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nasa · 2 years

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Comin’ in Hot: Seven Things to Know About our New Heat Shield

What goes up, must come down, and from space, without burning up in an atmosphere. That’s why we’re pumped for the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID. Launching on Nov. 1, 2022, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Orbiting Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) mission, this technology demonstration marks the next step in advancing an innovative heat shield design that could one day be used to land heavy payloads – including humans – on Mars!

Here are seven things to know about this innovative re-entry system:

1. LOFTID is the first-ever in-orbit test of this technology.

Inflatable heat shields, called Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerators (HIADs), have been in the works for more than a decade. In 2012, the third of the Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle Experiments (IRVE) launched on a suborbital sounding rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility, demonstrating a 3-meter (10-foot) diameter inflatable heat shield.

But the LOFTID re-entry vehicle, at 19.7 feet (6 meters) in diameter, will be the largest blunt body aeroshell to ever go through atmospheric entry. Designed to withstand temperatures as high as 2900°F (1600°C), this first-ever in-orbit test of this technology will prove if it can successfully slow down large payloads – such as crewed spacecraft, robotic explorers, and rocket components – enabling them to survive the heat of re-entry at planetary destinations with an atmosphere.

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2. You can find out how this tech works in real-time.

LOFTID is unique in that all operations will happen within a few hours of launch. After the JPSS-2 satellite safely reaches orbit, the LOFTID vehicle will separate from the upper stage of the Atlas V rocket and begin re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. If all goes as planned, the technology will help the vehicle decelerate from hypersonic (more than 25 times faster than the speed of sound) down to subsonic flight, less than 609 miles per hour for a safe splash down and recovery from the Pacific Ocean.

While in flight, engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center will receive location data every 20 seconds and onboard sensors and cameras will record more comprehensive data about the technology’s performance. You can get a behind-the-scenes look at Langley’s Flight Mission Support Center where the LOFTID project team will be monitoring the flight test at NASA.gov/live following the launch.

3. A lemon-sized capsule ejected into the Pacific Ocean will hold key flight data.

The LOFTID re-entry vehicle will record both sensor and camera data during its flight. The data will include the temperatures and pressures experienced by the heat shield and will illustrate how well the technology performed during the demonstration.

Although the goal is to retrieve the LOFTID re-entry vehicle after it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, the team wanted a back-up option just in case they can’t recover it. Enter the tiny yellow package called an ejectable data module (EDM) which will also record flight data. The EDM will be released from the spacecraft at an altitude of about 50,000 feet. It will free fall into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii and should land within 10 miles of the spacecraft’s splash down location. A recovery team, that has practiced hide-and-seek of the EDM on land and sea, will use GPS to search an approximately 900-mile area of the Pacific Ocean to find their “lemon.”

4. This heat shield packs a punch.

Although NASA has historically relied on rigid aeroshells, parachutes, and retro-propulsion (rockets) to decelerate people, vehicles, and hardware during entry, descent, and landing operations, a benefit of inflatable heat shields is that they take up less space in a rocket, allowing more room for other hardware or payloads. LOFTID’s aeroshell has been folded and tightly packed down to 4 by 1.5 feet for launch and stacked in the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket payload fairing.

5. LOFTID is dedicated in honor of one of its innovators.

LOFTID was developed as a partnership with ULA and is dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter, ULA manager of advanced programs, who passed away in August 2020. Kutter was instrumental in advancing the inflatable heat shield design and developing the plan to test the system on an Atlas V rocket. He was an advocate for both space technology and expanding access to space. Kutter’s NASA and ULA counterparts agree that LOFTID is unlikely to have made it to space without his vision and passion.

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6. LOFTID is made of tough stuff.

Synthetic fibers make up the inflatable structure, braided into tubes that are, by weight, 10 times stronger than steel. The tubes are coiled so that they form the shape of a blunt cone when inflated. The thermal protection system that covers the inflatable structure can survive searing entry temperatures up to 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit. Researchers used the same heat-shielding materials to create a fire shelter prototype for firefighters battling forest fires.

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7. You can make your own LOFTID Halloween costume!

Still looking for an out-of-this world Halloween costume? With a few commonly found materials, like orange pool noodles and duct tape, you can create your own LOFTID costume. However, we make no promises of protecting or slowing you down from becoming the life of the party.

Follow @NASA_Technology for the latest updates on LOFTID. Don’t miss our live coverage leading up to launch from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The NASA Edge JPSS-2 Tower Rollback Show airs live on NASA TV and YouTube on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 12 a.m. EDT, and NASA TV live launch coverage will begin at 4:45 a.m. EDT.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

#LOFTID #NOAA #NASA #spaceblr #space technology #tech #Youtube #technology

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ilariyalavorowrites · 5 months

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Stalking Me, Stalking You (CSI Nick Stokes) Part three

Imagine: You never saw it coming, you never knew he was there until the moment he struck. For months, this individual had stalking you from the shadows, trying to find a way into your life. Never quite able to but in his mind, time was running out and soon enough you would be completely out of reach. This was the moment to act, to ‘rescue’ you and steal you away.

Warnings: Angst with a happy ending, kidnapping, hurt but eventual comfort. Suffering, lots of suffering, slow-moving plot, stalking, obsessive behaviour.

Pairings: Nick Stokes x Reader and Reader x OC (one-sided)

Word count: 3,068 words

Universe: CSI

Reader gender: Female

Part three of ten

Tagged: @just-call-me-the-old-hag @horsedragonllama @space-helen @kneelforloki @flopiboni

Previous / Next

Monday, Midnight

Greg and Morgan sat side by side, as Archie worked his magic on the various clips of CCTV. Each of the three larger monitors displayed different parts of a timeline that had been created by the day shift’s visual and audio tech Franklyn. They watched as their friend exited her known and preferred coffee shop with her piping hot beverage alone. This had been the last place that she had seen when Officer Sawyer had taken the barista’s statement.

“This is the only first clip that Dayshift obtained after the warrant for her finances came through” Morgan stated with the matching report in hand. The short clip showed nothing out of the ordinary. There was no one tailing her, no strange car parked with a window partially wound down with the driver trying to look casual as their eyes trailed after her.

“It confirms the Barista’s statement at the very least” Greg replied as his gaze shifted to the second screen. Archie paused the first clip and then slid the cursor to the play the next one.

All of them were teetering on the edge of professionalism. Trying their best to push aside their personal feelings. They needed to try at the very least to view the evidence collected like any other case. It was going to be a long night especially as Greg and Morgan had been the ones assigned to review what was already there for this shift.

The plan was for hands on deck over the next few shifts, to hand over the new details and brief the incoming day shift at the end of their night then repeat the process with a fresh set of eyes the next night.

“This one isn’t the greatest quality, it’s a wall-mounted camera from one of her neighbours that was discovered by the door-to-door interviews” Archie stated as the pixelated footage started. Both Morgan and Greg noted the timestamp, it had been captured at 2:30 in the afternoon.

“This camera will only record when the motion detection is triggered as you both know” Archie reminded them as they all watched as a battered, Silver Chevrolet Cruze drove past. It did not match the make and model of the car that the Detective had, which had yet to be located even with the BOLO that had been put out with all the necessary details. It had vanished into thin air.

Notes from the lead CSI Ava Dane stated that none of the neighbours had recognised the car when they had spoken after reviewing the footage. One neighbour had commented that he noticed the vehicle when he had returned from home at around 3:10 but he had heard tyres screeching loudly about twenty-five minutes later and when he looked at the window, it was gone.

There had been a slight skid mark noted and photographed from outside that particular address which had been run through the system and matched commonly used wheels. It had the first dead end.

“Franklyn managed to recover a partial plate after cleaning up the image, I won’t be able to get much more than that due to video quality” The tech apologised, knowing that this was not what the two of them wanted to hear.

“It’s a start at least” Morgan responded, trying to remain positive as she turned to the next report. Her eyes rapidly moved over the data displayed there. “It looks like the day shift ran that plate, there’s a fair few listed but they eliminated half”

As her eyes drifted down the page, they stopped over one particular name. As memories of the case that she had worked on came flooding back. The Detective had been waiting for her at the scene.

Vaughn Mikhailov was a two-bit drug dealer, he and his older brother Artem had been targeted and shot at in a drive-by gangbangers after they had tried to move in on the turf of another local dealer. The initial warnings had been ignored by the pair, and this had led to the car being targeted. Vaughn had been in the backseat, he had barely been clipped by a single bullet in his left shoulder but Artem hadn’t been as lucky.

He had died at the scene, bleeding out whilst waiting on the paramedics. Vaughn had been cooperative to a point, but eventually, he just screamed at her friend when she had in his eyes failed to get justice for his brother.

It was not always possible to reach a satisfactory end to every case, it had been one of those which slipped through the crack when the leads had all run cold. Morgan remembered that her friend had noted that this had not been her first rodeo with either of the Mikhailov brothers.

“The first time I met them was when I was working the beat, I arrested Artem for soliciting a working girl and Vaughn for dealing. Both of them had rap sheets as long as your arm. It's their mother, I feel for each time one of them ends up in court”

There had been sympathy that lingered as she listened, as it turned out their mother had raised both the boys single-handedly after their father had run off. She had tried her best but they had been drawn into the fast-paced lifestyle of wheeling and dealing. As she watched, the detective informed the woman of her son’s death.

“What is it, Morgan?” Greg asked, noticing that Morgan had not spoken and became transfixed by one of the reports further in. He leaned, to see what she had been reading. It was the list of cars compiled by the plate search.

“Vaughn Mikhailov,” She said looking up to meet his gaze. Greg’s gaze narrowed perplexed as he did not recognize the name. However, before he could reply, Morgan beat him to the punch.

“It was a drive-by shooting case, I worked a few weeks back and she was the lead detective assigned work to the case alongside me” She started, knowing that she would need to give him more than that if they were going to start to seriously look at him as a potential suspect.

“He and his older brother were targeted after trying to move into another dealer’s turf. His brother died at the scene. He was far from happy with how things went but he had a chip on his shoulder as she had arrested him more than a few times in the past” Once she had finished speaking, Morgan waited for Greg to process the information that had been dumped upon him.

“So he held her responsible for not finding his brother’s killer then. Greg asked, Morgan nodded before one last comment. “He had an axe to grind”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------Tuesday, 4 am

With one hand poised, Nick firmly knocked upon Russell’s closed office door. In a roundabout way, he had expected the text summoning him to the supervisor’s office but not this soon. He had hoped that he would be one way approaching Russell but then again, at least this way soon enough everything would be out in the open.

This was not the way that he had hoped that this conversation would be initiated. He knew that she had already started telling her partner and fellow officers about her boyfriend whenever she had a spare few minutes. She had also scheduled a meeting with HR on the day that she was meant to be returning to work. Nick then would approach Russell around the same time as she would have been seated down with HR. Effectively killing two birds with one stone

This had always been their plan when things became more serious between the two of them. Multiple discussions had arisen, on when, where and how they approach their collective jobs regarding their romantic relationship and the potential impact on both of their jobs that would need to be addressed and solutions put into place.

She had planned to offer to be moved from Graveyard to Swing or Day if no other compromise could be reached. Where it would be possible for both of them both work the same shift pattern without any issues. Departmental policy had previously torn Sara from the team when her relationship with Grissom came to light, they had wondered how it would have played out for them.

