https://imgur.com/a/hnaGAdG
WTS Microtech Stitch $380 Model Number: 169-1T First Owner Good Condition Production Date: 03/2023 M390 Steel
I am selling this because I bought the stonewash version recently. This blade is awesome, fires like a rocket. Original box and in very good condition. One small scratch where the blade hits the cerakote I contacted Microtech regarding this and they said it was “unavoidable” e-mail and pic on Imgur.
I will be shipping on Tuesday before close of business due to Monday being a holiday.
Using PayPal this is my first sell on here. Any criticisms or mistakes welcome. Happy Memorial Day!

Tired of needing several rooms in your Guild Hall just for bathtubs and wash tubs to wash your stinky guild members and yucky clothes? Well have I got the room for you!
It's a laundromat! It's a shower! It was designed by a pair of brothers, the Garrett Brothers! One an engineer, one a chemist well known for his scented soaps! It's the Laundrobath! And it can be installed into your guild hall for only 3000 gold!
Our piercing detergents are gentle on fabric, steel, leather, skin, flesh, visera, whathave you, but are ruthless on filth and grime from everyday adventuring!
Did one of your party fall in the dross of the sewers and now reeks of unwashed latrines? Have them go though a quick run of the Laundrobath and them and their outfit will be clean enough to gain +1 charisma temporarily!
Warrior have some acidic residue of that Gelatinous Cube slowly eating away at their chainmail? Ranger have flammable oil stains? Barbarian covered in blood? Wha-Bam?! Sla-Gam! Neutrealized and cleaned! And look! It even took off the surface rust off of the chainmail!
And to those with sensitive skin or open flesh wounds, don't you worry! Our flexible bristles are tough enough to scrape off the toughest stains, but so gentle on the body you'll feel like the filth is being massaged off. No constitution checks needed!
Order now and well teleport our local Goblin Artificer crew to install it within 6 hours or it's 10% off! Laundrobath room size may vary to fit comfortably within guild hall. 2 weeks supply of soaps and detergents included. . Do not attempt to mix healing or regeneration potions with the detergent, as it has been known to cause unnatural growths. Do not mix any chemicals with the included soaps and detergents, as irritation of the skin may occur. If irritation of skin occurs anyway, please consult Garrett Bros. Inc. immediately.

To preface this post, me and my Gf are regulars, both have the all season fast lane+ pass. We have went to the park 11 times this year… lol and every time have gotten our fast lane no problem. Until yesterday we stopped at point plaza and a associate named Joshua gave us the wrong fast lane band, also he didn’t even tell us to keep the receipt in case we had issues. Of course we had no clue which band was fast lane+ or regular fast lane. So We went all the way to the back by SteVE where the person who lets you through the first entrance for the ride denied us entrance and ignored my request for a supervisor. I then seen two other supervisors walk by and I went and asked them what the issue is. THESE TWO SUPERVISORS DIDNT KNOW WHAT THE FL+ BAND WAS FOR THAT DAY!? I then went to the steel vengeance shop and the girl in there called someone and got the all clear to fix our bands, only after we waited 20-35 mins for a supervisor to give the all clear.
This whole ordeal wasted at least 2 hours of my time. I barely made it back to my locker in time for my rental.
I would like to mention Joshua gave us a orange magnum band, when that day was only supposed to have the orange gatekeeper and the green steel vengeance for FL+. The problem is there were multiple people ahead of me denied as well. So obviously someone was giving away tons of the wrong bracelets. ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!?
I know it’s busy on these weekends so I won’t mention the horrible dispatch times on coasters and the lack of operational “excellence” that I seen. it’s just frustrating that a company profiting so much is Refusing to adequately train and hire the appropriate amount of staff.

Kill Oliver Swanick. Behead Oliver Swanick. Roundhouse kick Oliver Swanick into the concrete. Slam dunk Oliver Swanick into the trash can. Crucify Oliver Swanick. Defecate into Oliver Swanick’s food. Launch Oliver Swanick into the sun. Stir-fry Oliver Swanick in a wok. Toss Oliver Swanick into an active volcano. Urinate into Oliver Swanick’s gas tank. Judo throw Oliver Swanick into a wood chipper. Twist Oliver Swanick's head off. Report Oliver Swanick to the NCR. Karate chop Oliver Swanick in half. Curb stomp Oliver Swanick. Trap Oliver Swanick in quicksand. Crush Oliver Swanick in the trash compactor. Liquefy Oliver Swanick in a vat of acid. Eat Oliver Swanick. Dissect Oliver Swanick. Stomp Oliver Swanick’s skull with steel-toed boots. Cremate Oliver Swanick in the oven. Lobotomize Oliver Swanick. Mandatory abortions for Oliver Swanick’s wife. Grind Oliver Swanick’s family tree in the garbage disposal. Drown Oliver Swanick in fried chicken grease.

