#comman board

[halopedia]

Lore Thursday — Command Mantis

The Command Mantis is an upgraded variant of the Mark IX Mantis platform featuring configurable weapon mounts, increased armor, and an on-board artificial intelligence capable of operating the vehicle without a pilot.

Jerome-092 has been known to operate a personalized Command Mantis nicknamed Theseus. This particular Mantis is fitted with a command-and-control nexus taken from the UNSC Spirit of Fire, allowing it to serve as a mobile command post for field operations.

[otp-armada]

Right before I woke up this morning, for a moment, my mind dreamt of a scene of Clarke on the Ring. She makes it to the rocket on time. It's her and Bellamy standing at the observation window, watching Earth burn. It's the two of them looking to the future, their people's and their own, together. 4x13 ends with a flash-forward of six years, but one of Spacekru as a family. As we see the eight of them laughing together at a dinner table, the camera pans to a weighted, happy glance shared between Clarke and Bellamy, him lifting their joined hands to his lips, two matching, thin rings of gold metal on their fingers. And that's how the audience comes to know they have coupled up. Boom. Out.

My ears are ringing from the collective shrieking we would have done.

My waking hours are here, and I'd like to play this scenario out to my specifications.

The first half of 5x01 is Spacekru flashbacks, showing us how they bonded to become a family and how Bellarke got together.

In the long, quiet comfort of the Ring, our heroes give voice to their past traumas and heal old grievances.

Clarke tells Bellamy about her father, Bellamy shares stories about his mother. She tells him about her father's kindness and gentle nature, his limitless heart. Jake's teases about Clarke drawing on every plain surface she could find, a habit that began with her childhood. Passionate as she was for sketching, she was in the midst of early medical training. Her exposure to the Council and the Chancellor is what gave Clarke her political acumen. Clarke recounts the games they used to watch with the Jahas. Before long, she's explaining the rules of soccer to a confused but amused Bellamy. Bellamy tells her what little he remembers about his parents before his father died. Aurora's smile. Her sacrifices for her children. Her tenacity. Her love of mythic stories she passed onto him. The overwhelming sense of responsibility she instilled in him from too early an age. Bellamy talks about the challenges of a life spent hiding a little girl under the floorboards from the Ark. Bellamy shares the rewards of being the only pair of siblings to have existed in nearly a hundred years. Unbidden by the role of big brother in Clarke's company, he gives voice to the constraints placed on his life. The hardships of living in Factory Station, while Clarke shrinks in guilt over her bountiful upbringing in Alpha. They both recall the pain of watching their parents get floated. There, in front of their eyes one second, gone forever in the blink of an eye. Clarke discloses that, while privileged, she was a lonely child. Were it not for Wells, she would have had no friends. She talks about him, what Bellamy never got to know about Wells Jaha.

The atmosphere shifts, and their conversations progress to contemporary times.

They discuss their respective tendencies to want to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. It takes time, but Clarke finally divulges why she felt compelled to leave Camp Jaha. How bereft she felt. Her nightmares and loneliness in self-imposed exile. Wandering around the freezing cold of the woods. Bellamy can't rein in the pain as he reminds Clarke that she didn't bear it all on her own. She couldn't have, not when he was the one left behind to pick up the pieces Mount Weather shredded. He was the one seeing their faces every day. She asked him to come back with her, to their people, once before, and he did. But when he asked her to do the same, she left. They both know it's not apologies he's looking for. It's a promise, a reigniting of an old promise made between two lost souls needing the other when the world threatened to drown them. They readily give in.

Their conversation takes an unexpected turn when Clarke explains why she gave in to Bellamy's plan to go undercover in Mt. Weather. For her to be strong enough to save her people, she couldn't let love hold her back, make her weak. From the second Bellamy left her sight, she regretted it. They both recognize it as the confession she didn't intend to say. Shock settles in. With newfound confidence, it triggers an admission of Bellamy's own feelings. Cue canon Bellarke.

Once the air between them is clear, it was only fair that the effects of Mt. Weather be a topic Clarke and Bellamy discuss with the third member of the room that fateful day. It leads them to the complicated subject of Jasper, the three of them breaking down in tears over their fallen friend.

Six years of peacetime spent in Clarke's company shapes perspective on the girl herself. She's not Clarke Griffin, the fierce and stoic Skaikru leader, equipped with all the answers. She's not Wanheda, the great legend. She's just a girl, with vulnerabilities, insecurities, fears, and demons, just the same as any of them. She becomes a person to them. Real flesh and blood. A human being who does indeed break. And no one is more startled by this revelation than Raven. It's another contentious relationship of Clarke's requiring time to mend. Although sharing feelings doesn't come easily to Raven, the two eventually crack their sibling-like rivalry where Abby and Finn are concerned.

It's the presence of a fellow cockroach well-versed in the glamourous lifestyle of isolation that gets Murphy out of his self-destructive streak. In their own ways, they have both been the outsiders. They make an uncanny pair of confidantes, so says the rest of the kru. But somehow, it works. Trust doesn't come easy for Murphy, and he and Clarke have their fair share of issues. Close quarters force the two of them and Emori to work it out. For all that Clarke excels at contrition, deserved and undeserved, she's also never been one to beat around the bush, no matter Murphy's preference to lash out in his signature style of sharp sarcasm at moments of his choosing. As it is for Bellamy, Clarke's belief in Murphy as a good man is an overwhelming force, one he is not sure he's worthy of, but privately welcomed nevertheless. In time, there arrives a sense of respect and loyalty between them no one foresaw.

Clarke's penchant for extending her hand to the outsiders doesn't end with Murphy and Emori. Clarke was the first to bring Echo on board and, she is the first to treat their errant Azgeda former spy as family. Post-season 4 to the series' end, Echo's character development is at the forefront of her story arc, never filtered through a subpar pairing needed to fuel an insipid love triangle where her leg of it is marked for eventual demolition.

Since I am bound by limitless imagination, let us pretend this was a 2-hour season premiere.

The flashbacks take us through the six years to the present. Spacekru's happiness is juxtaposed, as we transition to below the ground, by the hellscape Wonkru is trapped in. The second half of 5x01 is Wonkru flashbacks, a la 5x02.

5x02 takes us back to Eligius IV, to the passing of Order 11 (is that what it was called?). A young pilot named Shaw chooses to defy his captain's orders, releasing their prisoners. They proceed to take over the ship, killing Shaw's crewmates and captain, Charmaine Diyoza assuming command. She corrals Paxton McCreary and his men to her side. With their mutiny a success, Diyoza tells Shaw to plot a course for Earth. All the while, we see Shaw wrestling with the bloody aftermath of his decisions. They reach Earth's orbit, ready to go home, unknowingly under the watch of 8 survivors in space.

The Eligius prisoners touch ground on the last arable patch of land on Earth and quickly find themselves ensnared in a series of traps by an unknown number of assailants. Their assailant turns out to be a solitary preteen. They capture her, interrogate her. She speaks a language they've never heard. I'm making it a point to emphasize those infernal shock collars do not exist in my little world.

5x03 plays out similarly onboard the Eligius mothership. Our kru arrives, not to borrow a cup of sugar, but to steal the hydrazine for their journey home. Clarke, Bellamy, and kru debates the morality of killing 300 strangers in their sleep before deciding to use them as leverage. Raven and Murphy stay behind. Six Spacekru members fall to Earth and are captured by Eligius. They are taken to Diyoza, where they find a little girl dressed in Grounder garb. Bellamy and Clarke use their trump card to free themselves, Madi, and use their resources to locate Wonkru, with an additional promise to share the land and their knowledge of life on Earth.

5x04 plays out the same, more or less, without the awkward tension of a Bellarke trying to reacclimate themselves to each other's presence again. Diyoza brings Madi, Bellamy, and Clarke to Polis, where Bellarke negotiates for Wonkru's release. They meet Blodreina and her cult of warriors. Fandom squeals seeing Octavia greet her sister-in-law. Wonkru (and Blodreina) comes to realize that they have found a surviving Nightblood. Diyoza betrays the accord, taking Abby and Kane to Shallow Valley and leaving Bellarke and Madi at odds with Octavia.

5x05 sees Bellarke continuing to act in concert as a team, eager to reunite with their lost people while keeping a protective eye on Madi. Tensions brew between them and Blodreina. Marper and Echo return and they all turn back to Polis.

Blodreina refuses to grant pardon to Echo. Spacekru fights on her behalf, while Echo is willfully recruited for Octavia's mission. Madi meets Gaia under Clarke's watchful eye. When Madi is introduced to the Flame, Clarke tries to persuade her not to be swayed by the Flamekeeper's influence. Because this is my fantasy and I can do what I wish, it turns out that Clarke and Bellamy are expecting their first child. Clarke, believing the Flame to be a curse for its bearer, wants to spare Madi a bloody fate. She wants to abolish this aspect of Grounder culture, fearing the chances her child may become the next natural-born Nightblood. She dreads the possibility of her child as the next participant in the Conclave or the next Commander.

Another sidenote I am interjecting. Here, toxic motherhood isn't a defining characteristic of Clarke's, to aid in her isolation and subsequent, continual emotional decline. In my world, she gets to be a protective mother, a loving wife, a compassionate friend, and a caring daughter, all rolled in one little blonde package. She gives love freely, as she does in canon, but receives it in kind. She doesn't sink to rock bottom, nor must she, to be the heroine she is. She draws on the good and the bad experiences she's had to teach others. She imparts her lessons to those in need. Love is a commodity her life isn’t devoid of.

Clarke and Bellamy argue over what to do about Blodreina. Neither wants her to be harmed, but Bellamy maintains that she is, above all, his sister. He needs to believe Octavia is still within reach. He cannot abandon her now that they're together again. Clarke petitions Bellamy to take their family to Shallow Valley before it's too late. They compromise, agreeing to remove Octavia from the board long enough for Indra to take Diyoza's proffered deal. Their plans fail, as per 5x08, and Octavia arrests Clarke, an execution set for after the baby’s birth. We retain the glorious Blake scene of 5x08. It breaks Bellamy's heart to hurt Octavia, but she forced his hand. He has to protect his wife and their baby.

Tensions come to a head between husband and wife, courtesy of 5x09. Bellamy, having exhausted all other options, decides Madi must ascend to Commander to accomplish their goals. It is the only way to protect them all and save the valley. I am once again interrupting my spiel to remark that Clarke knows, unequivocally, she is included on the shortlist of family Bellamy is most ardently trying to protect. Forget "included," she's at the top. Clarke, ever the protective mother, disagrees, citing endangerment to Madi from Octavia and her patriots. Clarke argues that, of Diyoza and Octavia, Diyoza is the lesser evil to their family. As long as they remain within Diyoza's rules, they have nothing to fear from her. Bellamy, seeing Clarke's deep-rooted fear, agrees.

They are delayed by Marper, who wish to stay within the bunker, living off the revitalized algae farm. Bellamy and Clarke don't want to leave them behind until Monty points out that they, for once, deserve the chance to choose their fate, as all of the people of Earth. Octavia recuperates in time to arrest Bellamy, sending him to the fighting pit. Clarke fights to defend him but is detained. Clarke wants to fight alongside him, but they both know she has to live to raise their baby. They are permitted a final goodbye, and they have an emotional last exchange, a.k.a. Kabby parallel. Like Kane before him, Indra is forced to separate another family.

Octavia assures Bellamy that the baby will be under her protection. By now, Bellamy has reached the end of his rope with his baby sister. He loves her, but he can't distinguish her from the monster she's become, and it's about to cost him a life with his family. Disgusted, Bellamy scoffs at her overtures. He reminds her that his child deserves to have its parents. Clarke's earlier words come back as he tells her that she is his family's worst enemy. It wasn't enough for Aurora to leave him responsible for raising his sister at six years old. For the first time, his life is right, and she's the one who's about to take it away. He reminds her what it was like to lose her mother at 17, to never know her father. She knows how devastating it feels. Yet, left up to her, his child would be an orphan. He finishes with a devastating blow: it'll be those he holds as his family who will take care of his wife and child.