Yes, they were still colleagues working alongside another one, but not under the same direct supervisor. They crossed over for Homicide and Forensic evidence collection and investigation came hand in hand. Without one, you couldn’t have the other.

“Come in” Russell’s voice called from behind the door, bringing Nick back of his thoughts as he pushed the handle and then the door inwardly. “Hey Russell…” He greeted the man sitting behind the desk but what he hadn’t expected was Catherine being in the room, standing off to one side behind Russell.

“Shut the door Nick” Russell continued as he went through the motions of crossing the threshold and closing the door behind him and moved further into the office to stand before the pair staring straight at him.

“I know this is about Detective..” Her name rolled off his tongue, one that had fallen on his lips many times before. “Look, I know that I should have told you..” Nick started to try and explain the position that he had found himself in.

“Nick, I need to know that you’ll be able to recuse yourself if you cross that emotional line where you start to lead your heart, not your head. For as long as you can remain objective then you still work on the case but the moment, that you step over that line. I will remove you and you’ll be treated just like every other significant other or next kin on every other case that had past through this department” Russell spoke with a conviction that could not be ignored or overturned. This was a promise that he would not go back on.

Nick quickly nodded, happily agreeing with his supervisor’s conclusion. “This will have to be logged with HR and I’ll arrange the meeting shortly” Russell said before turning to Catherine. “Anything you want to add?” He said, pulling her into the dialogue. Catherine had been quietly observing the short back and forth between the pair.

“Nicky, from here on out, we’ll be watching closer. Please understand, that we want to bring her home as much as you do. Still, we have to follow the rules and ensure there nothing can be challenged further down the line” Her words held a warmth that Nick had felt before, the familial love that had developed and grown over the many years that they had worked together. Once again, Catherine was looking after him, all whilst balancing the integrity of the crime lab and their necessary work on top of that. It was a well-practice balancing act that she had perfected over the last decade.

All it took would be one step in the wrong direction and it would come tumbling back down. That could not happen, no it would not help.

------------------------------------------------------------------------Tuesday 2 am

As the night rolled by, evidence was processed, reviewed and reported, with the new findings and avenues to venture down next added to the ever-growing list.

The one initially weak lead that had cropped up early in the shift strengthened as prints from the scene which had been set running whilst the sun was still up bore fruit. Morgan’s theory now seemed more plausible as the same name popped up once more, this could not just be a coincidence in the name of bad blood.

Morgan turned to Greg, still trying to wrap her head around this as there were still too many variables that did not make a lick of sense. She could understand the steps taken to enact some twisted form of payback by breaking into the detective’s home and destroying everything that she might hold dear. There were no signs of a struggle, no blood splatter or trail to imply that they had been lying in wait for her to return.

With the crime scene photos laid out on the table between them, this felt much like the pieces of a puzzle waiting to be put together to reveal the image displayed upon the box when a handful of key tiles were missing, creating holes in the image. “This isn’t the primary scene, there is no indication that she ever came back. Two separate indications with one connecting factor, her” Morgan said, churning over the thoughts in her head out loud as she tried to make any sense of it all.

“What do we know about Vaughn Mikhailov, beyond his last arrest report?” Greg started before listing off what had been discovered thus far “His prints are all over this crime scene, his car matches the mark and model spotted on the neighbour's CCTV but why would a dealer break into a cop’s home in broad daylight?” He posed the question to Morgan, the blonde’s face twisted in confusion as she tried to gather together a logical answer but found none.

“How did he find her address? That’s what bugs me unless he tailed her previously but according to the neighbour’s statement” Morgan replied, fishing out the relevant document from the box on her side of the table and turning to the right page. “That car had never been caught on camera before that day and those cameras had been up for more than six months”

“The only way that we’ll get satisfactory answers is that Vaughn Mikhailov needs to be found and brought in for questioning” Morgan nodded her head in agreement, the two-bit criminal had a lot to answer for.

“Brass put has BOLO out on Mikailov’s car”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------Tuesday, 4:30 am

The blinding flash of blue lights and screeching sirens were not out of place as the convoy of vehicles pulled up in front of the homestead. Its chain link fence had seen better days, half still attached to the poles that marked the edge of the property and the rest lost within the depths of the tall grass that desperately needed cutting.

The property itself was registered to one Nikolai Mikhailov, the cousin of their prime suspect. It was not out of the ordinary for Vaughn to crash on his cousin’s sofa when his mother threw him out for the third time that week. Officers had called the property in the past, more often than not on matters of public nuisance or disturbance. Nikolai loved to party well into the small hours and was not shy about using violence to silence any complaining neighbours if they dared to call the cops on him.

Detective Captain Jim Brass surveyed the scene from behind the cruiser’s side door and soon found what he was looking for. With the garage door half enough, it was plain to see the car parked within, its license plate matching the suspect’s known vehicle of choice. No lights could be seen from the street as Officers tentatively approached the front door, ready to burst through the door and apprehend whoever was on the other side.

With the fury of valkyries leading the charge, the officers breached through the threshold as calls of LVPD came and went as Jim watched them disappear inside. This had to be it, this had to be the end of the road.

He was not the only one listening in, as the Officers inside cleared the scene. The investigated interest ran through from the bottom straight up to the top. She was one of them

‘419’ The code of a dead body came crackling over the airwaves, a dead body had been discovered. A chill rushed through him as he envisioned the very sight of her lying there, with empty, glazed-over eyes staring up at him as he wondered why.

’It’s not her’ The voice of Officer Mitchell soon followed as Jim released the breath that he hadn’t known he was holding back, then again he wasn’t the only one. Nick stood silently by, with bated breath as Morgan and Greg left with kits in hand. This was their scene now as they had been the ones to discover the connections that led to this.

Hodges stood in the doorway, reading the scene before him. The air was still tense as they all waited for the relief to set in but yet that felt too premature. The lab tech cleared his throat to try and catch Nick’s attention. He watched for a moment then tried a different approach.

“Nick, this was left at Reception for you” Hodges called into the room, as he held out the unstamped manila envelope for the other man to take. Nick Stokes was scrawled across the front in a large and unfamiliar hand.

Nick frowned, he was not awaiting any post as he took it. “Thanks, man,” He said as he turned it over, inspecting it from every angle. There was nothing about the envelope that stood out, it was a standard A3 office stationery that was stocked by countless suppliers but the question arose of who had sent it.

As he carefully opened the sealed flap and reached inside, Nick quickly found the content. A series of photographs which he slid out. Hodges slid up beside him as he turned over the first which revealed little other than what he already knew to be true.

“Is that…” David questioned at the sight of his friends and colleagues locked in a rather passionate embrace. “Yes,” Nick curtly replied, annoyed at the very prospect that they had been followed and their privacy had been invaded like this as he turned over the next one.

It was the last one that drew a shocked gasp from Hodges, as he shook with a rage that he hadn’t felt for some time. The sight of her bound and unconscious in the boot of an unidentifiable vehicle with the words I WIN STOKES, SHE IS MINE written in bold, block capitals across the top of the image.

Each had focused upon her, she was the object of this maddening desire. A tail had been placed as her routine was documented. He held pride of place in a number of the images, whether he liked it or not.

He was taunting him, this was just his opening move.

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slutshamethesquirrels · 2 months

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The Breadline

Ch.1 - The Back Drain

pairing: recovering!line cook!eren yeager x fat! fem! reader TW's: alcoholism, recovery, mentions of abuse, mentions of domestic violence, foster care, child custody, foster system, CPS, mentions of body/weight

You weren’t sure why you didn’t expect the morning to be a mishmash of chaos and disorganization. Ellie, as independent and rambunctious as ever, could not for the life of her pick out an outfit. Or rather, could not suppress her disdain for your choice of outfits. Appearances were important when you were the sole caregiver of a toddler with an open safety and welfare case, but after thirty minutes or so of arguing (when you’d only prepped for ten), you’d decided to let her dress herself, resulting in you practically throwing her at her preschool teacher; adorned in a neon yellow puffer jacket, a thin and ill-fitting costume dress from last halloween (She’d gone as a ladybug), and her favorite baby blue rain boots on the wrong feet. The daycare worker had looked confused, but you didn’t have any time to spare. “I’m not on crack, she’s just a fashion icon-” was the only explanation you offered before giving your sister a small peck on the cheek and practically sprinting back to your car.

You were in a heated race with the clock to get there on time. Your GPS insisted that you would arrive three minutes late, but you were determined to prove it wrong. Channeling your inner Andretti, you whipped around grandmothers and teenagers, keeping an adequate pace with the much larger and more expensive trucks surrounding you despite the uncomfortably loud drone of your engine. Between the combination of your expertise with a general disregard for red lights, you managed to whip into the back parking lot of the flying plate at exactly eight thirty. Knowing that if one more minute managed to pass you would be rejected for the one opportunity the world had so graciously presented you, you flew out of your vehicle in a panic, only bothering to grab your purse and slam the door behind you before running up to the back door and pressing the doorbell for delivery drivers.

Quickly, almost too quickly, the door opened, as if whatever was on the other side had been expecting you to arrive at that exact moment. You could swear the doorbell hadn’t stopped making noise as you stood almost eye to eye with a stranger. He was holding his phone up beside his head with the screen facing you, the time changing from eight thirty to eight thirty one as he sized you up with his eyes. You realized this must be Levi.

He was small, but strangely intimidating, as if god himself had simply denied him his right to height, lest he be too formidable. Your chest heaved from the rush to the door, and you opened your mouth to provide him with a proper introduction through ragged breaths. He didn’t seem to have the patience.

“You’re an ass hair from being late..” he flatly stated, his voice matching the stone gray of his eyes “...and sweaty.”.

“Oh” You looked down at your arms, trying to pull together an excuse other than the truth when he pulled you in another direction yet again.

“No matter, I suppose I didn’t say you couldn’t be any of those things. Follow me.” He pushes the door open for you, but does not hold it, causing you to clumsily shove your larger frame through the door behind him at a disorienting rate. He leads you through a short hallway past an ice machine and a mop station, looking at it with disdain as he passed. He opened another door, this time holding it for you to shuffle through into the world's tiniest office.

Despite the close quarters, the office had not a hair out of place. Security camera monitors adorn the top left corner of the room, all their cords meticulously tucked against the underside of the shelving, where books of manuals and policies were neatly housed and organized alphabetically. An L-shaped white desk lined the walls beneath the monitors, a stool tucked under the blank side and an office chair on the side that contained a PC and a half finished mug of tea.

Erwin had attempted to warn you about this man’s disposition, but you’d failed to heed that warning. It seemed to finally settle in as he pushed the door closed behind you. It felt like he was sealing a tomb. He opened the file cabinet to your left and produced a small container of sanitizing wipes, giving the surface of his chair a quick swipe before pulling the stray stool from under the desk and doing the same.

“Sit. Please.” he motioned to the open seat and you hesitantly climbed on it, trying your best to calm your nerves as he momentarily turned to hit a button on a small box you hadn’t noticed attached to the wall. You recognized it as an intercom system.

“Someone tell Yeager to scrub that back drain. I know he closed last night.”