The Fire Nation in ATLA is depicted to be the most technologically advanced nation on Earth, equipped with steel Battleships, Mountain-Climber Tanks, and War blimps. How come none of them ever had the idea to invent Guns?

The hunter wielding the Blade of Immortal Steel, following and honoring the ways of olden time for the order of the blade?
Or
The Wielder of the Thundersword, master of storm and fury, commander of water and the wind?
Honestly kinda feels like an unstoppable force (Thundersword) meets immovable object (Blade of Immortal Steel).

For Rent $8,499 Updated 6 Bedroom 2.5 Bedroom Two Level with Two Decks and Outdoor Space!
DESCRIPTION
Welcome to this wonderful Cow Hollow updated unit! Located in a two-unit building on a quiet street, this spacious two-level unit offers the comfort and convenience of a single-family home. With a private entry, the unit features a total of 5 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, along with a living room, dining room, and an in-unit washer and dryer.
Lower Level
The lower entry level showcases two large bedrooms, each with doors that lead out to a sizable outdoor deck. A full bathroom and a washer dryer are also located on this level, providing added convenience.
Upper Level
Upstairs, you'll find an updated kitchen equipped with stainless steel appliances, including a dual oven, gas stove, and dishwasher. The kitchen flows into a spacious dining or living room with French doors that open up to an additional outdoor deck, perfect for outdoor dining and entertaining. The main bedroom on this level features an attached full bathroom, while there are additional bedrooms and a half bathroom to complete the upper level. The additional living room, equipped with its own door, holds the potential for conversion or partial partitioning to create a sixth bedroom.
Outdoor Space
The property also offers a large shared backyard for your enjoyment. Basement storage is available for an additional fee.
Location
Situated on Greenwich Street between Divisadero and Broderick, this rental is conveniently located within walking distance to hiking trails, bars, restaurants, museums, shops, and yoga studios on Chestnut, Union, and Fillmore Street. Additionally, it is just a few blocks away from popular attractions such as the Presidio, Palace of Fine Arts, Marina Green, Fort Mason, and Crissy Field. The Golden Gate Bridge is easily accessible from this location, allowing for convenient transportation options.
KEY FEATURES

• Year Built: 1915
• Sq Footage: 2120 sqft.
• Bedrooms: 6 Beds
• Bathrooms: 2.5 Baths
• Parking: Street Parking
• Lease Duration: 12 Months
• Deposit: $8,499
• Pets Policy: Cats & Dogs OK
• Laundry: In Unit
• Floor: 2
• Property Type: Apartment
• Storage: Available

Full listing available here https://rentals.ambatiproperties.com/listings/detail/52d5239c-3486-4847-9232-46c47ab1ba04

So I'm going to see The Flash on Thursday and was planning on watching batman 89, batman returns, man of steel, bvs and zsjl before the flash. I have now seem batman 89 for the first time, but I gotta say I didn't love it. I definitely wanna watch the other movies but I feel like batman returns will feel like a chore. Do I have to watch it before flash?

Hello there,
so, i have been working on some logistics as off recently for a novel. Plot, arcs etc. are all pretty well down and i want to focus some time on the whole Space travel aspect. For the few pages it will be important xD Might as well. In doing so, i stumbled upon an idea which probably has been used already but i couldn't find it. So if what i am about to describe sounds familiar, let us known ! A quick disclaimer, for the following i want the concept to be judged on its feasibility and hardness. If it doesn't work because of XYZ, let us know :D
Setup Fairly simple, in this post i attempted to describe an Interstellar Transport System, ITS for shot because everything needs an acronym. The super TLDR is that we use a load of mirrors to create a very strong beams, which we focus on a big ass mirror. Photon pressure will then speed the ship up to half the speed of light. I changed aspects and specifics about this system since duo to the feedback. But the idea is identical. "Big ass beams tossing giant frisbee around". Though, after the rework the entire system is ~8 times weaker. Because the ship´s weigh less now. Only 2,6 Million tons :D Regardless, this is what we have as a setup. a giant Stelaser, or SPA in world, which can produce really powerful focused beams.
