#Asset Tracking System Installers

[mobiloittetechblogs]

Comprehensive Asset Tracking Systems Installation Guide

[mariacallous]

The feud between U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk didn’t come as a total surprise. There were always those who doubted that the two mega-narcissists could co-exist for long in the same White House. On June 11, Musk issued a statement expressing regret for some of his social media posts about Trump, but one is inclined to doubt that his mea culpa will patch things up.

The spat between the two billionaires, however, has diverted the public’s attention from a more urgent matter. Two stories that appeared this week should draw fresh attention to a problem that should have been obvious to everyone from the very beginning of the Tesla CEO’s disastrous adventure at the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk is not only the richest man in the world. He is also the biggest risk to the security of the government of the United States—which, in a government riddled with walking security risks, is saying something.

On June 7, the Washington Post reported that DOGE personnel had ignored the concerns of White House cybersecurity staff by installing a Starlink terminal on the roof of an adjacent building in February. Starlink, you might recall, connects to the satellite network owned and operated by Musk’s SpaceX company. The White House Starlink connection enabled those who used it to bypass the security restrictions usually imposed on staffers working in the building. The Post’s sources told the newspaper that “those managing the systems weren’t able to monitor such connections to stop sensitive information from leaving the complex or hackers from breaking in.”

Three days later, the Wall Street Journal released another bombshell, reporting that the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department had “tracked foreign nationals coming and going to Elon Musk’s properties” in 2022 and 2023. The monitoring of Musk’s questionable ties started before the Trump administration, the paper noted, and “highlights concerns about the number of foreign nationals in Musk’s orbit.”

Of course, visits by “foreign nationals” are not inherently something to be worried about. But the fact that both agencies saw fit to do this tracking suggests that they had specific concerns—which may not be surprising, given the extreme sensitivity of Musk’s work for the U.S. government.

What foreign nationals might they have in mind? Russians, perhaps. (The Journal story contains a vague reference to people from “Eastern Europe” among Musk’s visitors.) We learned last fall that Musk had been in regular phone contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin staring in late 2022. During their conversations Putin is said to have asked Musk, among other things, to refrain from activating Starlink over Taiwan, which a Russian intelligence source said was done as a favor to Putin’s buddy, Chinese President Xi Jinping. Coincidence or not, the Taiwanese still don’t have Starlink service today.

Did Putin also thank the influential billionaire for his extensive use of X to insult and belittle Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—and for supporting Russian military operations by not allowing the Ukrainians Starlink access over Crimea, a part of Ukraine? (To be fair, Musk has largely maintained Starlink service for the Ukrainian military, which has proved to be a vital asset in Kyiv’s fight against the Russians.) We don’t know the details of these conversations. But what we do know would almost be the best case; the possibilities are so much worse.

Why Musk would do this remains an open question. But the far more alarming question is why this is only now beginning to catch media and government attention. Musk’s regular private contact with the head of a hostile autocracy should, in its own right, have activated a gigantic flashing red light for any U.S. administration. For Musk is not just an average U.S. citizen; he is a man with a high-level security clearance tied to a range of business interests involving NASA and the intelligence community.

NASA, of course, is now uncomfortably dependent on SpaceX’s rockets—as Musk himself noted during his feud with Trump, when the CEO threatened to decommission the Dragon spacecraft, a mainstay of travel to the International Space Station. Musk took back the threat three hours later. But the space station link is far from the only source of concern. In March 2024, it was revealed that SpaceX has been building a spy satellite network for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, a highly secret agency that conducts surveillance from space. Musk is doing the work under a $1.8 billion contract from 2021 with terms that remain classified.

China is another justified source of anxiety. Musk’s electric car company has huge exposure to the Chinese Communist Party. Musk has famously described himself—unusually for a MAGA loyalist and Trump campaigner—as “kind of pro-China.” In 2020, Tesla opened a factory in Shanghai, where the company now produces half of its cars; Tesla also manufactures a large share of its batteries at a facility in China. Permits for both factories were issued with remarkable speed, and the company has benefited hugely from favorable loans from Chinese banks, evidence of a cozy relationship with the government.

Musk certainly has a high enough profile to have held multiple meetings with Xi as well as Premier Li Qiang. To be sure, other U.S. business leaders have done the same. But few of them boast Musk’s top-secret clearance—or, now, anything like his access to sensitive government information through DOGE.

Musk has shown that he knows what’s expected of him in return. He has lavished obsequious praise on China. He has stated that “there’s a certain inevitability” for Beijing to absorb Taiwan, which he has referred to as “an integral part” of China. China is a key building block of Musk’s business empire—and given that a political decision in Beijing could crush his operations in a second, this makes him profoundly susceptible to potential pressure by the Chinese Communist Party. How far would he be willing to go to protect his interests?

This, then, is the man to whom the Trump administration gave comprehensive and unfettered access to the personal data of tens of millions of Americans during DOGE’s rampage in the first months of this year. Musk’s “takeover of federal government infrastructure,” as Wired magazine called it, gave inexperienced young software programmers access to a wide variety of sensitive information, including records from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Few Americans understand the significance of the OPM, which holds vast amounts of data about citizens, but the Chinese considered it important enough to target it in one of the biggest cyberattacks in history in 2015. Two DOGE staffers even tried to gain access to the networks that contain classified material about the United States’ nuclear weapons—which raises serious questions about why Musk’s people would need such information for a budget-cutting exercise.

Indeed, DOGE’s work has been characterized by a stunningly cavalier attitude to data security, prompting some experts to speak in Foreign Policy about the “the most consequential security breach” in the U.S. government’s history. The initiative has operated with minimal transparency and oversight. It has violated countless strictures on the confidentiality of federal employee information. The chaos and uncertainty sown by its firing of thousands of federal workers could potentially offer openings to foreign intelligence services, which will be keen to capitalize on the grievances of discarded employees. And granting DOGE staffers access to the government’s internal payments system has risked compromising intelligence operations that rely on the same mechanism. We will probably need years to fully understand the extent of the damage.

Government concern about Musk is not entirely new. In December, the New York Times reported that Musk and SpaceX “have repeatedly failed to comply with federal reporting protocols aimed at protecting state secrets, including by not providing some details of his [Musk’s] meetings with foreign leaders.” The Pentagon’s inspector general opened a review of Musk’s security clearance last year, as did the Air Force and the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. Nothing seems to have come of any these investigations, but I somehow don’t find that reassuring. I wonder if it’s just a coincidence that Trump fired Pentagon Inspector General Robert Storch in January, a few weeks after the publication of the Times report.

Recently, even before his fight with Musk, Trump seems to have had second thoughts about the carte blanche he has granted him. It was Trump who apparently canceled Musk’s access to a planned top-secret Pentagon briefing in April. Now, as the feud between the two men simmers, Steve Bannon, Trump’s longtime consigliere, has called on the president to pull Musk’s security clearance.

I never thought I would ever agree with Bannon on anything. But here we are.

[pantry-rats]

Murkoff Case Files: Jaeger

How Dare You Red Barrels

Alt. Text: JAEGER Murkoff Case Files 1960.05.29

MURKOFF PSYCHIATRIC SYSTEMS PROJECT LATHE TWO Project Lead: Dr. Hendrick Joliet Easterman

MEMORANDUM TO SINYALA STAFF CLASSIFICATION GUIDELINES: JAEGER

ARCHETYPE Relentless hunter, inexorable death. The Jaeger is assigned a target Reagent, and will steadily track that Reagent until dead.

HISTORY A twice-repurposed Reagent, Henrietta Grubbs was originally interred at the Sinyala Facility as a patient of LATHE 2 therapy. After severe physical trauma and a display of remarkable resilience, Miss Grubbs was given hormonal treatment and osteotomy and re-introduced into the Trials as Heavy Ex-Pop. After demonstrating a lack of susceptibility to the influence of Prime Assets, Miss Grubbs again experienced remarkable physical trauma and, presumed dead, was sent to Biohazard Processing, where she managed to survive for months, even after her food source was cut off. Following the events surrounding the escape of Amelia Collier, Miss Grubbs's survival was discovered, and she was further improved to her current form.

AUGMENTATIONS The Jaeger is fitted with extensive external fixators, screwed into the bone. They offer support, but more importantly restrict the bones from additional growth, a side-effect of hormonal treatment and trauma therapy, (extensive acromegaly is still visible.) The Jaeger has a broadcast receiver installed in her headpiece through which instruction and guidance can be offered, and targets assigned.

PSYCHOLOGY A perfect example of the Sinyala Paradox, the Jaeger seems to be finding some comfort in hopelessness. Her fixation on a single target shows a striking correlation with activity in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex, similar to mPFC activity seen in a person viewing a potential mate. The Jaeger appears to be longing for some unattainable love. DOCTOR'S NOTE Please correct any staff referring to the Jaeger as "Miss Lonely Heart," as it risks contaminating scientific objectivity in observing scientists.

[funnywizard3000]

Sleeper oc I concocted for playing in a citizen sleeper cbr+pnk trrpg :) adaptation :)

Loong yap abt them under the cut ↓

This is their backstory LOL I wish that I could condense things better and be more concise but I'm not a writer so bear with me

____

TLDR:

Sopping wet cardboard beast (emotionally). Sleeper hunting sleeper, escaped once, brought back, did hunting contract work under a predatory agreement with essen-arp after their OG body died in stasis, and has decided to run again. Very emotionally torn up about all of it but is dogshit at recognizing that. Stomach ache warrior.

----

My idea for them originally came about when we were playing the cs2 demo and I thought that it would be so fucked (and narratively interesting) to have a sleeper that does essen-arp 'asset retrieval' (sleeper hunting) work, and they snowballed from there.

They don't have a name, and they find the subject to be quite a sore spot. They are pretty old for a sleeper, evidenced by the obvious alterations/deterioration/fixes that make up their body.

(assumptions warning: there's a lot that isn't outright stated about the sleeper program or essen-arp so I did act on the assumption that people put into stasis for sleeper-emulation are actually kept alive. But it's not like we ever hear anything about people who have come out on the other side of the program, not that they would willingly admit to that.)

They escaped the first assignment that they were put on as a sleeper, and made it off-world and nearly out of the system. During this first adjournment they were directionless, only aiming to run as far as they needed to. Eventually they took up contract tracking/hunting jobs to make ends meet (they were in a largely corporate-owned system. which severely limited what jobs were available). This is what got them caught.

After working enough mercenary contracts, they gained a reputation. And it's not like essen-arp could ignore a couple echos about a sleeper merc in a corporate railway town (idk what a good scifi term for this would be without sounding stupids. Freight vector system). And so they got caught, while on a job, out on the furthest moon on the most distant planet in the system (they remember the moon's name, Valence, but can't remember any of the other names) and were dragged back to the closest essen-arp hub.

But! Sometime between when they were sent to their original job to the end of their time away, the human that they were an emulation of died in suspension. Instead of immediately terminating them (which, is what the company would have likely done, if there were no outlying circumstances) they were given the choice:

Continue working for essen-arp, but as a hunting contractor, and receive the basics to support themself on successful completion of capture jobs

Or

Forfeit their (second) life.

Obviously they went with the former, and essen-arp kept to their word. They had inadvertently demonstrated their hunting competency, and essen-arp felt that this was a good compromise (they didn't want this sleeper to blackmail them, keeping any word about a death in the sleeper program out of the media and off the airwaves. The company was unsure of the sleeper's connections that they made while away, and didn't want to risk the integrity of their scheme).

As long as they completed jobs in time, they would be in (precariously) good standings with the company, and would receive stabilizer. The threat of termination still loomed over them. They understood that essen-arp had no reason to keep them alive, so they perfected their skills - even installing an augment that allows them to track/locate electronic sources (sleepers and other tech) at the expense of becoming electronically unprotected, identifiable, or even a relay of information between their sensors and essen-arp's surveillance.

All of this weighs heavily on their conscience and emotional well-being, but they figure that throwing themself into their work is the best way to blot out any of that nasty existential regret. Up until the run, they had subconsciously hoped for some sort of allowance - something that would validate their repressed desires of freedom, and desires to stop perpetuating the control of essen-arp.

This accumulated and eventually they found themself at an emotional tipping point, the desire to run again weighing the same as their desire for routine and adherence.

At the current point in their story, they have just successfully completed a run with two others, a human thinking about entering the sleeper program to resolve debts, and a hopeful newly escaped sleeper.

They've decided to run again, but they'll need help. Their years of hunting experience will help them evade capture, but they don't know how to Live (frankly, the concept scares them)

Smile 😁

[ak-vintage]

Quarry - Chapter 17

Pairing: Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) x f!reader

Summary: Din Djarin is on what he expects to be his last bounty hunt for Greef Karga. After all, Nevarro is swiftly moving away from its previous reputation as a Guild member’s paradise, and Din has more important concerns now, like finding a Jedi to train his mysterious foundling. However, after capturing a wanted starship engineer who would rather go anywhere other than “home,” the Mandalorian is forced to reassess his priorities.

Your taste of freedom had been brief but glorious. Now you are a prisoner of the most infamous bounty hunter in the Outer Rim – it’s only a matter of time before he turns you in. There isn’t much you would not do to keep from being sent home, but as you find yourself growing closer to your captor and his strange little companion, you start to wonder whether escape is really what you want.

Set after Chapter 13: The Jedi but before Chapter 14: The Tragedy.

Chapter Tags & Warnings: 18+ MDNI! Reader is Mando's live-in starship engineer, second-person POV, no use of Y/N, minimal descriptors of reader character, canon-typical violence, descriptions of injuries, angst

Series Masterlist | Read on AO3

Disclaimer: This chapter marks the point at which this story starts to overlap with canon events. I have heavily referenced events from Chapter 14: The Tragedy. You will find some additions and revisions to allow the reader character to fit into the story, but a lot of the dialogue is the same as in the original episode.

---

In the far reaches of the Outer Rim, an Imperial cruiser drifted between star systems.

To some, it appeared as a relic of a bygone era – a time of darkness and turmoil that few remembered fondly. To others, it was a cautionary tale – a warning of what might again come to pass if the forces of greed and a hunger for power were to grip the galaxy once again.

But to Lieutenant Elia Kane, and to thousands of other young hopefuls roaming the corridors of that cruiser, it was a symbol of the glory that awaited them on the other side of this long dormancy. If, of course, they had the discipline, the fortitude, the loyalty to seek it.

Lieutenant Kane was determined to find that glory, and with the message she was about to deliver, she felt herself grow one step closer to achieving it. With a self-assured nod at the trooper guarding the door, she thumbed her access code into the control panel and crossed the threshold into one of the most exclusive sections of the cruiser.  

“Moff Gideon. The tracking beacon has been installed on the Razor Crest.”

Turning on his heel to face her, the older man offered her a small, pleased smile and inclined his head in acknowledgement. “Does he still have the asset?” Gideon asked, dark eyes flashing.

“Yes.” Kane felt a swell of pride rise in her chest, drawing herself up a little straighter. “Our source confirmed it.”

He nodded to himself then, and Kane thought he looked confident, resolved, like one who had spent months setting up his pawns one by one, in a perfect line, and was finally settling in to play the game. To the death, if needed.

“And we will be ready,” he said, and the lieutenant permitted herself the faintest smile.

Yes. They would be ready. She would make sure of it.

---

“Dank farrik!”

You looked up from your datapad at the sound of Din’s cursing echoing from the cockpit and down into the cargo hold.

After the last week in hyperspace, the anticipation of waiting for the silhouette of Tython to appear in the viewport had been too much for you. From the moment the Razor Crest had dropped to sub-light speeds earlier this morning, the tension and the uncertainty had been palpable, close and unavoidable like the stale, recycled air. Din was always a bit stoic, a bit difficult to read, but if nothing else, you knew that Grogu could sense something was amiss. No matter how hard you attempted to engage the boy in a game or a song or a story, he had been completely uninterested, seemingly absorbed in playing with that little silver ball he loved so much and intent on avoiding eye contact with both you and his guardian. Feeling a bit useless, you had retreated into the hold nearly an hour ago, desperate to distract yourself.