Clarke breaks free of her restraints, making plans to cause disruption to the bunker and getting Bellamy out in the ensuing chaos. She is stopped by Monty, who wants to use the opportunity to give Wonkru a better choice. Clarke tells him she isn't gambling Bellamy's life. Monty breaks again, pointing out that the last time he helped her and Bellamy, they split blood, and their plans still failed. Clarke reluctantly relents out of guilt, knowing how Mount Weather continues to haunt Monty. She does, after all, trust him with her life.

Bellamy fights Indra in the pits until the proceedings are interrupted by an intervening Monty, brandishing a pure, white flower in a sea of blood and darkness. Just as he begins to sway Wonkru to his non-volatile solution to the impending war, Blodreina forces compliance by burning the algae farm.

As Wonkru mobilizes for war, the fractured Spacekru and Madi take the rover to the valley to find their friends. They destroy the worms in transit.

They save an incapacitated Abby, who later recounts the Dark Year. Bellamy can't stop the horror he feels at the ordeal his sister has lived through. He feels a pang of guilt he knows is irrational while wrestling with the knowledge that she is still responsible for her choices now.

They reunite with the rest of Spacekru and are surprised to learn McCreary has taken control of the camp. With Diyoza and Kane's assistance, the eye in the sky is reinstalled, giving Eligius the advantage. As much as they want to prevent this war, they cannot leave Wonkru to die in the gorge. The group breaks off. One team is sent to disable the eye in the sky. The other team uses Madi's knowledge of the valley's layout to head off to fight alongside Wonkru in the gorge.

By the time they arrive safely, only Octavia, Indra, and Gaia are left alive. Bellamy convinces Octavia to retreat instead of sacrificing herself. He tells her she has to live with what she's done instead of taking the easy way out. For the most part, I'm picturing the scenes play out as they did in canon. At base camp, Wonkru is in disarray. Too many bodies are left littered from this war, with Blodreina at fault. To stop the in-fighting, Madi attempts to assume control by invoking her natural right to lead as a Nightblood. Some dissent, claiming she is not yet Commander. With support from Gaia, Octavia, and Bellamy (who makes sure this is what she wants), they sway Wonkru to Madi's side. Freshly invigorated, Wonkru prepares for a second assault.

Back on the Eligius ship, Clarke, Raven, and Shaw release an imprisoned Diyoza. They allow themselves to be captured and taken to the ship's central control. While McCreary attempts to force Raven to pilot their ship, she and Clarke regain control. Meanwhile, Bellamy convinces Madi to let the prisoners live.

From here, may I present two alternatives:

Scenario 1: Clarke kills McCreary before he can launch the missile from the mothership. With Spacekru controlling the ship's weaponry and Wonkru overtaking the prisoners, Eligius capitulates. After much deliberation, a new accord is reached, allowing for all survivors to live in peace as a singular society. Spacekru gets their 80 acres. The last of the 10(2) become parents to the next generation. It takes time, but Bellamy and Octavia's relationship heals. Eventually, she earns back her place in his life as his sister. She becomes one of many to welcome Bellarke's little one to the world, ecstatic to be a loving aunt. Generations later, the Earth recovers.

Scenario #2: The missile is launched. Earth's survivors must escape to space to survive. Marper opts out of cryosleep and has a son. It takes Monty ten years to realize Earth may never recover from its last doomsday. He wakes Spacekru+ to determine options. Between him, Raven, and Shaw, the three configure a self-running algorithm to decode the Eligius III mission files. They wire the pods to awaken its occupants every decade to check the algorithm's progress. The McIntyre-Greens go into cryosleep with some gentle persuasion from Bellarke. They won't leave their people behind. Thirty years later, Earth remains dormant. The files reveal the existence of a planet that could support human life, lightyears away, in the binary star system in the Goldilocks zone. They plot a course.

No, it's not as thrilling as the original ending. But if our heroes are going to traipse across the universe, only to return to their home planet, then Marper will not be sacrificed for nada. They will live out their days, a little older, a little wiser, but surrounded by their friends. They will not say farewell to their son at his ripe old age of 26.

There isn't much I would change about season 6, not where its major storylines are concerned. Clarke meets Cillian for his insight on Abby and Kane's deteriorating conditions. I would alter Madi's arc to where she takes the Flame in Sanctum and uses the time while the grounders are in cryosleep to train under Gaia's tutelage. Madi becomes attached to Bellarke, and it leaves her susceptible to Sheidheda's influence when her newfound familial figures find themselves at risk from the Primes. She'd see Sheidheda as a necessary evil to save her people, not unlike Clarke submitting to Lxa's clout. I would have Sheidheda preying on Madi's fears that she'd be alone again as she was during Praimfaya if she doesn't respond with vigor.

Season 7 gets a similar, substantial overhaul I've been thinking about for months but haven't yet written down.

The end.

(When am I going to stop with these sidenotes? After this last point, I promise.) Jason ran too tight a ship to let his post-apocalypse masterpiece become overtaken by frivolous romance. Without this pitfall, what stopped him from coupling Bellarke up before the end? Nothing. He could have a Bellarke that remained symbolic of the show's themes and mythos. A show that thrives on chaos would never run out of conflict to stir the pot. Falling apart and weaving themselves back together has been the model of their relationship since season one. Why couldn't they do this and be a couple? Why couldn't they have the Memori Model? They could have, but Jason chose the path of the slowburn. There's no fault in this. There is a fault in choosing to rescind the previously established story when it comes time for the threads to finally tie together. And I will never forgive him for it.

[chaoscalled]

No Walls

NEW FIC IS HERE!  Arya boards her brand new ship and starts her new adventure, but an old adventure keeps calling her back....

She knew any ship that was sailing into the unknown would have to be built special.  Bran was even able to give her a bit of insight as to what sorts of dangers to expect on the open sea.  Little things that she knew would make all the difference.  The wolf on the hull was a personal touch she hadn’t thought to add until she saw the builders crafting a naked woman for the spot.  Her men learned quick not to cross the wolf.

They planned to stop along the ports to stock up on supplies.  King’s Landing was down to tethers as it struggled to rebuild in the wake of a dragon.  A few stops on the coast before setting sail would be good to adjust her sea legs.  She’d never captained a ship before herself so it was good practice in that aspect as well.

They sailed for four days away from King’s Landing.  The bend around Massey’s Hook took the longest as the winds went against them for just a moment.  Then, it was smooth sailing down to Shipbreaker Bay.  Arya spent all her time on deck.  She slept a rare hour every now and again, but her cabin hardly knew her.

“Two ports coming up, Captain.” Moryn, her first mate told her.

“Which two?” She asked.  She’d glanced at the map, but her mind had focused ahead.  Oldtown was to be their last stop in Westeros.

“Evenfall Hall’s port and Storm’s End.  If I may, I recommend Evenfall Hall.  Shipbreaker Bay got its name at the port of Storm’s End.  Many a ship has been lost there.”

Arya looked out to the coast off in the distance.  She could make out the island of Tarth where Ser Brienne had been born and raised and even trained.  Beyond that, still just a dark line on the horizon, was Storm’s End.  Her stomach turned over as Gendry’s face popped into her head.  She could see his sea blue eyes in every wave they broke.

He’d been at the meeting of the council.  Before they’d crowned Bran.  There was a part of her that expected him to corner her.  To try and talk to her.  To say anything.  Scream at her for using him.  For toying with him the way she had.  The way she knew she had.  If any man had done what she had done to him to her she’d kill him without hesitation.  Instead, Gendry had sat mostly quietly.  He had voted her brother king.  He had looked at her without animosity.  And he had looked… good.  There was no way around it.  He’d looked good.  Good enough to take into another storeroom.

If she went to him at Storm’s End, he might turn her away.  If he didn’t she would only break his heart more.  She knew that.  Does it matter?  The most selfish part of her whispered.  You’ll never return again.  One last romp?

Arya looked at Moryn, still waiting for her comman.  “Evenfall Hall it is.”

Moryn gave her a nod and hurried to command the sailors into their tasks.  Arya shoved at her needing.  Her longing.  She would not be selfish.  Gendry deserved better.  He deserved the world.  Maybe she could find a dragon and hatch it for him.  Or maybe she’d find something even better.  Something she could send back to him as an apology of sorts.  Anything at all.

Arya remembered the sack once again.  Being at sea the past few days had been a reprieve.  All the water made it easier to forget the raining fire.  The melting rock.  The stench of smoke wafting up from burnt corpses.  She would do well to be rid of Westeros forever.  Or, as close to forever as she could get.

Tarth rose up around them.  It was more yellow than Arya had thought it to be.  The rock was more golden than grey.  It was an odd shade unlike most sea stone.  Evenfall Hall mounted even higher.  That stone was more red than yellow and more grey than red.  She frowned up at it.  It looked almost as bad as the Red Keep.  The walls were broken.  Some parts no more than rubble.  Arya waited until the ship grew closer.

Moryn came back to her side.  Arya looked down at him with a frown.  She already knew what he was going to say.

“Tarth’s port has been destroyed, Captain.” He said apologetically.  “From the looks I’d have to say it was the Iron Fleet that did it.”

Arya chewed her lip.  It would seem the gods had still more plans for her.  She looked to Storm’s End again.  It was closer now.  Larger.  All black rock and mean waves.  The singular tower of the holdfast punched the sky like a mad drunkard.  Slightly to the east, the port sat quietly among masts of ships so small yet they were little more than needles floating in the water.

“Storm’s End then.”  She said.

Moryn looked like he wanted to argue.  He stared at her face hesitantly for a good while before moving off to his work.  The men turned the ship away from Tarth.  Arya looked down at the broken ships as they went.  She toyed with the pommel of Needle at her hip.

I could stay on the ship.  Let the men fetch what we need.  She thought.  There’s really no reason I need to see him.

The ship docked at Storm’s End’s port.  She could smell the fish from the market heavy in the air.  There’d be plenty of fish to catch at sea.  Bran had seen to a drag net being fixed to her ship for when food grew scarce.  At the ports, Arya was only interested in fruits and animals.  Sheep, pigs, chickens, all to be kept in a hold below deck.

Arya made her way down the gangplank and into the port town.  People looked at her curiously.  She was still a woman and women did not often captain ships.  She had a cursory thought of Yara Greyjoy being subjected to such curious stares.

“We’ll stay in port tonight and set out again on the tide tomorrow.” Arya told Moryn.

“Only the one night, Captain?  We might recruit more men if we wait another day or two.” He suggested.

Arya looked at her first mate wordlessly.  He withered under her stare.  “Of course, Captain, I’ll tell the men to be ready on the morrow.”  And he disappeared.

Arya borrowed a horse from the inn on the edge of the port.  It was a skinny little brown thing that hopped every few steps as if mice were skittering under its feet.  Arya grew tired of its skittish behavior within minutes and pushed it into a gallop.  It didn’t skitter then.  It ran as smoothly as any mount and for that she was grateful.

When they slowed, the horse didn’t hop again.  It walked evenly up to the gates of the holdfast.  Arya smiled serenely at the Baratheon banners hanging from the walls.  Black stags on yellow fields.  A guard approached her holding a spear.  She leaned back in her saddle.

“What business have you here?” The gruff guard demanded.

Arya looked through the gates into the holdfast.  Her stomach fluttered excitedly.  “I’m here to see your lord.”

“My lord is expecting no visitors.”  The guard replied.

“Tell him the wolf is here.” Arya told the guard, her horse jittered beneath her, growing restless again now that they were standing still.

The guard shook his head.  “He has no time for wolves or women.”