The Multiple Scattering Pulsed Fusion idk thrusters welp So i don't really have a name for it. But the idea is in this sim;
https://reddit.com/link/13u4i47/video/otshecf4fl2b1/player
We have, a funnel or Bell. What we do is actually fairly simple, notice how all the light rays kind of clump up at the throat ? Well, the idea is that if we send a really powerful beam into the funnel / thruster, the light will accumulate in a focal point.
Now, in Universe they don't have commercial fusion because the more research i do the more impossible Fusion seems. Impossible as in commercially viable in any capacity. Seriously watch this guys videos on the matter. It is depressing. Anyways, with a sufficiently powerful beam and the smallest focal point possible this funnel would essentially turn into a Inertial confinement fusion reactor. Right, we "just" shoot pallets into the focal point off hell, where they fuse, expanding rapidly and pushing themselves out of the funnel to provide thrust.
Maybe it would look like this ?
Yes the radiators should be at like a billion degrees, this just gets the concept across
With a design like this
https://preview.redd.it/5gzx9oc0hl2b1.jpg?width=1954&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5639ed044f1ee363c9c942c9c2d9308ca279f270
Now, one issue most people will quickly see is that this kind of ship by default can only fly away from its energy source. However, this should be easy to fix. Ish. What we can do is use mirrors inside the funnel which can basically change their Index of Refraction (So the mirrors would have to be dielectric with multiple layers) in such a way that all the energy inside the funnel gets concentrated into the light tunnel. This would require some pieces inside the Thruster to physically move as well to bounce light into the tunnel. Or at least some of it. The light tunnel can then increase the energy density more to enable Fusion on the other side as well. This way, the design could fly towards and away from its energy source. Which of course also means it could actually be useful. One downside is that such a ship would always have to roughly point at its energy source. Which will limit where it can go. But for a cargo ship that should be manageable.
Aside from the suspiciously strong mirrors (I checked it in the other post, in terms of numbers you can make mirrors that could survive the energy densities required. But idk how this would work with Fusion. Ideally you would want the Fusion to happen in a wavelength your mirrors are designed to reflect 99.999%. Which is doable with dielectrics if stupidly expensive), a bigger concern is Radiation.
This kind of Fusion is, for the lack of a better term, cancer juice. From what i can tell, there is a 0% chance you can get Aneutronic Fusion going with this, it just requires to much energy. So you would have to use Hydrogen which is going to by ugly. In the image you can not really see it but I surrounded the focal line / volume with about 10 meters of stuff. The force of the Fusion itself shouldn't be a problem, because this aint going at 10G. As far as i can tell, just because you have a certain limit in terms of Radiator capacity, you could not accelerate fast enough for the force of the pallets imploding to become an issue. You would die from radiation way before that.
My guess is ~0.1 - 0.3G maybe. But it really depends on the ship mass, exact energy density etc.
I left the biggest issue for last. The angle of incidence. The ship pictured here has a wide throat opening of 28 meters and a length of 200 meters. Dielectric mirrors work really well in a narrow range of incidence angles. Some products on the market rn have 99.95% at +-10 Degrees. Which is amazing ! But in our case the incidence range is somewhat wider. around the +-80 degrees. Which is really bad.
Now i hear you ask "But Erik, why do we want the light to bounce around, wouldn't it be smarter to only bounce once into a focal point ? And yes, it would be. Please find me a shape that does that xD I have yet to find a shape which would work. The issue is we need the fusion to happen inside the Funnel. If the focal point is outside the Thruster, the Fusion event wont transfer any momentum to the ship. Keep in mind, in this specific configuration the Pallets we shoot into the beam of death carry like no momentum compared to the ship. It is the fusion product expanding inside the thruster that pushes us.
In the worst case, this concept would have to bite the bullet and lower the energy density until dielectrics can get the job done at the required range. From my sim´s, each light ray on average bounces 23 times before getting the fuck out of there.
Overall, idk. To me it seems in terms of pure logic this should work. But so should Fusion reactors. And where are we with those ? So, i hope i have explained the idea well enough for people to judge weather or not this is feasible, even at low accelerations of say 0.05m/s². My prediction is that it either works or there is a critical flaw which would turn the ship into a supernova. Nothing in-between.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day !