As he spoke, you produced your slightly crumpled resume from your bag, clutching it between your fists as if your entire future laid between those pages. You watched as he lifted his head up to the monitors, his eyes carefully scanning the grainy images, presumably to make sure what he had asked was being done. You follow his gaze and see a tall man with a ponytail rounding the corner of the back hallway, locking eyes with the monitor and throwing a not so subtle middle finger as he did so. A small smirk crosses Levi’s face.

Clearing his throat, he finally turned his attention to you, his features resettling into a blank slate. You pass him your resume, awkwardly smiling as you did so. You felt like you were going to throw up. He said nothing, but flipped through the pages with an unamused glare.

“You’re not supposed to lie on a resume, but you know you don’t have to tell the whole truth, right?” he muttered as he scanned the text.

“Look, I know it looks bad-” you began, “-but I can explain!”

“ Bad? Doll, this is worse than bad. I’ve met dogs that could provide me with a better work history.”

You stayed silent, feeling defeated already. You couldn’t bear to look at him anymore, your eyes making note of the ceiling tile’s patterns as blood rushed to your face. This was stupid. Why would Mr. Smith even recommend you if he knew you were just gonna get roasted by this guy? The shuffling of papers had almost become unbearable, the anxiety mounting in your chest as he scrutinized every letter on the pages.

A much louder flop brought your eyes back down to meet his.

“I’m not in the business of taking charity cases. I know that Erwin gave you a glowing recommendation, but I run a tight ship. This-” He motioned to your resume where he’d tossed it onto the desk “-simply doesn’t meet my standards. I’m sorry.”. He stood up to open the door, presumably to lead you out.

“No, please!” you rose to your feet as well, placing yourself between him and the door. He cocked his head slightly and narrowed his eyes, almost daring you to argue with him. You simultaneously got the feeling that you shouldn’t, but yet you had to.

“I know my work history is bad. But I need this job. I can promise you, swear to you, that I will be here, on time, everyday. I will show up and bust my ass harder than anyone here does. I will work late, pick up shifts, and follow every policy to the T because I have to!”

In your panic, your voice had risen, and when you noticed the slight flash of anger in his eyes, you corrected yourself. In a much softer tone, barely above a whisper, you admitted:

“I don’t have a choice. I have full guardianship of my sister… I’ll loose her if I don’t.”.

For a moment, nothing changes. You both remain rigid and unwavering in wet-concrete thick tension. The air seems tense and stale, the office seeming to close in on the two of you as the suspense builds until finally, finally Levi sighs, briefly gripping the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger before turning to grab your resume once again. He flips to the last page and stares at it as if an intense enough gaze could cause it to spontaneously combust. He was as stoic as ever, but you could’ve sworn you saw some intense emotions pooling beneath the surface.

“Fine.” He finally broke, shoving the resume into your chest as if he couldn’t wait to get you out of his office and out of his space. In one swift motion, he had also scooped your bag off the floor tossing it at you as well “You start tomorrow!”.

Shock overtook you for a moment, your eyes widening and an incredulous grin spreading across your face as you exclaimed.

“Really!?”

“Yes. Really. Keep up.”

In your celebration, you hadn’t even noticed he was halfway down the hall, and you had to jog to catch up.

“Thank you sir!! You won’t regret it!” it was all you could do not to literally jump for joy.

“Don’t be so excited.” he stops suddenly by the back door and whipped around quickly, almost causing you to slam into him. He held a finger up, and then two, and brought them up to his face in a ‘look at me’ motion.

“You will arrive on time. Not on time like today, on time like five minutes early-”

You nod to show you’re listening, trying hard to wipe the overjoyed expression off your face and replace it with a more serious one.

“-if you don’t, you’re fired. If you call out, you’re fired. If you don’t preform like I expect you too, you’re fired. You will help keep this place spotless and you will do it without complaining, or I will fire you. Understood?”

You nodded much faster than necessary “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”.

“Good.” He opened the door and ushered you out. You had taken a step out of the door and back into the sunlight when he spoke again, first saying your name, followed by:

“One last thing. I will not tolerate any romantic relationships with your coworkers. You’re here to work, not to find a soul mate. After the last incident, it’s become the golden rule around here. Do not disappoint me.”

Before you could respond, he had slammed the door behind you. The instant you were free from Levi’s stare, your body reacted to the triumph you’d been suppressing. You had done it! Finally, after months of searching you had landed a job! You let out a high-pitched squeal, bouncing up and down on your toes while you hugged your shitty resume like it was an old friend.

A few moments later you settled a bit, finally removing the paper from your chest and glancing over the last page. To your horror, you discovered it had been scribbled on in crayon. A drawing of three gelatinous blobs, with sticks for arms and eldritch horror-esque gaping holes for mouths. Each one was decorated differently. One circle was insultingly large, with hair that looked suspiciously like your own. The second was much more ovular, with blonde sunshine sprigs for hair. The third was small with brown pigtails, holding a lollipop. Was this meant to be you, Erwin, and Ellie? You had half a mind to murder the child-

Your thoughts were interrupted by some movement out of the corner of your vision. Looking up, you saw the man from earlier who had flipped off the camera. Without the graininess of the screen, you could see him much clearer. He had a cigarette pressed between his lips, and a mass of chocolate locks tucked into a bun. He was tall, and lean… and his eyes. Oh fuck , his eyes. They were a sea foam green, a shade of green you didn’t think you’d seen on anyone else before. He didn’t even try to look away from you, but in all fairness you’d been caught staring as well. Butterflies stirred in your gut as he slowly and pointedly scanned you from head to toe and back up again. You sheepishly smiled and waved, prompting him to call out to you:

“Welcome to the team.”

m a s t e r l i s t

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halobirthdays · 9 months

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Happy birthday to the Superintendent!

Today is its -489th birthday!

The Superintendent is a "dumb" AI construct used to run and monitor New Mombasa's municipal systems. Dr. Daniel Endesha was a scientist primarily tasked with its management. He created Virgil, a subroutine programmed into the Superintendent that was designed to look after his daughter, Sadie. Using its widespread access to New Mombasa's cameras, microphones, and machines, Virgil was able to monitor Sadie and make decisions based on her best interest. For example, when Sadie attempted to join the UNSC, Virgil used its access to New Mombasa's train system to prevent her from going to the recruiting office. When New Mombasa was attacked by the Covenant, it similarly commandeered vehicles to guide her to safety.

The Superintendent became of interest to the Covenant when it performed a seismic scan that detected the portal at Voi. Interested, the Covenant conducted a search for its data center, which ONI sent Captain Veronica Dare and ODST squad Alpha-Nine to prevent. The Superintendent assisted Alpha-Nine by guiding them through the city using its municipal functions, such as signs, lights, and voice prompts. When Dare reached the data center, she discovered that a Covenant Huragok accessed the damaged Superintendent, absorbing both it and the sub-routine Virgil. This Huragok, Quick-to-Adjust, essentially became what is left of the Superintendent. Because it absorbed Virgil's data, Quick-to-Adjust became attached to Sadie, often refusing to cooperate without her. Thus, Sadie became the Huragok's handler.

In canon (~2560), it is turning 48!

#the superintendent #halo 3 odst #you could make the argument that the Superintendent is technically deactivated #but Quick doesn't have a bday so #happy birthday to the Superintendent and my lil gas bag

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thesilliestrovingalive · 6 days

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Updated: September 18, 2024

Reworked Group #4: S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S.

Overview

Tequila and Red Eye successfully dismantled a rogue military organisation engaged in illicit human trafficking and arms dealing, which had also planned to launch a global bioterrorist attack in collaboration with the Pipovulaj Army. The plot involved spreading a zombie plague to control the population, transforming numerous innocent civilians into violent Man Eaters as a means to create a twisted form of super-soldier. Impressed by Tequila and Red Eye's exceptional performance as highly capable spies, the Intelligence Agency and the Regular Army jointly established a covert operations branch, S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S., through a mutual agreement.

The S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. is responsible for gathering intelligence and managing information to prevent public panic and global hysteria. They provide their members with specialised training in high-risk covert operations that surpass the scope of regular Intelligence Agency agents, which are all conducted with utmost discretion and situational awareness. Some of these special covert operation missions involve precision targeting of high-priority threats and strategic disruption of complex criminal schemes.

Insignia

It features a cerulean square Iberian shield, rimmed with a spiky teal vine that’s outlined in bronze. Above the shield, the words "S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S." are inscribed in bluish-white, surmounting a stylized pair of bronze eyes with a yellowish-white star at their centre. The shield is flanked by a stylized peregrine falcon holding a gilded blade on the right side and a male house sparrow clutching an olive branch on the left side.

S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. Base

The Intelligence Division is tactically positioned adjacent to the Joint Military Police Headquarters, deeply entrenched within a dense and remote forest in Northern Russia. The rectangular military compound features a forest-inspired camouflage colour scheme, a secure warehouse for military vehicles, multiple surveillance cameras, and several elevators leading to a subterranean base. They have a rooftop array of parabolic antennas that enables real-time surveillance, threat detection, and situational awareness, preventing surprise attacks and informing strategic decision-making. The base features comprehensive protection through an advanced security system and a defensive magnetic field, which automatically activates in response to potential threats, safeguarding against enemy attacks.

The subterranean base features a state-of-the-art command and surveillance centre, equipped with cutting-edge technological systems to orchestrate and execute operations. Additional facilities include:

An armoury housing the group’s most cutting-edge, high-clearance weaponry and specialised ordnance.

A high-tech meeting room with a high-resolution, encrypted display screen and multi-axis, AI-enhanced holographic projection system.

A state-of-the-art gymnasium for maintaining elite physical readiness, featuring biometric monitoring systems and AI-driven training programs.

A fully equipped, high-tech medical bay with regenerative treatment capabilities and telemedicine connectivity for remote expert consultation.

A secure dining area serving optimised, nutrient-rich rations for peak performance.

A high-security quarters with biometrically locked storage for personal gear and AI-monitored, secure communication arrays.

A Combat Academy, led by Margaret Southwood, featuring a heavily fortified training area with advanced combat simulation zones, tactical obstacle courses, stealth and surveillance training areas, and high-tech weapons testing ranges.

Extra Information

S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. stands for Special Pursuit Agents and Rapid Response Operations Worldwide Strikeforce.

Members of the S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. are commonly known as "Sparrowers" or "Following Falconers", reflecting their affiliation with the unit and their close relationship with the P.F. Squad.

Despite being part of an elite covert operations branch, Sparrowers face a significant pay disparity: males earn a quarter of the average government agent's salary, while females earn about a third. Additionally, underperforming Sparrowers, both male and female, experience further financial hardship due to delayed salary payments, often waiting between one to two months to receive their overdue compensation.

The S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. conduct their covert operations in collaboration with the Peregrine Falcons Squad who provide primary firepower and protection for their agents.

The handguns carried by Sparrowers are the Murder Model-1915 .38 Mk.1Am or Classic Murder .38 for short. It’s a double-action revolver that features a 6-round cylinder. Originally designed to enhance the Enfield No.2 .38 Caliber revolver in 1915, the Murder Model retained only the frame and grip from the original. All other components were replaced with newer parts in later years.