Arya snatched her dagger from her hip and pressed the tip of it to the guard’s throat kicking his spear out of his hand as she did.  She turned to the other one and smiled.  “Tell your lord the wolf is here.  Tell him she’s got her fang on one of his guards.”

The other guard stared wide eyed between her and his friend.  Hurriedly, the man ran off to do as she bid.  His heavy armor clanking all the way.  Curiously, she did not see him enter the castle.  Instead, he veered off into the yard.  Arya looked back down at the guard with Cat’s Paw at his neck.

“You know if he goes for help you’re dead.”

The man snarled at her.  She saw his hand grabbing for the sword on his hip.  She pulled her foot out of her stirrup and set it on his sword hand.

“You don’t want to do that.” She told him.

“Arya?”

She looked up.  He was filthy.  Blacksmith filthy.  And out of breath.  Arya flipped her dagger back in her hand and stowed it away in its sheath.  She hadn’t even worked out what she should say.

“My Lord.” She greeted.

Gendry looked at his guardsmen.  He waved them away.  “It’s alright.  She’s a friend.”

Arya dismounted, glad to be rid of the squirrely beast.  Someone led it away to the stables as she stepped within the deep walls of the holdfast.  Gendry walked with her to the yard.  He didn’t say anything which left it to her.

“I’ve stopped my ship at your port to restock.”  She explained.

Gendry frowned.  “Restock?  Didn’t you come from King’s Landing?”

Arya nodded.  “I need enough stock to last up to a year I think.  I don’t expect to find anything until then otherwise our maps would be bigger.”

Gendry was quiet.  He was never this quiet with her.  She chewed at her lip some more.  He must hate her.  She looked up at the tower.  From the base you couldn’t see the top.  It was just a long, black arm reaching into the stormy, grey clouds.  She started for the door to what she assumed would be Round Hall.

“Oh, you don’t want to go in there.” Gendry told her.

She stopped and frowned back at him.  “I’d like to see your castle, My Lord.”

Gendry grimaced and looked at his feet.  “Doesn’t look anything like Winterfell’s castle.  It’s….”  Gendry shrugged.

Arya shook her head at him and pushed the door open.  She squinted in the sudden darkness.  There were no torches going in the foyer and there were no windows to let in light.  She walked forward, feeling with her feet for any misplaced stones or sudden steps.  She listened for walls just as she did in Braavos when the Many Faced God had taken her eyes.

A hand grabbed her elbow and Arya twisted and struck.  She heard Gendry give a cry more of indignation than of pain.  He grabbed her elbow again and pulled her into a hall that was brighter than the foyer, but still dark.

“You should have torches burning for light.  And where are your servants?  Are the guards at your gate your only guardsmen?  Where are the rest?  And your castellan?  Where’s he?  The port is full of people, yet your castle is as good as deserted.”  She was speaking as she was turning around the monstrous hall.  Large enough to put Winterfell’s to shame, but still smaller than Harrenhal’s.  And empty.

She stopped talking as she faced Gendry again and saw his face.  Even in the low light she could see how flushed he was with anger and embarrassment.  She snapped her mouth shut and swallowed.

“Well, it has been pretty busy.  You haven’t had the chance to get everything sorted yet, I’d figure.”

Gendry scoffed.  “Don’t do that.”

Arya frowned at him.  “Don’t do what?”

“I don’t need your platitudes.  Never have.  I told you I’d be a shit lord.  I told you I didn’t know what I was doing.  I wasn’t raised to oversee holdfasts or attend council meetings or do anything important.  I was raised a bastard to die a bastard.  So I don’t need you to swoop in here and try to make everything okay.  Dying a lord is already a high enough honor.”  Gendry said with no shortage of bitterness in each of his words.

“I wasn’t trying to –”

“Doesn’t matter what you were trying to do.  Alright?  I get it.”  He said loudly enough that his words echoed off the high, empty walls.  Thunder threatening a storm.  Ours is the fury.

Gendry waved off her attempt at more words.  He turned his back to her and crossed his arms over his chest to stare at the barren head table.

I knew it.  He does hate me.

“What I don’t get is what you’re doing here.”  He said after a minute.  “There are hundreds of ports around you could stop at.  Why come to this one?”

Arya shut her eyes and gave her head a small shake.  “Because it’s yours.”

Gendry turned back to face her.  His eye was skeptical.  Assessing.  Like he couldn’t decide what trick she was playing.  He must have decided because he raised his brows and gave a small nod.

“Thinking you won’t be coming back again, yeah?”

Arya stared at him mutely.

He sniffed and set his hands on his hips.  She could see his collarbone above the neck of his dirty smith shirt.  He saw her looking.

“That’s what it is.  One more End-of-the-World lay, then?”  He blew air out of his nose like an angry bull.  She almost smiled.

“Gendry –”

“Was it the title that did it?”

“What?”

“Did you only want me because I was there?  Or did you only stop wanting me because some dead queen made me a lord?”  Gendry clarified.

Arya balked.  She knew she’d broken his heart, but she thought she’d explained herself when she’d turned down his proposal.  There was no good way to reject someone you love, but she had done her….  Love?

Gendry was staring at her with his sea blue eyes.  She tried for the right words.  Better words than she’d evidently given him their last night in Winterfell.  She was coming up empty.

Gendry looked like he might cry.  Or scream.  He shut his eyes tight and put his back to her again.  “So it’s just me then.”

“What’s just you?”

Gendry covered his eyes with his hand.  “You know damn well what.  I thought girls were supposed to be more emotional when it came to fucking.”

Arya startled at his coarse words.  Of course she’d heard coarser, but never from Gendry.  Not since he’d learned she was a girl.  And almost never since he’d learned she was a highborn.

“You’re one to talk.”  She muttered.  “Did you propose to those three other girls, too?”

“Why would I?” He said almost on a whisper.

Arya shrugged, though he was still turned away from her and couldn’t see.  “We lay together once and you proposed to me.  You might have lain with those other three more often.  If they turned you down then, you might go back and have better luck.  Tell them you’re a lord with a –”

“THEY WEREN’T YOU!” He bellowed, spinning on his heel to face her.  The hall crackled from his shout.

Arya met his eye evenly.  She wanted to cry.  She wanted to run.  She wanted to hold him until he didn’t hate her anymore.  She worked at controlling her emotions.  Something ordinarily easy, but near impossible whenever she was with Gendry.

For the first time, she dropped her eyes first.  “I shouldn’t have come.”

“No.  I suppose you shouldn’t have.” Gendry agreed.  It made her whole chest hurt to hear him say that.  And that made her angry.

“You could have said no at any time, you know.  You could have told me to stop.  You could have left.  You didn’t have to.”  She told him.

Gendry snorted at her.  All bull.  “Hard for anyone to ever tell you no, isn’t it Lady Stark?”

“Don’t –”

“Don’t what?  Huh?  Don’t what?  You’re a lady like it or not.  You always have been and you always will be because that’s what you were raised as.  Just like me.  I might live in a fancy castle, but I’m still at my forge day and night because I can do beggar all lord shit, but I can damn well work a forge because that’s what I was raised as, My Lady.”

“If you weren’t so bloody stubborn you might learn.  You think I was raised to kill the Night King?  To be a swordsman?  No!  I learned.  I learned however I could from whoever I could.  You could do the same if you wanted to.  You’re just happier in your forge and that’s why your castle looks like shit.  My Lord.”

Gendry let out an animalistic growl.  “Has it ever once occurred to you that maybe there was only one good thing I ever saw in a lordship?  Barring that, I’d rather be a smith in some rundown shop the rest of my days anyway.”

Arya frowned.  She thought a lordship was right up Gendry’s alley.  He was the one that always made a big deal about her title and status.  She had never cared for them.  She couldn’t even sit through all the lessons about banners and house words and allegiances.  The only banners she cared for were House Starks.  The only words she cared for were the ones her father told her.  But she knew Gendry’s.  Not just because his father was her father’s best friend, but because his having a house was important to him.  Having a sigil and house words were important to him.

“I thought you wanted to be a lord.  Wanted to rule your own castle.  You always made such a big deal out of it.”

Gendry gave her a strange look.  He walked away a ways and pulled a dusty chair out of the shadows.  He sat down in it heavily and put his head in his hands.  Arya hadn’t really expected so much of a fight.  She thought he’d either throw her out or take her to bed.  This hadn’t been on her agenda.

“What was the one good thing?” Arya asked, hesitantly.

Gendry shook his head and didn’t look at her.  “If you don’t already know there’s no point in me telling you.”

She could tell all the fight had gone out of him.  For some reason, that scared her more than his shouting.  At least if he was angry with her it proved he still cared.  And Arya hated that she was still wanting him to care about her.  Hadn’t she done him enough damage?

She sniffed.  “My ship leaves port tomorrow with the tide.  You can forget all about me as soon as you’d like.  I’ll never darken your door again.”

Arya sniffed again and fought against the heat in her eyes.  The tears threatening to fall because Gendry really might forget her.  And that thought hurt.  It hurt like nothing she had ever felt before.  A burn that started at her center and spread until it was suffocating.  She turned for the blackened corridor to leave.

“Forget you?” Gendry said to the floor.  “Could I ever?”  She knew he was looking at her.  She was turned away, but she knew.   “Can you forget me?  Am I so little to you?”  Gendry only paused a second before answering himself for her.  “Of course you could.  And you will.  You’re so much more than I could ever be.  Two of your siblings wear crowns.  It wasn’t the title.  It wasn’t the lordship.  It really was just me.”  He stood up, the legs of the chair scraping against the stone.  “I’m not enough for you.  I never will be.”

“Gendry –” Her next words were caught on a sob.  She covered her face with her hands and took a deep, shaking breath.  “I can’t give you what you want.”  She said as she calmed herself.  “You want a lady in your castle.  A mother for your children.  You want someone I’m not.  I don’t want to stay inside four walls my whole life.  That’s why I’m sailing west.  No castles, no walls to hold me.  Just the open sea and whatever lays on the other side of it.”

Arya scrubbed the criminal tears from her cheeks and took another deep breath.  She was horrified to have cried at all.  She was glad none of her shipmates were there.  It had taken her a week before leaving and three days at sea to gain a modicum of respect from them.  If they ever saw her cry she’d lose it all.

“Free, but not safe.  There’s dangers at sea.  Dangers everywhere.  Holdfasts have walls because it’s safer.”

“King’s Landing had walls.  How safe were all those people there?” Arya challenged.  “Dangers are everywhere.  I might as well have a bit of fun while waiting for the lightning to strike.”

Gendry stood behind her now.  Close enough that she could feel his breath on the back of her neck.  It sent chills down her back and made her flesh hum with need.  Need for something she could not have again.

“I never wanted much my whole life,” he started.  “Food in my belly, maybe.  A warmer blanket.  Sometimes I would think about a smithy of my own.  But if I ever really wanted something.  Wanted something that wasn’t necessarily about survival, well that comes down to one thing.  The same thing that made me care about titles and lordships and castles.  And it’s not even a thing.”

Arya turned around slowly.  Her face met with his chest.  She could smell the smoke and sweat on him.  Smoke that should have brought her back to King’s Landing.  Should have made her think of the mother and her daughter, but instead she could only think of the storeroom behind the Winterfell forges.  She tipped her head up to meet his eyes.

“Have you ever wanted something like that?  Something not for survival or revenge, but something you wanted because your whole being said you needed it.”  He asked and his voice was barely more than a whisper.

“Yes.” She said, her voice just as quiet.  She had wanted something just like that the night of the Battle for the Dawn.  She had wanted it so badly she dropped everything for it.

Gendry nodded.  “Will you tell me?”

Arya stared up at him.  In the dark, his eyes looked black.  Endlessly deep.  She could fall into them forever.  She reached up for his face, but he caught her wrist and stopped her.  She stared at him.  She could feel the heat of his hand through her leathers.

