--just a little longer on these first few steps and then he’ll be home.

[misslaneyluck]

Flame Liberator Write Up!

I rarely use Tumblr but it’s easier to link to than a Twitter thread. Here’s a quick runthrough of how I made Lea’s Flame Liberator Keyblade from KH3 (the one in DDD has a different handle, it’s not round like the KH3 one is).

Here’s some ref images:

Let’s get started! I modeled the handle myself, however I’m just not good enough at organic modelling to make the blade. I’m still working on it, and will upload it to Thingiverse when it’s finished. It went from idea to completion in just under a month, so I didn’t have too long to spend trying to model the blade.

Read it all below the break! 

Supplies

Here’s the handle I modeled: https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/20647-leas-keyblade-flame-liberator-handle-only-wip

Here’s the model I purchased for the blade: https://www.etsy.com/listing/694651403

PLA+ (handle)

Clear PETG (blade)

Sandpaper

Super glue

Bondo/ Wood filler

XTC3D

M3 heat set inserts + screws (optional)

Magnets (optional)

LEDs + Control board (I listed the ones I used below)

Soldering iron + solder 

Alligator clips

Blade colors: red, orange, yellow

Handle colors: chrome, metallic red, black gloss

Gloss topcoat

Fabric to wrap the handle

Masking tape

Polyfill to diffuse the LEDs

Tote to check

Process

1. Modelling: The first thing I did was work on the model. I made the handle in Fusion 360, then brought the whole thing into Meshmixer to clean up and slice the model (slicing means cutting it down for your printer). I used Meshmixer to cut the handle into 5 parts (4 for the ring and the handle was separate) and put holes in it for 1/4″ wooden dowels. I also used Meshmixer to cut the handle off the model I purchased and smooth out the very end of the blade.

If you’re planning on 3d printing, I highly recommend getting comfortable with Meshmixer, it’s free and really powerful, but also incredibly simple, one of my favorite tools! 

2. Printing: I printed the handle + keychain in eSun PLA+ and the Blade in clear PETG. This is the most straightforward, however clear PETG isn’t really beginner friendly. I definitely recommend testing your settings, and starting with a fresh spool if you’re going to print something this big, it needs to be kept dry.

3. Print Finishing: The chakram handle needs to get sanded and have the handle attached. I gave the rings a good sand with the dremel and then glued it together. I attached the middle of the handle with heat set inserts and m3 screws, then glued it down. This probably isn’t a necessary step but I had the pieces on hand, and I wanted it to be really strong.

After it was all glued together I started refining the finish. Sand with sandpaper, fill seams/ dents with bondo or wood filler. Coat with filler primer, sand some more. We want it to be smoooooooth so the shiny paint looks good.

The blade I glued together in pieces (top 2, then next 2) so I had 2 sections, I poured XTC3D inside and slushed it around as best I could. After that was done I glued those 2 sections together and used a paintbrush on a stick to coat the inside seam with XTC3D for strength. Hindsight I wouldn’t do this this way, I would work base to top and leave the top off until the LEDs were inside.

The very end of the blade is a little different because it goes around the Chakram handle, and needs to come apart for travel. Basically they come on/ off with magnets. This isn’t an ideal solution as I didn’t design it with this in mind, however I realized that it needs to get to Florida then go back home with its new owner so this is what we have. Hopefully the photos make sense, I used a combination of friendly plastic, magnets and epoxy to hold everything together.

4. Painting: Chrome finish paints need a glossy black coat underneath. You can use any paint- black spray paint, black glossy paint, XTC3D over black, etc. As long as the whole thing is glossy black. I should have done a better job sanding/ priming because the chrome paint ended up a bit spotty, but I was in a bit of a time crunch. I definitely handled it too much after priming it black, LPT is to not touch it at all! 

Painting is pretty straight forward, for the handle I did chrome first, making sure to let it set fully before masking it off and painting the red. I used Spaz Stix Mirror Chrome and Candy Apple Red.

The blade I used a matte yellow base coat, then an iridescent yellow. The orange and red are acrylics I thinned with airbrush thinner, a lot of airbrush reds are actually pink so I mixed my own.

Seal the fuck out of everything with paint sealer! I put a final layer of XTC3D on the blade because the paint scratched super easily.

5. Electronics: LPT: Figure out how to get your LEDs in first, I had to cut the tip of the blade off and fix it. Would not recommend.

The electronics made me super nervous because I’ve never put LEDs in anything, I haven’t programmed since college, and I was on a time crunch. I read through a bunch of Adafruit tutorials and decided on using the NanoPixel LEDs and a Circuit Playground Express controller. If I had more time I could have ordered something cheaper, but I wanted the reliability + community of these things.

YOU WILL NEED TO SOLDIER THE LEDS. This is the only way to ensure a permanent connection on your wires. All you need is a cheap soldering iron (they’re like $4) and solder.

Adafruit has a bunch of tutorials, here’s the ones I found most useful:

NeoPixel Uberguide

Introducing Circuit Playground Express

Glowing Interactive Staff

Glowing NeoPixel Table (this covers some FastLED stuff I found helpful)

Supply list:

Circuit Playground Express Base Kit

NeoPixels 60 - 1 Meter x2 (they come terminated so you won’t have to cut + solder the LED ends if you get 2x 1 meter strands)

Battery Holder (I know the kit has one, but based on my measurements it would be too big for the handle, so I bought this as well)

Alligator clips (use these to test connections before you solder)

I used FastLED to get the fire animation (link)

There’s a lot to this that I don’t really want to get into, because I’m not an expert, and the guides on Adafruit explain things much better than I can. I found the glowing staff guide the most useful, I just left out the on button (there’s an on/off switch on the battery pack). Basically - connect LEDs and battery to Circuit Playground Express (CPX), and plug the CPX into your computer. If you have the software all set up you just upload the code.

6. Bonus! Travelling: It fits in the bin! I added foam padding to the lid and insides to keep everything safe. just need to make sure it’s extra secure with bubble wrap and padding. The tote has 4 snaps but I closed it with zip ties before flying, TSA will just cut them open if they need to.

[celestialvoid-fanfiction]

Our Last Moments, Together

Stiles and Scott have been taken by the Grave Digger and buried underground. The team has eight hours to find them.

Scene stealer, based on BONES season 2 episode 9.

Stiles let out a weak groan as he blinked his eyes open, his head pounding and the air hot filling his lungs as he drew in shallow breaths. His eyes were heavy as he blinked them open, the muffled sound of a radio reaching his ears. He could see the green glow of the car radio, his surroundings lit by the dull light of the overhead light.

He pushed himself upright, wincing at the searing pain that tore through his body. His hand shook as he lifted it to the back of his neck, feeling the tender, bruised skin and the swollen welt.

He turned off the radio and fell back against his seat, bursts of light filling his darkness as he tried to focus, tried to remember what had happened. He was investigating a case: two boys – Ethan and Aiden Steiner – were buried alive in a silo, held at ransom but their father had been too late.

There was a quiet groan from the back seat.

Stiles wheeled around, his eyes focused on the figure slumped in the back seat.

“Scott?” he gasped. He pushed himself out of his seat and climbed in between the front seats, looking at his friend. His heart lurched into his throat when he saw Scott’s leg; his shin had been torn open, blood soaking the leg of his pants. The metallic stench was sickening. “Scott, what happened to your leg?”

Scott let out another groan. He blinked his hazy eyes open, looking around. “Where—where are we?”

“We’re buried alive,” Stiles answered. “I think he got us.”

“Who?” Scott asked.

“The Grave Digger.”

  Derek pressed play on the voice message, the distorted voice ringing through the speaker.