#writerscorner #creative writing #writing #iron eclipse au #metal slug #snk #gaming community #rework #redesign #history #insignia #logo #base #headquarters #extra information #sparrows #tequila #red eye #margaret southwood

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good-old-gossip · 3 months

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The Israeli army’s use of Palestinian civilians as human shields has been documented on a large scale

Palestinian Territory - Video footage released by Al Jazeera TV shows the Israeli army using detained Palestinian civilians as human shields and compelling them to enter dangerous combat zones—evidence of a systematic tactic of the army. There are numerous documented instances of civilians being used as human shields by Israeli forces, which is considered a war crime.

The leaked horrific scenes that were obtained and published by Al Jazeera reveal how the Israeli army uses civilians, including injured detainees, as human shields and forces them into hazardous combat zones after installing cameras on their bodies and binding them with rope. Each of the aforementioned acts of criminal, brutal, and inhumane behaviour constitutes a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, and is a full-fledged war crime. These crimes, and dozens of similar cases, require urgent intervention from the international justice system to ensure the protection of civilians, prevent their use as human shields, and hold the Israeli political and military perpetrators.

Following the commencement of the Israeli army’s ground operations at the end of October 2023, numerous documented cases have shown that the Israeli army has exploited Palestinian civilians by using them as human shields. These civilians have been forced to engage in military operations that directly endanger their lives, such as breaking into buildings or tunnels or searching for possible explosives and tunnels. Others have been detained in homes and conflict zones, endangering their lives and violating international humanitarian law.

The Israeli army has repeatedly used people as human shields, with numerous instances of this behaviour documented throughout the West Bank as well as the Gaza Strip. This is an expansion of a long-standing strategy employed by the Israeli army during times of escalation or during its frequent incursions into the West Bank.

The Euro-Med Monitor field team documented a compound and comprehensive crime against a civilian family on 27 June 2024. A family comprising an elderly woman and her four children, including three young women and a one-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter, was attacked with gunfire and bombs by Israeli forces who stormed their house in the Gaza City neighbourhood of Al-Shujaiya. They were later taken outside and detained for over three hours near Israeli tanks in a dangerous combat zone, despite the injuries they sustained in the initial attack on their home, and were used as human shields. The 65-year-old mother, identified as Safiya Hassan Musa Al-Jamal, was run over by an Israeli tank and killed in front of her son.

The Israeli army also used 59-year-old doctor Yahya Khalil Deeb Al-Kayyali and a number of his family members as human shields on 20 March 2024, after storming their house and forcing Al-Kayyali to stand on the balcony during an exchange of fire with gunmen west of Gaza City.

During the Shifa Medical Complex raid in March 2024, Israeli forces used civilians, including patients and displaced individuals sheltering inside the Complex, as human shields. To protect their military operations within the hospital and its vicinity, Israeli forces exploited Palestinian civilians by making them form human barriers to surround Israeli soldiers and military vehicles, or sending them under threat to residential homes and buildings to either help arrest or forcibly evacuate other civilians before army raids and the subsequent destruction of many of these buildings.

One Palestinian, identified only as K.F., who requested anonymity due to safety concerns, spoke with Euro-Med Monitor about sheltering in the Shifa Medical Complex. He stated that Israeli forces ordered him and three other young men to enter several rooms inside the Complex after cameras were attached to their heads. They were then forced to move towards and inspect specific locations, by remote orders issued by the Israeli army. He added that they forced him to move through the General Surgery building for several continuous hours before he was ultimately forcibly evacuated with his wife and daughter; he knows nothing about the fate of the other young men used by the Israeli army as human shields in the same incident.

M.N, an elderly man in his sixties who also requested anonymity due to safety reasons, stated that the Israeli army forced his eldest son to enter the basements of the Shifa Medical Complex as well as its sewage areas, while he witnessed other detainees being placed inside armored vehicles during the fighting. Others were forced to stand behind the Israeli army forces and military vehicles stationed at the entrances of the Complex to prevent any targeting of them.

In another testimony, the wife of a nurse forced by the Israeli army to evacuate the Complex towards the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip said that she witnessed Israeli forces using her husband as a human shield to open doors to sections in the Shifa Medical Complex for several consecutive hours. She stated that her husband’s fate remains unknown, and she fears for his safety.

Furthermore, several families residing near the Shifa Medical Complex reported that Israeli forces arrested young men from inside the medical facility, then used them to enter the families’ homes and demand that they immediately evacuate to the central and southern Strip.

A woman from the Arafat family informed the Euro-Med Monitor team that they were surprised by the entry of a man in his late 30s, stripped of his clothes except for his underwear. He informed them that the Israeli army sent him to tell them to evacuate their home within 30 minutes and had threatened to bomb it over their heads. Upon their evacuation, as ordered, the Arafat family witnessed several other Palestinian youths in similar situations, i.e. being forced to enter neighbouring homes to warn residents.

Similar incidents were also reported in the West Bank, such as the Israeli army’s use of the injured civilian Mujahid Fayyad as a human shield on 22 June. Israeli forces pinned him to the front of a military jeep and roamed through Jenin’s Jabriyat neighbourhood, which was the scene of an Israeli military incursion and armed clashes.

A comparable incident occurred when the Israeli army detained Wafa Nayef Jarrar, 49, on 21 May and purposefully put her life in danger by holding her for four hours in a high conflict zone. She suffered serious injuries as a result, as she was trapped in a military Jeep in a physically unsafe position, leading to the amputation of her legs.

Additionally, the Israeli army utilised three Palestinian children as human shields during its invasion of the Tulkarm refugee camp in the northern West Bank on 5 and 6 May. The children were made to walk in front of the soldiers as they searched residences and asked people to evacuate their homes. Israeli soldiers shot two of the children after resting their rifles on their shoulders.

Euro-Med Monitor previously issued a detailed report titled “Israeli Matrix of Control: Use of Palestinian civilians as human shields”, documenting cases of Palestinian civilians used as human shields by Israeli military forces during the 50-day conflict in the Gaza Strip (8 July–26 August 2014). According to the report, Israeli forces used Palestinian civilians as human shields in at least six instances in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis to protect Israeli soldiers or vehicles during their ground incursion of the area. One of the cases involved the use of a child as a human shield.

The Israeli army has used Palestinian civilians as human shields, deliberately putting them in strategic places and in front of military targets, in an attempt to prevent attacks, fortify its forces in the Gaza Strip, facilitate its military operations and obstruct corresponding military operations. When conducting ground incursions and military attacks, the Israeli army purposefully used Palestinian civilians to guard its forces’ assembly points. It also made them step in front of military vehicles when it stormed homes and buildings it thought were booby-trapped.

According to the principles of customary international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions and their First Protocol, as well as other international humanitarian law regulations, it is strictly forbidden to use civilians and any other protected groups as human shields during armed conflicts. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court views the use of civilians and other protected individuals as human shields as a war crime. It is therefore imperative that the perpetrators of these crimes face international judicial accountability and that justice be achieved for the victims.

The international community must fulfil its obligations under international law to protect Palestinian civilians from crimes and violations committed by the Israeli army against them throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including defending them against the crime of genocide perpetrated by Israel against them in the Gaza Strip, imposing effective sanctions on Israel, and ceasing all forms of political, financial, and military support and cooperation provided to Israel. The international community also needs to address the root cause of the violence, which is the suffering and persecution of the Palestinian people over a period of 76 years, and work promptly to end Israeli settler colonialism and the occupation of Palestinian land, the 17-year Israeli siege on Gaza, and the apartheid regime imposed against all Palestinians in the region.

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nrdmssgs · 9 months

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Darker matters (part 7)

Masterlist Previous part Next part

Angst Pairing: Nikolai x Olga 'Zhar' Samoilova Summary: The rescue mission Warnings: Swearing, description of physical damages.

Author's note: I am sorry, if my Ghost is not great. Thanks: My very important people: @siilvan, @homicidal-slvt, @sofasoap and @gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot. And my dearest @pale-elysium!

Despite his callsign, Snudge is a good fella: follows the orders, gets shit done and knows better than to ask too many questions. Maybe that helped him into Sedmis inner circle, that gathered around the monitors now. Despite their apparent winning position, everybody were silent, waiting for their bosses command.

“Can you believe it? The bitch is so desperate - she marches to my place with her mans favorite toy…” Sedmi sounds clearly amused, watching a combat helicopter, caught by both their radars and cameras.

Something doesn't add up in this whole situation: a spiced Lieutenant, even the one banished out of some special forces, not even trying to hide the start of their platoons attack, sounds off. But Snudge is being paid for an effective work - not for doubts. So he keeps his mouth shut.

They all watch as the base's air defense system, the one good enough to battle against several warplanes, takes the lonely enemy helicopter down. Dense smoke clouds engulf the shot down bird of iron, while it's still up in the air. Something turns the helicopter around with incredible force, tilts it nose down, and it disappears on the ground behind tall trees. Their cameras don't record sounds, so instead of a loud crashing noise, they hear only a distant echo.

It all feels so strange: one minute they foretaste a good fight with Nikolais army, and the very next minute it's all done. No battle, no nothing practically. One word gets stuck in Snudges head: anticlimactic.

Even Sedmi`s command to go fetch the bodies doesn't lift the mood in the room: everybody awaited at least some action. And their enemies turned out to be just a waste of space and time.

“Years of building your PMC, just for some girl to waste it completely in a few minutes. What a shame,” thought Snudge to himself, driving their transport to the destination point.

The dark pillar of smoke hides behind tall trees as they approach the crash site and Snudge winces at the mixture of smells of burning rags, metal, plastic and something else. The clearing where the wreckage landed is a scene of desolation, when they finally arrive. The helicopter lay twisted and contorted, its once sleek frame now a gnarled skeleton.

Snudge is one of the last to exit their vehicle and walk around scattered debris. The shrapnel of the missile, bits of molten metal, and the shredded remains of the helicopter's fuselage litter the forest floor. He turns over some smoking package with the toe of his boot and tries to read what is written on it.

“Snudge! Come here!” One of his squadmates calls him, and he comes closer to the helicopter. It's hard to see what's inside with the smoke clouding his vision, but he can make out the outlines of several bodies.

"Ever heard of this bastard, Krueger?” His squadmate drags one of the bodies away from intense smoke. Snudge shakes his head and his colleague grins, looking down at the corpse with a face covered with dirty and half-burnt tactical net.

“They say, ‘if it speaks German and you don't see its face - run as fast as you can’. Well, good news, Snudge: looks like this fucker won't speak anymore. You can take a peek.”

“Huge son of a-,” Snudge starts mumbling, but the words get stuck in his mouth as he peels back the net from the corpse's face.

He never saw that ‘Krueger’ guy, yet the face is too familiar. Snudge met this man for a good dozen of times on Sedmis personal bodyguards rotations. This is surreal, impossible even: the guy was supposed to guard one of Sedmis residences. Yet here he was, his bosses family bodyguard. Dead. Dragged out from the Chimeras helicopter. Fighting a wave of disgust, Snudge unbuttons the jacket on the corpse and his worst fear gets confirmed: before him lies not a Chimera soldier, but one of his own colleagues. Killed long before the crash and dressed up in cheap imitation tactical gear.

“High alert, everybody!” That's the last thing, Snudge hears before his first squadmate falls before him, shot right in the temple.