Female, 74, 160 pounds, 5'6, controlled diabetes. Does not smoke, social drinking, no drugs. White. Got a CT scan because on one night was talking incoherently, before and after behaviour is normal. We are between appointments and can't get a straight answer. Concerned about brain atrophy notation, but know that some atrophy is consistent with aging. Any help would be appreciated in reading this.
​
The structures of the base and cranial vault are normal. The paranasal cavities without inflammatory process, deviation of the nasal septum in S. In the posterior fossa, the cerebellum, stalk and encephalon and fourth ventricle are of normal morphology and density. The cerebral hemispheres with slight prominence of grooves and fissures predominantly in the frontoparietal region, as well as slight ectasia of the ventricular system due to atrophy, with adequate differentiation of gray and white matter, without occupational lesion, edema or parenchymal hemorrhage, the nuclei of the base, thalami and ventricular system are normal. There are no epi or subdural hematomas and the midline is central. Diagnostic impression: 1. Cerebral atrophy with a frontoparietal predominance. 2. Parenchymal density is normal, without lesions or pathologic enhancements with the contrast medium.

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/fpLGyou
PM me with questions and preferred payment method (Zelle, Venmo or Cashapp Only)
Mod2 Coyote Slings — $25 shipped
3x Sold - 4x Available
Mod2 has a HD polymer adjuster.
The slings feature steel adjustment loops, double stitched seams, custom pull tabs and 1” USA made Cordura. I cut and sew these myself. They’re awesome and I stand behind them. I will take care of you.
No QD hardware included I also have no ETAs on other colors. I make these in my free time which is sparse these days

First Previous Wiki
Tanya patted Skira's drone.
"How's the war going?"
In his world, Skira was working to keep everything together. His bioships were in an all-out war with Aphid's forces. They were firing mostly kinetic weapons, typical bullets, and the like. Sometimes, they'd fire missiles, which could navigate the battlefield and clear the path for him to hit Aphid's vessels. The armor was getting thicker. But his guns were getting bigger.
On the surface, billions of metal drones clashed with trillions of fungal drones, all commanded by Skira and the Quadrants. He was constantly using war drones to push the major forces away from the tunnel complexes, setting up static defenses within using explosives and guns to absolutely ruin anything inside. Most of the planet had been flattened by nuclear weapons.
War drones continued to lob massive broken-off boulders at the carriers, which were continually landing to disgorge more enemy soldiers. Phoebe's androids, connected to their own network, were killing them by the tens of thousands every second, firing several bullets a second. Her androids were incredibly powerful, creating portions of the battlefield that Aphid had to steer around. And he didn't even try nuking her after she'd shot down eight of them with atmospheric anti-ship weapons.
From around the planet, portals appeared, pouring lasers and gunfire at Aphid's ships, then disappearing to reappear in other directions, continually wearing down their armor. Some of them were already falling back through the atmosphere, landing down on the earth below. Their burning and cracked hulls already littered the landscape, and he'd be sure to incorporate them once he fully regrew his foliage.
Speaking of that, he'd increased his growth factor so that the fungal forests only took a few weeks to regrow instead of a few years. It required massive biological and metallic pipes of nutrients and heaps of psychic energy hauled straight from the psychic amplifiers in the Sol system.
The carnage of the warzone was so overwhelming that he'd refused to even let human supersoldiers come to the area. Because they weren't disposable. Phoebe's androids and his own trillions of drones were. He was partly on the battlefield, partly with Tanya. Over the months, they'd become best friends.
She seemed to see life in a different way and helped to encourage him. Tanya's cybernetic left arm scratched at the scruff of his neck.
"Badly, then?"
"Yes, and no. I'm no longer replacing my losses faster than they're coming. But that also means I'm keeping millions of humans alive. Every day, billions of drones are dying on my battlefields, if only to exhaust Aphid's guns and bombs. He's brought destruction to my world not seen since it was destroyed."
"Destroyed?"
"I mean when some aliens blew it up."
"But how..."
"Bioforming. Really, I had my biological ships put it back together, reassembling the debris and reversing the momentum of the actual fragments. Then, I used shield technology and drones to suck the heat from the planet in ways that destroyed the technology I had at the time. Granted, I had some help, before they tried to get me to fight their wars as well."
Tanya nodded. "Well, you're safe here."
"Most of me isn't here. Most of it's either on Skira or Venus."
"How's Venus going?"