“Stiles Stilinski and Scott McCall have been buried alive. Wire transfer eight million dollars to the following Grand Cayman account or they will suffocate to death. Upon receiving the wire transfer I will provide you with Stilinski and McCall’s G.P.S. coordinates. You have eight hours. This will be my last communication.”

“He learnt from the Steiner boys,” Derek said, his voice tense. “He got two of them. He cut the deadline in half.”

He glanced over to where Isaac set up his tablet, a timer set – eight hours from when Derek had gotten the message – and ticking down.

“But why is he demanding so much?” Lydia asked. “He’s always been so understanding about how much the person he’s demanding the money from can raise in the time given.”

“I don’t know,” Derek said. “All I know is Stiles was on his way to the library before heading home.”

“Scott went after him to tell him something,” Allison added.

“So what do we do?” Isaac asked.

“We keep investigating the case,” Derek answered. He turned to Isaac. “I need you to find out what it was Scott wanted to tell Stiles. Lydia, check the evidence again, see if there’s anything we might have overlooked.”

“What do I do?” Allison asked.

“Call Melissa,” Derek said. “Let her know what’s going on. I’ll call Stiles’ dad.”

  “Where are we?” Scott asked again, his unfocused eyes taking in their surroundings.

“Buried,” Stiles repeated. “Underground.”

“I don’t remember how I got here,” Scott said.

“I think the Grave Digger ran you down when you tried to stop him from taking ma and then pumped you full of drugs to ruin your short-term memory,” Stiles said.

“Same as Ethan Steiner.”

Stiles nodded.

Scott looked around at the interior of the car. “How long have we been down here?”

“I don’t know,” Stiles admitted. “Two hours, I think.”

“So let’s say this vehicle has twenty percent oxygen, two people…” Scott shook his head. “My brain’s not working.” He dragged his hand down his face. “If we started with twelve hours of air, we’ll be unconscious in ten,” he said. “After that, if no one pays the ransom, we’re…”

“Dead,” Stiles finished. “We’re going to be fine.”

Stiles pushed himself back into the front seat, grabbing his bag from the foot hole and emptying it on the passenger’s seat. He emptied his pockets and began to sort through what they had.

“Two bottles of water, a mini first-aid kit, ibuprofen, a digital camera with a backup battery, a book, some pens, and a cell phone with no battery,” he listed.

“Two,” Scott corrected, digging his phone out of his back pocket and passing it to Stiles.

“Two cell phones with no battery,” Stiles said, setting the phone down on the seat.

“And this.” Scott pulled a small vial out of his pocket.

Stiles cocked an eyebrow. “Perfume?”

“For Allison,” he explained. “Nothing says ‘I love you’ like perfume, right?”

Scott flinched, wincing.

“What’s wrong?” Stiles asked.

“My leg,” Scott wheezed, tears pricking his eyes.

Stiles shuffled back between the seats, helping Scott lift his foot onto the centre console.

“I think you might have compartment syndrome,” Stiles said, studying Scott’s leg.

“Is it terminal?” Scott asked. “I mean, within the next few hours?”

“No,” Stiles answered. “But it is going to get painful.”

“More painful than now?”

Stiles nodded. “Slip-into-shock-and-die painful.”

“And there’s nothing we can do about it?” Scott asked, the dull light casting shadows across his worried face.

“There is,” Stiles said. “But I’m not a doctor, Scott.”

“I know, but if anyone can do it, Stiles, it’s you.”

“It’s fifty-fifty, Scotty,” Stiles said. “If I do this, then I could send you into shock and kill you sooner.”

“The upside? Me not breathing doubles your survival time,” Scott said reassuringly.

Stiles shook his head. “I’m not interested in surviving that way.” He let out a measured breath. “Okay, fine. I’ll do it.”

“Can you walk me through what you’re going to do?” Scott asked. “So I can ready myself for it.”

“I’m going to make a long incision in the fascia and squeeze the blood out to release the pressure in your leg,” Stiles explained.

“How long is a ‘long incision’?” Scott asked. “Actually, don’t tell me.”

Stiles grabbed the book from the passenger’s seat and a pen, passing them back to Scott.

He didn’t have to be told what to do, he took the pen and tore a page from the book, hastily scribbling a note before folding it and slipping it into his pocket.

Stiles opened the mini med kit, finding bandages and gauze. He grabbed another pen, using his phone to smash the plastic to a sharp point. He rolled up Scott’s pant leg and poured some water over Scott’s leg, clearing away some of the dry blood.

“Wait,” Stiles carefully dug into Scott’s wound, pulling out a sliver of blood soaked, coloured aluminium.

“What’s that?” Scott asked.

“Evidence of what happened to you,” Stiles said, grabbing the book and setting it between the pages.

He shrugged off his jacket and rolled it up, sliding it beneath Scott’s ankle. He turned back to Scott.

“Ready?” he asked.

Scott pulled up his shirt, bunching it in his mouth and biting down into the fabric. He wound his arms around the arm rest and the cushioning of the back seat, digging his fingers in.

“It’ll be best if I do this fast and without empathy,” Stiles said. “And don’t try to fight passing out.”

Scott nodded.

Stiles let out a measured breath. He pressed the jagged edge of the broken pen against Scott’s leg, pushing down until it broke the skin.

Scott cried out, his screams muffled by the shirt in his mouth. Tears streamed down his face as Stiles tore open his leg, blood streaming from the wound. His cries died out as his eyes fluttered shut and his body fell limp against the car door.

  The blaring horn woke him with a start. He bolted upright with a gasp, wincing as throbbing pain flooded his head.

“Shit,” Stiles gasped, clutching a hand to his chest. He let out a heavy sigh. “Thank God, I didn’t kill you.”

Scott offered him a weak, reassuring smile. “How long was I unconscious?”

“A while,” Stiles answered. “How’s your leg?”

“Better.” His brow furrowed with confusion as he looked over the shoulder of the driver’s seat at Stiles. “What are you doing?”

“Hot-wiring the phone to the horn to give it enough of a charge that we can send a message,” Stiles explained.

“From underground?”

“We get radio reception,” Stiles pointed out, nodding towards the car radio. “Direct current of the 12-volt will burn out the circuits in a 4.2-volt cell phone in a microsecond unless I jury-rig a resistor. That might buy us just enough time to send a single burst transmission. Derek or my dad can trace it to the nearest cell phone relay tower.”

“Smart,” Scott said. “Where did you learn this stuff?”

“Parrish,” Stiles answered. He glanced over his shoulder with a panicked expression. “Please don’t tell my dad.”

Scott let out a quiet laugh. “Your secret’s safe with me.” He watched Stiles for a moment. “And what message shall we send, ‘Goodbye’? ‘Nice knowing you’?”

“What are we surrounded by?” Stiles asked, ignoring his question.

“Pain, despair, and a subsoil accumulation of agglutinate aridisols.,” Scott answered.

Stiles looked over his shoulder, levelling his gaze on Scott.

“Ash,” Scott reiterated. He grabbed a handful of the dirt that was scattered across the back seat and sniffed at it. “Hits of nitrogen and sulfur.”

“So, where are we?” Stiles prompted, turning his attention back to wiring the phone.

“Coal country,” Scott answered. “Virginia.”

“We need more than that,” Stiles said.

“Pass me the laser pen” Scott said.

Stiles reached over to the seat beside him and passed it back to Scott.

“We need benzophenone.”

“What?”

“Benzophenone,” Scott repeated. “It’s in soaps, plastic packaging, sunscreen.”

“We don’t have any sunscreen,” Stiles replied.

“The perfume,” Scott said, pointing to the vial on the passenger’s seat. “And the camera.”

Stiles passed them both back.

Scott used his teeth to pry open the perfume’s lid, pouring it into the handful of dirt he had cupped in his hand.

“It smells nice,” Stiles said.