“Tell me.” He said again.

Arya swallowed.  She could feel her heartbeat in her ears.  She wanted to tell him, but she didn’t want to break his heart again.  She didn’t want him to hate her anymore.  She wanted to hear him say he loved her again.  Even just one more time.  She had never been happier than when he’d said it that last horrible night.  And never sadder when she couldn’t say it back to him.

“Go home, girl.  You come with me, you die here.”

Arya’s eyes heated again.  Gendry kept hold on her wrist with one hand and brought the other up to cup her cheek.  His calloused fingertips grazed her skin so softly.  She felt her heart stuttering.  She wanted to kiss him.  She wanted to feel him again.  Everywhere.  She wanted….

“You.” She breathed.

Gendry smiled.  She tugged her wrist from his hand and grabbed his face between them and pulled him down.  She crushed her lips against his.  Gendry let her kiss him a few seconds.  Not long enough to satisfy her, but longer than she thought to get.  He pushed her back and stepped away.

She stood alone.  Her whole body was shivering.  Not from cold or fear, but from a want so deep she could feel it in her bones.  There weren’t any sacks of grain around, but the table didn’t look too uncomfortable.  Gods, how was she going to last the rest of her life never being touched by him again?  To only have that one night to remember it all.

Gendry grabbed her hand and pulled her further into the castle.  She let him lead her.  There was nothing much to the castle anyway.  Not many places to get lost at least.  And no servants or furniture to trip over.  He led her up an enormous case of winding stairs.  They wrapped the whole tower.  Arya thought there must have been a million of them.  Huge and winding ever upward.

On the seaward side, the tower was pitch black.  Gendry held her hand tighter on that side.  The side facing the Curtain Wall at least had windows.  Even as small as they were, they let in enough light to see by.  And still they traveled upward.  Ever in silence because what was left there to say?

At long last, they came to a great wooden door with iron bars.  Gendry pushed the door open and led her into the lord’s chambers.  An impressive apartment with a wide window on one side singlehandedly responsible for all the light in the room at large.  Arya could see bits of half-forged armor strewn across the floor.  Even a sword or two he’d obviously been too sleepy to remember to leave in the forge before heading to bed.

The bed was monstrous.  A truly ridiculous size even for a lord’s bed.  Arya bet herself twenty people could fit on the mattress.  She frowned at her memories of the Baratheons.  She supposed if any lords would have ridiculously large beds, it’d be the stags.

Then came the mad thought in Arya’s head.  How many women has he had in this bed?

Gendry stepped behind her.  His warm hands slid around her waist to her belt.  He slipped it off and settled it on a table beside a half made breast plate.  His lips grazed her neck and Arya rolled her head to the side to give him better access.  His fingers started at the ties on her tunic.  She set her hands on her pants, but Gendry’s hands were over hers in an instant.

“Don’t.” He growled, his voice thick and harsh in her ear.  “Not this time.”

He pulled her tunic down her shoulders and went back for her undershirt.  Arya tried to turn around to face him.  She wanted to kiss him.  Taste him like he was tasting her.  Gendry’s strong hands kept stopping her.  He was keeping her turned away from him even as he slowly and deliberately rid her of each article of clothing.

When she was standing completely naked, Gendry disappeared from her.  She spun around to catch him, but he was already across the room.  His shirt was off, the little patch of black curls on his chest made her belly twist.  She started for him, but he looked up at her and she froze.  Her breathing became harsher.  She didn’t just want him.  She needed him.

Gendry ran a wet washcloth over his face, neck and chest.  A droplet of water ran drwn his chest all the way to his breaches before disappearing.

“I like you dirty.” Arya told him.

Gendry gave her a wry smile.  He dropped the cloth half in the water bowl and half on the table.  He set his hands on his ties as he moved.  Easy, practiced motions undoing the knots he tied there.

“Is that so?”

Arya grabbed for him again.  He caught her arms easily as he dropped his pants around his ankles.  He brought her arms down to her sides and Arya was forced to acknowledge just how strong he really was.  Gendry stepped out of his pants and leaned his face closer to her.  If she could just elongate her neck another half inch she’d be kissing him.

“You really should have seen me after the battle with the white walkers.  I was downright filthy.” He teased, but Arya could hear a bite of hurt beneath the tone.

“Gods, Gendry, please!” She begged.  She was naked in his bedroom and he wouldn’t touch her.

Gendry pressed his forehead against hers, purposefully keeping his lips just out of her reach.  “Please what?”  He asked all innocence.

“Kiss me.  Touch me.  Fuck me.  Please.”

Gendry frowned then.  He moved her arms so the he could hold both her wrists in one hand.  All joking gone from his face.  Arya’s body screamed.  He shook his head.  “You aren’t a whore.” He told her.  He reached up with his free hand and smoothed a few stray hairs from her face.  His fingertips caught her bottom lip and she wanted to scream.

“I don’t care.”

Gendry pet his fingers over her lips, cheeks, jaw.  They traveled down her neck to her chest.  He used his whole hand then.  The rough callouses setting her skin ablaze.  He squeezed her breast and flicked her nipple with his thumb.  Arya shut her eyes.

“Let me go.” Arya told him, pulling at her wrists in his hand.  Just then, Gendry’s free hand found her sex.  She let out a gasp and pressed her forehead more firmly against Gendry’s.  She twisted her wrists in his hold, spreading her legs a bit more for him.  “Gendry, let go of my hands.”

Gendry kissed her lightly.  Barely more than a peck.  She chased those lips.

“Will you run away?” He murmured.

“I want to touch you.”

Gendry brought her hands to his face.  He kissed each of her fingers before freeing her wrists and gripping her by her butt to haul her up onto his hips.  Arya grabbed his face between her hands again and held him still as she tasted his lips until she felt the coil in her belly start to loosen.

She fell backward until she hit something soft.  Arya blinked up at him.  His mouth moved to her breasts.  Where his fingers once tantalized her, his tongue and teeth left her breathless.  She dug her fingers into his scalp and set her legs on either side of him.  It wasn’t enough.

“Gendry, now.” She ordered.

Gendry pulled his head back and grinned at her.  “Spoiled little rich girl.  No patience at all.”

Arya grabbed his ears and pulled his head up so that he was looking her straight in the eyes.  “I swear to the old gods and the new if you don’t –”

Gendry kissed her stealing away her empty threats.  His fingers dipped inside of her and she moaned into his mouth.  Gendry took her hand in his and curved it around his thick cock.  She gave it a stroke and smiled against his mouth when she felt the wet tip against her palm.  She lined his cock up with her opening.  If only he would move his damn fingers.  They felt incredible, but his cock would feel so much better.

Arya whimpered into his mouth.  She tried again and again to push him over, but Gendry was determined to stay on top of her.  Arya knew it for what it was.  A show of power.  A sort of ‘two can play that game’ move.  Arya couldn’t fault him for it.  His strength was one of the biggest attractions for her.  The sheer size of his arms….  She ran her free hand over his bicep and deltoid almost lovingly.

Gendry pulled his fingers from her and took her hand on his cock away.  She twisted her mouth away to protest when he surged into her in one deft stroke.  Arya let out a delirious cry of fulfillment and relief.   She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, keeping him still inside her for just a moment.

She didn’t last long as soon as he started moving.  He had her trembling beneath him after the third or fourth stroke.  His lips still grazed her skin.  Every second or third stroke his mouth would find hers again and she would kiss him back eagerly.  Gendry pulled himself from her completely after one last stroke and spilled his seed over the scars on her belly.

Arya drooped back into the pillows.  Her eyes fluttering shut for just a second.  The bed dipped and Arya opened them again to see where he’d gone.  He picked up the washcloth and wiped away the cum from his cock.  He tossed the washcloth to her while he poured wine into two cups.

Arya cleaned her belly and sat up as he came back over with the wine.  He handed her one and sat beside her on the edge of the bed facing the window.  Arya took a sip and grimaced.

“Ugh,” she set the cup on the bedside table, “Where’d you get that wine?”

Gendry took a sip from his own cup and frowned.  “From the basements.  Loads of alcohol here.  Not all of it’s good.  And I think that cup might’ve had some leftover ale in it before I filled it.”  Arya wrinkled her nose.  “Mine had mead in it.  Kind of gives it a crunchy taste.”

Arya shook her head.  “That’s disgusting.”

Gendry shrugged.  “Maybe Sansa should run Storm’s End.  Then you’d always have a clean cup to drink from.  And better wine.”

Arya shook her head.  “Sansa’s Queen in the North now.  And I’m sailing west anyway.”

Gendry nodded.  “I remember.”

Arya suddenly felt guilty as she remembered his words from the hall.  “You aren’t just an end-of-the-world lay.”  She said then scowled at the idiocy of what she’d just said.

“That’s good to hear.”  He had gone back to being distant.

Arya sat up and reached out to him.  Midway, she thought about retreating, but she might never get the chance to touch him again.  She felt the hard muscle of his arm under her hand.  He looked over at her a ghost of a smile on his lips.

“The Hound was right, you are a she-wolf.” He joked.  “Hungry again?”

Arya smiled wistfully and leaned her head against his shoulder.  She grazed her fingers up and down his arm until he was covered in goosebumps and every hair on his body was standing on end.  She turned her head and set her teeth against the meatiest part of his shoulder.  She gradually bit down harder and harder until Gendry finally gave a gasp and flinched away.  His hand came up to hold the back of her head.

“Ow.” He accused.  “Is this the thanks I get?”

Arya took his cup out of his hands and set it on the floor before swinging her leg over his lap to straddle him.  His hands went to her waist at once.  Now he looked up at her.  She smiled proudly.

“Do you want thanks?” She asked, kissing his neck.

His cock jumped between them.  His hands gripped her butt as she ground herself against him.  He groaned so low it sounded almost like a wolf’s growl.  Wolf, stag, bull, did it really matter?  Arya let out a moan of her own as she pushed herself down him.  Nothing really matters when he’s inside me.

“Gods, Arya.” He gasped.  He made to lift her.  Move her.

Arya twisted her hips.  “Spoiled little lord.  So impatient.”  She nipped at his bottom lip before sucking it between her teeth.  Only once she released it did she start to move.

Arya had him twice more before the sun came up the next day.  She was already going to hell.  She may as well earn her stay.

CONTINUE ON AO3!!!!

[sundi-wpc]

Co-extrusion Decking

https://www.sundi-wpc.com/wpc-products/co-extrusion-decking/

Co-extrusion decking is also called "capped" or "cover" decking using the latest technology co-extrusion. Before Co-extrusion decking, the composite decking was uncapped, but Co-extrusion WPC has a "cover" that provides added protection against the elements and everyday living while the extruded surface is made of multi engineer plastic with an outer shell of plastic that completely encapsulates the board in an impermeable layer of protection from scratches, stain and fading. Co extrusion composite decking is the smart way to get a great-looking, long-lasting board. The shield and core are extruded simultaneously, so there are no adhesives or chemicals that are harmful to the environment.

 Although We have put ourselves into high-performance WPC decking for 10 years, there is no end on technology and performance, we treat every client as our long cooperation friends, to decorate your yard more beautiful, to make your WPC decking projects more stable and attractive.

 Natural surface and stable quality make the second generation co extrusion decking become more and more popular in the yard. Capped with high performance and moisture-resistant polymer, co-extrusion decking is free of stains and moisture. With a full series of accessories, you will find it is a joy to install this decking. It combines the advantages of wood and plastic, but reduces the need for repetitive and wasteful maintenance, and decreases the amount of attention and money will needed to spend on repairs.

  SEE MORE SUNDIWPC Co-extrusion Decking PROJECT PHOTOS

You will always find the decking you need, because Sundi has the most comprehensive series of decking from co-extrusion decking to deep pattern decking, from traditional decking to Adamas decking, from rubber co-extrusion decking to decking tiles, Sundi has the different producing lines to produce different generation decking.