Now, it seemed as though you were missing something important happening on the second level. Abandoning your datapad in the bunk, you crossed to the ladder and gripped the rungs, ready to climb up and see what all the fuss was about.

“ – did good!” Din’s voice reached you at the foot of the ladder, only slightly muffled by the closed blast doors at the entrance to the cockpit. “I just…when the nice lady said you had training, I just… You’re very special, kid. We’re going to find that place where you belong, and they’re going to take real good care of you.” You felt your heart seize in your chest when you realized what you were hearing, what you had inadvertently eavesdropped on. He sounded so hopeful, so positive, and you couldn’t help but wonder whether that emotion was genuine or if it was an act, something he was putting on in an attempt to ease Grogu’s worries. Or perhaps to ease his own.

“This is Tython,” he explained, continuing in that bright, energetic voice, one he only ever used when speaking to the boy. “That’s where we’re going to try and find you a Jedi. But you have to agree to go with them if they want you to, understand?”

Silence greeted his question, and you leaned your forehead against the ladder’s rungs, afraid to move, afraid to breathe should you accidentally interrupt this tender, significant moment between the Mandalorian and the child who had been like a son to him for so long.

When he spoke again, the bounty hunter had sobered somewhat, his words more wistful, more somber. “Plus, I can’t train you. You’re too…powerful. Don’t you want to learn more of that Jedi stuff?” Again, you heard no reply – no giggle or squeal or even whine from the little boy, and instead Din sighed, and you felt the Razor Crest dip beneath you. He had begun your descent through the atmosphere. You would be landing soon.

“I agreed to take you back to your own kind, so that’s what I need to do. You understand, right?” he asked after a moment. He sounded resolute to your ears, committed to his cause, and again you wondered who he was trying to convince – Grogu or himself. Either way, it made your chest ache.

A handful of minutes later, and you felt the telltale jolt of the reverse thrusters engaging. A groan from the ship’s underbelly told you landing gear had been extended, and then the deck plating beneath you vibrated with a heavy thump. As the hum of the twin engines wound down into silence, a pair of dusty brown leather boots appeared at the top of the ladder.

“Time to go?” you asked as Din descended into the cargo hold, Grogu clutched close to his chest.

The Mandalorian nodded once. “I ended up having to set us down a ways out – the peak where the temple ruins are is too small for the Crest. We’ll have to travel the last stretch with the windows down.”

You frowned, puzzled by the turn of phrase. “Meaning?”

However, rather than responding, Din instead proceeded to rummage through one of the smaller cargo bins, one you knew held tactical gear that was too bulky to fit in his beloved weapons locker. Shifting aside what looked like an ancient, weather-worn breastplate that appeared to have been painted green at one time in its storied history, he withdrew something that gleamed silver in the dim light of the cargo hold, something heavy and solid and unmistakably featuring twin rockets at its base.

His jetpack.

With a practiced, steady motion, the bounty hunter slung the jetpack over his shoulder and mounted it to his backplate, the hulking thing snapping into place as though tailor-made to do so.

“We’re…flying?” You cursed the tremble in your voice, the way your nerves were immediately apparent in the stammer of your question.

Something like a chuckle filtered its way through his vocoder. “Unless you’d rather walk, cyar’ika.”

You ended up making the journey to the peak cradled in Din’s arms like a damsel, tucked close to his chest with your braid whipping in the wind and Grogu strapped securely to your torso in his leather carrier. For the first time since you had woken than morning, you saw the brightness return to the boy’s eyes as he soared through the open air, and although your stomach was full to bursting with butterflies and enough adrenaline coursed through your veins to make your hands shake, you thought you might just understand. Nothing had ever felt so freeing – nothing but the beating sun, the arid breeze, and the strong, competent arms of the bounty hunter you both loved keeping you safe.

---

When Din had told you that you were taking Grogu to the ruins of an ancient Jedi temple, you had pictured something grand. Old, certainly, weathered and worn with time and the elements, of course, but in your mind, the structure had been stately; it had possessed a certain gravitas that would make its link to the legendary order clear to the naked eye. And at the very least, in your mind, it had been enclosed.

What you found as the Mandalorian landed the three of you gracefully on the leveled peak of the mountain was…rather simple in comparison. Instead of a temple, you found a stone henge – edged in giant, jagged rocks that seemingly sprouted directly from the mountain itself and tilted slightly inward to create an open-air, dome-like effect. At the center of the henge, in a shallow, sunken circle, sat another rock, this one much smaller, perhaps half your height. It was rounded, as smooth as the others were coarse, and situated as though a perfectly spherical stone had been buried half in the ground, leaving only one hemisphere exposed to the elements.

The only ornamentation to be found in the entire space was a ring of glyphs you didn’t recognize carved shallowly into the surface of the center stone. A humbler “temple” you could not have imagined.

“Well, I guess this is it,” Din said tentatively, setting you on your feet at the edge of the henge. You watched as he scanned the area, his steps cautious as he approached the stone in the center of the circle. “Does this look…Jedi to you?”

Almost unconscious of the gesture, you ran your hand over Grogu’s back, pressing him closer to you in the carrier that you had strapped to your front today. Your other hand rested warily on the hilt of your blaster, a concession that your bounty hunter companion had only agreed to when you reminded him of how close you had come to putting a shot right through Kevok Teklolq’s head.

“It looks ancient,” you quipped.

He nodded slowly in agreement then beckoned you forward, urging you deeper into the circle. Slipping Grogu from his carrier, he bundled the boy close to his chest then brought him over to the rounded stone.

“I guess you sit right here.” Din settled Grogu on top of that stone, right in the center, then took a step back, leaving him a wide berth. With a deep exhale and one final scan of the surrounding area, he added, “Okay. Here we go.”

For a moment, both of you stood there watching the kid look around aimlessly, babbling and cooing to himself as he watched the shrubs wave in the wind. He followed a little butterfly with his eyes, completely content to just sit and watch the world go by, and you and Din looked at each other dubiously.

“What’s…supposed to happen?” you asked after a beat, voice almost a whisper, as though afraid to disturb whatever supernatural forces might be at work in this place that you couldn’t see.

The Mandalorian shrugged, letting out a sigh as he took a step closer to Grogu again, trying to get his attention. “This is the ‘seeing stone.’ Are you seeing anything? Or are they supposed to see you?” He brought a hand up to the side of his helmet, flipping on his thermal scanners as he paced around the stone. “Maybe there’s some kind of control or something.”

He examined the base of the stone and ran his fingers over the shallow ring of glyphs that spanned the circumference but to no avail. For his part, Grogu simply reached out a little three-clawed hand to grasp at a butterfly that had fluttered too close to his face, completely unaware of the apprehension of both you and his guardian.

“Oh, come on, kid,” Din groaned, a mild annoyance creeping into his modulated voice after another unproductive moment of silence. “Ahsoka told me all I had to do was get you here, and you’d do the rest.”

Before you could offer any of your own encouragement, a rumbling sounded in the distance. Deep and loud, the sound echoed through the mountains and valleys, bouncing off of the massive rocks surrounding the henge. Your gaze instantly jumped to the bounty hunter, who already had his blaster out of its holster and his visor tilted up to the sky. You did the same, pulling your own blaster from where it hung from your boilersuit pocket, heart in your throat as the rumbling grew ever closer, ever louder.

It was definitely a ship – something with three engines but not a model you immediately recognized by sound alone. All you knew for certain was that it sounded old, and it seemed to be heading straight toward you.

You did not have to wonder for long, however, for just as you were about suggest to Din that perhaps you should come back to the peak later, when you were certain you were alone, a distinctive silhouette dropped through the atmosphere and arced toward the mountain where you stood. Painted in worn patches of tan, sage green, and red, with a wide, round base reminiscent of a deep space scanner dish, two small wings, and a long, narrow body, the ship flew in a way that made it look like it was standing upright. You felt your jaw drop at the sight, your unease suddenly tempered by fascination and something like awe.

“No way,” you breathed, watching the ship round the mountain peak and begin a landing pattern in the distance, just over the nearest hill. “Is that a kriffing Firespray?”

Thankfully, Din didn’t appear to be the least bit distracted by what kind of ship had just landed. Instead, you watched as he darted over to the edge of the stone henge, adjusting his helmet scanners in an attempt to spot exactly where among the hills and brush the ship had touched down. You couldn’t see a thing from where you were, but when you heard him curse under his breath, too low for his vocal modulator to pick up, your unease returned with a vengeance, causing your hand to flex over the grip of your blaster.

“Well?”

With a kind of tight, emphatic urgency you had rarely seen in him, the Mandalorian spun around, ignoring your question completely and going straight for where Grogu sat on the seeing stone.

“Time’s up, kid – we’ve got to get out of here.”

However, just as Din stretched out his hands to pluck the boy from the center of the stone, his wide, beetle-like eyes slipped shut, a calm, pensive expression washed over his little wrinkly face, and those mysterious glyphs ringing around the surface of the stone began to glow. Watery, blue-white light poured into the henge, shooting up from the ground in a narrow circle around the seeing stone, streaming into the air in a hollow column with Grogu in the center. Even from your position several meters away, you could feel the energy radiating from that light as though it were a physical thing. You felt it pressing against your skin, tugging your hair out of your braid, plastering your boilersuit to your skin. There was no wind, not really, and yet you squinted against it instinctually as though staring into a gale-force.

Grogu was doing it. He was actually doing it.

But you were no longer alone, and suddenly everything Din had told you about his and Grogu’s past – how he had been wanted by ex-Imperials, how he had been tracked and chased across the galaxy a dozen times over, how his life was in danger every time they got close – came crashing back into your memory, and you knew. The kid couldn’t stay here.

Din, it seemed, had come to the same conclusion. Eating up the distance between himself and the seeing stone in a handful of long, reckless strides, he snapped, “We don’t have time for this! We’ve got to get – ”

As though he had run headfirst into a wall made of rubber, the moment the Mandalorian made contact with that shimmering blue-white column of light, he seemed to bounce off of it, the energy field sending him flying backward almost to the edge of the henge in a crumpled beskar heap.

“Din!” You darted to his side immediately, horrified, but before you could lay a hand on him in concern, he was already staggering to his feet breathlessly.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he panted, waving your concern away as he limped back toward the seeing stone, back toward Grogu. “Hey, snap out of it, kid! We’ve got to get out of here!”

If the little boy could hear him, he gave no indication. He had settled into a peaceful, meditative posture, his arms loose at his side, his fingertips pressed together, and his face serene. Whatever was happening to him, whatever he was doing in there, it didn’t seem to be hurting him.

“I think we have to let him finish,” you said, glancing between the child and the tense, battle-ready bounty hunter now pacing the circle of the henge like a caged animal.

He shook his head at that immediately, the noon sun glinting off of the beskar dome of his helmet. “It’s too dangerous. We’re too exposed here.” He crossed to the edge of the henge once again, staring down between the massive rocks, zooming in with his helmet scanners with his shoulders on edge. After a moment, he said, “Yep, we’ve got company. At least one humanoid heading this way.”

You swore colorfully. “You go, head them off. I’ll stay here with Grogu.”

Meeting your gaze with his for the first time since the ship was spotted, you watched as he silently debated with himself. The hand around his blaster hilt twitched, his other hand balled in a tight fist, and he seemed to take you in – from the top of your head to the toes of your dusty boots, and you thought you might have heard him sigh. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you two up here on your own.”

“I don’t think you have much of a choice.” You drew yourself up to your full height, hoping that perhaps if you carried yourself like you were confident in this, like you were certain you would be safe, it would somehow become true. “Go. We’ll be fine.”

Din hesitated for only another moment before his shoulders softened somewhat. Nodding once at you, he leaned around you to shout in Grogu’s direction. “I’ll see if I can buy you some time, kid. Can you please hurry up?”

With one final glance in your direction, Din took off down the side of the mountain, blaster at the ready.

---

As you stood in the silence of the mountain peak, nothing but the breeze and the thrum of the energy field to break it, you were reminded of that first night on Maramere. Hovering at the mouth of the Razor Crest, damp in the salty night air, a blaster you were only barely familiar with heavy in your palm, eyes always scanning, searching the horizon. Waiting. You were always fucking waiting.

There had been a handful of blaster rounds exchanged soon after the Mandalorian had disappeared into the brush along the side of the mountain. Far away and faint, you hadn’t been able to identify anything further about them – like who might have shot them or at whom – but minutes had passed since then, quiet minutes with nothing but you, the meditating child, and the Force that did nothing to assuage your anxiety.

Taking a deep breath, you steeled yourself against the pull of your own thoughts, your own fears, steadying your hands, slowing your heartrate. You could not allow yourself to succumb to the sickening dread at the idea that those shots you heard might have met their mark on Din. Grogu was vulnerable, alone, and inaccessible. Your boy needed you clear-headed. Your boy needed you strong. You could not, would not fail him.

But then a military transport shuttle dropped from the sky, and its familiar shape had horror sinking like lead in your stomach, bleeding through your limbs, robbing the calm, collected breath from your lungs.

It was Imperial. An Imperial military transport shuttle. Which could only mean…

You rushed to the edge of the henge, shielding your eyes against the glare of the sun as you watched the shuttle land mere feet from the Razor Crest. The rear of the ship dropped open, extending a wide durasteel ramp, and a glint of white armor flashed in the noon light.

Storm Troopers. A whole platoon of Storm Troopers.

You lurched back toward the center of the circle, inching as close as you dared to the repellent energy field, putting your back against the radiating force of it as you positioned your body between the child and the direction of the shuttle. Blaster drawn, you brought it up to the ready, both sweaty hands wrapped around the hilt. You kept your eyes on the space between the rocks where you thought they might appear, and you sent up a silent prayer to every deity you had ever heard of that it would be enough – that Din was alive and well, that he had seen the Troopers descend through the atmosphere and would be ready for them, that he could handle that many. If he could not, it would all be down to you.

Tell-tale, high-pitched shrieks of blaster fire erupted outside of your line of sight – dozens of rounds, more than your ears could track, accompanied by the sound of shattering rock and incoherent shouting that echoed through the mountain range. The sound gave you hope at first, told you that at least someone was putting up a fight, but the longer it continued, the more uncertain you became of who exactly was doing the fighting. Was it really just your bounty hunter? It sounded like more than just him. Who had he found, emerging from that Firespray? Was it possible that they were an ally?

The fighting seemed to stretch on and on, and just as you were beginning to wonder whether you might be better served descending the mountain to help, a flash of beskar caught your eye just over the ridge, and your knees nearly gave out beneath you in relief as Din Djarin came barreling into the circle of the henge.

“Time to go, kid!” He was winded from the climb, his chest heaving beneath his breastplate, and his jetpack had seemingly gone missing, leaving his tattered black cape to flutter unencumbered in the breeze.

“Honey, breathe,” you coaxed, meeting him halfway to the seeing stone with a steadying hand on his pauldron. Your palm rested over the outline of his Mudhorn signet, its familiar shape soothing you. “What did you find?”

But he simply shook his head, brushing your touch aside, visor singularly focused on the boy behind you. “No time to explain. We can’t stay here, there are too many of them.”

Slipping around you, and without another word, the Mandalorian angled his broad, armored shoulders into the force of the energy field and began fighting his way forward, once again trying to breach its borders and snatch the child from its center. His progress was impossibly slow, as though he were attempting to push the seeing stone up the side of the mountain, and he grunted and groaned with similar effort. Hands outstretched before him, arms trembling with the strain, you watched in horror as the tips of his fingers just barely brushed the inner layer of the energy field before the blue-white light seemed to pulse, and the bounty hunter was flung back through the air with a cry. Mere inches from the edge of the stone henge, his body crumpled to the ground in a pile of dark fabric and beskar, face down in the dirt, limp and unmoving.