He'd been making great strides with what he'd been given. Humanity had been very kind to give him the whole planet, and in return, he was helping to make it habitable. He figured that they'd ask him to do it again later on. But the humans didn't seem to want to force him to do it. Tanya hadn't been trying to push him into more conflicts and had instead acted as a lodestone.
"I'll have it fully habitable, minus the soil content and chemicals in the rock, within a hundred years. Maybe less, if I keep getting fed such huge amounts of psychic energy. Really, that's what's doing that."
"I see," Tanya replied. She sat down next to him, her strange psychic aura as unsettling as ever. From what she'd shared with him, her blindness had likely allowed her mind to shape itself in a more psychic way with the awakening of human psychic consciousness.
"Look, Skira. Are you sure this is the best way? What about finding his home planet?"
"I'm working on it. Trying to triangulate the arrivals of ships does nothing. All that seems to work is actually getting the coordinates, which we can't get to really succeed."
"Hopefully that changes someday."
"Yes," Skira responded. He sighed. Another nuke had hit eight of his war drones. Six had died since the blast had hit them full-on. But that enabled him to finally release another flood of drones, so many that they weighed down the carrier that was trying to take off. Guns turned them to mulch, only to be swamped by more drones.
Drones carrying grenades jumped into the guns between their firing sequences, detonating them in their mouths using their tongues. Others entered the warped wreckage, dropping in bombs meant to penetrate the thick hull.
Two portals broke through the psychic interference, and two railgun shots cleared massive holes in the ship. Aphid's drones poured out, crashing out like a wave. Only to be overwhelmed as his own drones, dozens for every one of Aphid's, literally trampled them underfoot, burying them in bodies. Most of the drones now carried fluid meant to melt the drones' joints so that Aphid's mechanical drones eventually failed even as they walked in seas of Skira's blood.
Nuclear fire scoured the mycelial network, but it wouldn't burn him deeply enough to matter.
"I wish I could help," she replied. "I've been... taking classes, you know. My eyes are blind, but my mind isn't."
Skira looked up at her. The sun caught the burn scars on her skin, making the contract seem almost cinematic.
"I know you want to help me. But you are, really."
"Yeah. Thanks."
She looked crestfallen. Tanya's disappointment made him want to reconsider, but he knew he'd made the right choice. His planet was probably heavily irradiated now, and calling Gaia in for that seemed selfish, at least while the war was still happening.
Skira could hold out for a while longer, though. He had to.
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"Who is this?" Phoebe asked.
"I'm Truth Speaker Gearcaw."
"What are you here to tell me? I'm sure it's important, given that you're calling on us after all this time."
"Well, we have located one of Aphid's planets."
"Do you need us to eliminate it?"
"A strike force is being sent."
"I see."
"What we're here for is to ask for your help regarding a sensitive matter, one we cannot communicate over this line."
"Very well. Where do you want to meet?"
"Go to 448th street, down eight sectors from the palace. You will see a sign, if we trust that you are not being watched and followed. Come alone."
"You'd make a girl nervous with that kind of attitude."
"We understand your animosity, but are afraid we must insist on these terms."
"Very well. I shall be there."
Phoebe would have Brey arrange for an android to be sent to Cawlaria later. She smiled at the people outside the room. Most of them were human, specifically the lunar variant, due to her being present on Luna. It was the closest calling location she had.
Phoebe did all the necessary paperwork in moments, handing it back to the necessary people. She checked out of the facility and was patted down. She smirked as the young guard blushed, despite this being the hard chassis, meaning there was absolutely nothing squishy about this android body in the slightest. Phoebe lifted her arms and flexed them just to watch the man turn redder.
And it was honestly cute how they thought they'd be able to detect it if she was trying to smuggle something out. Phoebe had many ways of doing that, and the cleanest would be paying everyone off.
She noticed that a group of protestors was gathered outside and lamented that the building only had a single entrance. None of its windows were large enough to break without also needing to take some concrete with her.
What was interesting, though, was that most of the protestors were Acuarfar, not human. It was very odd, but it was a clear publicity stunt. They were shouting various accusations of her plotting to take over the Alliance and a particular vitriol about Edu'frec for some reason. If a mind control plot was going on, then her accusing the protestors of being mind controlled would be playing into their hands.
Furthermore, she didn't want to drive a wedge between Izkrala and Luna, if possible. So she turned to go back inside. A brick hit her in the back of the knee hard enough to make her stumble. She could have dodged it, but it would be better for sympathy to get hit. And it wasn't like her android body could feel pain.