  PROFILE of Co-extrusion Decking

SLD138H23

Width:  138 mm

Thickness:  23 mm

Standard Length:  2200 mm, 2900 mm

Applied Range:  Decking of residential area, villa garden and private yard

Joist Span:  For Sundi comman WPC, ≦350 mm, For Sundi Adamas D series WPC, ≦450 mm, For Sundi Adamas H WPC, ≦550 mm

[krista-gallacher]

Moving image ~ Analyse 3 Ad’s

Razer BlackWidow Chroma

i really like this ad as it has a really interesting intro into it with the way little parts of it lights up and at the base drop you get see the full keyboard. i also like how they have writing pop up telling you about the keyboard, and a diagram showing the layers in the keys. i love the different angles the use in this to show off the lights and the board.

Apex 5: Hybrid Mechanical SteelSeries Keyboard

I once again really like this ad its more up beat and happy vibe to it and i like the animation used to put the lights and keys on the board, and once again this ad has info about the highlights and why its good pop up through the video. this also used many nice camera shots in it as well as animations .

HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini

This ad has to be one my favourites as it has a lot of work put in it the way they animated the duck looks brilliant and the way it moves on the keyboard makes me happy as it is in beat to the music. this also has panning in comman with the other ad as it panned across the keyboard many times showing the lights and the keys as the duck danced on the board, this one unlike the other two doesnt have pop up info its just showing of how the keyboard is looking and thats something took on into my video.

[funkymeihem-fiction]

Hot Headed, Cold Hearted (Chapter 1)

(This is my new sequel to the now-completed A-Mei-Zing Outback Adventures, found here

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8457571/chapters/19376416

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re ready for more MEIHEM!)

“Agent 20151107, Mei-Ling Zhou, please report to the briefing room.”

Athena’s soothing voice chimed from her communicator, just as Mei had stuffed an overly large mouthful of egg tart into her jaws. Of course. She coughed and sputtered as she tried to swallow, patting her chest roughly to try and force it all down. “Hhfk!”

Athena’s icon blinked before speaking again, “Miss Zhou, you appear to be choking. Mercy is nearby, if you require-”

“No!” She rasped, clearing her throat before speaking more clearly. “No, I’m fine. Sorry about that. Is it an emergency?”

“It was not specified as such and Winston has indicated that you will be very pleased with the news, as it is regarding your science division. Please report to briefing when you are able, but I believe you have time to finish your egg tart in a less vigorous manner.”

Mei was already pushing her tray away from her, said egg tart still mostly uneaten along with the rest of the meal she had barely just started. “Thank you, Athena, but this can wait! Oh, could you message Jamison and let him know I can’t meet him for lunch because of my meeting, he’s probably already on his way here? Tell him I’m sorry, too!”

“I will contact Agent Junkrat now and let Winston know you are on your way. Good day, Miss Zhou.”

The icon went dark, and Mei dumped her meal into the bin on her way out the door, her snowflake pin swaying cheerfully as she bustled out of the cafeteria and started to make her way through the main base. If it was any sort of news regarding the science team, she wanted to hear it right away. True, her science team only consisted of herself, Winston, Bastion, and a rotating handful of lower-ranking agents, but she was still willing to do whatever it took to get things started off the right way. After her disastrous mission into the Outback, Winston was finally starting to grant her the time and resources to get their division off the ground, but Overwatch business had kept getting in the way. But if he finally had good news for her…maybe today would be the day!

“Miss Zhou, there is a reply message from Agent Junkrat.” Athena’s icon lit up again. “He…wishes to relay his understanding of the delayed lunch date, as well as good tidings and good luck to you, but his phrasing is littered with curses and very colorful language. Would you like me to relay the exact message to you?”

“Oh. No thanks, the nice thought is enough.” She pushed open the door to the briefing room, where Winston was already waiting for her. He sat in the main command chair, the only one that had been tailored for a genetically-altered gorilla, and his features were lit up by the only source of light in the room, the enormous main monitor where a soft pulsing ray of light in the center meant Athena was listening. With a little polite bow of her head, she hurried over towards the seat next to him, unable to keep the smile off her face. “Ni hao, Winston! I came as soon as I could.”

He nodded to her, glasses glinting vivid white-blue in the light of the monitor. “Good afternoon, Mei. I know you’d hate to be kept waiting, so we’ll just jump into things. Although to start…it’s happened again.”

“Is it Bastion?” she sighed.

“Indeed. Athena’s been keeping track of things ever since I first noticed it, but it hasn’t stopped. For several months now, every time it’s presented with a map, it keeps marking that one location over and over again.” He nodded up to the main screen, which flashed up a world map before zooming in to North America, then to Canada, then to a northern quadrant of Canada, and then zoomed in a final time to show a satellite picture of the mountain forests. “I sent it a map of Numbani, it sent me back the coordinates in Canada. I ask it to review its last maneuvers from the battle in Annecy, it sent me the reviews, but also that same location. Over and over. The first few times I thought it was an error, but it’s far too consistent. Athena’s even been able to isolate it to almost a direct latitude and longitude.”

She nodded, writing this down in her tablet. “Whenever I pulled up a topical map, it was always trying to point to Canada as well. But I’ll admit I didn’t think much of it until you pointed it out. So, what does it mean? Is that why you called me in?”

“So far it doesn’t seem to be directing us to…anything? Just a patch of Canadian wilderness. The closest civilization is a town called Tentpeg, but that’s hundreds of miles away. It��s still possible all this is some sort of mistake or error but…I’ve got a feeling we need to check things out, just to be sure.”

“That makes sense,” she agreed.

“I don’t want this information spread amongst the team, I can’t stress that enough. Torbjorn, Zarya, Junkrat, and a number of other agents already do not have the most positive view of our omnic relations inclusion act. And I don’t want to deal with any fallout if they suspect one of our robotic allies might be…er, questionable. But I haven’t made any headway at all into E-54 unit’s motives. All translation programs I’ve run have been inconclusive or denied.” He drummed at another collection of buttons on the control board, and both scientists adjusted their glasses at the same time as lines upon lines of indecipherable numbers and letters scrolled across the monitors. “Nothing makes sense here. Either it doesn’t know its own reasoning, or it’s not telling us something.”

Mei frowned, brows furrowing. “That can’t be right? Is Bastion even capable of subterfuge? I don’t like that idea at all, it seems so friendly…”

“I’m not certain subterfuge would be the right word. According to Torbjorn, our particular E-54 is already something of an anomaly. He designed its original blueprints and even he can’t figure out why this one seems so keen on this target location, any more than he can figure out why it restarted itself after being shut down, its reluctance towards aggression, or why it befriends birds and random wildlife. Physical diagnostics are all fine despite its age, but in short, we have no idea why it is the way it is.”

“Have you tried just asking it what it wants there?”

“On multiple occasions. Usually I’ll get a tilted head or a series of tones that don’t seem to mean anything. I’ve asked Zenyatta and our other omnic colleagues for their opinions on the matter, but none of them have anything in their program archives about this location, or any idea as to why such an old mobile defense unit would want to go there. And their questioning their fellow omnic yielded no new results.” Winston leaned back in his chair, folding both his hands and feet and drumming their digits thoughtfully. “I’ll admit I’m baffled.”

She rummaged about in her bag, pulling out her tablet and setting it on the table between them. With a few quick motions of her fingertips, she pulled up a view of the area once more. Just like before, it was a featureless sea of white, gray, and green, no different from any tract of the northern forests that stretched for miles upon miles across the Canadian wilderness. She couldn’t see anything suspicious at all no matter how she looked at it, not even a lewdly shaped boulder for Junkrat to pick out and giggle at later. There was nothing but trees, rocks, and snow. “I don’t suppose you have any different satellites that might have picked up anything?”

“I was actually hoping you might notice something I didn’t,” he admitted. “I would wait for the weather to clear up and send in a few search drones but after looking into the matter a little more…this is something of a developing emergency.” The screen flashed, and pictures began opening one after the other, staying on screen for only a few moments before another replaced it. For several long moments it continued, and he watched as the climatologist’s expression became more and more grim. “Those are all missing persons reports from the last thirty-odd years, from the various towns nearest the location, hundreds of miles away. I’m sure you notice the connection.”

She continued watching the pictures scroll past; serial numbers and figures with metal features, some with ocular lights, some without, mostly humanoid shaped, others not resembling humans at all, but all with the ‘MISSING’ text stamped across them. With a strange little noise that wasn’t quite a sigh, she breathed out, steepling her fingers in front of her as the number of victims grew. “…They’re all omnics.”

The gorilla nodded his shaggy head slowly. “All omnics, for over thirty years. I looked into the ongoing investigations but their only guesses were an anti-omnic terrorist still at large, or some form of virus, though that seems unlikely. Local law enforcement seems to know even less than we do…And with our Bastion unit seeming to have a connection to this, and its location being in the frozen north, it seemed almost eerily well-tailored for our new science team’s first official mission. I’m sending you both there on a scouting assignment to find whatever is at this location and report back when and if you find anything. I’ve already put in the orders for your supplies and cleared your schedules. You’ll move out tomorrow.”

To his surprise, Mei only smiled at his abrupt orders, cheeks dimpling happily. “Oh, this is going to be so exciting!” She blinked, then coughed a little. “I mean…Not the missing omnics, that’s horrible. But our first science team mission together! I’m certain we can be of help. Are you going to be coming along?”

“Er…I would like to, honestly I would. But Comman- ahem, Soldier 76 is insistent that Talon is planning something with how quiet it’s been lately, and Ana agrees with him. I need to remain here and continue overseeing our teams from the command central, including yours and Bastion’s new mission. In fact, I’d better get back to that. I’ll send the rest of the details to you by the end of the day. Once you reach the target location, I want you to contact us immediately with whatever you find, and then we’ll field more agents if needed. So…” He grinned, revealing a jaw full of large pointed teeth, “Get moving, Agent Zhou. Go get ready to uh, what is it you say? Science the heck out of things?”

She nodded quickly, even offering a comical little salute to her ape friend, before darting in to give him a very brief little hug on one arm. “I’m sorry you can’t come with us, but I’ll look around and see if we can find anything. Maybe Bastion will have more to offer once we’re on-site, too? I still wonder what it wants there?”

A hand that was easily the size of her entire torso very gently patted her back before nudging her gently towards the door. “Time for your science team to find out. Go check over your equipment and I’ll send you time of departure for tomorrow.”

And with that, he turned back to his screen and Mei hurried from the control room to let him return to his duties. When the door was closed, she pumped both gloved fists and hissed a low “Yes!” before breaking into a run towards her dorms, pulling out her tablet and already pulling up her charts and maps. She felt strangely elated, and then also a little guilty about being so elated. She shouldn’t feel happy at all with the ongoing tragedy of so many missing omnics, which may or may not have had ties to this mysterious wilderness locale, or that the once-trusted Bastion unit might be holding secrets from them…but she was going out! She was going out on an actual science mission, specifically for the science team, and one that seemed to have true importance. Winston was giving the science division actual work. No more babysitting the backlines or watching weather reports, this sounded like her team could really do some good if they could make any headway into this mystery, something important, something that might-

She turned a corner, still running, and slammed face-first into a solid wall of massive muscle and fat. With a squeaking noise of startled pain, she bounced back and landed hard on her rear on the floor. Roadhog seemed equally as startled, masked head tilting down at her before slowly offering out one enormous gloved hand.

“Mei! What the hell, Roadie, you’ve caused a bingle again! What’d I tell you about blind corners, mate?” Junkrat appeared behind his larger partner, lifting up one of his arms to get past him before hobbling behind the stunned Mei, lifting her up to her feet and going to wipe at a droplet of blood just below her nose. His attempts ended up scrubbing soot above her lip and giving her a black mustache-looking mark, so he licked his filthy thumb with a slurping noise of his long tongue and went to try and clean it away yet again. “Aw, love, lemme get that for ya!”