“Din!” You sprinted to his side, tucking your blaster into your pocket as you went. Collapsing to your knees beside his prone form, you heaved him over onto his back, the bulk of him plus his full suit of armor almost more than you could budge on your own. “Come on, Din, wake up. Wake up!” You shook him by the shoulders, loose hair and panicked sweat falling into your eyes as you stared down at him. You met your own reflection’s gaze in the ink-black surface of his visor, but you didn’t need to examine your face to know that you looked as distraught as you felt as the Mandalorian remained motionless beneath you.

You tried in vain for a few more moments to rouse him, but it was no use. He was out cold, and the fighting down the side of the mountain had only gotten louder, which you presumed meant it had gotten closer. Crawling over to the edge of the henge, careful to stay low enough to the ground to be hidden by the brush, you risked a peak down the slope and into the valley below.

There, far enough in the distance to keep you safe from blaster bolts but still far closer than you were comfortable with, you could see two foreign figures picking off the wave of Storm Troopers one by one, and you realized then that these must have been the people that had arrived in the Firespray. One appeared to be a woman dressed in orange and black tactical gear, a sleek helmet on her head blocking most of her face from view. Even from a distance, you could tell she was a wicked shot, taking out trooper after trooper even in the short amount of time you had been watching. The other figure was far more mysterious – a bald man with deeply tanned skin clad in flowing black robes, carrying a long, thin blaster rifle and some kind of curved polearm strapped across his broad back. He, too, was an excellent shot, though his blaster seemed to pack less of a punch than the one wielded by his companion.

Crouched there in the brush, you watched as the Storm Troopers advanced relentlessly even as their numbers dwindled, driving the other two combatants to retreat further back, taking shelter as they could behind the rocky terrain. It was clear from where you stood that although the troopers far outnumbered your mysterious allies, the skill advantage clearly went to the two figures in black.

However, just as you were beginning to feel confident that they might be capable of defeating this insurgency on their own, without Din’s help, the Storm Troopers produced a small, freestanding artillery, and your stomach dropped to your feet as they began to loose volleys of explosive rounds along the side of the mountain. The ground shook beneath you, and you bit back a startled scream as the impact sent chunks of rock and clouds of dust pouring from the cliffside where your two allies hid. They wouldn’t be able to withstand that kind of firepower, and neither would you, should they get make their way much closer. You needed Din.

Scurrying back over to his side, you redoubled your attempts to wake him. Saying his name, shaking his shoulders, running your hands across his body, focusing on the parts you could touch without beskar getting in the way. Tucking your fingers under the folds of his cape, you managed to find a scrap of skin just on the edge of his cowl, and you dug your fingernails into that flesh, catching on his collar bone, hoping the sting would be enough to bring him back to himself.

And then a second Imperial transport shuttle dropped through the sky, the sound of its engines joining the commotion of the firefight, and as though that was the cue that he had been waiting for, the Mandalorian startled awake with a groan.

“Oh, thank the Maker,” you sighed, falling back onto your haunches where you knelt beside his body. You wiped sweat and dust from your brow with the back of your sleeve, praying that the tears of frustration and fear that had been prickling the backs of your eyes stayed put in your tear ducts. “Are you all right?”

“Fine.” The bounty hunter sounded dazed, exhausted. “The kid – ”

You held up hand, interjecting immediately. “He’s still in a trance. I can’t get through to him. And more troopers just landed at the base of the mountain.”

“I have to try again.” He staggered to his feet then, immediately lurching in the direction of the seeing stone where Grogu still sat, unmoved and unaware of all that was happening around him. “That’s it, kid! We’ve got to get out of here!”

“Din, don’t – ” You jumped to your feet, fingers scrabbling at the back of his cape as though to hold him back, but the man was insistent and would not be deterred.

Extending his gloved hands once more into the corona of the energy field, he was once again repelled backward, this time somehow managing to keep his feet.

“It’s no use,” you snapped, frustration rising in your chest. Clearly flinging himself at that ray shield-like force wasn’t helping. The man was getting frantic, and it scared you. If he would just slow down and think for a second… “We’re going to have to wait it out!”

“We don’t have time for that!”

You paused for a moment, forcing back your short-tempered retort. You had one idea – just one, and you didn’t like it. But up here, you were useless, and if you tried to meet the Storm Troopers head-on, like Din would, like the two mysterious figures at the base of the mountain would, you would get yourself killed, and then you would less than useless. There was only one thing you could think of that you could do in this situation that would actually help. If you were brave enough to do it.

“What if…what if I went and got the Crest?”

The Mandalorian came up short at that, turning to face you head on with a cocked helmet, silent incredulity rolling off of his posture.

“Grogu isn’t coming out of that energy field until he’s done with whatever he’s doing. We’re just going to have to keep him safe until he quits on his own. I’m a decent shot in a starship, and we’re going to need more than blasters if we want to fight off that many troopers.”

He appeared to consider the idea, looking like he wanted to protest but unable to come up with a reason why, or better yet, a different idea all together. Another explosion rocked the mountainside, blaster fire continuing to sing in the distance, and after a beat, he nodded once.

“Okay. Yeah, okay. I’ll cover you.”

Drawing your blaster once more, you spared a quick glance at Grogu’s sweet, serene face, and then both you and Din crossed to the edge of the henge one final time.

“Okay, we’re going to protect you. Just stay there,” you called back to the child. Imbuing every ounce of confidence you could muster in your words, you added, “We’ll be back soon.”

The bounty hunter wrapped one of his hands around your elbow then, urging you to meet his gaze. As gently as he could manage in a rush, he ducked down and butted the forehead of his helmet against yours. “Be careful, cyare,” he rasped, and you felt yourself smiling in spite of the circumstances. There he was. That was your Din.

“You, too,” you whispered. You allowed yourself a singular moment to breathe in the scent of him – beskar and blaster residue, sweat and spice – and then you ducked into the brush and began your descent down the mountain.

One hand wrapped around your blaster hilt, the other held out to your side for balance, you kept as low to the ground as you could manage, your boots slipping and sliding through the dirt and gravel on the steep slope down. You kept your eyes on the conflict as much as you could, taking shelter behind rocks or flattening yourself against the ground when blaster rounds strayed too close to where you crept. Everything was so loud – the incessant blaster fire, the intermittent explosions from the artillery, the shouting of the troopers. It all had your heart hammering in your ears, your stomach tight and leaden with anxiety, and you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if you were to come upon a trooper now and be forced to defend yourself, your hands would be shaking too badly to level your blaster. Instead, you prayed that Din’s return to the battle would be enough of a distraction to keep you from their notice.

Once you got to the Razor Crest, you would be safe.

Once you got to the Razor Crest, you would keep your boy safe.

Those thoughts, those promises you made to yourself, were the only things that kept you from curling into the smallest ball you could manage and wedging yourself behind a rock to wait out the conflict.

Your prayers were answered the moment Din made it back to the fray. Back-to-back with the strange woman in black, you watched in awe as he activated the battery of small guided missiles built into the back of one of his vambraces – whistling birds, he called them – and launched them all at once. A dozen tiny rockets streaked through the air, leaving smoke trails in their wake, and ripped through the flimsy plastisteel armor of as many Storm Troopers, crumpling their bodies to the ground.

That was your chance – your window of opportunity. You took off at a sprint, arms and legs pumping, fighting to keep yourself upright on the incline of the ridge, forgoing the shelter of the rocks and the brush in favor of speed. All of the efforts, all of the attention of the troopers were now squarely focused on Din. You had to make it as far as you could before they realized you were there. The Razor Crest was so far away, but you could make it. You just needed enough time…

You made it almost all the way to the flat, barren clearing where you had landed, a mere 150 meters from the bottom of the Razor Crest’s familiar ramp, before the telltale sound of jetpack engines filled your ears. You had just enough time to drop to the dirt before a dark form came arcing through the air around the side of the ridge, sailing directly into the center of the conflict.

An explosion greater than any you had seen thus far heralded his landing, and your palms flew to your ears instinctively against the thundering blast. You felt the detonation in your bones, your eardrums ringing, your skull feeling a bit rattled, and you watched with nothing short of awe as from the smoke, a man clad in a familiar set of weathered, green-painted beskar rose unscathed.

It was the man from earlier, you realized – the strange man in the robes with the alien-looking polearm strapped to his back. Except now, in addition to the polearm, he was wielding a blaster, multiple rocket launchers, and a full complement of Mandalorian armor, and he moved with the confidence and the ferocity of a man who was quite accustomed to doing so.

You had watched Din fight. You had seen the way he transformed under the pressure of battle – the way he slipped into this other identity, this other state of being with his blaster in his hand. He was focused, fierce, competent – fluid and yet sharp simultaneously, unrelenting in his assault, unforgiving in his intensity. This man fought like Din but with the addition of all the blunt savagery of a bull determined to break out of its pen, and you couldn’t help but hesitate in the face of it.

You couldn’t help but stop to watch.

With a heavy swing of his vambrace, the mysterious man backhanded the nearest trooper across his helmet, shattering the thing upon impact and sending the infantryman toppling to the ground. He took out three more with his blaster in quick succession, felling them where they stood, then took aim at the portable generator powering the artillery. The generator exploded in a burst of flame, sending several nearby troopers into the air with the force of it, and then he was eating up the ground in long strides, alternating between his blaster and some kind of projectile weapon built into his vambrace. Everywhere he went, Storm Troopers littered the ground, falling in the face of his violent strength.

This man was magnificent and utterly terrifying.

The Storm Troopers seemed to agree. Once it became clear that there was no victory to be found for them now that this newcomer had joined the fray, their commanders gave the order to fall back. A thrill shot through you at the sight of their gleaming white armor retreating under a rain of blaster bolts, and before you knew it, both of the transport shuttles were in the air and rapidly ascending back into orbit.

They didn’t make it far, however. Taking aim with the oversized artillery shell mounted to the side of his jetpack, the man in the green armor launched the rocket in the direction of the retreating vessels. You followed the arc of the round through the air and watched as it collided with its mark in a burst of flame. Black smoke belched from the hull of the hit shuttle, pouring into the afternoon air, and with an echoing groan, it fell from the sky, taking the other shuttle down, too, in its descent.

You couldn’t seem to tear your gaze away from the wreckage. So dumbstruck and impressed by the raucous display of power were you that you nearly missed the single, red laser cannon burst that streaked through the atmosphere.

In the same way that it had in the forests on Maramere, when you had leveled your blaster at another being for the first time and pulled the trigger, time seemed to slow to a crawl as you watched that laser burst part the clouds on its way down from orbit. Ripping its way through the air, it zipped unerringly toward its target in one clean, continuous line. Your eyes widened with horror as you tracked its path, and you thought you might have loosed a shout of warning, but it hardly mattered. There was nothing you could do to stop it.

The laser burst tore through the Razor Crest like it was no more substantial than a brittle, fallen leaf, and you watched, helpless, as the ship burst apart at the seams in a ball of flames and shrapnel.

You were so close to the impact that you didn’t even have enough time to dive for cover. The force of the blast hit you like a wall of bricks, lifting you from the ground, throwing you back several feet, limp as a rag doll. All of the air evacuated your lungs as you collapsed onto the hardpacked dirt, and white-hot agony seared through you as the roiling wave of fire that exploded from the ruined ship licked at your exposed skin, singing your hands, your neck, your face.

The Razor Crest. They had destroyed the Razor Crest.

You tried to suck in a breath, but the air was so hot, scorching your lungs, coating your throat with ash and dirt. Coughing and sputtering, you lurched to your feet, needing to get away from the epicenter of the flames, but Maker, your ears hurt – they were ringing in your head, drowning out the roar of the fire, the labored sounds of your own breathing, even the thunder of your own heartbeat. It was making you dizzy. You could barely keep your feet under your body.

The world was spinning.

The Razor Crest was gone.

You could feel astringent tears leaking from the corners of your eyes, streaking through the dirt and the soot and the raw skin on your cheeks. Were they from the smoke, or from the grief in your chest?

Din’s ship. Your ship.

Your home, the only real home you had known since you were a child. Gone.

You dug your blunt nails into the nearest rock, scrabbling along its jagged surface, feeling the inflamed skin of your fingertips catch on the ridges to keep you upright. You had to get to Din, to Grogu. They would be coming for him now.

Now that you couldn’t run away.

With every wavering step you took out of the blast radius, you could feel your vision clearing, could feel your breath coming a bit easier in your lungs. Your body still ached everywhere, and your skin felt like you had been laying out under Tatooine’s twin suns with cooking oil slathered across your body for several hours, but you could move again, and the more time you spent on your feet, the more your equilibrium began to restore itself. It was a level of pain that you could push through, and in that moment, you were determined to push through it.

As the mountain peak with the stone henge began to take shape in your field of vision once again, you noticed several things at once. First, you could see both Din and the strange woman in black and orange tactical gear racing up the side of the mountain, weapons drawn, scaling the steep incline at a shocking pace. Second, you noticed that the blue-white column of light that had surrounded Grogu had disappeared. Finally, peeking through the craggy rocks along the circumference of the henge, you could see the glint of metal. A lot of it, like whatever had joined Grogu in the center of the circle was absurdly large.

Or like there were many of them.

Packing away the pain in your muscles and the agony in your lungs, refusing to acknowledge either of them, you broke into a run.

---

“Abort pursuit! Disengage! Do not harm the child!”

You were dead on your feet as you staggered into the circle of the henge. Utterly winded, gasping for breath, muscles seizing and shaking with overuse, eyes watering, burning your tender skin as tears spilled over. Neither Din nor the woman acknowledged your arrival at first, both of them staring into the clear, blue sky, their bodies bent over the comm link in the woman’s hand. Stomach sinking in your abdomen, you glanced around them both toward the center of the circle.

The seeing stone was empty, dormant once more, and Grogu was gone.

A gruff male voice echoed from the strange woman’s comm link, one you had never heard before. “Copy. I’ll do a loose follow, see where they’re headed.”

You leaned heavily back against the closest stone, woozy and wrung out. You had failed. You had promised to keep him safe, and you had failed.

Half a breath later, and the comm link crackled to life once more. “They’re back,” the voice on the other end said.

The woman was quick to reply, curt and direct. “Who?”

“The Empire. They’re back.”

“That can’t be.” The words were out of your mouth before you could stop them, and both Din and the woman whirled around to face you, the latter’s hand flying to the grip of her weapon.

“Cyare,” the Mandalorian breathed, taking an uneasy step toward you, hand outstretched. You couldn’t imagine how you looked to him then. Limp and listless against the rock, barely standing, dotted with burns, covered in dirt and soot, steeped in heartache.

For her part, the woman glanced back and forth between you and Din for a moment, dropping her hold on the blaster rifle strapped to her body only after she had determined that the two of you knew each other. Speaking into her comm link again, she snapped, “The Outer Rim is under the jurisdiction of the New Republic.”

The reply back was just as quick. “This isn’t a spice dream. I can see the Imperial cruiser with my own eyes.” A brief pause, and then, “Heading down.”

For the first time since you had spotted the Firespray descend through the atmosphere, silence fell over the mountain peak. Din couldn’t seem to look away from you, nor you from him, though neither of you moved to be closer to the other. The woman in black stood by and said nothing, clearly an outsider in the grief that was beginning to settle over the two of you. Feeling a fresh wave of tears welling behind your eyes, you whispered, voice breaking halfway through, “Grogu?”

Your bounty hunter shook his head once and broke your gaze, turning instead to stare at the column of smoke rising from the remains of the Razor Crest. “He’s gone.”

You swore you could feel your heart crack inside your chest, and those tears spilled unchecked and silent. He sounded hollow, empty and lifeless inside, and you wanted so badly to go to him, to say his name, to comfort him somehow. Perhaps also to seek comfort from him, if you were being honest. But as you pulled yourself away from the support of the rock behind you, he held up a hand, the same hand that had been reaching for you a few moments ago, and stopped you in your tracks.