Scott set the empty vial down and picked up the camera, switching it on. The camera whirred, the flash blinding as he took a photo of the handful of dirt. He looked at the photo displayed on the digital screen, straightening with excitement as he said, “I know where we are.”

“How fast’s your texting?” Stiles asked.

“Lightning quick,” Scott answered.

Stiles passed him back the hot-wired phone. “You have about four seconds to enter a message and hit speed dial. You ready?” Stiles asked, holding his palm against the worn leather of the car horn, waiting.

Scott drew in a deep breath, his thumbs over they keypad. “Ready.”

“Three, two, one.” Stiles slammed his hand down on the horn.

The baring sound filled the small space as Scott rapidly typed the message. The phone sparked, electricity crackling as the rancid smell of smoke burnt their nostrils.

Scott yelped as the current shocked his hands and the screen went black.

Stiles took his hand off the horn, the two of them staring at the dead phone. “Did… Did it send?” he asked.

“I think so,” Scott answered, uncertain.

  “Eight million?” John repeated, stunned. Fear and helplessness filled him. “I don’t have that kind of money.”

“I do,” Derek confessed. “My family has bonds and property. If we can’t find them in time, I’ll pay.”

“I can’t ask that of you,” John said.

“Stiles is my friend,” Derek said. “I want him back too.”

John opened his mouth to say something when Derek’s phone chimed.

He fished it out of his pocket. His heart skipped a beat when he read the name.

“It’s Stiles,” he called out, quickly writing out the message on the nearby whiteboard for everyone to see.

6   7   16     M1.4

“Does it mean anything to anyone?”

They shook their heads.

“They’re getting low on oxygen,” Lydia said. “Hypoxia leads to confusion.”

“It’s Stiles,” Derek interrupted, his voice firm. “It means something.”

“It’s not a G.P.S. location,” John said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Isaac said quietly.

“IT does matter,” Derek snapped.

The boy shook his head, pointing at the timer.

0.00.03

0.00.02

0.00.01

0.00.00

“We’re out of time,” Isaac rasped.

“No,” Derek growled. “We can’t give up.”

“Derek—" Lydia said quietly.

“This is Stiles and Scott we’re talking about. They can be idiots a lot of the time, but they worked out how to do this—” He gestured at the code on the whiteboard. “You think they didn’t they somehow found a way to extend their air supply? I’m not giving up until we find them.”

“Who was it meant to get to?” Allison asked, her eyes focused on the code.

“Stiles’ phone to mine,” Derek answered. “So, it was meant for me?”

“But it means nothing to you?” Allison asked.

Derek shook his head.

“What if it wasn’t Stiles texting?” Isaac asked.

“It was Scott,” John offered.

“So, it’s meant for Allison,” Lydia said.

“But it’s numbers,” Allison said. “So, it’s meant for Lydia.”

“Scott would have written poetry for Allison.”

Lydia stared at the code, her jade eyes misted with thought. “It’s not math,” she said. “Six, seven, sixteen: carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur on the periodic table. They’re buried in coal-rich soil.”

“Keep going,” Derek encouraged.

“The mineral components in coal are all the same. It’s the organic components that provide a unique fingerprint. They’re called macerals. They fluoresce at different levels. A reflectance of 1.4 is quite rare, suggesting a high concentration of inertinite.”

“Tell me you know what that means,” Derek pleaded.

Lydia’s eyes lit up. “I know where they are.”

  Stiles slumped against his seat, skin soaked with sweat. His lips trembled, hot air dancing across his lips. His eyes were growing heavy and his vision as blurring. He felt lethargic, his body aching as he pulled his shirt up and wiped the sweat and dirt away from his face.

He grabbed the broken pen he had used to operate on Scott and climbed into the back seat.

“What are you doing?” Scott asked, watching Stiles pull down the flap in the centre seat that opened up into the boot.

“Hoping for a miracle,” Stiles whispered as he reached into the darkness. “Don’t talk. Save your breath.”

His hands patted the old carpet until his fingers brushed up against something solid. ‘Thank God’, he mouthed as he reached further into the boot and pulled the spare tyre forward. He grabbed the broken pen and slammed it into the side of the tyre, grunting as he strained to pierce the thick rubber.

There was a quiet hiss.

Stiles pulled the pen out, listening to the air that rushed out of the punctured tyre.

Stiles and Scott both leaned towards it, drawing in breaths as relief filled their body.

“That’s not going to last us,” Scott rasped. “Why prolong the inevitable?”

“Derek will find us,” Stiles whispered.

“You have a lot of faith in him,” Scott said.

“Not faith,” Stiles replied. “I’ve seen what he can do. I know he’ll find us.”

“We’re buried underground, running out of air, we have no idea if our message got out there, let along if anyone understood it; what you have is faith,” Scott said.

Stiles couldn’t help but smile a bit.

Scott nodded to the punctured spare tyre. “How long will that ask?”

“Long enough for me to try one last thing,” Stiles said. “But it’ll kill us.”

“What is it?” Scott asked.

“The air bags.”

“They aren’t actually full of air,” Scott pointed out.

“I know. I’m going to use them to blow our way out of here,” Stiles said. He climbed back into the front seat.

“Using the explosives from the air bags? That could defiantly kill us.”

“So will doing nothing,” Stiles pointed out.

  “I’m scared to ask where you learnt this,” Scott said.

“Parrish,” Stiles answered. “He was int eh bomb squad before he got a transfer.”

“So, what’s going to happen?” Scott asked hesitantly.

“I’m not really an explosives expert but the dash might shape the charge enough to blow out the windshield,” Stiles answered. “If we’re less that four feet below the surface, the charge could blow is to freedom.”

“And if we’re buried more than four feet beneath the surface?” Scott asked.

Stiles hesitated for a second before answering, “Then the concussion will turn out brains to jelly.”

Stiles tore a page out of the novel before passing it back to Scott again. They were both silent as they wrote their letters, folding them up and shoving them into their pockets.

“Try and get as far away from the explosion as possible,” Stiles said, watching in the rear-view mirror as Scott carefuly moved his leg, laying himself out across the back seat. Stiles set the explosive on the windscreen.

“Care to join me?” Scott said, jokingly holding his hand out to Stiles.

Stiles chuckled as he climbed into the back seat again. He reached into the front seat and picked up the wires.

“So, this is it?” Scott whispered.

Stiles looked down at the wires in his hands, tears welling in his eyes. “This is it.”

“You should get in the boot,” Scott said, taking the wires from Stiles’ trembling hands. “You’ll be safer in there.”

Stiles shook his head. He looked at Scott, tears trailing sown his cheeks. “Scott, you’re my brother. So, if you’re going to do this…” he shuffled closer, setting his hand on Scott’s. “…you’re going to have to take me with you.”

Scott fought back tears as Stiles pulled him closer, hugging his friend one last times.

Scott detonated the charge.

The last thing he remembers is the sound of muffled soft rock on the radio before the thundering bang tore through him, agony flooding his head. There was a deafening rumble as dirt flooded through the broken windscreen, the weight bearing down on them.

Stiles fought the instinct to fight back, trying his best to hold his breath as the darkness crashed over him.

It felt as if his lungs were consumed by a raging inferno, the jagged claws of firebirds tearing at the tissue as they tried to dig their way out of his chest. His pulse thundered in his ears, deafening. He tried to move his body, but it was no use; the weight bearing down on him was too much.

His body grew weak, his lips trembling as he fought to hold onto his breath.

Finally, he let go.

He felt the tension fade away as the darkness consumed him.

 ��“Stiles…”

The voice seemed to drift about in the nothingness. The deep, husky voice seemed so familiar, so soothing.

“Stiles, open your eyes. Please, open your eyes.”