She managed to come to her senses just before his thumb touched her, pushing the sticky saliva-covered appendage away just in time, wiping the black mark away on her own. She rubbed at her nose, seeming satisfied that at least it wasn’t broken. It would hardly do to start off a mission with a broken nose, especially in such a silly way. “Sorry! Sorry about that. Are you okay, Roadhog?”

Roadhog hesitated, then looked down at himself as if to inspect for any damage where the much tinier woman had bounced right off him. After a long moment he rumbled a low, “…Mm.”

With an almost suspicious tilt of his head, the tips of his singed hair still burning from an apparent practice session on the fields, Junkrat squinted down at her, leaning down to her level to inspect her once more. “We were just looking for you. What’s the trouble, babe? Not much like you, runnin’ through the halls like your arse is on fire. I mean, usually it’s my arse what’s on fire, but what’s got you dashing?”

“I’m so sorry about that, I should have been more careful. I was just in such a hurry because I have to get ready! Winston’s sending us out on a mission tomorrow and I’ve got a lot to do. Oh, this is so exciting! I’d better get back to it, so-” She gave a quick, polite little bow of her head and then went to edge past Roadhog’s wide form, as the huge junker turned sideways to allow her past him. Squeezing through them both, she slowed her pace to less of a run and more of a jog. But when she heard footsteps behind her, she glanced back. The junkers were following her down the hall.

“Oh, the big monkey finally got you a mission of your own? I know you’d been wanting one. That’s ace, good on ya. Who’s going? Where you headed?” Junkrat loped after her, peg leg clacking noisily as his huge bodyguard’s boots thudded just behind him.

The question made her pause, giving time for the lanky young man to catch up with her and snake his long arms around her from behind, pulling her against his bare chest with a grin. Winston had told her to keep quiet about Bastion’s involvement or whatever this mission might have been. Trying to keep her voice casual and as non-suspicious as possible, she pretended to dig around for her tablet. “Oh! It’s…just a mission for the science team. It might not even be anything. Another agent and I are going to be flying out tomorrow to looking into a few strange things happening in Canada. It could be very boring, actually. That’s all. I mean, nothing really.” She gave a little nod, trying to make herself stop before it qualified as rambling. That should be a satisfactory answer, nothing was technically a lie.

There was a little answering giggle from his throat just above her, and his grip subtly tightened around her frame. When he spoke, Junkrat’s voice was just a little too soft, indicating he was already onto her. Damn. “Oh! Well, that’s a real shame, ain’t it? I mean, the monkey calling you in for an emergency meeting about a mission for your science team there, and it’s nothing at all? That’s downright rotten of him. Sooo, Canada, huh…Remind me who ya said you were heading out with?”

She winced inwardly. “It’s…just Bastion and me.”

Her words had just about the exact effect she’d been dreading, and he pulled his arms abruptly from around her as she turned to face him. His yellow eyes were wide and dangerously ablaze, and his nostrils flared when he hissed an angry reply. “What! No, no no, what the hell is that about! That hairy fucker better not be even thinking of sending you out alone with just that bot! Oh we are gonna have a chat, we are-”

“Don’t you say that about Winston!” she protested sharply, cutting him off and making him cringe back a bit. “And Bastion is a valued member of the science team and has been a model research assistant out in the field. Winston was going to come along, but he’s not able to so…It’s going to be all right with just the two of us. Like I said, we’re just looking into a few things, then we’ll be back. I know how you feel about…certain topics, but there’s no reason to get worked up.”

“Worked up! This ain’t even half worked up. You think I’m going to let my best girl go waltzing out into who-knows-what, alone with some weird malfunctioning bot and its freaky bird? That’s not even sending you out with a team, that’s just…” He sputtered, waving both arms. “Well that’s just crazy, and I know crazy when I see it!”

Mei sighed, giving an imploring look to Roadhog for some help. To her consternation, he was nodding along with his partner, and shrugged a little at her disappointed look. He shook his masked head, scratching at one side of his giant gut and pulling up his sagging pants with a grunt. “Don’t trust bots,” he said simply.

“Can’t trust ‘em at all, Roadie,” Junkrat agreed, before dropping to one knee and spreading out both long arms in a ta-da sort of display, posing in front of her. “Which is why…you need your favorite bodyguards! Yeah! We’ll protect you! Especially me, I’ll protect that body with my life, you know it. Sign us up, Snowflake. We’re going with you!” He jabbed Roadhog irritably in the side several times with the nearly blade-edge sharp angle of his elbow, before the much larger man grumbled and posed with him, one hand on his hip and the other giving her a thumbs up.

She rolled her eyes briefly, shaking her head at the ridiculous duo. “I appreciate the concern, I really do, but that’s totally unnecessary. This isn’t even a combat mission, it’s scientific recon. We might not find anything there at all, and there’s probably nothing to even protect me from. There’s really no reason for you to feel like you need to come along, I don’t need any bodyguards this time.”

“Well then it sounds like you won’t mind us coming along, if it’s just a pleasure tour and you won’t even need these guns!” Junkrat answered slyly, changing his pose so that he was flexing both skinny arms at her. “If you won’t take us as bodyguards, then we’ll just go along as…uh…scientific observers. Or just take us as your mates, with sparkling, scintillating conversation all for you. Who else are you going to talk to, the omnic only speaks in beep-boops? Come on, we handled everything the Outback had to throw at us, what’s wrong with bringing us with you just in case?”

Mei just gave him an exasperated look. “It’s just a scouting expedition! And you’d hate it in Canada!”

This was not something she’d expected to happen, and it had lessened her prior emotional high about getting her team’s first official orders. She should have simply given Junkrat a kiss goodbye before being on her way, without him ever knowing she was out on a mission with a bot. But then again…she’d been meaning to subtly try shifting the junkers’ stance on their omnic teammates. Not that she expected them to ever forgive or forget after everything she’d witnessed in the Outback, but if she could improve relations between her friends to at least a stiff formality instead of rabid hatred, it would be a step up. Plus, as much as she loathed to think of it, Bastion’s mysterious behaviors might warrant someone else coming along to keep an eye on things, or if anything related to the missing omnics popped up, or if something unlucky happened…and with her, something unlucky always happened. As insane as it sounded, it was starting to sound like an opportunity for both a better chance of understanding, and a pair of strong allies was always nice to have, just in case.

Well that and…having Junkrat around to keep her warm on a cold night wasn’t something to be entirely ignored, in a very unprofessional way…

“Well we can come along in an unofficial capacity, eh? Oh, I get it, this is about it being an expense thing? Money’s no object when it comes to you, lovey. How about we do this as a favor to you, pro bono? Hehehe, and then you and me, we can uh, we can pro-bone-o? Eeeeeeh?” His grin widened before he parted his teeth just enough to wiggle his tongue lewdly at her. This time both Mei and Roadhog sighed together, looking in opposite directions from the crude younger junker, who simply looked baffled that his smooth-talking hadn’t worked. “What? You get it?”

“I got it. Unfortunately. Listen…if you end up coming along with us- and that’s a big if, I haven’t decided on anything! If you end up coming with us, you’re going to have to accept that Bastion is an official member of my science division and we are going to be working together on this project. That means you’re going to have to be nice to it. No ifs, ands, or buts. If you can’t agree to being civil to your omnic teammates, I’ll have to decline you both. Can you be nice to it?”

Roadhog hummed unsurely through his mask’s filters, and Junkrat scowled as his expression twisted up to one side in a derisive sneer. “Define ‘nice’ when it comes to a bot? It’s not like it’s got feelings.”

Well, he was being extremely rude about it, but the fact that he was even asking meant he might be considering it. She held up a finger to his lips abruptly. “Bastion does have feelings, and I have rules about those feelings. It means being nice, and I know you know how to be nice. No blowing it up, no cursing at it, no insulting it, no trying to eat its bird, no doing anything mean. If you have to ask about it, it’s probably not nice. Before anything, I need a yes or a no. And if you say yes, I’m going to hold you to it in both a professional and personal way.” She placed both hands on her hips sternly. “That goes for both of you. So think it over before you say anything. I am not budging on this one.”

“Well damn, darl, tell us how you really feel,” Junkrat grumbled, scratching at his singed hair. He seemed to be mulling it over, exchanging several glances with Roadhog in their strange, often silent or one-sided communication that she still couldn’t always understand. “Arright, arright, we both promise we won’t hurt the bot.”

“Orrr?” she prompted.

“Or the bird. But if that thing goes berserk-”

“It won’t. It’s our friend,” she said, perhaps a little more firmly than she should have.

He lifted a bushy brow. “…Yeah, whatever you say, love. Look, promise you in a real official capacity that we won’t do any misbehaving unless we really need to. I’ll sign a contract if I gotta, even. But we’re with ya!”

Roadhog nodded above them with a low, “Mm.”

“I’m going to hold you to that, Jamison. You promised me. And you too, Roadhog. No joking. I’ll check things over with Winston and get everything ready. So, you two should go see to everything you want to bring with you. Now, sorry to run, but we’ve got a lot to do before tomorrow morning! Yídòng gèng kuài! Hurry hurry!” She left the junkers in the hallway and broke into another hurried gait, her head down and already tapping at her tablet and forgetting that she had already run into someone once today, doing that exact same thing.

From behind her, she heard a bewildered Junkrat wonder aloud, “Wait a minute, mate…Ain’t Canada really cold?”

[siva3155]

300+ TOP WINDOWS SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR Objective Questions

Windows System Administrator Multiple Choice Questions :-

1. Which of the following administrative thinkers has defined administration as "the organization and direction of human and material resources to achieve desired ends" ? A. L. D. White B. J. M. Pfiffner C. J. A. Veig D. H. A. Simon Ans : B 2. Which one of the following statements is not correct in respect of New Public Management ? A. It has market orientation B. It upholds public interest C. It advocates managerial autonomy D. It focuses on performance appraisal Ans : B 3. 'Good Governance' and 'Participating Civil Society for Development' were stressed in World Bank Report of— A. 1992 B. 1997 C. 2000 D. 2003 Ans : A 4. If the administrative authority within a department is vested in a single individual, then that system is known as— A. Board B. Bureau C. Commission D. Council Ans : B 5. Globalisation means— A. Financial market system is centered in a single state B. The growth of a single unified world market C. Geographical location of a firm is of utmost importance D. Foreign capitalist transactions Ans : B 6. By whom was the 'Managerial Grid' developed ? A. Blake and White B. Blake and Schmidt C. Blake and Mouton D. Mouton and Shophan Ans : C 7. Who among the following says that public administration includes the operations of only the executive branch of government ? A. L. D. White and Luther Gulick B. L. D. White C. Luther Gulick D. W. F. Willoughby Ans : C 8. The concept of the 'zone of indifference' is associated with— A. Decision-Making B. Leadership C. Authority D. Motivation Ans : C 9. Who has analysed the leadership in terms of 'circular response' ? A. C. I. Barnard B. M. P. Follett C. Millet D. Taylor Ans : B 10. Simon proposed a new concept of administration based on the methodology of— A. Decision-making B. Bounded rationality C. Logical positivism D. Satisfying Ans : C