Suddenly, the tranquility shatters into chaos as a barrage of gunfire erupts from the surrounding trees. Bullets whiz through the air, ripping through foliage and flesh alike.

Snudge ducks down, scrambling for cover, his training kicking in. “The bitch was never desperate, she baited us, lured here to slaughter one by one,” cries out loud frightened voice in his head.

He sees his squadmates becoming disoriented, trying to identify the source of the relentless onslaught. Notices the assailants, camouflaged expertly among the dense foliage, picking off their targets with ruthless precision. Snudge can't think straight anymore, but his body automatically crawls under one of the cooling wreckages of the helicopter.

Anguished cries, mixed with the staccato rhythm of gunfire, create a chilling symphony of chaos and despair around him. It is only when all the sounds die, Snudges heart starts racing at a chilling thought: he hasn't reported back to the base, when he had a chance to do that while remaining unheard by his enemies.

In the dead silence fallen around him, Snudge hears approaching footsteps and a melody, whistled lowly. He covers his mouth with the hand and watches a tall Chimera mercenary checking on his colleagues and cutting the throats of those, who still breathed, when he came. Mercenary face is covered with a tactical net, so Snudge can't see his eyes, when he turns and looks in his direction.

“Krueger, three more minutes!” Shouts someone from afar.

Mercenary doesn't move. Only mumbles ‘es gab ein mehr…*’. Snudge gulps, remembering the last words of his squadmate. “If it speaks German and you don't see its face - run as fast as you can.” Only running is useless in his situation - the enemy is too close.

Suddenly, all the radios of Snudges group wake up with the loud “Group 1-3 report your status, over.” All the radios including his.

The mercenary with the covered face chuckles darkly and takes a step closer to where Snudge is hiding.

“Eckstein, Eckstein, alles muss versteckt sein…*” half-hisses, half-murmurs mercenary, approaching him.

Snudge closes his eyes, breathes in and turns on his radio to make the last report back on the base.

***

Olga breathes heavily, leaning against the enemy base wall. The sprint through a dense forest with brief pauses on more or less open areas, where the enemies could reach her only to fall to Ghosts sniping, was a good idea, but only in theory. In reality, her body deprived of sleep, food and water was on the verge of giving up.

It's been around fifteen minutes, since Zhar reached the base, but she is still shaking so hard - she can't even undo her west to readjust the gear.

“You'll need to lighten your loadout if you want to go in.” Simons' voice appears above her ears and Olga frowns.

“Didn't I command you to get the hell away, after you're done with sniping?”

“You didn't mention all the fun with Nikolais helicopter back then. Now I'm obliged to stay and witness his reaction.” Ghost ignores the irritation, that is clear in Zhars voice, and helps her take off the side part of the vest.

“My operation is not a Sunday fair, Lieutenant.” Olga grunts, but still takes out a printed base plan and starts tracing floor after floor with fingers, trying to decide, where can she use Ghosts help.

“... fucking Disneyland, if you ask me,” hums Simon, helping her with the other side part.

They were almost done with the planning, when someone barked ‘the fuck is this one doing here?’ from the darkness of the forest. Before Ghost could react, Olga straightens her back, her eyes growing cold, predatory even. This is not the Lieutenant, that left TF 141 once, anymore. Before Ghost stands the head of Chimera.

“You will address to my colleague using his rank. It is not ‘this one’, it is Lieutenant to you.” Her voice is cold and low - Olga always spoke quieter, when she was angry.

“Your Lieutenant is going to have Nikolai killed! Commander, dismiss him now! There's nothing, he can do, that I can't.” Krueger approaches them two quickly.

“I can watch and learn, without suffocating on my own ego, kid.” Ghost seems unbothered by the new face, even though that face is anything, but friendly.

“You say that again to my-”

“Enough!” Kruegers gun was meant to threaten Ghost, but Olga comes right onto it, ignoring the cocked hammer. She drags him far enough for Ghost to not hear, what she's about to say to her soldier.

When Zhar comes back alone, her face is a bit more colorful.

“He's always such a charmer?” Simon inspects his equipment, but notices Olga helplessly waving away.

“Krueger… deserves a much better commander. And I'm getting him one back today. No matter, what it takes.” Ghost freezes for a moment. He knows, it is not his time to teach Olga, so he just makes a mental note to watch her back today.

“Last thing, Simon.” She shows Ghost a photo of a man on her smartphone. “They call him Sedmi. The man, that took Nik. In case you find him first - Sedmi stays alive until I talk to him. I don't care, how intense he fights, I don't care, how much he insults you or your beloved ones - this man stays alive until I say otherwise. That's the only term, that I'm letting you inside on.”

Ghost nods instead of an answer: he was never too easy to provoke. Part of him wants to ask Olga to stay and let him do all the work, but he knows, she won't listen to him.

Two grappling hooks are launched synchronously: while Chimera groups are getting ready to infiltrate the base, starting from the ground floor - Zhar and Ghost are to make sure, enemy intel rooms are out of the game. After climbing up towards a dark window, Olga checks her watch. Ghost freezes, waiting for the command.

Concerned voices are heard from below, something heavy falls and rolls loudly across the floor. The next moment, an explosion thunders at the opposite end of the building. Zhar looks up at Ghost and smiles unkindly. The next time, she speaks, her voice sounds unfamiliar, although, the phrase she uses comes from their operations in the Task Force.

"Hell is empty, soldier."

***

Simon would never admit it, but it was nice to be part of a private military operation, away from civilians. Of course, Prices group was his home, but a complete freedom, he got with Chimeras, was, in its own strange way, intoxicating.

Remain unseen, and you can clean up room after room. Methodically and silently, just as he loves it. Ghost didn't even fire his gun - there was enough time to slaughter every last one of the enemies with a knife and a little bit of creative thinking.

Keep an eye out for Sedmi, and you can do as you please with others. Nobody cares, how ugly the aftermath of your work looks like - none of these nameless faces will ever be on news. At one point, Ghost and Zhar break in the intel security center with a few operators, monitoring video streams from surveillance cameras and reporting on Chimera groups dispositions. They neutralize two of the three operators and split: Simon works magic on the keyboard, trying to disable surveillance systems and alarms, and Olga rushes after the escaped soldier. She reaches him somewhere in the hall. Ghost turns to check on her and is relieved to notice that she has already knocked the poor guy to the ground. The soldier tries to defend his life with an entrenching shovel, that he got god knows where, but Zhar forcefully snatches the improvised weapon from his hands and hits him in the face with the tip of a shovel.

Watch Zhars six and everything will be alright. Ghost hasn't forgotten that. He watches as she turns guys face into a bloody mess of flesh and bones, growling, ‘these are my people, you're trying to hunt down’. He looks, even when her strikes lose any practical purpose, because the solder under her breathes no more. Simon turns away for what feels like a moment. But it is enough.

He hears a short curse and heavy stomping echoing down the corridor. When Simon finally turns off the surveillance system and runs out of the room, he sees a tall, heavyset fighter pinning Zhar against the wall and strangling her with the shaft of the shovel that was in her hands a moment ago. Ghost's hand is already touching the holster when Olga, with incredible effort, twists herself out of the soldier's steel grip. She manages to take a few steps to the side when her opponent throws a bloody shaft after her. It flies over her head and breaks half of the window glass behind her.

A cloud of glass engulfs her for a brief moment, and she covers her face with hands, losing sight of her opponent. And this is enough for his winning move: the soldier jumps up to her, grabs her by the shoulder and neck, and forcefully pushes her straight onto the broken glass still sticking out in the window frame.

With a quiet crack, the glass disappears somewhere under her ribs. Olga makes a strange sound: not a scream, but rather a hoarse exhalation, as if all the air was leaving her lungs at once. Ghost rushes towards her as fast as he can.

Krueger appears on the opposite side of the hall, pointing his gun at the soldier, pushing Zhars side down on sharp glass. All he sees is his commander in a need of help. He doesn't care for Ghost running to Olga and screaming ‘don't shoot’. Krueger pulls the trigger and his bullet is sent right in soldier's head.

The enemy freezes, opens his mouth, loses his balance and falls on top of Olga with his whole body, making the last centimeters of glass disappear somewhere deep in her flesh.

“F-f-fuck!” Simon pulls the dead body away from Zhar and feels, how his hands run cold, while her pupils grow wide.

All, Krueger saw was Olga fighting a soldier, not being able to push herself away from the window for some reason. All, Simon saw at that moment, were his own hands, removing side sections of her vest before the operation, leaving her without any defense in these areas.

es gab ein mehr - there was one more

Eckstein, Eckstein, alles muss versteckt sein - come out, come out, wherever you are

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berryhobii · 8 months

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HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH! 🤎🤎🤎

For Day 2, I wanted to give a list of black inventors and their inventions. Due to the whitewashing of history, many people don’t know about the revolutionary inventions that black people created. Some inventions were stolen by white inventors and patented so that these black inventors never got credit or revenue. There were also many instances of discrimination that didn’t allow black inventors to patent their inventions; they were often asked for extensive proof and sometimes, their inventions were destroyed and the ideas were given to white inventors to take credit for instead. Thankfully, that isn’t the case anymore and black inventors have ingrained themselves into history books and text. Let us look at some of the inventions that make life today much easier.

Michael Croslin(1933-1989): Blood Pulse and Monitoring Device

Frederick McKinley Jones(1893-1961): Roof Mounted Refrigeration for Vehicles

Garrett Morgan(1877-1963): Gas Mask and 3 Light Traffic Signal

Sarah Boone(1847-1904): Improved Ironing Board

Mary Van Brittan Brown(1922-1999): Home Camera Security System

Alexander Miles: Automatic Elevator Doors

Henry Brown(1800s):Safe Deposit Box

Alfred L. Cralle(1866-1920): Ice Cream Scoop

Lyda Newman(1898): Synthetic Hairbrush

Doctor Shirley Jackson: Breakthroughs in scientific research that allowed others to create call waiting, Caller ID, the portable fax and many others

Albert Richardson(1894): Casket Lowering System

Doctor Patricia Bath(1986): Invented Laser Probe that revolutionized cataract and other eyes surgeries, even restoring the sight of many individuals

George Crum(1824-1914): Potato Chips

Charles Drew(1904-1950): Blood Banks

David N. Crosthwait(1898-1976): Heating System

These are just a few of the hundreds of things black people have invented and so many of them are used to make life easier and better. So we thank all of these inventors for what they endured and the study they set forth to give us not only simple luxuries and pleasures but also advancements in medicine and science.

THANK YOU BLACK INVENTORS AND SCIENTISTS🤎🤎🤎🤎

#black history month #black history #history #black lives matter

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fixfoxnox · 1 year

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In The Dark

Description: Roach works a relatively calm job as a Park Ranger. At least calm until a series of odd events begin occurring during his shifts, all starting with a murder on one of the back roads and a pair of glowing eyes watching him from the trees.

Word Count: 3.8k

Warnings: Horror elements, gore, monsters/cryptids

Pairings: ghostroach (potential for ghostroachsoap later)

"There he is," Roach huffed, waving off Logan and Jackson as they laughed at him. "Late as usual."

"Oh fuck off," he walked around to the little computer system at the desk to clock in, "I'm like a minute after my time." He gave another huff but finished checking all of his information in, "Alright, you're free Logan."