Stiles let out a weak groan, coughing up the dust and ash that filled his lungs. Strong arms held up upright as he slowly blinked his eyes open to the glaring sunlight.

Slowly, his vison came into focus, looking up at the man that held him.

He had a square jaw that was darkened by stubble and wore an old black leather jacket that was covered in dust. He ran his hand through his thick, dark hair, trying to tame the mess that was tousled by the wind. His fingers raked his hair away from his face, exposing his pale green eyes.

Derek.

Stiles let a sigh of relief fall past his lips.

“Scott,” he muttered, straining to look around.

Allison and Isaac were nearby, holding onto Scott he coughed up lungfuls of dust.

“He’s okay,” Derek reassured him. “Paramedics are right behind us.”

“He needs a hospital,” Stiles rasped.

“And so do you,” Derek replied.

“I’m fine,” Stiles said dismissively.

“You’re going to hospital,” Derek said with finality.

Stiles reluctantly submitted, letting his body weaken in Derek’s arms. He looked across the dusty ground at Scott.

He was alive.

They’d made it out alive.

  Stiles jumped at the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him. He spun around to see Derek standing a few feet away with his hands buried in his pockets and an unamused expression on his face.

“I went to see you in the hospital, they said you discharged yourself.”

“I’m fine,” Stiles lied.

“No, you’re not,” Derek said.

“The doctors pumped me full of painkillers and antibiotics. I’m fine,” Stiles said. “I need to get back to work.”

“You need to rest,” Derek argued.”

“This guy’s still out there, Derek. He’s not going to stop,” Stiles snapped, turning to glare at Derek.

“And we’ll stop him,” the man promised. “We’ll start tomorrow. All of us.”

Stiles turned away from him, letting his shoulders sag as he let out a defeated sigh. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet.

“I can’t… I can’t sleep,” he admitted.

Derek took a step closer. “I thought they gave you something for that?”

“No, I mean, every time I close my eyes I feel like I’m back in that car, except…”

“Except what?” Derek asked.

“Except this time, you’re not coming; this time you don’t find me in time,” he said. He couldn’t bring himself to look Derek in the eye, his mind racing as he began to ramble, “You know, when you’re drowning, you don’t actually inhale until right before you black out. It’s called voluntary apnoea. It’s like no matter how much you’re freaking out, the instinct to not let any water in is so strong that you won’t open your mouth until you feel like your head’s exploding. Then, when you finally do let it in, that’s when it stops hurting. It’s not scary anymore. It’s actually kind of peaceful.”

“Hey,” Derek whispered, crouching beside Stiles and levelling his gaze with his. “I’ll always find you,” he promised.

Stiles smiled weakly.

“Come home with me,” Derek said softly.

Stiles blinked in shock. “What?”

“You can sleep at my place tonight,” Derek said. “That way, when you open your eyes, I’ll be there.”

“Really?” Stiles asked.

A sweet smile lifted Derek’s lips. “Really.”

[AO3]

[kenzieh2o]

How To Open An Inground Pool

You are looking forward to opening your inground pool this season, but you don't know how to do it? Well, you can always hire someone to do it for you, but if you want to save some extra money, then it's time to learn how to open an inground pool all by yourself without any additional complications or hired professionals. To achieve this, you'll need certain things that will help you in the process to avoid any health issue with the chemicals of the pool, then let's get started.

Tools and Materials that you are going to need:

To start with the opening process, certain things are required, first, a pool cover pump, a pool brush, later a pool net, then pool cover cleaner, as well as a pool shock. And to avoid any problem with the pool chemicals', a chemical testing kit will be needed, and to give a more detailed and refreshing look at your inground pool, and some algaecide it's required.

Once you've managed to obtain all of these materials then you'll be ready to start with the manual procedure all by yourself, don't worry it isn't complicated, you only need to follow the instructions that are explained in the steps and everything will be fine.

Remove all the leaves and water from the pool cover:

During winter, some leaves, rainwater, and annoying debris are left in the pool cover, and some of then reaches the point of an impossible extraction on your own, but, if you're a considerate person, surely you've been using the incredible and kind useful automatic pool cover pump which helps you with this type of debris problems all winter, however, if that's not your case then it's necessary to know how to remove all this leaves right now.

It's required a pool cover pump to make the cover dry as possible, once it's finished, you can start with the leaves' removal, and, in case that your pool also has some debris and dirty water, this procedure will also help with that, if for any reason you don't like the pump, you can always use a simple leaf net, later use the pool brush to clean any debris or leaves that are located on top. You'll be done with this step.

Removing the winter cover:

In a gentle way, proceed to remove the pool cover from the top of your pool, you can do this by folding it the sections until is completely folded at the end of the cover, as a recommendation, it's better to contact a friend or family member to help with this step, because it will be easier as he/she stands on the opposite side of you and proceed to fold the sections. Remember to be careful with any piece of debris or leaves that are in the cover, because if it's falling to the pool, then you'll have to repeat the first step and no one likes that.

Clean the pool cover to store it:

Once you've removed the pool cover without any problem, lay the cover in a soft surface the most away possible from the pool and then spray the cover with the help of a garden hose and later brush all the loose debris, you can choose lots of inexpensive cleaners that will make the process easier. With the cleaner, the only thing that you'll have to do is connect the bottle to the water hose and spray it, then let it does its work, after that, once it's dry, it can be stored in a container without problem for the next time that you'll require to use the pool cover.

Filling up the pool:

Due to the sun exposure, a certain percentage of the water will be evaporated (if you used a winter pool cover it only would be a small percentage) So the next thing to do is fill up the pool to his normal water level to start with the most essential steps that are the re-attachment of the deck equipment and later the pool chemistry level, which is vital to avoid any health issue with the pool.

Remove all the winter plugs:

This step is only for the ones who have installed the winter drain plugs in their pools, if that's not your case then you can ignore this step, however for the ones who installed the plugs, now it's necessary to remove them, and later, it's time to reinstall the skimmer baskets to the pool and finally, return the jet fittings, once you've done all this, the opening of the inground pool will be half terminated.

Deck equipment re-attachment:

Now it's finally the time of re-attachment all of the deck equipment like the pool ladders, the diving boards, and the most important ones, the rails. Make sure that you are putting all in the right spot, and also make sure that you lube the bolts before attaching to avoid annoying rust.

Filter and Pump:

Once you have completed the previous steps, now it's time to hook up the filter as well as the pool pump, and if you use some other equipment like heaters or booster pumps, then it's time to use them.

Let's power up the filter and the pump. Still, first, it's better to protect them by reinstall the drain plugs and later using a pool gasket lubricant in all the O-rings (this is necessary to extend the life of the equipment) Once, you've done this, power up and make a short test to see if both of them are working right without any problem, check for any possible leaks or badly attached fittings, and finally, make sure that all wires are grounded in a proper way and if the pump is pulling water in the right way.

For those who have sand or some DE filter, it's recommended to backwash the filter and also add extra DE to obtain a fresh start.

Clean the pool:

Once you have done all this, it's necessary to make the first step again, but this time in the pool. Clean all the debris that is floating around with the help of a pool net, then use the brush to scrub all the pool surface. Now the pool is almost functional, the only thing that's left is the chemistry thing, sure it sounds complicated, but don't worry, it's easy and possible for everyone.

Shock the pool and test the chemistry:

Use a chlorine stock product to shock the pool, you have to add enough of this product to raise the chlorine level to 3.0 ppm or higher (this is totally necessary) To reach this level it usually takes an entire bag or a bottle of liquid (this depends on in the product size and type) Remember not to get greedy, this is important for your health.