WINDOWS SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR Objective Questions 11. Who wrote the book 'Towards A New Public Administration : The Minnowbrook Perspective' ? A. Frank Marini B. Dwight Waldo C. C. J. Charlesworth D. J. M. Pfiffner Ans : A 12. Who rejected the principles of administration as 'myths' and 'proverbs' ? A. W. F. Willoughby B. Herbert Simon C. Chester Barnard D. L. D. White Ans : B 13. The classical theory of administration is also known as the— A. Historical theory B. Mechanistic theory C. Locational theory D. Human Relations theory Ans : B 14. How many principles of organization were propounded by Henry Fayol ? A. 10 B. 14 C. 5 D. 9 Ans : B 15. Simon was positively influenced by ideas of— A. Terry B. Barnard C. L. D. White D. Henry Fayol Ans : B 16. Negative motivation is based on— A. Fear B. Reward C. Money D. Status Ans : A 17. 'Job loading' means— A. Shifting of an employee from one job to another B. Deliberate upgrading of responsibility, scope and challenge C. Making the job more interesting D. None of the above Ans : B 18. The theory of 'Prismatic Society' in Public Administration is based on— A. Study of public services in developed and developing countries B. Institutional comparision of public administration in developed countries C. Structural-functional analysis of public administration in developing countries D. Historical studies of public administration in different societies Ans : C 19. Who among the following is an odd thinker ? A. Taylor B. Maslow C. Herzberg D. Likert Ans : A 20. Which of the following is not included in 'hygiene' factors in the Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation ? A. Salary B. Working conditions C. Company's policy D. Responsibility Ans : D 21. What should a system administrator use to disable access to a custom application for a group of users? A. Profiles B. Sharing rules C. Web tabs D. Page layouts Ans :A 22. Universal Containers needs to track the manufacturer and model for specific car companies. How can the system administrator ensure that the manufacturer selected influences the values available for the model? A. Create the manufacturer field as a dependent picklist and the model as a controlling picklist. B. Create a lookup field from the manufacturer object to the model object. C. Create the manufacturer field as a controlling picklist and the model as a dependent picklist. D. Create a multi-select picklist field that includes both manufacturers and models. Ans :C 23. Sales representatives at Universal Containers need assistance from product managers when selling certain products. Product managers do not have access to opportunities, but need to gain access when they are assisting with a specific deal. How can a system administrator accomplish this? A. Notify the product manager using opportunity update reminders. B. Enable sales teams and allow users to add the product manager. C. Use similar opportunities to show opportunities related to the product manager. D. Enable account teams and allow users to add the product manager Ans :B 24. What should a system administrator consider before importing a set of records into Salesforce? There are two correct answers.. A. The import file should include a record owner for each record. B. Currency field values will default to the personal currency of the record owner. C. Data should be de-duplicated in the import file prior to import. D. Validation rules are not triggered when importing data using the import wizard. Ans :A,C 25. Which statement about custom summary formulas in reports is true? There are two correct answers.. A. Reports can be grouped by a custom summary formula result. B. Custom summary formulas can reference a formula field within a report. C. Custom summary formulas can reference another custom summary formula. D. Custom summary formulas can be used in a report built from a custom report type. Ans :B,D 26. Which of the following utilities provides a report of memory status for instances, databases, and agents? A.db2mtrk B.db2mchk C.db2expln D.db2memview Ans : A 27. Given the following notification log entry: In order to determine the name of the application which encountered the error, which of the following actions must be taken? A.Issue DB2 LIST DCS APPLICATIONS and search for AC14B132.OB12.0138C7070500 B.Issue DB2 LIST APPLICATIONS and search for AC14B132.OB12.0138C7070500 C.Issue DB2 LIST DCS APPLICATIONS and search for 660 D.Issue DB2 LIST APPLICATIONS and search for 660 Ans : B 28. Given the table MYTAB: A.The index MYINX will not be created. B.The word UNIQUE will be omitted by DB2 and a non-unique index MYINX will be created. C.The unique index MYINX will be created and the rows with duplicate keys will be deleted from the table. D.The unique index MYINX will be created and the rows with duplicate keys will be placed in an exception table. Ans : A 29. Which of the following REORG table options will compress the data in a table using the existing compression dictionary? A.KEEPEXISTING B.KEEPDICTIONARY C.RESETDICTIONARY D.EXISTINGDICTIONARY Ans : B 30. Which of the following statements about SCHEMA objects is true? A.A schema must always be associated with a user. B.Triggers and sequences do not have schemas associated with them. C.After creating a new database, all users who successfully authenticate with the database have the ability to create a new schema. D.If a schema is not explicitly specified in a SQL statement, the PUBLIC schema is assumed. Ans : C 31. An iseries server with domino and Websphere Commerce suite installed is performing well, except when the Domino or Websphere servers are starting. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the performance problem. A. Job Queue ASERVER in subsystem ASERVER is set to single thread jobs. B. The activity level in the shared pool running the servers is too low. C. The managing Domino server instance is not started prior to the Websphere server instance. D. The system value QMLTTHDACN Multithreaded job action. is set to stop non-thread safe processes. Ans : B 32. A system administrator needs to add 100 users to a V6R2 system without impacting response times, Which of the following would be the first step in determining the current performance of the system? A. Define a performance collection agent in iDoctor for iSeries. B. Define a performance collection object within iSeries navigator. C. Use Performance Explorer to collect generalized performance data. D. Use the Workload Estimator to show existing performance constraints. Ans : B 33. A batch subsystem is established to run jobs from multiple queues, An application submits two jobs to each queue. All jobs are in release status. Which of the following is the reason that only three jobs have started to run? A. The total MAXACT for all fo the job queue entries is three. B. Only three of the job queue priorities have been defined in the subsystem. C. The activity level setting associated with the subsystem description is 3. D. The execution of the pending jobs, is governed within the application of the jobs currently running. Ans : A 34. What command is used to save the IFS to taps? A. SAV B. SAVRST C. SAVDLO DLO IFS. D. SAVSYS OBJTYPE IFS.. Ans : A 35. A Manufacturing company has three remote sites and a total of six distributed AS/400 systems. The company would like to accomplish the followings. A. Centralize to a single system. B. Maintain each system workload and identity attributes. C. Reduce the total cost of ownership of maintaining individual systems. D. Maintain existing performance levels. Ans : 36. Which of the following can have an impact on determining the interactive workload requirements of an iSeries? A. Active subsystems. B. Active controllers. C. Active user profiles. D. Active display sessions. Ans : D 37. On a system that does not have Performance Tools for iSeries 5722-PTI., how can performance data be collected for analysis on a different system that has Performance Tools installed. A. Use Electronic Service Agent for iSeries. B. Use the Start Performances Monitor command. C. Start a Performance Monitor in iSeries Navigator. D. Install and run OS/400 product option 42, performance Collection Client. Ans : C 38. Which fo the following commands will save all objects in the IFS? A. SAV B. SAVDLO C. SAVLIB "IFS" D. SAVLIB NONSYS. Ans : A 39. Which system performance command can send output to both the online serene and a database file simultaneously. A. WRKSYSACT B. WRKACTJOB C. WRKDSKSTS. D. WRKSYSSTS. Ans : A 40. Using the example below, what is the cumulative PTF level of the system? Display PTF status. System: ANYSYS. Product ID.............. 5722999 IPL source............... ## MACH#B elease of base option ........V5R1M0.LOO. PTF IPL Opt ID Status Action. TL02134 Temporarily applied None. TL02071 Permanently applied None. TL01226 Superseded None. RE01066 Permanently Applied None. QLL2924 Permanently Applied None. MF29379 Permanently Applied None. MF29287 Permanently Applied None. A. TL02071 B. TL02134 C. RE01066 D. MF29379 Ans : B 41. Job description FREDJOBD has public authority of USE. This job description specifies that jobs run under user profile FRED. Which has public authority EXCLUDE*. Use profile SUE is user class USER* with default special authorities and does not have specific authority to use profile FRED. User which security levels would user profile SUE be able to successfully submit a job using PREDJOBD with the intent to run the job under user profile FRED? A. At 20 only. B. At 20 and 30. C. At 20, 30, and 40. D. At 20,30,40, and 50. Ans : B 42. On an iSeries running V5R2, which fo the following authorities needs to be removed from an object to ensure that the object owner cannot delete it? A. Object alter authority. B. Object existence authority. C. Object Management authority. D. Object operational authority. Ans : B 43. Which of the following disk drive considerations has the greatest impact on system performance? A. Number of disk drives on a bus. B. User versus available disk space. C. Data protection method RAID verses mirroring.. D. Peak rate of disk requests versus the number of disk arms. Ans : D 44. Which of the following will enable an administrator to establish an ongoing analysis of the performance and utilization of an iSeries. A. Upload the performance data to the IBM workload Estimator. B. Activate Performance Manage/400 to automatically upload data to IBM. C. Enable PPP communications between the iSeries and the IBM Benchmark Center. D. Utilize the no-charge OS/400 performance analysis tools to print monthly reports. Ans : B 45. Users are reporting long response time delays in transactions that previously would run with sunscald response. The system administrator knows these transactions are RPG IV-SQL based programs. Which of the following would be the first set in determining the problems. A. Use Management Central to start a job monitor for system and select the SQL submonitor display. B. Use iSeries Navigator, SQL Performance Monitor to conllect and analyze the SQL performance of the jobs. C. Start debug on one of the on-line jobs and use Performance Explorer to analyze the jobs database access plan. D. Use iSeries Navigator to create a database map of the tables used in the transactions and watch for high I/O rates. Ans : B 46. A system administrator wants to collect performance data for multiple iSeries servers in a network. When attempting to start performance collection using iSeries Navigator, collection services fail. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the problem. A. The Management Central, central system is not connecting. B. Performance Tools 5722.PTI. is not installed on all systems. C. The user profile being used to start collection does not have *SYSADM special authority. D. The Management Central performance collector plug-in is not installed in iSeries Navigator. Ans : A 47. Which of the following can be adjusted daily by a scheduled job to maximize interactive or bath throughput? A. Memory pools. B. QACTJOB system value. C. Auxiliary storage pools. D. QMAXACTLVL system value. Ans : A 48. Which of the following would the most viable course of action? A. Implement High Availability and replicate each system to a single system. B. Implement LPAR on a centrally located system and consolidate the individual systems onto multiple partitions. C. Transfer all systems to the central location and create an iSeries cluster to form a single "logical" system. D. Consolidate all the systems into a single partition on a syst3em with a CPW rating that matches or exceeds the accumulated CPW of the individual systems. Ans : B 49. Which of the following should be considered when preparing for a release upgrade? A. User changes made to IBM supplied commands. B. Valid license information for the current release. C. Presence of user libraries after QSYS in the system library list. D. Installation of the latest cumulative package for the current release. Ans : A 50. An iSeries Administrator would like to monitor the performance of all four of the machines in the data center at one time. If a certain level of interactive CPU is reached, the administrator wants to receive an email. What needs to be done to satisfy the requirements. A. In Management Central, set up a system group monitor job with a threshold action. B. In iSeries Navigator create endpoints for each of the systems and set up a threshold job monitor. C. Add an exit program to the WRKACTJOB command to intercept the CPU statistics and process the email. D. Start PM/400 and use the PM/400 notification options to send the email when the threshold is reached. Ans : A 51. A DBA wishes to audit all access to the non-audited table OWNER.EMPLOYEE. Assuming no audit traces are started, which of the following steps are needed to audit access to this table? A. -START TRACE AUDIT CLASS 5. B. -START TRACE AUDIT CLASS 4, 5. C. -START TRACE AUDIT CLASS 4, 5. and ALTER TABLE OWNER.EMPLOYEE AUDIT ALL D. -START TRACE AUDIT CLASS 4, 5. and ALTER TABLE OWNER.EMPLOYEE DATA CAPTURE CHANGES Ans : C 52. A company uses TRUSTED CONTEXT "ERP1" and ROLE "ERP_ROLE" as a security mechanism to limit security exposure for an application. All the DB2 objects databases, table spaces, tables, indexes, views, plans and packages. have been created by that ROLE. The ROLE "ERP_ROLE" has been assigned to User ID "DBA01" in order to perform DBA related tasks. When the user "DBA01" leaves the company, the authorization ID is removed. Which of the following statements are correct? Select two answers. A. None of these DB2 objects need to be recreated to re-grant the privileges. B. The related plans and packages have to be recreated and the privileges re-granted. C. When removing user "DBA01" privileges, none of these DB2 objects need to be dropped. D. Only the related databases, table spaces, tables, indexes and views need to be recreated and the privileges re-granted. E. To remove the privileges of user "DBA01" on these related plans and packages, they have to be dropped and as a result all associated privileges are revoked. Ans : A,C 53. At which of the following times is the access control authorization routine DSNX@XAC. invoked? A. At DB2 startup. B. When executing a DB2 GRANT statement. C. When DB2 has cached authorization information. D. During any authorization check if NO was specified in the USE PROTECTION field of the DSNTIPP panel. Ans : A 54. If an object is created statically by a role within a trusted context and the ROLE AS OBJECT OWNER clause is specified, who becomes the object owner when executing the package? A. The role B. The schema name C. The owner keyword D. The current SQLID if set. Ans : A 55. A DBA needs to use the DSN command processor to delete DB2 packages that are no longer needed. Which of the following choices is correct for the DBA to use? A. SPUFI or QMF with the DROP statement B. FREE Package ... C. DROP Package ... D. DROP PLAN . PKLIST ... Ans : B 56. Which of the following tools is used to create subscription sets and add subscription-set members to subscription sets? A. Journal B. License Center C. Replication Center D. Development Center Ans : C 57. Given the following table definition: STAFF id INTEGER name CHAR20. dept INTEGER job CHAR20. years INTEGER salary DECIMAL10,2. comm DECIMAL10,2. Which of the following SQL statements will return a result set that satisfies these conditions: -Displays the department ID and total number of employees in each department. -Includes only departments with at least one employee receiving a commission comm. greater than 5000. -Sorted by the department employee count from greatest to least. A. SELECT dept, COUNT*. FROM staff GROUP BY dept HAVING comm > 5000 ORDER BY 2 DESC B. SELECT dept, COUNT*. FROM staff WHERE comm > 5000 GROUP BY dept, comm ORDER BY 2 DESC C. SELECT dept, COUNT*. FROM staff GROUP BY dept HAVING MAXcomm. > 5000 ORDER BY 2 DESC D. SELECT dept, comm, COUNTid. FROM staff WHERE comm > 5000 GROUP BY dept, comm ORDER BY 3 DESC Ans : C 58. Which of the following DB2 data types CANNOT be used to contain the date an employee was hired? A. CLOB B. TIME C. VARCHAR D. TIMESTAMP Ans : B 59. A table called EMPLOYEE has the following columns: NAME DEPARTMENT PHONE_NUMBER Which of the following will allow USER1 to modify the PHONE_NUMBER column? A. GRANT INDEX phone_number. ON TABLE employee TO user1 B. GRANT ALTER phone_number. ON TABLE employee TO user1 C. GRANT UPDATE phone_number. ON TABLE employee TO user1 D. GRANT REFERENCES phone_number. ON TABLE employee TO user1 Ans : C 60. Which two of the following SQL data types should be used to store a small binary image? A. CLOB B. BLOB C. VARCHAR D. GRAPHIC E. VARCHAR FOR BIT DATA Ans : B,E 61. Which of the following CLI/ODBC functions should be used to delete rows from a DB2 table? A. SQLDelete. B. SQLExecDirect. C. SQLBulkDelete. D. SQLExecuteUpdate. Ans : B 62. Given the tables T1 and T2 with INTEGER columns: How many rows will be left in T1 after running this statement? A. 0 B. 2 C. 3 D. 6 Ans : B 63. Given the following code: EXEC SQL EXECUTE IMMEDIATE :sqlstmt Which of the following values must sqlstmt contain so that all rows are deleted from the STAFF table? A. DROP TABLE staff B. DELETE FROM staff C. DROP * FROM staff D. DELETE * FROM staff Ans : B 64. An ODBC/CLI application executes the following batch SQL: SQLExecDirect hStmt, "SELECT c1 FROM t1; SELECT c2 FROM t2;" SQL_NTS .; Which API is used to discard the first result set and make the second available for processing? A. SQLFetch. B. SQLRowCount. C. SQLMoreResults. D. SQLCloseCursor. Ans : C 65. Given the table T1 with the following data: What is the final content of the host variable "hv"? A. A B. B C. C D. D Ans : C 66. Which of the following is required to specify the output data during an EXPORT? A. Union B. Key range C. Equi-join D. Fullselect Ans : D 67. On which of the following event types can a WHERE clause be used to filter the data returned by the event monitor? A. TABLES B. DEADLOCKS C. TABLESPACES D. CONNECTIONS Ans : D 68. Given an application with the embedded static SQL statement: INSERT INTO admin.payroll employee, salary. VALUES "Becky Smith",80000. Which of the following privileges must a user hold to run the application? A. ALTER on the table B. INSERT on the table C. DBADM on the database D. EXECUTE on the package Ans : D 69. Assuming a user has CREATETAB privileges, which of the following privileges will allow the user to create a table T2 with a foreign key that references table T1? A. SYSCTRL B. SYSMAINT C. UPDATE on table T1 D. CONTROL on table T1 Ans : D 70. Which of the following statements is required to register a federated database source? A. CREATE VIEW B. CREATE WRAPPER C. CREATE TRANSFORM D. CREATE TYPE MAPPING Ans : B 71. Which two of the following can be done to a buffer pool using the ALTER BUFFERPOOL statement? A. Reduce the size. B. Change the page size. C. Modify the extent size. D. Modify the prefetch size. E. Immediately increase the size. Ans : AE 72. A table is defined using DMS table spaces with its index, data, and long data separated into different table spaces. The table space containing the table data is restored from a backup image. Which of the table's other table spaces must also be restored in order to roll forward to a point in time prior to the end of the logs? A. Long table space B. Index table space C. Temporary table space D. Index and long table spaces Ans : D 73. In a federated system, a userid is used for the CREATE SERVER definition at the DB2 data source. Which of the following privileges should it have? A. SELECT on the catalog at the DB2 data source B. UPDATE on the CREATE SERVER definition table C. SELECT on the tables for which nicknames are created D. INSERT on the tables for which nicknames are created Ans : A 74. Which of the following can enable multiple prefetchers for table spaces with a single container? A. NUM_IOSERVERS B. INTRA_PARALLEL C. DB2_PARALLEL_IO D. DB2_STRIPED_CONTAINERS Ans : C 75. Given a single physical server with a single OS image utilizing 24 CPUs and configured with 12 database partitions, how many of the database partitions can act as coordinator partitions for remote applications? A. 1 B. 2 C. 12 D. 24 Ans : C 76. When using AUTOCONFIGURE and a workload that is of type OLTP, what should be used for the workload_type parameter? A. dss B. mixed C. simple D. complex Ans : C 78. To determine the state of a table space and the location of all containers for that table space, which of the following commands would be used? A. LIST TABLESPACES SHOW DETAIL B. GET SNAPSHOT FOR TABLESPACES ON C. LIST TABLESPACE CONTAINERS FOR D. GET SNAPSHOT FOR TABLESPACES ON SHOW DETAIL Ans : B 79. The following command is issued: LOAD FROM staff.ixf OF IXF REPLACE INTO staff What locks are help during the execution of this load? A. Share lock on table STAFF B. Exclusive lock on table STAFF C. Exclusive lock on all table spaces holding components of the STAFF table D. Exclusive lock only on table space holding data component of the STAFF table Ans : B 80. Use the exhibit button to display the exhibit for this question. What is indicated by the output from the Health Monitor in the exhibit? A. 1 warning alert on NTINST, 2 alarm and 1 warning alert on NTDB B. 1 warning alert on NTINST, 1 alarm and 1 warning alert on NTDB C. 1 alarm and 1 warning alert on NTINST, 2 alarm and 1 warning alert on NTDB D. 1 alarm and 1 warning alert on NTINST, 1 alarm and 1 warning alert on NTDB Ans : B WINDOWS SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR Questions and Answers pdf Download Read the full article