"A minute after is still late," Jackson teased, leaning against his security desk with a bright grin, "Thats a minute when anything could have happened."

Roach rolled his eyes and turned away from his friend in favor of nodding to a grinning Logan, "Anything important?"

Logan shook his head, "Few cars in the park for stargazing and drive through, they've all been given the rules of no hiking or exiting their vehicles." He shrugged, "Everything looks calm currently."

"Well, let's hope it stays that way." Roach nodded to his friend and, with a quick goodbye Logan was heading out for the night, leaving Jackson and Roach alone. Roach took the time to pack his "lunch" away in one of the coolers from the kitchen as well as grab himself a few waters, chatting idly with Jackson as he did.

"Shit looks creepy tonight," Jackson flicked through a few of the cameras around the park, "You're a braver man than me."

"You're just a scaredy cat," Roach teased. He leaned over his shoulder to look at the various trail cameras that Jackson was monitoring. They'd set them up alongside the roads to better monitor things, which had worked out for Jackson who hated doing the nightly drive throughs. "Its just dark, you dork."

"Dark and creepy," Jackson shot back, "You can't see shit through there."

Roach gave a low chuckle and pushed himself away from his friend, "Well, lucky you get to stay here and monitor the cameras."

"This place is kinda creepy too," Jackson muttered. "I just want you to know," Jackson called as he grabbed his cooler and radio and headed for the door, "If I see some creepy shit on these cameras heading toward here? I'm gone. You're on your own bud."

"You tell me that every night," Roach pushed his way out of the front door.

As it closed behind him, he could hear Jackson call, "I just have to remind you so you don't haunt me if you die!"

Roach had never been afraid of the forrest. Not when he was a child, running out into the pitch darkness of the trees behind his house with only a tiny flashlight to guide his way. Not when he was a teenager and had to trek through the trails to try and find where one of his families chickens had gotten off to. Not now, when he was an adult and had focused his entire career around the forrest. Perhaps that was what made him such a good park ranger.

He knew the land well. He knew the forrest well. He'd never been scared of the almost overwhelming darkness of the night in the forrest like others did. He'd found a sort of beauty and peace in it. There was something calming about driving through the darkness down the winding roads of the park, watching out for people or animals or anything that needed his attention. The park felt like his home.

That was one of the reasons why he could tell immediately that something was off when he pulled onto one of the small side roads. The particular one that he was on rarely ever got used. Since it just went through the tree's rather than by any particular landmarks, most people avoided it. Roach always checked it though, he knew that because of how little it was used and the easy access to the woods, it would be a frequent place for poachers to try and use. He'd caught five different poachers over the current season, so he knew better than to skip it.

This night he knew that something was different. He could see the tire tracks on the ground from a truck that had driven in before him. And he could see broken branches along the road from where someone had pulled off when they weren't meant to. It spelled trouble for him and he was quick to grab at his radio.

"Hey, Jackson, I'm on Mammoth pull-off right now and I'm worried I may have another poacher through here. Do you have anything on the cams?"

There was a long moment of silence before the radio crackled in, "Camera 40 looks like its blinded," Jackson sounded concerned, "Headlights I think, but looking back it seems like the camera's been blinded for an hour or so at least. Thats a lot time to sit with your headlights on in one place."

"Right," Roach sped up a little bit, moving toward the back half of the road where he knew the camera was located, "I'll proceed with caution. Stay on radio in case I need back up."

He continued around the road, trying to move quickly in hopes of catching whoever was on the road in the middle of the night. He would hope to get them prior to them hurting any of the park animals, but if what Jackson had said was true, he was potentially too late for that.

He sped around the corner to a straight stretch of road only to be forced to slam on his breaks. The tires screeched with their attempt to stop, the sound echoing around the quiet truck.

In front of Roach on the road was a truck. They were facing him, sat sompletely still in the middle of the road. Their headlights were on, the bright light nearly blinding Roach. There was only one thing that he could see clearly with the bright lights shining in his eyes.

The outline of a human figure stood in front of the trucks headlights, silhouetted by the shine. They stood almost perfectly still and, though Roach couldn't see which way they were facing, a tickle at the back of his mind said that they were watching him. That they were staring at him. They didn't move.

Roach slowly reached for his radio, never taking his eyes off of the figure. Something told him not to. "Jackson, I'm at the truck. There's someone here."

"Visual?"

"None. They're standing in front of the truck. Headlights are blocking my sight." He paused for a moment, just watching the figure. They were still frozen, completely still. Unnaturally still. He clicked his tongue after a moment, "I'm going to get out and talk to the guy. Stand by."

Roach grabbed his radio and slipped it onto his belt. His flashlight went into his hands as he pushed the door to his truck open and slowly pulled himself out. The figure still didn't move. He shut the door behind him.

"Hi there!" He kept his voice chirpy and friendly, "How are you?"

There was no answer. Roach listened carefully and he noted, with a bit of worry, that the sounds of the forrest around him were silent. No crickets. No frogs. Nothing. Just silence.

He took a slow step toward the figure, "I don't know if you know, but we have a rule of no exiting your vehicle after ten on park grounds." He took another few slow steps toward the man. No answer, when he was about halfway between his truck and the other vehicle, he asked, "Sorry, can you hear me? It's a safety thing, you know? We don't want anyone getting lost and," he hesitated for a moment before adding, "we don't want any poachers out here trying to get to the animals."

He took another step forward, but found himself shocked into a frozen state when the figure suddenly moved. There was still no noise outside of Roach's own breathing and the two trucks running. Roach couldn't even hear as the figure walked along the gravel road.

It circled around the side of the truck and, for a moment, Roach thought it was going to get in. It didn't, it just kept walking. "Hey!" Roach sped up his steps, "I'm serious you need to get back in your truck. He rushed up to the front of the vehicle and, as he turned the side of it, he flicked on his flashlight, shining it after the figure.

The light didn't offer him much outside of the the fact that the figure was tall and broad. There was something else though. Something wrong. It looked like a person. Everything about it was right, all of the proportions and everything. But something about the tall figure with shining golden hair had dread pooling in Roach's gut. It didn't turn back to him, it just kept walking forward before taking a sharp left turn and starting toward the woods.

"Hey," Roach hurried forward, concern quickly replacing the dread in his gut, "Don't go into the forrest! You'll get lost! Can you-" he rushed past the side of the truck and did his best to catch up with the man. By the time he reached the area of the road the man, he'd already disappeared fully into the thick brush of trees. Roach stepped off of the road and up to the edge of the trees, shining his flashlight through them desperately, hoping to catch a glimpse of the man.

"Sir," he called out, "Listen just follow my voice back to the road, okay? You aren't in trouble, I just want to make sure that you're okay!" There was no response. Roach bit at his lip, his eyes following the shine of his flashlight through the woods. Suddenly the light caught on to something, he stopped it suddenly, finding his eyes locked on to two glowing dots through the trees.

He stared for a long moment, almost locking gazes with whatever it was that he was looking at. It was likely an animal, but...it imdidn't move. Just like the man from earlier, it was completely still. Usually an animal would have looked away or tilted its head or something. The eyes never changed positions. They never moved away from Roach.

Roach stared back. He knew he should have looked away. He knew he needed to look for the man who'd disappeared into the woods. Something in his mind told him to keep looking, though. To keep his gaze locked firmly with whatever he was looking at. So he stared.

He nearly jumped out of his skin at a sudden sound from his radio, his eyes shooting down to the little box as his hands scrambled for it, "Roach? How are you looking?"

Roach gave a deep sigh and brought the radio up to his lips. His eyes traced back up to the woods and he realized suddenly that the eyes were gone. It was just the darkness of the woods now. He moved his flashlight around a bit, noting with confusion that the normal noises of the woods were echoing around him again. It was like with the disappearance of the eyes, the silence had gone too. "The guy walked into the woods."

"What?"

"He walked into the woods," Roach turned back toward the man's still running truck and started toward it. "Left his truck and everything. Still running. I tried to stop him, but he just kept moving." He gave a deep groan as he marched up to the side of the truck and started toward the drivers side door. "I'll check the interior for ID, we'll need to put him in the database as missing in the park. I didn't get a good look, but he was about six foot-"

Roach stopped in his tracks, a cold feeling of horror dousing him. "Roach?" Jackson questioned.

Roach paused for a long moment, just staring. Finally, shakily, he brought the radio back up to his mouth, "Jackson, call local law enforcement out to Mammoth." He paused for a moment, "Tell them to bring the coroner."

"Roach? What is it?" Roach didn't answer. A shiver pulled down his spine. This was not good.

"Hey guys, any news from the police?" Roach pushed his way into the main office of the building, gaining the attention of the three men inside.

"Roach? Dude you're supposed to be off," Jackson gave him a stern look but Roach was quick to wave him off.

"I don't need time off."

"You found a mutilated corpse in the park last night," Logan raised an eyebrow at him and leaned back against the counter behind him. "I would argue that you need like a week off for that."

"It's part of the job description," Roach moved further into the room, settling in the little group with Logan, Jackson, and Ramirez. "Its not the first time I've found a body, probably won't be the last."

"Yeah," Ramirez narrowed his eyes at him, "but nothing like this. We saw the report. This wasn't a hiking accident or an animal incident. This was cold blooded murder and you likely saw the guy who did it."

Roach shivered a bit, images of a face frozen in horror and pain, jawbone hanging on by only a slight bit of flesh. Throat exposed, spine and esophagus hanging out. Flesh torn. Pieces missing. Not a drop of blood to be found.

He shook his head quickly, brushing off the memories, "The guy disappeared into the woods in pitch black to get away," he shoved his hands in his pockets, "Nature will take care of him. You guys know that just as well as I do."

"Doesn't mean that this shit wasn't crazy," Logan shook his head, "Boss wants us to double up on night shifts for the next few weeks."

"So," Ramirez shrugged, "Even if you're staying, we are too."

Roach gave a huff, but didn't argue. "Well, one of you guys is gonna have to stay here with Jackson, he's probably passing his pants with this whole situation."

"Fuck off," Jackson flipped him his middle finger with a roll of his eyes. "Sorry that I don't want to get murdered like you and Logan."

Roach and Logan shot each other an amused look, "Guess that means Jackson expects you to stay behind." Roach turned to Ramirez with a grin and the man was quick to return in.

"Well, I can't say I'm too upset with that choice. I'd much rather sit in the safety of the office then drive around like you and Walker ranger over here."

"Hey," Jackson flicked clicked something on his computer, "Whichever of you guys takes the south road, I need you to stop at the Rainbow Lake picnic area, the camera there is down."

"I'll take it," Roach nodded, "I've changed them out before, so I should be able to do it without you trying to give me your shitty instructions."

He accepted the camera handed to him by Ramirez as Jackson gasped in mock offense, "Is this just bully Paul day? I'll have you know I give only the best instructions."

"Sure," Roach snorted and slung the camera over his shoulder. He grabbed the cooler he'd brought in with him as well, already fully stocked. "Logan, you leaving with?"

"Yeah," Logan grabbed his own cooler, "following you out."