To check if you've done it right, a chemistry test kit will be needed, once you get one, test your water chemistry which has to include alkalinity, pH, calcium hardness and chlorine levels right. You need to adjust these levels properly (you can expend some extra money in a start-up chemical kit that includes all the chemicals that will be necessary) Or, you can always head to your local pool supply store to have your water samples tested there.

As a final add-on, you can purchase a nice-quality algaecide to clear the pool water and give a more realistic and beautiful view, to apply the algaecide you have to follow the manufacture directions.

Finish up and opening of the pool:

The final preparations are simple; you only have to run the pump for 24 hours and clean any debris that's left in the pool's bottom, later test the water chemicals again to avoid any problem and balance the levels if it's necessary. DON'T let anyone swim in the pool until the chlorine level is below 2.0 ppm, then if the pool looks crystal clear, it's time to dive in!

That is! If you followed all the steps in a right way, then your pool is ready to be used without any problem, it wasn't hard, you'll only need some hard work and dedication to open your pool, don't let anyone disturb you from saving some extra money by doing this process all by yourself, enjoy your pool!

[h11ledheadlight-blog]

Tips: How To Remove and Change Car Headlights

Light Hut is one such webpage in UK, where you can browse led automotive driving lights and completely different extras. Browse the manufacturers' websites before you go to the store. Check along with your local auto parts retailer or government for recycling choices. Try other DIY automotive initiatives anybody can do. Or, if you’re an aging boomer, select a bulb that tasks different colors of mild at completely different sections of the street. Armed with that bit of knowledge and a contemporary headlight bulb or two, you’re ready to change your headlights. Those who drive with the headlights in good situation can guarantee protected driving. In impact, there are really simple three forms of car bulbs which you can install in your headlights and they are, normal halogen bulbs, modern improve xenon bulbs and heavy duty long life bulbs. Right now, I'm going to show you how one can identify which bulb would possibly need replacement, figuring out the types of bulbs and their operations and a mild test.

Even in daylight, the test is as easy as turning them on and taking a look at them. Test the bulb by turning in your headlights to ensure that it is working. Now that you’ve completed your Toyota Camry headlight replacement, test drives your automobile. Finally, take a look at out the bulbs so that you’ll make certain that they work correctly before you plan to drive the automobile once more. You’ll sacrifice bulb life, but if you live in a rural space or do a lot of freeway driving, these may be your greatest choice.

Regular oil changes are your best funding toward the longevity of your engine! If you happen to perform your own oil modifications, dispose of used oil correctly! The oil left out of your pores and skin will heat up on a lit bulb and cause harm to the glass. Irrespective of how clear your palms are, bare skin will always depart a residual grease mark on the glass, this creates a scorching spot on the and will finally result in a bulbs premature failure.

Either approach, discover a crisp, clean bundle to reduce the chances of a bad bulb. Either method, best h11 led headlight conversion kit the inspection guys round right here aren't actually that strict. Listed here are the steps to substitute burned out bulbs. Find out how rapidly they will ship and where they ship from. You'll then reattach the wire harness. A harness plug underneath the hood at the again of the lamp slides on and off the lamp's copper terminals. If the lamp's lens is broken, if the lens is tremendous cloudy, or if an accident has damaged the housing, issues are more difficult. They're often retained by a skinny metal ring screwed into the lamp's shell meeting. If anything the retainer may be clipped as an alternative of screws and the bulb may be screwed in as an alternative of held by a plastic ring. It may be helpful to take out the battery if you're changing the drivers' aspect mild. Remove the should. Probably the one factor I didn't take pics of is the radiator shroud/cowl you will take away.

Older automobiles are inclined to have dim headlights, as such expertise wasn't available on the time. 3. Check all lights once more and first drive: With every part again in place it’s time to examine the lights are working. Take a look the next time you examine your oil! Every time this occurs, it's recorded in a central database. Visit your auto elements store and manually lookup the half number in the e-book situated in the light bulb aisle or ask an employee to go looking at their pc database.

If the web site can't be dependable, visit one that may. To begin exploring our spectacular collection of products, you may go to our online store. He says drivers can see an improvement of up to 130 percent more mild by merely changing their car’s bulbs. At the identical time, the know-how behind bulbs has led to improvements in lighting performance, so it’s doable that drivers may benefit from an improvement in mild of one hundred percent or extra.

Today’s Halogen bulbs perform better and last for much longer than regular incandescent bulbs, but they nonetheless wear and turn out to be dim over time, and the reduced illumination can make it tough to see clearly at night time. The video above shows you to replace the headlight in your 2007 BMW 328i. Headlights grow dimmer by as much as 20% over time and eventually burn out - for that reason, we advocate altering your headlights in pairs.

Should you adored this article along with you want to be given guidance regarding H11 led headlights generously visit our own website.

[smartwindowstoretips-blog]

Techpally: American fridge freezer sale

Streamlining Security and Home Automation

A smart home security system connects to your Wi-Fi network so you can monitor and control your security devices using your smartphone and an app. Entry-level systems usually include some door and window sensors, a motion detector, and a hub that communicates with these devices using one or more wireless protocols such as Wi-Fi, Z-Wave, Zigbee, or a proprietary mesh network. 

You can add extra door, motion, and window sensors to provide coverage for your entire house and build a comprehensive system that includes door locks, garage door openers, indoor and outdoor surveillance cameras, lights, sirens, smoke/CO detectors, water sensors, and more.

DIY Home Security Systems

Do-it-yourself security setups are ideal for budget shoppers because they can save you a bundle on installation charges and subscription fees. Most DIY systems are easy to install and are sold as Smart doors prices in Anchorage kits that you can configure to suit your specific needs. As your needs grow you can order additional sensors and other components at your convenience and pair them to the system in a matter of minutes.

Your basic entry-level DIY system might only support one or two wireless protocols and usually offers a limited selection of add-on components, while more expensive DIY systems will support multiple wireless protocols and are compatible with dozens of add-on components. Some DIY systems are self-monitored, which means you'll receive alerts when devices are triggered, but it's up to you How to Open a Locked Door if there's a break-in or a fire. However, DIY vendors are increasingly offering professional monitoring services.

Professional Home Security Systems

While many systems use wireless components that are installed using double-sided tape, some high-end systems use components that require professional installation. These soup-to-nuts systems typically cost considerably more than DIY systems and offer 24/7 professional monitoring, but you may have to enter into a multi-year contract and pay a hefty termination fee if you break it. They usually use touch-screen hubs thatcontain RF, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, and Z-Wave radios, ram services garage doors anchorage ak allowing them to communicate with and control a multitude of components including door and window sensors, door locks, glass break detectors, indoor and outdoor cameras, light switches, motion and water detectors, smoke/CO alarms, thermostats, video doorbells, and a host of another Smart window store Techpally site.

With a professionally monitored system, when a smoke or intrusion alarm is triggered, an agent will first try to reach you via the two-way control panel before calling your listed phone number. If you fail to respond, the agent will call 911 to dispatch an emergency responder to your home. The nice thing about professionally installed systems is you don't have to lift a finger; after you've placed your order a technician will come to your home, set everything up for you, and show you how the system works. It's important to note that in some areas you may have to file for a permit to have a security system installed in your home.

Nearly all of the latest DIY and high-end home security systems offer support for voice control via Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and in some cases Apple Siri, which allows you to unlock doors, https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/400002-smart-windows/en change thermostat settings, open the garage, and arm or disarm your system with a spoken command to a connected device like an Amazon Echo or a Google Home speaker. Many also offer support for IFTTT (If This Then That) applets, which use triggers from IFTTT-compatible web services and devices to create an action. For example, you can create an applet that says if a garage door is opened to turn on the floodlight.

What About a Video Doorbell?