“I’m going to survey the wreckage,” he announced, visor pointed toward the ground, away from you, away from the other woman. Before you could say another word, he disappeared over the edge of the peak, descending the mountainside once more.

You took a single, feeble step after him before your thigh muscles gave out beneath you, send you toppling toward the ground. But the woman in black got there first, catching you beneath your armpits, hauling you back onto your feet.

“Whoa, easy there,” she said. “And who might you be?”

You sniffed heavily, dragging your sleeves across your tear-stained face. You winced at the feel of the abrasive fabric against your burns, but you gave her your name all the same. Your voice sounded small, wrecked even to your own ears, but you couldn’t bring yourself to feel embarrassed. Your ship was nothing but a smoking crater in the ground. The Empire had kidnapped your little boy. Your entire body ached. You couldn’t be bothered with trying to put on a brave face for this stranger.

“I’m…I’m his…” You struggled to put your relationship with Din into words, to phrase it in a way that could be understood by someone else, particularly when you weren’t even certain you understood it yourself. You were his crew member. His engineer. His nanny. His friend. His lover. You were just…

“I’m his.”

The woman offered you a puzzled look, but the corner of her mouth quirked up in something like a smile. “I’m Fennec Shand. Mando and I are old…acquaintances. What happened to you? You look like you’ve seen better days.”

“I was going after our ship, the Razor Crest, while you guys were fighting those troopers,” you replied, finally starting to feel a bit steadier on your feet with Fennec’s support. “I was going to offer air support. I was nearby when it blew up.”

“Dank farrik.” She looked you up and down, dark eyes shrewd. “We have some medical supplies in our ship. It’s not much, but it’ll stop these burns from getting infected, and it should help keep you from scarring.”

You shook your head immediately at that. “No, I have to go, I have to be with him – ”

“Okay, okay, one step at a time. You’ll never make it back down the mountain on your own.” Fennec looped one of your arms over her shoulder, anchoring you to her body with a strength that surprised you. “Come on, I’ll help you.”

---

As Din Djarin picked through the paltry remains where the Razor Crest once stood, Fennec Shand and a man you had learned was named Boba Fett looked on with somber expressions.

The former had calmly, patiently, tirelessly helped your battered and bruised body down the side of the mountain, supporting your weight when your legs threatened to give you beneath you and catching you up as best as she could on what you had missed while you stood guard over Grogu. When you reached the scorched patch of earth, still trailing whisps of smoke into the air, she had found you a relatively flat rock to rest on. Now, you joined the bleak, silent vigil, allowing your Mandalorian to scavenge through what was left of his home in relative privacy.

Maker. How could any of this be real?

“May I offer you a handkerchief, little one?” You startled at the question, glancing up over your shoulder at the solemn face of the man in the weathered green armor. This was the man you had watched so effortlessly eliminate so many troopers from your hiding spot in the brush, but in contrast to when he was in battle, he had removed his helmet, choosing to carry it in the crook of his arm instead. He had a worn scrap of black cloth in his hand, and it fluttered in the faint breeze in a way that reminded you of Din’s cape. “It looks as though you might need it more than I.”

You studied the man, Boba Fett, for a moment before nodding and accepting his offering. Passing the handkerchief over your face, you sighed softly in relief. The fabric was so much softer than your boilersuit, so much gentler on your injuries. “Thank you,” you murmured.

Out of the corner of your eye, you caught a glimpse of Din bending down to uncover something from the ash. Grogu’s favorite little silver ball, crusted in dirt but miraculously intact.

More tears streamed down your face at the sight, and you quickly wiped them away. If Boba spotted the furtive gesture, he had the good grace to not say anything about it.

Clearing your throat, you opened your mouth to ask him about the armor he wore, to confirm that it was, in fact, what you thought it was, and that it had come from the Razor Crest before its destruction, but before you could form the words, Din had clambered his way out of the shallow crater left by the detonation, a long, metal spear in his hands.

“This is all that survived,” he said, showing Boba the weapon.

The older man quirked an eyebrow knowingly. “Beskar.”

Din nodded.

“I want you to take a look at something.” Thumbing a quick combination into his vambrace, a holographic projection appeared in midair between the two armored men. “My chain code has been encoded in this armor for 25 years. See, this is me, Boba Fett.” He pointed at the section of the code that indicated his name, his planet of origin, and some biometric data. “This is my father, Jango Fett.” He pointed again, this time at another section of text further down on the display.

Din drew back somewhat in surprise. “Your father was a foundling,” he said, recognition in his voice.

“Yes. He even fought in the Mandalorian Civil Wars.”

You felt your own eyebrows raise at that. Whether Boba himself was Mandalorian remained unclear, but from what you knew of the Creed, it hardly mattered. If his father was Mandalorian, Boba was owed the same inheritance.

Like Grogu.

“Then that armor belongs to you,” Din agreed.

Boba offered him a serious half-bow, the gesture almost courtly. “I appreciate its return.” His gruff voice took on a note of sincerity then, a note of warmth, and you felt the corner of your mouth quirk up at the sound.  

“Then our deal is complete.”

Boba hesitated at that, holding up a hand to pause. “Not quite.”

“How so?”

Din was done with this conversation, you could tell. He wanted to leave, to be done with this place and leave the smoking pit where his ship used to be behind, where he didn’t have to look at it anymore.

But the other man appeared undeterred by his surliness. “We agreed, in exchange for the return of my armor, we would guarantee the safety of the child.”

“The child’s gone.” You felt your heart stutter at his words, the matter-of-fact way he said them, the hollowness in his voice. It made your lower lip tremble, and again, you wished you could reach out and pull him to you, hold him. But he couldn’t have made it any clearer that he didn’t want that right now, and you certainly weren’t about to force the issue. Not in front of two strangers, anyway.

“Until he is returned to you safely, we are in your debt.”

Din was silent for a moment, glancing between Boba and Fennec for confirmation. The latter nodded once, deadly serious, and a surge of hope welled up in your chest at their clear, steadfast commitment. Both of them were skilled fighters. The countless, white-armored bodies that littered the valley and mountainside were testament enough to that. Would they be willing to put themselves at risk for the sake of the child? It certainly seemed so.

“If you truly mean that,” Din began, hesitant but considering, “I have some thoughts on how you might pay back that debt.”

The other man inclined his head him, quick to retort, “My word is my bond, Mandalorian. We had an accord, so shall it be done.”

“Good. Then we need transport to the Outer Rim.”

You frowned slightly at that. Back to the Outer Rim? Even the closest planets in that region were several days away at light speed. What was Din after?

 Boba seemed to have no compunctions with this plan, however. “Of course. Where are you heading?”

“Nevarro,” he replied. “If we’re going to find the cruiser that took him, we’re going to need help. I have a contact on Nevarro with New Republic law enforcement rights. She might be able to pull some strings for us.”

“Are you sure that’s wise? I would bet that most of us don’t exactly have the best history with…agents of the law,” Fennec quipped wryly.

“I understand. But I trust her. She was a gun for hire for years before she went straight. Even if she can’t help us, she’ll be discrete.”

The other woman exchanged a significant look with Boba, the two of them seemingly having a discussion without words. After a beat, he nodded and said, “Very well. The journey to Nevarro is a long one from here. Come, we leave immediately.”

Fennec was at your side almost instantly, pulling you to your feet from the rock on which you perched. You winced as you settled onto your legs, having gotten stiff while you waited, but she was patient as you found your footing. You offered her a soft smile of thanks, but before you could take your first step, another set of gloves appeared in your peripheral vision.

“It’s all right, I’ll get her there,” Din said, extending a hand to you in offering. Your eyes snapped up to his face, meeting his gaze through his impenetrable visor. It was the first time he had looked you in the eye since the two of you had left that mountain peak, since he had pressed his forehead to yours and asked you to be careful. You couldn’t help but feel as though the man staring back at you had been fundamentally changed in the intervening hours. This man was colder, more distant, cloaked in grief and vengeance.

He was right there, with his hand outstretched, and yet, he had never felt so out of reach.

But you could not bring yourself to say no to the chance to be close to him. And so, swallowing thickly, you nodded in agreement and allowed him to sweep you up into his arms.

Din was silent as he carried you to where Boba Fett’s Firespray had landed, and if he noticed the fresh tear tracks you hid against the folds of his cape, he did not acknowledge them.

[pikxelbit]

Please excuse any writing errors here, I'm kinda tired to go over this whole thing and I don't want to pay a website to check my spelling

Chapter 3: Introductions

Word Count: 6,611 words

Warnings: Not that much, Mentions of death and somewhat near death experiences

Chapter Prompt: Everyone gets a check-up

Turbo x Reader | Chapter 2

It's now the next day and currently you started to practice your skills. Your abilities includes, opening and closing files, self-updating when possible, running diagnostics, coding simple assets into the game such as background items and even simple colouring, you can even try to repair errors and do anything once given enough information.

Your code can work somewhat similarly to a video game characters' code. You can interact with anything that's either a different game or app. However, unlike video game characters though, since you are accustomed to work in a computer, you don't exactly need a door to go inside and interact within the application itself. As long as the file has been opened, you can enter and leave as much as you'd like.

Furthermore though, when a file is opened and a window would appear, showing the contents of the folder or file that has been pressed. Once open, that's where you can step inside and interact with its contents.

Regarding how you do move inside the computer, you just hover and fly here and there. It's much more easier to reach files and do your tasks this way.

...

"Ok, let's start with your simple skills. Start by opening a few files and then organize them in an alphabetical order please," Danny spoke towards you.

Abiding, you opened a few random folders before organizing it in alphabetical order.

"Ok...next, open the file to the background of Turbo Time and right after, try to run a simple test on it."

Nodding your head, you opened the file to the environment of Turbo Time before trying to inspect if anything would break. Looking around, you observed how the background would move when being interacted to. Running through the fields and tracks, you confirmed that it is stable before trying to play the audio. Listening through, it didn't glitch at all like the theme song in RoadBlasters.

After all that, you brought out a notepad wherein you took note of every detail you perceived as important. This notepad could be accessed by Danny as it would automatically be saved into another separate file in the computer.

"Ok... So this is kind of your big day Y/N. To continue your practice for the day, I want you to run some tests on all the characters okay? Don't delete anything, just run a simple 'check-up' and list down the errors you might find. We still don't know how things happened so it would be good to do a check-up on how the characters are for the time being. I already checked the codes but I was way too sleepy last night so I need you to test them for me. I'll come back later to check on what you've done," and just like that, he went off.

By now it was normal for you to do certain things by yourself. Early on, he would usually leave the computer running for a few hours sometimes and try to record what you'd do without him. Danny used to do that, before he would come up with a notepad as a replacement of recording. The notepad would also serve as somewhere for you to journal the things you've done and other important information you might have gathered when he's gone. So sometimes you'd just be left alone in the room.

After sometime though, you did feel somewhat... alone. It's a bit silly to think of, but being left alone by yourself in the house made you sometimes wonder what could be happening right outside this computer. You didn't do anything important, sometimes Danny would accidentally leave the computer open so you'd usually use that time to try and look through files you have access to.

The computer didn't have a lot of games installed into the system, but even then the games that are available were one's without any characters at all. Still thankful though, you would oftentimes play the games just to kill time. But, sometimes, you could just shut yourself down when there's nothing to do.

Using your journal, you would often write simple things and observations. Usually just certain things such as, listing simple actions you did for the day, or listing the many times you've reassembled a few files. A few times though, your entries really do show how lonely you are...

You admit, a lot of the times it is quite lonely. With no one to speak to other than Danny, Kiara, and even their parents, you had a limited range of people to talk to.

But now, right after your encounter with Turbo, you felt somewhat glad to have someone else besides yourself in this computer. Four new people to talk to...

...

Opening a file, you started with the first character on the list, Max..

The racer from RoadBlasters. It seemed she was the only character the developers made for the game. You did somewhat understand, the game did look very polished so perhaps they just didn't have enough money for more characters.

She was characterized as a bit of a vigilante, driving a racecar through different tracks and places. Well, when speaking of the arcade games, disregarding other materials, that's how she is. Not much talking, just the driver of the vehicle to be controlled by the player.

The game is clear-cut, it was a racing game, just like Turbo Time. Danny and Kiara told you about the two games and a few details as well about the characters, so you did know their names and such, but as for the cause of damage to the games, you all didn't exactly know yet.

Sure the theory that has been formed is adequate enough for the outcome. A virus in the game, perhaps someone tampered with both games the night before and managed to do this. But other than that all of you were completely clueless on the possibility of this happening because of malice.

Stepping into the 'window', you went onwards until you're standing right in front of Max. For a moment, you wait as her code slowly started. Like a lifeless husk, she stood still for a solid 15 seconds before waking up. Once she did, she widened his eyes slightly before landing it on you. She was slightly taller than you are.

"Greetings, I am Y/N an assistant in the current repair of your game."

Raising her eyebrows, she nodded slowly, while looking around trying to ground herself to the whole situation.

"Oh...I'm sorry, maybe I should give you some time to process first," you spoke with a small sheepish smile on your face.

She took a while, closing her eyes, she seemed to recall something in the same way Turbo does. Pausing for another moment her eyes gazed at the big rectangle shaped window seemingly the exit out of this abyss. Returning her gaze back at you, she tilted her head in confusion, her brain puzzled with a million questions flooding her mind as she tried to make sense of this, 'Who is this again? Where am I? What's going on? What happened again?' she thought to herself.

"Alright, I assume you want a whole explanation of how you got here, where you are, and what's happening?" You spoke, summing up all the possible questions she might ask as you noticed her quiet demeanor.

Swiftly, she nods back, "Yes, that would really help."

So, you explained how she got here, why she's here, where is here, who you were, and what you do, "...as for why you are currently in this dark room, right now you are separated as a different element to your game. All the other things from your game are separated and are placed in different rooms just like this, so apologies if it looks bleak. Do not worry though, in due time, you'll be transferred into a much more pleasing place."

"Ah...ok..." Max mutters, slightly gaining more insight on how everything currently is. She still looked a bit baffled though, and understandably so, waking up from a near death experience is... absolutely strange.

'That's right... I crashed into someone..? Then the whole game fell apart,' she thought to herself, her mind going on to recall what might have happened before her awakening in this dark, empty room.

She pondered for a while, leaving only a few seconds of silence before noticing that she might have been unnatentive. However, it didn't seem to bother you that much as you took to your own devices. Writing on your notebook, you took note of a few things. In silence, he took this time to try and interpret how you looked. You were a few inches shorter than he was. You looked like an accountant with a notebook, well you did fit the description you gave yourself, an assistant. She thanked you in her mind, Mr. Litwak and the others. Her game was only plugged in a few weeks ago and suddenly a whole accident happened. She thought she was going to die. Although this feels like a dream, she's still glad to even be here right now. After a short while, you stopped writing and placed your notebook somewhere before continuing to speak.

"Sorry about that, just had to take note of something. Moving onwards though, as you know I am an assistant of sorts, and right now I am here currently to see and test if you're working fine. Don't worry, it won't take long. So...are you comfortable with that?" You asked her politely.

Well if it's for the better, you are just going to do this test to know if something's wrong, so she supposes why not. Nodding her head in approval, she lets you start.

Getting tested was strange, although characters might have nearly never got checked-up or went to the doctor, they still did somehow got background knowledge of this because of a few chatterboxes arriving in the arcade. A few kids here and there, speaking about nurses and doctors... The tests went by as quick as you said, you asked her to do certain things and took some notes that's most likely just for reference.

From her vision, to her mobility, and right to her health, she felt like she was she was visiting a doctor. You didn't exactly need to test everything that's included in a typical diagnostics test for humans, you just had to make sure that the assets, in this case, the characters can work well. Questionably, you somehow brought something out of nowhere. And now, the only thing left is her ability to grab objects. 'Most likely some computer assistant thing' she thought to himself.

Grabbing the item firmly, nothing happened, but then, only after a few seconds her hands soon started to glitch. Gasping, she dropped the object. Whatever happened, it made her hands displace without her needing to move it. For a moment she felt her hands disappear.