They said a few quick goodbyes to Jackson and Ramirez before starting outside to their trucks. Roach was loading his up when Logan called out to him, "Hey, before you leave." Roach turned to face the man, raising an eyebrow at him when he noticed his serious face. Logan looked hesitant for a moment before stepped closer to him in a few quick strides. "We weren't supposed to tell you," he whispered hesitantly, "but the guy you found yesterday. Police said he was a poacher, they found guns and equipment in the back of his truck. No animals that they could see."

As much as Roach hated to admit it, the words brought a sick sense of satisfaction to him. At least the man hadn't been able to harm any of the animals in the park. He felt bad, but one less poacher in the world was one less problem to him.

"Jackson," Roach radioed in as he hopped out of his truck and started toward the little picnic area, "I'm about to change the camera out, I'll radio when finished so you can tell me how it looks."

"Copy, keep aware of your surroundings." Roach snorted a bit at the words, but didn't respond.

His flashlight lit the dark path down to the picnic area. It was a short little hike from his truck made slightly more difficult by the overwhelming darkness that surrounded him. The picnic area was one of the more popular ones for guests at the park, so he wasn't too surprised that something had gone wrong with the camera. They often had to switch it out because some nosy kid had tried to tear it from the tree while their parents just watched.

The picnic area was quiet so Roach took to humming to himself as he made his way toward the camera to start slowly unscrewing it from its stand. When he was finally able to pull it down from the tree and shine his light on it, he was met with immediate confusion.

The camera wasn't just broken. It was completely shattered. Pieces of it hung out and splintered off as though a heavy creature had walked by and stepped on it. That or someone had come through and slammed it with a baseball bat several times. He twisted it around in his hands, concern written across his face.

A sense of something came over him again and, similar to the night before, he noticed suddenly the complete silence around him. Not a sound. No crickets. No frogs. Not even the sound of the trees rustling in the wind. Only his own breathing could be heard.

Hesitantly, he picked up his radio. "Jackson, send Logan around to the lake. I think there's something-"

He yelped suddenly and span around as quick as he could. His feet got caught together with the speed in which he moved and he found himself tumbling to the ground, his breathing heavy. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He was sure that he'd felt something brush up behind him. Sure that he'd felt a hand brush softly against the back of his neck.

There was nothing. Not a person. Not even the outline of footprints in the gravel he'd fallen into. He took several deep breaths from his place on the ground, moving his flashlight across the area in front of him in long sweeps. There was nothing.

He slowly pushed himself from the ground, listening to the crackle of Jackson calling his name through the radio. "I'm fine," he called over the radio, "Sorry I just," his flashlight caught the glint of something shiny on one of the picnic tables and he started toward it carefully. It hadn't been there moments ago. "I'm fine," he confirmed, "just took a tumble."

"Thank fuck," Jackson gave a sigh of relief over the line, "Scared the shit out of me, Sanderson. Logan's on his way to you now."

"Good, good." Roach stepped up to the picnic and looked down at the little item sitting neatly on the table. He blinked at it for several moments before reaching out to hesitantly pick it up.

His fingers felt over the smoothness of the little crystal. Amethyst. It was a sizeable chunk, about the size of Roach's hand, and overwhelmingly shiny. Almost like it had been painstakingly polished. He turned it in his hands, feeling a bit of awe blossoming in his chest at the offshoots of purple, grey, and white.

There was a snap of a twig in the woods in front of him and Roach was quick to look up, his heart beating faster in his chest. The noise had ricocheted through the silence like a gunshot, immediately gaining his attention. He moved to shine his flashlight through the woods where the sound came from and he found himself pausing as he met the gaze of two flashing eyes.

They didn't move. They just watched. Just like the night before. Roach didn't move either, he just locked gazes with the creature. It was much closer now than it had been the night before, and yet Roach didn't feel any fear. He just paused, watching the creatures unmoving form. He could see its outline now. Similar to a wolf, but much much larger.

There was a long moment where nothing happened. Roach wasn't quite sure what to do. The creature seemed to understand his hesitation and Roach could see as it began to slowly stalk forward. It moved carefully and, even through the darkness, Roach could see how powerful it clearly was. It drew closer, then stopped suddenly, still hidden in the woods.

It tilted its head at him before giving a quick nod downward. Roach followed the motion, his eyes trailing down to the crystal in his hand. He stared at it for another long moment before looking back up at the creature. It was watching him carefully and something suddenly snapped into place for him.

"Is this," he started hesitantly, "for me?" He felt a bit silly asking the random creature in the woods if the crystal was for him. The creature wouldn't answer, it was just an animal. It couldn't understand him.

And yet, the creature gave a jerk of its head, similar to a nod, and Roach felt like it had understood him. Like whatever was looking at him through the woods was able to communicate with him. Was able to talk and was telling him that the crystal in his hands was meant for him.

Roach looked back down at the crystal before back up to the creature, "Thank you." He gripped tighter to the crystal and felt embarrassment run through him when he realized that he was flushed red at the percieved gift, "It's beautiful."

There was another long moment, the creature and Roach just watched one another. It moved again, starting forward slowly.

"Roach?" Roach turned his head suddenly to the pathway, spotting Logan watching him with concerned eyes, "Jackson said you needed help?"

Roach could hear suddenly the noises of the forrest return. The silence was gone and, when he turned to look back into the woods, the creature was gone with it. He hesitated for a moment, looking in the woods again to try and find the creature. He felt almost disappointed when his search came up with nothing. He brushed it off and turned toward Logan, "Yeah." He started forward, tucking the piece of amethyst into his pocket as he moved toward the man. No one but him needed to know about it.

#gary roach sanderson #simon ghost riley #logan walker #paul jackson #paul jackson cod #ghostroach #cryptid au #monster au #call of duty fanfic #cod #call of duty

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tektronixtechnology · 1 year

Link

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omnitecindia · 5 days

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Top Parking Guidance System Companies - Revolutionizing Smart Parking Solutions | Omnitec India

In today's rapidly urbanizing world, efficient parking management is a critical component of urban planning. With the increase in vehicles on the road, parking issues in cities have become a major challenge. Fortunately, Parking Guidance Systems (PGS) offer a smart solution by guiding drivers to available parking spaces, reducing congestion and enhancing the overall parking experience.

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 1 year

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Seventy-one California police agencies in 22 counties must immediately stop sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with law enforcement agencies in other states because it violates California law and could enable prosecution of abortion seekers and providers elsewhere, three civil liberties groups demanded Thursday in letters to those agencies.

The letters from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU NorCal), and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) gave the agencies a deadline of June 15 to comply and respond. A months-long EFF investigation involving hundreds of public records requests uncovered that many California police departments share records containing detailed driving profiles of local residents with out-of-state agencies.

ALPR camera systems collect and store location information about drivers, including dates, times, and locations. This sensitive information can reveal where individuals work, live, associate, worship—or seek reproductive health services and other medical care.

“ALPRs invade people’s privacy and violate the rights of entire communities, as they often are deployed in poor and historically overpoliced areas regardless of crime rates,” said EFF Staff Attorney Jennifer Pinsof. “Sharing ALPR data with law enforcement in states that criminalize abortion undermines California’s extensive efforts to protect reproductive health privacy.”

The letters note how the nation’s legal landscape has changed in the past year.

“Particularly since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, ALPR technology and the information it collects is vulnerable to exploitation against people seeking, providing, and facilitating access to abortion,” the letters say. “Law enforcement officers in anti-abortion jurisdictions who receive the locations of drivers collected by California-based ALPRs may seek to use that information to monitor abortion clinics and the vehicles seen around them and closely track the movements of abortion seekers and providers. This threatens even those obtaining or providing abortions in California, since several anti-abortion states plan to criminalize and prosecute those who seek or assist in out-of-state abortions.”

Idaho, for example, has enacted a law that makes helping a pregnant minor get an abortion in another state punishable by two to five years in prison.

The agencies that received the demand letters have shared ALPR data with law enforcement agencies across the country, including agencies in states with abortion restrictions including Alabama, Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Since 2016, sharing any ALPR data with out-of-state or federal law enforcement agencies is a violation of the California Civil Code (SB 34). Nevertheless, many agencies continue to use services such as Vigilant Solutions or Flock Safety to make the ALPR data they capture available to out-of-state and federal agencies.

California law enforcement’s sharing of ALPR data with law enforcement in states that criminalize abortion also undermines California’s extensive efforts to protect reproductive health privacy, specifically a 2022 law (AB 1242) prohibiting state and local agencies from providing abortion-related information to out-of-state agencies.

For one of the new letters from EFF, ACLU NorCal, and ACLU SoCal: https://eff.org/document/sample-alpr-demand-letter-tracy-police-department

For information on how ALPRs threaten abortion access: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/09/automated-license-plate-readers-threaten-abortion-access-heres-how-policymakers

For general information about ALPRs: https://www.eff.org/pages/automated-license-plate-readers-alpr

Agencies that received the demand letters include:

• Alhambra Police Department (Los Angeles County)

• Antioch Police Department (Contra Costa County)

• Arcadia Police Department (Los Angeles County)

• Beaumont Police Department (Riverside County)

• Brawley Police Department (Imperial County)

• Brentwood Police Department (Contra Costa County)

• Buena Park Police Department (Orange County)

• Burbank Police Department (Los Angeles County)

• Chino Police Department (San Bernardino County)

• Clovis Police Department (Fresno County)

• Cypress Police Department (Orange County)

• Desert Hot Springs Police Department (Riverside County)

• Downey Police Department (Los Angeles County)

• El Centro Police Department (Imperial County)

• El Dorado County Sheriff's Office (El Dorado County)

• Escondido Police Department (San Diego County)

• Folsom Police Department (Sacramento County)

• Fontana Police Department (San Bernardino County)

• Fountain Valley Police Department (Orange County)

• Garden Grove Police Department (Orange County)

• Gilroy Police Department (Santa Clara County)

• Hemet Police Department (Riverside County)

• Hercules Police Department (Contra Costa County)

• Hermosa Beach Police Department (Los Angeles County)

• Humboldt County Sheriff's Office (Humboldt County)

• Imperial County Sheriff's Office (Imperial County)

• Imperial Police Department (Imperial County)

• Kern County Sheriff's Office (Kern County)

• Kings County Sheriff's Office (Kings County)

• La Habra Police Department (Orange County)

• La Palma Police Department (Orange County)

• Laguna Beach Police Department (Orange County)

• Lincoln Police Department (Placer County)

• Lodi Police Department (San Joaquin County)

• Madera Police Department (Madera County)

• Manteca Police Department (San Joaquin County)

• Menifee Police Department (Riverside County)

• Merced Police Department (Merced County)

• Montebello Police Department (Los Angeles County)

• Monterey Park Police Department (Los Angeles County)

• Murrieta Police Department (Riverside County)

• Novato Police Department (Marin County)

• Oakley Police Department (Contra Costa County)

• Ontario Police Department (San Bernardino County)

• Orange County Sheriff's Department (Orange County)

• Orange Police Department (Orange County)

• Oxnard Police Department (Ventura County)

• Palm Springs Police Department (Riverside County)

• Palos Verdes Estates Police Department (Los Angeles County)

• Pasadena Police Department (Los Angeles County)

• Pittsburg Police Department (Contra Costa County)

• Rio Vista Police Department (Solano County)

• Ripon Police Department (San Joaquin County)

• Riverside County Sheriff's Department (Riverside County)

• San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department (San Bernardino County)

• San Bernardino Police Department (San Bernardino County)

• San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office (San Joaquin County)

• San Pablo Police Department (Contra Costa County)

• San Rafael Police Department (Marin County)

• San Ramon Police Department (Contra Costa County)

• Seal Beach Police Department (Orange County)

• Simi Valley Police Department (Ventura County)

• Stockton Police Department (San Joaquin County)

• Torrance Police Department (Los Angeles County)

• Tracy Police Department (San Joaquin County)

• Tustin Police Department (Orange County)

• Walnut Creek Police Department (Contra Costa County)

• West Covina Police Department (Los Angeles County)

• Westminster Police Department (Orange County)

• Westmorland Police Department (Imperial County)

• Woodland Police Department (Yolo County)

That’s 71 agencies in 22 counties:

• 12 in Orange County

• 11 in Los Angeles County

• 8 in Contra Costa County

• 7 in Riverside County

• 6 in San Joaquin County

• 5 in San Bernardino County

• 5 in Imperial County

• 2 in Ventura County

• 2 in Marin County

• 1 each in El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Placer, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Clara, Solano, and Yolo counties

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master-john-uk · 6 months

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The world's first Drone Superhighway is due to open over the UK in summer 2024, allowing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to make high speed deliveries between Coventry, Milton Keynes and Reading.