Video doorbells offer an easy way to see who is at your door without having to open or even get close to the door. These devices connect to your Wi-Fi network american overhead door anchorage and will send an alert when someone approaches your doorway. They'll record video when the doorbell is pressed or when motion is detected, smart windows canada and usually offer two-way audio communication that allows you to speak with the visitor from anywhere via your phone.

Most video doorbells, like Editors' Choice SkyBell HD, use your existing doorbell wiring (two low-voltage wires) and are fairly easy to install, but there are battery-powered models available (like the Ring Video Doorbell 2) that install in minutes. Some work with other smart devices such as door locks and sirens and support IFTTT and Alexa voice commands. If you are looking for more information about The Best Smart Home Security Systems for 2019. To get more ideas on  Smart window store Techpally site you can follow this site.

Smart window store Techpally site Watch the Video

[magebomb]

I don’t want to be a part of this I don’t want to share the blame I don’t have to know the body count But I will, oh, but I will

It’s been a while since I’ve done anything, or shared anything for Ignite. I don’t have much, and it’s getting completely flipped around, with the same themes. I’m taking some bravery and sharing a bit of what I wrote on my original story. (Take it with a grain of salt, I’m an artist–not a writer)

EDIT: HEY I messed up my other post of this by trying to make the readmore work on mobile, so uh. Here’s a repost.  

Walking away from everything was not easy.

That was the sort of thing that ended in whispers between soldiers, those who were tired and should’ve never enlisted in the first place. It happened between people with dissonance in their heart. With the ones who spoke their script under scrutiny, but spat venom from under a cloak of security.

It was always something that just came with the backdrop. You shouldered the sentiments like an extra piece of gear to go between the Geiger counter and canteen. The uniforms were so covered pockets, it hid well–something you could easily forget until the morning recount.

Nobody really meant it. Sure, sometimes a soldier walked away. Maybe they disappeared into a foreign village. They could’ve dropped their helmet in the street and walked into gunfire. Words may have flown, only to have the person disappear the next day. Their names forgotten in a week to all but those who really gave a shit about them.

Every bit of it was a distant sort of idealism that held so little reality to most.

Here he was–walking away. That reality had all but shattered from under him.

He was home. Home didn’t hold the same weight for him that it did for most others. It was only a small security detail. The base held one of the larger weapons facilities on this side of the midwest, and they needed the manpower to guard it. That duty fell on most any enlisted who knew how to hold a rifle without shooting themselves in the foot.

The need for bodies was up. They attributed it to something vague. Something that was out of his pay grade to know about. Organized crime was the obvious answer. They had volleyed for munitions with the military for a long time now.  

He was in a blindspot between cameras. Not in any sense of convenience to him–only that they needed extra eyes to watch said blind spots. It wasn’t a perfect opportunity. He could so much as make one step to his right and the camera had him in full peripheral view. To the left, though? To the left was the key. It took pressing his back into the wall and his rifle held close enough to his body that it wouldn’t swing forward and activate the motion sensor.

That’s the funny thing about being trained for stuff like this. They drill and drill the procedure and protocol until they hope it sticks into their plastic little army men. There’s no chance it could be thrown back in their faces. No, that was inconceivable. Really, true deceit was far from his mind, as he walked away. As he slid past that camera and stepped away from the armory. As he kept himself to a brisk walk. The helmet hid his face, and his expression in kind, but he had to keep control of his feet. Everyone would alert on the sight of a running soldier.

The urge to sprint still bit at him. It spilled out from the stilted breaths behind his helmet and he barely suppressed the urge to toss aside his rifle and book it across the base.

A half-track rolled by, full of soldiers likely headed to the ancillary base on the other side of the city. They were kitted less than him, save for one or two actually on duty and not just bunked up for a trip. Still, he found himself hooked onto the back, swinging up to the edge. Supply crates hid him from those on the vehicle, and it had served him well enough to get him through the checkpoint at the gate. Everyone unaware, thanks to the anonymity his uniform afforded him. If he kept his head down, he would make it.

He made it. Opportunity to ditch the vehicle rose when the city actually began to show a civilian population no longer culled by the oppressive nature of the military base. Here, he hopped off the back of the half-track and jogged the short distance between the street and an alley. People left him at it. A geared up and armed soldier on the streets detaching from his company with an obvious purpose? Not something the average person really wanted to mess with. He wasn’t afraid to use that little bit to his advantage–temporarily.

Crouching now, in the alley, he palmed the charge from his rifle and stuffed it behind a dumpster. He wasn’t aware he had company until he finally yanked the helmet off, his face immediately stinging with the early autumn chill.

A woman’s gasp accompanied the movement, and he wheeled around, helmet still in his hands. The look she flashed him said that she had never really seen someone like him without a faceplate before, let alone someone with such a young face. She wasn’t sure of why he was there, standing in front of her in that alley.

She held no real threat. Not with her sparkling dress, lit up by the focused street lights. Her heels dangled from one hand, and from the other a perched a lit cigarette. She had a name tag that said something he couldn’t read from their distance from one another.

Still he froze, while her mouth worked like she wanted to say something. Maybe she would scream? It wasn’t like he could do anything about it. Not a civilian. Not one whose work break was interrupted by something that would make quite a story later.

He chose the most elegant option. The one where he tossed the helmet aside like a hot coal and darted further into the alley. A chain-link fence blocked off the back, garnished with hardly any remaining barbed wire at the top. It was easy enough work to scale it and drop himself to the other side. “Hey–!” Her high voice called out, but he was too busy sliding into a turn to get the hell away from the street.

He shed gear like a hemorrhage. Most of it he tried to stash, in piles here and there for people to find later and sell. All but the base fatigues on his back, and his dog tags. He really didn’t care. The worst was that rifle. It wouldn’t fire without the charge, and especially not without his fingerprint. But that was the problem. If found, there’d be no doubt it was his, and it still pointed a big fucking glowing arrow in his direction.

So he made his path through the city a convoluted one. A confused one. It wasn’t like he knew what to do or where to go.

Because here he was, walking away.

He could see the made-up future file in his head. One held between officers with a angry red confidentiality stamp on it.

Dallan Macguire. Twenty-three years old. Barely.

Didn’t he have a promotion recently? A inconsequential rank that meant nothing but that he was moving up. A corporal. That was a good start. Soon a sargent and later even further. He could be the career type. ‘I don’t know,’ one would surely say, ‘them Marine guys aren’t into that.’

No, you’re mistaken, he’s affiliated with that—He was bound for trial.

Twenty-three fucking years. Dallan shivered now, shoved between the wall and a pile of trash. He could feel the pulse of whatever business was on the other side of the brick. Music of some sort, with a low beat that drove people through a chilling night like this. He let that sound ground him as he slowly emptied the clip from his remaining gun. It was a small one. Ballistic since the pulse rifles weren’t always so dependable.

Click, click, click. Each bullet fell as a punctuation.

Eighteen, mostly, quiet years. Five years of family, again. Five tumultuous and controversial years he really wouldn’t have put up with if it weren’t for the people he had surrounded himself with.

Three whole fucking days of absolute hell that led up to today. Three goddamned days on the chopping block.

Really, this would still be favorable to what would’ve been an incoming court martial.

===

The steps were killer. It called back memories to movies where the characters always exclaimed: ‘Oh, it couldn’t get worse!’ before rain would break open over their heads. Yeah, Dallan had plenty of that. Rain. Like something said he wasn’t miserable enough, that the fucking sky had to crack open while he couldn’t even fathom a roof over his head to protect him from the onslaught. Poetic…probably. If he gave a fuck about that.

Now it made the steps difficult. Breathe wheezed in Dallan’s chest the further he went. He wouldn’t complain so much on normal day, but it hurt to breathe today even when he wasn’t moving in the first place. Hell, it hurt to exist at the moment. The pain warred between that in his chest and the sloppily covered burns on his hands. Both a wonderful reminder of stupidity that led him to his next brilliant idea.