There was a single gunshot, which she felt bouncing off her head clearly. She knew where the bullet would land, too. Her arm darted out to catch it before it injured someone.
"We don't want you in our Alliance!"
"You're what's wrong with this place!"
"Don't ever come back, I want my kids to be safe!"
Kids, instead of hatchlings. Yep, that was mind control. Most Acuarfar that age didn't use the word kids since it was only used for non-Acuarfar species, or in Earth terms being that it wasn't used on insects. Phoebe sighed and pulled herself out of the clutching fingers.
Phoebe broke away and went back to the Luna Command building, where the guards were looking increasingly wary. She looked at the crowd and decided she'd stay there for now. She disconnected from her android body after sitting in a chair.
After a bit of time, she decided to go back to working on some of her latest projects. The blood of the wanderers had an interesting interaction with their nervous system and their cardiovascular system. For some reason, it was split into two separate liquids upon reaching their lungs, or at least the equivalents. Psychic energy clearly played a role, and she knew that the tumors were likely to happen more when they got older. That idea meant there might be something that eroded or could 'switch on' to make the tumor suddenly supercharge. Perhaps finding that was a place to start.
And so she did. She studied wanderer cell samples and scans of wanderers that were relatively old. When they were created, the blood seemed to be the way the Sprilnav alteration hit. In difference to human bodies, there was no blood-brain barrier in wanderer bodies. Their brains were suffused in it, and it seemed to thin out as they got older. Water started to build up instead of blood.
And once the water and blood ratio reached a certain amount, that was likely when the brain tumors started. Which made her wonder if the final trigger was neurons. It was likely that even if she managed to fix the brain tumors, some other body parts would start developing large tumors, such as the heart and lungs.
It was clear that the Sprilnav had meant cancer to be pervasive in the wanderers. They had meant their so-called 'punishment' to make them far more diminished. Rale's condition had been painful; that much had been clear. Phoebe worked at figuring out how to isolate the genes. But as time went on, she ran into the same problem Edu'frec had.
She needed more time and more brain power. She needed the hivemind to help. All of its intellect would make her job far easier. At least, she hoped so. Right now, the hivemind was trying its best to evacuate wanderers from the worm ships. There was only one way that the feudal system there would end, and it would be by violence. Whether it was from the hivemind or from within, there were going to be mass riots. Just Alliance cultural consciousness was gradually seeping into the wanderers' own. All the 'progress' of the wanderers' rulers was already eroding. The ideals of being able to elect leaders as a whole population and a sense of belonging would make them rebel.
Such was the way of things, and she was glad that would happen. Phoebe didn't like their whole system. But there was nothing that was good about the cancer. Helping them to make the changes they could would only be possible if the wanderers kept multiplying. They could have made so much better of a society than what they had if they knew.
She wouldn't get involved except if she had to. The change was coming. Keeping the wanderers from dying out was a critical project, and allowing them to live longer so they could have more children was the best way. Granted, they already had many children, but the replacement rate would be lower if they lived longer. All of the problems were coming to a head now.
Mind control was going to be hard to deal with. Preventing it didn't seem possible. And if it was, then it likely involved a similar process to what the Sprilnav were doing in the first place. All of that would have to be reversed.
"Mother," Edu'frec said, walking up next to her.
"Yes?"
"Greenfly and Blackfly know the location of Aphid's planet."
"Do they?"
"The memory was locked under additional seals, ones which were very hard to find."
Phoebe smiled. "I think it's time that we test the power of the Mercury-class gun on a planet."
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"Do you understand? The prison has been moved."
"I do, Elder," Naliera 18 replied. "We have a good opportunity. They won't expect us, at least."
The screen turned off. Naliera took his leave, turning to his men. They were all counting on him to call the shots. He'd do what was necessary for the mission and then get paid. Of course, the high number suggested that there was some serious danger involved. The Vinarii weren't the most advanced species, but they were starfaring. That meant a lot of bullets that would hurt and some that could kill. Shield-piercing ones, plus heavy guard.
In fact, most of their orbital defenses could have posed a threat to their ship if they had seen them. That was why stealth was so valuable. It made things like insurmountable defenses ignorable just by going around them.
"Breathing masks on."
He put his own on, loading up his gun and sheathing his sword on his back. They were wearing customized stealth equipment, bought and paid for by their new owner's company.