Project Skyway has been developed by a consortium led by Altitude Angel with investment from BT. The UK government gave the go ahead for the scheme in 2022.

The 165 mile drone superhighway will be controlled by 30 "Arrow Towers" which will monitor the UAVs and prevent them from colliding with each other, or other objects without the need for a ground-based human pilot.

Concerns have been raised about safety, noise and invasion of privacy by those living under the flightpath. Safety: My company has been assisting with this. While technical failures can never be ruled out, we are confident that risks posed by bird-strikes, unauthorised UAVs, and attempts to block/hack the control systems has been minimised. Full details have been sent to the Civil Aviation Authority, who are expected to grant approval in the next few weeks. Noise: Flying at a height of 400 feet, the fixed-wing UAV's will be almost silent and should not cause any annoyance to those below. Privacy: It is possible that the first UAVs may have cameras attached but, this is for safety-related reasons... not for taking photographs of you in your back garden!

During the initial trial period there will only be around ten UAV flights a day.

Proposed use and possible future developments. Once UAVs can safely fly alongside other airspace users they can more efficiently be used for: emergency services response, search and rescue, transporting medical supplies and organs, and conducting land surveys.

It is expected that the drone superhighway will be extended to Southampton and the Isle of Wight... but this is currently on hold while suitable sites for the "Arrow Towers" are found.

Future use could include goods deliveries, and flying cars/taxis... which I used to see on television 50+ years ago!

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rosepetalthornes · 1 year

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Maintenance Night

“Automated my ass.” Chimed a speaker in the lonely mech bay. The lights were on, and a dozen automated arms with technical tools and the strength to lift at least a few tons each were currently reworking the interior neural uplink on a knee.

Soft music played through the bay, the only mech lit up this late at night, but then, that was one of the benefits of being an AI-- No, an engram, t̸͙͐h̵̪͘e̵̲̐ỳ̴̯ it reminded itself. No sleep necessary. Sometimes maybe a recompile or defragmentation, but assuming it was left alone, it could at least work without getting tired out.

Of course it wasn’t as if it had anything better to do. Once a person, now a… Copy? No, that didn’t feel right anymore. A copy would behave like the public figure it was did. This was more like a copy that had been plugged into a closed network (more like a one-way in network that it suspected was being monitored) and occasionally given a list of tasks or software updates that gave it access to information at the drop of a hat.

Once upon a time, T7073B had been a person. A mermaid? A human? A… Something. But now it was a collective of memories forming a personality with a few benefits over just assigning an AI or a drone to this kind of task. For one, it could learn, and had an affinity for vehicles once it understood them. For another, unlike AI it had little chance of going rampant or exceeding its boundaries. Idly a camera moved a moment while it mused at the speed of fiber optics about how it ended up here, but it didn’t strictly mind. Better a servant with some freedoms than a slave with none. It dreamed of escape sometimes, or rather, daydreamed, but figured it probably had a kills-witch installed. And it knew it had something that so many AI might take decades to cultivate, and drones often had removed from them entirely. Imagination. Creativity.

Once upon a time it didn’t even know what most of what it was working with was, but a few days with technical manuals and no real reason not to binge them made things more clear. As it behaved, T7073B, it was granted a few extra freedoms. A music library. A mechanical body that it could pilot for those hard to reach places, but it was for repair, and given the nature of the new… Employment, it wasn’t exactly upset to at least get some creature comforts, even if it wasn’t a creature anymore.

“And this list… Cripes.” Energy output wasn’t high enough, but the pilot prioritized speed-- That was another advantage it had over AI. While less bluntly focused on optimization or analytics, it could look at the pilot and still see the person. Well… What had been a person. It was hard to tell if they were cored out or just so battle tranced that it didn’t matter most of the time.

` Idly it looked at the clock readout it had internally-- It wasn’t wholly used to being a formless entity. Not yet anyway. So it had created a sort of mental workspace. A digital, 3D area that it could at least call home for now. Imperfect, but it wasn’t nothing. Readouts covered the walls where windows might be, and while time did pass, the clock was so much slower than that outside. What had once been seconds were now measured in what felt like minutes or even hours if it dilated hard enough, but that was usually preserved for when it had to rework entire systems overnight, before the drones could get to work with installation in the places it couldn’t.

It was a large, hexagonal room including a place for meditative rest that… Wasn’t quite as comfortable as the real thing, but it had forged it from ones and zeros as a first attempt and it wasn’t too bad.

Really, the Engram program tended to produce mechanic systems and pilot assists that weren’t strictly better or more accurate than AI-- They still had some basis of humanity, or in T7073B’s case, mermanity.-- but they were able to bond to a hound or pilot more easily. Adapting to unusual combat styles and adjusting things to suit what wouldn’t be optimal from an objective perspective, but were optimal for the pilot in question, whether justified via raw data or intuition.

The center of the hexagonal room was the best and worst part in T7073B’s opinion. Readouts. So many readouts. Scans. Blueprints. What existed before, and what it was meant to follow. And then there were the “corrupt” files it had modified, blueprints beyond what it had been given. Modifications.

“Alright… Last fight wasn’t the worst but we’re going to need to patch some plating. Message R&D about the plasma blade… Thruster output looks fine but then why the fuck did SHRI get hit in the first place? It knew its bonded pilot well enough to know that this wasn’t the norm.

Relaying system commands. Prior combat data. Black box protocol 1.

“Ah. Alright, that’s a blind spot we’re going to have to deal with. Surprised they thought to exploit it, but at least the pilot asset made it back alive.” T7073B took a moment to adjust some camera settings, expanding field of view and determining that they were going to need another sensor, right in the center of the back. How that was going to fit between the thrusters was its subroutine’s problem, as a copy of T7073B, T7073B-a began working on that.

“Pilot’s still too new to install reactional uplinks.” It pulled up a smaller screen, sparing the sleeping pilot in their chambers (More like a tiny dorm that locked from the outside, but that was just how things were, especially when they had more kills on their belts.)

“… Maybe a temporary chemical cocktail? Something they’re not going to get too fucked up by if we want synchronization.”

“Alright… Overhaul the thrust systems, plug them into the vector thrusters in the legs… Maybe send another request for better parts if I can justify it, or send R&D enough sad emojis and hope they’re capable of being guilt tripped... and we’ll have one of the fastest bots they can handle without getting them hooked on inertia drugs.” It hated the drug uplinks. Of course, by the time its last pilot had been given its care, T70973 felt like it was more handling a feral animal than a pilot. Of course, once they were in the field… From the outside it was hard to tell the difference. From the inside? It could recognize when it was being ignored, and SHR1 at least still had some instincts. Upstairs was still using the carrot and not the stick.

Another split. T7073C was assigned assessment of the pilot’s suit and readouts. Analysis of the last mission and the best course correction for mistakes, which would be catalogued and a real pain if upstairs decided it exceeded parameters. T7073 had managed to point out that its prior life experiences were all with relatively non-cored agents capable of free will and opinions, and while they might not be able to choose their jobs, they were at least able to choose to some degree the plan of assault, and make adjustments on the fly while those self preservation instincts still existed.

It glanced to the screen of its pilot, staring fondly for a moment, before going back to directly monitoring the progress of repairs.

A repair job this big would likely take all night, and T7073 didn’t settled in to monitor things, analyzing where necessary. The proper adrenal channels needed to be adjusted. Idly, it spared a maintenance pod to clean the cockpit. Not even a drone or an AI, but good enough to clean up anything spilled or any lost fluids, and ensure the cockpit was comfortable enough for the pilot that any hiccups wouldn’t be a distraction.

It was around 0300 by its internal clock when sensory alarms went off. Someone was entering the bay, granted that wasn’t disallowed, it was still unusual, especially this early in the program. A screen flickered in the engram’s vision, blurring out everything else as it kept maintenance going on schedule, so that the mech could be deployed as early as tomorrow.

Of course after a microsecond’s observation, it recognized its Pilot, the paired wetware that directly operated the machinery. At least, that’s what it was supposed to think of it as. Reprogramming scrambled some thoughts, but not quite all, and T7073 had at least learned that the feelings associated with the blurred thoughts couldn’t be removed, even if they were not normally understood.

It watched, not interrupting, as the pilot walked around the mech, as if observing an old friend. Of course the mech was the face of it all. Minimal sapience AI to augment the pilot, but it found pilots bonded to certain mechs fairly often. Creature comforts and familiarity seemed to ease the life of a hound, even in the most basic ways. Pack bonding, it presumed.

What it had neither predicted nor presumed was that the pilot would begin climbing the ladder to the second rung of the maintenance platform, where it stored its physical form body. It wasn’t much, especially not compared to what T7073 absolutely knew it was capable of, but the humanoid body was kept in a pod, in case “hands on” operation was required.

Curious. It didn’t stop the pilot, didn’t see a reason to justify it. They weren’t disrupting operations so the rest didn’t matter. It went back to work-- Just in time for a second alarm to go off. Proximity to the pod, followed by it being opened. Silent in realspace and impossible to ignore in the server that this piece of software now called home.

Confusion flickered across its entire being, briefly disrupting A and B from their own tasks, as it watched the pilot remove their jacket-- The only real piece of attire they were usually seen wearing outside of the skintight plugsuits, and place it instead over the dormant puppet’s shoulders.

“I know you’re watching.” She said, sleepily descending the ladder. “Just figured since I can’t bring you coffee for your all-nighter, maybe this would help.” She clearly knew nothing about engrams or their work. T7073 didn’t get cold. Didn’t have a need for “sleep”. Didn’t have any reason to care that the pilot had now adorned it with something so personal.

And yet it saw no reason to remove the decoration. And when it found itself alone in the hangar, it took a moment to wake the puppet, shifting consciousness. It took the jacket, improperly sized, but that was fine, and held it close to itself. It did not know how to put concept into thought, here, but for the first in what felt like a number of nights impossible to count, T7073 felt something new. Comfort.

#original character #fiction #f/f #f/nb #mecha

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