There was an elevator here, but it felt wrong. The complex wasn’t all that ritzy, but it was clean. He was not. Soot that clung to parts of his jacket and fatigues he couldn’t quite scrub out with just the rain to help. Even Dallan himself was sure he looked a tad crazed from lack of sleep. Here was probably his fifth stupid idea of the week. He needed contact, and he needed help. He didn’t want the help but he still selfishly sought it out like some pathetic…something.

Dallan shook his head, dodging the step that tried to trip his toes up. A curse fell from him, ringing up and through the deserted stairwell with no answer.  

Dallan leaned against the railing for a moment, needing to catch his tight breath. It had been almost impossible to track this apartment down, at first, but Dallan got it with enough patience that he almost didn’t have. He couldn’t use his own ID to use a terminal. Not without getting honed in on in a heartbeat. But not everyone kept a tight eye on their own.

It was a simple swipe, a search, and he found it. Jarringly easy, at that point.  

The database for this guy was startlingly sparse. No real history listed. Nothing but a current residence and current employment. There wasn’t even the scarring mark of an extra database entry that marred a select few.

But now in that apartment complex he had hunted down, Dallan’s steps grew heavier with each flight of stairs.  

Not heavy enough to stop him from edging his way to the landing he was looking for and out the door into the hallway. Silence greeted him. It was that strange hour of the evening where people either holed up at home with dinner, or kept to the city to shake off their work day.

Silence accompanied him to the door he was looking for: apartment 514. He killed it by rapping his knuckles in a knock.

For a beat, he began to hope nobody was home.  

A beat that didn’t last too long before the door opened a crack.

Most people wouldn’t even go that far, instead choose to use the view hole to decide if they wanted to ignore their visitor or not. Not like this guy had that choice.

There was definitely a chain on the door, and accordingly it barely opened onto the empty light of the apartment beyond and a hesitant response. “I didn’t order any–” a low man’s voice responded, intercepted by Dallan’s hand jamming into the space to swipe at the chain. When it popped off of it’s hook, he gave the door a strong shove with his shoulder. The person on the other side had to have staggered back with the force, because it only met with the slightest resistance before swinging completely open.

Dallan extended his arms, a gun training upwards on the face of the man inside the apartment.

“Back up,” He spoke as steady as the tremor in his voice could let him. “Hands up, and back the fuck up.” Here he was. His fifth, sixth, seventh stupid idea of the week. A barrel pointed straight at a face that had only sharpened out with age from the last time he had seen it as a teenager.

Here he was, pointing a weapon at a frightened blind man who’s dinner had been interrupted. His hands still at his side, despite the order and the compliant steps backwards.

Here he was, threatening someone he was rapidly realizing that he’d have preferred the court martial to doing this. Preferred the imprisonment and whatever might follow.

Someone who didn’t remember Dallan like he remembered him, as completely evident with the lack of recognition on his face.

It didn’t make anything easier, Dallan thought, kicking the door shut behind him.

[sablelab]

Covert Operations - Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: This is a modern AU crossover story with Outlander and La Femme Nikita. LFN and its characters do not belong to me nor do those from Outlander. This is a complete work of fiction and as such is an entirely fabricated tale created in my imagination.

There may be some suggestive chapters (S) and scenes of a violent (V) and or sexual nature (NC-17) through the course of this story.

Manip by ... @artistsassenach

SYNOPSIS: Claire Beauchamp, Section One operative makes her way to Hong Kong as profiled on her PDA mission profile.

CHAPTER 4

Once off the plane at Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong’s futuristic and ultra-efficient International Airport, Claire Beauchamp checked through Immigration and went in search of the correct carousel to reclaim her luggage. As she waited with all the other tired and anxious passengers, Claire fleetingly looked around at the many faces of fellow passengers. There were people going about their business, and excited tourists commencing their holidays pushed forward to claim their belongings when they made an appearance on the carousel. Finally collecting her baggage Claire made her way toward Customs like all the other disembarking passengers. The officious uniformed Immigration officials sat at ridiculously high desks blocking their faces below eye level. It seemed that all were wearing wire-framed glasses, were very serious and never offered the hint of a smile. Standing in the queue Claire slowly moved forward until it was her turn to approach the desk. Glancing at her passport the official asked, “Are you in Hong Kong for business or pleasure?” Business … unfortunately. Pleasure … if I’m lucky.  Actually … I’m in Hong Kong on a mission … a very dangerous undercover mission for Section One ... the world’s most clandestine anti terrorist organisation. Ever heard of it? ... No? ... Well we’re after the elusive leader of the Rising Dragons. Do you know him? ... Sun Yee Lok? ... Ring any bells? Obviously suffering from some jet lag, Claire’s mind went off on this flippant tangent before she answered the waiting Custom’s official. “I’m on holiday,” she replied casting a mega watt smile in the official’s direction. He casually glanced her way, having heard the same reply thousands of time and methodically stamped Claire’s passport with the patented response. “Enjoy your stay in Hong Kong.” “Thank you,” she replied and took her passport from the counter. Claire once again collected her belongings and made her way to the Arrivals hall. Ever watchful for anything suspicious she casually glanced around her surroundings. It was a bustling area divided into two distinct areas. Big plasma TV panels installed in both allowed waiting meeters and greeters to see arriving passengers as they entered either area. Miniature gardens added a green touch to both ends of the hall as well. But it was the aromatic smells of food readily available that tempted Claire’s taste buds. Realising how very hungry she was, she couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten having left Section One immediately after the briefing. Claire’s stomach let her know it was probably hours since any food had passed her mouth and she was sorely tempted to sample some of the superb selection of fare at food outlets catering to all kinds of cuisine. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The airport was beautiful, modern and quite easy to manoeuvre around. Claire next proceeded into the waiting area of the Meeting Point located at the centre of the Arrivals hall. It was a clearly marked area to meet and greet passengers upon arrival. There was a bustle of people milling around waiting for friends and family as was common at all international and domestic airports. Scanning the area, Claire made her way towards a colourful sculpture given to the Hong Kong SAR Government by Chongqing City to celebrate the reunification of the territory with its motherland China that was placed near the exit. Arriving in Hong Kong was like stepping into a whirling mass of humanity with a dynamism that was unforgettable. The atmosphere was electric and Claire felt the excitement of this exotic city wash over her. If only this was anything but a mission, she would definitely be in a different frame of mind. Many eyes focused on the beautiful, tall, brunette woman who stood out from the crowd no doubt wondering whom she may be meeting, but people looked away just as quickly when her eyes connected with theirs. However, unbeknownst to Claire, one pair of eyes watched her surreptitiously. He smiled to himself before flipping open his cell phone to make a call. Merging with the cosmopolitan crowd Claire Beauchamp walked further along the exit where a stream of Chinese messengers awaited the disembarking passengers. Patient operators held up placards with the names of many different hotels, while tour guides rushed around. All were wearing white shirts and dark pants which seemed a mandatory uniform coupled with quite a few looking like the Customs officials who wore wire rimmed glasses below their dark hair. They were checking lists with the names of passengers waiting to be escorted to their respective hotels and babbling quickly in Chinese. Looking around Claire couldn’t help but notice one person who stood out distinctly from the others. The man was wearing a colourful Hawaiian shirt and was holding up an iPad bearing her name. Picking up her baggage, she made her way over to him.

“Hi … I’m Claire Beauchamp,” she said smiling at him.

“Ah, Miss Beauchamp … Welcome to Hong Kong. I hope you had a pleasant flight from Sydney.”

“Yes, I did thank you.”