Catching the item, you held it on your hands and gave her a reassuring smile, "Ok...don't worry we'll get you fixed up in no time," you spoke calmly.

"What was that?!" She asked, understandably perplexed by what happened.

"Well, that was because of something that's not supposed to be in your code. Perhaps it was tampered with..." You spoke, tapping your pen on your chin, "But just as I said, don't worry, I'll make sure you'll get repaired soon."

Nodding his head, she still was confused and a bit freaked out. But with your reassuring words she put his trust in you. She might have met you only an hour ago, but being someone who actively participated on repairing her game was something she can't deny as outright really kind and generous. With that in mind, she managed to calm down knowing she's in good hands.

The glitching stopped as quickly as it happened. She managed to stand up by herself, her hands feeling slightly numb for only a second before turning back to normal. You asked a few things, making sure she wasn't in any pain all the while as getting more information on what happened.

After writing on your notebook, you bowed slightly and thanked her for letting you run a diagnostics test. Max calmed down surprisingly quick after that, it seems your reassurance helped. Before you left though, you had to explain one last thing.

"Before I leave, I'd like to know if you're comfortable with me closing that window?" You pointed at the rectangle opening right in front, "When I close it, you'll somewhat go to sleep... Is that okay? I promise it won't hurt," you tried to explain properly.

Well, she's been alive for this long and you have helped her a lot already. Extending more trust, she replies, "Alright, if it's necessary."

"Well then, see you later. Once more, thank you Max," bidding her goodbye, she waved her arm before you stepped out into the rectangle window and disappeared. Weird. 'Must be another computer assistant type of thing,' she thought.

Leaving the file, you then pressed the [X] button to close it. Clicking your pen, you held out your notebook.

_________________________________________

Ticking off Max's name, you lowered your pen downwards to see the names... Dash and Flash, (I changed their names).

Dash is a side character, he's the youngest of the three. Although, strange, the three are somewhat brothers, with Dash being the last of them. Looking just like a bot of some sort. His outfit was simple like the others, no doubt this game was made with a small budget.

...

Dash wakes up, the bright light of a huge rectangular figure making him squint his eyes. Taking in a breath he realizes it's not game over! He touched his own face, unsure if this was a dream or not. All he could remember was the big yellow poster sign blocking the screen before their game got unplugged shortly afterwards.

Taking in another breath, he closes his eyes for a moment before asking a lot of questions to himself. 'Where am I? Where is everyone? Did someone save me?' Looking around, all he saw was the cold, and dark empty space covering the room. It was a chilling sight to see. So he turns, facing what he guessed was the screen and the only thing that brings light into this room.

Stepping forward though, he soon realizes he's not alone. He stares into your direction, you looked fancy, well somewhat. From what he guessed, you most likely are a doctor or an accountant of some sort. You're most likely are taller than him by the looks of it. Other than that, you didn't look threatening. Though, it seemed like you held something close to your chest... Upon closer inspection it was a notebook.

"Who are you?" Dash asked before you could say anything.

"I am Y/N, an assistant to help with certain tasks," you reply shortly, "You are Dash, correct?"

"Yup, the one and only," he nods his head before looking around in a baffled manner.

"Y/N may I ask, where am I? Why am I here? And do you know where my friends are?" He politely asked.

Just like when you met Max, you did your best to explain what has been happening, how he got here, and why he's here. However, as you were about to continue explaining, he interupts you for a moment.

"Ok, sorry for interrupting... So if I'm getting this right... You're someone who's helping Mr. Litwak's neice and nephew to fix our game?" He paused looking for some reassurance. Right after you nodded your head, he then continued, "So Turbo Time is still busted, and since they wanted to look into the code and fix it they just transferred us here? In a computer?" He paused once more, and you nodded once again, "Ok...what about my friends/brothers? Flash...and Turbo... Where are they?" He asked you with a tint of confusion and concern noticable on his face.

"That's what I was about to explain earlier. You see, all of you are currently saved into different rooms for now at least. We don't exactly know yet what went wrong in the game but for now at least all of you will be separated in order to easily check if there is something wrong in each of your codes," you finish explaining, leading him to nod his head.

"Ok... So, I'm guessing you're here to do a check-up?" Dash correctly guesses.

"Well, if that's alright with you?" You respond back, holding your notebook firmly on your hand.

"Sure, I guess I won't mind," shrugging his shoulders he stepped closer.

Starting from his vision, to his mobility, health, and lastly his ability to interact with other objects, the check-up was happening quite a bit faster than usual. During the start though, he felt as if he was visiting a doctor, and because he did start to feel comfortable after only a short period of time, he was starting to see you in a doctor-assistant role.

...

In the midst of the 'check-up' though, Dash decided to talk. It was awfully quiet at the moment and perhaps he should shed light on something. It might help make sense of the situation, guessing with his gut, he hopes you can keep a secret.

"Y/N, is it okay to call you doc?" He asked.

Looking up from your notebook, you nodded swiftly, "Yes, it doesn't bother me at all."

"So doc, you don't really have any background information right?" He spoke.

"Yes...at the moment, we have guessed perhaps there was a virus of some sort that somehow corrupted both Turbo Time, and RoadBlasters, the only two racing games in the arcade," you replied, placing your pen up to your lips as you gave it a bit more thought.

"Well, I don't really think that's it. You see there's a story here," he scratched the back of his head, becoming a bit unsure if he should say it.

"There is?" You asked, now fully interested.

"Before I tell you though, don't tell Kiara nor Danny or any other human about any of this, it's just between us characters okay? You can ask Flash later about this..." Dash spoke with a tinge of unease in his voice making it clear to you this was most likely a private matter.

You nod, dropping your notebook to the side.

Sighing, he soon starts explaining, his gaze looming to the side.

"Well, a certain person I know kind of went bonkers and tried to do something with RoadBlasters. He went on and on about hating the game before and I'm pretty sure he was jealous or something... I can't really tell you his name for now though," he finished off, with a hurt look on his face, "He went missing after that. I'm not sure where he went, but right after day, an orange poster was quickly pasted on the screen. Me and Flash couldn't really leave the game because the cabinet was quickly unplugged right after, and now here I am."

Nodding your head, you thanked him greatly, "Thank you for sharing this with me, this will really be of great help in fixing things. Do not worry about missing a few details, I'm sure even without it, the information you've given right now is enough to help."

...

Right after the exchange, the diagnostic test was completed quickly. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and he passed with flying colours. There wasn't any bugs, nor glitches, or anything else.

"...and that's all," you spoke, closing your notebook.

"So how did I do doc?" He asked a bit nervously.

"Well, good news, you did really well," you smiled, "No glitches and everything is working fine. No repairs needed as far as I can tell."

He smiled back, jumping in happiness as you both share a good laugh for a moment.

"Well that's a relief, I thought there's something bad..." He sighed.

"Nope, nothing at all. And might I say, thank you for letting me run a diagnostic test."

"No problem doc."

A few minutes after though, soon you did have to go. Bidding him goodbye, he wishes you farewell as well. But before you did, just like last time, you explained how closing the window might make him "sleep". Although a bit spooked, he trusts you and accepts right after you promised it will be painless and that absolutely nothing bad will happen to him.

So just like that, another check up was done. Ticking another box, your pen went lower... Up next was... Flash.

_________________________________________

As you were about to continue, Danny was just in time to catch up on what you've done so far.

"So how's it going buddy?" Danny asks, sitting down.

"It went well. So far I've detected an error from Max, but Dash did really well on the check-up," you answered.

"Oh, well I'll make sure to fix it up sooner or later, but good work," he replies with a smile.

"Shall I...continue?" You asked, hovering close to another file.

"Uhh, no, it's okay," he responds, his attention now towards the time, "It's getting late so let's continue tomorrow yeah."

"Alright," you agreed, fixing up your things.

"Goodnight bud," Danny spoke as he turned off the computer.

...

The very next day, Danny woke up early and booted up the computer. He instructed you to continue with the check-ups before going to school.

Nodding, you do as he says. Before anything else though, you refreshed yourself before taking your notebook and pen. Now ready for the day, you opened a file.

_________________________________________

Just like Dash, Flash is another side character. With the same design, anyone could mistake them as twins. He's the eldest of the group, a bit more low on the energy, but still, manages to beat Turbo a few times in a race.

...

Gaining sentience once more, he opens his eyes, heaving a sigh from his mouth. Looking around, he tries to take in where he's at. Strangely enough, he's in a dark empty room, akin to an abyss.

He's...alive? Looking down at his hands, his face reflects an expression of extreme confusion and wonder. But if he's alive then where...

"Hello?" He jumps slightly in surprise, turning around, he gets flashed by a the bright light behind you. You step in the way of the light, shading his face from the bright rectangular figure.

"Apologies, the light from outside hasn't been adjusted," you comment, staying still for him to properly take a good look on you.

_________________________________________

Just like the others, you went on once more to explain how he got here, where is here, who you are, what you do, and why he's here. He didn't interrupt all that much, he didn't speak all that much either, just nodding a few times, humming as well for you to continue.

He was silent, but attentive. Although, still looking a bit baffled right after the explanation.

"Ok, so, you're a computer assistant of sorts helping out on repairing our games. Right now I'm in some kind of room separated for you to check up on me?" He asked, clarifying.

You nod, agreeing to his summarization, "Are you alright with me running a diagnostics test?"

"I mean, I guess I won't mind," he responds, shrugging his shoulder before approaching you.

"But first though... Did you meet the others?" He asked, his voice showing signs of worry.

"Yes I have. So far Dash is alright. I conducted a check-up on him before meeting you and nothing is out of the ordinary," you spoke while checking your notebook, your words easing him slightly from worry, "Turbo though..." But right as you said 'Turbo', his gaze turned ever so slightly bitter but it still was tainted with concern. Flash may be upset towards Turbo, however he can't really help but still feel some sort of distress for him.

"Last time I encountered him, he glitched a bit uncontrollably... But nothing too much for me to handle. I'll help him get better as soon as possible. He's the next person I'll be checking up on," you spoke, flipping a page from your notes.

'Dang it Turbo, look at this mess,' Flash thought to himself. Flash knew Turbo was jealous of RoadBlasters, but he didn't have to do all this. Honestly they're so lucky to not be shipped to a local hardware store right now.

"Ok, is it alright for you if I conduct the check up now?" You asked politely, bringing him back to reality.

Nodding, he huffed out another sigh before once more settling himself in front of you. And so, you conducted another check-up. Doing your best, you managed to go through half of the required tests. During it, you managed to make some small talk and discussed a few things with him as well.

"So, how'd your meeting with Dash go?" Flash asks suddenly, as his hands played with the makeshift rubix cube you gave him for testing.

"Oh, well it went fine. He was polite and cheery all the way through," you replied keeping track of a few things.

"Ah so he's polite with other people...interesting," Flash spoke once more, this time with a slightly smug face.

You chuckled, "So it seems..."

"However...he did say something a bit odd," you spoke, gaining his interest.

"Dash told me there is a story that happened before the incident, regarding someone he knows?" You spoke, looking back at him curiously, "Do you know anything about this? Knowing the cause may help fix the games quicker."

Flash sighs, nodding his head, "Well, I'll tell you what I know..."

Flash contemplated if he should say or not, but deciding that it should be for the best, he confessed who did it.

"You see, Turbo Time was by far the most successful game in the arcade and let me tell you, Turbo loved the attention," Flash spoke, smiling slightly as he explained, "But when RoadBlasters came in a few weeks ago, the popularity of our game started to dwindle. So Turbo got jealous, and he grew more... aggressive," he continues, his smile disappearing, "And well, one thing led to another, he took his kart and started to drive out of the game, leaving me and Dash behind. Through our screen, we saw him drive and crash into RoadBlasters."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," you answer, now becoming the one who's perplexed.

"Ah well I should've seen it coming. Even though what he did was really terrible, I think there's something more to the way he acted." Flash, spoke, turning his attention back to the rubix cube, "So, what are you gonna do now?" He asked.

"Now...at least I'll eliminate a few other theories I've had regarding the reason for this whole incident," you answered.

"Oh yeah? Let me hear one," Flash spoke, turning the conversation around.

"Well one is about a virus getting a hold of both games for some reason," you spoke.

"Yeah I can see that," Flash responds back.

...

The check up went smoothly right after. With new information currently at arms length, it helped you analyze further that Turbo most likely had the most damage than the of the three... Well perhaps both Max and Turbo took the most damage.

Clicking your pen, you refused to write this information down and just finished up with Flash's check-up. Finishing another entry on your notebook, you closed it back up.

"So, what's the matter with me Doc?" Flash comments right after you closed your notebook, it seemed that nickname will not be going away soon.

"Nothing's wrong at all, just like Dash you are perfectly fine," you conveyed with a smile.

"Well at least that's good," he replies back.

"Ok well, now that we're done, I'm afraid I'll need to leave now," you spoke, giving a slightly sorry look as you both began to walk towards the bright rectangular figure "I truly am sorry to cut this short."

"Don't be... The sooner you'll meet Turbo, the sooner you'll get to fix him," Flash spoke, shrugging his shoulders slightly in a nonchalant way.

"Well, I suppose that is true. Do you want me to pass a message to him?" You asked, stopping your tracks.

"Nah, the message I want him to hear is something I'd rather deliver myself," Flash replied.

"Ok well, if you say so," right after you were about to leave though, you once more explained that he might go to "sleep" when you leave as the rectangular window will close. He only nods for a moment before shrugging it off, "Don't worry, it's okay," he respond before both of you bid farewell to each other.

Being left in alone in the dark, he wished you luck on handling that little gremlin. Flash gazes into the screen for a moment before feeling his whole being shut down.

_________________________________________

Finally, after some time, you ticked off Flash's name. Now for the last but not the least, Turbo was next for check up. Taking a breath, you closed your eyes for a moment. This task is quite a bit tiring...

Turbo had a different set of colour pallete. It was typical, he is the main lead of the game after all so it was understandable. However, he may be shorter than Dash, he's absolutely much more older than he is.

Before continuing though, you sat down beside Turbo's file for a moment. You had to think about something first.

The possibility of this happening because of jealousy wasn't what you'd expect. Although you might not be very knowledgeable to how game cabinets work, you did know characters like Turbo and the others could gain enough sentience to have enough complexity driven in their code in order to feel strong emotions.

Your talk earlier with Flash and Dash brought light into the situation. With Turbo standing right in the middle of the spotlight. Both Dash, and Flash didn't exactly know why he did this so that's something you plan on searching an answer for...later. It did explain why only Max and Turbo was the only ones to glitch the first time you've met them, and why Dash and Flash are completely fine.

With the knowledge that Turbo caused all this, you didn't exactly feel unease or worry as you remembered what Flash said, there's something else happening inside Turbo. Perhaps he's not that mentally well, however that's what check-ups are for right?

Standing up, you felt ready to continue. With your notebook on hand, and your pen on the other, you opened a window headed to Turbo.

_________________________________________

Slowly, just like the others, Turbo gains consciousness in the same void room he's woken up to yesterday. Breathing heavily, all he could remember was a faint "Goodbye" in your voice and a memory of the screen shutting down.

He's back, and alive once more. Holding his face, for reassurance but suddenly he glitched. Gasping in surprise, he recoiled. Ah yes, that. Recalling all that has happened last night, he remembers your name. "Y/N..." He mumbles under his breath.

Gazing into the the bright light before him, he sees you.

"Greetings Turbo, we meet again," you spoke, as you hovered close to him.

"It's...you," he mumbles once more.

"Yes it is, I hope you didn't get too surprised last night," recalling the sudden end of your conversation, a sheepish smile crawled up your face, "I'm sorry that our interaction the last time was ended prematurely."

"Eh, it didn't spook me at all, nothing too much for someone like me," Turbo smiled smugly.

Chuckling, you nodded your head, "I see...well I suppose I don't need to explain a few things other than where your brothers/friends are, Dash and Flash."