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Recruitment Sales Executive, London Recruitment Sales Executive - £22-27k plus commAn opportunity to join our clients new job board as it launches into the House Building and Construction sectors has arisen!

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Iranian Forces Board Tanker in International Waters of Gulf of Oman

Iranian forces board tanker in international waters of Gulf of Oman. #Iran

Iranian forces has boarded a tanker in the international waters of the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz on Aug 12, according to the U.S. military.

Coalition Task Force (CTF) Sentinel, the operational arm of the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) monitored an incident.

A video showing the moment an Iranian Sea King helicopter hovered above M/T Wila and armed Iranian personnel…

[militaryleak]

USS Normandy Seizes Illegal Weapons in Arabian Sea

USS Normandy Seizes Illegal Weapons in Arabian Sea

On Feb. 9, USS Normandy (CG 60), while conducting maritime security operations in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, boarded a dhow in accordance with international law and discovered a large cache of weapons.

The weapons seized include 150 “Dehlavieh” anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), Iranian-manufactured copies of…

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Co-extrusion Decking

PHOTOS

PROFILE

COLORS

ACCESSORIES

TECHNICAL HELP

Co-extrusion decking is also called "capped" or "cover" decking using the latest technology co-extrusion. Before Co-extrusion decking, the composite decking was uncapped, but Co-extrusion WPC has a "cover" that provides added protection against the elements and everyday living while the extruded surface is made of multi engineer plastic with an outer shell of plastic that completely encapsulates the board in an impermeable layer of protection from scratches, stain and fading. Co extrusion composite decking is the smart way to get a great-looking, long-lasting board. The shield and core are extruded simultaneously, so there are no adhesives or chemicals that are harmful to the environment.

  Although We have put ourselves into high-performance WPC decking for 10 years, there is no end on technology and performance, we treat every client as our long cooperation friends, to decorate your yard more beautiful, to make your WPC decking projects more stable and attractive.

   Natural surface and stable quality make the second generation co extrusion decking become more and more popular in the yard. Capped with high performance and moisture-resistant polymer, co-extrusion decking is free of stains and moisture. With a full series of accessories, you will find it is a joy to install this decking. It combines the advantages of wood and plastic, but reduces the need for repetitive and wasteful maintenance, and decreases the amount of attention and money will needed to spend on repairs.

 PHOTOS of Co-extrusion Decking

Co-extrusion Decking by the River

Co-extrusion Decking by the Sea

Co-extrusion Decking for Alfresco Dining Areas

Co-extrusion Decking for Balcony

Co-extrusion Decking by the Lake

Co-extrusion Decking

SEE MORE SUNDIWPC CO-EXTRUSION DECKING PROJECT PHOTOS

Co-extrusion Decking

You will always find the decking you need, because Sundi has the most comprehensive series of decking from co-extrusion decking to deep pattern decking, from traditional decking to Adamas decking, from rubber co-extrusion decking to decking tiles, Sundi has the different producing lines to produce different generation decking.

 TO FIND THE FULL RANGE OF WPC DECKING PRODUCTS

PROFILE of Co-extrusion Decking

Hollow Deck

WPC Co-extrusion decking SLD138H23

SLD138H23

Width:  138 mm

  Thickness:  23 mm

  Standard Length:  2200 mm, 2900 mm

  Applied Range:  Decking of residential area, villa garden and private yard

  Joist Span:  For Sundi comman WPC, ≦350 mm, For Sundi Adamas D series WPC, ≦450 mm, For Sundi Adamas H WPC, ≦550 mm

  COLORS

WPC decking color

 ACCESSORIES

SLD40Y25

SLD40Y50

SDMP005

SDMP004

SDES8X80

TECHNICAL HELP

ASTM-testing report 2011

CE certification of Sundi-WPC

https://www.sundi-wpc.com/wpc-products/co-extrusion-decking/