My name is Angus Mhor from the Hong Kong Police,” he said showing her his identification badge before placing it back in his pocket. “Here let me take your luggage. Accommodation has been arranged for you in a lovely apartment overlooking Victoria Harbour.” “How lovely. Thank-you.” “I’m afraid it is not as beautiful as the view of your Sydney Harbour but it is beautiful nonetheless.” “I’m sure it will be fine.” “My superior, Senior Superintendent Zheng is expecting you, and once you are settled in he is looking forward to meeting you at Police Headquarters later today.”

“Thank you Mr. Mhor, I’ll look forward to meeting with him as well.”

Meanwhile ... at Hong Kong Police Headquarters

Senior Superintendent Xiao Zheng sat huddled over the mounting pile of cases on his desk. All the latest ones seemed to point to some connection between the Rising Dragons triad and the victims. For some time his department had been investigating these connections in line with the rise in kidnappings and murders that had taken palace in Hong Kong over the last couple of months. However, he was at his wits end trying to piece together all the evidence building on this notorious triad’s members and its elusive leader Sun Yee Lok. This was precisely why he had called in outside help because he needed someone with a covert background who could be placed undercover on this case. He looked at the photo kit picture of Claire Beauchamp from the Australian Federal Bureau of Police. She had volunteered to be part of an exchange program with the Hong Kong Police. Claire was a beautiful young woman, a “looker” if ever he saw one. Pity he was happily married, he smiled to himself. It was hard to believe that a woman with her looks was so lethal, but she came with excellent credentials from her superiors. Claire Beauchamp was not only a stunning woman she was deadly accurate too. He was very impressed with her résumé as he read information about her last covert work in Parramatta and Redfern. It seemed that Miss Beauchamp had undergone a National Undercover Operatives’ Training Program in Australia, passing with flying colours. She had excelled in all areas as well as personal defence, martial arts, assessment and competency skills. Zheng was most pleased that he had been able to snare her for a short time in Hong Kong to work on this specific case. He knew that Claire would be an invaluable asset to the police given her forte was undercover work. Perhaps she would be better suited to the OCTB, Hong Kong's Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, but she could transfer there for an extended stint if need be … once this case was closed. Zheng knew that his counterpart at OCTB Detective Jiang Ng, could use her services, but he never really trusted the man. There was something about him that made his hackles rise but he couldn’t put his finger on the pulse of his uncertainty. Perhaps it was because the man was so overconfident and arrogant? What he did know for certain was he didn’t like him and that was that. Nevertheless, he was grateful for Claire Beauchamp’s expertise and that could prove to be quite useful in helping to discover the perpetrator of the recent deaths on the junk. Angus Mhor had radioed him to say that Miss Beauchamp had arrived and they were on the way to her apartment on Hong Kong Island. “Mei Ling!” Zheng bellowed at his new recruit. She came running over to his desk. “Yes Sir?” “Bring me the file on this afternoon’s murder of Mr. Wu and the woman …” “Yes Sir,” she replied obediently. However, before she could leave to do his bidding he issued another order. “… and bring me a cup of coffee. I think this is going to be a long night.” “Yes … Sir.” Mei left as quickly as she had arrived at his desk thinking that her new boss was as hardnosed as she had been told. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Claire followed Angus Mhor to the Ground Transportation Centre where he had left his car. There she saw a highly efficient and comprehensive transportation network connected to the passenger terminal. Airport express trains and an extensive public transport interchange with facilities for taxis, franchised buses, tour coaches; hotel limousines and private cars were to be found on the multi-levelled structure. Taking Claire’s luggage from the baggage trolley he placed it in the trunk of the car. Making small conversation as a way of "breaking the ice" between them as they got into the vehicle Angus said, “Pity we don’t fly into Kai Tak Airport anymore.” “Why’s that?” Claire asked interestingly. “There was an element of danger involved in its spectacular urban landing approach which was much more thrilling and beautiful than our new modernized airport.” “It sounds exciting.” “Oh … yes it was.” Angus sighed pensively, remembering the many times he had returned home from overseas assignments. “During the last few seconds of landing you were actually flying between high-rise buildings that were very close on both sides and higher than the aeroplane.” “Wow! That would have been amazing.” “The old airport had spectacular views of the city when landing and taking off. Pity things have to change, don’t you think Miss Beauchamp?” “Sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same,” she added thoughtfully. Settling in the driver’s seat, Angus gave Claire a wink in the rear vision mirror. “It’s quite a distance to downtown Hong Kong and will take us about an hour. I guess it's the price you pay for modernization.” Having said that Angus then turned on the ignition, pumped the accelerator and sped off in the direction of Lantau Island.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ to be continued

Should you wish to access the other chapters of this story … https://sablelab.tumblr.com/covertoperations

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my crossover story. xox

[solderseal]

Wire Ring Terminal Kit – Solder Seal

Stay prepared and ready for different wiring projects with a range of wire terminals by Solder Seal. Our wire ring terminal kit includes terminals that are designed for ease of use and longevity. It helps connect the wire to a screw or stud at a right angle to fit connections into tight spaces. 

[pcatechnologies]

Considerations To Know About Indoor termination kits

Tubes employed only Crepe Crepe Electric powered, designed in one hundred% electric powered kraft paper. Also in the whole process of creping only deionized drinking water is used to maintain the most electric powered purity.

EPDM is largely good in all features and much less high priced, due to the fact EPDM used for lessen Charge polymer that provides the very best top quality processing ability.

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One particular disadvantage of tubular skylights is their tendency to heat for the duration of notably sizzling and humid seasons or climates.

Incorporates access to our preferred JOINTERS Web site with contributions from utility gurus, linesmen and cable jointers engaged on MV HV EHV cables and overhead traces usually at 11kV, 33kV, 66kV and as many as 132kV. fifteen,000+ Subscribers.

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An MS3454 fashion jam nut receptacle encompasses a one mounting gap for increased environmental defense. The integrated silicone O-ring seals the mounting area to maintain environmental integrity. Addresses are proposed to safeguard contacts.

There are the HVAC seals and gaskets for obvious explanations. Nitrile gloves will also be preferred solutions of PVC Nitrile Foam. They may be really puncture-resistant and delicate. Also, as expected, tend to be a great match for your arms and proof against chemical assaults.

Cost: 2150/- USD

Raychem RPG caters to your infrastructure segment of many enterprise industries. For many decades, the corporate has worked with several industries, offering a host of engineering options for their techniques and programs.

Busbar Heat Shrink Sleeve Tubing 35kV substantial voltage busbar heat shrink tubing is commonly Utilized in the insulation defense of substantial-voltage switchgear busbars, as a result of its superb insulation overall performance and adaptability, successfully blocking the chance of mishaps due to uncovered Dwell wires.

The electric area of chilly-shrinkable cable joints is taken care of by geometric process, which adjustments the electric subject distribution from the strain cone. It can be solved with a certain geometric condition and also a precise R angle. This method is simpler to regulate and exam. It could be ensured and realized in the factory. The electric subject therapy method of the indoor termination kits head is to change the electrical area distribution because of the linear parameter technique.

Computerized Handle and insulation in the event the set temperature is attained. Various layers of defense are blended to make sure the security and dependability of use.

There’s a rationale tubular skylights are among the most well-liked artificial lighting forms today. That’s for the reason that Qualified installation conveniently solutions their drawbacks.

[therealrobotunderground]

155 kits reworked today by the wife and I. only $40 shipped through Robot. Oversized 0ga CCA power wire kit @recoil.audio $RobotUnderground comes with 200A fuse, 0ga fuse holder, 17' of Positive wire with ring terminal for the battery. 3' of negative for the ground, also with ring terminal. We added 17' twisted pair RCA's, subwoofer wire and a self tapping heavy duty ground lug. (at Robot Underground) https://www.instagram.com/p/CdmVSzrJ58_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=