Right as you said their name, he felt as if his heart skipped a beat. His whole demeanor seemed to change quickly.

When he drove outside Turbo Time, he recalls them screaming for him to come back. When he crashed right in RoadBlasters, he thought that was the last time he'd seen them. And honestly, he somewhat hopes so. He hopes that they got out and stayed in Game Central Station, he hoped they would never meet again, because as much as he hates to admit it, he knows how badly he messed up. He didn't want to face them. He didn't want to-

"They're currently fine, I checked up on them recently and it's safe to say that Dash and Flash are not injured nor are they defective," you continued.

"They're...here?" Turbo asked, his voice drained from it's charismatic tone.

'Interesting...' you thought. "Yes, perhaps after you're fixed from your current state, you'll be reunited with them."

Right after you said that, he suddenly glitched. Gasping, he couldn't control it for a moment.

"Whoa there... Calm down," you spoke, holding out your hands to grab him at the right second when he stopped glitching, "Take a breath, it'll help," you calmy spoke.

Breathing in and out, he slowly calmed down.

"There you go," you spoke in a lower tone, your hands on his shoulders.

'That was even worse than the last time, it's even worse than Max's... Oh dear...' you thought to yourself.

"Ok...I'm fine alright," slightly panting, he took your hands off him, "I told you, this is nothing," he insisted, looking a bit pale.

"Uh huh..." Nodding your, head you took out your notebook.

"What's that?" he pointed towards your notebook.

"It's my notebook, I just need it for journaling," you respond.

"What like a diary?" he asked, his smile slightly returning.

"Well, somewhat yes. It's to list important observations and for me to keep track of a few things," explaining, your hands firmly grip the notebook as you show it to him.

"What you're going to journal what just happened? It wasn't even anything important at all..." Slowly gaining more energy, he scoffs at you.

"Well, even so, there is something else I'll journal for this interaction," bringing out a few things out of nowhere, you flipped your notebook open.

"And that is..?" Confused, and now in a stable condition, he asked.

"Well, I am here to run a check-up on you. It's to check on a few things and it will also help quickly pinpoint what may be wrong and how it could be fixed," explaining, you clicked your pen and wrote something down.

"So what, I'm your little test subject now?" he asked, looking up at you.

Returning his gaze, you replied, "What? Not at all," shaking your head, you continued, "Remember what I told you last time, I am an assistant, and I'm simply here to assist."

For a moment, Turbo thought about it. He doesn't exactly like the feeling of being vulnerable. But thinking about it, does he really want to deal with this stupid glitch and possible deformities he might have caught right after the crash?

Sighing, he agrees, "Alright, alright..."

_________________________________________

Holding up an object from a distant place, you tested his vision first. Slightly squinting his eyes, he managed to answer correctly each time. Doing the eyes test was also something you conducted, pulling up the Snellen chart, he managed to get a good score.

Moving forward to his mobility, you made him walk and run a few times. Panting, by the end, you rewarded him with a bit of a break afterwards.

Sitting down he panted slightly as he took his well deserved rest. Taking a seat beside him, you took note that he's doing well for now. As for his voice, he didn't seem to have that much trouble speaking so you decided to skip that part of the test.

Looking up from your notebook, you asked him, "You ready for the next one?"

"Yup, just give me a minute..." He answered, taking one last breath before standing up.

"Ok..." Looking back down at your notes, you held out your hand.

Something was supposed to appear on your palm. He gazed at you for a moment, feeling slightly confused, but going through what he considered was a strange check-up so far, he let out a sigh and didn't question further.

Then, you felt something on your hand. Raising one of your eyebrows, your eyes quickly averted from your notes and saw his hand holding yours. Noticing your reaction, he returns the same confusion you felt.

"What?" he asked raising his shoulders.

Well...that's one way to test his abilities to hold objects. Then, the rubix cube he was supposed to interact with appeared on top of your intertwined hands. He stared at the object, before it fell down. "Uhm..." You muttered quietly.

Quickly realizing his mistake, Turbo felt his cheeks flare up because of embarrassment.

Quickly removing his hand from yours, he spoke, "I thought..."

"No, no it's alright," you spoke, shaking your hands as you smiled awkwardly.

"Let's just... Forget that happened," he muttered quickly, his cheeks still noticably red.

You agreed and went onwards with the test, picking up the rubix cube, you handed it to Turbo. It was awkwardly quiet for a while. You wrote on your notebook, and he just aimlessly played with the cube.

"You're doing quite well," you spoke, breaking the ice.

"Of course, you shouldn't even be surprised," he responds, trying to sound confident.

Smiling, you replied back, "Well, so far you hadn't glitch so fa-" His hand suddenly glitches. He was surprised, but he didn't drop the cube immediately.

"What...a comedic timing..?" You spoke.

He chuckled slightly, and you followed suit. Inspecting his hands, he responds, "How'd this even manage to happen?"

Thinking back to the crash, you shook your head and explained, "Most likely because your code might have been mangled slightly. It's not enough to change a part of your appearance long-term, but it still isn't all that stable enough to avoid that."

"You're kind of a smarty pants Y/N...or should I call you doc?" Turbo spoke, his playful demeanor starting to appear.

Letting out another chuckle, you reply, "As long as it's appropriate, then any nickname is fine," it seems the nickname 'Doc' is common among Flash, Turbo, and Dash.

...

Since the test has been finished, there was nothing left to do. Everything has been finished and all that is wrong with Turbo was currently his glitching.

"I'm guessing we're finished Doc?" Turbo asked.

"Yes, we are. You've done well for the most part. But don't worry I'll make sure you'll get fixed up in not time," you spoke, making your notebook disappear somewhere, "Which means..." you muttered, gazing outwards the screen.

You didn't really have anything else to do for the day. Danny left the computer open for you to finish this job, but you didn't exactly have any plans for the day. Loneliness...wasn't something you ever were prepared nor ever will love, but now having all these people to talk to, you wanted to honestly spend time with at least someone while the computer is left open.

Noticing you were quiet for a while, Turbo stared at you with confusion. Your eyes looked empty, thinking about something most likely.

"Hello..?" He asked.

"Ah... sorry, all of a sudden my mind pondered somewhere else. Anyways, as I was saying, we are finished so I suppose I'll leave," you replied, retracting your eyes from the screen.

"Uh huh..." nodding his head, still somewhat confused by the quick turn of your emotions, you both stood up.

Slowly approaching the exit, your mind started to think of how quiet and lonely it will get once you exit this window. Although it will only be for a few hours, it wasn't something you were looking forward to. Then, you felt something tug at you. You don't need to go yet... Right?

Ok, this was quite a very long chapter. I've never written this long before so it took me quite a while to get this thing wrapped up.

Take note btw that I'm not really all that experience with writing long fics so bare with me on this one lol

Still haven't finished the storyline inside my head too so...I'll most likely edit the chapters even if it's unfinished as I try to work up a few things as time goes by

[pasayinv]

The Evolution of Private Security: A Historical Perspective

Introduction:

1. Ancient Roots of Private Security:

In the annals of history, the roots of private security can be traced back to ancient civilizations, where individuals or groups were employed to safeguard valuable assets. From the protection of merchants along trade routes to the guardianship of wealthy estates, private security in its nascent form laid the groundwork for future developments.

2. Feudal Societies and Mercenary Forces:

During the feudal era, the concept of private security took on a militaristic hue. Mercenary forces were employed by monarchs, nobles, and wealthy landowners to protect territories and interests. These quasi-professional soldiers marked a transition toward more organized forms of private security.

3. Industrial Revolution and the Rise of Corporate Security:

The Industrial Revolution marked a turning point as societies shifted from agrarian economies to industrial powerhouses. With this transformation, corporations emerged, and with them, the need for security to protect factories, assets, and the burgeoning workforce. Corporate security divisions became a fixture, reflecting the evolving nature of private security.

4. Detective Agencies and Pinkertons:

The late 19th and early 20th centuries witnessed the rise of private detective agencies, with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency leading the way. These agencies were instrumental in investigating criminal activities, tracking down outlaws, and providing security services, contributing significantly to the professionalization of private security.

5. Post-World War II Era and Global Expansion:

The aftermath of World War II saw a surge in the need for private security on a global scale. As nations rebuilt, private security firms expanded their services to include everything from guarding sensitive installations to providing executive protection. This period marked the globalization of private security as an industry.

6. Technological Advancements:

The latter half of the 20th century and into the 21st century witnessed unprecedented technological advancements that transformed private security. Surveillance systems, access control technologies, and communication tools became integral to the arsenal of private security firms, enhancing their ability to protect clients in an increasingly complex world.

7. Private Security in the Digital Age:

In the contemporary landscape, private security is inseparable from the digital realm. Cybersecurity has become a critical facet of private security, reflecting the shift from physical threats to virtual ones. Private security firms now play a pivotal role in safeguarding organizations against cyber threats and data breaches.

Conclusion:

The historical evolution of private security is a testament to its adaptive nature. From humble beginnings in ancient civilizations to the complex, technology-driven industry of today, private security has continually evolved to meet the challenges of each era. Understanding this journey provides valuable insights into the foundations of an industry that plays an integral role in ensuring the safety and security of individuals, organizations, and societies as a whole.

www.krystal-group.com/private-security-and-manned-guarding

[orbitalinstallationtechnologies]

Professional Dashcam Installation Services to Enhance Fleet Safety

Fleet safety is more important than ever. With the rise in road incidents and the growing need to protect both drivers and assets, Dashcam Installations have become a vital tool for fleet operators. Whether you manage a small fleet or a large operation, having dashcams installed in your vehicles can greatly improve safety and reduce risks. Our professional Camera Installation in the Car provide you with reliable monitoring, real-time insights, and dependable incident recording to keep your fleet secure.

Why Dashcam Installations Are Crucial for Fleets

Dashcams do more than just record video. They offer an extra layer of security for fleet managers and drivers by capturing high-definition footage of the road and driver behavior. This data can be invaluable in preventing accidents, addressing risky driving habits, and protecting businesses from liability claims. Here are some key reasons why dashcams are essential for fleets:

1. Accurate Collision Recording

Accidents can happen at any time. Dashcams provide clear, real-time footage of incidents, which helps determine the cause of accidents and protects your business from false claims. This footage can be crucial in legal cases, ensuring that your drivers are exonerated when they are not at fault.

2. Driver Behavior Monitoring

Dashcams help fleet managers monitor driver behavior. Alerts for unsafe practices such as speeding, harsh braking, tailgating, or not wearing a seatbelt can be sent in real time. This monitoring helps reduce risky behavior and promotes safer driving habits.

3. Risk Mitigation

Dashcams reduce the risk of accidents and fraudulent insurance claims by providing clear video evidence. Having dashcams installed can also lead to lower insurance premiums for your fleet, saving your business money over time.

4. Compliance and GPS Integration

Many dashcam systems come with GPS tracking, allowing fleet managers to pinpoint the exact location of any critical event. This feature is essential for ensuring compliance with fleet safety standards and for optimizing routes and delivery times.

The Value of Fleet Dash Cams

Investing in Fleet Management Technology, particularly dash cameras with GPS tracking, is a critical decision for any business operating a fleet of vehicles. The decision often comes down to balancing the initial investment against the potential returns in terms of safety, efficiency, and operational improvement. Dash cameras, like JimiIoT's dashcam Dual-Channel Dashcam, provide a comprehensive solution that aligns with modern fleet management needs.

Dash cameras have become an essential tool in Fleet Tracking System Installation, providing real-time insights into road conditions, driver behavior, and incidents that can significantly impact your business. The dashcam stands out with its dual-channel video capability, offering a complete view of both the road ahead and the vehicle's interior. This technology not only ensures safety but also contributes to enhancing operational efficiency.

Key Benefits of Investing in the Dashcam

Accident Reduction and Evidence Collection

The dashcam captures high-quality footage in real time, which can be crucial during accidents. This footage can quickly resolve disputes, expedite insurance claims, and protect your company from fraudulent claims. Concrete evidence from dash cams can lead to lower insurance premiums and overall cost reductions.

Driver Behavior Monitoring

One significant advantage of the dashcam is its ability to monitor driver behavior. By capturing instances of speeding, harsh braking, and other risky actions, fleet managers can identify patterns and take corrective measures. Over time, this results in a safer driving culture within your fleet.

Maintenance Cost Reduction

Real-time monitoring through the dashcam can alert fleet managers to potential vehicle issues before they become critical. Addressing problems early reduces the chances of costly breakdowns and extends your vehicle's lifespan. Data-driven preventive maintenance keeps your fleet in top condition.

Enhanced Productivity

With advanced tracking and monitoring capabilities, the dashcam enables better route planning and reduces unnecessary downtime. Improved scheduling leads to higher productivity, timely deliveries, and increased customer satisfaction.

Driver Training and Development

Video footage from the dashcam can be a valuable training tool. Reviewing incidents allows managers to provide targeted feedback, helping drivers improve their skills. This ongoing training fosters a more competent driving team, further reducing risks and operational costs.

Litigation Protection

In legal disputes, having clear, objective footage from the dashcam is invaluable. It can protect your business from false claims and prevent costly settlements, safeguarding your reputation and financial stability.

Insurance Discounts

Many insurance providers recognize dashcams role in reducing risks and offer discounts to fleets that use them. The dashcam's advanced features can help your business qualify for these discounts, further offsetting the initial investment.

Regulatory Compliance

Staying compliant with industry regulations is essential for avoiding fines. The dashcam ensures your fleet operates within legal parameters by providing verifiable data on driver behavior, vehicle location, and operational conditions.

Data-Driven Decision Making

The dashcam is more than a camera; it's a powerful tool for collecting and analyzing data. Insights gained from this data help fleet managers make informed decisions to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and increase profitability.

Secure Your Fleet with Our Dashcam Installation Services

When it comes to fleet safety, every detail matters. Proper dashcam installation can make a significant difference in protecting your drivers, reducing risks, and ensuring compliance with safety standards. Our team is dedicated to providing high-quality dashcam installation services that meet the unique needs of your fleet.

By choosing our professional services, you can expect:

Expert installation: Ensuring optimal performance and reliability.

Customized solutions: Tailored to your fleet size and needs.

Ongoing support: We’re here to help you maintain your dashcam systems.

Don’t leave your fleet’s safety to chance. Contact us today to schedule your dashcam installation and take the first step toward a safer, more efficient fleet. Protect your drivers, safeguard your business, and gain peace of mind with our expert dashcam installation services.

The Role of Orbital Installs

Orbital Installation Technologies plays a crucial role in providing professional dashcam installation services that ensure your fleet’s safety systems are functioning at their best. Our experienced team specializes in installing a wide range of dashcam systems, from single-camera setups to advanced multi-channel solutions with GPS tracking and cloud connectivity. We understand the importance of precision and reliability in dashcam installations, which is why we tailor our services to fit your fleet's unique needs.

With years of expertise, Orbital Installs ensures that every dashcam is properly positioned and configured to capture critical footage. Our commitment to quality installation means fewer technical issues, better performance, and greater peace of mind for fleet operators. Trust Orbital Installs to handle your dashcam installation professionally and efficiently, so you can focus on running a safer and more productive fleet.

FAQs

1. What types of vehicles can you install dashcams in? We can install dashcams in all types of vehicles, including cars, vans, trucks, and buses. Our team has experience with a variety of vehicle sizes and configurations to ensure a seamless installation process.

2. How long does a typical dashcam installation take? The installation time varies depending on the type of system and the vehicle. On average, a basic dashcam installation takes about 1-2 hours. More complex multi-camera systems may require additional time.

3. Can I access the dashcam footage remotely? Yes, many modern dashcam systems offer cloud-connected features that allow you to access footage remotely. This enables you to review incidents in real-time from any location with an internet connection.

4. Do you provide maintenance and support after the installation? Absolutely! We provide ongoing support to ensure your dashcam systems continue to operate efficiently. If you encounter any issues, our team is available to help with troubleshooting and maintenance.