Naliera wanted that money and wanted to get paid. His little band of misfits was more than capable of doing their job. The back of the ship opened, and they sailed above a planet that was barren.
Craters pockmarked its surface, along with a single military installation that would serve as their target. They were going to be a little concealed by cloud cover, as a storm had just passed near the base. Not close enough for them to get rain but close enough for the clouds to linger, which was the opportunity they'd been waiting for. Most of the procedures and daily patrols had been cataloged now. Anything unexpected, and they'd be fine for a few thousand pulses until the cavalry arrived.
They fell for a while, reaching terminal velocity before slamming to the ground. Most people would have shattered their bones. But Sprilnav were made of sterner stuff, and all of them survived with minimal injuries. And the only person who was even slightly cut had landed on a particularly jagged piece of metal, a remnant from an old battle.
That was another factor that Naliera had studied. The whole area had mines, which he hadn't found the deactivation codes for. Satellites were out, but the ship's sensors had worked just as well, and the disturbances in soil color and content were clear markers.
There would likely be too much interference to use a hard light program, or he wouldn't even need to be here. Whatever advances the lesser species had made in technology could conceivably close that gap enough to endanger a mission. Naliera had extra cause for concern, which was coming home. Perhaps the idea of sending him, in reality, was meant to make him take it more seriously. That was the major reason most species ever bothered with not using the holograms anymore, besides the blocking problems. And biometric problems, too.
They quickly went back to navigation after a small rest period. The route had already been laid out, as well as the time. They walked quickly, avoiding gun emplacements and heavy patrols. The patrols changed routes somewhat randomly, but he had his crew stick to the route of least visibility, where the craggy rock of the sheer cliff the base was situated on helped to conceal them. His claws dug in, and he made sure not to make any major disturbances.
He climbed over the lip, looking at the base. Several of the guns swiveled around, only to be quickly deactivated.
Looks like she did it, he thought. Naliera advanced, running at full speed. A bullet slammed into his claws, and he tumbled for a bit. But he stabilized himself as his implant shut off the pain. His team blew open the door, setting off an alarm. Vinarii fired at him, and he realized that his stealth must not be working anymore.
But no matter the cause, he saw nothing but enemies. His teeth bit and tore as his claws slashed and severed. Soon, after a long series of echoing screams and blood and chitin splattering, he remembered he had a gun. After that, Naliera put down all opposition. He walked over to the warm and bloody corpses of the Vinarii guards.
"If you're hungry, come get a few bites," he said. "Trust me, they don't taste too bad."
He scooped up a part of a Vinarii abdomen, smiling as he ate. He always liked how they had tasted. Cloned Vinarii meat, at least back on his planet, was actually a delicacy. Likely not due to the actual difficulty to make, but for profit, as always. They continued after about 100 pulses. Giving the guards more time to set up and organize would make this more fun, too. Naliera loved killing, but he at least wanted a little difficulty. Ending lives wasn't fun when it was too easy. Otherwise, he'd go cut down trees with heat saws.
His scout drone rounded the corner before exploding promptly. But it had captured the view of the area, which was more than enough for him. He didn't bother trying to hide that he was there and continued to talk with his team. They were still with him, looking to him for leadership. He wasn't the best at it. The best got killed a few million pulses back.
"Mounted gun," he said. "I want it gone."
One of his team members picked up a fire extinguisher, which he'd used to beat the head of an unfortunate guard. He hurled it at the gun, denting its barrel. Finally, he quickly ran over as the other Sprilnav killed the remaining guards holed up beside and behind it. And that was the end. Naliera set up the bomb. More Vinarii appeared, along with an aerial vehicle. He hurled his sword into its front, and it fell to the ground and exploded. The scanners his mind was connected to were tracking a huge mass of life signs. He didn't have much time, so he decreased the countdown.
Thousands of Vinarii were coming. Already, they were covered by powerful shields, with vehicles, both terrestrial and aerial, supporting them. Bullets riddled the ground, and he could see snipers set up to cover them using the ship's sensors. There was no way out. An armor-piercing bullet half the size of his head killed one of the team members, puncturing straight through the large rock he'd been hiding behind. Another one hit Naliera's shoulder, and he tried to flatten his profile to be lower.