[lunarsilkscreen]

Multi-Factor, Layered, Cryptographic System

A few big flaws with crypto are; how large and unwieldy the ledger can get, the centralization of decentralized systems, congestion at the base cryptographic layer, potential loss of a wallet, automation errors, a complete lack of oversight.

Cryptographic Systems are designed to be decentralized, trustless, transactional, and secure.

The problem with this; is as the Crypto environment grew; the need to bypass some of those features became a requirement.

Decentralization gave way to crypto stores and Wallet Vaults, as well as the potential for complete loss of value (despite it being an online thing), and introducing waste to the ledger through these lost "Resources".

Trustless gave way to legal restrictions and disputes, and the formerly decentralized environment was tethered to the world economy.

Transactional gave way to inflation when It became a valued asset that was used for more than secure transactions.

And... Block chain technology has proven to be very insecure and exploitable. With several Bitcoin "Branches" being made after large thefts or errors had occured.

The Automation and Scripting layer of crypto also has potential for "Unchecked Run times" and wasted Network Cycles and Waste of Electric Power.

Needless to say; Crypto no longer serves its original purpose.

Despite all this; Crypto still has great potential. And our Future Internet designs should include protocols specifically to support it.

Separately from other internet traffic, but still, alongside it.

So what can we do with the tech to make it more usable..?

Well, first things first; Crypto has large waste of Power and Internet Bandwidth that needs to be addressed. And I would *suggest* a temporary ban of "Unaccountable Automated Wide-Area Systems".

Automated Wide-Area Systems can be installed on multiple computers over the internet, and because they are "trustless" are often overlooked when they waste resources.

Because of the need for Accountability of these systems on our networks; there are still opportunities for the companies which manage them. However, I disagree with the current idea of oligarchic accountability termed "Proof of Stake". (It will be clear what my suggestion for this will be by the end of the article.)

Because there's a need for these systems to be transactional; we should be wary of how "Automated Transactions" are designed. As large amounts of assets can accidentally trade hands over the span of nanoseconds.

And we still want them to be Decentralized and Secure.

The Ethereum model creates extra cryptographic layers to cover some of the weaknesses in BitCoin, and this actually allows for an illuminated solution to our "Dark Pools" in the finance sector.

And the need to reduce waste on our Electric and Network Infrastructure (especially in the case of climate change) necessitates that we know where every digital asset on such a system is accounted for.

It also means we need a method of "Historical Ledger" disposal; so that we both have long-term records AND reduce the resources required to run a cryptographic system.

Which means we'll need "Data Banks" and "Wallet Custodians". So that nothing is ever lost; while retaining the anonymity the internet provides.

Legal Restrictions here on keeping the privacy of Wallet Owners is very important. We can also *itemize* large wallets, to provide further security and privacy.

These systems can *also* be used to track firearm purchases anonymously. Which will give the tools our ATF needs to track sales, as well as provide the privacy and security that are constantly lobbied by Firearm owners.

I think that covers the *generalized* and *broad* requirements of wide-scale implementation. I figure that Crypto-Enthusiasts may have some input on the matter.

[usafphantom2]

Does the absence of IRST leave the Raptor at a disadvantage compared to the Su-35?

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 01/31/2024 - 23:26in Military

Many military experts and former combat pilots often argue that the F-22 Raptor is currently considered unbeatable in relation to any other existing fighter, surpassing even the F-35 Lightning II in several aspects. But the Russian Su-35, even though it is not as powerful as the F-22 Raptor, it has an asset that could potentially challenge the supremacy of the Raptor.

Despite the impressive skills of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, there are still unanswered questions. Why does it lack essential features, such as the Infrared Search and Tracking (IRST) system and radars mounted on the sides? A need for expenditure containment by the U.S. Air Force, set at $9 million per aircraft in 1989, may have contributed to this omission.

During this period, an initial project incorporated advanced US$ 16 million in avionics per aircraft. However, the U.S. Air Force did not specify which systems to eliminate to meet budget restrictions. This crucial decision was largely left to the manufacturers. As a result, Lockheed Martin chose to renounce certain features, including the IRST and side radars mounted on the sides below the cockpit.

After almost 33 years, USAF said in 2022 that it aims to find an infrared search and tracking (IRST) system for the F-22. An IRST would have to be integrated with the other sensors of the F-22 - mainly its active electronic array radar (AESA) to provide a holistic view of the battle space.

The strength of the fourth-generation Su-35 lies in its weapons control system by infrared search and tracking. This system includes a camera, target designator, laser rangefinder and an infrared sensor.

Although the fifth-generation F-22 and fourth-generation Su-35 seem equivalent in terms of capabilities, the Su-35 may have an advantage due to its air combat skills, its significantly lower price and its innovative IRST technology. These factors give the Russian fighter an advantage over its American equivalent.

A study led by defense expert Alex Lockie points out that the Su-35s can actually have more advantages than the U.S. Raptors in direct combat or during interception missions. If an air combat occurs during an interception operation, it is believed that Russian fighters could have a significant advantage in detecting the supposedly "invisible" F-22 Raptor.

Expressing his professional opinion, Lieutenant Colonel David Berke, who has the rare experience of piloting both the F-22 and the F-35, suggested that if he were piloting the F-22, he would not opt for a maneuverable combat with an opponent. Instead, Berke would take advantage of the main force of the F-22 - its stealth capabilities - to avoid visual aerial battles.

Based on his knowledge of combat air power, expert Justin Bronk stated that aircraft models such as the F-22, characterized by their stealth design and internal weapon storage, may not be the preferred options for interception missions. Bronk pointed out that more cost-efficient jets can effectively play this role.

The Infrared Search and Tracking (IRST) system is used in fighters to detect and monitor objects that emit infrared radiation, such as other aircraft or missiles.

An F-22 seen by the Su-35's IRST sensor.

This technology operates as a passive sensor system, that is, it does not emit signals. Instead, it detects infrared radiation emitted by other objects. This is particularly advantageous in situations where the radar can fail, such as in stealth operations or environments with high electronic noise.

The last U.S. fighter to have an integrated IRST sensor during development was the F-14 Tomcat. The F/A-18 Super Hornet now has the option of carrying a central droptank with an IRST, which will make the combat launch expensive.

The IRST21 installed in the central tank of a Super Hornet.

The operation of an IRST system involves several steps. First, the system scans the environment for infrared radiation sources, usually using a rotating mirror that reflects the radiation received in an infrared detector. This detector converts infrared radiation into an electrical signal, which is processed by a computer to form an image.

Subsequently, the system analyzes this image to identify potential targets based on their distinct thermal signatures. This operational process can be performed several times per second, allowing the system to accurately track mobile targets.

An aircraft equipped with an IRST system has several advantages. First of all, because it is passive, this system does not reveal the location of the aircraft as the radar does, making it ideal for stealth operations.

Secondly, IRST systems can detect targets at long distances, even under conditions where the radar may prove ineffective, such as under heavy rain or through smoke. Thirdly, IRST systems can detect stealth aircraft, specifically designed to be undetectable by radar.

FAB F-39E Gripen fighter equipped with the IRST.

Finally, since IRST systems use thermal signatures to identify targets, they are less likely to be deceived by baits or other countermeasures that could potentially deceive radar systems.

Tags: Military AviationF-22 RaptorIRSTSu-35 Flanker

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[mieeiraa]

Performance Art with New Media Technology [ASSIGNMENT 1]

For this assignment, I was tasked to do a case study on international and local artists who incorporated the use of new media technology with their performances. From these artists and their chosen work/performance, we can observe how the technology used improves the performance and how they can be improved in the future.

International artist chosen: PLAVE

PLAVE is a five-member virtual idol group operating under a virtual entertainment company, VLAST.

They are known for using game engines and motion capture technology to track each member's gestures and facial expressions, similar to the concept of virtual YouTubers or Vtubers in short.

On March 12, 2023, PLAVE made their official debut. Focusing on music production in the Korean pop or K-pop music industry, they periodically release music albums and singles just like any other idol group.

Performance chosen: Hello, Asterum!

The concert took place over two days, 13th - 14th April 2024 with the first day being a fully physical performance and the second day being an online performance that was simultaneously aired live online for international viewers.

Domestic fans in South Korea were able to purchase tickets to enter the concert venue during the performance day. Meanwhile international fans were given the option to purchase online tickets for the online streaming scheduled for the second day via Weverse, an entertainment platform originated from South Korea.

They performed live on both days as seen by the clear discrepancies when comparing the two performances side by side, with the pre-recorded videos or VCR being filler segments played in between singing performances.

Technology used:

Motion capture

3D Assets

LED Screens

Stage special effects (pyrotechnics, smoke and haze machines, confetti and streamers, bubbles, drones)

Sound system

Local artist chosen: Abdul Shakir

Known by his stage name "Grasshopper," Abdul Shakir is a multidisciplinary multimedia artist and one of the co-founders of Filamen, a company that specializes in interactive installations, light installations, and projection mapping.

He has experience working in production and post-production agencies and has completed a range of design and art-related projects, including interactive installations, motion graphics, graphic design, and projection mapping.

His projects have transcended Malaysia and are now being shown in China, Hong Kong, Spain, and the United States of America. He has shown his art in a number of prestigious exhibitions, including the George Town Festival, Rainforest in the City, Urbanscapes Art Festival, and LAMPU Festival.

Work chosen: Rimbun

“Rimbun” was showcased during the Singapore Night Festival exhibition back in 2023. This work is basically a form of organic projection where he experiments with the mapping process on living things, including trees and leaves.

For this exhibition, it is focused on projection mapping of cultural Malay designs personally created by Abdul Shakir himself on plant leaves of different plants during the night time.

Featuring seven distinct motifs inspired by plants like Starfruit, Nutmeg, Common Fig, Jujube, Sugarcane, Citron, Cocoa, and Guava, these motifs reflect his personal interpretation of these plants and their significance during Singapore's role as an entrepôt between east and west.

Technology used:

Projector

PC computer

Rendered plant motifs via TouchDesigner

How does New Media Technology Improve the Concept and Stage Performance?

From the implementation of new media technology in performances which are the usage of motion capture technology and projection mapping, they offer the possibility to enhance their storytelling and visual graphics as a whole for a more enjoyable experience.

Visual elements prepared using computer graphics, not limited to pictures and videos but including various multimedia elements such as motion capture and projection mapping allow performers to creatively express themselves and their artworks while being able to captivate the audience.

For example, in “Hello, Asterum!” PLAVE and VLAST were able to utilize the visuals in 3D space effectively, resulting in their performance to look like a projection of a hologram while they were in fact only using a flat screen.

Another instance is the ability to manipulate the space to fit each member’s solo performance, creating environments that fit the genre of the songs being performed.

Being able to manipulate 3D space with their virtual models allows PLAVE to showcase an alluring and captivating stage performance in real time, suitable with their concept of being virtual idols.

As for the idea of organic projection mapping as seen in “Rimbun”, I would say that it promotes the idea of seeing mundane things in our lives in a new light.

As Abdul Shakir mentioned that the patterns and motifs being projected were inspired by plants, it shows a connection shared between the man-made motifs and the plants being associated with, subtly showing the beauty and inspiration from nature.

In my opinion, it is a unique way to show how one element may be related to the other and a great medium for an entrancing storytelling since the audience will need to approach the installation in order to fully immerse themselves with the artwork.

How can it be innovative in the future?

Simply put, stage performance visuals are no longer limited to 2D space as they can be manipulated to be shown as 3D regardless of the projecting medium.

Organic projection can introduce a new method to showcase one’s creativity in storytelling, ensuring that the message conveyed can be understood.

Synchronized light projections via light sticks held by the audience in a large crowd may increase the immersion and elevate the experience during a stage performance.

Conclusion

As technology advances further with time, we can expect to see more implementation of new media technology in future performances.

Taking the opportunity to include and utilize them in stage performances especially may help to increase immersion for the audience and deliver a comprehensive and meaningful performance.

Hopefully, with new media technology, artists and performers are able to experiment with their creative freedom and in the end, bring forward inspiring and innovative works of art for us to understand and appreciate.

[equipsy]

The Lasting Benefits of Curtain Tracks To Any Home

Curtain tracks have long been a staple in bathroom decor and will remain so in the near future. While they are most commonly known as an asset for pure aesthetics, they are also a potential necessity for functionality and accessibility. Moreover, these track sets and frames have evolved to meet the individual needs of homeowners.

General Perks of Curtain Tracks

For good reason, these tracks are a popular choice among many homeowners. Due to their various perks that offer their own benefits, they are just as successful in functionality as they are in appeal. Check out these perks that keep curtain rails and tracks relevant in the modern age:

Enhanced Aesthetics

Curtain frames and tracks provide a clean and streamlined appearance that complements any bathroom space. These tracks have versatile designs and flexible colors, and they are made to fit any room and match various aesthetic appeals.

Improved Functionality

These tracks offer smooth operation, especially for bathrooms. This feature allows users to open and close curtains easily. For many elderly and disabled individuals, this minimal effort is favored. Curtains play a part in controlling the bathroom’s natural light and temperature. In addition, each track is made to suit weighted shower curtains to ensure easy accessibility.

Space Optimization

Curtain tracks are adjustable to fit any bathroom and unique space. Compared to traditional rods, these tracks are easily installed and can be mounted on ceilings. These additions maximize floor space and provide an airy feel. This flexibility makes these tracks ideal for homeowners looking to optimize their bathroom space.

Benefits for PWD and Elderly Homeowners

These track systems have changed from pure appeal features to innovative components to bathroom functionality. Their aforementioned features have shown how they have adapted to more practical roles while retaining their appealing perks. Today’s curtain track properties have been optimised to become a necessity for various households:

Energy Efficiency

These tracks offer enhanced insulation properties that help balance bathroom temperatures in various seasons of the year. They can reduce heat loss and gain, which contributes greatly to energy-saving factors. This maintains bathrooms at the preferred temperatures, helping homeowners rely less on heating or cooling systems.

Privacy and Light Control

The curtain track also allows homeowners to adjust the lighting in bathrooms, from their showers to their windows. These tracks offer optimized coverage to ensure that homeowners have privacy and security while the rooms are in use.

Safety Priority and Ease of Use

Above all, these track systems prioritize homeowner safety thanks to their simple, effortless features and operations. This helps them open and close their curtains with ease and minimises stressful efforts.

Curtain track features are carefully crafted to address safety concerns, especially when it comes to minimizing slips and accidents. By having easy-handling approaches with sturdy frames, these tracks provide a stable frame that stays in place and reduces the risk of falling when in use.

Considerations for Choosing Curtain Tracks

When it comes to selecting curtain tracks for your home, there are some specific considerations you should keep in mind. Putting deep effort into looking into these factors helps contribute to a more informed decision and meet expectations.

Material and Durability

When selecting shower curtains and track systems, durability is a crucial factor to assess alongside the materials they comprise. These tracks are ideally made of aluminium material to maintain their quality. These are selected for their durability and resistance to corrosion. In addition, these frames ensure that they can support different-weighted shower curtains.

Size and Dimension

Shower curtains and tracks are available in various sizes to meet various bathrooms and shower places. Different options are suitable for both commercial and domestic applications. Their sizes come in:

1000 mm

1200 mm

1500 mm

2000 mm

Professional Installation and Delivery Services

Selecting the installation option can vary depending on individual needs. Professional installations are ideal options, especially for PWD and senior buyers. Choosing professional services also helps minimise the risk of getting injured or having other struggles while putting the track together.

Furthermore, many curtain frames and supportive device providers also come with efficient delivery services. Every homeowner would truly appreciate their products being delivered to them, minimizing the trouble of traveling to physical stores.

Conclusion

Curtain tracks offer lasting benefits that range from energy efficiency and privacy to safety levels. These tracks are adaptable to home settings and convenient for various mobility needs and limitations. These additions make bathrooms accessible for the disabled and the elderly. These secure their bathroom setup and make it feel both safe and boosts independence.

Equipsy boasts 25 years of expertise in designing products that specialise in catering to homeowner-friendly goals. Visit our website for further inquiries and information about our products and services.

[retrogamingloft]

Despite my deep affection for Sensible Soccer, I hesitated to upload this installment. Beyond the shared title and the nostalgic "Goal Scoring Superstar Hero" track, Sensible Soccer 2006 diverges significantly from the original game, particularly in terms of gameplay. It's not that the game is inherently bad, especially if you approach it without expecting a soccer simulation. However, in my sincere opinion, it falls short of deserving the same name as one of the greatest video games of all time.

My critique is not rooted in the failure to revive the classic gameplay or the perceived lack of efforts to modernize it. Even the comically oversized player heads you see in the cutscenes - which I actually find amusing - are not the issue. Rather, Sensible Soccer 2006 presents itself as a different game marred by notable flaws and an ostensibly useless new feature that only amplify frustration and undermine its longevity.

One major flaw lies in the shooting system, which seems to have gone awry during development. Despite numerous attempts, mastery remains elusive. The game, while relatively easy, introduces an oddity where, even in one-on-one situations against the goalkeeper, a straightforward shot often inexplicably veers off target or goes wide. This inherent flaw hampers the game's scoring potential and leads to moments of undeserved disappointment.

The fouling system is another sore point. While I acknowledge the game's departure from soccer simulation aspirations, the random bookings and foul-giving feel outdated for a 2006 release. Inconsistencies abound, with identical fouls by different players resulting in disparate outcomes. The arbitrary nature of the system, where clear fouls often go unpunished, disrupts the flow of the game and can be infuriating.

Adding to the list of issues is the introduction of the seemingly unnecessary sprint feature. Despite its inclusion in a 2006 context, the sprint button proves more of a hindrance than an asset. Utilizing it often results in immediate pursuit and tackles by opponents, undermining the potential benefits. Paradoxically, maintaining a normal pace allows for a more composed and strategic approach, fostering better chances for goal-scoring opportunities.

In conclusion, despite these drawbacks, I did find the game enjoyable. However, the mounting frustration during gameplay made me eagerly anticipate the end of each session. Were it not for these shortcomings, Sensible Soccer 2006 could have been a commendable homage to a legendary title. Instead, it falls short, leaving me to appreciate it as a flawed but entertaining diversion, overshadowed by the legacy of its iconic predecessor.

[screensavorstudios]

Reboiling this one with some additional information. 1. Don't use Unity. Unity used to be the standard for indie game development. It was used to make everything from Hollow Knight to Genshin Impact, and at least half the weird indie games you find on itch.io, but then their cooperate leadership decided they wanted more money and tried RETROACTIVELY CHANGE THE TERMS OF USE CONTRACTS and make anyone who had ever used unity give them ludicrous amounts of money based off of instillation. Not sales. Instillation. The backlash from them forced them to backpedal, and they even "let go" of their president (a man who went on record saying if he could he would charge people to reload in an FPS,) but the other leadership who approved his ideas is still there. As is the "per installation" fee (they just upped the requirement numbers to start charging for it.) Now you may be thinking, "Oh, but my little game will never make those numbers. This doesn't effect me." But listen to me. If they are so money crazy that they tried to retroactively change already signed contracts once, and the only reason they stopped is because of public backlash, then they are going to try it, or something as bad, slower and more subtly. Games that WERE made with older versions of Unity before are not (at this time) subject to these new installation fees, but any games made with current or newer versions of Unity will be. Something else you should consider is that in 2022, a year before this melt down, Unity bought and merged with a company called "IronSouce." A company known for making malware that tracks all kinds of data illegally in order to give you targeted adds and other things. So, ask yourself, "How does Unity know how many times my game has been downloaded?" and then ask, "is anyone going to want to download my game if it likely has malware built into the framework?" Do not learn Unity. It may seem appealing with it's asset store and all the games made with it in the past, but it is a capitalist dumpster fire that will burn you and charge you for it. As for Unreal, it's a great system from what I've heard. However you need a BEAST of a computer run it, and it doesn't had a lot of support for 2D.

🎮 HEY I WANNA MAKE A GAME! 🎮

Yeah I getcha. I was once like you. Pure and naive. Great news. I AM STILL PURE AND NAIVE, GAME DEV IS FUN! But where to start?

To start, here are a couple of entry level softwares you can use! source: I just made a game called In Stars and Time and people are asking me how to start making vidy gaems. Now, without further ado:

SOFTWARES AND ENGINES FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO CODE!!!

Ren'py (and also a link to it if you click here do it): THE visual novel software. Comic artists, look no further ✨Pros: It's free! It's simple! It has great documentation! It has a bunch of plugins and UI stuff and assets for you to buy! It can be used even if you have LITERALLY no programming experience! (You'll just need to read the doc a bunch) You can also port your game to a BUNCH of consoles! ✨Cons: None really <3 Some games to look at: Doki Doki Literature Club, Bad End Theater, Butterfly Soup

Twine: Great for text-based games! GREAT FOR WRITERS WHO DONT WANNA DRAW!!!!!!!!! (but you can draw if you want) ✨Pros: It's free! It's simple! It's versatile! It has great documentation! It can be used even if you have LITERALLY no programming experience! (You'll just need to read the doc a bunch) ✨Cons: You can add pictures, but it's a pain. Some games to look at: The Uncle Who Works For Nintendo, Queers In love At The End of The World, Escape Velocity

Bitsy: Little topdown games! ✨Pros: It's free! It's simple! It's (somewhat) intuitive! It has great documentation! It can be used even if you have LITERALLY no programming experience! You can make everything in it, from text to sprites to code! Those games sure are small! ✨Cons: Those games sure are small. This is to make THE simplest game. Barely any animation for your sprites, can barely fit a line of text in there. But honestly, the restrictions are refreshing! Some games to look at: honestly I haven't played that many bitsy games because i am a fake gamer. The picture above is from Under A Star Called Sun though and that looks so pretty

RPGMaker: To make RPGs! LIKE ME!!!!! NOTE: I recommend getting the latest version if you can, but all have their pros and cons. You can get a better idea by looking at this post. ✨Pros: Literally everything you need to make an RPG. Has a tutorial inside the software itself that will teach you the basics. Pretty simple to understand, even if you have no coding experience! Also I made a post helping you out with RPGMaker right here! ✨Cons: Some stuff can be hard to figure out. Also, the latest version is expensive. Get it on sale! Some games to look at: Ib, Hylics, In Stars and Time (hehe. I made it)

engine.lol: collage worlds! it is relatively new so I don't know much about it, but it seems fascinating. picture is from Garden! NOTE: There's a bunch of smaller engines to find out there. Just yesterday I found out there's an Idle Game Maker made by the Cookie Clicker creator. Isn't life wonderful?

✨more advice under the cut. this is Long ok✨

ENGINES I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT AND THEY SEEM HARD BUT ALSO GIVE IT A TRY I GUESS!!!! :

Unity and Unreal: I don't know anything about those! That looks hard to learn! But indie devs use them! It seems expensive! Follow your dreams though! Don't ask me how!

GameMaker: Wuh I just don't know anything about it either! I just know it's now free if your game is non-commercial (aka, you're not selling it), and Undertale was made on it! It seems good! You probably need some coding experience though!!!

Godot: Man I know even less about this one. Heard good things though!

BUNCHA RANDOM ADVICE!!!!

-Make something small first! Try making simple: a character is in a room, and exits the room. The character can look around, decide to take an item with them, can leave, and maybe the door is locked and you have to find the key. Figuring out how to code something like that, whether it is as a fully text-based game or as an RPGMaker map, should be a good start to figure out how your software of choice works!

-After that, if you have an idea, try first to make the simplest version of that idea. For my timeloop RPG, my simplest version was two rooms: first room you can walk in, second room with the King, where a cutscene automatically plays and the battle starts, you immediately die, and loop back to the first room, with the text from this point on reflecting this change. I think I also added a loop counter. This helped me figure out the most important thing: Can This Game Be Made? After that, the rest is just fun stuff. So if you want to make a dating sim, try and figure out how to add choices, and how to have affection points go up and down depending on your choices! If you want to make a platformer, figure out how to make your character move and jump and how to create a simple level! If you just want to make a kinetic visual novel with no choices, figure out how to add text, and how to add portraits! You'll be surprised at how powerful you'll feel after having figured even those simple things out.

-If you have a programming problem or just get confused, never underestimate the power of asking Google! You most likely won't be the only person asking this question, and you will learn some useful tips! If you are powerful enough, you can even… Ask people??? On forums??? Not me though.

-Yeah I know you probably want to make Your Big Idea RIGHT NOW but please. Make a smaller prototype first. You need to get that experience. Trust me.

-If you are not a womanthing of many skills like me, you might realize you need help. Maybe you need an artist, or a programmer. So! Game jams on itch.io are a great way to get to work and meet other game devs that have different strengths! Or ask around! Maybe your artist friend secretly always wanted to draw for a game. Ask! Collaborate! Have fun!!!

I hope that was useful! If it was. Maybe. You'd like to buy me a coffee. Or maybe you could check out my comics and games. Or just my new critically acclaimed game In Stars and Time. If you want. Ok bye

[sorelyhappystarfarer]

Shamrocks Plumbing, Heating & Drains, Kelownas Preferred Plumbing Professionals

When your hot water disappears in the half way through your shower or a mysterious leak spot shows up on your ceiling, you soon understand the the need for a local plumbing company or heating technician. Most homeowners could care less about the plumbing and heating, until a problem disrupts the status quo. That’s why it's recommended to have a reliable plumber you can place confidence in when situations arise.

The Importance of Employing Nearby Plumbing and Heating Professionals

Hiring a local plumbing service has it's advantages. Unlike a national franchise, a local plumber recognizes the problems that homes in your region face. As an example, in locations with colder environments, local plumbers often recommend protecting exposed pipes to avoid a frozen pipe break, a typical and expensive wintertime catastrophe. A larger plumbing company may skip this nuance, but a local professional will expect it.

Local contractors rely upon their track record and referrals, which often means they’re committed to furnishing first-rate service. You are not just a number, you are https://jsbin.com/kiferutuka a friend.

Key Services Every Homeowner Should Look Out For

1. Emergency Plumbing Issues: Plumbing problems are never convenient. A broken pipe, toilet flowing over, or water heater failure demands immediate attention. We provide emergency plumbing service with quick response time.

2. Boiler and Furnace Maintenace and Repair: . Routine furnace inspections help find issues like carbon monoxide leaks or worn-out components before they become severe.

3. Drain Jetting and Sewer Line Service: Obstructed pipes and sewer backups aren’t just annoying, they can trigger major water damage. We use techniques like hydro flushing to clean up tough blockages without damaging your pipes.

4. Water Heater Installation and Repair: No matter if you prefer tankless or conventional hot water heaters, our specialists can identify problems, suggest the best choice for your house, and provide safe replacement.

5. Planned Maintenance Packages: The best way to steer clear of plumbing and heating problems is through regular maintenance. Ask us about our service plans. They come with seasonal check-ups, and priority service, which means difficulties are avoided economically.

Save Money and Routine Check-ups

Annual maintenance also ensures your systems work properly but in addition reduces costs. A properly serviced furnace uses much less energy, reducing utility bills. Routine plumbing checks can find small water leaks before they become a problem you would rather avoid.

Put Your Money into Long-lasting Comfort and Worry Free Living

Your home represents your most valuable asset. By working with a trustworthy local plumbing contractor, you are not just protecting that investment, you’re also ensuring your family's comfort and safety year-round. Shamrocks Plumbing, Heating, and Drain Services is a reputable plumbing contractor serving the Kelowna community. Call today for a free quote, you'll never regret having that association.

Shamrocks Plumbing, Heating & Drains 2247 Heritage Dr, Lake Country, BC V4V 2L3 (250) 575-8138 www.shamrocksplumbingandheating.ca/heating

[aidc-india]

What is a Real-Time Locating System (RTLS) and How Does It Work?

Introduction to Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) in 2025 by AIDC Technologies

In 2025, Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) are transforming how businesses track and manage their assets, personnel, and inventory. These systems provide live data on the location of items, helping companies save time, reduce losses, and improve operational efficiency. AIDC Technologies India is at the forefront of offering advanced RTLS solutions combined with robust rfid system technology to deliver smarter, faster, and more reliable tracking.

What Is RTLS? AIDC Technologies Simplifies the Definition

A Real-Time Location System (RTLS) is a technology used to automatically identify and track the location of objects or people in real time within a defined area. The core of many RTLS solutions is the rfid system, which uses radio waves to detect and track tags attached to items. AIDC India explains that RTLS can use several technologies, but RFID is among the most popular due to its accuracy and ease of integration.

How RTLS Works: Technology and Methods Explained by AIDC

RTLS operates by attaching tags or badges to objects or people. These tags emit radio signals picked up by readers or sensors installed around the premises. The data collected is processed by software to provide real-time location information. The rfid system is essential in this process, as it enables wireless communication between tags and readers, allowing seamless tracking. AIDC Technologies ensures that its RTLS solutions use the latest RFID standards for maximum reliability and coverage.

Key Benefits of RTLS for Businesses in 2025

The integration of an rfid system within RTLS offers many benefits. Businesses can quickly locate assets, reduce theft, and monitor employee movements to optimize workflow. RTLS also improves safety by tracking people in hazardous environments. AIDC Technologies India’s RTLS solutions help companies cut operational costs, reduce downtime, and increase productivity by providing precise location data instantly.

Top Industries Using RTLS Solutions from AIDC Technologies

RTLS powered by an rfid system is widely used across multiple sectors. In healthcare, hospitals track medical equipment and patients to enhance care. Manufacturing plants use RTLS to monitor tools and work-in-progress items. Logistics companies improve inventory management and shipping accuracy. Retailers prevent loss and improve stock visibility. AIDC India customizes its RTLS and RFID solutions to fit the specific needs of each industry.

Challenges in RTLS Implementation and How AIDC Overcomes Them

Deploying an RTLS with an rfid system can be complex due to factors like signal interference, infrastructure needs, and data management. AIDC Technologies India tackles these challenges by conducting thorough site surveys, designing tailored systems, and providing ongoing support. Their experts ensure seamless integration and minimal disruption to existing operations, helping clients maximize the return on their RTLS investment.

Integration of RTLS with Other Business Systems

For true operational efficiency, RTLS solutions by AIDC Technologies integrate smoothly with ERP, warehouse management, and security systems. The rfid system data feeds into these platforms to provide a unified view of asset location, status, and movement. This integration helps managers make informed decisions, automate processes, and ensure compliance with safety and quality standards.

AIDC Technologies’ Customized RTLS Solutions for Your Business

Every business has unique requirements. AIDC India offers customized RTLS solutions based on the company’s size, environment, and goals. Their advanced rfid system technology can be adapted for indoor and outdoor use, fixed or mobile tracking, and various tag types. AIDC’s team works closely with clients to design, implement, and maintain systems that fit perfectly and grow with the business.

Case Studies: Successful RTLS Deployments by AIDC Technologies

Several clients across India have benefited from AIDC’s RTLS combined with an rfid system. Hospitals have reduced equipment loss by 40%, manufacturing plants have improved production tracking, and logistics firms have enhanced shipment accuracy. These success stories highlight how AIDC’s technology and expertise create real value, making RTLS an essential tool for modern businesses.

Get Started with Smarter Tracking: Contact AIDC Technologies Today

If you want to leverage the power of RTLS and an rfid system to improve your business operations, AIDC Technologies India is your trusted partner. Their experts offer consultations, system design, installation, and ongoing support to ensure a smooth transition to smarter tracking. Book your consultation today and take the first step toward transforming how you manage your assets and people with cutting-edge RTLS solutions.

Ready to enhance your tracking with advanced RTLS and RFID systems? Book Now with AIDC Technologies India and secure smart, reliable solutions tailored to your business needs.