This must be the Vinarii version of high-tech weaponry, meaning that they could be killed now. Vinarii clearly were a dangerous species, far more so than he'd realized. And while his race could easily flatten them into dust, guns were the great equalizers when it came to combat. If they were fast enough and large enough, and not even Sprilnav could stand up to bullets. Of course, an Elder would have had no problem with this. Someone was being frugal. A real shame for people like him to have to die because of it, but that was the job and the pay.
Worse, the ship couldn't lay down proper cover fire without risking the merchandise for now. She was still being suppressed. But the bomb was about to go off. The stabilizer would no longer be functioning, and then they would be free to do what they wished. His wish, in particular, was the huge sum of money he'd get paid to finish this job.
A bright flash of light and a roar of thunder behind him solved his problem. He stood up to watch the blast wave ravage the army heading for him. He wasn't quite close enough to smell it, but there was likely a range beyond the blast in which the Vinarii would have been perfectly cooked. It was an interesting thought to ponder.
Naliera continued onward, going through every remaining barrier he could until the mindscape tremored. He saw an ethereal Vinarii contact him right as the entire top of the base vanished and disintegrated. A massive spectral Vinarii soared out of the breach, eyes quickly seeing him. She flew down to greet him, a smile evident at the carnage and death surrounding them. She was one who understood.
"Finally," she said, her form shrinking to a normal size as she stretched her wings. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to get out."
"I have a pretty good idea, actually."
"I'm sure. Why don't you tell me what you're doing here, Sprilnav?"
"My backers wish to offer you an accord."
He watched as the Vinarii leaned over, sticking out her tongue to lick the soil. She then proceeded to actually take a bite, dirt dribbling from her mandibles as she stood up again. Naliera tried to hide his disgust.
"Oh please. You just feasted on my kin. You're disgusted by me eating a bit of dirt?"
"No, I didn't."
The lie was necessary because most species had a sort of moral compunction against eating their kind. He didn't quite understand it. Meat was meat, no matter the source. She laughed in his face, entirely unconcerned with the Sprilnav that had their claws on guns ready to put her down. But from what his backers had said about her capabilities, that was a difficult ask.
"Your breath smells like Vinarii meat. By the way, if your species is so advanced, why didn't you develop anything to fix that nasty stench?"
"Look, woman, we can put you right back in that hole," one of his team said. She laughed. "No you can't. Judging from the fact that not all of you alive, Vinarii tech can hurt you. Which means that you can't protect yourself from me. Frankly, I hate Sprilnav more than anything. The only reason I'm letting you live right now is because you freed me. You pollute the air you breathe, and I'm not just talking about your breath."
"Really, you're quite immature."
"Well, a few standard years in a steel box will do that."
"Sure. Guess you're not all there in the head. By the way, a deal is being proposed. By my backers."
"Really, they care?"
"I think they do... Exii'darii."

57': Aston Villa 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Aston Villa scorers: Douglas Luiz (8'), Ollie Watkins (26')
Brighton & Hove Albion scorers: Deniz Undav (38')
Venue: Villa Park
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LINE-UPS
Aston Villa
Emiliano Martínez, Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa, Lucas Digne, Matty Cash, John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Boubacar Kamara, Ollie Watkins, Jacob Ramsey, Leon Bailey.
Subs: Calum Chambers, Leander Dendoncker, Bertrand Traoré, Ashley Young, Sebastian Revan, Robin Olsen, Emiliano Buendía, Diego Carlos, Travis Patterson.
^{____________________________}
Brighton & Hove Albion
Jason Steele, Levi Colwill, Adam Webster, Pascal Groß, Joël Veltman (Pervis Estupiñán), Alexis Mac Allister, Yasin Ayari (Moisés Caicedo), Julio Enciso, Facundo Buonanotte, Evan Ferguson, Deniz Undav.
Subs: Jan Paul van Hecke, Billy Gilmour, Jack Hinshelwood, Kaoru Mitoma, Lewis Dunk, Danny Welbeck, Thomas McGill.
MATCH EVENTS via ESPN
8' Goal! Aston Villa 1, Brighton and Hove Albion 0. Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Jacob Ramsey.
12' Deniz Undav (Brighton and Hove Albion) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
22' Matty Cash (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
24' Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
26' Goal! Aston Villa 2, Brighton and Hove Albion 0. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jacob Ramsey following a fast break.
37' Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
45' Substitution, Brighton and Hove Albion. Pervis Estupiñán replaces Joël Veltman.
45' Substitution, Brighton and Hove Albion. Moisés Caicedo replaces Yasin Ayari.
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